The Houston Lengends and Champions Archer/Strickland Tour has been canceled

Poolplaya9

Poolplaya9

Tellin' it like it is...
Silver Member
I am posting this for Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland and Mark Cantrill (bfdlad) at their request, since they are not able to get to a computer at the moment.

They have just been informed by Slick Willee's Pool hall that Slick Willee's has decided at the last minute not to follow through with hosting The Legends and Champions Tour for Houston. It is with much regret that they are having to make this announcement to all of their Houston fans that were looking forward to this great experience.

The reason being given by Slick Willee's for canceling is that they are afraid that nobody will show up due to the aftermath of Hurrican Ike. They are the only pool room that is open in the area, and reports are that they have been packed nightly, so their motivation is a little confusing in that regard.

Johnny, Earl and Mark are disappointed and upset at the prospect of anyone being let down, and apologize for any inconvenience that has been caused. They would not let this occur if they had any control over it. For anyone that has questions, you can call Mark Cantrill at 480-612-7732.
 
this makes no sense. if theyre packed nightly. then the exhibition alone should bring in alot of profit.
 
Poolplaya9 said:
I am posting this for Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland and Mark Cantrill (bfdlad) at their request, since they are not able to get to a computer at the moment.

They have just been informed by Slick Willee's Pool hall that Slick Willee's has decided at the last minute not to follow through with hosting The Legends and Champions Tour for Houston. It is with much regret that they are having to make this announcement to all of their Houston fans that were looking forward to this great experience.

The reason being given by Slick Willee's for canceling is that they are afraid that nobody will show up due to the aftermath of Hurrican Ike. They are the only pool room that is open in the area, and reports are that they have been packed nightly, so their motivation is a little confusing in that regard.

Johnny, Earl and Mark are disappointed and upset at the prospect of anyone being let down, and apologize for any inconvenience that has been caused. They would not let this occur if they had any control over it. For anyone that has questions, you can call Mark Cantrill at 480-612-7732.
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possibly a change of venue. being discussed as l type, will post more info soon!
 
Houston stop cancelled

Sorry to hear about the cancellation. I would have made it and was looking forward to the exhibition.


I do understand everyone's concerns - with multiple places in the city without electricity, phone service and water.
 
TXsouthpaw said:
this makes no sense. if theyre packed nightly. then the exhibition alone should bring in alot of profit.
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Yeah that's why I said their motivation seems to be a little suspect. If they are already doing much stronger than normal business because they are the only pool hall open in the area, then how could they be afraid that nobody would show up for the Legends and Champions Tour?
 
If they are already packed, why share it with a special event?

Who need a couple of the BADDEST MO-FOs EVAH in their pool room anyway?
 
Hi all, this is BS. We understand the situation with the hurricane amd we hope that everyone in the Houston area are ok and able to get through this time.
If Slick Willie's had told me that they had no power or they had damage would understand and we would just mov e on but they told me 2 days ago that they were packed and that they had been running out of supplies and had to order more therefore I do not understand how they think that people would not show up. My personal opionion is that they have all the business they need and do not need to pay more to fill their room that night.
We have made the effort to make sure that we lived up to our obligation at OUR own expense to be told the day before that they want to cancel. This is not how you do things IMO. Imagine the uproar if we decided not to show up after they had gone to the expense of advertising and planning etc. Slick willies obviously care only about the $$ and not the players Pros or students. However 90% of the students who were signed up for the school in Houston have made a commitment to join us in San Antonio and we thaqnk each and every one of them for making a 3 hour drive to attend the sdchool so much for people not wanting to make a commitment to us.
 
bfdlad said:
Hi all, this is BS. We understand the situation with the hurricane amd we hope that everyone in the Houston area are ok and able to get through this time.
If Slick Willie's had told me that they had no power or they had damage would understand and we would just mov e on but they told me 2 days ago that they were packed and that they had been running out of supplies and had to order more therefore I do not understand how they think that people would not show up. My personal opionion is that they have all the business they need and do not need to pay more to fill their room that night.
We have made the effort to make sure that we lived up to our obligation at OUR own expense to be told the day before that they want to cancel. This is not how you do things IMO. Imagine the uproar if we decided not to show up after they had gone to the expense of advertising and planning etc. Slick willies obviously care only about the $$ and not the players Pros or students. However 90% of the students who were signed up for the school in Houston have made a commitment to join us in San Antonio and we thaqnk each and every one of them for making a 3 hour drive to attend the sdchool so much for people not wanting to make a commitment to us.
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Sorry to hear about this Mark,you guys are doing an awesome thing,it is like times of old when some of the greats toured the country doing exhibitions but this is one step better you can learn something too!It truly is their loss IMO! :wink:
 
Houston Cancelled

Hey - it is not a total loss.

