After nine days of sweating the International in St Augustine, I drove to Orlando for the Mosconi, hoping that I had four more days of endurance in me, knowing I’d be in a shambles after thirteen days of sweating pool.
I will omit the Mosconi Cup match details as they have been covered in other Mosconi Cup threads. I will focus on the ebbs and flows of the play and on what it was like to attend the event.
Saturday, November 30
The Mosconi kicked off and, as always, the team match was first. When SVB and Gorst fell in the first two racks, Team Europe cruised to victory.
In match two, Shaw and Alcaide were solid in topping Woodward and Thorpe. Styer secured the first USA point by topping Mickey Krause. FSR and Kaci then played brilliantly to dismiss SVB and Gorst, giving Europe a 3-1 lead. Woodward’s win over Kaci in the day’s final match kept things close, and Europe slept on a 3-2 lead.
I was hard pressed to recall the last time that Team USA won the first two single matches of a Mosconi Cup, but it has been a while.
Sunday, 12/1
Day 2 opened with another team match, which was not to my liking. The value of the team match on day one is that it introduces the ten participants at once, but it is hardly necessary on Day 2. Team USA prevailed to tie the Mosconi at 3-3. Shaw beat Gorst quite easily to give Europe a 4-3 lead, but Styer and Thorpe managed a big point to tie things at 4-4. FSR, with something close to perfect play, had a dominant win over SVB, so Europe regained the lead. With a chance to tie things up at 5-5, Team USA had a 4-3 lead in Match 10, but lost a safety battle, begun by Woodward, for double hill, and then Fedor scratched on the break, leading to a runout by Alcaide and Kaci. Europe 6, USA 4.
As close as the match seemed, it was hard to ignore that Fedor and Shane were contributing almost nothing to the Team USA cause. Woodward, as usual, was looking solid, and Tyler Styer was overachieving, arguably the main reason the Mosconi was still competitive. Thorpe looked a bit overmatched out there, but played well with Styer as his partner in Match 8.
I feel that, as a rule, in the many Mosconi Cups that I have attended, fans were rowdy but tended to shut up once players were over the shot, This was most definitely not the case on this day of competition, and the number of times that American fans made noise and comments while a European player was already over the shot was, quite frankly, embarrassing, There was also more than a little profanity. I am glad that the fans are this invested in the event, but as a fan of Team USA, this is not how I wanted to win. As we all remember, Michaela Tabb, in this type of situation, would stop a match completely and make announcements to the audience that such behavior would not be tolerated but this year’s referees let most of it go, never pausing the shot clock, and thereby robbing the Mosconi of some of its competitive integrity. I was hoping for, but not expecting better on Day 3.
Monday, 12/2
Day 3 opened, inexplicably, with a Team Match for the third day in a row, won handily by Team USA, but the fortunes of Team America took a dive after that. Krause had been weak on the first two days, but played well as he and FSR manhandled SVB and Woodward. Thorpe had his chances against Alcaide, but was not up to the challenge. Styer continued to play quite well as he and Gorst took on Kaci and FSR, but Fedor didn’t play well and Europe got the point. At 9-5, the play was, mercifully, stopped for the day.
SVB and Gorst had contributed nothing to this point, and when your best players aren’t contributing at all, your chances are very slight.
I must take note that the play of FSR in this Mosconi, through three days, was some of the finest I have ever seen at a Mosconi Cup. David Alcaide was consistently outstanding, too, as was Jayson Shaw.
Ony the most delusional would deny the difference in class between the two teams at this point. The formula for victory now came down to this: Team USA would have to win six matches out of seven to prevail.
Finally, the crowd was far better behaved on Day 3 than on Day 2, with far less sharking of players who were already down on the shot.
Tuesday, 12/3
Day 4, as usual, was to be one of indeterminate length, as the Mosconi Cup could have possibly ended in just two matches. The day kicked off with Woodward vs Shaw, the match postponed from Day 3 and Shaw cruised with outstanding play 5-0.
Next came a very strange affair between Gorst and Krause, in which Fedor led 4-0 before growing weak and before he knew it, the match found its way to double hill. Fedor seemed on route to a runout but hung the four ball. After a fine masse to pocket it by Krause, Mickey double hit the cue ball as he pocketed the five- ball. Gorst’s runout kept the Mosconi going, with Europe leading 10-6. Next came a good one between Woodward and FSR, hard fought and well played up to double hill, but FSR broke and ran to end the match and the Mosconi. Europe 11 USA 6. I was surprised that Shaw was named MVP, feeling that FSR had played better pool than Jayson, but props to both of them.
