Who's it going to be?
* ** Wouldn't want to be the person making the difficult choices about who will be on Team USA this year, although I imagine SVB to be a no-brainer, in spite of his underwhelming performances in the past. One down, four to go. I think there's a certain "Any Given Sunday" aspect to pool, meaning that while certain players are obviously 'better' than others, based on past performances (and perhaps, just FargoRate numbers), there is that aspect noting that on any given Sunday, one of the lower-ranked, or just 'fewer wins' players could take out one of the higher ranked players. Sky Woodward and Justin Bergman recently butted heads on the loss side of the Texas Open and though Skyler advanced, he was immediately defeated by Shane McMinn, who is an (on paper) obviously lower-ranked player. I'm guessing that's why the new process of selection was chosen; to take it off the "Top Five in Mosconi Cup points" process.
** This kind of pushes the selection process into the direction of blending personalities, not just recorded skill levels or match history; finding the best mix of individuals, who, together, form the best possible team when it comes to a variety of intangibles, like camaraderie, supportiveness, encouragement factors; dare I say fun factor? It may sound crazy, but I think having all members of the team like each other in a basic way is as important as their varied strengths as individual players.*
* ** I personally think, too, that the matchups during the event should be selected on a case-by-case basis instead of blindly, by captains, beforehand. The APA does this at the lower league levels. Come league night, a coin is flipped to determine who will put up a player first. Personally, when I'd win such a coin toss as a team captain, I'd let the opposing team put up first, third and last (fifth), affording me the opportunity to react and choose an appropriate opponent to their choice, three times, while they got to react to my choice only twice (there were many, as the years went by, who disagreed with me). This tends to require familiarity with the members of your team and your opponents' team. Knowing that Opponent X is a '5,' for example, doesn't always lead you to put up a similarly-ranked player. Sometimes, just as an example, you might know that a certain member of your opponents' team is a quick player, who gets frustrated when the pace is too slow. This might lead you to select someone from your team, who's ranked lower, but plays extraordinarily slow. You're kind of gaming the system, as it were, but any kind of team effort, spearheaded by a captain, is almost by definition gaming the system to begin with; selecting personnel to compete, based on more than just the tangible component of their known skills at the table. Just whistling in the dark here. No way they're going to mess with the basic format, no matter how rationally one tries to change it.
* * Just between you, me and the lamp post, I think that what's been missing from Team USA over these past eight years is a cohesiveness. It's a single-player sport, so it's not the kind of cohesiveness necessary to make a basketball, football or baseball team work. It's more subtle than that. It's about a blend of people, who work together well, especially before the actual matches. I think there should be some focus on analyzing the European team; its individual and collective strengths and weaknesses. If I were the new coach, I'd look at that before I selected Team USA.
What makes Darren Appleton tick, for example (don't know, at this point, whether he's even on Team Europe)? When you discover the makeup of that team, list each players' strengths and weaknesses (to the extent that you can learn this stuff) and pick five players for Team USA that match up against those strengths and weaknesses. Ask around. Ask Johnny Archer, or Dennis, or Oscar what they know about the chosen European players. Get as much info about the makeup of that team as you can and act accordingly.
Personally, I think that all of the players in the USA's top 20, from which the five will be selected, should be consulted in one way or another. The 15 not chosen should be as invested in a Team USA victory as the five chosen.
It's time to end the eight-year European streak.
Maybe Team USA could all grow the same style moustache, or do something odd like gather in a team huddle before every match, casting glances at the Europeans as they consult. Let the team sing the National Anthem (and please God, let them all know the lyrics). We've been fielding a solid team every year. It just doesn't seem to coalesce the way it needs to, to win the thing.
Good luck, gang, whoever you turn out to be.:grin:* **