They replaced the felt on the 9-footers at the Slick Willies in Katy and I just got done test driving one of the tables.

:grin:
 
Thats what I heard. Even the day before they cancelled on us people told me that they were in there and the manager said all was still a go and that they were having the tables re covered for the pool school and exhibition. These are things that I just don't understand.
 
Fast Lenny said:
Sorry to hear about this Mark,you guys are doing an awesome thing,it is like times of old when some of the greats toured the country doing exhibitions but this is one step better you can learn something too!It truly is their loss IMO! :wink:
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If you look quickly at that pic of you with Dick it looks like you have a stump for a left arm. :eek:
 
I bet they wouldn't cancel on Janette Lee! I think we should contact the (mis)management and let them know what the players think about this. Let them know that we are not going to let this go unchecked. We want an explanation and we want them to make it right. I had taken the day off from work to attend the class in Austin. I would have been mad as hell if the Grand management had pulled this stunt.
Mark, Johnny and Earl are doing something great for this game. They are giving the pool playing community an opportunity to interact and learn from the best and brightest for what most would consider a very reasonable fee. Other Pro's around the country should pick up on what these guy's are doing. We need to get the kids excited about playing this wonderful game and the best way to do that is for them to see first hand how cool it is by watching Johnny and Earl put on an exhibition. There was only one kid at the class in Austin, but at least there was one. His Mom and Dad were there and all the while his Dad was taking notes. Pool rooms like Slick Willies should not sell out for the quick buck. They should be willing to invest a little money to help support and grow the game and the money will follow. Ok, I'll get down off my soapbox now. Thanks for reading.
 
bfdlad said:
Thats what I heard. Even the day before they cancelled on us people told me that they were in there and the manager said all was still a go and that they were having the tables re covered for the pool school and exhibition. These are things that I just don't understand.
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Do you have any kind of written agreement with these rooms? Have they made a deposit in advance to GUARANTEE the booking? In case of a last minute cancellation they should forfeit their deposit.

I think you should pursue this further, explain to them your losses, and ask them for some type of settlement with you rather than go to court.
 
jay helfert said:
Do you have any kind of written agreement with these rooms? Have they made a deposit in advance to GUARANTEE the booking? In case of a last minute cancellation they should forfeit their deposit.

I think you should pursue this further, explain to them your losses, and ask them for some type of settlement with you rather than go to court.
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Jay We are hgoing to put this down to a lesson learned. We are too busy trying to bring excitement to areas. I know where Slick Willies get their name from now though.
 
bfdlad said:
Hi all, this is BS. We understand the situation with the hurricane amd we hope that everyone in the Houston area are ok and able to get through this time.
If Slick Willie's had told me that they had no power or they had damage would understand and we would just mov e on but they told me 2 days ago that they were packed and that they had been running out of supplies and had to order more therefore I do not understand how they think that people would not show up. My personal opionion is that they have all the business they need and do not need to pay more to fill their room that night.
We have made the effort to make sure that we lived up to our obligation at OUR own expense to be told the day before that they want to cancel. This is not how you do things IMO. Imagine the uproar if we decided not to show up after they had gone to the expense of advertising and planning etc. Slick willies obviously care only about the $$ and not the players Pros or students. However 90% of the students who were signed up for the school in Houston have made a commitment to join us in San Antonio and we thaqnk each and every one of them for making a 3 hour drive to attend the sdchool so much for people not wanting to make a commitment to us.
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Bingo! That was my first thought when others said they were packed. It sounds like they don't want no damn Pros coming around 'cause they don't need them.
 
