Mosconi Cup Team - USA

sjm said:
Yes, Shane likes Earl, but not nearly as much as Barry Hearn does, and that's the bigger reason we need to be worried that Earl could be selected yet again.
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If the USA is likely to lose as many predict, why worry about having Earl on the team? I believe he would attract viewers, and pool needs more of that.....

* For similar reasons, I like adding Joey to the team, get that Mosconi experience out of the way now. I like the idea of grooming a young player who possibly could play Mosconi while still in his prime for another 20+ years.
 
michael4 said:
If the USA is likely to lose as many predict, why worry about having Earl on the team? I believe he would attract viewers, and pool needs more of that.....

* For similar reasons, I like adding Joey to the team, get that Mosconi experience out of the way now. I like the idea of grooming a young player who possibly could play Mosconi while still in his prime for another 20+ years.
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Strickland doesn't attract viewers in the US anymore. The days of his matches attracting a big gang of viewers are in the rearview mirror. Perhaps the European viewers are the ones who want to watch him. I'll leave that judgement to Matchroom.

Picking someone as a wild card based on potential alone is a little more tolerable as it builds for the future, but if that's your thought, I'd rather go with the 21-year-old Shane Wolford, who reached Stage 2 at both the 2021 International 9-ball and the 2022 US Open 9-ball. He has shown far more form than Joey.
 
Joey didn’t even place in the top 5 of the junior tournament he just played in, why would we pick him to play against what will probably be 5 of the top 10-15 players in the world? There is definitely such thing as too much, too soon so let the kid continue to work on his game before we throw him to the wolves.

I’d much rather see a guy like Shane wolford in there to see if he can take his game to the next level.
 
sjm said:
Strickland doesn't attract viewers in the US anymore. The days of his matches attracting a big gang of viewers are in the rearview mirror. Perhaps the European viewers are the ones who want to watch him. I'll leave that judgement to Matchroom.

Picking someone as a wild card based on potential alone is a little more tolerable as it builds for the future, but if that's your thought, I'd rather go with the 21-year-old Shane Wolford, who reached Stage 2 at both the 2021 International 9-ball and the 2022 US Open 9-ball. He has shown far more form than Joey.
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Not sure I agree that people don’t want to watch him. This thread is proof of that, I think a quick poll would have him being the people’s pick?
Also you stated he didn’t do well at Turning Stone, correct me if I am wrong but didn’t he quit the event? Normally quitting an event would back up your argument for not having him but SVB quit as well
When he played Shaw a couple of weeks ago, he was not outclassed at all and maybe only his petulance at missing a ball and leaving it hanging made him lose
Anyway as you can see I’m in Earls camp- maybe I’m blinkered.
 
Monti said:
Not sure I agree that people don’t want to watch him. This thread is proof of that, I think a quick poll would have him being the people’s pick?
Also you stated he didn’t do well at Turning Stone, correct me if I am wrong but didn’t he quit the event? Normally quitting an event would back up your argument for not having him but SVB quit as well
When he played Shaw a couple of weeks ago, he was not outclassed at all and maybe only his petulance at missing a ball and leaving it hanging made him lose
Anyway as you can see I’m in Earls camp- maybe I’m blinkered.
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Earl's skills are undeniable and he can still find that special gear every now and then, as could a Sigel or a Varner even now. That said, I watched his play live at Turning Stone, so I'm basing my comments on what I saw first-hand. I'm also taking note that a few years ago, any match in which he was playing drew a whole host of onlookers and this is no longer the case.

Yes, he quit in a match at Turning Stone after committing an unsportsmanlike conduct violation in which he would have trailed 5-4 to Bucky Souvanthong had he had played on, but his physical attack on Hunter Lombardo a year ago was overlooked, so one must assume that this incident would be overlooked, as well. Earl is never held accountable for misbehaving, so why would we expect it now?

It's OK to say that you still enjoy watching Earl, and you're not alone, but it's equally true that Earl has basically disappeared from the pro scene and no longer competes for his living. He skipped every Matchroom event this year, even their premier event, the World Pool Championship, so why should he be included in a Matchroom Invitational event that rewards year-long excellence.
 
sjm said:
He skipped every Matchroom event this year, even their premier event, the World Pool Championship, so why should he be included in a Matchroom Invitational event that rewards year-long excellence.
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That fits in with my theory of continued employment, if you want to keep your job, act like you want the job.
 
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sjm said:
Earl's skills are undeniable and he can still find that special gear every now and then, as could a Sigel or a Varner even now. That said, I watched his play live at Turning Stone, so I'm basing my comments on what I saw first-hand. I'm also taking note that a few years ago, any match in which he was playing drew a whole host of onlookers and this is no longer the case.

Yes, he quit in a match at Turning Stone after committing an unsportsmanlike conduct violation in which he would have trailed 5-4 to Bucky Souvanthong had he had played on, but his physical attack on Hunter Lombardo a year ago was overlooked, so one must assume that this incident would be overlooked, as well. Earl is never held accountable for misbehaving, so why would we expect it now?

It's OK to say that you still enjoy watching Earl, and you're not alone, but it's equally true that Earl has basically disappeared from the pro scene and no longer competes for his living. He skipped every Matchroom event this year, even their premier event, the World Pool Championship, so why should he be included in a Matchroom Invitational event that rewards year-long excellence.
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All good points. Although I am not sure the Mosconi cup is just an event rewarding excellence I think it’s raison d’etre is to have a lively boisterous event that both fans and players alike enjoy?
 
