JA's "Player of the Decade" Title

mosconiac

mosconiac

Job+Wife+Child=No Stroke
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We've all heard JA referred to as the 90's "Player of the Decade". No one would dispute that either. You've heard of BMOC (big man on campus), well JA as BMOT!!

My question is: Who bestowed that title? Was it the PBT, Scott Smith, some segment of the industry, or a magazine/media entity?

Just curious who was the 2000's PotD?
 
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Who do we consider ...

...player of the Century?
...player of the 00 decade?
...player of the 10 decade (to date)?

I don't think anyone is hotter right now than Alex and SVB.
 
Rooolfl said:
How exactly is Shane hot right now?
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Shane's been matching up with all the big dogs. I don't see a many others doing that...except Dippy! :) Maybe hot is not the right word for him like it is for Alex. You still have to give him a lot of props.
 
Rooolfl said:
How exactly is Shane hot right now?
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This cannot be a serious post.

a. He has arguably, single-handedly, revolutionized the 10-Ball break.
b. His match with Earl on that 10-foot table will go down in history as a classic and one of the best match-ups in pool history. Not just because of the names involved, but because of everything else. The table itself, the conditions, exposing 10-foot tables in the pool world again, Earl's antics, etc.
c. 1st place 2011 Derby City Classic Master of the Table
d. 2nd place 2011 Derby City Classic 9-Ball
e. 1st place 2011 Derby City Classic One Pocket champion

All of this is only going back to January. I'm sure i'm missing a lot (such as the Philippine Open, other major tourneys and action with champions). Let me remind you, that it is only May.
 
jason said:
Shane's been matching up with all the big dogs. I don't see a many others doing that...except Dippy! :) Maybe hot is not the right word for him like it is for Alex. You still have to give him a lot of props.
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I do have a lot of respect for Shane, as a person and as a player. I just didnt see his A game since the DCC. Last tournament, Beijing Open he was two and out. His best showing since the DCC was at the SBE where he finished third and lost to Robb Saez twice. But dont worry hes a great player and im sure he'll recover his form.
IMO hottest player right now is Ralf Souquet. Had two 2nd, and 2 1st place finishes this year. And the final against Thorten Hohmann in the Philippine Open went Hill-Hill, so it could have gone either way.
 
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player of the 2000-2010 decade is imho Mika Immonen, he's been strong all 10 yrs, finishing final 3 in most of the tournaments, I think he deserves it
 
Player of the Century is either Efren or Willie, depending on your perspective. I'd vote for Willie but I certainly can't fault a vote for Efren.
 
Player of the decade is something to think about.

if were talking strictly tournament play, mika is a monster. action, SVB/Alex maybe??? if you want to take in all points of billiards from 00-10 that is so much to take into consideration. i think that there are way too many to name just one as the best. they all get hot, then cool down, and repeat.

I can't name one for the decade, but if i had to say hot right now, I would say either Alex or Ralf.

just my .02
 
In their February, 2010 issue, Billiards Digest declared the Player of the Decade 2000-2009 to be Allison Fisher for the women and Mika Immonen for the men.

For the women, it was no contest, as Allison had been the Player of the Year for most of the years of that decade.

But for the men, eight different players won Player of the Year. Mika won for the first time in 2008, winning the U.S. Open, the All Japan Championship, and the Mosconi Cup MVP. Then in the second half of 2009 he went on a tear, winning the Qatar Open, Galveston World Classic 10-ball division, U.S. Open, Challenge of Champions, and World 10-Ball Championship. This rush of a finish to the decade jumped him over the other contenders -- Archer, Souquet, and Reyes.

Edit: The U.S. Billiard Media Association saw it a bit differently. They voted Allison Fisher as Player of the Decade for the women, but they had Efren Reyes as the winner for the men.
 
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I konw JA better than anyone here<-----that dosent make me special or important, just I have good insight.

the most impressive thing about JA is how long he has been at the top. His work ethic is amazing, and he is a great husband and dad, business man, thats what I respect. Thats the side Of JA thats not well known.


and he can still play great, he travels constantly, how he does it its amazing. I couldn't travel 30% of what he does, and then to still be able to play? WOW!!!!


He is just a gifted person in many ways, he drinks to much Mountain Dew.
 