Socially
The biggest social moment for me came on the eve of the Mosconi at the BCA Hall of Fame dinner, where I probably caught up with 100 different people I knew.
One of them was Emily Frazer, with whom I chatted just briefly. I offered that while we are at a very stressful juncture in our sport, it in no way obscures the continuous growth and improvement of the WNT and I congratulated her on Matchroom’s accomplishments in 2024, wishing her continued success. Emily was cordial and thanked me for my feedback.
During the Mosconi itself, I had four different seats for the four different days and luck was with me as all the people with whom I sat were delightful, some of them American fans and some of them European fans.
Assessing the Production Itself
Matchroom arenas are always excellent, but the Mosconi arena is always one of a kind. The one in Orlando was just fantastic, a scaled down version of the incomparable arena at Alexandra Palace, the London home of the Mosconi Cup. Thousands of vocal fans brought the customary vibe to the proceedings. Arena music was great, featuring the usual fan favorites but also featuring some great country music, to the delight of the many southerners in attendance. Even I was singing along to Garth Brooks, and that was way out of character for this New York senior citizen.
Finally, player introductions and post-match interviews were excellent, and special effects in the arena were impressive.
The Rasson table in use played true, although it was very slick, causing players to overshoot position on many occasions. Still, the table was fair. As is well known, I do not like pockets this tight, but they were no tighter for Team USA than for Team Europe. Still, they played quite a bit tighter than the stream table in use at the Hanoi Open, which had given me hope that things might be improving.
Referees did good work at the table, although their management of the crowd was less than exemplary, as on far too many occasions, crowd members sharked players that were already over the shot without even the slightest reprimand.
The Hotel
The Caribe Royale hotel was outstanding, with great rooms and facilities and a great convention center. Although food options were limited, it is one of the better hotels to which my travels as a pool fan have taken me, although Turning Stone remains my favorite.
Conclusion
At Matchroom, they have the Mosconi Cup production down to a science, delivering year after year. 2024 was no exception, and everyone at Matchroom has a lot to be proud of after another great event.
If you have never attended a Mosconi Cup, I hope you are afforded the opportunity to do so one day, for as hard as I try to describe it, until you have experienced the buzz that is the Mosconi Cup, you will not fully understand it.
I will omit the Mosconi Cup match details as they have been covered in other Mosconi Cup threads. I will focus on the ebbs and flows of the play and on what it was like to attend the event.
Saturday, November 30
The Mosconi kicked off and, as always, the team match was first. When SVB and Gorst fell in the first two racks, Team Europe cruised to victory.
In match two, Shaw and Alcaide were solid in topping Woodward and Thorpe. Styer secured the first USA point by topping Mickey Krause. FSR and Kaci then played brilliantly to dismiss SVB and Gorst, giving Europe a 3-1 lead. Woodward’s win over Kaci in the day’s final match kept things close, and Europe slept on a 3-2 lead.
I was hard pressed to recall the last time that Team USA won the first two single matches of a Mosconi Cup, but it has been a while.
Sunday, 12/1
Day 2 opened with another team match, which was not to my liking. The value of the team match on day one is that it introduces the ten participants at once, but it is hardly necessary on Day 2. Team USA prevailed to tie the Mosconi at 3-3. Shaw beat Gorst quite easily to give Europe a 4-3 lead, but Styer and Thorpe managed a big point to tie things at 4-4. FSR, with something close to perfect play, had a dominant win over SVB, so Europe regained the lead. With a chance to tie things up at 5-5, Team USA had a 4-3 lead in Match 10, but lost a safety battle, begun by Woodward, for double hill, and then Fedor scratched on the break, leading to a runout by Alcaide and Kaci. Europe 6, USA 4.
As close as the match seemed, it was hard to ignore that Fedor and Shane were contributing almost nothing to the Team USA cause. Woodward, as usual, was looking solid, and Tyler Styer was overachieving, arguably the main reason the Mosconi was still competitive. Thorpe looked a bit overmatched out there, but played well with Styer as his partner in Match 8.
I feel that, as a rule, in the many Mosconi Cups that I have attended, fans were rowdy but tended to shut up once players were over the shot, This was most definitely not the case on this day of competition, and the number of times that American fans made noise and comments while a European player was already over the shot was, quite frankly, embarrassing, There was also more than a little profanity. I am glad that the fans are this invested in the event, but as a fan of Team USA, this is not how I wanted to win. As we all remember, Michaela Tabb, in this type of situation, would stop a match completely and make announcements to the audience that such behavior would not be tolerated but this year’s referees let most of it go, never pausing the shot clock, and thereby robbing the Mosconi of some of its competitive integrity. I was hoping for, but not expecting better on Day 3.
