Official US Pool Player Rankings Announced

Official US Pool Player Rankings Announced
Official United States of America Billiards Rankings Released

PHOENIX, AZ (May 6, 2008) - The United States Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA) has released the official and updated rankings for the United States men’s professional billiard scene to avoid any confusion as to which rankings are the accurate and historical rankings for the United States of America. To continue to follow the United States official point updates, visit the tour website at www.upatour.com (http://www.upatour.com) and click on Current Ranking located at the top of the homepage.
After a recent press release by the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) concerning its intention to change the ranking and player communication overview procedures, the UPA stands firm as the player’s association and governing body, as still recognized by the BCA, that this is not only unfounded and uncalled for, but disrespectful to the player’s who have fought for this tour since its inception six years ago. The BCA has in fact, since its press release, utilized the UPA’s official rankings to establish their unofficial BCA Points List providing more cause to dispute their reasoning behind this change of practice in the first place; and in the process has offered a points list that has included numerous inaccuracies that pose irrevocable damage to the members of the tour in various aspects of their lives as Touring Professionals.
We find it quite odd that this new point system actually uses our own tour rankings and yet subtly changes the point distribution of our last event. As an association, we find it deeply troubling that those who oversee the BCA rankings would use our rankings in an attempt to ‘overthrow’ our player created and approved system. It is obvious to our players that this is merely an attempt to ‘wean’ the industry from the UPA Tour’s rankings. Our rankings will remain intact and we will do our best to help clarify the confusion that the BCA has contributed by using their imposed point structure. - Frank Alvarez, UPA President
The events of the recent days have caused a chain reaction by the players to demand that their names be removed from the BCA point list immediately, some of their comments are as follows:
I am not requesting that my name be removed from the new ‘rankings’ posted by the BCA, I am demanding it. I want nothing to do with the BCA points list and will be contacting all involved to have my name removed. We players have several ways in which we intend to deal with these pseudo rankings and this is just the beginning. You can bet as players come to realize the full ramifications of this point list, more players will follow. This has hurt both American and international players of our tour. - Rodney Morris, UPA Lead Player Representative
Our rankings were created by the players, for the players. In the BCA’s new ‘rankings’ they have the number one U.S. player, Johnny Archer, ranked fourth and 300 points below the new point leader. The UPA is a player owned tour and I have to wonder if the people who are doing this realize that. I want my name removed from this new list posted by the BCA and I urge every player who competes in U.S. do the same. - Shawn Putnam, UPA Touring Professional
I would like to notify the BCA and those involved in the development of this point list that you are directly damaging the livelihood of United States Touring Professionals. You have no right to change my ranking or change the rules by which my rankings are applied. Thank you for respecting my wishes by removing my name from your points list - you do not have the right to use my name. - Charlie Bryant, UPA Touring Professional.
If you would like to learn more about the UPA organization, our website is located at upatour.com or to contact us directly with questions, please call (480) 353-6747 or email info[at]upatour.com

US Professional Poolplayers Association Takes Stand Against World-Pool Billiard Association

United States Professional Poolplayers Association Takes Stand Against World-Pool Billiard Association
Press Release

PHOENIX, AZ (May 5, 2008) - The United States Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA) announced today that the organization and its players plan to take a stand against the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) effective immediately due to its meddling within the United States men’s professional pool scene.

