Doug,
Very well put. But, as one of the biggest critics of the selection process. It should be noted the critics were defending the 3 hurt by the team captain's friends. Friends that tarred and feathered team members!
"Tarred and feathered"? Really? I don't know, but I seem to recall that the "tarring and feathering" was really against Mark, because "somebody's boy" wasn't chosen for the team. If you boil it down, that's really what it comes down to.
Based on your post it was financial issues that caused some members to make the decisions they did!!!
Given, his friends did the damage they did to 3 team members. It speaks volumes that he never tried to mitigate the damages.
Really now, an exec-level decision maker like Mark is concerned about the goings-on on a discussion board? Like he's really going to want to get his feet stuck (and quickly get his whole body swallowed up) in the AZB LaBrea Tar Pit? Like he has the Tar Pit to
answer to?
I think Doug (pro9dg) nailed it with calling it the AZB Mafia and armchair critics. What we say here, ultimately, has no play in the goings-on in the pool industry. The only time you'll EVER see AZB being mentioned, is when movers and shakers want to *make fun of* the shenanigans that go on here. I.e. the triviality of it all. Mark chose to [rightfully] ignore it, and focus instead on getting his team ready. No need to waste valuable time trying to counter stuff going on here, that won't do a damn bit of good for the team.
I find it odd that you focus on his critics and not his lack of defense for the players hurt by his friends.
Mark has NO ONE to answer to here. Full stop.
This topic of the selection process was irrelevant until the character of the 3 members was called into question.
Who was calling the character of the 3 members in question? If it was anything, it was the *AZB Mafia* that did so. I don't remember seeing anyone from the actual selection process "calling into question the character of the 3 members."
Mark made a business decision. Full stop. That really is the crux of it. It is here at AZB that you saw all these innuendos (like yours) and conjecture (like yours) about "how" Mark made his decisions. The "tarring and feathering" (as you put it) *happened here on AZB* and nowhere else. You can't criticize people for slinging mud when you're standing chest-deep in a mudhole.
To date, no threads exist about the selection process! None! It only became relevant because of Mark's friends!
A good example of the conjecture I'm referring to.
He is the coach and choice of matchroom for years to come. But this post deflected attention away from the causes of the criticism and focuses unnecessarily on the people critical of the coach.
That's right -- and where did that [the bolded part] occur, exactly? Here on AZB, of course. It's very easy to gloss-over that bolded part, when it plays no role whatsoever in the end result. Nor does the second part, either.
What was funny, was when I tried to offer the "ring the bell / set helmet next to the bell" Navy SEAL analogy (of the 3 unselected players deciding to bail the Cup completely), I took a bit of grief of how outlandish this analogy was. Until others came in and offered the back-channel story on the Navy SEAL thing -- i.e. 1.) that Mark was deeply enamored with the dedication, discipline, training, and most of all, teamsmanship of the SEALs, and 2.) the vice-captain, Amir Pishdad, is a retired Navy SEAL. Suddenly, the comparison wasn't so outlandish anymore. Just goes to show that a lot of the "discussion" that happens here are just opinions, and a LOT from people that come from places without the back-channel story.
You know and eluded to a number of issues created by Mark's leadership or lack of leadership. I and others were expecting a learning curve with any job. Just not someone non receptive to constructive criticism and oblivious to the issues they created.
Kd
Concerning the bolded part, what did you expect? That Mark would actually jump into the AZB Tar Pit and engage all the slinging? Like he hasn't enough to do with getting the Mosconi Cup team ready, and needs to concern himself with the goings-on here that ultimately will have NOTHING to do with how the team plays in the competition itself?
Tell us, what would Mark get out of it by jumping in here, and defending himself? What will play out at the Mosconi Cup,
will play out. *Nothing* he'd say or do here would make any difference at the Cup itself. Rather, he'd needlessly get more gray hair, or lose more of it, and lose valuable time away from focusing on what REALLY matters.
In general, it's the "poor, poor pool players -- always getting shafted" thing. That's really the crux of it, and with few exceptions, those poor pool players would never make it in a business environment.
I don't know Mark, and've never met the man. But I'm offering my input here as someone extremely experienced with corporate decision-making, and what it means to be on both sides of that decision (to be selected or to be cut, that is). And I've had to make a few of those very tough decisions myself, when I had to build a team. Trust me, it's one of the most difficult things to do. And it also takes a tremendous amount of discipline to stay away from the online forums, to suppress one's own natural human instinct of "needing to defend oneself." Mark did just that.
-Sean