Fatboy2 said:
I konw JA better than anyone here<-----that dosent make me special or important, just I have good insight.

the most impressive thing about JA is how long he has been at the top. His work ethic is amazing, and he is a great husband and dad, business man, thats what I respect. Thats the side Of JA thats not well known.


and he can still play great, he travels constantly, how he does it its amazing. I couldn't travel 30% of what he does, and then to still be able to play? WOW!!!!


He is just a gifted person in many ways, he drinks to much Mountain Dew.
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Hey Eric ask JA when he's going to finish this website: http://www.abp-players.com/board.php :)

I think they had great intentions when starting this, but it seems like they lost interest very quickly. It's very hard to put time and energy into something that doesn't turn a profit.
 
asbani said:
player of the 2000-2010 decade is imho Mika Immonen, he's been strong all 10 yrs, finishing final 3 in most of the tournaments, I think he deserves it
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I'd have to agree here, although he is not the player I'd go out of my way to see, he is very consistent and keeps finding his way to the top. Plus his 2 US Open wins in a row, only the 2nd time ever that was done. After a 2nd place finish where he got 0 wins.
 
AtLarge said:
In their February, 2010 issue, Billiards Digest declared the Player of the Decade 2000-2009 to be Allison Fisher for the women and Mika Immonen for the men.

For the women, it was no contest, as Allison had been the Player of the Year for most of the years of that decade.

But for the men, eight different players won Player of the Year. Mika won for the first time in 2008, winning the U.S. Open, the All Japan Championship, and the Mosconi Cup MVP. Then in the second half of 2009 he went on a tear, winning the Qatar Open, Galveston World Classic 10-ball division, U.S. Open, Challenge of Champions, and World 10-Ball Championship. This rush of a finish to the decade jumped him over the other contenders -- Archer, Souquet, and Reyes.

Edit: The U.S. Billiard Media Association saw it a bit differently. They voted Allison Fisher as Player of the Decade for the women, but they had Efren Reyes as the winner for the men.
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AtLarge:

I have to agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, people have very short memories, indicative of the "what have you done for me lately" syndrome. Mika did indeed go on a tear the last two years of the decade, but last I checked, a decade consists of ten years, not two. And, the decade in question (2001-2010) only ended at midnight on 31 December 2010. The new decade began on 1 January 2011. That is to say new decades don't begin when the last digit rolls over to a zero. (It goes back to the year numbering issue -- there was no year "0".)

Mika did have sporadic wins in the years prior to his two-year tear, but in a lot of the knowledgeable pool playing public's mind, there are a couple players that played more consistently good than Mika. Those two are Ralf Souquet and Efren Reyes. Those two have scored more major victories spread out over the span of the decade in question than Mika. Don't get me wrong -- Mika's a great player, and the precedent he set in 2008 and 2009 will probably not be equaled anytime soon. But Player of the Decade? I don't think so. I think it's a slight against Ralf and Efren merely because people have short memories.

IMHO,
-Sean
 
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sfleinen said:
AtLarge:

I have to agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, people have very short memories, indicative of the "what have you done for me lately" syndrome. Mika did indeed go on a tear the last two years of the decade, but last I checked, a decade consists of ten years, not two. And, the decade in question (2001-2010) only ended at midnight on 31 December 2010. The new decade began on 1 January 2011. That is to say new decades don't begin when the last digit rolls over to a zero. (It goes back to the year numbering issue -- there was no year "0".)

Mika did have sporadic wins in the years prior to his two-year tear, but in a lot of the knowledgeable pool playing public's mind, there are a couple players that played more consistently good than Mika. Those two are Ralf Souquet and Efren Reyes. Those two have scored more major victories spread out over the span of the decade in question than Mika. Don't get me wrong -- Mika's a great player, and the precedent he set in 2008 and 2009 will probably not be equaled anytime soon. But Player of the Decade? I don't think so. I think it's a slight against Ralf and Efren merely because people have short memories.

IMHO,
-Sean
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Sean -- I merely reported the determinations of two entities: Billiards Digest (Allison and Mika) and the USBMA (Allison and Efren). And they don't count decades the way you do. The "80's" means 1980-1989; the "90's" means 1990-1999; the "00's" means 2000-2009. The "10's" will be 2010-2019. Johnny Archer was the Player of the Decade for the 90's; Mika/Efren was the Player of the Decade for the 00's (per Billiards Digest/USBMA).

By the way -- anyone wondering what the USBMA is? Here's their website, which identifies their objectives and members (I'm sure you'll recognize many/most of their names): http://www.usbma.com/index.html.
 
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