it seems that there is a lot of controversy surrounding the nick van den berg earl strickland match,well, I WAS THE FAN IN THE AUIDENCE!! please start a new thread at the forum, titlled, "Bernie Friend confesses" i can't get on it to write, just cut and paste this exactly please,hey i got you a soda, didn't i? ok print this word for word, thanks:~~~~~~::
Linda's note - I took the liberty of adding spaces where I could and editing swear words. Did not want to get banned! The rest is verbatim Bernie. It hurt me a lot to leave in all the typos, ROFL.
being an ipt player,i have been exposed to two players that have been nothing more than well, cry baby's and assh%*^. mike sigel and earl strickland, although talented in their day, are now over the hill insane people,who are disturbing obnoxious,and just out of bounds.
people say root for americans,well people,i will root for whomever i feel like rooting for. the american way is freedom, freedom to vote and root for whomever you'd like, it just so happens to be, that i like nick van den berg, and i'm an american.
i decided to watch the earl strikland vs. van den berg match. nick was quiete as usual and business like,whilst strickland was talking out loud and being disrespectful, at one point, nick van den bergs family wer'e talking quietly amongst themselfs, and strickland turned to them, and said something to the effect of "shut up" this was wrong, you tell the ref, or you say in a nice way, please stop talking, simple,and kind, but no, so i got pissed off, and nick got so pissed,he took a time out, when he came back, i screamed out "let's go nick!"
strickland looked right up at me, his robotic unblinking crazy eyes locked upon mine, and he said "you are a traitor,you are rooting for europe, your an american, you switched sides, your a traitor" at which point, i pointed to myself, as if to say, "you wanna f*ck with me,you lunitic?!!!!!!" he stopped and went about his playing,
after the match the van den berg family and i sat down, and discussed,how strickland was unprofessional. to me, i rather root for a skillfull european, that has respect, than a demented,cry baby, who is american and needs to "pull tricks" to win his matches, and believe you me ,strickland has won EVERY ONE of his championships, by "pulling tricks" that is to say, talk to the crowd, and opponent and their family, take them out of stroke,and then earl wins, well, then why just not come right out and cheat?
for those of you thinkiing earl is talented,and has earned the right to behave this way, i say to you shame on you, just because earl is an american doesn't give him the right to have an automatic american player, root for him, this is NOT the american way, the united states was based on freedom and doing what you want freely, thus i choose to applaud the best player, and the gentlemen at the table, not the "has been" american,who has to cheat with banter and insults,
it's time earl strickland was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, and locked out of the IPT, for i could clearly see, why europeans and canadians feel americans are a$$holes, look who we have represnting us?!!!
now speaking of a$$holes,mike sigel and i had words,here is what happend,mike went onto a practice table after he lost,and yelled at the poor man who put the cushions on the ipt tables, mike was going on and on and on how the cushions were unpredictable,and sometimes they were slow, other times they were fast, and their height and profile was no good, and the man responsible for the cushions couldn't get a word in edge wise,and the man said "please show me an example so i could fix it" mike wouldn't listen, and i was getting upset, becauase mike just wouldn't give this poor guy the right time of day, because mike feels he is above every other human, (hence the name a$$hole number 2)
so i listening to this, i had enough, i said to mike, let me see the cue,(there was only one cue in by the practice tables) i wanted to show him an easy side pocket bank, and we could test the cushions and go from there,this way everyone would be at peace again,so i asked and said to mike, "let me see the cue" and without hesitation he said "no" and went on continuing with his rampage, of this sucks and this is wrong, and so on and so on, so i blew my stack and said one more time, let me see this cue stick,he again without coming up for air said "no" so i said, "who the hell are you,to tell me no, give me that cue now!" so he quieted down and said ok, here, what?,then i showed him the shot, and everyone got peaceful,and to the point of what was bothering him about the cushions.
what is my point?
must people act like they are ABOVE everyone else? must people act rude,like strickland?
i feel not, case in point,the british,ronnie o'sullivan and jimmy white, both big stars back in the u.k. both loved and sought after, and both multi millionaires,has it gone to their heads? NO,why because they are fun, free spirited men, who do not take themselves too seriously, and believe they are gods children and can be better then they are, when i asked ronnie about his famous 147 clearence, that was in the world recod books he said "it was rubbish, a very bad clearence mate, i was out of line on all the shots" now, that is pure humble british talk, a true gentlemen,why can't the americans be more like the british?,kind open humble and honest,
what is the bottom line? i will not let anyone talk down to me,because no one is better or worse than i am, we are people human beings,black,white,american or whatever, let's have peace, and freedom, open honest humble people.
most people hate strickland and sigel, they are obnoxious baby's that can no longer compete with the non-american players, simple and true, if you look very carefully, you will see that the non-american players are taking 4 mins. on average per shot,and are going slowly like surgeons,while americans are rushing through and losing, there is a lesson to be learned here, let's not be so proud and loud to be americans,give the rest of the world there due, live in peace, and stop obnoxious rude people american or not, from competing on such a prestigious tour as the IPT.
i root for who i wish to root for, for i am an american and it is my right to do so, i am free,let me root for the best man,regardless of their nation. i look forward to competing in future ipt events,i love america, more so than any other place in the world, but i look for excellence in the pool world, and i found it in nick van den berg, from holland,is that so wrong? suppose a dutch fan wanted to cheer for strickland rather than van den berg, should he be punished? i think not. do what you want, just don't hurt anyone in the process, and above all, act courtious,
Bernie Friend~~north carolina.
