Which WPBA Players were on the board when Jean quit?
- Thread starter Johnnyt
- Start date
Johnnyt said:
Johnny, I've got a whole slew of pool mag articles about this that I read in the past, but the names I cannot remember.
I'll try to dig 'em up and see if I can find out.
Here is one article written by, I'll just bet, a journalist who received info from somebody at the WPBA:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...0A15751C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
THE WOMAN WHO IS REGARDED AS THE greatest female player of all time was Jean Balukas, a five-time W.P.B.A. champion who abruptly quit playing in 1987 in protest over being fined $200 for poor sportsmanship -- she had thrown a tantrum during a televised match against Robin Bell. Balukas now quietly runs her family's poolroom in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, but in the 80's she was the only woman to enter men's tournaments, and occasionally beat some of the best. She was a trailblazer, a child prodigy, a loner who rebelled against dress codes for women -- the pool equivalent of Billie Jean King.
1987 is the year she quit professional pool!
JAM
Man, check out the Wikipedia article about Jean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Balukas
WOW!
Here's the answer, according to Wikipedia: Just because she was our premier player doesn't mean she was above the rules," said Vicki Paski in 1992, then president of the WPBA.
And here's the New York Times article about it, entitled "Billiard Master Reposes in Self-Exile": http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DE1539F931A1575BC0A964958260
JAM
WOW!
Here's the answer, according to Wikipedia: Just because she was our premier player doesn't mean she was above the rules," said Vicki Paski in 1992, then president of the WPBA.
And here's the New York Times article about it, entitled "Billiard Master Reposes in Self-Exile": http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DE1539F931A1575BC0A964958260
JAM
Thank you for those articals Jam. What I got out of them was 1) They wanted her gone. 2)Why the others started winning when Jean left...well she was gone duh. 3)I would hold Robin Bell responsible for the whole mess. She can't take a little trash talking? She never trash talked herslf. She had to run to the teacher? JMO. JohnnytJAM said:Man, check out the Wikipedia article about Jean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Balukas
WOW!
Here's the answer, according to Wikipedia: Just because she was our premier player doesn't mean she was above the rules," said Vicki Paski in 1992, then president of the WPBA.
And here's the New York Times article about it, entitled "Billiard Master Reposes in Self-Exile": http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DE1539F931A1575BC0A964958260
JAM
Thanks Jam
Thanks Jam for the great article. I love reading about the history of pool and players.
I was just curious if Ewa and Jim's kid, Nikki, is a pool player. Great genes to start with!
I have an amazing match of Ewa playing against Balukas with Mr. Jay Helfert commentating. Queen Jean could just flat out play pool. Period.
Thanks Jam for the great article. I love reading about the history of pool and players.
I was just curious if Ewa and Jim's kid, Nikki, is a pool player. Great genes to start with!
I have an amazing match of Ewa playing against Balukas with Mr. Jay Helfert commentating. Queen Jean could just flat out play pool. Period.
I really don't care for this thread. It tries to suggest that members of the WPBA Board at that time should be held accountable for Jean leaving the sport.
One can debate whether the incident with Robin merited the fine assessed, a lesser fine, or no fine at all. Nonetheless, the reality remains that Jean had tired of pro pool. If the fine represented her breaking point, it was certainly not the crux of the matter when she retired form competition.
Jean had played in public as a child prodigy in the mid-1960's and won the world championsip by the early 1970's and I think many overlook that, because it started so early, Jean's competitive career was not, as so many seem to think, a short one. In fact, in the annals of women's pro pool, only a few have had a longer run in competition than Jean.
I reject the premise of the thread, which, metaphorically, tries to organize a lynch mob to round up those who ran the organization while Jean retired. The fact is that those same people are responsible for the emergence and sustenance of the only pro pool association in America that has stood the test of time for over thirty years.
Let's lose this silliness in favor of celebrating the great, and yes, prolific, body of work of Jean Balukas and the exceptional work of the WPBA in building and maintaining a fine pro pool product.
One can debate whether the incident with Robin merited the fine assessed, a lesser fine, or no fine at all. Nonetheless, the reality remains that Jean had tired of pro pool. If the fine represented her breaking point, it was certainly not the crux of the matter when she retired form competition.
Jean had played in public as a child prodigy in the mid-1960's and won the world championsip by the early 1970's and I think many overlook that, because it started so early, Jean's competitive career was not, as so many seem to think, a short one. In fact, in the annals of women's pro pool, only a few have had a longer run in competition than Jean.
I reject the premise of the thread, which, metaphorically, tries to organize a lynch mob to round up those who ran the organization while Jean retired. The fact is that those same people are responsible for the emergence and sustenance of the only pro pool association in America that has stood the test of time for over thirty years.
Let's lose this silliness in favor of celebrating the great, and yes, prolific, body of work of Jean Balukas and the exceptional work of the WPBA in building and maintaining a fine pro pool product.
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Mary Kenniston
I just got off the phone with Mary Kenniston. Like I thought, Mary, was on the board at the time of Jean's departure. Mary said she wanted to fine Jean a lot more than the $200 but that was the figure everyone agreed on assuming Jean would pay the fine and keep playing. This wasn't the first incident. She had been warned many times in previous events about her unsportsman like conduct.
I just got off the phone with Mary Kenniston. Like I thought, Mary, was on the board at the time of Jean's departure. Mary said she wanted to fine Jean a lot more than the $200 but that was the figure everyone agreed on assuming Jean would pay the fine and keep playing. This wasn't the first incident. She had been warned many times in previous events about her unsportsman like conduct.
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vagabond said:
Dawn (Meurin) Hopkins was definitely NOT on the board then!
sjm said:
Thanks for this Stu. Jean had been playing pool non stop since the age of nine and was now 29 in 1987. Twenty years of it and she was burned out. That's from the horse's mouth. Jean welcomed the chance to take a break, and never had a reason to come back. She often said if the money got big, she would return. Probably the closest to coming back was when they had the Gordon's events in the 90's, with 20K first prizes. If they had invited her (they didn't), she may have dusted off her cue.