I admire Dennis even more for coming on here and chiming in his two cents.
Even this past week, I got raked for my "pro Europe" commentary. Many people told me (or suggested) not to respond, but I did anyway. I see such discussions as an OPPORTUNITY for me, to see what I'm made of and also to more fully explain my thinking. I learned a long time ago, that when we are tested in some way, that is when we find out what we are made of. Do we have backbone or do we turn to jelly. I hope I keep getting "tested" for many years to come. I actually like getting pushed once in a while, just not too hard. I will push back as most of you know. :wink:
Dennis played his best, and thats what we should be talking about here.
It was almost hard not to be pro-europe in that room, I was of course wanting usa to win, but for me its bitter sweet because i know guys on both teams and one team is gonna lose. Like I said unless you were there you just dont get it. The energy there was amazing and it was hard not to get pumped up for Europe, The passion of the fans has a effect on everyone, except maybe SVB if he couldnt hear them and I doubt that, the joint was shaking like a rock concert. It was the most intense pool atmosphere I ever saw.
Dennis is a great champion and wanted it as much as anyone if not more, we all make mistake's-he went long at the wrong time, So what??? He played his ass off. I played with that cue and I could see how with just a little bit of adrenalin the rock will go long, same thing happened on the 5 on 5 opening match, we should have won that match. There was a few times we went long out there on shots that cost us big, we never came up short. The players room table was broke in cloth and much slower, it was useless to practice on, other than to warm up your arm because the difference was huge. What really got us was the break, we lost because of the break-they use that break on the Euro Tour so that gives the Euro's a big advantage. The break beat us.
Its complete and total low class bullshit to pin the loss on ANY of our guys. After it was over I spoke to Nick in the room for over a hour, JA and SVB were in and out as well, nobody was pissed at anyone, there was disappointment for sure but thats about it. Nick left and went to talk to Corey after because he felt bad. Nick is a class act being there for his team after the loss. There was no hostility or finger pointing, just disappointment. If the greatest minds in pool arnt finger pointing, how the hell can anyone of us point fingers at OUR team???
Hello Jam,tell keith I said howdy if you would.Always liked Keith just like everyone! I'm John Brumback,I think he'll remember me.Anyway I really like the way you put that.It's the dam truth! Why would any pro come on here and have to put up with all that crap??? As for me I'm going to try to be very very careful what I say.and it's mostly going to be to my buds and people I know and or like. yeah, I haven't ever missed a ball from this computer yet.I don't blame them at all. Thanks for your time.Like reading your posts.Ok I'm done.John
Mods- Please kill this one for excessive stupidity. Anybody ever miss a ball before? Anybody every ask someone for their support? This is directed to the trolls (you know who you are).
Congrats to all players fortunate enough to play in the cup. Dennis, you'll show them what you have soon enough, how about at Turning Stone later this week? That will shut them up!
If Dennis and Rodney need to be dropped from the team, who would replace them? You would be very hard pressed to come up with 5 better players, not including the other 3 that were on the team this year. Bottom line is the ENTIRE TEAM USA got beat, not just one person.
The way things went down. There are plenty of great shoooters that could replace these guys. I'd vote for Stevie Moore first and foremost....Jesse Engel or Oscar Dominguez, Scott Frost and Earl Strickland. The premise of the mosconi cup is to have the best players from each continent represent.
Europe has their member selection based off the current european rankings. Why does the United States base theirs off a popularity contest? That seems silly. They bring their best shooters and we bring our most popular. It's like the state football champions playing against the prom queens.
I'm tired of seeing the same popular u.s. shooters who don't perform well. It should be a privilege and honor to play for the United States not just a right.
The original OP was correct in stating that the turning point of the match was the missed shape of the 8 ball during Dennis Hatches match vs Darren Appleton.
Yes Corey at times played horrible and Shane missed his shots. But there is always a specific time during each sporting event when momentum shift occurs. It definitely was when Hatch missed shape on the 8 ball.
After the doubles match following the Hatch vs Appleton...Mika said during the post win interview that "the European team was riding on such a high "...it was no mistaking that they'd finished the evening with a win.
