Oh, I'm aware of that.
But Earl also always had a side to him of the "spiritual" or "rigorousness" of pool. He has blathered about the "beauty" of the game. Or a "Beautiful game played by ugly people"
He gets into a mode when the other guy has better luck than him; or especially when Earl is losing, that the other guy is not worthy to be playing on the same table. Maybe, over a lifetime of amazing shots & pressure play to salvage games and matches, but it just causes him (Earl) to lay down and stop working instead of focusing and bringing the game back to himself.
The conflict between those 2 sides causes him to lose more often than "he should" on paper.
I think he could have actually won more had he developed his more personable side. You know, when you don't care. when a momentary loss is just a minor setback, not something that undermines your self concept. There was a period a few years ago when he was demonstrating his better side steadily. Had hoped it was a new permanent evolution.
Everyone wants to beat a jerk, and they tend not to take risks while doing so. If they underestimate you or overall think you are a nice guy, you end up getting useful breaks. & When the other guy does get all the luck, everyone sees and agrees, instead of mentally saying, "yeah, he would not have had half as much luck if you had actually brought some skill to the table".
It takes all kinds.
We all have our weaknesses.
Earl could have been greater than his legend & I think even more successful with a little less social self centeredness.
In some ways, his great project in life has been making a better self.
He's still a hero of mine, and i only wish him the best of luck.
