allen hopkins million dollar shoot out. This was our first time working with allen and it was a real honor and pleasure. I cant seem to find the flyer for this event but i did find the flyer for something that happened at the event. Jack justis was very kind to us and donated one of his magnificent custom cases to us to do with as we pleased. Chad and i did not want to have work out a custody arrangement for the case so we decided we better just give it away. :d what really happened is that we figured this would be a great way to give something back to our customers and we held a give away and pulled the lucky winners number at the hopkins event. It was a great trip. Special thanks to jack and allen hopkins for believing in a couple of guys neither of them really knew. It meant a lot to both chad and i. About 8 days out for this one.
chris bartram vs stevie moore at side pockets in kc,mo. Stevie moore came out and showed that not only is his reputation as one of the nicest guys in the game well deserved but he is capable of playing at the highest level as well. On the second day of this match stevie played amazing 10 ball to open a lead that chris just could not overcome. This match is the perfect example of what tar is about. Two great players playing for serious stakes in a gentlemanly way. I am sure we will see more from both of these players in the future. 5 days for this one.
2008 international cue collectors show. Kansas city, mo. Thanks to mr. Bill stroud of josswest cues and mr. Will prout i was able to cover the best cue show on earth. I had a fantastic time and was impressed with how very friendly and genuinely warm everyone was. I was fortunate to meet some of the greats in the cue making and collecting world. I even got some of them on tape :d 4 days here.
the 2008 us open 9 ball championships action from q-master billiards. Barry berhman asked us to come out to virgina to cover the action at his pool room during the open. We saw some great action and had a good time. Financially this trip was our worst by far and we learned some hard lessons here. It is all part of the journey and if it wasn't for our friends at ob cues for their help in sponsoring us we would have been in bad shape after this one. Lesson learned: Sometimes the hard reality of business must trump enthusiasm. 9 days out for this one.
the wpba championship at the hard rock hotel and casino in hollywood, fl. The wpba approached us and asked if we would be interested in trying out live streaming of one of their events. I went down to florida and with an amazing amount of help from kristy carter and the other ladies of the wpba we put on a great broadcast that showed just how enthusiastic and professional the women are at their events. It was a great time and i hope we can do more with the wpba in the future. The flyer here is one that didnt make release due to a few reasons but i happen to like it so here it is. :d gone for 5 days on this one.
tony chohan vs gabe owen. The one pocket challenge. We were very excited to head back to shooters for a match between two of the best one pocket players on earth. As a special bonus we had a couple of great
players and road men in the booth calling the action, scott frost and ronnie wiseman. This was a another great match that i hope to see a rematch of before its over.
the 2008 shooters $3000 a man ring game tournament. Back where we started from. Once again some of the best bar table players in the world came to shooters and a surprise winner came out of the pack. Justin bergman took down the $20,000+ first place and showed the world just how strong he is. I think this is one of the most exciting formats in pool and look forward to many years of great pool at shooters.total of 10 days gone for this one.
i think that is pretty much it.
Eighteen months. Twenty one events.
We covered nine events that other people produced. We produced and promoted twelve of our own events. Sometimes the events coincided and made it a little easier.
Here are some numbers:
Total days on the road: 123
total money at stake in tar produced events: $208,000
total miles chad drove the tar bus to and from events: 19,558
total hours behind the wheel (with some help from lunchmeat): 302 hours
total number of original dvd's produced for sale: 12 (i know, i know....get 'em done !!)
total number of announce booths built/destroyed: 4
total number of rolls of gorilla tape used: 45 (low estimate)
total number of diet cokes chad has drank: 385,123 (sarah rousey did drink 6 of those though)
total orders of side pockets cobbler justin ate: 26
it has been a wonderful eighteen months. There are some people i personally want to thank for making it possible for us to undertake this amazing journey:
First and foremost is my business partner and friend chad pollman. Without his hard work, ideas, spirit and enthusiasm tar would have never happened. Thanks big man, it has been a hell of a ride and i cant wait to see where we end up next.
Two people who were critical to tar going from a small website to a business able to produce and stream real events with the best players in the world are chuck moss and jason froehling. Chuck was the guy who saw what could be and put his money behind two guys with an idea. Without him i don't think we would be here. Jason froehling is the guy who believed that live streaming was going to be the big thing. I said in the beginning "we can just tape it." i was wrong. Jason taught me more than anyone and was always there when we got stuck on something to help however he could. I feel fortunate to have met and worked with both of these fine men.
Mark griffin has been there to support us and help however he could from the beginning. I think he is one of the most positive forces in pool and i feel very fortunate to call him my friend.
Greg sullivan has been in from the start as well doing what he could to get us into events and getting those world class diamond tables to wherever we called and asked him to send one. Another man i am fortunate to know and call a friend.
I guess one of the biggest reasons tar even exists is because of this place. Without az billiards forums i know for a fact there would be no tar. Chad and i both want to thank mike howerton and jerry forsythe for all they do for the whole pool world and for us by creating and maintaining this amazing place.
A group of people who really went above and beyond in their support of tar is the cue makers. All of these guys have given examples of their hard work to us to help generate some money to keep going down the road:
Bryan and reuben fisher of fisher custom cues
eric crisp of sugartree cues
steve klapp of klapp custom cues
andy gilbert of gilbert custom cues
someone here on az who has been good to us is eric "fatboy" peterson. Eric is passionate about the game and his energy and enthusiasm for the future is something that we appreciate.
The people who have done the absolute most for us is the customers and fans of the game. You guys make it possible and for that we thank you with all of our heart.
The players are who it is all about. Without them we have nothing. We have been very fortunate to work with some great guys who believe in what we are trying to do. Thank you to all of the players who have worked with us. Your talent and skill are what it is all about and if we have anything to say about it you will be better rewarded for those abilities in the future.
There are so many people who make what we do possible and i appreciate every one of them. I would list them all but i could type for pages and pages. Thank you all.
Looking back it has been an amazing trip. I can not wait to see what the next year brings.
See you on the road.
Justin collett