The way things went down. There are plenty of great shoooters that could replace these guys. I'd vote for Stevie Moore first and foremost....Jesse Engel or Oscar Dominguez, Scott Frost and Earl Strickland. The premise of the mosconi cup is to have the best players from each continent represent.
Europe has their member selection based off the current european rankings. Why does the United States base theirs off a popularity contest? That seems silly.
They bring their best shooters and we bring our most popular. It's like the state football champions playing against the prom queens.
I'm tired of seeing the same popular u.s. shooters who don't perform well. It should be a privilege and honor to play for the United States not just a right.
The way things went down. There are plenty of great shoooters that could replace these guys. I'd vote for Stevie Moore first and foremost....Jesse Engel or Oscar Dominguez, Scott Frost and Earl Strickland. The premise of the mosconi cup is to have the best players from each continent represent.
Europe has their member selection based off the current european rankings. Why does the United States base theirs off a popularity contest? That seems silly.
They bring their best shooters and we bring our most popular. It's like the state football champions playing against the prom queens.
I'm tired of seeing the same popular u.s. shooters who don't perform well. It should be a privilege and honor to play for the United States not just a right.
BTW the 5 players on team USA are the top 5 Americans on the 2010 BCA points list.
I hereby nominate this for "silliest thing I have read this week" .
Sorry man, you missed left field and are out in the parking lot somewhere.
The way things went down. There are plenty of great shoooters that could replace these guys. I'd vote for Stevie Moore first and foremost....Jesse Engel or Oscar Dominguez, Scott Frost and Earl Strickland. The premise of the mosconi cup is to have the best players from each continent represent.
Europe has their member selection based off the current european rankings. Why does the United States base theirs off a popularity contest? That seems silly.
They bring their best shooters and we bring our most popular. It's like the state football champions playing against the prom queens.
I'm tired of seeing the same popular u.s. shooters who don't perform well. It should be a privilege and honor to play for the United States not just a right.
The original OP was correct in stating that the turning point of the match was the missed shape of the 8 ball during Dennis Hatches match vs Darren Appleton.
Yes Corey at times played horrible and Shane missed his shots. But there is always a specific time during each sporting event when momentum shift occurs. It definitely was when Hatch missed shape on the 8 ball.
After the doubles match following the Hatch vs Appleton...Mika said during the post win interview that "the European team was riding on such a high "...it was no mistaking that they'd finished the evening with a win.
Although I respect your opinion, the five (or six) guys you mention would be big underdogs to the five who went! We did have the best team there, and a damn good one at that. Maybe one of the strongest squads the USA has ever assembled. York Hall is no place for the faint hearted. Our five showed a lot of heart imo.
Hey, Dennis played great in his doubles match, he was probably responsible for the win there, but I do think that his was a very key game in the outcome. Loved his energy in the matches, but that shot, eek.
I don't think that the shot selection he took is really an "opinion", I'm betting 90% of the players here would think that the shot he took to bring the cue lower on the rail to get a simpler shot was the wrong play. Hill Hill with 2 balls on the table, you don't try to play position to within an inch of being blocked by another ball. I've done it, and paid the price, so did he. I am also betting if he reads this, he'd agree he should have picked a harder shot on the 8 to avoid the 9.
I wasn't trying to get lower on the rail!! I was just trying to get to the center of the table and I under cut the seven and hit it a little funny because I was nervous and the cue ball slid off the rail, if you watch the replay you will see I put my hand down in the center of the table showing where I wanted to get I got a little distracted because the crowd made noise and the ref had to reset the clock NO EXCUSES I should have took more time walked around the table one more time!! Well I am sorry to anyone and everyone who thinks its my fault!! Its hard enough to deal with as it is!! I told my team I felt responsible and they said "if you would have won that match would you have said you won us the cup" and I said no and they said WELL you didn't lose it for us were still in it and if we lose its a team loss and if we win its a team win!! Again I'm sorry to anyone who thinks it my fault I'm sorry! Dennis Hatch