Sunday, June 8, 2014

Two National Championships

Lindenwood University now has two National Champions in only their second year of having a billiuards team. Landon Shuffett and Briana Miller both had convincing wins and the rest of the team finished well also. Sharik Sayed finished 3rd, Sean Sommers 7th, Jaydan Hergott 9th, and Dan Otto was 25th.

As the coachI was pleased with the finishes but even more proud of their professionalism. Great job everyone, next up 2015.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Team USA/ Mosconi Cup 2014

Team USA/ Mosconi Cup 2014
Invading the BUD/S Training Facility

In preparation for the December showdown in Blackpool, England the players were brought to Coronado, Ca. for some real team building exercises courtesy of the U.S. Navy SEALs. Honor, integrity, respect, discipline, and work ethic are core components of all winning teams and especially those that travel in harms way.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Mosconi Cup Team 2014

I was named captain of the 2014 Mosconi Cup Team USA and am very proud to come back as the captain after playing in the first two Mosconi Cups ever and pocketing the final winning 9-Ball for Team USA in the first ever match. This is one of my fondest memories and career highlights.

I have chosen to put a lot into the preparation for this match in an effort to win the Cup and promote pool here in the U.S. May 22-26 we will all meet as a team for the first time in San Diego, CA. The players who make up Team USA and will be attending are Corey Deuel, Justin Hall, Jeremy Sossei, Oscar Dominguez, Justin Bergman, John Schmidt, Shane Van Boening, and Brandon Shuff and asst. captain Don Wardell.

The previous teams that were not unified enough to compete at the level of Team Europe and we are going to address this matter straight away. We will be heading to the Naval Special Warfare Center, home to the U.S. Navy SEALs to get inspired and motivated but to also get insights into team building, work ethic, discipline, brotherhood, and winning in tough circumstances. This is an experience not available to the public and requires permission from several sources including the base commander who has still not fully approved but we are very hopeful for the experience.

We as a team will also lead some training clinics that we will use to fundraise for the Naval Special Warfare Foundation and ParaVets. We will have multiple team meetings regarding our time here and in the future. We will then spend a couple of days training at On Cue Billiards, La Mesa, CA and hold a Mosconi Cup style match.

I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard for this all to become reality including Don Wardell and Mike Durbin along with Matchroom Sports and PartyPoker.net.