Bonus Ball Teams and Rosters?
- Thread starter MSchaffer
- Start date
World Professional Billiard League rosters.
The rosters were just finalized from Johnny Archer this morning, here they are:
Launch Date: November 29th. FREE Video on Demand for the opening weekend. Free previews are available right now at www.playbonusball.com
World Professional Billiard League rosters for the 2012-13 inaugural season.
SOUTH DIVISION
ATLANTA SCORPIONS Johnny Archer - Dennis Hatch - Shannon Daulton
MIAMI CRUISE Corey Deuel - Hunter Lombardo - Jose Parica
LOS ANGELES WAVE Oscar Dominguez - Ernesto Dominguez - Louis Ulrich
LAS VEGAS DICE John Schmidt - Charlie Williams - Mike Davis
PHOENIX FLAMES Scott Frost - Tommy Kennedy - Manny Chau
HOUSTON HUSTLERS Jeremy Jones - Chip Compton – Justin Hall
NORTH DIVISION
NEW YORK PRIDE Earl Strickland - Larry Nevel - Warren Kiamco
TORONTO BLUE SHARKS Jason Klatt - John Morra - Erik Hjorleifson
PHILADEPHIA ACES Darren Appleton - Stevie Moore - Brandon Shuff
BOSTON YOUNG GUNS Mike Dechaine - Thorsten Hohmann - Jesse Engel
CHICAGO ROCKETS Rodney Morris - Raj Hundal - Mika Immonen
PITTSBURGH PROWLERS Shawn Putnam - Adam Smith - Sylver Ochoa
Each team will play 22 regular season games from November 29th to May12th. Play-offs end June 9th.
PPV will be $9.95 for VIDEO ON DEMAND FOR THE WEEKS AFTER WEEK ONE.
The rosters were just finalized from Johnny Archer this morning, here they are:
Launch Date: November 29th. FREE Video on Demand for the opening weekend. Free previews are available right now at www.playbonusball.com
World Professional Billiard League rosters for the 2012-13 inaugural season.
SOUTH DIVISION
ATLANTA SCORPIONS Johnny Archer - Dennis Hatch - Shannon Daulton
MIAMI CRUISE Corey Deuel - Hunter Lombardo - Jose Parica
LOS ANGELES WAVE Oscar Dominguez - Ernesto Dominguez - Louis Ulrich
LAS VEGAS DICE John Schmidt - Charlie Williams - Mike Davis
PHOENIX FLAMES Scott Frost - Tommy Kennedy - Manny Chau
HOUSTON HUSTLERS Jeremy Jones - Chip Compton – Justin Hall
NORTH DIVISION
NEW YORK PRIDE Earl Strickland - Larry Nevel - Warren Kiamco
TORONTO BLUE SHARKS Jason Klatt - John Morra - Erik Hjorleifson
PHILADEPHIA ACES Darren Appleton - Stevie Moore - Brandon Shuff
BOSTON YOUNG GUNS Mike Dechaine - Thorsten Hohmann - Jesse Engel
CHICAGO ROCKETS Rodney Morris - Raj Hundal - Mika Immonen
PITTSBURGH PROWLERS Shawn Putnam - Adam Smith - Sylver Ochoa
Each team will play 22 regular season games from November 29th to May12th. Play-offs end June 9th.
PPV will be $9.95 for VIDEO ON DEMAND FOR THE WEEKS AFTER WEEK ONE.
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Just curious, but some of these guys are on teams where the city isn't where they are based out of (i.e. Mika is NYC, Oscar and Ernesto are way closer to LA than LV, John Schmidt is in WV, etc.). Any special reason for that?
John Schmidt is back in California now.
It's a professional league. Players were drafted by the captains. Like Baseball and Football, you don't need to have lived in a city to play for that city. Some captains are from their city like Archer, but it was not necessary to chose players from your city. Make sense?
Also, the expense to have 12 venues built was impossible for year one so we have all the teams based in Las Vegas. Of course I want to see each team to have their own venue but that is not in our budget! At the very least, I would like to see a Northern Division Venue in a northern city. That would really help. Everything takes time.
Also, the expense to have 12 venues built was impossible for year one so we have all the teams based in Las Vegas. Of course I want to see each team to have their own venue but that is not in our budget! At the very least, I would like to see a Northern Division Venue in a northern city. That would really help. Everything takes time.
