I am all for the women playing in the US Open.
Competition at this level would be a great for the Fans of pool.
Competition at this level would be a great for the Fans of pool.
All I am saying is what WUTANG was saying is that the men don't have much to call their own and the US Open is one of those things that they should have. The women have the US Open thru the WPBA and if you want to play as a woman you can qualify to do that. Also you don't have to play on the full calendar year to play in the woman's US Open. They still hold qualifiers for that.
What is with this constant contest between the women and the men when it comes to pool, major champoinships shouldn't be altered, there are plenty of other tournaments where if you want to play with these men you can. All other sports there is a men's and woman's division and they play. Ex. NBA the woman cannot play so then forms the WNBA and they don't constantly cry to the men that they should be allowed to play for the World Championship in the NBA. Yes I know there has been in the past a small number of women who crossed over for a "brief" moment, but in the end if they could be competitive and stay competitive on a regular basis then things would have merged alot sooner than now. In sports there is levels and divisions, we may not always agree but in the end these divisions are there for a reason.![]()
I think women should be allowed to play in the US Open under the condition that they "retire" from the WPBA for say a minimum of 3 years or so if they cash for a significant amount. Maybe a better word would be 'graduate' I think the worst thing that can happen is that they are allowed to double dip and take prize money from both the men's and women's events.
The whole (logical) argument for a women's only tour is based on skill level, correct? Well, if a B player does well at an open event, he tends to get kicked out of B tournaments. The same should go for women competing in men's events.
I love my pool playing women. Dont get it twisted. But if there's a gender barrier one way, out of fairness, we should 'hold to the law' the other way. It's a no-brainer. The wpba is not going to take the 'w' out of its title and allow us to play. The jpnewt is not going to take the 'w' out of its title for us as well. And so forth for all other tournaments that have 'women only' addressed in their titles. You have u.s. Open men's and women's tournaments in other major sports like: Tennis, golf, bowling, basketball (nba and wnba), etc. They are on prime time television. And believe you me, there are not going to 'merge the sexes' just because. Im for having 'open' tourneys for everyone (all sexes) to play in. But the men dont have much to go around and call 'our own'. Over the past 5-7 years (ballpark figure), all i see advertised are 'open or women's' slapped on a tournament title. The women can play in either or, but the men are restrcited to just the 'open'. Where are the men's only tournaments?? What do we have to call 'our own'? The U.S. Open has been around for like 'ever. Barry said, 'no women allowed' for whatever his reasons are. I dont see any reason to 'break traditon' cause a small handful wants to particpate. If 'tradition' is broken on one side, it must be broken for the other side as well. Once again this has nothing to do with 'not wanting' women to play with the men. I love my ladies. Im at most thier local events watching them get down like us with the same passion. I just dont like it when there's 'inconsistancy in principle'.
PEACE
WUTANG
P.S IN LIKE '99-'00, I SENT AN EMAIL TO P AND B MAGAZINE ABOUT 'THE MEN'S TOUR'. APARENTLY, IT CAUGHT SOMEONE'S EYE. IT GOT SOME PRINT IN THE MAG. CHECK IT OUT. ITS UNDER THE NAME: EPYH
Seriously? What's a significant amount? I once saw Tommy Kennedy pissed off because he finished 17th out of 200+ players and got $1700.
The US Open is a one off event where anyone with a penis can play. Many players use it as an excuse to take a pool vacation. EVERYONE knows that the majority of players who enter are simply there to donate to the prize fund. And the fact is that most of the women would be donating as well.
I find it ludicrous that people don't care if a quadrapeligic who never played pool before is allowed to play in the US Open as long as he is male but the idea of women playing causes so much debate - what is this 1950?
It was also the women who made the decision to go thier own way. I think the solution is rather simple, One Pro tour with men and women. You can have open qualify tournaments for the up and coming players.
,
That's right but it is unfair to punish ALL women because of the decision of the WPBA.
There are hundreds of women who play shortstop to world class speed in the world who aren't now and have little desire to be part of the WPBA.
Why should these women be denied the opportunity to compete in OPEN events just because of their sex?
Just to play devils advocate, does anyone feel that it's reverse discrimination to have a wimmin only tour? After all, the WPBA is just that.
For the record, I have no problem with women playing in the Berhman US Open.
Eric
I 100% agree. For us people to truely be equal, we need to treat other as well as ourselves as equals. No more, no less. I'm 100% against special treatment (for better or worse) no matter thier race, sex, or age.
I think women players would play even better if they only played in mixed tounaments.
I would love to see the us open, open to all. And I would love to see Jasmin snap it off.
Why stop at the US Open. Let the women compete for a spot on the Mosconi Cup Team accumulating BCA points.
Which short-stop and world class women are you talking about exactly?![]()
"I find it ludicrous that people don't care if a quadrapeligic who never played pool before is allowed to play in women's open tournaments as long as she is female but the idea of men playing causes so much debate - what is this 1950?"
Double standard much?
A 'significant amout' is an amount that would have to be determined by the people making the rules. Just making your entry back would probably not be significant enough to warrant 'graduation', but winning the open would. The line would have to be drawn somewhere in the middle.
Again, I contend that the ONLY logical (meaning un-biased, and un-prejudiced) basis for having a women's only tour is because they can't compete on the same level as the top men. It's exactly the same as a B tournament.
You keep saying that "blah-blah women can compete physically with the men in pool blah-blah etc. etc." Well, if they indeed can then what is the basis for a women's only tour other than sexism? Are you claiming to be a (reverse) sexist?
Once a woman shows that she is on the same level as the male pros and wants to compete in male events, she should not be allowed in the the female only events (to make it fair, she should be allowed to return if her venture into the male pool world proves unsuccessful).
It would be the same as not allowing an A player into a B tournament because the B-only restriction is put in place to keep the A players from winning everything. If a player was winning B tournaments and open tournaments simultaneously, you can bet your ass people would be calling 'foul!'
" I am debating the positives as well as the negatives of this decision "
This tournament should have been open a long time ago. I've had a few very frustrating conversations with Barry about this in the past. If he does open it up, I think many of the female players that play in it will experience the condescending nature he's expressed to me in our conversations.
I'm glad you used Turning Stone as an example. The tournament director there is awesome and (from my experience) was very respectful towards all the players, men and women.
Maybe I'm short-sighted but can someone explain what the negatives are?
If they get in next year, I will take 1,000-1 and bet you $100. It's like free money for you!
Here you go: http://sport.videoland.com.tw/event/10amway/amway03.asp
There are a good 20 women here in this tournament alone who play short-stop to world class and aren't trying real hard to be part of the WPBA tour.