Wildcard Pick For 2022 Mosconi Cup Poll
- Thread starter JAM
- Start date
It would make sense for a few reasons...
---Shane apparently wants Earl on the team. Shane in the last few years has been threatening to quit the team, and to keep that from happening Matchroom has been catering to some of his whims
---Matchroom thinks Earl and his antics are ratings gold
---Matchroom can say this makes up for last year when Earl had to miss out on playing which in turn will help build some goodwill with the fans
---Matchroom can say "see, we don't really require that Mosconi Cup team members have to have been active participants in Matchroom events" since that criteria recently came to light and wasn't popular with some fans
---European fans really, really want Earl on the team (in large part for nefarious reasons), and Matchroom most loves catering to the European fans
---USA doesn't have the depth of field of Europe, and if they don't go with Earl there isn't much left unless you drop down even further in skill where they are even more outclassed by the European players, and even more so yet if they also stuck to the criteria that the player has to have been active in Matchroom events
---Earl finished the highest out of the Americans in this event, which along with making up for him not getting to play last year provides some plausible deniability justification they can use for his selection without having to admit to any of rest
The AzBilliards software for the forum won't allow lurkers to vote on polls, but the threads and polls, no problem.I tried to vote as a lurker & didn't work. How about making it lurker friendly.
On a sour note, I realize the Mosconi Cup is supposed to be a good old-fashioned rowdy rivalry between USA and Europe. It's always been fun to sweat, win or lose. There's been an undertone in recent years of gangsta-style, bullying, mean-spirited remarks going back and forth between quite a few people on both sides, Europe and USA. I don't mind a fun-filled bantering, but some of these are not pleasant to read. I'm not enthusiastic as I once was about the Mosconi Cup because of it.
I still wish it was Jeremy Jones as the 5th member, but I'm happy to settle for Earl as a close second. I also would not mind at all of Shane Wolford was selected. He's fresh, innovative, friendly to pool fans, has passion for pool, and would be a good addition to the team. He's got a bright future ahead of him. I like the kid. Gosh, look at this cutest-ever photo of 13-year-old Shane winning at the Super Billiards Expo. What a cutie pie!
Read more here: https://www.professorqball.com/2013...te-juniors-divisions-at-super-billiards-expo/
I still wish it was Jeremy Jones as the 5th member, but I'm happy to settle for Earl as a close second. I also would not mind at all of Shane Wolford was selected. He's fresh, innovative, friendly to pool fans, has passion for pool, and would be a good addition to the team. He's got a bright future ahead of him. I like the kid. Gosh, look at this cutest-ever photo of 13-year-old Shane winning at the Super Billiards Expo. What a cutie pie!
Read more here: https://www.professorqball.com/2013...te-juniors-divisions-at-super-billiards-expo/
hopefully shane will have a positive influence on earl then.
best case scenario is earl gets a few W:s for the USA with only minor verbal antics occurring. good for ratings i don't know, at his worst it's just cringe imo.
I agree with all you said. But I'm curious.... when did Shane threaten to not play in the Mosconi Cup? Or was "threatend" too strong of a word to use in this case? I must of missed where he said that. I was under the impression he enjoyed playing the Mosconi Cup.
It's not too strong of a word but it was intended to encompass a number of sentiments like intended to, had to be talked out of, wanted such and such concessions or else he wasn't interested, and other related sentiments without going into detail. He's been varying degrees of less than happy with it for a while, and it's not really his gig to begin with really (which should really be pretty obvious to those that know him much). That's about all I want to say and probably wouldn't even have mentioned it except that it isn't exactly a total public secret that he has wanted to quit in the past, I believe it was Johan who mentioned at least once in an interview circa 2018 or so (the year they ended up winning after the long drought I believe it might have been or thereabouts) that Shane had planned on quitting and not playing on it any more and he had to talk him into staying on the team with some reassurances/concessions etc.
Edit: Last night during the Oi match, John Schmidt revealed that another Euro Player had told him that Emily Frazer had revealed that Earl had indeed been selected as the 5th US pick.
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Here's the video by Matchroom --> Matchroom Fifth Pick Briefing
Matchroom has been playing it up the whole time for the "suspense".
The decision was made well in advance.
Scrunge19
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Not to mention the 4, 5, and 9 ball all conveniently in frame. Emily may have said that changing the colors was a mistake, but she certainly loves the controversy and argument that they now attract.
How deep someone goes is not the only measure of how good they played-as you know Jay. Heard you in the booth. Nice!
It’s official Earl is #5.
I originally voted for Thorpe in this thread poll. But on further reflection, his strong performance at pats event, and his killer attitude, I do think he’s the best pick that could have been made.
I originally voted for Thorpe in this thread poll. But on further reflection, his strong performance at pats event, and his killer attitude, I do think he’s the best pick that could have been made.
I’ll bet he does not have the worst singles record of team USA. Ties push. 50. Pls confirm.