Shane Van Boening at Mosconi is pointless!

[jasonlaus]

I honestly think to someone as accomplished as SVB that "give a damn" is the one and only issue...hey, free trip, nice check, but does the match really matter to his bottom line???? Meh...after watching Shane destroy everyone from ball boys to legends for the last decade, I can say these matches do not concern me about his ability to win...and I doubt they bother him very much either. Format may need to change to include more "hungry" players...that may help

EVERYBODY cares about $10,000 not to mention being completly embarassed by that performance.

You guys keep blaming the other players for Shanes play, how bout blaming HIM for their play - how can you play when the supposed best player on the team loses ALL 4 of his matches.
Jason

 

[ribdoner]

EVERYBODY cares about $10,000 not to mention being completly embarassed by that performance.

You guys keep blaming the other players for Shanes play, how bout blaming HIM for their play - how can you play when the supposed best player on the team loses ALL 4 of his matches.
Jason

i stepped on my dick once too often and couldn't play a lick for a month, do you have any idea how hard it is to play with a sore dick

 

[jasonlaus]

i stepped on my dick once too often and couldn't play a lick for a month, do you have any idea how hard it is to play with a sore dick

I do! It all started when.........

 

[one stroke]

Shane hates losing. Pathologically. After years of getting his nuts kicked in at the Cup its not that hard to figure out why he looks unhappy. Dude is batting .500 in winning US Opens. He's entered ten and won five. No one knows how to win more than Shane. That his performance has been so bad is a clue there is something that is off with him in that format or in that dynamic.

The dynamic on most American cup teams puts the fun in dysfunctional. From Charlie Williams making guys meet to go play tennis to Archer basically not really doing much of anything to Wilson treating it like a high school baseball team. Is it that hard to figure out how an introverted, driven person with a ridiculous passion to win might not like being in a situation he can't control and historically loses at?

I think Shane should take a break from the Cup. Just don't even worry about it.

Well he's O for in wold championships also he might want to take some time off there also

1

 

[Kris_b1104]

Dechaine and Bergman both rank top 15 fargo. That's world class level.

Shane (823) is within 11 points of the world #1 Wu (834), according to Fargo rate.

Mike Dechaine while a great player, is a staggering 25 points behind Shane, and Justin is no better at 27 behind. After that, it drops dramatically for the rest of the players on the team.

Maybe if the entire team were around the same skill level and he actually believed in them, Shane wouldn't feel like he has to outrun the nuts. He spends the entire year smoking these guys boots and taking their money and then he has to team up with them knowing damn well he plays light years above them.

At least when Shane played with Earl in 2013, he respected him and was laughing and having fun because he knew Earl could shoot Europe's liver out. I saw Shane smile maybe once in the past 4 days.

Edit: If it makes you feel better by using WPA rankings, Shane is #8, while the next America Corey Deuel is #42. Mike is #51, Rodney is #99. Bergman is #124 and Skylar is #150. They are all great players, nonetheless.

Shane is simply in a league of his own and that could be psychologically draining.

There is not one European player that dominates the rest of Europe, they are around the same skill level, despite their rankings, with the exception of Jayson Shaw who has won almost everything this year (some in USA and some foreign) So it is much easier for them to mesh together and be a team. Jayson and Darren live in the states and do not see the rest of their teammates for the entirety of the year, so they do not have to constantly beat up on them like Shane does to his fellow Americans.

 

[Solomon]

I'm trying hard not to speak for anyone... but I'm going to take a guess here...

Pool is NOT a natural team-sport. A lot of people pick the game up in their youth so they don't have to deal with humans, and.... when they do - It's them against the world. "Kill or be killed."

From the things I know - as a kid... Shane was being bullied in school and found solitude, peace and respect in the pool-rooms. The result was: the game came almost natural to him and it was used "as an escape from the brutality of the real world."

Uniting back with humans and working with-them, instead of against them...... might just be the most unnatural thing he's ever tried to do.

^^^^This is nothing but "my best guess at what could be wrong and what everyone might be missing." Take it for whatever it's worth.

