TheOne said:
my two cents... I find it interesting that some people didn't complain when they were hand picked for the IPT but now of course invited tournaments suck and the promoters are the devil!
The so-called "hand-picked players" who were selected for the IPT tour that you reference did, in fact, apply to the IPT with an application and description of their pool capabilities before a designated deadline. Some players, for whatever reason, who may have been worthy of an IPT membership did not apply.
A large number of players who were granted IPT membership were well-known pool players in various pocket billiards disciplines, i.e., BCA's Hall of Famers, pool players with documented championship titles on their portfolios. Of course, as with the "invited" players for the recent BCA Open, some players got into the IPT because they paid 100 bucks to an organization which manages a tour with two or three tournaments a year.
Again, I personally do not see anything wrong with an invitational tournament, but to label it as a "world championship" in game of 14.1, when some of the competitors who are invited have not played straight pool for more than a year or two seems odd.
One could promote a world championship nine-ball tournament and invite amateur league players, social shooters, or bar bangers, but what meaning does this "world championship" title hold in the record books when the player roster consists of unaccomplished nine-ball shooters?
TheOne said:
From what I can tell this event is no different to the WPC, BCA Open, etc etc an invited field with numerous qualifiers to enable anyone to have a go and prove the "selectors" wrong. The only difference I can see is that last year at least they (dp) ignored ranking lists as best they could to ensure most living 14.1 legends got a chance to play.
The BCA Open has four qualifiers a year -- not quite "numerous," I would say. A large majority of American players who were selected to compete in the BCA Open paid 100 bucks to an organization that, quite frankly, didn't have a very comprehensive tour package within the past year. So what kind of ranking system was used for selection for the American players to compete in the BCA Open? Did they telephone one pool organization with a two- or three-tournament tour and ask for a list of names of American players who did well in the two tournaments of the tour?
In the recent world championship in Europe, there were no American players invited -- NONE. Did the world pool organization choose to ignore American players for this event? Of course, who would they call to get a list of the ranked players? Therein lies a problem in the year 2007.
JAM
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