Davis has a nerve!

T

the scorpion

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Steve Davis has a bloody cheek he was just on the bbc saying that ronnie o'sullivan, jimmy white and stephen hendry are making a massive mistake going to america to play pool as the tournament circuit isn't there (what a snob!), and this is coming from a man that has no merrit in pool and is on the mosconi cup team every year without having to win a single tournament it makes me sick.

What do you all think as its the opinions of true pool fans that matters after all.
 
the scorpion said:
Steve Davis has a bloody cheek he was just on the bbc saying that ronnie o'sullivan, jimmy white and stephen hendry are making a massive mistake going to america to play pool as the tournament circuit isn't there (what a snob!), and this is coming from a man that has no merrit in pool and is on the mosconi cup team every year without having to win a single tournament it makes me sick.

What do you all think as its the opinions of true pool fans that matters after all.
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Did he say bad things about America and pool? No, he did not.He is only lamenting about the desertion of England by her favorite sons.That is all to it and nothing wrong with that.
 
Differing opinion ...

He, obviously, is anti-IPT, and doesn't think the opportunity
is there for his countrymen. He's entitled to his opinion.
On the Mosconi thing, yes, I think there are players more
deserving to be on the European Team than he is.
 
I like Steve, so I'll stay on his good side.

I know as little as anybody here (US) about the current state of UK snooker, but it seems there is a sponsorship gap in tournaments now, leaving a hole in the schedule, and pro's have cue, will travel for $$. Give the whole pool thing a whirl, like Allison and Karen have tried, conquer the New World, etc. Otherwise rot in old Blighty during the drought of paying tournaments. Understandable.

Partly it is success to blame. 9-ball World Pool and Mosconi Cup, as sponsored by Barry Hearn, Steve's very good friend, promotes those events. Steve knows his future is in snooker commentating, because he is popular and well-known. Snooker going down may mean "pocket billiard games" on those small tables going up, not exactly Steve's long suit or history has prepared him for. Watching snooker disintegrate so quickly (top player media quotes fomenting fears of defection/disloyalty/impatience/impetuousness) must be unnerving, possibly it is the fear of success of the IPT, who knows?

He also makes the valid point that deserting the very long-running and successful snooker tour now, while it is seeking new sponsorship money, is hardly good timing for the future of snooker as the IPT is new, untried, and only committed to for 2 years at this point... if they desert now it may scuttle snooker's TV popularity in Britain for good. So much for long-term million pound payouts to cue artists, all for a quick selfishly short-sighted IPT buck. A valid and thoughtful concern for the future of his professional sport on his part, hardly cheeky.

As for Steve having no merit in pool, well. Shut up please. He handles a cue just fine for an old fellow of 46 or so, despite getting long in the tooth like Efren or Earl for that matter and is no longer so dominant, but surely a hall of famer in my book. Great image, engaging personality, knowledgeable, witty, family man, more than 20yrs of solid career behind him, and vitally necessary in getting UK fans to watch the Mosconi Cup or the WPC in the initial phase. Snooker is limited in popularity to former British colonies (after 1880) for the most part, so growth, future growth, is there, not in snooker. But orderly growth, not total destruction of snooker first in the UK then pool, via cable ESPN from US or Taiwan later please while the UK rebuilds from the ashes again.
 
Snapshot9 said:
He, obviously, is anti-IPT, and doesn't think the opportunity
is there for his countrymen. He's entitled to his opinion.
On the Mosconi thing, yes, I think there are players more
deserving to be on the European Team than he is.
Click to expand...

Scott, missed you while in KS this year...

My long post I suggest Steve is advocating don't throw out the baby with the bathwater argument, especially when in negotiations for new sponsors, it probably has more to do with saving snooker long-term than hating the IPT per se.

Deserving yes if the Mosconi Cup was a real tournament, instead it is a made for TV event, designed to draw viewership as a business and throwing friend Steve Davis a bone... funny enough, just --EXACTLY-- what Kevin Trudeau is doing with Mike Siegal and the IPT... and as long as every pool player is getting paid, the cameras are rolling, viewers are watching, pool is inching up in popularity, I say....

Go baby go!
 
I don't know about Hendry, O'Sullivan or Davis, but when, Jimmy White gets here, I think he will bypass pool altogether and go straight to the poker room.
 
