2026 Mosconi Cup Team USA
- Thread starter JAM
- Start date
One more wildcard pick to go, I believe. Most expect it to be Sky Woodward.
I’m going to guess the last pick will be a surprise like Lukas or Atencio.
If I had my pick for the wildcard, it would be Billy Thorpe because he gets along well with the others and brings enthusiasm and excitement to the team.
He's got the experience of playing on the big stage, and I think he can bring it on. He's hitting 'em strong as of late and attending a lot of events.
He's got the experience of playing on the big stage, and I think he can bring it on. He's hitting 'em strong as of late and attending a lot of events.
That's why they have wildcards.
uk_9_ball_convert
Well-known member
Matchroom have told him he didn't enter enough sanctioned events to be eligible for selection. He was pretty annoyed as he only learned this just before he was going to play his match in the U.S Open. Quite a few players had to play the Philippines Open to be eligible, but Billy had missed so many events didn't even make a difference if he went to the the Philippines or not.That's why they have wildcards.
I don't think it's a terrible rule, but they should make an exception when it's exceptional circumstances. I think Lucas Varner has been ruled out for the same reasons when he missed events whilst recovering from a car crash. That seems unfair to me.
In the end, it will be Emily or Johan who makes the decision. I think when that happens, rules be gone.
Wouldn't that be nice? Going to bat with four of the five from last year's team that totally bombed in England. Seriously? Does swapping out Thorpe for Bergman actually make this a stronger team than the 2025 team? I would say no, it's about break even. It just makes Team USA a little older.
Unless we get Europe's "C" game, this is a no contest. Then again, we got Asia's "C" game at the Reyes Cup, so maybe it will prove contagious.
Bergman, who played his first WNT event in August, is a reasonable choice given the other available choices, but he had a terrible year without a single appearance in the Top 16 at a WNT ranking event and he's 39. Very reminiscent of Earl, an old player who was named to Team USA in a year in which he accomplished nothing. Skyler, to a large extent, sat out the WNT season and, like Bergman, never posted a top 16 in a Matchroom ranking event. Yes, he was once a committed and successful WNT player, but he has largely turned his back on the tour of late. A year ago, he was probably the worst playing captain in Mosconi Cup history. His pedigree is long since proven, but he has done nothing to earn a place on Team USA.
Matchroom needs to rethink all of this. The year after year after year exclusion of young players on Team USA is not only disturbing but it sets Team USA up for future failures. Seems the days of players not committed to or successful on the WNT being omitted from Team USA are over. Perhaps we need to return to the days of when there were no specified requirements, participation or other, for being a wildcard choice.
The only hope here lies in the fact that in 2018, Johann bucked the trend and selected somewhat unknown and largely unproven Tyler Styer to Team USA, and it worked, as Tyler was a key contributor to the winning effort that year. At least Johan has it in him to go young, At present, though, he's got a team consisting of a Russian and three Americans who have an average age of 38. If the last pick is the 33-year old Woodward, it will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that young players are, for practical purpose, ineligible for Team USA consideration. The saddest part about that is that young American players, already suspicious of the process, will feel even more disincentivized to even try for inclusion on future editions of Team USA.
We know how badly Matchroom wants Team USA to win, but unless Emily either begs Team Europe to fire blanks or sharks the Team Europe players herself, we might need Team Europe to dog its brains out for Team USA to win eleven matches.
The only good news is that the Mosconi Cup is great fun no matter what the score is, so I'm looking forward to it.
if i'm trying to read the tea leaves, and skylers' appearance on UP USA is among these leaves, you may be onto something there
well the problem in this case is that next on the eligibility ladder is like hunter lombardo.. maybe meglino in between (who in fairness is good, but slow). but it's a pretty steep step after sky, it kind of drops down to players that are 100 fargo points below filler.
Do you have any suggestions on who those younger picks would be? Which younger players have put in the time and effort and winning pedigree? I watch a lot of pool, maybe not as much as some, but I can't come up with any names that would fit the bill... can you help me out a little here?
I think Bergman is a clear upgrade. Thorpe is less strategic than Bergman, and Team USA needs players who are more strategic.
That said, he is not the key. The key is for SVB and Gorst to play like two of the five best players in the world.
Team USA has enough talent to keep it close and even win, but yes, Team Europe would probably have to play below their standard. We know it happens in all sports. So there is always hope!
He is living on past glory. Matchroom making him a captain the past two years was a grave mistake.
The qualification process is too tight. Young players in particular don't have the financial means to travel to many many big events globally.
I think one solution could be adding a sixth player, basically an apprentice. Shaw has argued for six-man teams to give teams depth in case of injury, illness, a player feeling stress. The sixth player could be a young and promising player who plays a limited role, but gets to experience it.
We've gone over this before. Young US players have no reason to be suspicious. Nobody who is young has earned a spot.
Lukas was on the verge of doing so until he got hurt. One could argue he deserved a spot last year, but if he did, it was marginally so. He had no real big wins to speak of.
A few years ago, Shane Wolford got on the team and did OK. Then he basically dropped off the Matchroom map.
The only other young player who met the criteria this year was Nathan Childress. He did nothing to earn a spot.
I'm also not up to date with the younger American players, but I have no issue with one of them being on the team, even if they haven't "earned a spot"
There's no upside to selecting the same players over and over again.
What I would do if I were MR, is make the wildcard pick (for both teams) a player under 25 that's never played in the MC before.
But I imagine MR will just maintain the status quo and make Billy or Sky the final pick.