CONGRATULATIONS SEYBERTS.COM

[9ballgirl]

For the wonderful article that was published in Inside English.

I remember when y'all were in the building, before the new one.

I remember playing in Rick Matzke's pool hall. (Both of them)

I remember Jason, one of the first to own a predator, being a shark. (And still is. He just won a tourny last night)

But I think what I enjoyed the most was how you guys went from being a farm equipment distributor, to the #1 predator distributor in the world.

All from Smalltown, USA where thee American dream lives on. 8)

Again, congratulations.




Michelle

[9ballgirl]

Here's the article online.


WWW.insideenglish.net

Articles by Kelly Pendleton.(great gal BTW, when she's not bealting up Sandy :lol: LMAO!)




How Seybert's Found Success

Seyberts Billiard Supply of Coldwater, Michigan, is the worlds largest Predator pool cue dealer and one of the nation’s biggest dealers for Viking and Pechauer cues. There have been one hundred pool tables sold this year with sales totaling over 1,500,000—all of this from a small farming community forty miles from any good size town. It makes one wonder how this all took place and how Jim Tong, better known on the web as J.T., got involved.

The year is 1960 and there was a love struck fifteen-year old farm boy with a new girlfriend. The girlfriend’s neighbor was a retired judge who had built a billiard room onto his new home. It didn’t take too long for the young J.T. to start spending more time in the judge’s billiard room than holding hands wit the new girlfriend. Needless to say J.T. was bitten by the billiard bug. Many nights, he told Mom that he was going to the library for a book report, but in actuality, he was frequenting one of the local pool halls. That’s right—pool halls, because the town of Marion, Ohio had three pool halls and five tables at the bowling alley.

Now it is 1977 and the thirty-two year old J.T. is moving to Coldwater , Michigan to purchase a farm equipment dealership. Now that J.T. had a retail store, one of the first steps was to start selling better quality two-piece cues out of his sales office. While the inventory wasn’t huge, there was still enough selection and sales to make a name for himself.

In the mid 1990’s, a new cue hit the marketplace under the name of Predator. The local pool hall in town was managed by a young shark named Jason Mahaffey. Jason purchased one of the first Predators in Michigan and immediately started hyping its virtues to J.T. and he quickly became a believer.

Most local tournaments would find J.T. in attendance as a player and also as a seller of Predator cues. To his surprise, he found out that within a year of selling these cues, he was ranked as one of their top ten dealers. Now, this is about the time that Sid Kries came into the picture. He was a local meat department manager and an avid APA pool player that happened to be on the same team as J.T. Sid also just purchased his first computer. Over pool and beers, Sid suggested that he start up a website for J.T. and explained that it would be free because he just wanted the experience. It didn’t take long before orders started to come in. J.T.’s mom had taught him to be fair and he shared a small percentage of the sales with Sid. Both satisfied, J.T. was selling cues and Sid could now afford the toys he always wanted. Soon enough, their small business was emerging.

After six months of web sales, J.T. asked Sid if he might consider heading up the website full time. It took another six months before the deal was struck. They remodeled the tractor dealership, which was intended to be a setup for Sid to sell cues and tables, and run a new rental center. However, the rental center never got started because the website took off like “gangbusters” with walk-in traffic increasing every week. Sid later confessed that he never did like the idea of a rental center. Shortly after Seybert’s Billiard Supply was opened, the boys received a visit from a young man named Rick Matzke. Rick had owned a

small pool hall in a nearby town. Since his pool hall was closing down, he wanted to sell his equipment. A deal was made and talk centered around Rick and what he was going to do now that he was out of a job. At the end of the week, Seyberts had it’s first employee. Within a year, the billiard division was a new corporation with Sid Kries as the president. Seybert’s Billiard Supply was growing at such an enormous rate that they had to move down the road to a larger location.

Remember the young man that first introduced J.T. to the Predator cue—Jason Mahaffey? He had left that local pool hall and started his own lawn service. In the fall, business was so slow that Jason asked Seyberts if they had any part-time work during the winter. Seyberts now had its second employee.

Seyberts is now one of the world’s largest Predator cue dealerships and one of the nation’s largest Viking custom cue and Pechauer cue dealers. With five lines of tables, two lines of bars and pub tables, neon signs, foosball, air hockey, darts, and more, Seyberts is now stocking everything for your game room. Rick Matzke is now the General Sales Manager and Jason Mahaffey runs the shipping department. Many new employees have since been added, but the core of their employees still centers around people who love the game.

Several years ago, Sid Kries and Jim “J.T.” reminisced and talked about what their dreams were as young boys. They both stated that they wanted their names to be recognized by their peers in the billiard industry, which is what they love so much. That time has come! Going from tractor salesman and a meat department manager to becoming one of the world’s largest billiard supply companies proves that you are never too old to follow your dreams.

[9ballgirl]

Also,

Congratulations to Vince Jabkewicz, one of the greatest wheelchair players to have ever played the game, for the Player Profile of the Month, in this months issue of Inside English.


Yeah Vince, you may be a former world champ, but we broke even yesterday. hehehehehe!!

Good luck in Rochester Minn. on your next tour stop. We are all pulling for ya buddy. :wink:

[9ballgirl]

www.insideenglish.net




PLAYER PROFILE: VINCE JABKIEWICZ
by Alice Rim

Vince Jabkiewicz has been a familiar face around the Midwest pool scene for many years. Known for his quiet and polite nature, he is also recognized as one of the best wheelchair players around the country. Although he had taken some time off from playing pool here and there over the last several decades, he remains an ardent fan, supporter, and player of pocket billiards.