This makes sense, but how would you explain his singles performances. In ever singles game he's technically on Team USA but nothing is really that different from most other matches he's played all year (except maybe the time constraints, the neutral racker, and shorter sets).

 

[John Disque]

Now the whupping is complete, SVB leaves London without a single point to his name. Tough break for such an accomplished player, but it highlights the gulf in class between the two teams. Can't see a US victory coming anytime soon without the leading qualifier stepping up to the plate.

Bergman finishes as joint highest point scorer having conducted himself brilliantly. Was a joy to watch Woodward and Morris enjoying their doubles match yesterday. The only way back to winning ways for USA is to install more of that love of playing throughout the rest of the team.

Anyone who thinks that Shane can't hang with these guys is simply not paying attention.

I think the format and structure of this entire event just doesn't fit well with how American players think and are brought up to see the sport.

We're more of an outlaw-class while the Euros and the Asians have a deeply rooted support system.

In other words - American fans will stab you in the back and kick you when you're down - and it's magnified right here on this troll-site of cowards hiding behind fictitious names.

 

[7forlife]

If I were shane i'd move and become a citizen somewhere else or quite the game of pool on the big stage, at least here. Most ungrateful, disrespectful and sometimish bunch of people these americans.
All year the guy does what he can and people are all "No1# player in the world, woo hoo", "shane we love you" and talk about the guy like he was their very own son about how great a person he is BUT LET HIM BE HUMAN and the mob comes out.
Efren fell under this same pressure of people expecting him never to lose and guess what he lost a huge match at home in front of his people.
Every year same thing show your support by bashing the people who just lost. Change the game by changing the way people treat the players.
Bunch of bandwagoners

 

[snucar]

Shane (823) is within 11 points of the world #1 Wu (834), according to Fargo rate.

Mike Dechaine while a great player, is a staggering 25 points behind Shane, and Justin is no better at 27 behind. After that, it drops dramatically for the rest of the players on the team.

Maybe if the entire team were around the same skill level and he actually believed in them, Shane wouldn't feel like he has to outrun the nuts. He spends the entire year smoking these guys boots and taking their money and then he has to team up with them knowing damn well he plays light years above them.

At least when Shane played with Earl in 2013, he respected him and was laughing and having fun because he knew Earl could shoot Europe's liver out. I saw Shane smile maybe once in the past 4 days.

Edit: If it makes you feel better by using WPA rankings, Shane is #8, while the next America Corey Deuel is #42. Mike is #51, Rodney is #99. Bergman is #124 and Skylar is #150. They are all great players, nonetheless.

Shane is simply in a league of his own and that could be psychologically draining.

There is not one European player that dominates the rest of Europe, they are around the same skill level, despite their rankings, with the exception of Jayson Shaw who has won almost everything this year (some in USA and some foreign) So it is much easier for them to mesh together and be a team. Jayson and Darren live in the states and do not see the rest of their teammates for the entirety of the year, so they do not have to constantly beat up on them like Shane does to his fellow Americans.

Good post this one. Let's be honest, inside Shane's head there's the belief that he shouldn't even be in the same room with players like Mike, Corey, Skyler, Justin, Oscar or Rodney. And if we have to be stone cold judges, he's right. If you watch carefully his scotch double matches, he always let his partners know that they 've messed up his shot by poor position or whatever. Not vocally, but his body language or facial expression is there to prove it. This puts his companions under extreme pressure and they eventually all melt down. Appleton on the other hand, when he was in his prime and head and shoulders above the rest of the European players never did that. He had the "I got this" aura that was lifting his partner spirit up after a bad shot. Just watch how good a clearly struggling Darren was feeling having someone like Gray or Niels by his side, offering constant comfort after a shot gone wrong. There's one European player that comes close to SVB's problem and that's Mika. He's way too much a "professor" and always tending to impose his shot over his partner's shot selection, only Souquet could handle him well because Mika wouldn't even dare to impose himself over him. It's no secret in Europe that they try to keep him away from the team as much as possible. Not the best team player.

