Matchroom Sports Press Release

FWIW the captain of a team can be anyone but it doesnt matter how anyone but the team feels about him. It sounds as if the players on the American team approved of the choice, both before and after the matches, and that is all that really matters.

The team did their best, IMO, and that's all that can be asked for in an athletic event.

As far as Matchrooms choice for captain or for the team it is just that, their choice. We can discuss it to death (and have done so) but it's their show.

Braining VA

I think its great the Matchroom Sports care enough to write a response and give their take.

Unless CW makes the team I doubt he will be back next year.

But it's a fun event and I'm sure glad they still put it on.

Money Ball

Personally, I would like to see someone, with not only pool talents, BUT other talents that come into play in this type of competition. A person who comes to mind, with many other skills when it comes to Match Making is....

Billy Incardona

Mosconi Cup • Matchroom Sport • (MS) • USA

There is an incredible amount of interesting information in Matchroom Sport's press release.

I like the idea that Matchroom Sport allows the U.S. Team to approve or disapprove their team captain but I would like to see them go a bit further. The Mosconi Cup Team shouldn't be saddled with a person whom they don't have confidence in. That being said, the days of choosing a Team Captain because of alliances, friendships and debts of gratitude are over. These European gents are kicking our arse and it's time to put a stop to that.

I think Matchroom Sport should allow the American Pool Public some input; possibly organizing a program to advertise and promote the Mosconi Cup here in America. This could generate increased interest by the American Public and could possibly generate enough interest from some of the Sports Television Networks to broadcast this event live. It's sad that in the hosting country this year, we couldn't persuade even one network to carry this event live or to carry even a portion of this event live. (I wonder if MS gets paid by the other networks who broadcast this event live or if they provide the feed pro bono.) Any way you shake it, it seems that having the American televisions sports networks involved would be a good thing.

I'd love to know more about the details of how and why the Mosconi Cup Team wasn't sold to the U.S. television networks. And what about the other Americas......?

MS has done a fantastic job in tweaking the event each year and have detailed how they handle some of the different aspects of the event.

Next year the event will be held in Europe but that doesn't change anything except that the enthusiastic fans from Europe won't have to travel very far to support their team.

I've long thought that the U.S. Mosconi Cup Team prospects" need a couple of team events each year to be hosted at different parts of the country, especially since the U.S. has few if any, team events to prepare the U.S.A. Mosconi Cup team.

I guess what I'm saying is the Mosconi Cup Team needs more U.S.A. promotion. Maybe they could set up a committee of contracted people and volunteers who would lend their skills to doing just such a thing. There are a number of Casino Events around the country and team exhibition events might sit quite well with them.

Prospective U.S. Mosconi Cup Team members could come in a couple of days early, being comped by the the casinos for food and lodging. The team captains and prospective members of the team could better prepare themselves for what is to come as well as to ascertain who might be best suited to lead the U.S. Mosconi Cup Team.

And God forbid if MS decides to move the Mosconi Cup to other continents as some have mentioned. Matchroom Sport has built a good rivalry with the U.S. and I hope that it continues and well, Mosconi is our guy. :wink:

Just a few thoughts for Luke Riches and Matchroom Sport to consider.

Bob Jewett said:

About 4 years ago (or six?) Matchroom sold a 2-hour highlights package to some US sports network for a 2-week delayed broadcast. It ended up being delayed more like two months because the US company couldn't deal with getting rights to the intro music (like "The Boys Are Back in Town"). Or at least that's the story and it seemed to me at the time to be pitiful incompetence on the part of the American company.

I think the US sports networks are only interested in sports that people bet money on (NFL, NBA, MLB, WSoP) and sports they have control over (bowling, X-games, pool from the ESPN studios). Oh, and bass fishing.

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I think it was an Eminem song that they had done all the lead-ins to.

Lou Figueroa

Johnnyt said:

These are races to 6 in 9-ball with a gaff rack placement which you need a controled cut break for. Unless the coach can teach them how to break like that...and they listen there is no need for a coach. Another thing...stop with all the position talking BS in doubles. You are all pros, you know where to leave the CB. All that talking takes away from your focus. Just because you are miced up doesn't mean you have to try to win an Oscar for acting while while playing pool. Johnnyt

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You would think they would pair up two right handed players for scotch doubles so you don't worry about certain position shots for a lefty. That way there should be nothing to talk about during play.

I haven't done any research on this, but I KNOW that most people, companies, incorporations, etc are MONEY HUNGRY. With that in mind, do you not think that MS and ANY other pool related business wouldn't LOVE to get their promotions on U.S. TV? I am SURE that they TRY, but the U.S. market seems to NOT be interested in watching pool.

Seems that a LOT of people on here think that somebody must FORCE pool on people who don't want to watch it. I ENJOY watching it, but I HONESTLY can't find more than 1% of anybody I ask about it who says they like it.

I was playing for the Captain's Cup Championship (all armed forces) of Taiwan in 1976 and had to forfeit the championship match because they wouldn't let me off work to play it. I was the defending champion from 1975 and was scheduled to play the winner of the losing bracket, who I put in the losing bracket and who I beat in the championship of the year before. They let all the people off who could have relieved me at work to watch the Taiwan Softball Championships that were on the same day. They told me that "pool isn't a spectator sport" and they wanted to let people off to watch something instead of having someone work for me so I could play a sport that nobody was interested in EXCEPT THE PLAYERS.

I love pool and have played it since I was a kid, but I'm not about to FORCE it on anybody. If there is NO INTEREST in it as a "spectator sport" then NOBODY is going to broadcast it because there will be no advertising revenue.

JD_Hogg said:

I think its great the Matchroom Sports care enough to write a response and give their take.

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I agree with that. While I loathe their choice to put CW as one of the options of team captain (like his stable of players under his wing were not going to vote him into the captain role) I haev to say any company like Matchroom that actually listens to the fans on something like this after the fact and takes the time to address the concerns and explain their side of things gets huge respect from me in that regard. Alot of companies would simply ignore the whole thing, especially a company like Matchroom that is so much bigger then just the Mosconi Cup. That they take the time to address our sport and it's fans makes me more likely to support their future pool events due to the message they are sending that they care what happens in the sport and how their events are recieved.

U.S Pool !

What you guy's need is a Barry Hearn style guy who will walk in & shake up the U.S Pool,like a rug infested with dust mites,yeah the rug needs a good shake.

Pat Fleming at Accu Stats sounds like the man to start off the revolution.