A different perspective on the Mosconi Cup

Remember, it was 9/9 on the final day in London last year. It could have went either way and if we would have tied it up 10/10 Shane would have been playing Darrin A. and I'm convinced he would have won that match......we had all the momentum and Shane was in DEAD STROKE......Darrin, on the other hand was "off his game" from what FatBoy said.

as i recall from AUG, i asked if YOU would be the Captain this year?
i asked this as a lay person. based on your reputation, and from what i'd learned on this forum. the Captain needs to be someone who can yeild POWER. or as we say @ TX:

CAN JERK A KNOT IN THEIR ASSES

Johan has this. on & off the field. first-hand. and it's a shame that he's retired from Mosconi now. but he's 6'3" & German & i wouldn't piss him off....

....and it works/worked.

(maybe JUSTIN/JCIN should be the next Captain/Co-Captain????)
 
"if someone hasn't walked the walk they certainly can't talk the talk".

as i recall from AUG, i asked if YOU would be the Captain this year?
i asked this as a lay person. based on your reputation, and from what i'd learned on this forum. the Captain needs to be someone who can yeild POWER. or as we say @ TX:

CAN JERK A KNOT IN THEIR ASSES

Johan has this. on & off the field. first-hand. and it's a shame that he's retired from Mosconi now. but he's 6'3" & German & i wouldn't piss him off....

....and it works/worked.

(maybe JUSTIN/JCIN should be the next Captain/Co-Captain????)

I had no desire to be Captain again this year, although I do like doing it in London. I like the London crowd, it makes me feel more like the days of playing with guns going off on the side. ;) My upbringing in pool had many elements of danger......literally life or death in some cases.

The Captain does need to be respected (by the players), and understand the psychology of competition......it's like anything else "if someone hasn't walked the walk they certainly can't talk the talk". Johan does a great job, and the Europeans are from a different "mold" that the American players......it's "apples and oranges" considering their playing history and the environment of training.
 
I had no desire to be Captain again this year, although I do like doing it in London. I like the London crowd, it makes me feel more like the days of playing with guns going off on the side. ;) My upbringing in pool had many elements of danger......literally life or death in some cases.

It's in Blackpool next year, about as far from London as you can get. If it's held over a weekend, when the town is flooded with hen and stag parties, I shudder to think what the crowd will be like. Life and death indeed...
 
If the picks are gonna be subjective anyway, and not based on who's winning major events right now,
how about John Schmidt? Seems like he's semi-retired lately but I bet he can be convinced.

He's already shown he plays at the highest level, and he's got some personality too...
chats with the crowd, makes wisecracks about his shots, etc.

And the Matchroom guys seem to like people who have been involved in a little controversy.
John's only got a tiny bit of that reputation due to his squabbles with Harriman
but otherwise seems to behave like a professional. I doubt he'd embarrass us on or off the table.

That's the same John Schmidt who branded fans on here bitter jealous losers, yeah?
 
The Captain does need to be respected (by the players), and understand the psychology of competition......it's like anything else "if someone hasn't walked the walk they certainly can't talk the talk".




How many NFL games did Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and John Madden play in combined? ZERO

How many NHL games did Scotty Bowman, Mike Keenan, Ken Hitchcock play in conbined? ZERO

How many NBA games did Red Auerbach, Greg Popovich, Chuck Daly play in? ZERO (in fact Chuck Daly never played basketball at any level)

How many MLB games did Joe McCarthy, Earl Weaver, Jim Leyland, Jack McKeon, Joe Maddon, Buck Showalter play in combined? ZERO

Go ahead and walk the walk to talk the talk. :sorry:

Watchez is the teacher.
 
It's in Blackpool next year, about as far from London as you can get. If it's held over a weekend, when the town is flooded with hen and stag parties, I shudder to think what the crowd will be like. Life and death indeed...


Do I even want to know what happens at a hen and stag party? :eek:


Hell yes!
 
How many NFL games did Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and John Madden play in combined? ZERO

How many NHL games did Scotty Bowman, Mike Keenan, Ken Hitchcock play in conbined? ZERO

How many NBA games did Red Auerbach, Greg Popovich, Chuck Daly play in? ZERO (in fact Chuck Daly never played basketball at any level)

How many MLB games did Joe McCarthy, Earl Weaver, Jim Leyland, Jack McKeon, Joe Maddon, Buck Showalter play in combined? ZERO

Go ahead and walk the walk to talk the talk. :sorry:

Watchez is the teacher.

I've been looking for a new sig line.
 
How many NFL games did Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and John Madden play in combined? ZERO

How many NHL games did Scotty Bowman, Mike Keenan, Ken Hitchcock play in conbined? ZERO

How many NBA games did Red Auerbach, Greg Popovich, Chuck Daly play in? ZERO (in fact Chuck Daly never played basketball at any level)

How many MLB games did Joe McCarthy, Earl Weaver, Jim Leyland, Jack McKeon, Joe Maddon, Buck Showalter play in combined? ZERO

Go ahead and walk the walk to talk the talk. :sorry:

Watchez is the teacher.