Monti said:
All good points. Although I am not sure the Mosconi cup is just an event rewarding excellence I think it’s raison d’etre is to have a lively boisterous event that both fans and players alike enjoy?
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Yes, well said, and the Mosconi event has delivered that boisterous atmosphere and great excitement year after year. That will happen again no matter who is on the team.
 
95% of us love Earl. We all wish he could find his old special gear...just one more time. Problem is that 50% of the time we get a dumpster fire. Those are simply not good odds.

USA has a couple of worthy candidates that will strap on the colors and do the team proud. For me it's an easy pick. Either Billy because he's done OK under the lights and is well liked by teammates or Josh because he's a tough competitor with a Fargo to match. Anyone else (except Mike Dechaine or Bergman - neither are getting the call) would be a down grade to a team that is already out matched.
 
SEB said:
I see the sentiment for choosing a Mosconi member for the wrong reasons but at the end of the day, who from the US could beat Earl in 9 ball race to 100?

There’s like 5 guys. Shane, Sky, Bergman, Dechaine, and…maybe Oscar?

Even if he’s picked for the wrong reasons we’re still getting a player better suited to getting us wins than a Shane Wolford or Chris Reinhold.

Billy doesn’t deserve to be on this year’s team. He’s not in form at all. I’d rather have Earl.
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Earl is capable of beating any American player in a race to 100 because his ability level is still very high. He even hung with Shaw for a while recently in a race to 25. The problem is he can easily flip into the give up mode at the drop of a hat for almost any reason- that is unfortunately more likely to happen than not.
 
westcoast said:
Earl is capable of beating any American player in a race to 100 because his ability level is still very high. He even hung with Shaw for a while recently in a race to 25. The problem is he can easily flip into the give up mode at the drop of a hat for almost any reason- that is unfortunately more likely to happen than not.
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Yeah I bet the odds of earl getting through a full race to 100 is low at this point. He just started to get off the rails in that race to 25 against jayson and that was essentially an exhibition. Can you imagine what he’d be like in a race 4 times as long and for real money?
 
sjm said:
Strickland doesn't attract viewers in the US anymore. The days of his matches attracting a big gang of viewers are in the rearview mirror. Perhaps the European viewers are the ones who want to watch him. I'll leave that judgement to Matchroom.

Picking someone as a wild card based on potential alone is a little more tolerable as it builds for the future, but if that's your thought, I'd rather go with the 21-year-old Shane Wolford, who reached Stage 2 at both the 2021 International 9-ball and the 2022 US Open 9-ball. He has shown far more form than Joey.
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Wolford also won the music city open and did very well in the DCC 9 ball back in January of this year.
 
9BallKY said:
Wolford also won the music city open and did very well in the DCC 9 ball back in January of this year.
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Oh yes, I recall his fine play at the Derby, in which he played Filler very tough in a late round match of the 9-ball event.
 
sjm said:
Strickland doesn't attract viewers in the US anymore.
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Thanks for sharing your opinion. I am a US viewer, and I disagree, and so do a lot of others. It's okay to root for Team Europe and European champions, but it is difficult to read disparaging remarks about an American Hall of Famer and champion on a pool forum. Yes, he's not a pool purist. That's for sure. But neither was Alex Higgins, and he was loved around the world.
 
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The only reason the European crowd would want Earl on the US team is to see if they can set him off. Like NickB said...
The Europeans will strike a few sparks just to see if they can get a dumpster fire going.

Let's face it... the European audience is not the most sportsman like crowd when the beer gets flowing. They even got Johnny Archer distracted from his game by making a comment about his wife.
 
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buckshotshoey said:
The only reason the European crowd would want Earl on the US team is to see if they can set him off. Like NickB said...
The Europeans will strike a few sparks just to see if they can get a dumpster fire going.

Let's face it... the European audience is not the most sportsman like crowd when the beer gets flowing. They even got Johnny Archer distracted from his game by making a comment about his wife.
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it's in vegas this year. not that location matters when it comes to earl imploding..
 
When you're expected to win the pressure is magnified substantially. The underdog has nothing to lose
as they are losers going in, it's easy for the other team to take to the heat, they have everything to lose.
It's not uncommon the underdog plays over their head and the favorite not so well or pressure out.
My dog can beat Fedor or Josh in a race to 5 and he has terrible fundamentals.
The U.S. are the dogs going in, you never know how it's going to play out.

I wave the flag red, white, and blue, but I look at the writing on the wall.
We have a better shot at hitting the sun with a snowball. ( Pressure changes that )
Day in and day out we get spanked. Our players have to catch a high gear and maintain it throughout.
The Euro team has a built in high gear, they don't have to catch anything, they just have to maintain their normal play and not take to the heat.
The talent level of players around the world is amazing and growing, we are no longer the top dog
and are dropping rapidly, we have good young players, the world also has young players.
That Navy Seal debacle should tell us about the difference in talent levels, what a joke that was.

The beauty of competition,,,,who will wave the flag in the end. The pressure and drama that will
be etched in our minds and history forever. That one shot or scratch heard around the world.

The best team doesn't always win.
 
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