Where is Don Mackey now?

[center pocket]

I just got done reading "Pool Wars" and Jay mentioned Mackey a couple of times. This isnt the first time I have heard of him. It seems every one agrees that he convinced the pros to shoot themselves in the foot. Well where is Don Mackey now? Does he have anything to say for his ill willed guidance? Does the man even care about pool, did he ever? Has he ever made a formal apology? Has he tried to pay retribution? I cant seem to google anything interesting on him. Anyone want to chime in?

 

[Blackjack]

 

[randyg]

Blackjack, you are the best..... randyg

 

[ugotactionTX]

witness protection program?

 

[pro9dg]

Mackey

When I once mentioned his name to Earl:
"Why, that MF - he's down in Florida drinking Pina Coladas with maaah money"

 

[JoeyInCali]

Kobayashi must be driving him around in Florida.

 

[allprobilliards]

heard he lives in springhill FL ...?

 

[daveb]

He's hiding out at the Bush ranch with George and Bin Laden.

 

[Danny Kuykendal]

Sorry, Daveb, I know you're joking, but what Mackey did to the pro tour was unforgivable. He took over a pretty good operation and sold the players a bill of goods, that with him everyone would make tons of money, and then basically ran it into the toilet, and who knows how much money he himself made off with.
Just another episode in the saga of men's pool shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[pooltchr]

Now that's funny! I don't care who you are.
:rotflmao:

Steve

 

[wahcheck]

in hiding....?

I just got done reading "Pool Wars" and Jay mentioned Mackey a couple of times. This isnt the first time I have heard of him. It seems every one agrees that he convinced the pros to shoot themselves in the foot. Well where is Don Mackey now? Does he have anything to say for his ill willed guidance? Does the man even care about pool, did he ever? Has he ever made a formal apology? Has he tried to pay retribution? I cant seem to google anything interesting on him. Anyone want to chime in?

If what I read is true, he's definitely hiding out somewhere....Won a "breach of contract" lawsuit against Camel for a good sum of money, didn't give any of the players a dime of it, and ran off...?

 

[Blackjack]

If what I read is true, he's definitely hiding out somewhere....Won a "breach of contract" lawsuit against Camel for a good sum of money, didn't give any of the players a dime of it, and ran off...?

Here is the newsflash that we received on May 16, 2000. He was awarded $886K and then vanished into thin air.

AP 16-May-2000 16:41 EDT REF5931

Jury Sides With Billiards Tour


GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- A federal jury found that R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Co. hustled a professional billiards organization with
sponsorship promises, but then backed out of contracts to support the
group's pool tournaments.

The jury awarded Pro Billiards Tour Association Inc. $886,000 in
damages on Monday. The nation's second biggest tobacco company has not decided if it will appeal.

The association had accused the maker of Winston, Camel and Salem
cigarettes in the suit of fraud, unfair trade practices and breach of
contract.

Judge William Osteen dismissed the tour's claims of fraud and
unfair trade practices, but allowed the case to proceed on the claim
that the tobacco company left the billiards group financially ruined
when it promised to sponsor it in 1997 and then backed out at the last
minute.

The jury awarded the damages to make up for lost income and debt
incurred during 1996 and 1997, the years the jury found Reynolds did
not fulfill its contract.

Tour commissioner Don Mackey said the verdict will enable the tour
to stage pool tournaments again in 2001. It hasn't held a tournament
since 1997.

R.J. Reynolds officials believed that evidence presented during the
trial showed that the company was "honorable and lawful in its
dealings" with the tour, said Jack W. Henson, the company's senior
counsel.

Mack Sperling, one of the tour's attorneys, said RJR agreed to pay
the pool association $500,000 in 1996 to help defray its expenses, but
the company paid only $80,000. The financially strapped tour that year
bounced checks to players and owed money to hotels that hosted
tournaments, according to testimony.

In 1997, Reynolds again promised to sponsor PBTA tournaments, but
then backtracked and unveiled its own Camel Pro Billiards tournaments.
RJR took over tournaments previously run by the PBTA, solicited players
who had played for the association and hired the PBTA's tournament
manager.

Andrew Copenhaver, a Reynolds' attorney, argued that the company
neither made a long-term financial commitment to the pool association
nor did it promise to pay the association $500,000 in 1996.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IMO, $886K is what RJ Reynolds paid Mackey to get the hell away from them. Every man has his price.

 

[jay helfert]

I couldn't put all I knew in my book. My attorney advised me against it. In a nutshell he did his best to put the screws to R.J. Reynolds. What had been a promising pro tour fell completely apart under Mackey's questionable "guidance."

It is true that a settlement was reached in the subsequent "nuisance" suit he brought against Camel. After the "Tour" got the money and settled up with the lawyers, I understand upwards of 600K remained. This was supposed to be split among the players who had stock in Mackey''s World Team Billiards. Instead Mackay went south to Spring Hill, FL and bought a house, where he resides today, thanks to the efforts of the men players.

