Nikki Benish BD Article - Better Late than Never

I enjoyed reading Mike Geffner's article in the most recent March BD on Nikki Benish. It's ironic to me that Nikki was a top 10 WPBA player most of the entire decade of the 90s, yet didn't manage to land a feature article in a major billiard publication until over 2 years after she dropped off the tour and lost major weight - becoming a real eye catcher!

What's worse for the state of mind of the remaining WPBA players, is that the article constantly harps on how happy and fulfilled Nikki feels now that she's away from the tour grind. I hate to say it (and I know Nikki well enough to know that she'll always REALLY LOVE the game) but it seems she got out at the right time - although she'll never get the game out of her system.

Nikki is a good friend. She has never missed any of our NC Open women's tournaments here and has always been one of our crowd favorites. She has never lost a match here to anyone other than Allison, Karen, Gerda or Helena. I will never forget when she came up here to play in our 2000 tourney after the weight loss. Nikki has always been a darling, but I and everyone else who's known her did a double take as she came through the door - WOW!

Nikki also came up here last summer as a favor to me and played challenge matches against all comers on a table set up in our booth for 2 full days at a local home furnishings show - and was the star of the entire show! Even after returning here late at night after being on her feet playing customers all day, she still wanted to match up and play sets against me - as she knew I really wanted to.

Nikki and BD, congrats on a great long overdue article and for Nikki - continued happiness and success on and off the table, and I'm still awaiting my rematch! - Chris in NC

[Doctor_D]

Good morning Chris:

Good to hear from you (was getting a tad worried that you were MIA), good to have you back. By the way, will you be going to Valley Forge?

Dr. D.

Hey!! There are other's, for example Linda Haywood-Shea from Baltimore, MD, who last year beat Nikki Benish in the first round of play at Valley Forge. Linda is also the top player of the NEWT, top player of the Planet Pool tour and the winner of the first stop on the new CAT tour. She has been an excelent player for years without recognition. Maybe it's the quiet friendly likable players that are not noticed as much as the slim, slim flashy, slim outspoken and loud. Think about it? It's a real shame when the good guys don't get anything for their efforts, but keep on giving everything. Both Nikki and Linda are great people and players and many more out there!

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote: Baltimore_Joe:</font><hr> Hey!! There are other's, for example Linda Haywood-Shea from Baltimore, MD, who last year beat Nikki Benish in the first round of play at Valley Forge. Linda is also the top player of the NEWT, top player of the Planet Pool tour and the winner of the first stop on the new CAT tour. She has been an excelent player for years without recognition. Maybe it's the quiet friendly likable players that are not noticed as much as the slim, slim flashy, slim outspoken and loud. Think about it? It's a real shame when the good guys don't get anything for their efforts, but keep on giving everything. Both Nikki and Linda are great people and players and many more out there! <hr></blockquote>

[Ken]

Some fool has now posted 5 times about how great Linda is. He is either Baltimore_Joe, Baltimore_Kid, greeny and twice as anonymous. I don't see the point of this.

I, too, appreciate Linda's game. I think she plays with the confidence of a Frankie Hernandez. Unfortunately she also seems to miss a bit too often as does Frankie. She is ranked in the 30's for a good reason. She doesn't have the complete package but she may well break through into the top 10 in the near future. I look forward to that happening since she has a style of play that is different from the other top women in the ease with which she plays.

Ken

Ken, just like alot of WPBA players when they venture "down" to the regional competitions, Linda may indeed dominate and intimidate lesser players on the regional level where she is truly in her comfort zone. However, like many other talented players, she has been unable to carry that same game and intensity over to her big matches against the top 6-8 ranked players on the WPBA Classic Tour.

Yes, similar to Nikki, Linda is respected by her peers (and even by the top WPBA players) as a very dangerous player to be taken seriously. However, fact is her match record against the top players in years of playing in WPBA tournaments is a dismal one. I believe that (and financial considerations) are the main reasons she retired from the tour a few years back. I'm not saying it can't happen, but at her age and after years of not being able to crack the top 10, it would be very unusual for Linda's game to jump up to that next level against the top players.

[Ken]

Chris I agree with what you have observed. I guess I just think from the couple times I have seen her that she has the potential to do well at a higher level. I realize she's tried it and I think one of the big problems is the difficulty of making any significant money by being an intermediate player on the tour. If you don't get to the top fairly quickly as Karen did, it just doesn't pay. Probably very few of the WPBA players can afford the luxury of playing on the "pro" tour. Most are just paying to do what they love to do. I think we all would like to see enough sponsorship so that someone like Linda and others could concentrate just on playing at the pro level and be suitably compensated for it. Ken

Your right Karen is #1 and has been for over a year, but gee she only has 1 sponsor (falcon cues). Lets say you come in first in all 6 of our US tours.
1 Air Fare
2 Room for the now five day events
3 Food
4 Misc. Taxis,clothes,tips,exc.

SO lets just say you clear 4,000.00 from the event if you WIN
GEE lets do the math 6 x 4,000.00 = 24,000.00

You can be #1 and it still doesn't pay!

IT is very tough for the girls that are not in the top 10