So.. I've read a few threads and they had some interesting thoughts, but here is my take on it...
What defined the players on the Mosconi Cup teams that won back in the 90s?
They were full of absolute killers who had an unholy hatred of missing balls/selling out on bad safes. Strickland, Archer, Davenport, etc.
To be brutally honest, we don't have 5 guys like that on the Mosconi team from this year. We have a couple of young guns who, in general, are happy to be there when they get to the finals of a big event. Of course they want to win.... But are they the personality types to go back home and practice for 14 hours a day a week straight after losing in the quarter finals of the U.S. Open?
I am not so sure.
And therein lies the rub. THAT's what is required for team USA to win. Talents like Shane, Earl, Archer are not made in a week before the Mosconi Cup. They are made starting the day after a big loss. Shane is the only real killer on the team, and it's just too much pressure, as he feels he cannot lose a match for team USA to have even the slimmest chance of a victory.
I think outside of actual competition, some of these killer players can be pretty nice. BUT, when it comes to competition, I think one has to be a bit of an asshole who truly wants to beat the guy down 11-0 and crush their ego.
Because there is not enough events for American players to make a living, they resort to gambling.. And in these gambling matches, they set up long races and ahead sets where a specific individual shot does not matter, in the great big scheme of things.
Our American players need to change up their practice routines and thinking, getting to the point where they simply will not tolerate a missed shot or safety that is makeable. This obsessive-compulsive drive needs to overcome our younger generation if we are to ever develop more truly world class talent.
Yeah, the American pool scene sucks. No money in it, and so most of the young guns are just doing it to have fun and compete before they have to start a real job.And their work ethic reflects that. They are giving something like 80% effort to honing their craft, because that's the (relatively) EASY 80%. But to be truly dominant world-class talents, they need to give the other 20% effort in their training, regardless of what the financial rewards are, or are not.
If these younger players are not willing to give the sort of obsessive-compulsive effort that Shane does, and Strickland/Archer/Varner/Hall did, while understanding they simply are not going to benefit as much financially as the previous generations did, then there is no hope for American pool.
Am I ADVOCATING that they do so? Not really. There's just not enough money in American pool. I am just saying what is necessary for America to compete with Europe/Asia.
Short Bus Russ
What defined the players on the Mosconi Cup teams that won back in the 90s?
They were full of absolute killers who had an unholy hatred of missing balls/selling out on bad safes. Strickland, Archer, Davenport, etc.
To be brutally honest, we don't have 5 guys like that on the Mosconi team from this year. We have a couple of young guns who, in general, are happy to be there when they get to the finals of a big event. Of course they want to win.... But are they the personality types to go back home and practice for 14 hours a day a week straight after losing in the quarter finals of the U.S. Open?
I am not so sure.
And therein lies the rub. THAT's what is required for team USA to win. Talents like Shane, Earl, Archer are not made in a week before the Mosconi Cup. They are made starting the day after a big loss. Shane is the only real killer on the team, and it's just too much pressure, as he feels he cannot lose a match for team USA to have even the slimmest chance of a victory.
I think outside of actual competition, some of these killer players can be pretty nice. BUT, when it comes to competition, I think one has to be a bit of an asshole who truly wants to beat the guy down 11-0 and crush their ego.
Because there is not enough events for American players to make a living, they resort to gambling.. And in these gambling matches, they set up long races and ahead sets where a specific individual shot does not matter, in the great big scheme of things.
Our American players need to change up their practice routines and thinking, getting to the point where they simply will not tolerate a missed shot or safety that is makeable. This obsessive-compulsive drive needs to overcome our younger generation if we are to ever develop more truly world class talent.
Yeah, the American pool scene sucks. No money in it, and so most of the young guns are just doing it to have fun and compete before they have to start a real job.And their work ethic reflects that. They are giving something like 80% effort to honing their craft, because that's the (relatively) EASY 80%. But to be truly dominant world-class talents, they need to give the other 20% effort in their training, regardless of what the financial rewards are, or are not.
If these younger players are not willing to give the sort of obsessive-compulsive effort that Shane does, and Strickland/Archer/Varner/Hall did, while understanding they simply are not going to benefit as much financially as the previous generations did, then there is no hope for American pool.
Am I ADVOCATING that they do so? Not really. There's just not enough money in American pool. I am just saying what is necessary for America to compete with Europe/Asia.
Short Bus Russ
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