jay helfert said:

A lot of chatter here about what's wrong with Team USA and what we need to do to fix it. I'm sorry but none of the above is the answer. There is a reason why Shane became Shane and not just another American player. He actually grew up playing on bar boxes but made the transition to big tables by devoting himself to the game and whatever it took to be the player he is. It did not happen by accident. Shane put in the twelve hour days for years to get where he is. There is no short cut to pool stardom. It takes work and lots of it!

I've personally witnessed the practice regime of some great players who stayed at my home for periods of time. For years I had a really tough Diamond Pro table and players like Dennis, Carlo and Shane would spend day and night on that table until they had it mastered, or close. I'd wake up in the morning to the sound of pool balls and go to sleep at night to the same sounds. I saw real dedication by guys who wanted to be the best.

It makes me think the current crop of U.S. players does not do anything like this. Maybe they go to the poolroom every day (or on their home table) and hit balls for a couple of hours and hang around and smooze with their friends there. I don't think they take the game as seriously as the aspiring Euro and Asian pros. To them (Euro and Asian) they see a way to make a good living if they can win, so they make the necessary sacrifices to get there.

P.S. Attendance looked rather sparse in there. Maybe even the Euros have begun to lose interest in this annual bloodletting.

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tyler and billy were playing great three cushion yesterday. maybe they put in the practice but on the wrong kind of tables?

HawaiianEye said:

My takeaway:

Who cares?

To me, it is nothing more than a glorified APA league match up.

Meant for entertainment purposes only.

Circuses are fun.

They should all swig a few pints and shots while it is going on.

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I'm pretty sure Jimmy White and Alex Higgins probably were drunk during the early Mosconi cups, back when America won it every year

skor said:

Crazy
And congrats to Seo Seoa for a great tournament and a well deserved win

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Seo Seoa has come along way in the public eye. She has become more focused from the time she was shooting against Strickland. She beat Strickland and was being really polite and out of respect wanted to shake his hand. She probably grew up watching Strickland shoot and was a big accomplishment to have a match against a legend. Of course Strickland being himself refused to shake her hand and tried to explain himself away why he did'nt want to shake her hand. I remember Jason Shaw was at the table next to them and Jason looked over and just like Jason kind of gave the look like go figure. Yep typical Strickland. Well that day might of boosted Seo's ego because she has become so much more focused and knows she belongs with the best in the world men or women.

garczar said:

you really are clueless. none of these guys grew up on snooker tables.

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Jayson would have grown up on a combination of snooker tables and UK pool tables (which are smaller than American pool tables but also have tighter pockets).

I'm not 100% certain about the players from continental Europe, but suspect you're right. Snooker is more a British thing, and is sadly dying in Britain. More profitable to have a smaller table (either UK or American pool table) that is easier for amateurs.

jokrswylde said:

What legitimate sport are you thinking of that doesn't have colorful characters and controversy. Tiger Woods was a man-ho, Phil Mickelson is a degenerate gambler and led a coup against the PGA...golf is still relevant.

Don't even need to mention NBA and NFL. MLB had some of it's highest ratings when two juice heads were chasing a home run record...still relevant.

Snooker and match fixing, Higgins drunken outbursts...still relevant. Interesting post....

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Pool doesn’t seem to be able to entice Flies to stop by if they had a bowel movement, and they don’t know how to develop, promote, or choose a competitive Team, and it’s Shameful.

SA96 said:

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72 hours before the Titanic sank. Very insightful!

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Who were America playing in the exhibition match. Only person I recognised was Ayd the Apprentice who presents a lot of the Ultimate Pool stuff, but he can't actually play pool to save his life.

Team Europe played exhibition matches at the start of last week, but think they have been practising in private since then.

Billy seems like the living embodiment of the stereotype we have of American's being too loud in public spaces. Seems to have a real look at me attitude. Whilst Gorst and SVB, the 2 best players in the team just seem like humble normal guys.

Still looking.

I have a couple of custom cues I may even trade for the right shafts.

kingwang said:

What prevents players from stalling once they have a lead? Like, if the ball count is 3-2 with 30 min left, what prevents the player in the lead from taking 2 min per shot? Feels like a shot clock needs to be added for this to work.

I've played in a timed Chinese 8 Ball tournament before with no shot clock and sure enough, everybody magically needs extra time to think all of a sudden once they have a lead and the clock starts ticking down.

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Players will play anything available to play. If you award total points per stage in question there's less incentive to cinch advancement by dragging it out. Total points could also determine payouts.
The issue should be the time factor and not the aesthetics of the olde guarde.

garczar said:

I only went once but i didn't see any bank/9b matches come anywhere close to 3hr. Most bank matches are over in a hour or less.

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may seem impossible but last year I played 2 matches in less time than these 2 guys played one match of banks. Guy I was talking to on the rail said it was approaching 4:15 when I walked away and it was 2-1 and 3-3 balls at that time. NO CLUE how it all went down but they seemed to be constantly at the table so it wasn't like one guy disappeared. I think both players were just that bad and prob fouled like 20 times. Anyway yeah nothing wrong with tossing a 3 hour time limit on a match that will hopefully never come into play!

I did play one match that lasted over an hour in the banks and the first game took 1:10 minutes! haha. Match took 2:15 I think. Balls were just constantly jammed up and we both kept hanging straight backs. Every other match I played was done in less than 1:10 or so. (7 matches)

Mousa said:

Sorry, with all due respect, I stopped reading after the first sentence! Delusional!

