One Country vs Continent of 49 Countries

Robb Browning

Robb Browning

Member
If Europe needs a handicap so badly... at-lest give us 3 countries and call us Team North America.

You can also bring in Asia and Australia and start thinking like big boys and girls.

PS --- Alex is fan-friendly and good for broadcasters who want to show the world that pool players are not uptight, intoxicated librarians who smoke cigars.

Anyhow - It's all rigged! It's a hoax! US wins again!
 
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Robb Browning said:
If Europe needs a handicap so badly... at-lest give us 3 countries and call us Team North America.

You can also bring in Asian and Australia and start thinking like big boys and girls.

PS --- Alex is fan-friendly and good for broadcasters who want to show the world that pool players are not uptight, intoxicated librarians who smoke cigars.

Anyhow - It's all rigged! It's a hoax! US wins again!
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WTF?????? Played for 40yrs and have yet to run into any anal retentive hammered librarians. Weed smoking hooligans yeah but no librarians. ;)
 
Wait. You think that a nation of 300 people can't compete against 40 countries with half that population?

Quit making excuses, American pool players are not up to snuff in team events
 
This argument has never added up for me. The USA has at least ten times as many nine ball players as Europe, and really has no excuse for losing nine of the last eleven Mosconi Cups other than a failure to develop its top players.

In terms of geography, Europe and the United States are equals. Europe covers 3.93 million square miles. The United States covers 3.8 million square miles. Europe is just 3% bigger than the United States.

There's nothing inherently unfair about pitting the United States against Europe. Suggesting that the US needs to be able to draw from a larger talent pool to make this matchup fair is just making an excuse.

The top Europeans, as a group, play better than their United States counterparts. The gap must be closed with good training and strong work ethic.
 
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sjm said:
This argument has never added up for me. The USA has at least ten times as many nine ball players as Europe, and really has no excuse for losing nine of the last eleven Mosconi Cups other than a failure to develop its top players.

In terms of geography, Europe and the United States are equals. Europe covers 3.93 million square miles. The United States covers 3.8 million square miles. Europe is just 3% bigger than the United States. Western Europe, which has brought us almost every European Mosconi Cup team member ever, has a population about 40% less than the population of the United States.

There's nothing inherently unfair about pitting the United States against Europe. Suggesting that the US needs to be able to draw from a larger talent pool to make this matchup fair is just making an excuse.

The top Europeans, as a group, play better than their United States counterparts. The gap must be closed with good training and strong work ethic.
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The Euro junior programs are top-notch. There are juniors in Poland, Russia, etc that are capable of taking on 99% of the players in the US. This is the biggest stumbling block in American pool imo. The Euros treat it like any other sport. Pool carries no decades long gambling stigma over there. They have nice venues with good tables and good teachers. A kid with talent gets noticed and soon he is under the wings of his/her national programs. We have nothing to compare here.
 
The US has 328 million citizens - any one of the could be on the next Mosconi Cup Team.

The continent of Europe has 741 million citizens - any one of the could be on the next Mosconi Cup Team.

That's twice as many to choose from.
 
garczar said:
The Euro junior programs are top-notch. There are juniors in Poland, Russia, etc that are capable of taking on 99% of the players in the US. This is the biggest stumbling block in American pool imo. The Euros treat it like any other sport. Pool carries no decades long gambling stigma over there. They have nice venues with good tables and good teachers. A kid with talent gets noticed and soon he is under the wings of his/her national programs. We have nothing to compare here.
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Well said. It's in developing talent where Europe has outrun us. They have so few nine ball players in Europe, and yet they are mass producing champions. We need to do what they are doing, and soon. Making excuses will just lower our sense of urgency.

... and let's face it, most of the best cueists of Europe don't bother with pool, as snooker offers so much more prize money. Yes, Team USA doesn't even have to compete against Europe's most elite cueists at the Mosconi.
 
Didn’t the US win the last two Mosconi Cups? Given the talent of Europe, they were due for a win and I would have been shocked if the US team stretched it to 3 in a row. Of course, it’s disappointing that there such a score disparity, but I think there are a lot of factors at play there relating to the pandemic and an inability to prepare effectively.
 
Cameron Smith said:
Didn’t the US win the last two Mosconi Cups? Given the talent of Europe, they were due for a win and I would have been shocked if the US team stretched it to 3 in a row. Of course, it’s disappointing that there such a score disparity, but I think there are a lot of factors at play there relating to the pandemic and an inability to prepare effectively.
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Lightening in a bottle as they say. I've seen some incredible talent lose to some horrible players. ...it happens.

