ESPN World Billiard Championships starring Earl, Jeanette, Vivian, a "Has Been"

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
ESPN World Billiard Championships starring Earl, Jeanette, Vivian, and a "Has Been"

I just saw this link sent to me on Face Book, check it out and see the ESPN World Open Championships.....it was for a total prize of over $300,000 and was seen by over 10,000,000 people WORLDWIDE.


CLICK HERE -ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
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or1pkt

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The wildest part of the video is earl actually applauding good shots and seeming happy go lucky and cordial... Good video thanks for sharing
 

9ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That kid shoots ok ! I think I seen him before !!! ...LOl Jk , CJ you were a monster back then, I think you had Earls number in those days! You still got it Kid!:)
 

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
ESPN was averaging over a Million Viewers per show in those days

When was this? Mid-to-late-1990s or so?

This was 1996 in Santa Rosa California. ESPN was putting on this tournament and filming ALL the matches and giving over $300k in prize money to 16 Men and 16 Women, so everyone made money.

The Added Bonus was the Winner of the Women's Tournament played the Winner of the Men's Tournament for $100,000! 60k for 1st and 40k for runner up ....this was billed as Pocket Billiards 'Battle of the Sexes' and ended up with 3.8 Million viewers (I was told by ESPN later in the year).

This tournament moved to Disney World in Orlando Florida the next year to the ESPN CLUB. Everything was the same except they didn't do the Battle of the Sexes again....with the ratings you would thing they would have done it again, however, ESPN wasn't the one that made the decision from what I understand.

ESPN was averaging over a Million Viewers per show in those days, I retired a few years later and '99' was the last year I played. They used "Elephant Balls" that year without informing us and I decided to take a sabbatical that ended up being 8 years (for many reasons).
 

instroke75

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
nice to see someone play wide open and shoot the balls in! great victory for you CJ, and the best part is that some really hot chick keeps coming up kissing you after each match.lol
 

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
. Every time he made a tough shot he said "Get -R- Done!!!"

but CJ why are you playing Jeff Foxworthy? Tell me he doesn't look like him?

You may have a point, never thought about that comparison. Earl does have a great, dry, sense of humor, people just don't "real eyes" he's being facetious at times.

I played a guy one time in Tennessee that looked just like "Larry the Cable Guy". Every time he made a tough shot he chirped "Get -R- Done!!!" ;)

larry_the_cable_guy.jpg
 

StraightPoolIU

Brent
Silver Member
This was 1996 in Santa Rosa California. ESPN was putting on this tournament and filming ALL the matches and giving over $300k in prize money to 16 Men and 16 Women, so everyone made money.

The Added Bonus was the Winner of the Women's Tournament played the Winner of the Men's Tournament for $100,000! 60k for 1st and 40k for runner up ....this was billed as Pocket Billiards 'Battle of the Sexes' and ended up with 3.8 Million viewers (I was told by ESPN later in the year).

This tournament moved to Disney World in Orlando Florida the next year to the ESPN CLUB. Everything was the same except they didn't do the Battle of the Sexes again....with the ratings you would thing they would have done it again, however, ESPN wasn't the one that made the decision from what I understand.

ESPN was averaging over a Million Viewers per show in those days, I retired a few years later and '99' was the last year I played. They used "Elephant Balls" that year without informing us and I decided to take a sabbatical that ended up being 8 years (for many reasons).

I remember that event in Orlando well. That was right around the time I started getting into pool and it seemed like there was pool on tv every week with different players. It was awesome except for when 2 tables were going at once and it was a little hard to follow. I even remember one year the finals were live on ESPN. That's the only time I remember pool being broadcast over the air live since I started playing.
 

eezbank

Silver Surfer
Silver Member
CJ Wiley- Just another day at the office. :grin-square:

Angela Wiley- Sitting on the edge of her seat a nervous wreck.
 

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sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
The term "has been" always brings two players to mind.

1. One of our favoritie posters, Tom Ferry, went by the name "Old Has Been" here on AZB.

2. Larry Lisciotti, one of the legends of pool, was once asked late in his career what it was like being a has been. Misquoting the standard comedic reply, Larry answered "I'd rather be a has been than a never was been."


Both Tom and Larry are no longer with us, but thinking about them always puts a smile on my face.
 

pwd72s

recreational banger
Silver Member
Thanks for posting this C.J. I watched all 8 episodes. It sure does make one wonder why pool can't once again rise to this level. Loved the battle of the sexes hype...
 

pwd72s

recreational banger
Silver Member
I loved it when before the final match, Alan Hopkins said "I KNOW who's going to win!"

Earl vs, C.J. was a thrillah. Too bad they kept cutting to the women's table..:rolleyes:
 

holland

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Bounce! ... baby!

I like how everyone was peeking around to see 6,8 and possible 9, carom.
 

instroke75

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
forgot how annoying watching VV playing pool can be. Geez she runs 4 ball outs and wants to wave her arms around! lol
 

DeadStick

i like turtles
Gold Member
Silver Member
Watching this makes me wonder what the hell happened to pool in the last 17 years. Check out the relatively young crowd, their excitement (Mosconi Cup-style), the mic'd up players (why don't the streamers do this more? such an easy win), Earl being cheerful and appreciative of his opponents' good shots, the friendly (and funny!) banter between opponents.

We've lost the joy. Everyone's so damn serious these days. How did we screw it up so badly? I know it's easy to blame poker and video games, but perhaps we should look at ourselves and our tournament formats. Rule #1 of a game: if it ain't fun, the masses aren't gonna play. Or watch.
 
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