Sky weighs in on WPA...

[iusedtoberich]

I believe there is one pro who denounced his federation and is playing under a white flag for WPA events. Does anyone know who? I saw something like that a few days ago but forgot where/who. Would this player be able to play all events on the planet? (without any federation funding, of course)?

 

[sjm]

Just making an observation, sjm. Not casting judgment.

My thoughts are almost 100% aligned with what you have written in this thread.

Thanks for the clarification I may have misinterpreted your post and if I did, I'm sorry.

 

[JPB2]

I do think there is also a chance MR will take their ball and go home. A person/team/company can only take so much. Their new event in pool's biggest emerging market has been neutered each of its two years.

I think they would be more likely to just ban players who don’t play their events because of WPA/ sponsor pressure whatever. Happens with competing tours. Always has. PGA Tour vs LIV now, rules about releases/ competing events OGA Tour vs European/DP tour etc…. Mandatory events for members of a tour. AFL vs NFL pre- merger etc…. Just a guess. When there are competing tours or leagues players usually have to pick one.

 

[iusedtoberich]

When I said MR might take their ball and go home, I mean the whole entire thing, not only Vietnam. We all know Dad Hearn is the driving force. The next generation might think the juice is not worth the squeeze.

 

[jbart65]

Thanks for the clarification I may have misinterpreted your post and if I did, I'm sorry.

No worries. Nothing fazes me on forums and you are always a voice of reason.

I’ll never attack the players unless they cheat or something. It’s a hard and un-lucrative life they live. Hard to have perfect scruples when one is often a mere pawn.

 

[JPB2]

When I said MR might take their ball and go home, I mean the whole entire thing, not only Vietnam. We all know Dad Hearn is the driving force. The next generation might think the juice is not worth the squeeze.

That’s how I took what you said. I don’t think they will be very quick to do that - I think we will see them ban players well before they give up. Just IMO.

 

[sjm]

When I said MR might take their ball and go home, I mean the whole entire thing, not only Vietnam. We all know Dad Hearn is the driving force. The next generation might think the juice is not worth the squeeze.

Unlikely, but if some of their events become unprofitable, those events could possibly be discontinued. Painful to even think about it.

 

[VarmintKong]

I’m a little confused by the number of players who made the trip to Vietnam to play in the warm up tournament.

Why would someone travel to a different country to play the Peri tourny if they didn’t have the expectation of piggybacking it into the Hanoi Open? More bang for the buck, right?

Did these players travel to Vietnam knowing that they wouldn’t be able to play the Hanoi Open? Did the WPA use this as a trump card to pull the rug out from under the players and show how much they can hurt them? Emboldened by the capitulation of Filler and Ouschan, they decide to attempt a last desperate gasp to exert control that seems to have been pretty impactful looking at the number of 800 players who aren’t playing.

I see no winners here. What did Panozzo say?, “FIGURE IT OUT!”