cardiac kid said:
Of all the regional tours out there, the Joss Northeast seems to be the pre-eminent one. In the past several years, the UPA has scheduled several events directly opposite a Joss event. Last year an event was scheduled in New York City during the same week as the Joss finals in Maine. When Mike Z refused to change the date of his event, the UPA relented and moved theirs. This is stupid. Mike's schedule comes out in August for the following year. This is being done intentionally to cause pain to the Joss Tour (IMO). The UPA has done many foolish things over the past few years. Manlyshot and I debated the merits of the UPA at a feverish pace for months last year. Even I am beginning to wonder if they are becoming a detriment to the game I love. This is stupid!
It sure is stupid. I'm good friends with the promoter of the Capital City Classic tournament. His son is actually a very good player, and I've seen him grow up competing in juniors events when he was a youngster, and today, this young guy is a successful family man and still comes out to compete from time to time.
When the UPA posted the dates for the Capital City Classic tournament, in DIRECT CONFLICT with Mike Zuglan's Joss Tour tournament, the promoter of the Capital City Classic received a call from Mike Zuglan asking what was up with that. The promoter had not scheduled any dates and didn't know a thing about it. The conflicting dates were posted on the UPA website without the knowledge of the Capital City Classic promoter and soon after were removed. It was a blatant attempt (IMO) by the UPA to thwart the success of the Joss Tour.
When the last Capital City Classic event occurred in Philadelphia, the promoter accepted UPA sanctioning, in hopes to work together with the current professional pool organization. As I was making preparations to attend this event, I was told by the UPA that Keith could not compete in this event unless he was a member of the UPA because he was considered a "pro."
The promoter of Capital City Classic likes Keith McCready and wanted him there. Since Keith is now a legal resident of the District of Columbia, he got in on a "local waiver." When we arrived in Philadelphia and signed up, Charlie Williams was on site and told Keith that he needed to see his identification stating District of Columbia residency in order for him to play. It was insulting in the manner that it was carried out, but Keith, a guy who has been playing pool for 40 years, longer than Charlie Williams has been alive, retrieved his ID and complied with Charlie's request. I guess if we didn't have Keith's ID on us, we would have lost all of our expense monies associated with this trip.
Allen Hopkins has a pro event at the Super Billiards Expo which is UPA sanctioned. Last year, I expressed my concerns to Allen about Keith, a non-UPA member, getting in his event. Allen stated that ALL POOL PLAYERS ARE WELCOME and he did not want anybody to be prohibited to competing. I like his style, much like Mike Zuglan's, in that he creates a platform in which all players are treated equal.
Whether the UPA knows it or not, they are currently self-imploding by creating so many barriers and stop signs for not only promoters, but for players like Keith who only want to play pool. I've spoken with Frankie Alvarez, the UPA representative, on many occasions, and he has bent over backwards to try to make the players content, to include Keith. However, Frankie is not the ruling authority and is only the PR man for the UPA, and a very good one I might add.
As far as I'm concerned, the UPA ain't the only fish in the sea, and it is a sad day in the history of pool every single time they attempt to create barriers and obstacles for the sole purpose of ruining an independent promoter's event. It hurts the sport in general, and their actions go against the very mission they claim to want to attain (IMO).
It's not only the UPA, though. With the multiplicity of league formations, new and old, some vendors are now refusing to provide service at certain events. The lady players are being "instructed" by the WPBA to not attend non-WPBA-sanctioned events, like the DCC. It has only been recently that the payouts for the lady professionals are up to par with the men. For decades, they paled by comparison. The majority of so-called "professional pool players" are struggling to keep up with the tournament trail because of the huge expenses which far outweigh any potential for earnings. Many, like Danny Harriman, have become disgusted for a variety of personal reasons and leave the sport entirely.
The current lot of professional players is diminishing before our eyes. Until pool organizations, print media, and industry members work together with a common goal to promote the sport, instead of creating competitive barriers, pool will continue to be a recreational game enjoyed by social shooters. To date, the leagues is where the money's at. There aren't too many folks like willing to fork out $1,500 to $2,000 to attend week-long events as a spectator, unless is a once-a-year pool experience much like the U.S. Open or the Derby City Classic. Professional pool continues to suffer, and professional pool players, much like the dinosaur, will eventually become extinct.
JMHO, FWIW!
JAM