I had my own dealings with him way back in 1993. I knew he was not someone to be trusted and tried to warn the players. He had them mesmerized with non stop twelve hour meetings. 'Dazzle them with bullsh-t' is the best I can describe what went on in those meetings. He had them dreaming of sugar plums and golden fairy's. I lost a lot of respect for my "friends" on the pro tour after that. They know who they are.

 

[TorranceChris]

I couldn't put all I knew in my book. My attorney advised me against it. In a nutshell he did his best to put the crews to R.J. Reynolds. What had been a promising pro tour fell completely apart under Mackey's questionable "guidance."

It is true that a settlement was reached in the subsequent "nuisance" suit he brought against Camel. After the "Tour" got the money and settled up with the lawyers, I understand upwards of 600K remained. This was supposed to be split among the players who had stock in Mackey''s World Team Billiards. Instead Mackay went south to Spring Hill, FL and bought a house, where he resides today, thanks to the efforts of the men players.

I had my own dealings with him way back in 1993. I knew he was not someone to be trusted and tried to warn the players. He had them mesmerized with non stop twelve hour meetings. 'Dazzle them with bullsh-t' is the best I can describe what went on in those meetings. He had them dreaming of sugar plums and golden fairy's. I lost a lot of respect for my "friends" on the pro tour after that. They knew who they are.

Has anyone attempted a friendly visit with him ? He deserves the same treatment that Maidoff is getting now.

 

[pro9dg]

Has anyone attempted a friendly visit with him ? He deserves the same treatment that Maidoff is getting now.

Surely the pool world has had enough of this type of thing. One killed and another attempted murder plus people living in fear in the Philippines. Do we want to drive the game completely down the drain?

 

[Blackjack]

Its old news.

By now, we should have recovered from any damage that Mackey caused back in the 1990's. We can't go back and blame guys like Mackey and Trudeau - we have to take responsibility for this at some point, learn and grow from it.

One thing that I have to make clear, is that Don Mackey had the best of intentions. Those good intentions mixed with RJ Reynold's money clouded his judgment, and I know Don did everything he could to save the tour - including risking it all by going behind RJ Reynolds back to try and strike a deal with rival company Phillip-Morris (no relation to Rodney The Rocket).

Mackey's "intentions" lost my faith when I heard Wayne Robertson and Larry Kiger of Rj Reynolds start rattling off marketing statistics in order to sell their tobacco products, not pool. They had already done their marketing research on the use of tobacco products around pool tables.

They could have gave a shit less about pool.

In the end, RJ Reynolds came to the conclusion that "professional" pool was not marketable, but they found out that they could make a quick dime with tavern pool.

When Mackey got wind of RJ Reynolds' plans to drop the tour, he got caught courting Phillip-Morris (once again, no relation the Rodney The Rocket).

Mackey got caught, and RJ Reynolds pulled the plug as soon as they could. I can't fault Don Mackey for trying to keep his dream alive. I was one of the people that never believed in "his dream" from the start - and I was not surprised to see the walls crumble around him.

Over the years, I've heard people lay blame on Allen Hopkins - Allen did the best he could under the most trying of circumstances. In the end, Allen took a stand for himself, and in essence took a stand for everybody - and for that he should be commended. Everything changed for the worse after Allen resigned as President of the PBTA.

I have heard people point fingers at CJ Wiley and the PCA. People claim that it split the players up and forced them to choose sides.

That is bullshitt. The PCA was formed so that all players could have a chance to earn a living playing the game. The Camel Tour paid out a bunch of money, but the payout took care of only the top 10 players. This is an exact quote from back then by a current HOFer - "If your game isn't top-10-steady, you're better off finding something else to do with your life."

Interpreted: "You suck."

Those that participated in the PCA events can tell you that they were some of the best (and most fun events) in the history of our game. I will never forget how excited Kyle Tafoya (RIP) was to play pool on TV as Allison Fisher's Scotch Doubles partner in Santa Rosa. That memory alone makes the whole friggin PCA experience worthwhile in my eyes.

The blame falls solely on the entire industry. All inclusive. Instead of being united for a common purpose, we spend most of our energy keeping each other at a distance. If we took all the energy that goes into posturing, easing others out, screwing each over, etc - and then generated that energy positively to build something great - then we will succeed. Until then, get used to the way things are - and that's because of US, not Kevin Trudeau or Don Mackey.

 

[uwate]

Is it true that Don Mackey was in negotiations with Mark McCormack/IMG and that the deal fell apart due to demands Mackey was making on IMG?

