So for who knows how long, the Riv has been the go to hotel for pool tournaments. I’m pretty sure that the only people who stay at the Riv during the months of May and August are pool players and let’s be honest, who the hell would want to stay there if they didn’t have to?

Anyway, since the Riv probably won’t be around much past, oh let’s say the end of 2013, leagues are starting to sniff around for other places to host their events. The ACS was the first to leave, announcing that their tournament would be at the Trop next year. Because the Trop is so much nicer than the Riv. But that’s not the point. Where it gets interesting is that the ACS event is now scheduled to overlap with the annual BCA apple bob. As an overhyped figure skater once said “whyyy? whyyyy?”.

That’s right. We’re going to take a small audience and fragment it even further, forcing people to choose. That makes sense. When you’re scheduling an event, use the Super Sweet Sixteen method. Check with everyone else in your circle who’s planning to throw a shindig around that time and work it out so you don’t force people to choose. Especially if you’re the fringe girl trying to compete with a Kardashian.

Because this is the billiards industry, no date conflict can happen without a epic scale pissing match. The ACS changes the date and place which prompts the BCA to send their “here’s why you need to pick our side” letter. The ACS then responds with their “Damn yo! Why you gotta hate? We may be small, but we’re not that small!” retort.

The BCA contends that the conflict will force people to choose while the ACS says that this is better for pool players because they don’t have to spend 5 weeks in Vegas. One could make the argument that the BCA did nothing wrong because their date was already set (which is true). Its also true that the BCA is quite a bit larger than the ACS. Which begs the question of why the BCA felt the need to go on the offensive. The other side of this is that if the ACS was so worried about their members being able to optimize their schedules, they would have started their show right after the BCA show ended (it used to be 2 weeks between the events) instead of having it overlap.

The reality of course falls somewhere in between. The events have a few days of overlap which will likely impact some players, but its not nearly as bad as the BCA wants you to believe. ACS claims that the dates they chose were the only ones available which may be true, although considering the size of their event, almost any hotel in Vegas with convention space (which is almost all of them) would be able to host it.

Whatev. I’m so tired of this crap. Just another example of how the industry is happy to fragment itself into oblivion. What you won’t see though is anyone picking a fight with the APA. If the BCA is a Khloe or a Kourtney, the APA is a Kim. Too bad all the girls can’t just play nice and get along.

I tell you, the level that some people stoop to make a buck in this business makes me want to retch.  So I do a search on Google for Seyberts the other day and this is what I get:

That’s right, the folks over at Billiardsdotcom apparently decided that they would take the lowest of the low roads and advertise “We’ll Beat Seyberts Prices” for anyone searching for Seyberts.  Not only is this a completely sleazy move, but if the Seybert’s name is trademarked, its also a violation of Google’s T’s & C’s.  Not to mention the fact that all major pool cue brands are price controlled, so they’re not beating anyone’s prices.

Let’s just say I have much love for Seybert’s with they way they’re fighting back.  With an ad title of “No They Won’t” and a subheader of “We are what the others try to be” Seybert’s does an excellent job of not only kicking those guys square in the nuts but also reminds any potential customer just what kind of people they’d be dealing with if they decided to click the other guys’ link.

Seyberts, Ozone, Billiards Warehouse, Pooldawg, these are the online guys who do it right and deserve your business (not to mention the fact that they all go beyond making a buck and actually work to support pool).  Anyone who trades on the names of others in an attempt to trick, manipulate and deceive is beyond pathetic.

As we all know, this movie is the billiards industry’s equivalent to Duke Nukem Forever.  Its been in production forever and at this point I doubt anyone actually believes it will ever come out (Duke on the other hand was finally killed after 10 years of build).  Do we all recall back in 2007 (yes, 3 years ago), when the production company was “preselling” the DVD for 2 bucks (they were too lazy to pull this page off their website, but at least they listed the offer as expiring in May 2008):

To give you an idea as to how long this project has been in the works, I saw a copy of the script back in 2005.  The company still lists their “letter of support” from Stephen Ducoff (dated January 2006), who the BCA kicked to the curb in Feb. 2006.  The movie has changed lead cast members more times than tires get changed at the Brickyard (anyone else recall Jennifer Layne Park as Black Diamond aka “Gail’s Nightmare”) and based on the “teaser” clip, it appears they have reworked the script to be a J-Thug/APA infomercial.

Seriously, the fact that this clown is telling people that the flick is going to have a theatrical run by the end of the year is just pathetic.  This guy has been claiming the movie is “near completion” for G-d only knows how long.  I mean take a look at this screenshot from this 2 post blog that it appears the production company created.  You’ll notice that they list the release date there as “Summer 2010″.

And of course who can forget when the guy allegedly sent out emails to people stating that the movie would be released on DVD during the holidays of 2007.

Seriously, I’m pretty sure that this will be my last post about this train wreck, as I would prefer to not become this guy:

In the meantime, here’s the trailer for the movie that was released, um, well, a year ago.  I’m sure it will be hitting theaters any time now.

Maybe I should head up to Vegas this weekend, go to the top of the Riv and see if I can score a spot as an extra.  Nah.  They’re probably looking for people to pay for walk on roles anyway and the catering table will probably be a jug of water and a trough of pickled eggs.