Born Vincent Stanley Jabkiewicz to parents Edith and Vincent, he was raised in Jackson, Michigan with two younger brothers and two younger sisters. Although the area he grew up in was quite secluded at the time, he describes his childhood as normal. As an adolescent, he participated in all of the neighborhood sports such as baseball, basketball and football. While he attended Jackson High, he also worked in restaurants and eventually at the Jackson Drop Forge Plant. When it was discovered that he was under age, he was laid off. After reaching eighteen years of age, he was rehired by the plant, and quit school after completing the eleventh grade. There, he worked for three years until his life was changed forever by one fateful day.

On July 20, 1969, Vince and his friend decided to go to a party right after returning from another one. Undeterred by their drunken state, the friend got behind the wheel with Vince in the passenger seat. Consequently, the driver lost control and ran into a trench on the side of the road. From there, the car hit a mailbox, a tree, and finally a house. Though the driver escaped virtually unharmed, Vince was not so fortunate. He ended up in the hospital for over a year, undergoing numerous surgeries and rehabilitation, and to this day, remains a paraplegic. Yet in spite of his horrific experience, Vince has become an inspiration to many, both on and off the pool table.

After his accident, Vince spent much time learning to adapt to his new life. Not being able to work his old job, he attended Jackson Community College on and off for the next several years. He started recreational programs there, getting pool tables installed in the commons areas. He had first been introduced to the sport around the age of eighteen, but had never really given it much thought then. However, with much more time on his hands now, he began to play more seriously and even began gambling. He realized that he could make good money playing, since at that time, no one had ever seen or heard of wheelchair pool.

Although he continued to play for the next few years, he eventually went back to work, first at the Jackson Emergency Dispatch and then as a dispatcher for the local fire department. He later did the accounting for a vending company. Soon enough, however, he found himself back in the pool world, and began to travel to various tournaments. He credits Clarence “Bucky” Bell and the late Mike “Fairlane” Fisher as his strongest pool influences, as he had traveled with and learned a great deal from them.

In 1984, Vince won his first major tournament— the McDermott Masters Wheelchair Tournament in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was quite a notable event since it was the first wheelchair pool tournament ever held. Then in 1989, he placed second in another McDermott Wheelchair Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona. What was particularly memorable about this event was the fact that the rooms of the host hotel were not wheelchair accessible. However, the rooms were soon made accessible with the addition of ramps to the rooms’ entrances.

Vince has also done well elsewhere. In addition to cashing in local and regional tournaments, he won the NWPA (National Wheelchair Pool Players Association) event in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 2000. He also took third two years later at the NWPA Great Smokey Mountain Shootout in North Carolina.

Vince’s accomplishments are not just limited to his playing abilities on the pool table however. As early as the mid 1980s, he and Bob Calderon had tried to organize a wheelchair tour, since at the time, there were so few events for wheelchair players. While they found little success with obtaining sponsors, Pete Vanko of Ohio eventually got the NWPA started almost a decade later, which Vince and Bob soon ended up taking over. Bob has since been president, and during its initial stages, Vince served as secretary/treasurer. In addition, Vince has remained a major influence and a strong proponent of accessibility rights. In fact, in the mid 1990s, he was one of the two first people in wheelchairs to obtain a CDL license. With that, he spent four years driving for a local transit system, which is when he took some time off from pool.

Presently, he is semi-retired and tries to play whenever he can. Having been diagnosed with diabetes five years ago, he is trying to watch his health habits and to figure out how it has affected his game. He recently played in the NWPA tournament in Warren, Michigan (see page 8), and although he did not perform like he wanted, he looks forward to playing more in the future and trying to get his old game back. He now spends much of his time at the Garage in Jackson, Michigan and at whatever tournaments he can get to. When asked about any message or advice he could give to others, he says, “If you have a strong enough desire, even with a disability, you can achieve almost anything.” Truly an inspiration, Vince is a gentleman to play and to know.

For anyone wanting more information about Vince or the NWPA, you may contact him at vince47@voyagernet.

More about Vince:

DOB: 12-23-47

Favorite Movie: “Ghost” and “The Green Mile”

Favorite Actor: Demi Moore

Favorite Song: “Turn the Page” by Bob Seger

Favorite Music: Classic Rock

Favorite Food: Spaghetti and Seafood

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Book: “Casino” (about Roxy Rosenblum, the Vegas odds maker) and “Life is Too Short” by Mickey Rooney

Favorite Pro Player: Buddy Hall

Hobbies: Wheelchair sports — Bowling, Table Tennis, Field Events

Cue: McDermott

Goal: To achieve the level of play he had ten years ago

Advice to other players: Take the game seriously but don’t let it ruin your life

About the Author: Alice Rim is a Women’s Professional Billiard Association Touring Pro currently ranked in the top 25. She is also a contributing writer and editor for Inside English and resides in Warren, Michigan.



**** Hey Alice, I know you are on the tour and not around much but this...."Vince Jabkiewicz has been a familiar face around the Midwest pool scene for many years. Known for his quiet and polite nature"


Quiet? Polite? Not the Vince I've known since I was knee high to a grass hopper.


This part I agree with however......" He realized that he could make good money playing, since at that time, no one had ever seen or heard of wheelchair pool."


**Yeah, I remember when I first met the dude. He used to run with my daddy and boy could he play. I used to watch them guys play in my basement for hours and hours.

(Come to think about it, one of my very first childhood memories was of a pool table. I was about 1 year old, and that cool thing in the basement that had all those balls on it was just calling my name, but only the big people got to play with it. I wanted to play with that toy so bad too...)

Then I wouldn't see him for a while, so I knew he was on the road.

He's slowed down alot, but is going to finish the NWPA tour this year. After that he SAYS he's going into retirement (we'll see).
Maybe I can get some more of those lessons huh?

Anyway, good luck to Vince in Minn. and on the rest of the tour.
8)