Sorry to mention this again, but that last point is why I didn't like Earl picked on this team.
With so many people watching I pray he doesn't blow the
cohesiveness,
professional attitude, and
good team-spirit.
I truly pray.
You
should be sorry to mention it again..
You are one of the many people on this forum operating under the misconception that we need to "clean up" pool, and we need good sportsmanship.. "Cleaning up" pool is not the way to go!!
For the most part the American people DO NOT CARE how well-mannered a player is, as long as he/she is a WINNER. Modern America wants their sports/games to be a bit "dirty", and they want some characters...
John McEnroe's bad sportsmanship bad for tennis? I think not.
"The Hustler", a story of a champion loser in life who finally finds happiness, but throws it away by chasing money and glory? Bad for pool? I think not.
Alex "Hurricane" Higgins, a fellow, who drank, smoked, and twitched his way through two world snooker championships... He gambled, mentioned how "fascinating" housewives found him, and was a raucous consumer of all life's pleasures... Bad for snooker? I think not.
Phil Helmuth, the famous "poker brat", and DEFINITELY not a good sport.. Bad for poker? I think not.
Even Tiger Woods, pre-whoring.... You could look at his face and see the barely contained disdain he had for the rest of the pro golfers. He knew he was better than them by a ridiculous amount.. Bad for Golf? I think not.
Face it... People don't care about bad sportsmanship. They care about WINNING, pure and simple.
And as far as having a "clean" image.. Here's the thing.. This comes POST corporate involvement.. It does not GENERATE corporate involvement!
A sport garners enough attention to capture a certain percentage of the public... Coporations see the advantage of attaching themselves to the brand... They offer more money into the fold, at the cost of a little leeway in personal behavior by the athletes..
If a certain athlete is popular enough with the masses, they can quite literally get away with murder, and still retain corporate sponsorship..
But that's the key!! It's ALL about the individual personalities!! Michael Jordan dragged the NBA into the current level of ridiculous paychecks.
There's a whole bunch of morons (no offense) that think Earl Strickland is bad for the game..
An Earl Strickland who still plays well enough to win a major now and again is BY FAR the best asset pool has right now. You better damn well wish another champion nut like him comes along soon before Earl can't win any more.
Short Bus Russ