Shane was in and now not in. I hope he plays at least as a spare on a team. Im not sure what direction he will go. All I can say is I wish he was still in! I was watching him play amateur players at Fargo Billiards a few weeks ago. I just said hello. Never asked him why he wants to back out but it's a free country and he's welcome to change his mind at anytime. I am very satisfied with the players Larry has playing. Should be a nice start!
We never actually made up the rosters. We simply choose 12 cities because that was the maximum we could work for the first season. We picked captains and they drafted their rosters. There are thousands of great pool players that could have been chosen but this season, this is what we have.
We never actually made up the rosters. We simply choose 12 cities because that was the maximum we could work for the first season. We picked captains and they drafted their rosters. There are thousands of great pool players that could have been chosen but this season, this is what we have.
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Maybe not much sense. A pro football team has over 50 players. It would not be workable to build pro football teams based only on players from in or near particular cities. But the Bonus Ball teams consist of only 3 players (and maybe an alternate?). I don't see a single US team where all 3 players have a significant connection to the city or area. Wouldn't interest/allegiance between teams and fans be greater if the players came from in or near the cities they represent?
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Also
missing John Brumback!!!
Missing Jessie Bowman!!!!
Missing Alex (the Lion)!!!!
As team captain you have to be SMACKED!!!! for not selecting these monsters!!!
I got an idea make another team with these 3 that got left out!!!!
I would be betting on them this team seems stronger than any of those listed funny enough!!!
KD
missing John Brumback!!!
Missing Jessie Bowman!!!!
Missing Alex (the Lion)!!!!
As team captain you have to be SMACKED!!!! for not selecting these monsters!!!
I got an idea make another team with these 3 that got left out!!!!
I would be betting on them this team seems stronger than any of those listed funny enough!!!
KD
Just a quick comment, or question rather, but will the players have mics? One of the things I think that has made TV poker a success is that they have audio of the discussions and is often encouraged for the players to somewhat "talk smack" between hands.
I know that's usually frowned upon with pool, but it would be great to hear Earl, Rodney, and others talk between shots, racks, and whatnot as long as it's respectful.
I know that's usually frowned upon with pool, but it would be great to hear Earl, Rodney, and others talk between shots, racks, and whatnot as long as it's respectful.
Many great players have opted out for one reason or another. Bottom line is each captain was allowed to draft players. There was only 24 open spots for the top positions. Spares are to be announced later. Television executives loved this concept but wished for us to have a shorter model than the four man teams (time is a huge factor for television). Larry did not want to drop these other players so we created four more teams. It was only fair.
We want to someday, if this is successful have Bonus Ball (WPBL) studios in each city. We picked these cities as expansion possibilities. Rodney Morris was asked to captain a Chicago team. He chose Raj and Mika as his team mates. They like each other and get along. They are now representing the Chicago franchise. Most of our star football players come from the USA. They are accepted as "our" players in Winnipeg, even though they come from the USA. Ask anybody that lives in Boston if they care that their professional hockey team has a whole bunch of hockey players from Canada! Not one dam bit when they paraded down the street with the Stanley Cup. I believe Chicago pool players will still cheer for Rodney and company as their own.
John, Alex and Jessie are not playing because they were (A) Not chosen by one of the 12 captains (B) Agent problems (c) have no clue what Bonus Ball is (d) feel they make more money another way. We have 36 top players right now and yes probably could have another 36 players added. That's all the room we had. This year.
We want to someday, if this is successful have Bonus Ball (WPBL) studios in each city. We picked these cities as expansion possibilities. Rodney Morris was asked to captain a Chicago team. He chose Raj and Mika as his team mates. They like each other and get along. They are now representing the Chicago franchise. Most of our star football players come from the USA. They are accepted as "our" players in Winnipeg, even though they come from the USA. Ask anybody that lives in Boston if they care that their professional hockey team has a whole bunch of hockey players from Canada! Not one dam bit when they paraded down the street with the Stanley Cup. I believe Chicago pool players will still cheer for Rodney and company as their own.
John, Alex and Jessie are not playing because they were (A) Not chosen by one of the 12 captains (B) Agent problems (c) have no clue what Bonus Ball is (d) feel they make more money another way. We have 36 top players right now and yes probably could have another 36 players added. That's all the room we had. This year.
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When an irresistble force....
.... MEETS AN IMMOVABLE OBJECT.
The Mosconi Cup is set for December 10th to 13th December.