The UPA, as an organization, officially received word just hours ago that a press release was being provided to media from the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) concerning a change in ranking and player communication overview. In the press release by the BCA, it stated that the decision to manage the men’s professional rankings system and player communications duties was to be performed by the BCA.
The President of the UPA, Frank Alvarez, commented that it is regrettable that I was only informed of this hours before the release. I sit on the BCA/WPA committee and this topic somehow was not presented to the very player’s association that is directly involved. The UPA is officially recognized by the BCA as the ‘governing body’ and yet we were not consulted on this matter nor informed by the BCA of any such release. Obviously, we will need time to get to the heart of the matter and deal with it properly. The BCA is a trade organization and not a player’s association so this not only undermines, but underestimates the wishes of our Touring Professionals. It is apparent that the UPA membership as a whole is not being treated equally or with the same respect as its counter part the Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA). Understandably, the player’s are outraged and we believe this matter will do nothing but impair U.S. pool if not resolved in the near future. It is my position that the will of the UPA is simply the will of the players.
In response to both the BCA’s recent decision and the behavior of the WPA, effective immediately, UPA players will not plan to attend the 2008 Qatar World Open 9-Ball Championships currently scheduled for June 27-July 5, 2008.
Some of the top names in the men’s professional pool scene have provided statements on this issue as follows:
I take it as a personal offense that any association would seek to undermine our ranking system. We are the players in the U.S. and I will support my country’s association. If the WPA wants American players, then I am certain that we will be shown the respect that we deserve from WPA representatives. - Rodney Morris, UPA Lead Representative
This is our tour and our ranking system. No one has the right to take this away from us. Honestly, I am shocked and disappointed that we are treated with such disrespect. - Tony Robles, UPA Representative
In my opinion, we have the strongest ranking system in the world and we are not about to let that go. - Tony Crosby, UPA Representative
I’m in full support of the UPA - I believe in what it stands for and that the power should be in the hands of our player association. - Shane Van Boening, UPA Touring Professional

If you would like to learn more about the UPA organization, our website is located at UPAtour.com or to contact us directly with questions, please call (480) 353-6747 or email info[at]upatour.com.

Archer Earns Top Gun Honors

Archer Earns Top Gun Honors

10-Ball Desert Shootout / Tempe, AZ
by Skip Maloney
Veteran billiard player Johnny Archer struggled through some middle matches in the 10-Ball Desert Shoot-Out but roared back in the double-elimination finals to defeat Mika “Iceman” Immonen twice and take home the $12,500 first prize.
Immonen got off the first shot in the hot seat match, and the two started firing back and forth until the score seesawed to double-hill. From there Immonen got the last rack to advance to the finals undefeated 9-8.

On the one-loss side, Mike Davis was hard at work shooting his way back. He traded shots with Robb Saez early, then jumped out to a 7-3 lead. Saez fought back to within one at 7-6 before Davis closed it out with two in a row.
Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant dispatched John Schmidt into fifth place and faced Davis in the quarterfinal. Davis dropped Bryant into fourth and turned to face Archer. It looked for a while as if Archer had rediscovered his rhythm, opening the semifinal match winning three in a row, but Davis could see the $12,500 and tried to struggle back one game at a time. He got within two at 8-6 before Archer finished him off and dropped him into third place.
“The Scorpion” came at Immonen in the first game of the final with both guns blazing, taking a 3-0 lead that he never relinquished. The Finn took the fourth game and the sixth in that first match, but that was it—Archer won the first set 9-2. Immonen spent the break at a table, shooting at metaphoric “tin cans” to stay loose and on target. It worked, because he took the first lead of the two-set match. Archer came back to tie and then take a 3-game lead at 4-1.
“Don’t get mad,” goes the saying, “get even,” and that’s just what Immonen did, winning the next three games to tie it at 4. This was the last tie, and as it turned out, Immonen had only one more bullet in the chamber. He fired it after Archer had won three more in a row. At 7-5, Archer took the next two to finish the shootout as top gun, while Immonen loaded his saddlebag with the second-place haul of $7,500.
Results:
1st Johnny Archer $12,500
2nd Mika Immonen $7,500
3rd Mike Davis $5,000
4th Charlie Bryant $4,000
5th John Schmidt $2,800
Robb Saez
7th Oscar Dominguez $1,500
Corey Deuel
9th Jose Parica $1,250
Gabe Owen
Tony Robles
Tony Crosby
13th Rodney Morris $1,000
Efren Reyes
Earl Strickland
Cliff Joyner

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