Is Mike Sigel worthy of IPT Tour Status?

[Icon of Sin]

I dunno about who all beat him, but i know he is ranked 2nd next to efren in 2005. Im sure efren got beat by people you never heard of last year as well.

That has to be based on just cash winnings though. There is no way he played in half as many tournies as Efren did last year. That is just money from the largest paying tour in pool history. If it went by games won, that is another story. Mike would have been way lower then 2nd place.

 

[KingCarom]

Yes!

The question is not whether or not Mike Deserves to be on the IPT, it is whether or not he is WORTHY enough of IPT tour status. A Resounding Yes! He, like many other HOF greats that will play on tour, has proven his abilities over the years, unlike many of the new names on tour. Furthermore, he will kick the pants off half the field of lesser known regional players that made the initial cut when the IPT was filling it's roster up.

In two years, this league will balance out leaving only the highest skilled players. Players will have had to have earned their cards instead of apply in time for one.... & Mike will still be in the field.

 

[BarBoxBandit]

That has to be based on just cash winnings though. There is no way he played in half as many tournies as Efren did last year. That is just money from the largest paying tour in pool history. If it went by games won, that is another story. Mike would have been way lower then 2nd place.

It was on cash. But cash counts for something.

 

[Icon of Sin]

It was on cash. But cash counts for something.

Yeah true, I wouldnt mind placing second with close to 300,000 dollars as well for the year.

 

[Eric.]

I don't mean to be rude but if you've never heard of Imran Majid or Chris Melling then you know very little about pool.

Imran Majid
Previous UK No1, ranked 7th on the Euro Tour, been in many of the last few WPC's and I think came something like 3rd in the Phillipine Open before last years WPC, not to mention many more achievments I'm sure.

Chris Melling
Always stated his ambition was to win all 3 world championships, 9 ball, 8 ball, and snooker. He won the 2003 8 ball world championships, he finished last 32 in I think his only appearence in the 9 ball WPC and was a professional snooker player for many years but not quite breaking into the elite.

After looking at your avatar, I was wonderin which IPT they will play on


Eric >will play the other IPT

 

[sniper]

I don't mean to be rude but if you've never heard of Imran Majid or Chris Melling then you know very little about pool.

Imran Majid
Previous UK No1, ranked 7th on the Euro Tour, been in many of the last few WPC's and I think came something like 3rd in the Phillipine Open before last years WPC, not to mention many more achievments I'm sure.

Chris Melling
Always stated his ambition was to win all 3 world championships, 9 ball, 8 ball, and snooker. He won the 2003 8 ball world championships, he finished last 32 in I think his only appearence in the 9 ball WPC and was a professional snooker player for many years but not quite breaking into the elite.

He obviously isn't very familiar with players outside America, but to be fair these guys have played very little overseas. I'm pretty sure after looking at the brackets from the latest qualifer the results that Imran and Chris put in will give everyone who isn't familiar with them an idea of how well they shoot.


P.S.
I love your avatar Craig, what happened to the old one? Did AZ mod's make you tone it down a little?

 

[jsp]

I really like to see Mike as an IPT organizer than a player. He knows a lot about pool, the ins and outs. Organizing the tournaments make him more useful to the IPT.

I disagree. He should have nothing to do with organizing anything that goes on in the IPT. He should just a player, and a player ONLY. Just my opinion.

 

[Scott Lee]

Other players have helped make this happen...

First of all, there WOULDN'T be an IPT if not for Mike Sigel! He worked on Kevin for years to do this.

Jay...Just to be fair, Sigel would never have gotten this accomplished without help from others, most prominently George Michaels. George gave Mike a LOT of advice (over several years) on how to approach KT, and what to say to get this done right. Sadly, but not surprisingly, Mike has not given credit to anyone except himself. If think I'm wrong, ask George yourself, the next time you see him.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[Steve Lipsky]

What are the races to in the challenge matches?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[cuesmith]

First of all, there WOULDN'T be an IPT if not for Mike Sigel! He worked on Kevin for years to do this.

And in case you've forgotten, Mike was only one of the best poolplayers who ever lived. And he's not that old. Don't write him off just yet.

My prediction: He will definitely win matches, even beat some top players. and may surprise a few people by moving past the first round or two. Will he contend or even win tournaments. Doubtful, but certainly not impossible.

I know he talks non-stop, but the man is a pool thoroughbred. This is no washed up shortstop you are talking about here. Most of us would give our left n_t to have ever played like him.

