I hope this isn't true Mosconi Cup

Mark Griffin said:
Who ever Matchroom chooses should be someone who really represents the US. (maybe they should pick Earl Strickland - that would really electrify the crowd and the teams! No one is more American than Earl!)
Mark Griffin
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This would be great, for all reasons. If Earl was captain they could have a Captains grudge match and Joe Rogan could do the play by play.....UFC style.

Parica has lived here longer than some of the top American players have been alive, it would be cool to see him play.
 
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I think that, just like in golf's Ryder Cup, the captain should be someone with a great competitive resume who is no longer in their prime. I'd like to see Kim Davenport, Jim Rempe, or Allen Hopkins get a shot at being captain at some point. Charlie is certainly qualified to be captain, but I think it's a little too early in his career for him to play this role. I'd rather see one of the elder statemen in the capatain's post.
 
I'm almost positive CW is a US citizen. If he's not it sure is odd that he's been on somewhere on the points list for most of the year. But I agree he would be way down on my list of candidates to captain the team.

I think JJ would make a great captain. Only two guys have played on more Cup teams than him (Archer and Earl) and I believe he is well liked and has the respect of all the players and fans.
 
It seems like all of you look upon the captains role as some kind of reward to an older player, a purely honorable position.

IMO you are already giving Europe a head start thinking like that. Europe's captain has no credentials to speak of as a player. HOWEVER, he is an excellent and knowledgeble sports coach, with a lot of experience in supporting and backing players mentally and physically during preparations and tournaments.

Perhaps US should stop looking among former poolplayers and HOF's for a coach, and instead make use of the opportunity to actually try to benefit from a skilled COACH?
 
$TAKE HOR$E said:
Ditka.....!
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Yes, seems like he can match the European Hooligans quite nicely:

"Incidents

In 1983, Ditka broke his wrist after punching a locker in an angry halftime tirade. In 1985, he was arrested and convicted of DWI after returning from a game with San Francisco.[6] In 1986, Ditka formed a gesture with his hand and told a heckler, "See that? That's your IQ, buddy. Zero."[7] In the midst of a very successful 1988 season, Ditka suffered a heart attack, but bounced back quickly. On another occasion in 1987, he threw a piece of chewing gum at a San Francisco 49ers fan who had heckled and thrown a drink at him during a Monday night matchup.[8]"

:thumbup:
 
pooladdict said:
It seems like all of you look upon the captains role as some kind of reward to an older player, a purely honorable position.

IMO you are already giving Europe a head start thinking like that. Europe's captain has no credentials to speak of as a player. HOWEVER, he is an excellent and knowledgeble sports coach, with a lot of experience in supporting and backing players mentally and physically during preparations and tournaments.

Perhaps US should stop looking among former poolplayers and HOF's for a coach, and instead make use of the opportunity to actually try to benefit from a skilled COACH?
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Why can't the team pick their own coach/captain?
 
JB Cases said:
Why can't the team pick their own coach/captain?
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I hate to say it, but the players probably feel they can collectively coach themselves, and would likely pick a close friend who is in need of a payday.

If there is indeed a coaching job up for grabs, then consider this. Credentials and playing ability are secondary to the ability to effectively coach a team. Someone who possesses strong leadership skills and is a clever strategist, may in fact be a better candidate then an accomplished senior player. As such, a compromise between the two extremes could be the best option. A little character and charisma wouldn't hurt either, given that Mosconi Cup is primarily an entertainment based event. :)
 
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nathandumoulin said:
I hate to say it, but the players probably feel they can collectively coach themselves, and would likely pick a close friend who is in need of a payday.

If there is indeed a coaching job up for grabs, then consider this. Credentials and playing ability are secondary to the ability to effectively coach a team. Someone who possesses strong leadership skills and is a clever strategist, yet can't even pocket a ball, may in fact be a better candidate then an accomplished senior player. As such, a compromise between the two extremes could be the best option. A little character and charisma wouldn't hurt either, given that Mosconi Cup is primarily an entertainment based event. :)
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Maybe but if that's how they feel as a team then so be it. Seems like if the "coach/captain" is a big deal and highly influential to the team's success or failure then why is the promoter picking who that is?

More and more it seems that a lot of people are investing their emotions and national pride into this event but we tend to forget that the teams are picked primarily by the promoter at the promoter's whimsy. The whole thing is set up to be a made-for-tv event complete with instigated drama.

So if it's going to be an important event where all of America's pool pride is at stake then at least the chosen team should be able to pick their coach OR someone other than the promoter should pick the coach. Or perhaps there should be a national coach known well in advance so that that person could strategize and train and plan for this major event.
 
Nick varner is a class act, after last years defeat he joined us in the players hotel, where there was a party for the european team. He was the only 1 to show up from team usa, and that shows the class of the man, so we sung a song for him to show our respect.

I also think top coaches should be considered not just older players etc.. like with Johan and Alex for europe. Nathan make a great point about this
 
One more thing, a lot of the European players have actual experience playing on teams. In Germany and the Netherlands they have soccer-style leagues where the top tier teams are all world class players.
 
On my the list of deserving players and/or motivating personalities for the Mosconi Captains position Charlie comes in somewhere about the middle of page four.

If its true its isn't real hard to figure out how it came about. Two of the highest profile players on the team play for Charlie already. Pretty easy to see them push for his inclusion. Whether it will be a good or bad move for Team USA remains to be seen.

Personally I would of gave the job to Nick till he didn't want it anymore. But damn it would of been EPIC to see a few faces if they got the call that said "Yeah....we decided to go with Earl as Captain this year. He said to be out front of the MGM at 6 AM for a five mile run every morning."
 
Whenever Earl's name is mentioned, there's usually a plethora of opinions. Threads seem to get thousands of hits on a daily basis when there is an Earl-related topic. :embarrassed2:

Folks can say what they want about Earl, but there is one thing that I am absolutely, positively sure of based on speaking with Earl on a number of occasions about one topic, and that is he is probably the most patriotic American in the pool world that I have ever met. And that includes me. I have never known anyone so passionate about American pool as Earl. :p

Just bring up the topic about rooting for American pool players sometime with Earl and listen to what he has to say. Be prepared for a long dissertation. :thumbup:
 
I'm gonna chuckle all day at the thought of Earl as the captain.

It would be priceless on soooo many levels.

(I'd rather see him be on the team as a player, but this would be cool, too.)
 
This reminds me of a time when Jimmy Mataya and Danny Diliberto were debating on whether Rodney Morris was considered an "American" or not, because he is from Hawaii.

After a bit of discussion, Jimmy stated "We'll put him on the 50 yard line."
 
AimingVoodoo said:
This reminds me of a time when Jimmy Mataya and Danny Diliberto were debating on whether Rodney Morris was considered an "American" or not, because he is from Hawaii.

After a bit of discussion, Jimmy stated "We'll put him on the 50 yard line."
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Now that's funny. :rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:

Thanks for the morning chuckle! I needed that on this Friday. Work is brutal this week for me. :embarrassed2:
 
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