Darren is clueless on this occasion. He is actually relatively new on the pool scene, having emerged during the IPT events on 2005. Countless people who post here know Charlie longer and better than Darren does, and yet he dares refer to the posters of AZB as if they don't know anything about Charlie but he does. What a pile of nonsense. Maybe he just doesn't know who posts here, and that there are hundreds of posters in these AZB parts far more familiar with Charlie and his track record with respect to American pool than him. I know with 100 percent certainty that I am one of them!
in addition, I have read far more posts on this forum in which the poster has taken the view that, although Charlie is not a very sensible choice as captain, they will support him and Team USA than posts in which his selection has enraged a poster to the point of disinterest.
As usual, golf gets it and pool does not. To be a Ryder Cup or President's Cup captain, you have to be a retired or nearly retired grand old man of the game who is widely acclaimed and respected. Such appointments add to the dignity of such matches.
Charlie is not unqualified to coach Team USa, but his appointment remains shocking to many, and if Appleton doesn't get that, he's lost at sea.
On a personal level, I know and like Charlie. I have and will continue to financially support his events from time to time. ..... Unfortunately, his appointment as captain is ridiculous and reminds us of the extent to which the pro pool players of today are willing to completely overlook what the game's supporters want. If that kind of ambivalence doesn't bother Darren in the least, I truly feel sorry for him, for he has fallen into the trap of apathy for those who make pro pool possible.
Over the glorious green felt, Darren seemingly never dogs it, but he sure dogged it here. This kind of blanket disrespect for those who actually care about and support pro pool is typical of these times, but hardly reasonable. Let's hope that Darren and other members of the pro pool community come to their senses and stop disenfranchising those that support the game. Otherwise, woe is us and woe is the future of our sport.
Stu:
What a great post! I concur 100%, and I think you hit the nail on the head about the "celebrity = authority" complex that the public in general has. I love it when a movie celebrity, like a Susan Sarandon, "think" because they've achieved a level of success at such unrelated professions as e.g.
acting, that they are then somehow "qualified" to take the podium and "be an authority" on, oh, say, politics, or international trade, or world financials, etc. It makes me laugh my head off. The sad thing is, the lemming public actually listen, because, ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod, "she's Susan Sarandon!!"
"He's Darren Appleton!" So? What does Darren know about coaching a team, and the qualifications that go into truly being a good coach? Darren plays a jam-up, world-class pool game, for sure -- noone doubts that. Darren's certainly an authority on the fundamentals of good play, winning one-against-one strategy, and perhaps -- by extension -- what he thinks a well-run tournament should look like. But he's jumped off a cliff if he thinks his knowledge "automatically extends" onto the realm of a good coach for a winning
team in front of a stadium of spectators. Especially if he thinks that the coach selectee's past can be conveniently ignored, in favor of the cronyism that we all know is the true reason. Darren is still sponsored by Predator and Dragon, yes? If so, his "opinion" is automatically a wash. It doesn't count, by virtue of bias and cronyism.
A better example would be if Johan Ruijsink (Team Europe's captain) had said what Darren said. At least there's a foundation and context of knowledge there with Johan. But even then, the issues that Stu raised above still apply -- you can't ignore that CW is a ridiculous choice in the grand scheme of
team coach qualifications and
propriety.
-Sean
