SJM at 2025 Mosconi Cup: Way too Late Thoughts
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Which is why the greats of the past just like now didn’t need to be great athletes like exceptional athletes in sports (and they weren’t). We aren’t losing great players to pro sports in any sense - pool isn’t all that accessible/available or even popular in terms of competing with real athletics and really isn’t something kids in general gravitate towards in the same way as sports.
middleofnowhere
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They also have to develop a love for the game and enjoy playing. Ever see Steve Mizerak's son play? He can't hardly make a ball, he doesn't care anything at all about it.
It's not that hard to play good pool it just takes some practice and some time put in and you can play fairly decent. But for a player with some talent to really become extremely good at the game requires a real commitment.
What would be the basis of that commitment in general? A guy sees all his friends going to college getting married getting good jobs starting businesses and he's spending 6 hours a day playing pool, for what? It makes very little sense.
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its the money thing as in most professions or most interests. nowadays there is no money to be made at all until you are a touring pro. so why work to get good, especially if you know you wont or cant make it to that level.
in the past just being a good game maker made you decent money, or lots of it if you could find the action.
only a relatively few are "devoted" players for funzies. and nothing wrong with that as it is then a hobby.
in the past just being a good game maker made you decent money, or lots of it if you could find the action.
only a relatively few are "devoted" players for funzies. and nothing wrong with that as it is then a hobby.
Excuses, excuses, and more excuses. America doesn't care about pool anymore? Participation costs are too high? Yes, we care as much as we ever did and, to the credit of pool room owners, nearly all of them help promising young players by giving them either free or cheap table time. The fact is that there is and always has been a sizable contingent of very promising young players in the United States and the question we should be asking is why so few of them are blossoming into great world class players.
The question we need to ask is "why are Europe's most promising young players achieving so much more than their American counterparts?" Even if we ignore 25-and-under Europeans that have already won something big (such as a) Moritz Neuhausen, who won the PLP and the Peri, b) Mickey Krause, who won the European Open, c) Jonas Souto, who won in both Seattle and Helsinki this year, and d) Kledio Kaci, winner of this year's Bucharest Open), there is another group of young Europeans already wowing us in Szymon Kural, Yannick Pongers, Mika Van Berkel, and Felix Vogel. Why are so few of the under-25 American players wowing us?
Why is America failing to develop its most promising players? Once we answer that question, we'll have a sense of what to do about it.
The question we need to ask is "why are Europe's most promising young players achieving so much more than their American counterparts?" Even if we ignore 25-and-under Europeans that have already won something big (such as a) Moritz Neuhausen, who won the PLP and the Peri, b) Mickey Krause, who won the European Open, c) Jonas Souto, who won in both Seattle and Helsinki this year, and d) Kledio Kaci, winner of this year's Bucharest Open), there is another group of young Europeans already wowing us in Szymon Kural, Yannick Pongers, Mika Van Berkel, and Felix Vogel. Why are so few of the under-25 American players wowing us?
Why is America failing to develop its most promising players? Once we answer that question, we'll have a sense of what to do about it.
I think we need to reimagine our captains picks. Take the top 3 on points, sure. The remaining two should be selected by having a pool of potentials contend against each other directly. I think this would help our youth and hopefuls get the exposure, opportunity and motivation to strive for it which would at least be an environment that incentivizes them to learn and grow. It’s not the only solution but easily could be one building block.
Yeah I agree wholeheartedly, the other main popular cuesport in Europe carom/billiards. That discipline also provides a lot of self-torture opportunities!
Agreed. We must open the Team USA door for the many Mosconi aspirants who have probably come to view it as closed.
In case this was not mentioned on the stream, some pleasing scheduling news came out during the Mosconi.
The UK Open, the exceptional WNT major, has moved much closer to London. I attended the first two UK Opens which were in London, and the combination of a Matchroom major and spending time in London, one of the world's most exciting cities, was hard to pass up. Unfortunately, the event moved to Telford, England. about 150 miles from London, spelling the end of my attendance. This year, it has been moved to Brentwood, home of Matchroom's offices, located in Essex just 30 miles from London.
Now, I will make every possible effort to attend this year's UK Open. Thanks, Matchroom.
The UK Open, the exceptional WNT major, has moved much closer to London. I attended the first two UK Opens which were in London, and the combination of a Matchroom major and spending time in London, one of the world's most exciting cities, was hard to pass up. Unfortunately, the event moved to Telford, England. about 150 miles from London, spelling the end of my attendance. This year, it has been moved to Brentwood, home of Matchroom's offices, located in Essex just 30 miles from London.
Now, I will make every possible effort to attend this year's UK Open. Thanks, Matchroom.
Enjoy! Only about 30 minutes to Brentwood in Essex from London by train, but the station is near the White Tower which may or may not be an area you want to stay - might be a taxi or underground run to the train station from the west side somewhere to catch the train? Or would you base in Brentwood? We've loved our visits to London the past two years.
Thanks for the tips. My inclination would be to stay in London and commute daily to Brentwood. When I go to London, it is nearly always for 10-14 days, so London would be my home base.
