Earl can PLAY!

C

CaptiveBred

C21H30O2
Silver Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS2sqa1AO4g

I know you know this. Everybody knows he can hit 'em :)


If you can look past his attitude, he is a brilliant player. This video of him playing Rodney Morris is a fine example of his skill.


Imaging how dominating he would be if he master his mental game. if he quit beating himslef, he would be beating up the best of them round the clock. He truly has a level of skill above most pros..

Anyways, enjoy the link (posted by BClub), Its a great example of pool played very well for those who enjoy seing it.
 
i happen to think that earl can be an absolute 9-ball monster when he isn't trying to find a reason to be "sharked".

I remember watching the first hong kong challenge when he played reyes. Earl was a force of nature until he folded late in the match. If he could have kept up that level of play till the end, i don't think there is any question that earl would have won.

i'm not taking anything away from Efren Reyes, the fact that he NEVER gives up, is one of the reasons he is THE greatest.
 
asn130 said:
i happen to think that earl can be an absolute 9-ball monster when he isn't trying to find a reason to be "sharked".

I remember watching the first hong kong challenge when he played reyes. Earl was a force of nature until he folded late in the match. If he could have kept up that level of play till the end, i don't think there is any question that earl would have won.

i'm not taking anything away from Efren Reyes, the fact that he NEVER gives up, is one of the reasons he is THE greatest.
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In the last 30 racks, Earl missed two balls and got two bad rolls. That cost him his 17 game lead. Efren broke and ran roughly 20 of those 30 racks. Earl didn't meltdown. He couldn't do much when Efren started breaking the balls like Bustamante.
 
Is there a more exciting player to watch? I don't think so....

When he's 'on' he plays the game like it's supposed to be played. Like everyone wishes they could play. It's an absolute thing of beauty. No hesitation in Earl, at all. He steps up, looks, then fires it in. With a 15 second shot clock, and tight pockets, he gives the 7 to anyone on the planet.


Rick S.
 
CaptiveBred said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS2sqa1AO4g

I know you know this. Everybody knows he can hit 'em :)


If you can look past his attitude, he is a brilliant player. This video of him playing Rodney Morris is a fine example of his skill.


Imaging how dominating he would be if he master his mental game. if he quit beating himslef, he would be beating up the best of them round the clock. He truly has a level of skill above most pros..

Anyways, enjoy the link (posted by BClub), Its a great example of pool played very well for those who enjoy seing it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. This justifies why I've always felt that Earl is the greatest 9ball player in the history of the game.
 
That's some awesome stuff. I love to see Earl get rolling and make every shot look quick and clean, with a nice touch on the cueball. He really could work with a 5 second shot clock once he's in line, it's two practice swings and then a perfect stroke.
 
gopi-1 said:
That was vintage Earl before the dark side of the force ate him up...
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HAHA! That man fighting (Jackson) in your signature is Quinton Antonio Jackson! He used to fight at the gym I trained at called Powerhouse here in Memphis!

Last time I saw him was in California fighting King of the Cage, where he went in his first professional bout against the Heavyweight champ and went the distance with him in one of the most hard-fought fights I've ever watched :D

Glad to see he's still doing well and is on top of his game... go Quinton, Memphis is still behind ya! :D



(btw I know it was off-topic, but I just noticed it and had to chime in :p)
 
Rick S. said:
Is there a more exciting player to watch? I don't think so....

When he's 'on' he plays the game like it's supposed to be played. Like everyone wishes they could play. It's an absolute thing of beauty. No hesitation in Earl, at all. He steps up, looks, then fires it in. With a 15 second shot clock, and tight pockets, he gives the 7 to anyone on the planet.
Rick S.
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No player inspires me like watching Earl tell the balls what to do. MOst of us hope, or at best ask.
 
Rick S. said:
Is there a more exciting player to watch? I don't think so....

When he's 'on' he plays the game like it's supposed to be played. Like everyone wishes they could play. It's an absolute thing of beauty. No hesitation in Earl, at all. He steps up, looks, then fires it in. With a 15 second shot clock, and tight pockets, he gives the 7 to anyone on the planet.
Click to expand...

You're right about Earl's fast pace. There are some players who take a long time between shots, studying the layout of the table, looking at the angles, stroking their cue sticks excessively, before they fire the trigger. This works well for some folks, but for others, it breaks them out of rhythm.

