So, I have been wracking my brain recently trying to figure out what it is about this ABP boycott that irks me so much. I think it is wrong on a number of different levels, but there was something bigger that bothered me and I couldn't put my finger on it. I think I have figured it out though.
Professional Pool is in a tough place right now. It has been for quite some time though. It just seems to be getting worse and worse. The economy is partly to blame, but the various people involved with the game are not helping either.
The players want to be treated with respect and say that they need to get paid. I do agree that they should be getting paid at the end of a tournament, but it is the respect part that I think bothers me. I don't want to lump all of the players in to the same group, but a lot of these players are getting exactly the respect from the game that they are showing to the game.
Lets think about what some of our top players have done for the game in recent history...
A multi-time World Champion walked out in the finals of an event put on by a MAJOR sponsor.
I have seen multiple players no-show World Championships.
I have seen male pro's line up at a tournament board and complain about the event, while a MAJOR sponsor was sitting less than 10 feet away.
I have watched a pro player walk off of the tournament floor after a questionable hit in his match and loudly proclaim that anyone who thought it was a bad hit was an idiot and just didn't know what they were watching. (Do you really want to define your fans as idiots?)
Now the players have decided that they want to form yet another players association to look out for the game. It seems to me that if they were truly interested in looking out for the game, they might want to take a long look in their mirrors. In the short time since this new players association was formed, we have had the following actions...
A board member of this group contacted the director of a major US event to request an afternoon match on day one of an upcoming event, because he “just didn't feel like playing in the morning”.
A board member of this group proudly told anyone on the rail who would listen at a longtime pro event that it would be the last time he would be at that event because the ABP would be taking over the points list and they would vote that event off the list.
The ABP board released PR announcing the first event on the BCA/ABP points list, when there is no such thing as the BCA/ABP points list.
This seems like the same sort of behavior that we have witnessed from pro players for quite some time. And that is ok if that is the extent of respect that you want to show for the game. But if you want to disrespect the game, then don't complain when you feel that you are being disrespected.
It is exactly this disrespect that is keeping this game down. Flipping through the channels on the TV today, I saw the World Championship of Ping Pong with a $40,000 first prize and multiple non-Ping Pong sponsors. I also saw a commercial for American Ninja touting a $50,000 sponsorship available. Businesses are getting involved in sponsoring non-mainstream sports. But do you know how many are interested in getting involved with pool? Looks like zero to me. How much of that lack of interest is due to the players? I don't know, but I would be willing to bet that it has something to do with it.
So here we are with the players blaming the state of the game on promoters slow paying. Look, the game is not where it is because of a couple promoters slow paying. A couple of promoters are slow paying because the game is where it is. And until everyone (including the players) comes together to really look after this game, nothing is going to get any better.
So either get serious about the game and make it better, or just keep on doing what you have been doing. But you can't have it both ways. You can't keep making the same mistakes and then complain when everyone else does too.
And no number of boycotts, press releases or attorneys are going to change that.
Professional Pool is in a tough place right now. It has been for quite some time though. It just seems to be getting worse and worse. The economy is partly to blame, but the various people involved with the game are not helping either.
The players want to be treated with respect and say that they need to get paid. I do agree that they should be getting paid at the end of a tournament, but it is the respect part that I think bothers me. I don't want to lump all of the players in to the same group, but a lot of these players are getting exactly the respect from the game that they are showing to the game.
Lets think about what some of our top players have done for the game in recent history...
A multi-time World Champion walked out in the finals of an event put on by a MAJOR sponsor.
I have seen multiple players no-show World Championships.
I have seen male pro's line up at a tournament board and complain about the event, while a MAJOR sponsor was sitting less than 10 feet away.
I have watched a pro player walk off of the tournament floor after a questionable hit in his match and loudly proclaim that anyone who thought it was a bad hit was an idiot and just didn't know what they were watching. (Do you really want to define your fans as idiots?)
Now the players have decided that they want to form yet another players association to look out for the game. It seems to me that if they were truly interested in looking out for the game, they might want to take a long look in their mirrors. In the short time since this new players association was formed, we have had the following actions...
A board member of this group contacted the director of a major US event to request an afternoon match on day one of an upcoming event, because he “just didn't feel like playing in the morning”.
A board member of this group proudly told anyone on the rail who would listen at a longtime pro event that it would be the last time he would be at that event because the ABP would be taking over the points list and they would vote that event off the list.
The ABP board released PR announcing the first event on the BCA/ABP points list, when there is no such thing as the BCA/ABP points list.
This seems like the same sort of behavior that we have witnessed from pro players for quite some time. And that is ok if that is the extent of respect that you want to show for the game. But if you want to disrespect the game, then don't complain when you feel that you are being disrespected.
It is exactly this disrespect that is keeping this game down. Flipping through the channels on the TV today, I saw the World Championship of Ping Pong with a $40,000 first prize and multiple non-Ping Pong sponsors. I also saw a commercial for American Ninja touting a $50,000 sponsorship available. Businesses are getting involved in sponsoring non-mainstream sports. But do you know how many are interested in getting involved with pool? Looks like zero to me. How much of that lack of interest is due to the players? I don't know, but I would be willing to bet that it has something to do with it.
So here we are with the players blaming the state of the game on promoters slow paying. Look, the game is not where it is because of a couple promoters slow paying. A couple of promoters are slow paying because the game is where it is. And until everyone (including the players) comes together to really look after this game, nothing is going to get any better.
So either get serious about the game and make it better, or just keep on doing what you have been doing. But you can't have it both ways. You can't keep making the same mistakes and then complain when everyone else does too.
And no number of boycotts, press releases or attorneys are going to change that.
