Quote:
Originally Posted by JimBo  [...]
1) It has been reported many times that you once said "if you buy one of my cues to play with you are buying the wrong cue" Is this an accurate quote, and if so can you explain these words in context? Can you tell us your thoughts on a cue as a pool playing instrument as apposed to a work of art.
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Since this supposed quote seems to be a matter of interest for several forum members I’ll address it now and get that matter out of the way.
That quote is a complete fabrication by George Fels. I never said it, and at one point I actually considered filing a libel suit against Fels and Billiards Digest for attributing it to me.
Some time before that “quote” was published, George Fels was an invited guest at one of the Gallery of American Cue Art events in New York. At that event one of my show cues won the Gold Medal for Best of Show, the highest honor awarded. Subsequently, on an internet forum, George Fels publicly posted an entry suggesting that the judging was rigged, and specifically said that putting “Thomas Wayne in charge of the competition was like letting the fox guard the hen house”.
I responded on the same forum by offering the FACTS of the matter, something a hack writer like Fels is too lazy to research and too dishonest to even care much about. Those facts are that, while I was a member of the five-man show committee, I had absolutely NO involvement in choosing the judges and had no contact with the judges prior to (or during) the actual event. The judges were chosen by other committee members, and included two members of the New York art community and Brad Simpson, author of the “Blue Book of Pool Cues”. To this day I do not know the names of the art-related guys.
I pointed out that Fels was not only accusing ME of fraud, but also the judges – including Brad Simpson. Since I had nothing to do with selecting the panel and no contact with them of any sort, it was impossible for me to have “rigged” the judging, but if I HAD then these other people must also be complicit…right?. I also pointed out that Fels had received a “complimentary” cue from one of the cuemaker participants who was openly disgruntled over the judge’s choices – a total of four awards were given (Gold, Silver, Bronze medals and a “Peoples’ Choice” award), but Fels’ favorite cuemaker was not among the winners.
Fels subsequently apologized publicly for his accusations and later approached me at a BCA show, hoping to shake my hand and “let bygones be bygones”. Anyone who knows me well knows that I rarely forgive and NEVER forget; I refused Fels hand and warned him to get the f*ck away from me if he wanted to stay healthy (to this day I would love an opportunity to get him alone without any witnesses).
Following these two occasions, Fels wrote a BD article about the Gallery Show, prominently featuring the cuemaker who was so unhappy about the judging, and including the false “quote” mentioned above. I’m sure he (they?) thought it would cause me a loss of business – after all, what kind of cuemaker would suggest playability is irrelevant? – but, as it turns out, I still sell everything I can make… usually before it’s finished. All of the cuemakers who know me and are aware of my hatred for Fels know full well that the quote is phony because they know I would never even speak to that weasel in the first place.
Later I’ll be happy to address the issue(s) of playability, but for the moment I just wanted to address this fake quote by a fake writer.
Thomas Wayne