US Open Boycott Lifted
My daughter, Shannon, and myself are “pleased as punch” to announce there will be no boycott as everyone came to an agreement today to work everything out and we are very glad. 🙂 We feel that the player’s needs were justified as pool is in a dire state. We were happy to be able to work out a solution that will protect all parties and appreciate the ABP bending a little, so that we could all reach an agreement that we are all happy with.
It is time for us to restructure our methods of receiving funds from the sponsor, vendors and others in order to be able to pay players in full at the event. We ask our loyal vendors to please be prepared to pay in full by September 15, 2011 to assure and hold your booth space. Shannon and I have always appreciated all of you, but now we must restructure our method of you paying us, as we have to have all funds available to pay players. So now you have over 70 days before the event knowing that we need to have all the cash on hand.
Two weeks ago, I called Rob Johnson to ask him to hold all future entries, and added money in an escrow account as the BCA is trustworthy and fully capable of taking on such a task. We want to thank Rob Johnson, president of the BCA, for taking about 2 seconds to say yes, the BCA will be glad to hold the added money and entry fees. From today’s date forward, entry fees are to be mailed to the BCA at 12303 Airport Way, Suite 140, Broomfield, CO 80021.
Rob, thank you for everything.
We also want to thank so many of you wonderful people who have supported us during the past weeks showing us just how much you care. We understand the player’s concerns and are happy to say that cool heads have prevailed and we are confident that all will be handled very properly. We appreciate the constructive criticism as well as the encouraging support from the industry and the fans alike.
Shannon and I are also excited for the ABP to have a pro-am at the Chesapeake Conference Center, Friday October 14th, from 7-9pm. They are also going to encourage every player from around the world to participate in the US Open that is capable of playing.
So, the bottom line is we are forming a joint relationship with the ABP, which will hopefully last for many years. We all can simply grow with each other’s support. Isn’t that what we should have been doing from the beginning?
I would personally like to thank Johnny Archer, who on his own called my daughter Shannon last week, as it was a very pleasant surprise. Charlie Williams also returned my call in which he also had encouraging and pleasant things to say. Barry and Shannon would also like to thank Dennis Walsh, the attorney for the ABP for the long hours of cordial negotiation, conversation and compromise. While the pool public in general was under the impression that discussions were not taking place and that each side had stubbornly drawn a line in the sand, rest assured that representatives of both camps were busy trying to reach a workable solution and that many others in the industry were pitching in with offers of help and other valuable advice.
So let’s get ready to rack some balls come October 16-22 and players don’t forget that one week prior to the event there will be a $50 late fee, so please get your entries into:
the BCA at 12303 Airport Way, Suite 140, Broomfield, CO 80021.
Hotel information can be found on your website, www.usopen9ballchampionships.com . Ladies, we hope that you all return this year and we encourage others to participate as well. Our goal is to fill the field of 256 players again; it would be an awesome feeling for everyone.
Barry & Shannon
(Editors Note: This release was cleared by ABP attorney Dennis Walsh prior to release)