From Pool and Billiard Magazine, July 1988, pages 27-29, there was an article about Earl Strickland that he is known for his fast pace during competition. When he won the 1988 World Open championship, it was an event which featured a momentous final confrontation, "the great Earl 'The Pearl' Strickland and Mike 'Captain Hook' Sigel", and spectators eagerly fought for front-row seats to witness the battle. A 45-second shot clock was used to monitor each shot because the tournament was being recorded for broadcast for a 7-week series. At the conclusion, Sigel commented he could feel the pressure of being clocked. Strickland, on the other hand, said they "could have made it only 30 seconds between shots, and it wouldn't have mattered."

Gee, that was almost 20 years ago. Hard to believe! :p

JAM
 
Vintage Earl (circa 80's and early 90's) was: one, two, shoot. one, two, shoot. one, two, shoot. Two practice strokes and the third and final stroke. And he would run rack after rack this way. It was beautiful to behold, a master at work. He had the cue ball on a string.

Will we ever see his like again? I think not.
 
cuetechasaurus said:
Thanks for the link. This justifies why I've always felt that Earl is the greatest 9ball player in the history of the game.
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He is the greatest TOURNAMENT 9 ball player ever. Proof being, who else has 6 World 9 Ball Championships and 5 U.S. Open 9 ball Championships.
All the great Filipinos COMBINED don't have that many titles in either of those 2 venues. That record will not be broken in my lifetime.

Some may argue that Efren was more creative, and I agree. But, in major 9 ball championships, nobody can match "The Pearl's" credentials.

And even though it's getting harder and harder to stick up for him, I still greatly respect him as the greatest 9 baller in this era. I would love to see a prime Luther Lassiter vs a prime Strickland. I think they've been the best 2 ever.

PS- I think the greatest pool player ever overall is Reyes, as he has World Championships and major titles in multiple disciplines. Also high on the all time, all around great list is Varner and Sigel.
 
I would have liked to see a series of tournament matches between Earl and Buddy Hall

I say tournament matches because no way Earl's mental game stands up against Hall's over a long money match
 
smashmouth said:
I would have liked to see a series of tournament matches between Earl and Buddy Hall

I say tournament matches because no way Earl's mental game stands up against Hall's over a long money match
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Me too.

In "a long money match", in their primes, I may lean towards Hall as well. In his "Rags to Rifleman" book, W.W.Woody writes account after account of Buddy staying in there for the long haul. Tenacious, just under Varner I would say. And when Buddy was in that zone of his early in his career, he was a world beater.

Buddy Hall also gets upset when playing. When someone walks in his line of sight, or munches on a potatoe chip too loud, he'll stop, turn and just stare, not saying a word. I have several Accu-Stats of him doing these very things and others when he is commentating and mentions he does not like distractions. He just doesn't "blow up" at people verbally.

It's hard to remember that Earl started as a formidable gambler. I think Buddy may have an edge in a long money match, but I wouldn't bet the house.
 
so many true words in this thread. the way earl plays 9-ball when he is at his best is better than sex! and all the spin and english used in 9-ball lends itself to earl's style of play as well.

speaking of buddy hall i have a match somewhere i really should watch again between hall and strickland and it's just amazing pool. earl is stringing rack after rack breaking the balls beautifully also. buddy was playing great as well - vintage buddy hall stuff it was, but although he was breaking the balls extremely well, he wasn't getting much action on the break. billy incardona commented that this was probably because earl was racking them lol. made me chuckle.

buddy's style of play is completely different to earl's but i'd put him up there too for being great to watch. what a smooth stroke that man has! it almost turns me on!
 
worriedbeef said:
... the way earl plays 9-ball when he is at his best is better than sex!
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I have hear they do it the wrong way over there. I thought perhaps =(.5)(2) would have brought tips back from the Far East, but it appears they have yet to reach Birmingham.
 
worriedbeef said:
so many true words in this thread. the way earl plays 9-ball when he is at his best is better than sex! and all the spin and english used in 9-ball lends itself to earl's style of play as well.

buddy's style of play is completely different to earl's but i'd put him up there too for being great to watch. what a smooth stroke that man has! it almost turns me on!
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And I thought I was a dedicated pool fan.
 
uwate said:
And I thought I was a dedicated pool fan.
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I read worriedbeef's post and just nodded my head understandingly, then you go and embarrass the both of us. :o :D
JoeyA
 
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