I just knew that is what it was, mainly because I am aware of your strong sponsorship of several pool players who you have taken a liking to in the past year, providing financial support to them and their families and businesses. So, when you posted up your original thread, I knew it was about the money at that Desert tourney.
That said, I am at a loss as to why Frank Alvarez, being the UPA president, did not enforce the so-called rule that the monies for UPA tournaments be protected. He shares some of the blame for this, IMHO. Though he didn't short the players out of his pocket, I think it is his duty to make sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed for each "UPA-sanctioned tournament." What good is the UPA if it does not protect the members of its organization?
Looking at the picture of Chuck Bobbit, he appears to be an older gentleman, and this event may wipe him out of whatever savings he has. To be a supporter of pool for so long and then to have this happen to him, it appears that he bit off more than he can chew. I, for one, feel bad for him, but I also think the players must be paid in full ASAP. This man tried to do a good deed, and he got screwed. He obviously does not have the financial wherewithal of Mark Griffin.
Which brings me to my next point. That sucks that Mark Griffin lost 80 large on the Qlympics. This man has poured more money into pool that anyone I know. If anyone deserves a financial reward in this racket, it is Mark Griffin. He sponsors players, keeps the BCA League going, promotes large pool events. There isn't a stronger supporter that I know of than Mark Griffin. He puts his money up time and time again to make things happen. In case anyone hasn't said it recently, thank you, Mark.
The last pool tournament I went to was the IPT event in Vegas, July 2006. Quite frankly, I couldn't take the tournament trail anymore. Traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles, expending thousands of dollars for week-long events, and winning a peanut in some instances if we're lucky was too much for my pocketbook. I neglected my business for several years, all in the name of pool.
That said, next time I attend a pool tournament, whether it be a regional tour event or the U.S. Open, I will be there only as a pool vacation. The payouts in pool are not worth the effort financially, physically, and emotionally anymore for this reader. In the words of B.B. King, the thrill is gone.
The only way a player can keep following a tourament trail in the year 2008 is to have a stakehorse like Fatboy paying all the bills, a wife/girlfriend like me who is willing to sacrifice to be "on the road again," parents who don't mind if the player has no financial obligations and lives ay home, or an inheritance.
Don't get me wrong, I am a pool enthusiast, but I had more fun with pool when I was a social shooter. Professonal pool will bankrupt your soul, if you let it. It almost got me, but thankfully, I was able to recover from a financial nightmare of attending two, three, and four tournaments every month.
That is my story, and I am sticking with it, sad to say!
JAM