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You lose then by not reading further.

jay helfert said:

Where we are today is most pool fans/players have a table in their home. They don't need to go anywhere to practice/play. That's the big market in the U.S. for pool table companies - home sales. Not necessarily the best environment to learn the game and become a top player, but it could be done by a youngster who was dedicated enough from a young age. As my old friend Steve Mizerak loved to say, "Practice, practice, practice." a few years of that, maybe from age 8 to 12 and then get out there and play any league that has full size tables. Keep moving up! Every Formula 1 driver started out in go-karts and progressed to midgets, 1/4 racers, Formula 4, etc. before making it to the big time, Formula 2 and then 1. Are there any young players in this country who have progressed this way? Shane did. Maybe a few others will emerge one day.

I like to say there is always room at the top, if you're good enough. And if you make it to the top in pro pool today you can make a good living! Not golf or tennis money, but real money! I couldn't have said that a few years ago.

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Sorry, with all due respect, I stopped reading after the first sentence! Delusional!

SBC said:

We went from having pool halls be a home for millions of mostly single men who may or may not have worked steadily, gambling on pool playing tough games to handicapping on Valley barboxes playing housewives 4 games to 2 in the APA.
It's a joke.
After Shane retires....we got nothing.

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Where we are today is most pool fans/players have a table in their home. They don't need to go anywhere to practice/play. That's the big market in the U.S. for pool table companies - home sales. Not necessarily the best environment to learn the game and become a top player, but it could be done by an enterprising youngster who was dedicated enough from a young age. As my old friend Steve Mizerak loved to say, "Practice, practice, practice." a few years of that, maybe from age 8 to 12 and then get out there and play any league that has full size tables. Keep moving up! Every Formula 1 or Indy car driver started out in go-karts and progressed to midgets, 1/4 racers, Formula 4, etc. before making it to the big time, Formula 1 or the Indy 500. Are there any young players in this country who have progressed this way? Shane did. Maybe a few others will emerge one day.

I like to say there is always room at the top, if you're good enough. And if you make it to the top in pro pool today you can make a good living! Not golf or tennis money, but real money! Right now there are fifteen players who have earned over 100K this year in prize money. Several over 200K and one over 300K. Thirty more in the 50 - 100K range. Most (if not all) of them are being sponsored to play, with expenses paid. So the prize money is all theirs. Not so bad to play a game you love and bank a little cash at the same time. I can remember (not that long ago) when only one or two players might make 100K in a year and many years only one. No question the prize money is still going up too. I get tired of hearing there is no money in pool. That is simply a lie. I know I would like to make 40 or 50 thou in one week! How about 75, 100 and even 250,000! These guys winning (and finishing high) in these events are definitely not complaining when they get their check.

By the way, Pool is a good spectator sport. That old saw don't cut it anymore. I've been seeing packed houses all the years I've been involved in the game. The pool fans will turn out for a good event! I don't like to brag but I produced or co-produced dozens of pool tournaments where it was standing room only. TV ratings continue to go up as well. The more prize money, the more eyeballs on the game. Simple equation there.

skip100 said:

Shaw is hilarious. For some reason the people who hate him also slurp Strickland whose behavior makes Shaw look like a choirboy.

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You forgot Shaw whipping balls around the 14.1 event!

Xdecemberguy said:

The real problem is America doesn't treat Billiards/Pool as a sport like the rest of the world. Ever since it was looked down on as a gambler/risky game back in the days it's been frowned upon. If America ever wants to be competitive in this game it needs to be introduced early and treated like a main stream sport is in middle school and high school. If not well never get another generation that would have a chance..were lagging behind in this sport compared to the rest of the world.

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We went from having pool halls be a home for millions of mostly single men who may or may not have worked steadily, gambling on pool playing tough games to handicapping on Valley barboxes playing housewives 4 games to 2 in the APA.
It's a joke.
After Shane retires....we got nothing.

What is your budget

skor said:

Probably no one right now, but you need to look for the future and invest in kids, the next 10 years are lost, but if you start now you might get somewhere.
Maybe that won't help either... look at Savannah Easton, she's like the great white hype but I don't think that she'll get much further than where she's at, like Fedor, she's into self branding more than getting better at this game. That's another problematic attitude of today's America

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She could travel the country and lose to the male players in every room in the country....just like most females of the past except Corr and Fisher.

Bump

Bump

JasonATX said:

If you still have the files, you could put them up for sale on something like Cults.

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I have too much respect for Chris.

Great looking simple player im kinda looking for boss. If you decide you are interested in trades i just threw up a beautiful rosewood and bem tascarella im looking to trade for a plain Jane SW or a pacifier.

manopr350 said:

“Deliberate” is a two way term. I can end up : It was not my intention in wedging he cue ball. It just happened. The other side could say “ you did it intentionally. You know better. Then What?

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Well, if you see the shot coming, call someone over to watch. Or get your video recorder out of your pocket.

jay helfert said:

In my day, 60's and 70's, there were literally tens of thousands of poolrooms all across the country. Every small town had a billiard room, or two. And they were all 8' or 9' tables. Bar tables were exclusively in the bars and for adults over 21. You grew up playing on a full sized table!

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I liked the big tables, but I learned to play real good on a bar table with the big cue ball, too.

Back in the day, there was way more action in the bars than there was in the pool halls.

There was usually only one or two pool halls in most smaller places, but they normally had several bars, especially the towns that had nearby colleges.

You could cruise the bars at night and usually pick up some cash in many of them.