Snooker Player Fined Big for Tweet

Jerry Forsyth said:
I just posted a story on the front page (http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=10059) about Mark Williams being fined for making a Tweet that was unflattering towards a snooker venue.

So give me your thoughts. Is this strict management one of the reasons that snooker is more successful than pool or is this an example of free speech being trampled?
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It doesn't give the specifics of what he said. Hard to say. Couldn't enact this with pool players. They would have to take out a loan to pay the fine. Snooker players make big bucks in comparison.:smile:
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
I just posted a story on the front page (http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=10059) about Mark Williams being fined for making a Tweet that was unflattering towards a snooker venue.

So give me your thoughts. Is this strict management one of the reasons that snooker is more successful than pool or is this an example of free speech being trampled?
Click to expand...

Williams is essentially a paid representative of professional snooker. Making unflattering comments about a venue is, by extension, making unflattering comments about the snooker organization he represents. And if I recall correctly, he was pretty critical of the Crucible.

In your post, you quote the member rules that he agreed to abide by. So how is this a free speech issue? He agreed to follow certain rules, it was determined that he broke some of those rules, he was punished.
 
Freedom of speech only holds true that the GOVERNMENT is not allowed to censor/kill/imprison individuals from speaking their mind (in most circumstances). Private organizations and individuals are free to levy whatever they choose as long as it holds up in court. I can't exactly walk in to Harlem with hurtful words and expect freedom of speech to save my ass.
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
I just posted a story on the front page (http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=10059) about Mark Williams being fined for making a Tweet that was unflattering towards a snooker venue.

So give me your thoughts. Is this strict management one of the reasons that snooker is more successful than pool or is this an example of free speech being trampled?
Click to expand...

Jerry:

I personally think the former -- that the strict management makes snooker more successful publicly than pool. Pool is too loosey-goosey, and that's why ESPN, et al., view it as "filler fodder" (if they carry any pool televising at all). And even then, it's only WPBA -- which tends to be more professional and project a more professional image than any men's organization (or lack of).

Pool just can't see past its own nose. "Rebels without a cause," if you will. Pool should definitely take a couple tips from snooker.

-Sean
 
Until we hear the specifics of the tweet, we can't make an remarks. But I will say this, if the President or government fined up for the remarks we make against them we all would be jailed.
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
Is this strict management one of the reasons that snooker is more successful than pool or is this an example of free speech being trampled?
Click to expand...

He's part of the organiza.. err, this is Britain we're talking about.. organiSation, more or less turning him into an employee and a representative. PGA, NBA, MLB, etc, have similar rules and fines associated with things of that sort. It would be more than stupid for me to go around airing my gripes about my boss, job or place of employment, without discussing those grievances with my employer.
 
the golden rule applies here

Jerry Forsyth said:
I just posted a story on the front page (http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=10059) about Mark Williams being fined for making a Tweet that was unflattering towards a snooker venue.

So give me your thoughts. Is this strict management one of the reasons that snooker is more successful than pool or is this an example of free speech being trampled?
Click to expand...


Jerry,

We are not allowed unlimited freedom of speech on this site. We agreed to certain guidelines when we signed up. Violate those guidelines and we receive whatever punishment the owners, including you, deem reasonable. Mark Williams agreed to similar guidelines and faced known punishments if he violated those guidelines. Your playpen here, the WPBSA's playpen there. The golden rule applies both places, he who has the gold makes the rules. There is no law requiring anyone to obey your rules or the WPBSA's but we must if we care to play either place.

When I owned businesses with employees or pushed crews for other people I made the rules, I had the gold or the path to the gold. My employees had a saying at one business, "Hu's way or the highway". That applies equally here or playing in the WPBSA. To be perfectly honest fairness and justice aren't involved to any greater degree than the ruling body or person chooses for them to be.

Any legal right to freedom of speech isn't applicable to any of these situations. The judgment of the people in control directly affects the success or failure of each venture. NASCAR had some of the harshest leadership of any organization in the early days. Those strict controls moved stock car racers from a bunch of outlaws and hot rodders racing on dirt or in a field for a few dollars to the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. Strict controls and harsh leadership have been the death of many an organization too. When it works it is great and the right thing to do, when it fails then the people on the sidelines can always blame the harsh leadership.

Hu
 
From April

From yesterday

Reading the stories again, I realize that the "pretty critical comments" I originally attributed to Williams were actually Mark Allen's comments about playing in China.

(I've edited this 4 times... I'll get it right sooner or later.)
 
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When the day comes that the ABP (Association of Billiard Professionals) actually fines one of their members for conduct violations, that's the day it will become a real organization and not just a loose affiliation of pool players. The WPBA (Women's Professional Billiard Association) did fine members for violations of their rules and it made them a stronger association.
 
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