Strickland Hall of Fame petition,sign here

Earl belongs in the hall of fame, plain and simple.

Whether Earl thinks he deserves it is irrelevant. Players with far lesser playing accomplishments have been inducted. If it IS broke, DO fix it, and the BCA hall of fame is broke. Inducting Earl would be a good start to fixing it.

after watching the skins game and what he did to charlie williams earl has no respect for the game and should never be let in the hof based only on the move he made not giving up ball in hand after the foul. he has no respect for his sport and therefore deserves no respect

Why isn't Earl in the HOF? Whenever there is a tournament what table gets the most viewing? The one with Earl, or Keith. They are both legends and represent what pool was all about.

One of the most disliked players in baseball was The Georgia Peach, Ty Cobb, but everyone came to see him play because he wore it all on his sleeve. He was the best, played within the rules and gave it his all every game. To me Earl is the Ty Cobb of pool. You either love him or hate him but you cannot deny that he is one of the greatest.

Like him?Or not? Earl Strickland DESERVES to be in the HOF!

Hof

randyg said:

Would you guys get your facts straight! This dosen't have anything to do with the BCA, it's Earl. Earl asked NOT to be in the HOF until he deserves it.....SPF-randyg

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Taking nothing away from your post, it isn't an issue of being deserving or not. It was I believe an issue that Earl didn't want to be inducted while he was still an active player and didn't feel that he was ready to be put out to pasture yet. I tend to agree! IMNO.

Of course I could be full of it, but that's what I seem to remember from this same thread last year, and the year before............

No-sho

Lets see if everyone can follow this; The Billiard Congress of America is a TRADE organization devoted to the busness success of it's members. This is in their mission statement.

The "Hall of Fame" is simply a list created by this trade organization. It is neither a physical museum or maintained by any non-affiliated group.

ANYONE can NOMINATE any player for the BCA HOF. The Hall of Fame committee then decides which nominees get on the ballot for that year.

Perhaps the fans should get to vote as well. Who knows? Don't the sports writers vote on the Baseball HOF? I have no idea. I know though that the BCA HOF is the only one that we have right now and people are on there who have never won a tournament solely for their business accomplishments. Those business successes also raised the general awareness of billiards. My new favorite saying - a rising tide lifts all boats. I guess the converse is that a hurricane destroys all boats as well

Earl is a special indivdual. He deserves the accolades and the critique as well. I think McEnroe was good for tennis in the same way that Earl is good for pool. But I want to watch Earl play conflict-free high level pool. I don't go to see Earl "crash". That kills the enjoyment for me. Y'all need to remember that his crashes have been very loud and public - at least within the billiard community (industry) and that plays a big part in how he is handled.

I applaud Earl for removing himself from the ballot. He is definitely a man of principles. Warped ones maybe, but ones that define him and that he sticks to.

Earl, I don't agree with a lot of what you say and do. I won't pay to watch you play anymore. But your play has always been an inspiration to me. To this day I will always start any match breaking from the same spot you did when you won the 1991 World Championship in Germany. I wish you all the rolls.

John Barton.

One yes vote from me.

One yes vote from my daughter

One yes vote from my wife.


And yes I did say something to them about it.

Of course Earl should be in the Hall of Fame! That's not even a close call! He may have had a couple of his least precious moments, occur under a lot of scrutiny! I think we all have some moments in time that we'd rather have seen work out differently, but Earl is one of the greatest players to EVER play the game! He definately deserves his place in the HOF!

Sherm

I think the majority of the pool-playing public views the BCA Hall of Fame as the ultimate award and should be given to a deserving champion player or contributor to the sport.

I think Earl Strickland and Allen Hopkins, another very worthy candidate, recognize the BCA for what it is: a trades-based organization consisting of industry members with a mission to benefit THEIR needs.

Though some may feel the BCA is not giving Earl his fair due, it could be that the players themselves may not regard the BCA in the same light and do not feel sleighted in the least.

Food for thought is who receives the most benefit in the BCA when a worthy candidate is elected in the BCA Hall of Fame. It ain't the awardee (IMO).

JAM

Earl getting voted into the HOF isn't a matter of IF, but simply WHEN.

Earl "The Pearl" Strickland should gain automatice entry into the H.O.F for being the person he IS and not what the H.O.F wants him to be.

We need characters in the game to liven it up. Like Dennis Rodman in basketball, Eric Cantona in football, Mohamned Ali in Boxing and John McEnroe in Tennis! what would the game be like without them?

Earl is in a class of his own, love him or hate him, you got to respect him, 5 US open titles? Just try defending one of them!

My vote goes to Mr Earl Stickland from North Carolina! "The Pearl" in the world of cue sports....

Cheers,
Wizardry

RSB-Refugee said:

It would have to taken to tradeshows and shown to as many voting members as possible. Maybe someone could design a 'Let Earl In" T-shirt, if it was worn at Vegas by a lot of people, I think they might take the hint.

Tracy

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The only problem with that is that peoples memories are short. The Trade show happens many months before the vote. Contact the BCA and find out when the ballot goes out and send a mailing to all right before asking them to vote for Earl. Could probably do that cheap enough.

EasyMoney said:

after watching the skins game and what he did to charlie williams earl has no respect for the game and should never be let in the hof based only on the move he made not giving up ball in hand after the foul. he has no respect for his sport and therefore deserves no respect

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Is it possible sometime in the past Charlie had said to Earl "the ref didn't see it?"

Earl deserves to be there, put him in or I quit!

He's got my vote. I cannot think of anyone who deserves it any more than "The Pearl".

Joe

I vote for Earl Strickland
Vagabond