I do not know much about the agreement between Slick's and Johnny/Earl/Mark but I think I understand the reason for the cancellation. I am not sure if everyone knows this but there was a major, if not catastrophic, natural weather disaster that hit the Houston area this past week. Many families are displaced and much of our fair city is without power and water. Accordingly, many businesses are without same. In some of the distant parts of town, like Katy, power and water is expected to be out for weeks.

This being said, I myself, adjourned myself to Slick's a few days ago. You see, I too, am without power and I thought a jaunt to Slick's would be more fun than staring at the ceiling on a hot Texas night. The Slick's I chose was none other than the alleged culprit...the dastardly Katy location. Upon my arrival, I found one person in the building. By closing, 20 more (or so) joined my free-for-all embibing as we all took turns bellying-up to the bar. I continued this ritual for several nights as the places I frequent were all closed do to the power outages and water problems.

In the end, all I can offer is that on a couple nights I left at 8:30PM because there was a Houston-wide curfew in effect from 9:00PM to 6:00AM. Never at any time was the establishment "packed" or overflowing with business. Thus, I can understand why Slick's was apprehensive about going forward with the school.

If I owned a business and arranged a pool school with two greats like Johnny and Earl, I would most certainly want all of my customers to partake in the learning experience. If a natural disaster hit my area which unfortunately interfered with the pool school, I would postpone and reschedule after the "smoke cleared." I am sure, given the circumstances, that any reasonably prudent person would do the same.

I guess I am just ranting because I really wanted the pool school here.

I presume Slick's just cancelled and didn't even bother to "postpone." Surely, if they offered to postpone due to the disaster, Johnny, Earl and Mark would have graciously accepted.

I would like to know if it will be coming in the future or if it is gone forever. Perhaps, Mark could shed more light on this and whether there was even a hint of postponing until a later date.
 
I do live in Houston and I can say that the hurricane was very destructive. I personally, was without power for 12 days. I know a lot of the players that play at that slicks do come from Houston. Also, a lot of the staff that works there are also from Houston. There was a 9pm curfew in Houston during this time. Cops were pulling people over left and right. Yeah, it sucked. I?m not here to make excuses for Slick Willies. I know there is always two sides to every story. I did go there this past Monday to shoot pool league, and was able to speak to the manager. I can tell you that he was very excited about the pool school coming to Houston. I remember weeks back before the hurricane, him personally going to all the Slick Willies to promote this pool school. He told me that he wanted so badly to set it on another date because so many people were excited. For those of you who were not in Houston during or after the storm, I want to say that it was really bad. Days after the hurricane, you could not find gas, ice, batteries, food. It was so chaotic! 4 days after the storm was the first time I could get some gas, and I waited for 2 hours in a line of cars. Anyway, again, I?m not here to make excuses. I know that slicks had power, but a lot of their customers that wanted to attend this were so affected. I wish that both sides could come to a solution, because like someone wrote earlier, THIS is good for the game. A chance to learn from these two legends does not come often. Me personally, I hope things are worked out.
 
J. Learned Hand said:
I do not know much about the agreement between Slick's and Johnny/Earl/Mark but I think I understand the reason for the cancellation. I am not sure if everyone knows this but there was a major, if not catastrophic, natural weather disaster that hit the Houston area this past week. Many families are displaced and much of our fair city is without power and water. Accordingly, many businesses are without same. In some of the distant parts of town, like Katy, power and water is expected to be out for weeks.

This being said, I myself, adjourned myself to Slick's a few days ago. You see, I too, am without power and I thought a jaunt to Slick's would be more fun than staring at the ceiling on a hot Texas night. The Slick's I chose was none other than the alleged culprit...the dastardly Katy location. Upon my arrival, I found one person in the building. By closing, 20 more (or so) joined my free-for-all embibing as we all took turns bellying-up to the bar. I continued this ritual for several nights as the places I frequent were all closed do to the power outages and water problems.

In the end, all I can offer is that on a couple nights I left at 8:30PM because there was a Houston-wide curfew in effect from 9:00PM to 6:00AM. Never at any time was the establishment "packed" or overflowing with business. Thus, I can understand why Slick's was apprehensive about going forward with the school.