Monday, 12/2
Day 3 opened, inexplicably, with a Team Match for the third day in a row, won handily by Team USA, but the fortunes of Team America took a dive after that. Krause had been weak on the first two days, but played well as he and FSR manhandled SVB and Woodward. Thorpe had his chances against Alcaide, but was not up to the challenge. Styer continued to play quite well as he and Gorst took on Kaci and FSR, but Fedor didn’t play well and Europe got the point. At 9-5, the play was, mercifully, stopped for the day.
SVB and Gorst had contributed nothing to this point, and when your best players aren’t contributing at all, your chances are very slight.
I must take note that the play of FSR in this Mosconi, through three days, was some of the finest I have ever seen at a Mosconi Cup. David Alcaide was consistently outstanding, too, as was Jayson Shaw.
Ony the most delusional would deny the difference in class between the two teams at this point. The formula for victory now came down to this: Team USA would have to win six matches out of seven to prevail.
Finally, the crowd was far better behaved on Day 3 than on Day 2, with far less sharking of players who were already down on the shot.
Tuesday, 12/3
Day 4, as usual, was to be one of indeterminate length, as the Mosconi Cup could have possibly ended in just two matches. The day kicked off with Woodward vs Shaw, the match postponed from Day 3 and Shaw cruised with outstanding play 5-0.
Next came a very strange affair between Gorst and Krause, in which Fedor led 4-0 before growing weak and before he knew it, the match found its way to double hill. Fedor seemed on route to a runout but hung the four ball. After a fine masse to pocket it by Krause, Mickey double hit the cue ball as he pocketed the five- ball. Gorst’s runout kept the Mosconi going, with Europe leading 10-6. Next came a good one between Woodward and FSR, hard fought and well played up to double hill, but FSR broke and ran to end the match and the Mosconi. Europe 11 USA 6. I was surprised that Shaw was named MVP, feeling that FSR had played better pool than Jayson, but props to both of them.
Socially
The biggest social moment for me came on the eve of the Mosconi at the BCA Hall of Fame dinner, where I probably caught up with 100 different people I knew.
One of them was Emily Frazer, with whom I chatted just briefly. I offered that while we are at a very stressful juncture in our sport, it in no way obscures the continuous growth and improvement of the WNT and I congratulated her on Matchroom’s accomplishments in 2024, wishing her continued success. Emily was cordial and thanked me for my feedback.
During the Mosconi itself, I had four different seats for the four different days and luck was with me as all the people with whom I sat were delightful, some of them American fans and some of them European fans.
Assessing the Production Itself
Matchroom arenas are always excellent, but the Mosconi arena is always one of a kind. The one in Orlando was just fantastic, a scaled down version of the incomparable arena at Alexandra Palace, the London home of the Mosconi Cup. Thousands of vocal fans brought the customary vibe to the proceedings. Arena music was great, featuring the usual fan favorites but also featuring some great country music, to the delight of the many southerners in attendance. Even I was singing along to Garth Brooks, and that was way out of character for this New York senior citizen.
Finally, player introductions and post-match interviews were excellent, and special effects in the arena were impressive.
The Rasson table in use played true, although it was very slick, causing players to overshoot position on many occasions. Still, the table was fair. As is well known, I do not like pockets this tight, but they were no tighter for Team USA than for Team Europe. Still, they played quite a bit tighter than the stream table in use at the Hanoi Open, which had given me hope that things might be improving.
Referees did good work at the table, although their management of the crowd was less than exemplary, as on far too many occasions, crowd members sharked players that were already over the shot without even the slightest reprimand.
The Hotel
The Caribe Royale hotel was outstanding, with great rooms and facilities and a great convention center. Although food options were limited, it is one of the better hotels to which my travels as a pool fan have taken me, although Turning Stone remains my favorite.
Conclusion
At Matchroom, they have the Mosconi Cup production down to a science, delivering year after year. 2024 was no exception, and everyone at Matchroom has a lot to be proud of after another great event.
If you have never attended a Mosconi Cup, I hope you are afforded the opportunity to do so one day, for as hard as I try to describe it, until you have experienced the buzz that is the Mosconi Cup, you will not fully understand it.
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