 

[John Disque]

This makes sense, but how would you explain his singles performances. In ever singles game he's technically on Team USA but nothing is really that different from most other matches he's played all year (except maybe the time constraints, the neutral racker, and shorter sets).

Because - even in the singles-events you're not playing for yourself and everything that makes you tick and made you great. You're still playing for your country or continent and your fans and.... well... our country and our fans are gossiping, back-stabbing *****s who will kick you when you're down.

Every pool-player knows that most of this game is "mental and what's going on inside the player's head."

 

[John Disque]

Because - even in the singles-events you're not playing for yourself and everything that makes you tick and made you great. You're still playing for your country or continent and your fans and.... well... our country and our fans are gossiping, back-stabbing *****s who will kick you when you're down.

Every pool-player knows that most of this game is "mental and what's going on inside the player's head."

In other words -- In many players.... what motivated you to be great does not work in this event.

If your incentive is "to make your country and your team proud because they've been supportive and you wouldn't be here without them," you're going to play like a world-champion.

America DOES NOT have that. Look at how Dechaine has been treated for the past several months. And he's supposed to play for these people?

They tried to get Shane barred by saying his handicap is an asset - instead of seeing something inspiring from someone who OVERCAME a handicap! --- And he's supposed to play for these people?

 

[ribdoner]

Scotch doubles

Let's not forget that, as a rule, your team is as strong as the weakest link...not the strongest

 

[pmac666]

Dechaine and Bergman both rank top 15 fargo. That's world class level.

guess theres another problem, i dont really wanna argue about their positions in fargo, but just look whos behind them! from actual worldchamps to players who are really hot on worldstage (have you already forgotton how mark grey was toying with JB? behind him in fargo)......fargo is misleading and gives you the impression everythings allright while very less is allright! or do you really think both are top 15 in the world? think about taiwan, philipines, europe, china..........alone those have at least 10 with better fundamentals each!

 

[snucar]

guess theres another problem, i dont really wanna argue about their positions in fargo, but just look whos behind them! from actual worldchamps to players who are really hot on worldstage (have you already forgotton how mark grey was toying with JB? behind him in fargo)......fargo is misleading and gives you the impression everythings allright while very less is allright! or do you really think both are top 15 in the world? think about taiwan, philipines, europe, china..........alone those have at least 10 with better fundamentals each!

Well said. Gray took Bergman for a walk tactically. Man vs Boy stuff. Bergman barely saw a ball in that match, he spent most of the time trying to escape from snookers. Hence he was steaming after the match and made some bitter comments on facebook about Mark.Fargo ain't the Bible, folks.

 

[us820]

No matter how bad this was, I want Shane on my team and I'll live or die with the guy.It will be worth it when he redeems himself.

 

[skip100]

This is less weird a phenomenon than it seems.

While Tiger Woods was dominating golf he routinely stunk it up in the Ryder Cup, putting together a 13-17-3 overall record. Phil Mickelson also has a sub-.500 record.

Then there are people like Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, who had far worse individual tournament records yet for whatever reason thrived in the Ryder Cup format.

Barring a brain transplant or at least a substantial attitude shift, I don't have much hope for Shane at this point. Is Niels Feijen a better pool player than Shane? Nope. But he's better at winning Mosconi Cup matches.

 

[7forlife]

This is about the only time I think of baseball, the individual team sport.
Baseball is a team sport unless you're at bat then it become an individual sport. I feel that the MC is this where although it's a team sport during singles it's just you but there must be a balance not just with you but with your team (you and your team) not to mention the stars. What's not for you is not for you and when it's not your turn it's not your turn.

 

[Lesh]

There was a time... gettin to be pretty long ago now, when people "in-the-know" used to be listened to. It was their opinion that mattered when it came time to setting up tournaments and teams and what-not. THEY would give the nod to the best of the best.... cuz they knew. It seems we have more and more people that know, and yet... none of them get the respect they deserve to have their opinion dictate reality. It just feels like that is what happens in these kinds of events. Not just teams, but major tournaments. Which is why I see some weird outcomes at times. Explains a lot.

Anyone else notice this? Does it seem like politics is ruling where good sense should or am I completely nuts?

Lesh