Jay's right! I personally do not care for MS, never have, probably never will, but I do respect his accomplishments and abilities. If not for him, there would be no IPT and if his friendship with KT gets him a few perks, so what?! He once won, I believe, 11 straight major 9-ball tournaments in a ROW, and this was during the era when Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, David Howard, Jimmy Rempe, Wade "Billy Johnson" Crane, Danny DiLiberto, Jay Swanson, Gary Nolan and a lot of other great players were competing! He earned his place in the HOF!
If I were a billionaire and could put together something like the IPT you can be assured that there would be a lot of my old buddies with cushy deals and ways to earn a decent living for the first time in their lives! If you can't help your friends, what's the use?

just more hot air!


Sherm

 

[CaptainHook]

I ask a question PERSONALLY to Nick Varner in December in Mesa AZ when he was there to do a Demonstration.

My question had to do with the KOH Match where Sigel step in after all the Player player to Play Efren for the KOH Title.

Nick more or less said the without Sigel friendship to Kevin T, there would be no IPT, as Mike has been pitching the idea to KT for 10 years or so.

KT & Mike are buddies, and KT is the man with the Gold so to say, so he make the rules.

Varner in so many words said who care, as he has a chance to make some REAL Money playing in the IPT, and got 30K coming to the KOH, as he is a Hall of Famer...

Bottom line is without Mike pitching the IPT to KT, there would be NO IPT....

There is another name from the past (Nick Varner) that is capable of
winning. Nick play's a mean game of 8 ball.

 

[MAGGNET]

To Everyone Talking S..t

If You Think Mike S Is Such A Bad Player, Get Some Money Up And Go Play Him. Or Play Some With Imran Or Some Other Players You know Nothing About. You Guys Kill Me.you Sit On Here And Talk Smack All Day And Play Nobody For Nothing. So Please Like Playstation Live In Your World Play In Ours.

 

[Andrew Manning]

If You Think Mike S Is Such A Bad Player, Get Some Money Up And Go Play Him. Or Play Some With Imran Or Some Other Players You know Nothing About. You Guys Kill Me.you Sit On Here And Talk Smack All Day And Play Nobody For Nothing. So Please Like Playstation Live In Your World Play In Ours.

This is a very weak argument to make. Did you discuss Shaun Alexander's performance in the Super Bowl? Did you then go out and try to chase him down and tackle him?

Did you have anything to say last time Mike Tyson embarassed himself in the ring? Did you go throw some punches at him and see what happened? Obviously not, since you seem to still be alive.

Maybe you think Kobe Bryant is a bit of a ball-hog? Alex Rodriguez earns more money than he's worth? Andy Roddick, despite his serving ability, will never have the consistency and the touch of a Roger Federer? But yet I doubt you've scored 81 points in an NBA game, batted over .300 in the major leagues, and I'm damn sure you wouldn't be able to get a tennis ball back in play when it's been served 135 mph at you.

We're fans of a sport, we're allowed to sit and discuss the playing abilities (or shortcomings) of its professionals. That's what sports fans do. I don't think anyone in this thread has even started to suggest they're a better player than Mike Sigel.

-Andrew

 

[Jaden]

yes but many have said that he doesn't belong where he is, which seems kind of asinine to me, for someone as accomplished as MS, especially considering that he ELECTED to get out of tournies and didn't just start losing and have to stop entering...

 

[jnav447]

I guess one had to be around to witness the greatness of Mike Sigel... Does he deserve to be there? More than anyone.

Perfectly stated, Blackjack, as always. MS and Deno Andrews are the ideal front men for the IPT, bringing instant credibility, enthusiasm and obvious love of the game. Having virtually quit playing pool myself for nearly 20 years, raising 4 kids, I know how hard it is to get back to playing at a competitive level. I can't even imagine having to return to world-class champion speed. But so far, MS is holding his own and don't be surprised if he becomes one of the "tough outs" in the IPT. I have a ton of respect for him for jumping into the fray and daring to succeed.

 

[sjm]

In a court of law, when both sides agree on many of the facts that pertain to a case, they present those facts up front and state to the judge and jury that "the following facts pertain to this case and are not disputed." This saves a lot of the court's time, because there is no real point to debate facts that are not in dispute.

Now, when it comes to Mike Sigel, "the following facts pertain to this case and are not disputed."

