Bergman will play WNT events in 2026

mikepage said:
You have a mental image of a "9-foot player" of a certain skill, say 600, who can go to a 7-foot table and adapt pretty easily.
And of a somehow similar "7-foot player" who struggles on a 9-foot table because he has less transferrable skills.
But those two players don't have the same rating.

You need to find better 7-foot players to do this right. Keep getting better and better players until you find some who after a little bit keep up with that 9-foot 600 when they go to a 9-foot table. Then we call them 600s and everybody else on the 7-foot table falls in line compared to them.

In other words, 600 is the same skill on both tables because we make it so. This is the same kind of balancing that connects the city to the countryside.
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Mike, I made no reference to Fargo ratings whatsoever in my post responding to Kris. Maybe you need to address this with him.
 
Frosty said:
I agree with you regarding Jerry. You’re also correct in that Mark was a very good player, as one doesn’t manage to be able to even play on the pro tour without elite skills. The same goes for Tyler, he has put in the time and has the skills, I believe he’s in possession of the top 3-4 10 ball breaks amongst all current pro players.

My initial post wasn’t an attempt to knock Mark or Tyler as both have skills of elite players. As I noted though, skills without heart, grit, whatever word anyone wants to assign to describe inner toughness in competition that allows players to bring their honed, elite skills to task in the heat of battle, when it matters is the difference between those that become champions and the “also rans”.

I’m of the belief that when you look at say, the top 20 players in the pro ranks, that the difference in their “skill levels”, is infinitesimal. Yet almost as a rule, there are perhaps a third of those 20 that are are always in the top spot in finishes, another third that always end up in the middle, and the last third that are near the end of that 20 regarding their competition finishes. So given the minimal difference in physical skills, it becomes clear that the difference is what they possess inside, grit, heart. Some have it in spades, some do not. It’s just one of those variables that is difficult to develop if they don’t inherently have it “in them”.
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True that!
 
Frosty said:
I’m of the belief that when you look at say, the top 20 players in the pro ranks, that the difference in their “skill levels”, is infinitesimal. Yet almost as a rule, there are perhaps a third of those 20 that are are always in the top spot in finishes, another third that always end up in the middle, and the last third that are near the end of that 20 regarding their competition finishes. So given the minimal difference in physical skills, it becomes clear that the difference is what they possess inside, grit, heart. Some have it in spades, some do not. It’s just one of those variables that is difficult to develop if they don’t inherently have it “in them”.
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Don't agree here. What you say may be true of pool's execution skills, but it is definitely not true of conceptualization skills, those skills pertaining to shot selection and design, and tactical decision making.

All the Top 20 are very good at executing shots, but the best few make significantly better decisions than the others. To suggest that the entire difference between the top few and the other elite players boils down to grit and heart is to miss the boat. That's only part of what separates the best few from the rest.
 
sjm said:
This is great news. I always liked both Justin and his 9ball game. Still, despite Scott's suggestion, I highly doubt he'll do everything he can to qualify, as that would mean, at very least, playing in all the WNT majors.

It's hard to imagine the travel-phobic Justin going to the WNT majors in Asia (World 9ball, Hanoi Open and Philippines Open), but even if Justin plays only the Florida Open, US Open, UK Open and European Open, he will have ample opportunity to prove himself worthy of a Mosconi pick. Of course, barring a couple of top three finishes, such participation probably wouldn't be enough to gain one of the three automatic qualifying spots, so he'd likely need to rely on becoming a wildcard pick.

Of course, the burning questions are a) does he play 9ball as well as he did in 2013-19? b) how much will the lack of world class competition in recent years hold him back? and c) can he learn the WNT break?

There's no doubt in my mind that if he can reproduce his form of 2013-2019, he can shine in WNT play. His biggest weakness back then was his break, but he ran the table quite well. His defense and kicking were superb, and those skills are now more important than they ever have been in WNT play.

The Derby City 9ball, a WNT rankings event, would be a nice place for him to start. Wishing him the best of luck.
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He hates airplanes so this will be a challenge.
 
tableroll said:
He hates airplanes so this will be a challenge.
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If what Soctt Frost is saying is true, Justin will be doing some flying this year.

On the other hand, if he plays just the two America-based WNT majors, meaning the US Open and Florida Open, and skips all the other WNT majors, I wonder if he would be considered for Team USA at all. Unless your name is Earl, significant participation in WNT majors is a prerequisite for Mosconi inclusion.
 
sjm said:
If what Soctt Frost is saying is true, Justin will be doing some flying this year.

On the other hand, if he plays just the two America-based WNT majors, meaning the US Open and Florida Open, and skips all the other WNT majors, I wonder if he would be considered for Team USA at all. Unless your name is Earl, significant participation in WNT majors is a prerequisite for Mosconi inclusion.
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Matchroom has no problem rewriting their own rules whenever they see fit.
 
tableroll said:
He hates airplanes so this will be a challenge.
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Do you know Bergman? Is it true he hates airplanes? I’ve also heard he is germaphobic. I doubt that is true but I don’t know him personally so, who knows? I do play just outside his home area and occasionally play people who do know him. I’ve never heard anyone who knows him to say he won’t travel, for the above reasons. Even at 38, I hope he makes a go of it.


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