SVB Get's Bad Rap Not Winning Worlds

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
Shane gets a bad rap for not being able to win a world title like so many other Americans did. When was the last time an American won a real world title out of the country? When those other Americans did it the U.S had most of the top players in the world. Today monsters are coming out of the woodwork from China, PI, Taiwan, Japan, and everywhere else. It's not the same playing field. Johnnyt
 
Pidge said:
I think it was Wales, Cardiff.

I remember him playing Mark Williams :)
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The most memorable (and sad) thing that happened there was when Django Bustamente played on and lost in the finals against Earl, even though he found out his daughter died a couple of days earlier...
 
Johnnyt said:
Almost 14 years ago. Most of the Asian young guns of today weren't even in their teens then. Johnnyt
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Yeah that's very true.
I see it as a good thing though that the Americans are finding it tough going on the world stage. Proves how its built in popularity that people from all around the world are able to compete at the highest level nowadays.

Us Brits experienced it with football. We invented the damn game and yet, we can't win anything today.
 
gopi-1 said:
The most memorable (and sad) thing that happened there was when Django Bustamente played on and lost in the finals against Earl, even though he found out his daughter died a couple of days earlier...
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I didn't know that. I take my hat off to him, I doubt I could ever play on after losing my daughter.
 
Just because a world beater does not beat the world every time does not mean that he is not a stone cold champion.
 
gopi-1 said:
The most memorable (and sad) thing that happened there was when Django Bustamente played on and lost in the finals against Earl, even though he found out his daughter died a couple of days earlier...
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I remember that. Geez, it seems like just a few years ago. Johnnyt
 
Pidge said:
I didn't know that. I take my hat off to him, I doubt I could ever play on after losing my daughter.
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"The year 2002 was probably the coldest year for Bustamante, especially considering his experience at the World Pool Championships.
While the tournament was still going on, Bustamante was most shocked when he received a phone call from his wife informing him that
his daughter, who was less than a year old, had died. Devastated by this, Bustamante strongly considered forfeiting his contention at the
tournament to return to the Philippines but some people around convinced him to go on.

On his way to the final, Bustamante bested Antonio Lining in the last 16, Efren Reyes in the quarter finals and Ching Shun Yang in semis.
In the final, he met Earl Strickland, the 2-time winner of the tournament. Bustamante was leading most of the time and could have won the
title. At one point, he went for a jump shot but missed. Strickland returned to the table and won three racks in a row to win the match 17-15.

His loss in the finals of the World Championship was most definitely a big blow to him due to the fact that his lack of focus on the match cost
him the tournament. Later on, however, Bustamante regained momentum and began winning more tournaments."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Bustamante
 
Interesting that the finals used to be race to 17 and now is only a race to 13. The other matches in the final 64 are race to 11. I know it's a longer race than some tournaments, but it seems a little short for single elimination to me.
 
http://www.wpapool.com/web/world_champions

Here is the past champions list. Looks like Archer, Strickland, And Varner are the only US WPA world champions, the last being in 2002 by Strickland.

Corey just got knocked out of the final 64 stage, and it looks like the only other US player, Shane, is still in as of the latest tournament chart on AZ.
 
Yes, it's harder to beat the elite fields today than it was back in the day.

Nonetheless, a player can only be judged against his peers, and if Shane wants to demonstrate he's a cut above the players of this generation, he'll have to prove it by beating the most elite fields, which come in WPA World Championships.

The greats of this generation of players, Appleton, Immonen, Souquet, Hohmann, Orcullo, and Wu have all won a WPA World 9-ball championship, and it's time for Shane to stand up and be counted by winning one of his own.

Shane is a definite BCA Hall of Famer, but continued underachievement in WPA World Championship events will leave him outside the conversation of who is the best ever?

Wish him well, but no, he doesn't get a bad rap. He is a recognized superstar who has come up short all too often on the very biggest stages.
 
SJM speaks the truth. Shane is an AMAZING player but probably won't be considered world elite status until he wins a World championship. YMMV
 
sjm said:
Yes, it's harder to beat the elite fields today than it was back in the day.

Nonetheless, a player can only be judged against his peers, and if Shane wants to demonstrate he's a cut above the players of this generation, he'll have to prove it by beating the most elite fields, which come in WPA World Championships.

The greats of this generation of players, Appleton, Immonen, Souquet, Hohmann, Orcullo, and Wu have all won a WPA World 9-ball championship, and it's time for Shane to stand up and be counted by winning one of his own.

Shane is a definite BCA Hall of Famer, but continued underachievement in WPA World Championship events will leave him outside the conversation of who is the best ever?

Wish him well, but no, he doesn't get a bad rap. He is a recognized superstar who has come up short all too often on the very biggest stages.
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You certainly have points with merit. However my memory of the following list says this:

Appleton - wants NO part of SVB gambling at any game, especially for a long race

Immonen - was so thoroughly dominated by SVB in recent years in a big set to 100 that the results were conclusive that SVB is the better player

Souquet - while great, can't get there against SVB playing any game in a long race

Hohmann - would have an edge vs SVB in 14.1, but my $ would certainly be on SVB in any other game - also I would speculate that the tourney record between these two weighs the scales in favor of the SD Kid.

Orcullo - remains a tossup between these two in my mind, however recent TAR performances may favor SVB (damn memory failing..), in any event, I would hold onto my $ and just watch the outcome of these two battling - it's a coin flip!

Wu - can't comment, never seen him play, but have heard good things (pool needs more visibility dammit :(
 
Comparing long gambling sets or races to race to 11 single elimination tournaments overseas is apples and oranges IMO.


ETA: I wanted to make it clear that I'm not saying that Shane isn't a great tournament player. In fact he's one of the very very best. I was just saying that it's one thing to be feared by all in gambling matches and a completely different thing to have a win in the most prestigious tournament in pool on your resume.
 
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