1) Mike is one of the best players of all time. Nobody on this forum disputes that he's among the best half dozen ever.
2) If not for Mike, there would be no IPT, because Mike convinced KT to fund this venture.
3) As Mike has been such a driving force behind the formation of the IPT, he deserves to make a lot of money as a founding father of this venture.

Once again, these are the facts and they are not disputed.

The only thing worthy of debate, therefore, is whether Mike should make all this money as a player or as an administrator and/or marketing executive of the IPT.

I think that Mike will find out where his game is in 2006, and if he learns that he's no longer competitive, he'll retire form competition, and remain as a top and handsomely paid executive of the IPT. If, instead, he shows that he's still got game, he'll stick around and compete. If he can't finish in the top 25 of the IPT rankings, nobody is going to view him as a premier player anymore, and once the aura is gone, he'll be a pretty easy out. I hope he finds his form, but whether he does or doesn't, he deserves to make a lot of money here, and I'm sure he will.

 

[wayne]

Ok, obviously if you have looked at the AZ home page, you will see the article about George Breedlove and Warren Kiamco making the IPT list, which is COOL.

Now, also in the article is how Mike Sigel did in a couple challenge matches, and he went 2-2. And the two guys he beat, i have never heard of and same goes with the guys he lost too.

I mean only a couple months ago he was the so called KING OF THE HILL, and now he is getting beat by people i have never heard of. Obviously the guys who beat him arnt flukes because they have links to AZB players list.

But still, its like is he even going to amount to anything more than, the Former King of the Hill in the IPT? Expecially when the next tournament rolls around, will he make it past HIS first round? or even win a match?

Or will he just show up play, and collect his check, and call it good?

dave

He actually went 7-3 in the matches he played over 2 days, after going 5-1 the first day.
If I remember correctly his results at HardTimes were similar winning the majority of his matches the first day there also.
Overall he has a pretty good record in these challenge matches considering he is playing 2 at a time.
Maybe someone has the complete stats instead of just pointing to one day when he split his matches.

Wayne

 

[stolz2]

who to pick?

Its not really fair to judge him by the players who beat him. There are world beaters nobody has heard of, except the locals, all over the world. Thats the way this game is. Once you master the game, you can beat anybody and anybody can beat you.

As far as his performance on the IPT is concerned -

I think he will keep his card for 2007 because the field has enough weaker players in it. However, after the best of the best make their way into the IPT, he may get nudged out of the top 100.

MS is no joke. The man can play with the best of them. Do I think he is in the top 10? No. Will he get owned by Efren? Yes. Will he scare all the current top pros? No. Will he be the next World 8 Ball champion? No.


Who cares though? Us pool fans owe him big. He must have been the driving force behind the IPT. Surely, he planted the seeds in KT's brain and coerced him to start the tour. Of all the accomplishments MS has in the game of pool, getting a backer for pool may be what history remembers him most for.

I'm glad we have him on board

I think he was the best pick to head up the IPT. I was thinking about who I would have picked. And you cant really use efren, the guy picks his nose in about every accu stat tape I have of him. He can play still is in the hall of fame, and is the most winningest pool player ever, and he wolfs alot. He is not fat and out of shape either, he is older so a wider range of people watching on tv may have heard of him before.

Mack

 

[StormHotRod300]

For Maggnet,

I never said Mike Sigel was a has been or anything. I probably should have said it more like,, by the end of the year should he be IPT worthy, or will he be IPT worthy next yr?

But on that note, if someone else besides Sigel had talked KT into making the IPT, do you think Mike Sigel would be playing in the tournaments?

Or what would happen if he had to join by winning a qualifer? would he make it?

Personally i think if Mike Sigel isnt in the top 25 at the end of the year, he will or should step down and take a position running the IPT tournaments.

As for not knowing who every Billiards player is, sorry, i dont travel to the UK or know every Pro or semi-pro around. And i did say, that even though i didnt know who they was, that they probably wasnt flukes.

dave

 

[CaptiveBred]

But on that note, if someone else besides Sigel had talked KT into making the IPT, do you think Mike Sigel would be playing in the tournaments?

Or what would happen if he had to join by winning a qualifer? would he make it?

YES! Of course he would have made the first 150. Without a doubt...


Placing in a qualifier is another story. have you seen the fields? OMG! Nobody is a sure thing in those. If all 150 had to qualify, there would, definitely, be some top players who just did'nt get the rolls and got left out of the IPT. There are just more, lots more, than 150 world class players.