2014 Mosconi Cup Team USA News
So those of you who have not been keeping up with the 2014 Mosconi Cup Team USA news, team captain, Mark Wilson has announced the 8 players vying for the 5 member team. The 8 players are Shane Van Boening, Corey Deuel, John Schmidt, Oscar Dominguez, Brandon Shuff, Justin Bergman, Justin Hall, and Jeremy Sossei.
Mark Wilson has been working on a practice routine to analyze player performance. He is doing some pretty high tech stuff with video analysis on an iPad and trying to get the players together to participate in various events together to build team unity and support.
Wilson plans to announce the final team of 5 in October, probably just after the US Open 9-ball Championships.
On another note, in an article in the May 2014 issue of Billiards Digest, Johnny Archer was quoted as saying, "I'm very disappointed. I don't understand why a few of us don't even have a chance to earn a spot on the team. I know they want to go young, but Corey and John [Schmidt] aren't young."
Here's my thoughts to that statement...STOP YOUR WHINING JOHNNY!!! It's time for CHANGE!! Johnny was a part of 17 Mosconi Cup teams and in my opinion, he seems like a nice guy, but only seems to care about himself. He was team captain a few times and never organized team practices, never brought the team together...it was just "We're team USA, we're badass, and we'll show up and kick Team Europe's butt." Guess what, Johnny, Team Europe united their team, organized team practices, and showed up to US soil and kicked OUR butts. Change was overdue.
Other Billiard News
The Billiard Congress of America will hold it's 31st annual Summit on June 24-27. The BCA's annual industry trade fair will return to Louisville, Kentucky, which has been the host city three times before, the last being in 1990. The event organizers expect only 75 vendors to show up, the lowest in the 31 year history of the event, however, more on-floor events are planned and more after-hours social events. The lack of vendors doesn't bode well for the future of the Summit, but the American pool industry seems to be in an evolving state right now. I'm sure it will be a great event and maybe the change of venue will make future Summits better.
The U.S. Amateur Championships are coming up in November. November 5-9, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. The entry window is April 1 - June 15, so if you plan on entering, get signed up. For more information, visit www.poolplayers.com/usam/
