Earl was inducted in the BCA Hall of Fame in 2006 (I'm a member of the USBMA who is the nominating and voting body for the HOF and in fact voted for Earl that year.)
The USBMA is the United States Billiards Media Association, which is comprised of all pool and billiard media professionals. The USBMA also includes several respected sport historians and industry leaders who have demonstrated a long standing commitment and knowledge of the sport overall. The USBMA web site is:
http://www.usbma.com/index.html
There are three categories for the BCA HOF
1. Annually
Player of the Year is voted upon. This particular year Ralf Souquet was the highly deserving recipient. It was close though with one other player coming in a close second. That player is also extremely accomplished and imagine will be the front runner in the next year or two.
2. The other two categories alternate every other year:
Meritorious and Veteran Player. This year Danny DeLiberto was inducted in the Veteran Category. In 2012 Meritorious will be voted on.
No disrespect to Jose, but I do not think he has the same history of tournament finishes or accomplishments in the US nationally or Worldwide such as Souquet, Strickland or Archer. However I believe he has a real shot and deserves to be recognized in the Veteran category someday.
It is not and never has been any deliberate snub, but each year many deserving players are nominated, but there is always 1-2 that have so overwhelmingly accomplished more that cannot be denied, so it becomes a race between those people.
I hope this helps people understand the process and the perspectives that have to be considered when voting on the BCA Hall of Fame.
Thanks now let this old thread go away...