For those that dont know IMG, they are one of the premier talent/sports agencies in the world and were one of the instrumental founders of the success of the PGA. They also own Transworld International, a production company that has done everything from American Gladiators, the world Strongest man competition to co founding the Premier League, the Top English football/soccer leagues.

If Mackey had a chance to partner up with IMG and dogged it, then this is perhaps his greatest folly ever, far surpassing any 600k he stole from the RJR settlement.

 

[center pocket]

Well all I got to say about all of this is I hope karma does its job. Also i hope the new venture out in galveston happens again next year. If it does I will definitly be there.

I am younger then most of you guys. I just dont understand how two oppurtunities to run a great pool tour and start something great for decades to come got so screwed up. Especially when their are so many successful business models out there? You have the PGA, PBA, and even freaking tennis as an example. I think I heard that Venus won like 250 thou in her last tournament. That's huge and its freaking tennis!!!! I honestly think if everyone tried to project our sport as a game of gentlemen and the tours would appeal to the high dollar sponsors like golf does (Like rolex, omega, ect.), we would do ok.

It sounds like Mackey had good intentions and the gift of gab. Another person comes to mind that had good intentions for his country, Hitler! I am not saying Mackey is Hitler. I just dont see how some of the best players of the time got hustled by this guy and his speeches. Even the best players have to know a hustle when they see it, cause the have done them themselves! I mean thats like me telling someone on here to give me the 2 out and promising them "I will never beat you that way, so lets start off betting 1000 a rack!"

I am going to stop cause I am starting to rant. I just think that there is no real good reason that pool doesnt have the sponsors it should, or be an olympic sport!

 

[jay helfert]

Its old news.

By now, we should have recovered from any damage that Mackey caused back in the 1990's. We can't go back and blame guys like Mackey and Trudeau - we have to take responsibility for this at some point, learn and grow from it.

One thing that I have to make clear, is that Don Mackey had the best of intentions. Those good intentions mixed with RJ Reynold's money clouded his judgment, and I know Don did everything he could to save the tour - including risking it all by going behind RJ Reynolds back to try and strike a deal with rival company Phillip-Morris (no relation to Rodney The Rocket).

Mackey's "intentions" lost my faith when I heard Wayne Robertson and Larry Kiger of Rj Reynolds start rattling off marketing statistics in order to sell their tobacco products, not pool. They had already done their marketing research on the use of tobacco products around pool tables.

They could have gave a shit less about pool.

In the end, RJ Reynolds came to the conclusion that "professional" pool was not marketable, but they found out that they could make a quick dime with tavern pool.

When Mackey got wind of RJ Reynolds' plans to drop the tour, he got caught courting Phillip-Morris (once again, no relation the Rodney The Rocket).

Mackey got caught, and RJ Reynolds pulled the plug as soon as they could. I can't fault Don Mackey for trying to keep his dream alive. I was one of the people that never believed in "his dream" from the start - and I was not surprised to see the walls crumble around him.

Over the years, I've heard people lay blame on Allen Hopkins - Allen did the best he could under the most trying of circumstances. In the end, Allen took a stand for himself, and in essence took a stand for everybody - and for that he should be commended. Everything changed for the worse after Allen resigned as President of the PBTA.

I have heard people point fingers at CJ Wiley and the PCA. People claim that it split the players up and forced them to choose sides.

That is bullshitt. The PCA was formed so that all players could have a chance to earn a living playing the game. The Camel Tour paid out a bunch of money, but the payout took care of only the top 10 players. This is an exact quote from back then by a current HOFer - "If your game isn't top-10-steady, you're better off finding something else to do with your life."

Interpreted: "You suck."

Those that participated in the PCA events can tell you that they were some of the best (and most fun events) in the history of our game. I will never forget how excited Kyle Tafoya (RIP) was to play pool on TV as Allison Fisher's Scotch Doubles partner in Santa Rosa. That memory alone makes the whole friggin PCA experience worthwhile in my eyes.

The blame falls solely on the entire industry. All inclusive. Instead of being united for a common purpose, we spend most of our energy keeping each other at a distance. If we took all the energy that goes into posturing, easing others out, screwing each over, etc - and then generated that energy positively to build something great - then we will succeed. Until then, get used to the way things are - and that's because of US, not Kevin Trudeau or Don Mackey.

Let's just say you got it half right David. :smile:

 

[JoeyInCali]

Let's just say you got it half right David. :smile:

Remember the last Legends of 9-Ball at the Commerce Casino?
I witnessed a US Open winner beg for his check on Saturday so he could go home after he was eliminated.
At the Riviera, they were scalping tickets to the World 8-Ball semis and finals.
One big dude claimed the venue was sold out. It was right there in the open. I paid two times the ticket's face value. When I got in, there were plenty of seats left even during the finals.
He sure did a great job in getting the ESPN contract cancelled. The year after ESPN showed LIVE coverage of the US OPen.