HomeAbout Billiards DigestContact UsArchiveAll About PoolEquipmentOur AdvertisersLinks
From the Publisher
By Mike Panozzo
Mike became editor of Billiards Digest in 1980 and liked it so much that he bought the company. He has served on the Billiard Congress of America board of directors and as president of the Billiard & Bowling Institute of America.


Archives
• March 2024
• February 2024
• January 2024
• December 2023
• November 2023
• October 2023
• September 2023
• August 2023
• July 2023
• June 2023
• May 2023
• April 2023
• March 2023
• February 2023
• January 2023
• December 2022
• November 2022
• October 2022
• September 2022
• August 2022
• July 2022
• June 2022
• May 2022
• April 2022
• March 2022
• February 2022
• January 2022
• December 2021
• November 2021
• October 2021
• September 2021
• August 2021
• July 2021
• June 2021
• May 2021
• April 2021
• March 2021
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020
• November 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• August 2020
• July 2020
• June 2020
• May 2020
• April 2020
• March 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• August 2019
• July 2019
• June 2019
• May 2019
• April 2019
• March 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018
• September 2018
• August 2018
• July 2018
• June 2018
• May 2018
• April 2018
• March 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• November 2017
• October 2017
• September 2017
• August 2017
• July 2017
• June 2017
• May 2017
• April 2017
• March 2017
• February 2017
• January 2017
• December 2016
• November 2016
• October 2016
• September 2016
• August 2016
• July 2016
• June 2016
• May 2016
• Apr 2016
• Mar 2016
• Feb 2016
• Jan 2016
• Dec 2015
• Nov 2015
• Oct 2015
• Sept 2015
• August 2015
• July 2015
• June 2015
• May 2015
• April 2015
• March 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• October 2014
• August 2014
• May 2014
• March 2014
• February 2014
• September 2013
• June 2013
• May 2013
• April 2013
• March 2013
• February 2013
• January 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012
• September 2012
• August 2012
• July 2012
• June 2012
• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• July 2011
• June 2011
• May 2011
• April 2011
• March 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011
• December 2010
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August 2010
• July 2010
• June 2010
• May 2010
• April 2010
• March 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
 
July: Follow the Money
July 2008
There are only three things in life that are absolutely certain: Death, taxes and the fact that pool players will always follow the money.

Like shooting-gallery ducks, pool players - particularly the men pros - have been known to change directions at the drop of a dime. (And, on occasion, at the drop of a nickel.)

From the days of the Professional Pool Players Association (PPPA), to the Men's Professional Billiard Association (MPBA), to the Professional Billiards Association (PBA), to the Professional CueSports Association (PCA), to the International Billiard Council (IBC), to the United States Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA), to the International Pool Tour (IPT) and back to the UPA, the men have thrown their allegiance around like Italians in wartime. (The Italians are famous for aligning themselves with whichever side happens to be winning at any given moment.)

Another about-face appears to be inevitable, although this time no one will blame the men for stitching a new acronym on their tournament golf shirts.

Since the demise of the IPT (at least in its full tournament incarnation), the world's top pros have floundered about, banging heads for 1985 prize funds. Not helping matters, the billiard industry is mired in its worst economic slump in 40 years. On their sleeves, the pros have proudly brandished the UPA logo, but the reality is that the UPA has provided little in terms of marketing strength, tournaments or leadership. The association has not produced an event in more than a year, and has sanctioned just three tournaments for 2008. Two of those events - the Pro Players Championship and the Billiard Congress of America's GenerationPool.com 9-Ball Championships - already enjoyed long-standing player support. The third, the inaugural Desert Shootout in Phoenix, failed to pay out more than $30,000 of the guaranteed prize fund.

Enter entrepreneur Mark Griffin. Griffin, who has owned and operated poolrooms in Anchorage, Alaska, and San Diego, is part owner of Diamond Billiard Products, and owns and operates the BCA Pool League, recently pitched the pros on a series of tournaments with a minimum of $200,000 in guaranteed prize money.

Griffin, long an advocate for the players, further demonstrated his commitment to the struggling pros by arranging for payment of 70 percent of the prize monies still owed players from the Desert Shootout.

Obviously, gaining control of the men's pro association in the U.S. would give Griffin a tidy little business empire, offering the opportunity to run pro tournaments alongside amateur league events, all the while utilizing the events to market Diamond pro and coin tables. He'd also be able to offer multiple marketing platforms to potential sponsors.

Too much control for one person?

Possibly, but in Griffin the pros would attach themselves to the coattails of one of the industry's hardest-working and most creative entrepreneurs. Griffin operates at one speed hyper. Anyone who has watched Griffin operate during the Diamond-promoted Derby City Classic (an endurance test if ever there was one) knows that the 61-year-old still has the energy of a teenager. And his energy is trumped only by his passion for the game.

There is still plenty of investigative work ahead for the players. Griffin has yet to give either an outline or a timeline for his proposed tour. To date, he's not even sure what the association would be called.

But when he's ready to move, the pros had better be prepared to move fast, because few businessmen go from concept to reality faster than Mark Griffin.

Just leave some space on your shirt sleeves, and follow the money.

MORE VIDEO...