Let me add that Hank Haney, David Pelz and David Leadbetter, arguably the three biggest names in American golf coaching and instruction, have virtually no credentials as pro players. In every sport, it is rare indeed when the greatest players make the best coaches/instructors/managers.

Watchez is, indeed the teacher.
 
At that particular moment (and nothing else mattered) Shane and I talked.....he looked me dead in the eye and said "CJ, I'm in the same stroke I was when I won the US OPEN"....I nodded and said "I know you are, Shane, I can tell by how you're hitting the ball"......Darrin, on the other hand was up in the practice room nervously practicing and talking to the TV......we concluded that he really didn't want to have to play the final match.

I know Darrin and Shane are a "coin toss," but at that particular moment in history Shane was the clear favorite and I'm as sure as I can be that he would have won that match. Of course no one can know for sure, this is just my honest evaluation, and I've extremely confident that it is accurate.

FatBoy was up there with Darrin and he'll confirm what I'm communicating, we were in constant communication (he was acting as my assistant). 'The Game is the Teacher'

is that joke? no wondered the US team getting spanked if we think SVB in dead stroke is under a 50% win average in the Mosconi. He has never looked comfortablr in the Mosconi at all. He got some nice fortune when beat Daz 5-1 also. and to say darren was nervous because he was practicing and talking to the tv? that look like relaxed and determined personified to me.

Agree with others Robles & Wilson would be excellent. Earl has to go if you want any chance I think Morris, Hatch also they let the crowd bother them too much and fee off Earls negativity. part from Archer there is no leader in the team and when he is under performing like this year I feel he lacks credibility to the other players.

I would like to see SVb, Hall, Deuel, as for the other spots not sure dechaine( if he is allowed to rack;)), compton, shuff, woodward, stevie moore? not sure there isnt much really else out there I can think of that can be competitive against that quality of opposition.

and johan is from iceland not germany.
 
....JERK A KNOT IN THEIR ASSES....

(maybe JUSTIN/JCIN should be the next Captain/Co-Captain????)

and i'm just throwing this out there - but i've met Johan many times, and

he is 6'3"+/+
medium build
55-ish
deep accent
100% testosterone
and fricken German

he COMMANDS respect.
he's got mine.
and i saw him off-site & controlling his "team".
and he's got mine.

now THAT, is a Captain.

(plus, he's totally cool to drink with)
 
and i'm just throwing this out there - but i've met Johan many times, and

he is 6'3"+/+
medium build
55-ish
deep accent
100% testosterone
and fricken German

he COMMANDS respect.
he's got mine.
and i saw him off-site & controlling his "team".
and he's got mine.

now THAT, is a Captain.

(plus, he's totally cool to drink with)

Well you shouldnt settle for someone from the pool world.
Lets just get George Foreman or Mike Ditka.
Noone from the poolworld is a good choice
 
I know Darrin and Shane are a "coin toss," but at that particular moment in history Shane was the clear favorite and I'm as sure as I can be that he would have won that match. Of course no one can know for sure, this is just my honest evaluation, and I've extremely confident that it is accurate.

In coin toss situations...it is usually a bad roll or two that is one players downfall. That, or whoever "chokes" a makeable shot at the worst possible time...and either one of them (or anybody for that matter) are capable of doing that.

You can only make an educated guess in that scenario...and you've got a 50% chance of getting it right (to which most people will then throw out the ol' "I told you so").

Maniac
 
Well you shouldnt settle for someone from the pool world.
Lets just get George Foreman or Mike Ditka.
Noone from the poolworld is a good choice

I think their are couple people who could do a good job. By that I mean representing and honoring the event well. Getting Americans to play as a team may not even be possible. With the right five it could be IMO but there is no way to tell till it happens.

I do know Matchroom is already thinking seriously about how to fix what happened this year.
 
At that particular moment (and nothing else mattered) Shane and I talked.....he looked me dead in the eye and said "CJ, I'm in the same stroke I was when I won the US OPEN"....I nodded and said "I know you are, Shane, I can tell by how you're hitting the ball"......Darrin, on the other hand was up in the practice room nervously practicing and talking to the TV......we concluded that he really didn't want to have to play the final match.

I know Darrin and Shane are a "coin toss," but at that particular moment in history Shane was the clear favorite and I'm as sure as I can be that he would have won that match. Of course no one can know for sure, this is just my honest evaluation, and I've extremely confident that it is accurate.

FatBoy was up there with Darrin and he'll confirm what I'm communicating, we were in constant communication (he was acting as my assistant). 'The Game is the Teacher'

Meh, talking to the TV doesn't convince me someone is "off their game".

In a race to five, under extreme pressure, I'm picking Appleton against pretty much anyone on the planet. He thrives on that stuff.
 
Meh, talking to the TV doesn't convince me someone is "off their game".

In a race to five, under extreme pressure, I'm picking Appleton against pretty much anyone on the planet. He thrives on that stuff.

Thank you! He's only the best "clutch" player on the planet!
 
As far as a non-playing coach for Team USA, I think Allen Hopkins would be an excellent choice. :)

He's always been an proponent for professional pool for decades, and I think he would go out of his way to provide saged advice and counsel to the members of Team USA :cool:
 
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