(i am posting this simultaneously in az and onepocket.org. well, not exactly simultaneously because i can’t quite figure out how to do that. let’s call the process proximus maximus, which is a faux latin term i just made up!)
even though the mosconi cup doesn’t include one-pocket, i just love these international games!
for some reason, i become much more of a ‘nervous nellie’ while watching the partners matches than the singletons. anyone else feel that way?
for me, i think it’s because i hate screwing up my teammate’s turn. let me count the ways i flub the dub: i miss the shot, i leave her hooked, i scratch, etc.
fortunately, the mosconi cup provides me some considerable quantum of solace when i see some of the top players in the world choke. (ego alert ... yep, i’m talking about you, you mosconi guys!)
further, i think that ‘choke’ is an accurate and descriptive word.
the commentators talk about ‘pressure.’
we can all identify with how that specific duress-noun plays out when we watch world champs miss relatively easy shots. and then further observe them as they miss relatively simple position opportunities.
(on the positive side, it’s also so uplifting to see some of the best players in the universe successfully execute ever-more challenging shots in that same pressure cooker environment!)
with the short races to six, anyone can beat anyone ...
this year’s rookies -- dechaine and melling (how i wish the melling parents hadn’t named him ‘chris’ ... the pronunciation so often morphs into ‘smelling!’) -- have each had some terrific moments.
further mosconi musings ...
> there is not very much we need to say about the mosconi attire ... tacky patches are tacky patches. no matter which team, nor which side of the atlantic sports them on their upper torso garments. tawdry breeds ... well, tawdry.
> i had forgotten about that girl ref -- she is marvelous! she can laser out the sternest looks! although i believe she had more order-maintaining duties last year in york hall. are euro-fans more unruly?
> this year ... why did they abandon the magic rack after the first day?
> also ... didn’t that first-day diamond table have a ball-return function? if i’m not mistaken, the pockets now retain the orbs?
> the stream graphics are terrific! i love the dissolve function as each ball is pocketed. i wish we could do that with one-pocket. show, say, the 14-ball slurped into the ether as it is potted.
> plus, the mosconi running game-count and the regular postings of the overall match standings are most helpful. as is the ‘order of play’ for the daily scheduled competitions -- past, present and future, red v. blue. well done!
(by the way, stellar computer graphics aren’t that expensive. a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down the pants!)
> shot clock ... yes! it seems fair, it keeps the action moving along, it occasionally adds to the tension. i don’t know what the one-pocket equivalent might be? (certainly not 30 seconds! but perhaps a game clock, or a match timepiece ... tick, tick, ticking along?)
> i would never name names ... but isn’t that one euro-guy awfully cute! (there are also one or two boyos who might well qualify for the all-ugly team if one were to score the proceedings in such a petty way, which, of course, one would never do.) is there a baldness requirement to qualify for team europe? is so, why?
> last year, for me, there was one pivotal and defining shot. one of our good guys -- in a key game -- snookered himself with, i believe, only two or three object balls left on the field of play.
this year there have been several exciting turning points. but i haven’t seen that singular ‘oh my gawd’ cardiac-paddle moment. perhaps this is because the contest was never that close?
(to have qualified, heart-wise, the match-changing shot must have come late in the contest, must have been physically or psychologically-pivotal and must have involved an heroic shot or a massive blunder. ((see sunny rule 22b, subsection f.)) )
> why aren’t there any girls in the mosconi cup? jasmin, anyone? jeanette? if those two were on the teams, i bet the interest levels, the viewership, the chatter, would all be up!
> has anyone else noticed how the advertising commercials are well spaced and well done? not intrusive, yet quite creative? if watching them is the entry fee to observe international pool at this level ... well i am so in! okay, so the british accent makes them sound smarter.
> the commentary is quite good. some of it might seem to overstate the obvious; but if the mosconi cup attracts new, and relatively unschooled viewers (such as i am!), then explanations, and over-explanations, of the basics, are both understandable and they are appreciated.
in that vein ... i am so enjoying the wink-and-nudge references. such as when a shot rattles its way in: ‘it wiped its feet at the doorstep.’ ‘it went in the tradesman’s entrance.’
wry, with a european nod.
> there are a couple of stellar futurists in az who go to considerable lengths to allow us peons to access some of the most desirable billiard streams in the universe.
i won’t name ‘cmb’ and ‘up’ by name because they are modest chaps.
(nota bene, boys: your -- cmb’s and up’s -- appearances in onepocket.org are now expected. be there or be square! two splendid venues -- az and one-pocket -- continue to welcome you.)
all of the above musings, random and pointless as they are, are of course, minor notions.
the major concern is, as all of the pool world appreciates, the chat function.
i wasn’t able to find a stream that allowed me to share my real-time wisdom with the real-time world of mosconi cup viewers.
it seemed almost unnatural, if not illegal, for me not to be able to comment as the matches progressed.
first amendment principles may well come into play.
any constitutional attorneys in here?
observing the letter of the law is my life,
sunny
p. s. in a fascinating sidebar discussion, one of the moderators was asked: ‘would team usa have been better off with earl strickland on the squad?’ his shorthand answer was ... ‘no, the future of american pool is with svb and mike d.’
hmm, the future is the future.
but ... it’s interesting to think about the pearl’s passion, his disruption capabilities and the overall influence he would have exerted upon this year’s teams. as well as his skill in clutch situations.
yes?
no?
maybe so?
even though the mosconi cup doesn’t include one-pocket, i just love these international games!
for some reason, i become much more of a ‘nervous nellie’ while watching the partners matches than the singletons. anyone else feel that way?
for me, i think it’s because i hate screwing up my teammate’s turn. let me count the ways i flub the dub: i miss the shot, i leave her hooked, i scratch, etc.
fortunately, the mosconi cup provides me some considerable quantum of solace when i see some of the top players in the world choke. (ego alert ... yep, i’m talking about you, you mosconi guys!)
further, i think that ‘choke’ is an accurate and descriptive word.
the commentators talk about ‘pressure.’
we can all identify with how that specific duress-noun plays out when we watch world champs miss relatively easy shots. and then further observe them as they miss relatively simple position opportunities.
(on the positive side, it’s also so uplifting to see some of the best players in the universe successfully execute ever-more challenging shots in that same pressure cooker environment!)
with the short races to six, anyone can beat anyone ...
this year’s rookies -- dechaine and melling (how i wish the melling parents hadn’t named him ‘chris’ ... the pronunciation so often morphs into ‘smelling!’) -- have each had some terrific moments.
further mosconi musings ...
> there is not very much we need to say about the mosconi attire ... tacky patches are tacky patches. no matter which team, nor which side of the atlantic sports them on their upper torso garments. tawdry breeds ... well, tawdry.
> i had forgotten about that girl ref -- she is marvelous! she can laser out the sternest looks! although i believe she had more order-maintaining duties last year in york hall. are euro-fans more unruly?
> this year ... why did they abandon the magic rack after the first day?
> also ... didn’t that first-day diamond table have a ball-return function? if i’m not mistaken, the pockets now retain the orbs?
> the stream graphics are terrific! i love the dissolve function as each ball is pocketed. i wish we could do that with one-pocket. show, say, the 14-ball slurped into the ether as it is potted.
> plus, the mosconi running game-count and the regular postings of the overall match standings are most helpful. as is the ‘order of play’ for the daily scheduled competitions -- past, present and future, red v. blue. well done!
(by the way, stellar computer graphics aren’t that expensive. a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down the pants!)
> shot clock ... yes! it seems fair, it keeps the action moving along, it occasionally adds to the tension. i don’t know what the one-pocket equivalent might be? (certainly not 30 seconds! but perhaps a game clock, or a match timepiece ... tick, tick, ticking along?)
> i would never name names ... but isn’t that one euro-guy awfully cute! (there are also one or two boyos who might well qualify for the all-ugly team if one were to score the proceedings in such a petty way, which, of course, one would never do.) is there a baldness requirement to qualify for team europe? is so, why?
> last year, for me, there was one pivotal and defining shot. one of our good guys -- in a key game -- snookered himself with, i believe, only two or three object balls left on the field of play.
this year there have been several exciting turning points. but i haven’t seen that singular ‘oh my gawd’ cardiac-paddle moment. perhaps this is because the contest was never that close?
(to have qualified, heart-wise, the match-changing shot must have come late in the contest, must have been physically or psychologically-pivotal and must have involved an heroic shot or a massive blunder. ((see sunny rule 22b, subsection f.)) )
> why aren’t there any girls in the mosconi cup? jasmin, anyone? jeanette? if those two were on the teams, i bet the interest levels, the viewership, the chatter, would all be up!
> has anyone else noticed how the advertising commercials are well spaced and well done? not intrusive, yet quite creative? if watching them is the entry fee to observe international pool at this level ... well i am so in! okay, so the british accent makes them sound smarter.
> the commentary is quite good. some of it might seem to overstate the obvious; but if the mosconi cup attracts new, and relatively unschooled viewers (such as i am!), then explanations, and over-explanations, of the basics, are both understandable and they are appreciated.
in that vein ... i am so enjoying the wink-and-nudge references. such as when a shot rattles its way in: ‘it wiped its feet at the doorstep.’ ‘it went in the tradesman’s entrance.’
wry, with a european nod.
> there are a couple of stellar futurists in az who go to considerable lengths to allow us peons to access some of the most desirable billiard streams in the universe.
i won’t name ‘cmb’ and ‘up’ by name because they are modest chaps.
(nota bene, boys: your -- cmb’s and up’s -- appearances in onepocket.org are now expected. be there or be square! two splendid venues -- az and one-pocket -- continue to welcome you.)
all of the above musings, random and pointless as they are, are of course, minor notions.
the major concern is, as all of the pool world appreciates, the chat function.
i wasn’t able to find a stream that allowed me to share my real-time wisdom with the real-time world of mosconi cup viewers.
it seemed almost unnatural, if not illegal, for me not to be able to comment as the matches progressed.
first amendment principles may well come into play.
any constitutional attorneys in here?
observing the letter of the law is my life,
sunny
p. s. in a fascinating sidebar discussion, one of the moderators was asked: ‘would team usa have been better off with earl strickland on the squad?’ his shorthand answer was ... ‘no, the future of american pool is with svb and mike d.’
hmm, the future is the future.
but ... it’s interesting to think about the pearl’s passion, his disruption capabilities and the overall influence he would have exerted upon this year’s teams. as well as his skill in clutch situations.
yes?
no?
maybe so?
