The greatest 9 ball player ever.
- Thread starter Gilbertfan81
- Start date
Think I read somewhere that CJ used to bust Parica.,Follow him,and bust him again.
That was Efren.
From the late 80's to the late 90's,Playing 9ball tourneys...there was this one guy that everyone hoped they didn't draw and I mean everyone.Earl Strickland. He played the Gold Crowns like they were bar tables.He put more racks together back then,than anybody,not even close. Simonis took alot away from Earls game as did the Diamond tables..He would just jump the ball if he ever did get hooked.He didn't need a jump cue either:wink: John B.
John is right! Earl did make the 9' Gold Crown look like a bar table. I never had that impression watching anyone else, not even Parica.
Building on this theme that Jay is talking about, while attempting to connect what people see today with what people are talking about when they're talking about the legends:
Often when we see Shane spike a ball from downtown, it comes off as very big deal and big shot and the crowd goes wild. And it is a big deal, big shot, don't get me wrong.
But Earl did that so often that it was just another Earl shot. He would rarely back away from a long, jacked up off angle shot and would simple spear it time and time again as if every professional is supposed to shoot that shot without fanfare.
I assume that in 1984, that would be Efren he was talking about.
Earl can still swing it with a huge shot once in a while and the crowd goes crazy. He made a few like that in Vegas the last few days. Unfortunately, he also missed a few and that cost him dearly.
Changing the subject slightly, Keith also made very difficult shots look routine or easy. He just flicked his wrist and in the ball went and the cue ball took a perfect path for position. Keith was the greatest natural pool player I ever saw, with more talent than anyone ever! If he had the dedication of an Orcollo or Van Boening, he would have won everything.
Grady said the same thing.
It's fun to kick this around and hear stories and opinions but I think you are right.
The point is Efren wouldn't have been down 17 racks in the first place, if he had a better break.
In that Color of Money match, Earl was consistently breaking and getting results. Efren was not. So even though Efren was playing well, he was at a huge disadvantage due to his break.
I echo your recommendation of watching that match. Cannot believe the high standard maintained throughout. It's mind boggling.
By the way, even though Efren won the race I was extremely disappointed that Earl was still in position to win it a few times and threw tantrums and somewhat gave up, too. A sad finale to an epic match.
To be completely fair , you would have to judge , several ways .
Best gambling
Best tournaments
Best combined
Best natural
Best aided
Best on different size tables
Best single performance.
Thats too much for a sport that barely keeps records , and the ones they do are often incorrect.
I assume this thread was about the 1 standout player of all time, the problem is, who do you have judge?
You could let everyone judge , that means whoever got the most press and the most recent will have a distinct edge.
You could have only other "great" players judge , the problem with that is , old baggage from being beaten , girlfriend stolen etc. and great players never admit anyone ever beat them !
Some of them will not even pronounce the persons name correctly , even though you know they have been corrected a hundred times.
Prime example , Allen Hopkins called Efren Reyes, Effrem, for 25 years , not because he couldn't say Efren , but because he couldn't stand to say Efren, it would open up the wounds again.
Shane Van Bone is on the same lines, an attempt to diminish the threat by not even admitting the person exists.
I remember being at a tournament where all the champions of the 80s were and in walked Mark Tadd, looking like a million bucks and offered to play anybody.
No one got up.
He got on a table and started throwing them out and Jimmy Rempe started talking to him .
They talked for about an hour while Mark shot and I don't remember him ever missing.
He's not been on anyones list?
I remember Jose talking about a guy whos name started with an L , Lillith or something like that , he couldn't come to the US because he had a criminal record or something . It wasn't Luat, although he played awesome.
the absolute perfection of watching Earl execute is probably the single most motivating thing I can think of, as far as inspiring me to play. His vids are the only ones I have seen that instill that sense of an individual's domination of a game...nobody elas approached the ball with such purpose and utter knowledge that the balls would do what he wanted them to.
Not even Chuck Norris.
Its like Earl was built for pool.
mark was a bit of lightning though. He was gone as quickly as he came.
Compared to Buddy/ Jose/ Efren...he was a blip
IMO
Judging strictly by tournament results (a more objective and better documented record of performance than gambling results), Earl's high gear is the best I've ever seen, and you certainly can't argue with his overall tournament results, which I'm pretty sure are second to none. For consistency, though, I give the nod to Sigel. Those are my top two during my lifetime (so we're talking basically from the late 70's to today).
That is very ture and there was no love loss between these two. In Fact there was something about Jose still owing pretty nicely.
While in Reno about 7-8 years ago there was yet another argument about it andI had to get between them and feared it would get nasty. I wwellknew how Danny played adn equally knew how well he handled himself in a parking lot.
As has been said,"in God we trust, all others must post"!!
I agree somewhat. But I would put Sigel ahead of Earl. Earl might be strong in a race to say 11-13. But Sigel would not crack in a long race. And NOBODY come with the very tough and high pressure shots like Sigel.
Sigel would also be a 5 time US Open champion if the 2 he won before the name change was included....
Efren (having played Earl many many times as well in the 80s, 90s, as we know), has also said Sigel was the toughest 9 ball player he has ever played (even to present).