Among the players in contention for spots in the two teams are Brandon Shuff, Mike Dechaine, Johnny Archer, Oscar Dominguez, Mike Davis, Rodney Morris, Dennis Hatch, Corey Deuel, Stevie Moore,
Hunter Lombardo, Earl Strickland, Darren Appleton, Mika Immonen and Thorsten Hohmann.
These are all Bonus Ball players.
How happy are they that the Bonus Ball fixtures have been scheduled on top of Mosconi Cup dates.
A thoughless disregard of the established Matchroom event.
The BB ruling that you cannot play anywhere else during a week of your BB fixture and the fact that US Captain will insist that
His players must arrive suitably ahead of the Mosconi start date to counteract any jet lag does mean that the chosen players are all going to have to make a decision
Or get the BB schedule amended. If that is not workable then we could see some shaping up and with the Mosconi Cup sanctioned by the WPA there ccan only be one winner
.... MEETS AN IMMOVABLE OBJECT.
The Mosconi Cup is set for December 10th to 13th December.
Among the players in contention for spots in the two teams are Brandon Shuff, Mike Dechaine, Johnny Archer, Oscar Dominguez, Mike Davis, Rodney Morris, Dennis Hatch, Corey Deuel, Stevie Moore,
Hunter Lombardo, Earl Strickland, Darren Appleton, Mika Immonen and Thorsten Hohmann.
These are all Bonus Ball players.
How happy are they that the Bonus Ball fixtures have been scheduled on top of Mosconi Cup dates.
A thoughless disregard of the established Matchroom event.
The BB ruling that you cannot play anywhere else during a week of your BB fixture and the fact that US Captain will insist that
His players must arrive suitably ahead of the Mosconi start date to counteract any jet lag does mean that the chosen players are all going to have to make a decision
Or get the BB schedule amended. If that is not workable then we could see some shaping up and with the Mosconi Cup sanctioned by the WPA there ccan only be one winner
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Go, Earl, go! Yippeee! Earl at Mosconi Cup. It doesn't get any better than ---> THIS!
Listen to the Brits' air horns, screaming, and pounding of their feet, after Earl breaks his cue ---> HERE
I'd much rather watch Earl than a lot of the other eggs. Earl brings excitement and holds your attention. One never knows what he will do next, not to mention the man can play a mean game of pool. :wink:
The Mosconi Cup will have a couple of our players and they will be replaced by alternates. It's team events so the teams play on. One week without a star player does not change much. Our PPV is On demand so you can watch the Mosconi Cup and still watch your favorite team at another time. The New York or the Atlanta team will still be exciting to watch with or without their star player for a game or two. It's a long season.
It has nothing to do with disrespecting the Mosconi Cup. I've been to several Mosconi Cups...loved the venue and the crowd. Just like people will love the WPBL. Teams are fun and entertaining.
We never said players weren't free to play in any other important event. Hog wash! We said they had a choice. The team will simply need another player to replace them. I have gone to many events when the star player is not on the roster. I go to see the team and get entertained.
It has nothing to do with disrespecting the Mosconi Cup. I've been to several Mosconi Cups...loved the venue and the crowd. Just like people will love the WPBL. Teams are fun and entertaining.
We never said players weren't free to play in any other important event. Hog wash! We said they had a choice. The team will simply need another player to replace them. I have gone to many events when the star player is not on the roster. I go to see the team and get entertained.
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Good answer! I like the way you respond to this forum. Bravo to you for your attention to matters that affect all of the pool culture, including us railbirds.
Sorry Jen
But I did not say that Earl would be in this year's Mosconi Cup team. That decision will be taken by Matchroom after the US Open.
The list of players were the ones who had a mathematical chance of getting into a top 5 spot.
I also have included some players who do not have a chance with the points but are capable of winning the Open.
If an American (even Earl) wins the Open then it would be difficult to leave him out.
But I did not say that Earl would be in this year's Mosconi Cup team. That decision will be taken by Matchroom after the US Open.
The list of players were the ones who had a mathematical chance of getting into a top 5 spot.
I also have included some players who do not have a chance with the points but are capable of winning the Open.
If an American (even Earl) wins the Open then it would be difficult to leave him out.
Oh, I understand that, Doug. Isn't there, though, something called a promoter's "wildcard" choice? I've seen that trump card played a few times at various events by the promoter. When the odds are against a player being eligible to compete, the promoter will pull out the wildcard from his sleeve. They should be able to dictate who they want since it's their money that's paying for it.
Certainly, Matchroom Sports isn't going to cater to what the American pool culture dictates. It's their event; let them direct traffic! :wink: