I ask the AZ mods to remove this poll. This isn't a poll, it's a witch hunt. OP worded the poll with an extreme bias, reported skewed facts, then posted repeatedly to try to berate people that disagreed with the outcome he wanted. Funny the results STILL didn't work out the way he wanted.
My two cents:
-The call shot rule is a gentleman's rule. I see this as no different than if someone called the 5 ball, got down on the 5, then stood up, changed their mind, and shot another OBVIOUS shot...but failed to change their call. That shouldn't decide who advances and who doesn't.
-What happened earlier in the tournament was earlier in the tournament. I don't have the video of that. Maybe that was a spot in which the call shot rule was more pivotal, such as him shooting into a cluster, making a combo, shooting into a corner with multiple hanging balls, etc. Or maybe it was a bad call by a ref then. Ref's do make bad calls, and if one does we shouldn't have to continue to make bad calls for eternity to be 'consistent'.
-Jayson shouldn't have called a foul on Earl. It's a refereed match. He has no business jumping out of his chair and shouting at Earl.
-I don't have a strong opinion about the ref. I think he saw Earl shoot an obvious ball into an obvious pocket and didn't think anything of it. The only thing I think the ref did wrong was in his explanation of why he was awarding the shot to Earl he mentioned not being able to hear the call. This implied that if Earl DID call the two it would have been an inning ending mistake...but his main point was that everyone knew what the right shot was, and that should have stood on it's own two feet.
-I don't know that Earl 'lied'. Sure, we know he called the 2. And we saw him react. But who knows how he recalled it. He was zoned out, in the heat of battle, and he wanted it to be true so much his brain was probably playing tricks on him. When he said "I didn't call NO balls" I think he believed he was right. But it's anyone's guess. It's 100% that he was incorrect. But it's not 100% that he was deliberately lying. To fine, suspend, or otherwise punish someone you'd better be sure you can prove intent.
-The video of Earl calling the 2 ball was not the official stream. I don't think it is a good idea to start a precedent of using spectators cell phone cameras or other third party recordings to make calls regarding a world championship or fines. That is totally going the wrong direction and opens up a huge can of worms in terms of inconsistency.
-Jayson's forfeiting of the tournament, driving a ball off the table, and getting aggressive with Earl after calling a foul he shouldn't have seemed more out of line. With Earl the shot was obvious and we can't prove intent. With Jayson the intent was absolutely obvious and much more 'ungentlemanly'. If anyone should receive a fine it should be Jayson.
In the end I think this is pool, and tough situations come up. Whatever the call made by the ref I think the players need to accept it, keep moving, and not look back. And the AZ armies can talk about it, but in the end they need to do the same thing.