And my "next years" Team USA would be...

Fedor Gorst (Of course.)
Shane Van Boening (Of course.)
Skyler Woodward (Solid, but NOT as a Captain.)
Justin Bergman (Somebody talk to this guy. Please convince him.)
Oscar Dominguez (Loose, happy and solid. Tyler Styer fundamentally solid but his nerves are his own worst enemy. Sorry dude.)
Jesus Atencio (PLEASE Mr. Trump, make this Venezolano superstar a US Citizen tomorrow! We DESPERATELY need him. Possible 6th guy.)
Anthony Meglino (Good friend of mine but not for this reason. Solid, robotic, quiet. IF no Jesus, and a 6th can be brought onto a team.)

Note: I did not include juniors like Lukas but certainly not ruling any out. Adding ONE junior per team could be a future MR decision.

NON-PLAYING Captain: Someone who understands the importance of physical training as well as mental, multi-drill coaching, team management and merging personalities all into ONE. Someone who absolutely gives a shit about winning and not just "making it to the playoffs."

Practice routine (per person): On Rassons' with 3.9" pockets. (I believe that was the spec for this year's MC. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Lag x 1000
Cut-break x 8000 Maybe another 1000 pp just for good measure.
Long straight follow x 2000
Long straight draw x 3000
Drills drills and more drills
Anything into the side pockets and from every imaginable angle x 3000
End pattern run-outs (7, 8, 9) x 1000
Jumping x 2000
Defense strategies and shots x 3000
Playing under shot-clock conditions

You will have one full year to accomplish this. It's a grind. And each person should play in as many WNT events as possible for the exposure.

I would also try to find out what the euro's are doing for prep. Then double it. Does this guarantee a 2026 USA victory in Orlando? Certainly not. But maybe it brings the margin or gap a little closer and from that, we can hopefully learn something, and further prepare. I'm no billiards guru by any stretch, but I do play very well and have also played a sport at the professional level. I do know the importance of training, both physically and mentally and the preparation grind it demands. And I also learned that while I was sleeping, my enemy was training.

Matt_24 said:

I wasn't very familiar with Poteet but he played great. I watched him play other matches after playing Dave. Who ended up winning the tournament?

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Think Gomez and Rivas split at 430am.

Lou Figueroa

trob said:

I know plenty that have disposable income they just spend it on other stuff then complain they are broke.

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That was sort of my point

They could buy custom cues they just don't feel a need nor do they have an appreciation for the art form.

They look at their predator and it looks pretty enough and shoots as good as they need.

So they could buy a Black Boar or for the same amount of money, they can go to Prague for a week.

jmonche said:

I agree

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Is this still available?

Flakeandrun said:

China do pretty well using 'tough' equipment. I imagine if they travelled more, they would compete easily with filipinos for the cream of the crop. Anyone playing American pool here wants a 4" corner, sometimes less. Don't really need to comment on Chinese tables here, we all know they are tough as hell.

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Well the Chinese players dont play good because of tight pockets, they play good because they work ay every aspect of the game. Theres not one thing they dont do well including compete.

Ronnie would clean-up in Heyball if he took it seriously.

Benelli said:

Honestly, all the players I know under 38 have zero disposable income. Don't get me wrong there not broke ass, they all have great paying white and blue-collar jobs. It's just that they spend every dime they make on and are all living paycheck to paycheck.

They could afford a nice cue, but in the grand scheme of things, they would just rather spend the money in other places that are more important to them while banging balls around with their $800 Predator.

My hope is that when they hit their late 40s, they get the bug and come back around to the customs

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I know plenty that have disposable income they just spend it on other stuff then complain they are broke.

sudocrushms said:

I'm hoping you're right, but in MSP the last pool hall to open closed the same summer.

As long as pool doesn't go the way of bowling where a single corp buys out every venue ( Bowlero) then turns it into an "entertainment" venue and prices skyrocket. I get that bowling centers are far more maintenance and space constrained, but i'm sure some would try if the market was there...

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810 Bowling and Billiards franchise makes almost no attempt to have the “billiards” part of their name be meaningful inside the establishments. The billiards part of their name is just a cover for 75% of revenue coming from video games. When I lived in Fl. The franchise opened in Estero had the worst space allocated to billiards and horribly set up Brunswick Wolf tables.

Smoking Seo...

Donnie Mills beating Gerson...