The pandemic is a convenient excuse. It's effected everyone.
 
The_JV said:
Lightening in a bottle as they say. I've seen some incredible talent lose to some horrible players. ...it happens.

The pandemic is a convenient excuse. It's effected everyone.
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I don’t think the last two years is lightning in a bottle. It’s just an indication how important coaching and preparation can be. The US did also have a late replacement of arguably their second best player. I’m just suggesting it’s not quite time to panic. But if they lose by a wide margin next year, they may need to get Johann on speed dial.
 
Agree the population argument doesn't really make sense. The Philippines has about 30% the US population and would by most predictions easily beat the US team. Taiwan has far fewer people than the Philippines and might beat any team assembled.

Uruguay has won the soccer World Cup two times.
 
I'm not saying reduce it down to one country vs one country.
I'm saying open it up to allow North America to have more than 1 country. Europe has 49 counties!

This isn't a cure-all but it opens the door for Mexicans and Canadians to compete on the NA team.

Hell - expand it all! Mandate 1 female per team! Mandate 1 amateur per team./ Make it a race to 8! Open it to Asia and the other 4 continents.

THINK BIGGER Progress! Grow! Take something that people like and make them love it!
 
Cameron Smith said:
I don’t think the last two years is lightning in a bottle. It’s just an indication how important coaching and preparation can be.
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Maybe... You replace Alexander Kazakis from the Euros who went 1-10 those two years (USA combined margin of victory of 5) and I don't think coaching would have provided any relief from the Euro dominance.

If you don't think Woodward beating the current world champ in Filler to end it in 2019, (who the day before crushed SVB) isn't catching lightning in a bottle, then I can't imagine what would be.
 
The_JV said:
Maybe... You replace Alexander Kazakis from the Euros who went 1-10 those two years (USA combined margin of victory of 5) and I don't think coaching would have provided any relief from the Euro dominance.

If you don't think Woodward beating the current world champ in Filler to end it in 2019, (who the day before crushed SVB) isn't catching lightning in a bottle, then I can't imagine what would be.
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Sure, Kazakis didn’t really perform, but then neither did Corey Deuel in 2018. And Skyler may not have been the favourite to beat Filler but these are races to 5 and there were several other matches before that which brought them to the hill. I think Bergman was next on deck and he probably would have finished it if Woodward didn’t. They were on a roll that day.

Europe are undeniably the favourites but good coaching and the format itself is what can keep things competitive.
 
Robb Browning said:
If Europe needs a handicap so badly... at-lest give us 3 countries and call us Team North America.

You can also bring in Asia and Australia and start thinking like big boys and girls.

PS --- Alex is fan-friendly and good for broadcasters who want to show the world that pool players are not uptight, intoxicated librarians who smoke cigars.

Anyhow - It's all rigged! It's a hoax! US wins again!
Click to expand...
Asia means China.

Chinese players trained at their Snooker academy in Beijing would destroy any Western players as they transition from Snooker to Chinese 8 ball...and If then the best were to ‘concentrate‘ on nine ball. The Chinese now even have a second academy in Sheffield....sponsored by be bottomless pockets of the Chinese Sports Ministry.

We see this now in Women’s pool the Chinese Women are initially snooker trained. Chinese men players not making it through Snooker Q school in Sheffield, UK turn to Chinese 8 ball to make a living. Up the Mosconi Cup to a True international event and Chinese players would dominate in a couple years.

Be thankful the Mosconi Cupi is only the USA vs a couple of European countries.
 

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Robb Browning said:
I'm not saying reduce it down to one country vs one country.
I'm saying open it up to allow North America to have more than 1 country. Europe has 49 counties!

This isn't a cure-all but it opens the door for Mexicans and Canadians to compete on the NA team.

Hell - expand it all! Mandate 1 female per team! Mandate 1 amateur per team./ Make it a race to 8! Open it to Asia and the other 4 continents.

THINK BIGGER Progress! Grow! Take something that people like and make them love it!
Click to expand...
You're missing the entire point of the Mosconi Cup. It is, and always will be US vs Europe.

I doubt US could beat the 3rd assembled team of 5, meaning their 11th through 15th choices for MC.

Quit crying
 
jasonlaus said:
You're missing the entire point of the Mosconi Cup. It is, and always will be US vs Europe.

I doubt US could beat the 3rd assembled team of 5, meaning their 11th through 15th choices for MC.

Quit crying
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Who the hell made that law? YOU?
What control or say do you have over the Mosconi Cup?
You didn't found the Mosconi Cup! You didn't set any policies! You're just another argumentative, short-sighted wannabe.
 
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