As Co-Captain, I expected Buddy to be around.
Co-captain...what a joke. Where did his Mosconi Cup purse money come from? Did Johnny A. split his with him, or did the whole U.S team pitch in a little bit. Our team treats this like it's free money, more, and more each year. Maybe it's time for it to Asia Vs Europe. When I heard Buddy was going to be a Co-captain it turned me right off. I know Buddy was a great player, I know him pretty well and have played him on a BB in the mid 80's. Johnnyt
I think your a little off base here. Its not free money. These men are professionals. Its their jobs. The fact is like them or not, people want to pay to see them play(Europeans...lol) or in Buddys case, obviously they want to use his HOF name and are willing to pay to get it. Its called appearance fees. I highly doubt Johnny is going to share his money with ANYBODY..lol As for Buddy, as far as i know he didn't have a clue he was going to be asked to help support the team much less go to Vegas until a week before it even started. They called him....
There was a thread on here months ago about him going and Johnny got him the gig because he's his idol. Johnnyt
I think that answers a lot of questions on what is happening to pool latelyIts their jobs.
I don't know, that sounds like an awful lot of money.
Can ANY captain do much for the team with these level of players together? What can Buddy say to the guys that Strickland or Archer don't already know? Or even SVB?
If it was a one on one thing, sure, maybe. With 5 of the top players sitting there by the table with you, a Mosconi Cup captain is pretty much a position given out of respect to the old greats. In that case, Buddy Hall is as good a pick as any to go hang out in Vegas with the fellas.
There was a kid in our Jr league that was about to go over the age limit to play in the Jr Nationals. He was not a very good player but was there every week for years to play in the league. He was given a spot this past National so he can have have a chance to experience the event. Did he get there based on qualifications as a player that can compete in the National level? No. Do I think he should have been there due to his commitment and "best effort" and the fact that this was his last chance? Yes, he was there for a good reason.
Buddy Hall being the Co-Captain this year is pretty much that, he's not really there to be a coach or a captain really. He IS getting older, how much more traveling and events like this can he get to? Do they need a Captain? Probably not. Did the pool world need to send someone like Buddy Hall to this even? Yes.
50k x 20 = 1m minus a ton of traveling expensive. Plus his backer got a bunch. His main backer is better off today than him. I know that. Plus the normal divorces etc. Plus a lot of incidentals from the day that got a hold of a lot of us. Not a lot of money really when you think about it. One things for sure. Its a lot easier to manage your money when you get a weekly check. Sad really.Buddy probably made well over a million in purses and gambling (he didn't book many losers) but like a lot of players...where did it all go? Johnnyt
Can ANY captain do much for the team with these level of players together? What can Buddy say to the guys that Strickland or Archer don't already know? Or even SVB?
If it was a one on one thing, sure, maybe. With 5 of the top players sitting there by the table with you, a Mosconi Cup captain is pretty much a position given out of respect to the old greats. In that case, Buddy Hall is as good a pick as any to go hang out in Vegas with the fellas.
There was a kid in our Jr league that was about to go over the age limit to play in the Jr Nationals. He was not a very good player but was there every week for years to play in the league. He was given a spot this past National so he can have have a chance to experience the event. Did he get there based on qualifications as a player that can compete in the National level? No. Do I think he should have been there due to his commitment and "best effort" and the fact that this was his last chance? Yes, he was there for a good reason.
Buddy Hall being the Co-Captain this year is pretty much that, he's not really there to be a coach or a captain really. He IS getting older, how much more traveling and events like this can he get to? Do they need a Captain? Probably not. Did the pool world need to send someone like Buddy Hall to this event? Yes.
I'm sorry, but that's like saying Michael Jordan didn't need coaching!
Team sports need team coaches otherwise or H£LL breaks lose...
And what's the score again?