The Lasting Impressions of the BCA and ACS

J

JohnBCA

Registered
The Lasting Impressions of the BCA and ACS

This years BCA tournament has been very strained for the players. I can't help but wonder what's going to happen in the next several years.

Both Mr. Messer and Mr. Lewis broke the terms not to be on hotel property. It is widely known that Mr. Ducoff escorted one or both out of the hotel on certain occasions. Mr. Griffin was heard to tell Mr. Ducoff to let them stay as long as they did not pass the splash bar. It really bothers me when I heard all of the whining and carrying on regarding letting them participate. Why don't the misinformed players just get it? It's plain and simple, they were fired. When you are fired you loose certain privileges that you may have had previously. If an employee stole from you and he was terminated, why in the world would you let him back in?

My first thoughts are why are the people who are disputing the values of the BCA still participating. I have seen the several teams that include the Bowman family wearing Leisure Time polo shirts with a huge badly embroidered American Cue Sports, verso so that everyone can see. I assume that they think this is funny to rub their new found organization into Mr. Griffin's face. Very tacky indeed!

ACS stickers can be found defacing the elevators, smoked mirrors in several areas of the hotel, on guest room doors, slot machines and on top of BCA printed material. The only good consequence to this criminal damage is, you can expect that The Riviera hotel will never want this group back as guests.

Everything that they have done has been less then on the up and up. Now after reading the recent press release, it seems that the ACS has scheduled the same type of tournament the week directly before the BCA 9 Ball Open on November 16 through 21, 2004. How does that make you feel? Does it seem like they again are pushing themselves on the players and again, pushing them to make a choice. I ask you who is this hurting? Only the players. Luckily for Mr. Griffin ACS has chosen a location that is difficult and expensive to get to. I hope they have lot's of money because it's going to cost them to get there and stay.

What the ACS has done is the worst possible thing they could do, and I urge all the players reading this to tell their friends not to participate in this fight, and to saty with what you know, the BCA.

John Simmons
 
I fully agree. I find the actions of the ACS 100% reprehensible.

John
 
i have no horse in this race, but what the hell did mr. griffin and the bca expect, making their deal with no input from the players and league operators? it seems to me that is what has caused the anger and resentment.
they made their bed, yadda yadda yadda.

on the other hand, sounds to me like the acs group is acting like thugs, and smearing the reputation of all poolplayers everywhere. if they continue these tactics, they will self-destruct.

looks like a lose/lose situation to me.
 
larrynj1 said:
i have no horse in this race, but what the hell did mr. griffin and the bca expect, making their deal with no input from the players and league operators? it seems to me that is what has caused the anger and resentment.
they made their bed, yadda yadda yadda.

on the other hand, sounds to me like the acs group is acting like thugs, and smearing the reputation of all poolplayers everywhere. if they continue these tactics, they will self-destruct.

looks like a lose/lose situation to me.
Click to expand...

According to the BCA at sale time they had around 30k-60k members.
Its a business. Why do people think players should have been polled.
The way I look at it is that over the years the players should have been
voicing their opinions and the operators the same.
I do not know this for sure but I was under the impression that league operators and players thought that there were problems within the
organization. If there were problem before why would anyone go with Lewis and the ACS. Thats where the problems were orginally.
It has to get a little ugly before it can get good and stable again.
I am a Mr Griffin and BCA supporter and believe that things will be nothing
but better.
frankncali-looking forward to the 9ball event in november
 
frankncali said:
According to the BCA at sale time they had around 30k-60k members.
Its a business. Why do people think players should have been polled.
The way I look at it is that over the years the players should have been
voicing their opinions and the operators the same.
I do not know this for sure but I was under the impression that league operators and players thought that there were problems within the
organization. If there were problem before why would anyone go with Lewis and the ACS. Thats where the problems were orginally.
It has to get a little ugly before it can get good and stable again.
I am a Mr Griffin and BCA supporter and believe that things will be nothing
but better.
frankncali-looking forward to the 9ball event in november
Click to expand...

I too am looking forward to the November 9 ball tournament, one pocket , banks, ring games, 10ball, wheee!
 
Looking for villians?

The league operators meeting at the Billiard Congress of America's last National 8 ball championship was the largest I have ever seen in the past 8 years I have been at them. The first half hour a pack of hornets fired bullets at Mr. Ducoff who had no answers! Then they went to Mark Griffin for about five minutes who had no answers, because when it was clear that the Billiard Congress of America Board of Directors was firm on selling Mr Griffin declared himself a potential buyer and rightly removed himself from all Board discussion about the sale. He fought the sale at first because of his position on the Board.

Up until about midnight of that day Mr. Griffin and a representative of the ACS tried to negotiate a deal to keep the Leagues together. It failed. I applaud those efforts on both sides for neither of these groups are the villain. Both have good ideas for improving the sport and making it better for the players. Mr Griffin's approach is to add more money to the Tournament and pay out further down to draw more people into the sport. The ACS approach is to gain United States Olympic Committe and WPA approval as the sanctioning body of pool in the US. Gain entry into the Pan AM games and draw more people into the sport by cleaning up pool's image. Both may work. Is their room for both? Why not! It would not be the first time I belonged to two leagues.

If you must blame some one or thing for this emergence of differing points of view as to how best improve the sport then let it fall where it belongs, squarely on the Billiard Congress of America Board of Directors. You can look them up on their web site and see who they are, what they manufacture, or represent and decide whether or not to boycott their products for their actions. They didn't think anyone would care that they dis-enfranchised you from your own organization (the BCA was originally formed by players for players) we had become complacent over the operations. The Board of Directors had no more player members and did not want any. They were either tired of the league or bought the APA pitch that the trade association should not be in competition with a trade association member. Namely the APA who has been a BCA member for three years. The league system no longer was needed to support the trade association side of the business since the expo nets them 800 grand a year and the leagues are a break even deal (even though we paid for staff operations for many years before they took over the running of the expo). Last year the BCA Board named four Professional players to the Board but would not let them sit in on any meetings of the Board. The USOC saw this for what it was, refusal to comply with regulations required by the USOC to gain recognition as a non-profit player organization and recognized sanctioning body of pool. The USOC told the BCA Board to reapply in 2007. The Board told the Professional players to go home, dissolved those seats from the board and put the leagues up for sale.

Where does that leave the players? It leaves us with two organizations that want pool to grow and will probably do more than any other organizations or persons have done to date. This could be a win/win for pool players.
 
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