Linda's note - I took the liberty of adding spaces where I could and editing swear words. Did not want to get banned! The rest is verbatim Bernie. It hurt me a lot to leave in all the typos, ROFL.
being an ipt player,i have been exposed to two players that have been nothing more than well, cry baby's and assh%*^. mike sigel and earl strickland, although talented in their day, are now over the hill insane people,who are disturbing obnoxious,and just out of bounds.
people say root for americans,well people,i will root for whomever i feel like rooting for. the american way is freedom, freedom to vote and root for whomever you'd like, it just so happens to be, that i like nick van den berg, and i'm an american.
i decided to watch the earl strikland vs. van den berg match. nick was quiete as usual and business like,whilst strickland was talking out loud and being disrespectful, at one point, nick van den bergs family wer'e talking quietly amongst themselfs, and strickland turned to them, and said something to the effect of "shut up" this was wrong, you tell the ref, or you say in a nice way, please stop talking, simple,and kind, but no, so i got pissed off, and nick got so pissed,he took a time out, when he came back, i screamed out "let's go nick!"
strickland looked right up at me, his robotic unblinking crazy eyes locked upon mine, and he said "you are a traitor,you are rooting for europe, your an american, you switched sides, your a traitor" at which point, i pointed to myself, as if to say, "you wanna f*ck with me,you lunitic?!!!!!!" he stopped and went about his playing,
after the match the van den berg family and i sat down, and discussed,how strickland was unprofessional. to me, i rather root for a skillfull european, that has respect, than a demented,cry baby, who is american and needs to "pull tricks" to win his matches, and believe you me ,strickland has won EVERY ONE of his championships, by "pulling tricks" that is to say, talk to the crowd, and opponent and their family, take them out of stroke,and then earl wins, well, then why just not come right out and cheat?
for those of you thinkiing earl is talented,and has earned the right to behave this way, i say to you shame on you, just because earl is an american doesn't give him the right to have an automatic american player, root for him, this is NOT the american way, the united states was based on freedom and doing what you want freely, thus i choose to applaud the best player, and the gentlemen at the table, not the "has been" american,who has to cheat with banter and insults,
it's time earl strickland was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, and locked out of the IPT, for i could clearly see, why europeans and canadians feel americans are a$$holes, look who we have represnting us?!!!
now speaking of a$$holes,mike sigel and i had words,here is what happend,mike went onto a practice table after he lost,and yelled at the poor man who put the cushions on the ipt tables, mike was going on and on and on how the cushions were unpredictable,and sometimes they were slow, other times they were fast, and their height and profile was no good, and the man responsible for the cushions couldn't get a word in edge wise,and the man said "please show me an example so i could fix it" mike wouldn't listen, and i was getting upset, becauase mike just wouldn't give this poor guy the right time of day, because mike feels he is above every other human, (hence the name a$$hole number 2)
so i listening to this, i had enough, i said to mike, let me see the cue,(there was only one cue in by the practice tables) i wanted to show him an easy side pocket bank, and we could test the cushions and go from there,this way everyone would be at peace again,so i asked and said to mike, "let me see the cue" and without hesitation he said "no" and went on continuing with his rampage, of this sucks and this is wrong, and so on and so on, so i blew my stack and said one more time, let me see this cue stick,he again without coming up for air said "no" so i said, "who the hell are you,to tell me no, give me that cue now!" so he quieted down and said ok, here, what?,then i showed him the shot, and everyone got peaceful,and to the point of what was bothering him about the cushions.
what is my point?
must people act like they are ABOVE everyone else? must people act rude,like strickland?
i feel not, case in point,the british,ronnie o'sullivan and jimmy white, both big stars back in the u.k. both loved and sought after, and both multi millionaires,has it gone to their heads? NO,why because they are fun, free spirited men, who do not take themselves too seriously, and believe they are gods children and can be better then they are, when i asked ronnie about his famous 147 clearence, that was in the world recod books he said "it was rubbish, a very bad clearence mate, i was out of line on all the shots" now, that is pure humble british talk, a true gentlemen,why can't the americans be more like the british?,kind open humble and honest,
what is the bottom line? i will not let anyone talk down to me,because no one is better or worse than i am, we are people human beings,black,white,american or whatever, let's have peace, and freedom, open honest humble people.
most people hate strickland and sigel, they are obnoxious baby's that can no longer compete with the non-american players, simple and true, if you look very carefully, you will see that the non-american players are taking 4 mins. on average per shot,and are going slowly like surgeons,while americans are rushing through and losing, there is a lesson to be learned here, let's not be so proud and loud to be americans,give the rest of the world there due, live in peace, and stop obnoxious rude people american or not, from competing on such a prestigious tour as the IPT.
i root for who i wish to root for, for i am an american and it is my right to do so, i am free,let me root for the best man,regardless of their nation. i look forward to competing in future ipt events,i love america, more so than any other place in the world, but i look for excellence in the pool world, and i found it in nick van den berg, from holland,is that so wrong? suppose a dutch fan wanted to cheer for strickland rather than van den berg, should he be punished? i think not. do what you want, just don't hurt anyone in the process, and above all, act courtious,
Bernie Friend~~north carolina.
The greater players adjusted to how the ball slides off the rail much quicker and it was a moot point for the elite players. Others couldn't make the adjustment and missed very simply bank shots and missed position badly when doing 3-railers.
