Larger prize funds increase the incentive for future hopefuls. The 100K on top was important here and MR didnt drop the ball
Team USA and the future of the Mosconi
- Thread starter jbart65
- Start date
Two words. Joe Rogan. What a shot in the arm that was.
Right on. The Mosconi needs to remain the climax of the pool year and getting on the team must remain a goal of top players in both Europe and America.
While it may not be an issue at all this year, in previous years, favoritism has been too prevalent in the selection of Team USA and some of the young players I have spoken to in recent years wonder whether Matchroom will ever permit young American pros to find their way onto the team as wild cards. The omission of Lukas Verner in 2025, America's best young player who had greater WNT earnings than Billy Thorpe, reinforced this message. I, for one, was in shock when Team USA went to bat in Europe in 2025 with the exact same team that had failed miserably on home soil a year earlier. Fewer young players will play in WNT events if the perception that Mosconi selection is not based on merit persists.
I think both the WNT and the Predator PBS are starting to make some headway in making pool more respectable, but I think the bigger issue is the culture of the poolroom itself. Until the typical poolroom is a place where parents are comfortable leaving their children to play, participation among juniors will disappoint, and I do not think we have accomplished this yet in America. It will help if televised pool causes parents to have more respect for the game, but unless they come to view the poolroom scene as respectable, it may not be enough.
LOL, I have been an ardent fan of Team USA at the Mosconi for about 20 years, and I count some American pool players among my closest friends. I have socialized with them, even vacationed with them on occasion. Believe me, I am as pained by our losing streak as anyone. I was elated to be there in 2018 when we broke the losing streak and the trip report I filed at the time made that abundantly clear.
Maybe it is our turn in 2026. I know I'll be in attendance and I'll be rooting as hard as anybody for Team USA. We'll soon know who is on the team, and I can't wait to find out.
And no, I did not suggest someone would take a dive. I merely noted, facetiously, that it doesn't really serve Europe well to win year after year and that I worry that if things don't get more competitive, the event could disappear.
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Everything is rambling to you, Garczar!
This thread was clearly not aimed at you. Best you do as you usually do and skip to something else. I frankly don’t understand why you wasted your time to respond in the first place. So unlike you!
Perhaps. Yet the push into the U.S., starting with the Florida Open, began before the Ko brothers shocked the non-Asian pool world by making China their base of operations.
I don’t think Predator hurts Matchroom yet, not much. It doesn’t hold enough events. But it does add to the motivation.
Frazer doesn’t seem worried about players missing some majors. She know it’s costly for most players, even top players, to travel around the world.
Agreed.
This fits in with my broader argument.
It’s all new as I outlined in another post. MR also created a ‘Next Gen’ rankings system like the one for WNT pros.
The next step, I strongly expect, is to add a junior apprentice to each Mosconi team. They might get to play in the team event and perhaps one doubles match. The aim would be to seed the U.S. team in particular and encourage more young players to join Next Gen events.
Correct, and corrected.
Frazer said player captains was a failure. She is desperate for the U.S. to win and will accept anything that accomplishes the goal. That’s why they brought back Johan after giving him a stiff arm for a few years.
I think MR and Frazer have finally figured this out. She is talking up young players a lot now.
The ESPN broadcast looked like the WNT feed from what I can tell, Jay. ESPN simply may have had a truck there to retransmit the feed. I didn’t notice different camera angles or camera work. But I wasn’t there.
Perhaps ESPN lent a hand, but I have to believe WNT shouldered most of the production costs.
You could be right. Small truck, small crew.
That was the usual arrangement with ESPN back in the day. The event producer bore virtually all of the production costs.
Player captains was, quite simply, one more step in the direction of validating the claim of many that the Mosconi selection process is not always a meritocracy.
... and yet the only player that has been talked up for Mosconi by a WNT commentator all year is a thirty-nine year old. I don't think they have figured it out yet.
Cord
Well-known member
What about one woman player? They actually did that in the first year or two. I think adding a Junior and a woman would add to the entertaiment value and also make it more competitive.I would love to see that happen
I'm all in for continuing the MC!
Badpenguin
Well-known member
There is already a Texas Open and it has a very long history. She might have to fight Texas at the Alamo if she tries to stage a Texas Open, those people are fanatics.
Easy to come up with another name, such as Dallas Open or any other city being used.
call it the alamo then
top 32 players from the ranking + wildcards
20 second shot clock, no extensions
race to 7
slightly softer pockets
bonus $$ for fastest BNR
The people here mentioning parents are right to include them as a significant factor. I agree with the sentiments of SJM here, but I would go a bit further.
Using the moneyboard on the AZBilliards home page (and I will admit that I don't know how accurate it is) Wiktor Zielinski has made about 86k by September, with some events remaining in the year. He may likely gross 100k plus sponsorships and minus expenses. The expense number here is surely not small.
White collar professions are offering less and less with an increasing cost to access jobs and stay in those jobs. The cost to enter these professions versus the payoff is diminishing, if the trajectory continues, we will reach a tipping point. I don't think we are there yet. Blue-collar jobs are cheaper to enter and are currently offering extremely high upsides related to the cost.
I think parents would look at this moneyboard and think, "is my kid more likely to be a mediocre HVAC professional, plumber, diesel mechanic, accountant, lawyer, financial planner, etc. or a world class pool player like Wiktor?" Additionally, I believe Poland has some kind of publicly funded healthcare. American players (if they are smart) are paying for individual private healthcare, which is expensive. Still further, parents are always concerned about grandkids. Can a pool player make enough to sustain not just himself, but a family?
There is more to life than a salary and benefits. Some of that "more to life" is achieved when you live out a dream and win the U.S. Open hill-hill on ESPN, and some of that "more to life" is accessed when you walk with your wife and kids to the bus stop on the first day of school.
Currently, pool players have to choose which priceless moments to pursue. Until pool can pay enough money to allow a player to support a family and enough to compensate him (and his family) for him missing walks to the bus stop, pool will have a problem. Right now, maybe the absolute top players make an amount that approaches this? But then the question gets worse, "Is my kid more likely to be a mediocre HVAC professional or Fedor Gorst?"
Parents will look at the AZBilliards money board and tell their kids the deposits are too light. The good news is that some kids don't listen to their parents.
kollegedave
You guys really wanna know the US future in the MC???? Its getting their asses handed to them for the foreseeable future. All this jabber isn't going to change the ONE big issue: getting US players back on the big table in large numbers. Unless this happens, and QUICK btw, the US will be major underdogs for YEARS. US 'might' steal one every now-n-then but that will be the exception not the rule.