| |
BGonline.org Forums
NY Metro (just my opinion)
Posted By: Coolrey
Date: Tuesday, 5 January 2016, at 9:31 p.m.
Does anyone else find it incongruous that Falafel is playing for team USA?
I mean, wasn't the movie made about him (Falafel's game) made in Israel, by Israelis? This would seem to indicate to me that he identifies more with that country than the USA.
I feel that the USA team should be made up of people who define US backgammon, even though it may very well result in a weaker team. I think I saw Falafel at two US events in 2015; Vegas and LA. He entered one event, the Super Jackpot in Vegas, and he made the finals. I should know he kicked my ass to get there and he played a mind bogglingly great match @ a PR of 1.64 I believe. Akiko, one of the stars of the World team was the only one able to handle him in the finals as she completed her astonishing double victory in Vegas. Though present, Falafel did not enter in either ABT event in those cities and did not play in the Super 43 in LA either. Curious behavior for a backgammon pro.
Make no mistake about it, Falafel is a great player, and it is just my opinion but doesn't he belong on the WORLD team? Certainly he is one of the world's best players.
Dorn Bishop is number 2 on the Larsen Silliman rating system, behind Akiko. Why shouldn't his ABT Championship land him a spot on the US team?
How do you leave off Kit Woolsey, Malcolm Davis, Frank Talbot, Art Benjamin, etc. ???
Seems like to play FOR the USA you ought to have to play IN the USA.
Another reason that I feel Falafel should not represent the USA in backgammon is that he has never shown any respect for US players. Many is the time I have listened to him talk on and on about how much better he is than Neil Kazaross. Now he wants to be on his team?
At least Victor Ashekenazi and Petko Kostadinov play in the US. Petko, who is one of my best friends in all of backgammon, just became a US citizen last year I believe.
In closing I would just say that it does not feel right to have Falafel playing on team USA. MCG is the captain and they have been roommates, but I think some more thought could have been put into the makeup of the USA team. Just saying! I should re-emphasize that I do not mean any disrespect to Falafel's game when I say that.
Undoubtedly the quality of the USA team would diminish if Malcolm, Frank, Dorn or Kit played in Falafel's place... But not by much. If they sold jerseys in Jersey, what US fan would buy Falafels instead of Neil Kazaross'??? In fact, who would the US players vote on to their all star team?
I will be there and I will root for team USA, regardless. I just wonder if anyone else agrees that Falafel belongs on the World team instead?
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.