I've never had the pleasure of seeing O'sullivan play, but if he plays pool half as good as what he supposedly does in snooker, I'm anxious to see.
 
Kevin I understand your point but what I don't take kindly to is being told to shut up and as for the comment about davis being long in the tooth that is correct but then you go and say just look at earl or efren and thats where you fall flat on your @$$ because at least they still have talent and skill because steve's went with him in the 80's so how he can judge and dictate is beyond me.
 
I imagine

that similiar comments might be made about an American
Pool player that left to play the European Snooker circuit.
As long as the Snooker players don't mind taking a cut in
pay, what is the difference?
 
Davis has offered his opinion. He obviously feels that any chance snooker has of a return to prominence is tied to the plans of the snooker players that will participate in the IPT. I'm sure he feels that these players are making a mistake because, by making their exclusive rights less availalbe to any future snooker sponsor, they darken the prospects for new sponsorship. It's certainly a reasonable position, and I'm sure he's calling it like he sees it.

I don't agree with Davis here, but he is entitled to his opinion, and all who love cuesports should understand that his is an educated opinion about the prospects for and future of cuesports.

He has, as the opening post in this thread suggests, NOT taken a cheap shot at pool.
 
While the Snooker Pros were raking in the bucks, they should have found a way to ensure thier future. Also, everyone knows pool players don't even hit thier prime til around 50...............:)
 
I also saw his comments on TV, to be fair I am not sure if he knows about the IPT or not, would seem pretty strange if he didn't seeing as I am sure he would of talked to of Ronnie and Ronnie must of told him about the IPT. But, if he doesn't know about the IPT, I don't think his comments are far off, seeing as there is no real main Tour in the States.
 
the scorpion said:
Steve Davis has a bloody cheek he was just on the bbc saying that ronnie o'sullivan, jimmy white and stephen hendry are making a massive mistake going to america to play pool as the tournament circuit isn't there (what a snob!), and this is coming from a man that has no merrit in pool and is on the mosconi cup team every year without having to win a single tournament it makes me sick.

What do you all think as its the opinions of true pool fans that matters after all.
Click to expand...

well, i think he's just jealous that he can't take part in the event. :D :D
honestly, if i were davis, i would be glad that several snooker superstars are taking part in IPT. i mean there would be less competitions for him and the more chance of winning an elusive title after several years of drought.
 
I couldn't

get the video to run. It just does nothing but go through
the motions when I click on video (Yes, I have Real player).
 
I think there is genuine reason for Davis' concern - Consider if the cream of the UK Snooker players spend most of the 2006-7 season working to qualify for the IPT instead of playing Snooker. The UK Snooker tour may then wither even faster as audience interest wanes without the big names to draw them. Then, as is entirely possible, after 2 years the IPT gets dropped by Trudau and suddenly becomes another poor little US Pool tour with a few thousand dollars in prize purses, it's own weird rules and qualifying standards and 3 or national a year just like the UPA, what will the Snooker players do? If they return to the UK they may find they cannot even make their previous level of income at Snooker and that they have blown their endorsement/sponsorship deals.

Now if the IPT is a resounding succes for the next 5-10 years, then it's a different Jackanory as we say back in England.

Oh, and Davis beat Strickland 5-0 at 9 Ball in the 2003 Mosconi Cup with an Alternate Break format. Not bad for a washed-up old man who only knows how to play Snooker ;-)
 
the scorpion said:
Kevin I understand your point but what I don't take kindly to is being told to shut up and as for the comment about davis being long in the tooth that is correct but then you go and say just look at earl or efren and thats where you fall flat on your @$$ because at least they still have talent and skill because steve's went with him in the 80's so how he can judge and dictate is beyond me.
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My apologies for not adding smilies :) after the comment. You have your views on Steve Davis, I have mine, we shall just agree to disagree on his talent. Now stop waving your tail menacingly about.
 
Thank you!!!

Nostroke said:
If this dont make a believer out of you, nothing will. Note the time it takes. this is the single most amazing tape i have seen in cue sports.

http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/pool/normal_videos/new/NVA-19.htm
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Great link. I used to have a videotape of Steve Davis running a 143 after his opponent missed a safety his second turn at the table. I loved watching that. Thanks again. And yes the guy can play, and rather quick for a snooker runout too.
 
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