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