1995 14.1 Main Event - Earl Strickland vs Johnny Ervolino

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1995 14.1 Maine Event - Earl Strickland vs Johnny Ervolino

Folks:

One of my all-time favorites, Johnny Ervolino ("The Velvet Foghorn"), takes on Earl Strickland in the 1995 14.1 Maine Event. You can watch Johnny's slipstroke in all its glory:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ng6ipzbR4

Enjoy!
-Sean
 
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Thanks mate :thumbup:
I have been looking for vids of Strickland playing straight pool.
 
Upon learning of Johnny Ervolino's death in February 2005, Grady Matthews posted the following:

Grady said:
I always liked and respected Johnny, as a longtime friend and peer. We understood each other although we could not have had more contrasting backgrounds. His knowledge of the game was perhaps unequaled. This I would sometimes find out the hard way when he was my opponent. I never witnessed better straight pool patterns than his.
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If that's not a rave review of Johnny Ervoliono the 14.1 technician, nothing is!
 
I Love this match along with many other older matches..... I am proud to say that i personally got to know Johnny back in the day !!!

Thanks for the post !
-Steve
 
Commentators: Billy Incardona, Danny DiLiberto, C.J. Wiley, and Cicero Murphy

Cameron Smith said:
This has some of the most entertaining commentary on it.
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That's right. :D

For those that haven't viewed the video yet, C.J. Wiley and Cicero Murphy make guest appearances in the commentators box. And the occasional ribbing that the combined team of Billy Incardona, C.J., and Cicero give Danny DiLiberto is priceless.

At one point, Cicero makes a wise crack about C.J. and Danny in this one, that I about fell out of my chair laughing. I won't spoil it, though. You'll just have to view the match. ;)

-Sean
 
I enjoyed this one, Sean.

I like the way Johnny works the cue-ball with spin...uses side spin to hold
the cue-ball rather than soft draw.

..and I think Earl needs to travel with 'emoticons'....I feel he was joking
when he claimed the ref must have moved the cue-ball when racking
'cause Earl didn't have the angle he wanted. But Earl remains serious
when he says these things and adds fuel to his detractors.
 
TOTALLY different styles of 14.1. Ervolino played the game old school, never moving the cue ball or anything else any more than necessary, playing beautiful patterns and a light touch. Earl muscled his way through and seemed to get out of line a lot...but he did spread out some of the clusters very nicely. What I noticed most was Danny DeLiberto was able to call virtually every shot Ervolino made, but he had trouble predicting what Earl was going to do...very telling.
 
Sean, thank you for posting the match. I was very fond of Johnny and loved to watch him play. I learned a lot just listening to him. I still hear his admonition, "Get rid of the balls below your breakshot early. It's a much easier game when you do." And damn if it isn't!

It was a pleasure to see him play. His touch and his knowledge were amazing. Whoever gave him the name "Velvet Foghorn," hit it perfectly. Makes me laugh thinking about it.

It was fun to be around Grady and Johnny. If you ever get a chance to watch Mike Sigel's 150 and out against Zuglan, there is a great back and forth with Johnny arguing the out pattern and breakshot with Grady and Weeny Beeny. They both dismissed his views as arcane. But wouldn't you know it, Sigel ran out Johnny's pattern to a tee, and Grady and Beeny were silenced.

Thanks again, Sean. I really appreciated the opportunity to see Johnny play.
 
Great video, thanks for posting. I think Ervolino would have taken the cheese if he did'nt go for those balls in the pack. Good stuff!
 
stevekur1 said:
I Love this match along with many other older matches..... I am proud to say that i personally got to know Johnny back in the day !!!

Thanks for the post !
-Steve
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Ya, a lot of us knew him personally for years too. I remember in the mid 80s I was without a job. Just got out of the Army. Lost a few bucks to him. I quit since I was broke. We became friends. I even let him stay over a few times after late night matches and no where to stay.

Things took a turn for the worse when I finally started working again and I bet on him in an easy match. He dumped and split the money with his opponent. I didn't realize it at the time but all the other regulars explained it to me a few days later.

I avoided Johnny after that. I didn't hate him, but I no longer trusted him. I don't care what your financial situation is, you don't dump on your friends. Once you violate your friend's trust, it's over.

When he died I didn't feel bad at all. I felt like it was a relief, knowing he would never dump on anyone again.
 
Can't find the vid anymore

Wish I could have seen that match-For some reason it seems the vid isn't available now----Johnny and I met at a few One pocket events and became freinds back in the late 90's--always showed class when ever I knew him--great player
 
Johnny reminded me a lot of Bill (Irvin)Lawson--old school players that really knew the game and they both had a stroke that was like playing a violin.
One of the last matches, that Bill ever had in a good solid tourny--he had made his way through the loser's bracket and came back to Allen Hopkins
the gent that had sat him there. Bill beat him in a race to 7 and the match was on. Next race was to 7---Bill ran a perfect ran 7 and out.
Bill had a lot to do with Wade Crane's game when he was a young'en--they both had a similar patterns and Bill was the gent that helped Wade with the break ,that he went on to master and become one of his great attributes. Bill could and did play even with Whimpy back when they were both young out on the road. Bill would play Whimpy, but stayed away from some dude named Don Willis for some reason.
Wimpy said once of Don--he had the eye of an eagle and the heart of a lion----
Thanks for the link--I'll purchase the match
 
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