Strickland's problem is that he's gotten into Golf too much. As a result - he's tasted the sweetness and thinks/wants pool to be the same way. That's dangerous and damaging. It is like someone in prison for life without parole dreaming about the day they'll get out.
Earl is a purist. He wants a respectful and quiet crowd. He also wants a knowledgable crowd that knows which shots to cheer (many cheer bad plays he makes on purpose to piss him off). He wants nice equipment set up right and good racks.
It is hard, if not impossible to get all of this, or any of it in a pool tournament - even the ultra well done IPT tournament. This is why if you listen to Earl, he's always saying something to the effect like "if this were Golf...."
So it gets into his head and he starts talking. Talking is another thing. He does NOT talk during another person's inning, nor does he do cheesy shark moves (unless the other player instigates). He does talk during his inning, and that's his right. He also has a right to ***** at his opponent or talk out loud about his opponents movement/noise while Earl's at the table. Doesn't matter how animated you are, your opponent should sit still and quiet while you're at the table.
He talks as I believe this is also a stress coping mechanism for him. Even a great champion like himself feels the heat.
He's admitted it before. If a player's friends are sharking him or talking in the crowd or trying to bother him he'll fire back by being rude or making a scene out of it (like I said, there were about 2-3 filipinos who I WISH WERE EJECTED FROM THE EVENT, because they followed him around, and other non-filipinos who played filipinos, who were rude and tried to distract the players). They did this to Ralf Souquet too. He was playing a filipino (can't remember which one) and these d1ckhead filipino fans cheered Souquets scratch/error in a rude way and were just pests and hecklers.
These things never happen when he plays serious players like Efren or Ralf. Because they don't pull BS like that or instigate.
I talked to dozens of people, and most of them wanted Hohmann to win just so that a filipino would lose because the filipino fans are just a$sholes the entire time. That's not right (as it is hypocritical), but that's how annoying they are to the point where they drove many people to want to see them lose. DID ANYONE notice when Hohmann won all the filipinos, and the fans of filipinos all exited the final arena almost instantly. They all vanished.
As if this is a soccer game or something?!?! No respect for players or for their skills or the game. To them it is nationalism. No filipino win? F the tournament.
Anyway, I've talked with Strickland, and he's a nice guy down deep. He's just a little nutty because I think he's a lot like Beethoven (who was though of as an a$shole in his time) or anyone who has so much talent or ability, or who has immersed themselves a lifetime in something -- they lack "people skills". They can be rude or just not very skilled in relating to others. Their mind works a little different.
Bernie seems like he blows around a lot of hot air. He walks around with an attitude that he's great and all that, and also acts like a middle-aged class clown. It isn't funny past high-school. Screaming out "show us some of that German engineering" when Hohmann got to the table in the final wasn't funny either.
Earl and Sigel's behaviors might be annoying or whatever, but at least they've walked the walk - so they can talk all they want in my opinion. Combine what Earl and Sigel have done in their career's. They can be "eccentric" if they want.
Bernie was right there with Sigel jumping all over Greg blaming his table for their failures in the tournament. Greg couldn't handle Sigel's verbal bombardment any longer so he went over to the next table and set up a bank shot and put his finger on the rail and told Bernie to hit right there to prove that the Artemis rubber is more speed sensitive (being 100% real gum rubber). Bernie couldn't make the bank, but then again, on that short rail bank, Bernie never hit the spot Greg was pointing to with his finger. So the "test" was impossible...that's when I walked away rolling my eyes.
To do all that, then come onto the internet and trash Mike Sigel (at least an established great champion) while being complicit himself is pretty low. I was so tempted, so tempted to tell them both that Manalo wasn't experiencing any of these problems on the Diamond table just to be a smart-a$$. I didn't want to attract attention to myself or catch any of their heat and instead enjoyed it as entertainment value.
I felt bad for Greg who has to deal with that stuff, because his table plays the best. There's nothing better out there right now, so it is the standard of perfection.
Earl is a purist. He wants a respectful and quiet crowd. He also wants a knowledgable crowd that knows which shots to cheer (many cheer bad plays he makes on purpose to piss him off). He wants nice equipment set up right and good racks.
It is hard, if not impossible to get all of this, or any of it in a pool tournament - even the ultra well done IPT tournament. This is why if you listen to Earl, he's always saying something to the effect like "if this were Golf...."
So it gets into his head and he starts talking. Talking is another thing. He does NOT talk during another person's inning, nor does he do cheesy shark moves (unless the other player instigates). He does talk during his inning, and that's his right. He also has a right to ***** at his opponent or talk out loud about his opponents movement/noise while Earl's at the table. Doesn't matter how animated you are, your opponent should sit still and quiet while you're at the table.
He talks as I believe this is also a stress coping mechanism for him. Even a great champion like himself feels the heat.
He's admitted it before. If a player's friends are sharking him or talking in the crowd or trying to bother him he'll fire back by being rude or making a scene out of it (like I said, there were about 2-3 filipinos who I WISH WERE EJECTED FROM THE EVENT, because they followed him around, and other non-filipinos who played filipinos, who were rude and tried to distract the players). They did this to Ralf Souquet too. He was playing a filipino (can't remember which one) and these d1ckhead filipino fans cheered Souquets scratch/error in a rude way and were just pests and hecklers.
These things never happen when he plays serious players like Efren or Ralf. Because they don't pull BS like that or instigate.
I talked to dozens of people, and most of them wanted Hohmann to win just so that a filipino would lose because the filipino fans are just a$sholes the entire time. That's not right (as it is hypocritical), but that's how annoying they are to the point where they drove many people to want to see them lose. DID ANYONE notice when Hohmann won all the filipinos, and the fans of filipinos all exited the final arena almost instantly. They all vanished.
As if this is a soccer game or something?!?! No respect for players or for their skills or the game. To them it is nationalism. No filipino win? F the tournament.
Anyway, I've talked with Strickland, and he's a nice guy down deep. He's just a little nutty because I think he's a lot like Beethoven (who was though of as an a$shole in his time) or anyone who has so much talent or ability, or who has immersed themselves a lifetime in something -- they lack "people skills". They can be rude or just not very skilled in relating to others. Their mind works a little different.
Bernie seems like he blows around a lot of hot air. He walks around with an attitude that he's great and all that, and also acts like a middle-aged class clown. It isn't funny past high-school. Screaming out "show us some of that German engineering" when Hohmann got to the table in the final wasn't funny either.
Earl and Sigel's behaviors might be annoying or whatever, but at least they've walked the walk - so they can talk all they want in my opinion. Combine what Earl and Sigel have done in their career's. They can be "eccentric" if they want.
Bernie was right there with Sigel jumping all over Greg blaming his table for their failures in the tournament. Greg couldn't handle Sigel's verbal bombardment any longer so he went over to the next table and set up a bank shot and put his finger on the rail and told Bernie to hit right there to prove that the Artemis rubber is more speed sensitive (being 100% real gum rubber). Bernie couldn't make the bank, but then again, on that short rail bank, Bernie never hit the spot Greg was pointing to with his finger. So the "test" was impossible...that's when I walked away rolling my eyes.
To do all that, then come onto the internet and trash Mike Sigel (at least an established great champion) while being complicit himself is pretty low. I was so tempted, so tempted to tell them both that Manalo wasn't experiencing any of these problems on the Diamond table just to be a smart-a$$. I didn't want to attract attention to myself or catch any of their heat and instead enjoyed it as entertainment value.
I felt bad for Greg who has to deal with that stuff, because his table plays the best. There's nothing better out there right now, so it is the standard of perfection.