Do you know the name of the venue in which the tournament will be played?
It'll be played out of here - The Brentwood Centre
The question of where all the talent has gone is huge, of course. As is how to develop what talent already exists.
For now I just want the best U.S. players to simply get better and be more prepared. Improving the talent pool, even if achievable, will take time.
There is no reason U.S. players can't play smarter. Tactics and safety play are not rocket science. SVB and Fedor can hang with other top players in this regard, but Skyer, Tyler and everyone else - they need to improve.
A few years ago, Neuhausen had a perfunctory above-average safety game. Now it's a huge big part of his success. Labutis has also become very good at tactics and safeties.
This is a choice.
Preparation, as an underdog, simply has to be better, too. The U.S. seemed to lose most lags, and badly so. Johan actually had Team USA practice the lag to try to gain a small edge.
Tyler Styer, to his credit, seems to recognize his shortcomings. On FB, he posted:
This one hurts. I went into this tournament ready to give everything, but the truth is – I simply need to be better. I take full responsibility for my performance.
To everyone who supported us – the fans, the sponsors, the promoters, you deserved better, and we know that.
To the ones who doubt me, criticize me, and celebrate my mistakes: I hear the noise, but I’m not living in it. Moments like this reveal a lot, and trust me, I’m taking notes. I’m not here to prove you wrong, I’m here to prove myself right.
Setbacks don’t define us. How we rise from them does. “The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire.” Right now, I’m in that fire, but I’m not staying there. I’m going to learn, grow, and elevate every part of my game. I’m going to use this as fuel for every practice session.
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For now I just want the best U.S. players to simply get better and be more prepared. Improving the talent pool, even if achievable, will take time.
There is no reason U.S. players can't play smarter. Tactics and safety play are not rocket science. SVB and Fedor can hang with other top players in this regard, but Skyer, Tyler and everyone else - they need to improve.
A few years ago, Neuhausen had a perfunctory above-average safety game. Now it's a huge big part of his success. Labutis has also become very good at tactics and safeties.
This is a choice.
Preparation, as an underdog, simply has to be better, too. The U.S. seemed to lose most lags, and badly so. Johan actually had Team USA practice the lag to try to gain a small edge.
Tyler Styer, to his credit, seems to recognize his shortcomings. On FB, he posted:
This one hurts. I went into this tournament ready to give everything, but the truth is – I simply need to be better. I take full responsibility for my performance.
To everyone who supported us – the fans, the sponsors, the promoters, you deserved better, and we know that.
To the ones who doubt me, criticize me, and celebrate my mistakes: I hear the noise, but I’m not living in it. Moments like this reveal a lot, and trust me, I’m taking notes. I’m not here to prove you wrong, I’m here to prove myself right.
Setbacks don’t define us. How we rise from them does. “The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire.” Right now, I’m in that fire, but I’m not staying there. I’m going to learn, grow, and elevate every part of my game. I’m going to use this as fuel for every practice session.
Tyler Styer
This one hurts. I went into this tournament ready to give everything, but the truth is – I simply need to be better. I take full responsibility for my performance. To everyone who supported us –...
www.facebook.com
The question of where all the talent has gone is huge, of course. As is how to develop what talent already exists.
For now I just want the best U.S. players to simply get better and be more prepared. Improving the talent pool, even if achievable, will take time.
There is no reason U.S. players can't play smarter. Tactics and safety play are not rocket science. SVB and Fedor can hang with other top players in this regard, but Skyer, Tyler and everyone else - they need to improve.
A few years ago, Neuhausen had a perfunctory above-average safety game. Now it's a huge big part of his success. Labutis has also become very good at tactics and safeties.
This is a choice.
Preparation, as an underdog, simply has to be better, too. The U.S. seemed to lose most lags, and badly so. Johan actually had Team USA practice the lag to try to gain a small edge.
Tyler Styer, to his credit, seems to recognize his shortcomings. On FB, he posted:
This one hurts. I went into this tournament ready to give everything, but the truth is – I simply need to be better. I take full responsibility for my performance.
To everyone who supported us – the fans, the sponsors, the promoters, you deserved better, and we know that.
To the ones who doubt me, criticize me, and celebrate my mistakes: I hear the noise, but I’m not living in it. Moments like this reveal a lot, and trust me, I’m taking notes. I’m not here to prove you wrong, I’m here to prove myself right.
Setbacks don’t define us. How we rise from them does. “The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire.” Right now, I’m in that fire, but I’m not staying there. I’m going to learn, grow, and elevate every part of my game. I’m going to use this as fuel for every practice session.
Tyler Styer
This one hurts. I went into this tournament ready to give everything, but the truth is – I simply need to be better. I take full responsibility for my performance. To everyone who supported us –...
tyler should play every practice session with a shot clock.. his back table game at the big events is extremely slow
Thanks, Carl. I am hoping to see you there. Better reintroduce yourself again, though. After a few years, I may not recognize you, LOL.
Amen to that. You can't grow the talent pool overnight, so the focus must be on bringing the most promising players to the highest possible level, and it is in this regard that, I feel, America has failed for many years now.