If I owned a business and arranged a pool school with two greats like Johnny and Earl, I would most certainly want all of my customers to partake in the learning experience. If a natural disaster hit my area which unfortunately interfered with the pool school, I would postpone and reschedule after the "smoke cleared." I am sure, given the circumstances, that any reasonably prudent person would do the same.

I guess I am just ranting because I really wanted the pool school here.

I presume Slick's just cancelled and didn't even bother to "postpone." Surely, if they offered to postpone due to the disaster, Johnny, Earl and Mark would have graciously accepted.

I would like to know if it will be coming in the future or if it is gone forever. Perhaps, Mark could shed more light on this and whether there was even a hint of postponing until a later date.
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I am amazed to see this thread again. I read your post and your description of what was going on at the Katy Location of Slick Willie's. Again I felt for anyone in that area that was affected in any way by the storm. However I can only go by what the Slick Willies Company told me at the time and it still makes no sense. I have no idea why they would tell me that they were so busy that they ran out of food and and had to go and buy more for the next day if that was not the way it was. I am not saying that you are not telling the truth of what you saw there but if that was the case why would they tell me that they were packed? I still don't get it and we could have been informed more than a day from the exhibition.
 
bayoubullet said:
I do live in Houston and I can say that the hurricane was very destructive. I personally, was without power for 12 days. I know a lot of the players that play at that slicks do come from Houston. Also, a lot of the staff that works there are also from Houston. There was a 9pm curfew in Houston during this time. Cops were pulling people over left and right. Yeah, it sucked. I?m not here to make excuses for Slick Willies. I know there is always two sides to every story. I did go there this past Monday to shoot pool league, and was able to speak to the manager. I can tell you that he was very excited about the pool school coming to Houston. I remember weeks back before the hurricane, him personally going to all the Slick Willies to promote this pool school. He told me that he wanted so badly to set it on another date because so many people were excited. For those of you who were not in Houston during or after the storm, I want to say that it was really bad. Days after the hurricane, you could not find gas, ice, batteries, food. It was so chaotic! 4 days after the storm was the first time I could get some gas, and I waited for 2 hours in a line of cars. Anyway, again, I?m not here to make excuses. I know that slicks had power, but a lot of their customers that wanted to attend this were so affected. I wish that both sides could come to a solution, because like someone wrote earlier, THIS is good for the game. A chance to learn from these two legends does not come often. Me personally, I hope things are worked out.
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If they were packed even if some of their customers could not make it they should have still gone ahead with it.
We will absoloutly be back to Texas. We had a great time everywhere we went and the people are great. Dickies BBQ in Dallas by Cape Buffalo yum.
I wanted to build a relationship with Slick Willies and that is what I was told by the owner of all the locations that he envisioned the same thing. Again we will be back to Texas and we will be paying a trip to Houston but I am not sure where we will go. But kinda certain that it won't be Slick willies.
 
bayoubullet said:
I do live in Houston and I can say that the hurricane was very destructive. I personally, was without power for 12 days. I know a lot of the players that play at that slicks do come from Houston. Also, a lot of the staff that works there are also from Houston. There was a 9pm curfew in Houston during this time. Cops were pulling people over left and right. Yeah, it sucked. I?m not here to make excuses for Slick Willies. I know there is always two sides to every story. I did go there this past Monday to shoot pool league, and was able to speak to the manager. I can tell you that he was very excited about the pool school coming to Houston. I remember weeks back before the hurricane, him personally going to all the Slick Willies to promote this pool school. He told me that he wanted so badly to set it on another date because so many people were excited. For those of you who were not in Houston during or after the storm, I want to say that it was really bad. Days after the hurricane, you could not find gas, ice, batteries, food. It was so chaotic! 4 days after the storm was the first time I could get some gas, and I waited for 2 hours in a line of cars. Anyway, again, I?m not here to make excuses. I know that slicks had power, but a lot of their customers that wanted to attend this were so affected. I wish that both sides could come to a solution, because like someone wrote earlier, THIS is good for the game. A chance to learn from these two legends does not come often. Me personally, I hope things are worked out.
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next time a hurricane is coming, fill your car with gas!
 
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