I guess if you don’t “comprehend” international travel laws and travel visas etc it would be beyond comprehension lol, I personally have a hard time feeling bad about it.
SJM at the Las Vegas Open
- Thread starter sjm
- Start date
Some say that of Kaitlin Clark in her sport too.
I haven’t read all the posts on Savannah and I want to make one last comment or suggestion. Walk away from the table for a period of time. Find something else to do with your time. Clear your head then come back to the table and don’t analyze each and every move. Line up and stroke the ball. Get your brain and your parents out of your game. Then pace yourself. Stop trying to play in every tournament day in and day out.
Last edited:
middleofnowhere
Registered
I have watched her play quite a bit now. She plays good for her age and being a girl. She is by no means a phenom. Her problem may be she is believing her own hype.
I plan to be there.
It like she’s becoming the side show at the fair or the circus.
You are the clown Bill. So someone who dedicates their life to the game is a side show? Get a life old man this kid plays better than you ever have and it obviously rubs you the wrong way. How about you live your life and let the kid live hers. Does it make you feel good to bash a 16 year old girl that is chasing her dream?
She may not be world class yet but she is doing everything it takes to try and get there.
Last edited:
She is #11 in the ENTIRE USA when it comes to females, and #66 in the ENTIRE world (females), what about that is a side show at a circus?
Gotta love it when a 79 y/o man passes judgment on a 16 y/o girl. I wonder if you would have the same opinion if he was a male. And I wonder if you would say this to her father's face. I doubt it.
rating probably lagging. there's a bunch of them clustered around 660, and aside from mast you don't see the others do much damage. does the women's tour have a proper ranking?
Unfortunately, yours is an absolute assessment, not a relative assessment. If another young American teen reaches #66 in the world, we will all be impressed ... but Savannah is different.
She has been hyped to the point of absurdity, earning both a Billiards Digest cover and the coveted Brunswick sponsorship long before showing anything close to elite skills at the table.
Even relative to other American phenoms of the past, she has achieved next to nothing. Both Jean Balukas and Loree Jon Jones were already world champions by Savannah's age. Other non-American female teen phenoms like Siming Chen, Han Yu, Jasmin Ouschan, Ewa Mataya Laurance and Ga Young Kim were all world beaters in their teens.
Hence, even for her age, Savannah offers little to get really excited about. As was noted in my original post, I do see some development, and I've tried hard to take a positive view of it, but most others in this thread have taken a lesser view.
Perhaps she'll take that next step, but, while she is still fairly young, we can no longer pretend that she is inexperienced. Despite a pretty heavy dose of elite competition, there are parts of her game that are not developing much, and, in my assessment, her knowledge is not where it could have been and should have been by now.
The "give Savannah time" argument is all well and good, but such thinking didn't work for the last two major American teen phenoms that were very strong players in their teens, namely April Larson (Fargo 666) and Briana Miller (Fargo 679). Both are solid players, but neither ever reached the ranks of the elite and neither is ever in the discussion when it comes to the biggest titles.
We live in a world where we measure things relative to our expectations. The Billiard Press, Brunswick and many others have set the expectations very high for Savannah, and she has yet to meet them. I wish her well but will not subscribe to the notion that for her age and level of experience, she is far enough along.
I'll be happy to eat my words if Savannah emerges as super-elite. Let us be lenient and call that top 20 based on Fargo in the women's game. Wishing her well in her pursuit of excellence.
Last edited:
I believe the argument has to be made that hers is a perfect case of Pool In America. There is not a Federation to support/promote billiard education and or coaching like some other countries have. So lacking that support if you have lesser skills you need another revenue stream. I think her group has done a excellent job of promoting her.
Agreed 100% that her team has done a great job of building her revenue stream. My comments pertained entirely to the state of her game.
There is much truth in your comment that Americans players may have it harder than others. At least for the foreseeable future, an emerging Polish player will have an easier road than an American. Still, there are many places where players have traditionally gotten little support yet succeeded wildly as players. Great Britain offers a good example, as Appleton and Peach were World 9ball champions, Shaw won the US Open 9ball, Boyes won the World 8ball championship and was runner-up at the US Open 9ball, and Chris Melling won the China Open 9ball. With or without major support from national pool federations, diligent skills development and training generally get you there.
Regardless, your post is excellent and the point you make is very important.
Over hyped and under performed. I can think of dozens in the sports world that met that fate. She only has to do one thing—-
PROVE IT!
Kristina is 27. Did she show the kind of form in her teens shown by the others? No, not in my opinion. Regardless, she has blossomed into a very fine player, 15th best in the world based on Fargo and certainly one of the contenders at the majors.
I never saw the teenaged Pia Filler play, so I must decline comment.
pia doesn't compare to players like rubilen or the chinese players.. she may have plateaued. i don't see her threatening the top girls. most interesting young female player to me is muyan zhang. shoots as straight as 800 level male players
Perhaps so. Thanks for your input.
Problem for me is that when I think of the players that were sponsored by Brunswick, they were all at the very top of the sport. Names like Mosconi, Balukas, Sigel, and Mataya-Laurance were the Brunswick-sponsored players from about 1950-2010. Each of them had attained the world #1 ranking before attaining their Brunswick sponsorship deal. Charisma had nothing to do with their selection, and they were not the most charismatic players of their respective eras.
Sponsorship is about making your products as visible as possible, which happens when sponsored players win tournaments. Obviously, this is what Brunswick expects of Savannah, and perhaps time will prove them right, but so far they are wrong.