Earl imploding in the World Pool Masrers

[fan-tum]

Here's the question that hasn't been asked yet:

Why in the heck was Earl even invited to that tournament in the first place?

Maniac

Do a lot of people sit near Earl in hopes of a spectacle, like those who go to car races waiting for the crashes? Maybe that's one reason to invite him.

 

[skogstokig]

As an interested observer/student of the game, I have noticed that there are several, probably more, world class players that had their skill levels noticeably improve after spending time with Earl. One only has to watch the before Earl and after Earl patterns of Jayson Shaw to see what I mean. It would seem that once you have earned Earl's respect he is generous in the sharing of his knowledge.

not to mention how many people have started playing pool after having seen earl in his prime, or pool players in general that have been inspired by him. he is a legend for sure.. but he should have quit a long time ago. i doubt he can quit though, pool is his life.

 

[measureman]

Earl can be very coherent....when he wants to be. :yeah:

I attended an exhibition he put on here in Denver and he was funny and entertaining.
Jekyll and Hyde personality?
Bi Polar?

 

[Chili Palmer]

This is closer to the truth. When Earl actually was "the best" player in the world, he was earning substantial income for that period of time (late 80's to early 90's), often in excess of 300K a year. Like so many athletes we see today who blow their fortunes on bad choices, Earl (and his wife) lived beyond their means and when his abilities began to waver he had nothing to fall back on. That's the long and short of it.

Is Earl still married?

Here's the question that hasn't been asked yet:

Why in the heck was Earl even invited to that tournament in the first place? There is certainly quite a bit more than a handful of American players more deserving.

Maniac

Agreed, I go by a simple rule that people will not change unless it stings - until he is held accountable for his actions he will never change. If he knowingly has a mental illness and refuses to take the meds then he shouldn't be invited to the tournaments if he is going to act like that. Legend or not - his actions are unprofessional.

Bunch of fickle railbirds. Half the naysayers on this thread would be standing in a line for a photo opp or asking for Earl's autograph if they were ever fortunate enough to see him in the flesh.

He won the WPM in 1997 and is a five-time Open champion, just to name a few. Those who say he has no right to be there show no respect to an American living legend. So sad.

Bunch of results pickers in this thread. :angry:

Wrong, he's a legend but if I were watching him in a match and he acted like that I would walk right past his picture booth.

 

[Chili Palmer]

And I just watched the video, he was a sweetheart in that interview.

 

[KRJ]

Bunch of fickle railbirds. Half the naysayers on this thread would be standing in a line for a photo opp or asking for Earl's autograph if they were ever fortunate enough to see him in the flesh.

He won the WPM in 1997 and is a five-time Open champion, just to name a few. Those who say he has no right to be there show no respect to an American living legend. So sad.

Bunch of results pickers in this thread. :angry:

Exactly, these folks are the same folks who say put Pete Rose in the HOF, the same ones who watch NFL and their list of felony offenders, and the ones that watched baseball in the steroid era, and watch college basketball and their long list of illegal and inappropriate behaviors. Oh, i'm pretty sure some thought OJ was innocent, and ones that had disgraced players signed by their home teams, and they had no problem with that.

But, my God, Earl "talks" to much. The horrors, the horrors of it all. My God, John McEnroe gives Earl the orange crush in "trash talking" and he still gets TV commercials, and treated like the champion he is.

Of all the sports to treat a champion like shit, pool is the last sport you would expect this from.

Michael Jordan talked trash to opponents that would curly your toes. He said some nasty things to get his opponents off their game, he wanted them angry, he wanted them pisses, he wanted them to just be off their game a little bit. I mean, after all, a couple of points is the difference of winning or losing in basketball.

Yep, and poor Jordan got exactly what he deserved for his trash talking and trying to get his opponents to LOSE. For cheating on his wife with multiple woman, for being involved in high stakes gambling and for hanging out with a few less than reputable dudes.

What he got was advertisers up the wazzo, and he still gets them almost 2 decades after he retired. He has his own shoe that makes tens of millions a year. He is the president of an NBA basketball team. His net worth is $1 BILLION and one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. Basically, his net worth is more than every pool player that ever lived, combined.

Yeah, someone should have told Jordan to STFU and just play. LMAO.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Exactly, these folks are the same folks who say put Pete Rose in the HOF, the same ones who watch NFL and their list of felony offenders, and the ones that watched baseball in the steroid era, and watch college basketball and their long list of illegal and inappropriate behaviors. Oh, i'm pretty sure some thought OJ was innocent, and ones that had disgraced players signed by their home teams, and they had no problem with that.

But, my God, Earl "talks" to much. The horrors, the horrors of it all. My God, John McEnroe gives Earl the orange crush in "trash talking" and he still gets TV commercials, and treated like the champion he is.

Of all the sports to treat a champion like shit, pool is the last sport you would expect this from.

Michael Jordan talked trash to opponents that would curly your toes. He said some nasty things to get his opponents off their game, he wanted them angry, he wanted them pisses, he wanted them to just be off their game a little bit. I mean, after all, a couple of points is the difference of winning or losing in basketball.

Yep, and poor Jordan got exactly what he deserved for his trash talking and trying to get his opponents to LOSE. For cheating on his wife with multiple woman, for being involved in high stakes gambling and for hanging out with a few less than reputable dudes.

What he got was advertisers up the wazzo, and he still gets them almost 2 decades after he retired. He has his own shoe that makes tens of millions a year. He is the president of an NBA basketball team. His net worth is $1 BILLION and one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. Basically, his net worth is more than every pool player that ever lived, combined.

Yeah, someone should have told Jordan to STFU and just play. LMAO.

Trash talking in basketball is the norm, it is not the norm in pool, just like it's not the norm in golf. Big difference.

 

[Maniac]

Michael Jordan talked trash to opponents that would curly your toes. He said some nasty things to get his opponents off their game, he wanted them angry, he wanted them pisses, he wanted them to just be off their game a little bit. I mean, after all, a couple of points is the difference of winning or losing in basketball.

If you are comparing Michael Jordan trash-talking with Earl's trash-talking then you are comparing a huge case of apples to oranges.

In the NBA almost EVERY player on the court trash talks each other. Even the players (and sometimes coaches) on the bench get involved.

In pool the proper etiquette is to sit in your chair and STFU when your opponent is at the table. In fact, the fans ought to keep their pie-holes shut too.

Find a better comparison.

Maniac (and for crying out loud could he at least be professional enough to be considerate to his opponents and afterwards not look for so many excuses why he lost?)

 

[livemusic]

...Earl had a tricky shot to get from the four to five ball and he hit it good but the cue ball rolled a little too fast and scratched off the five into the nearby side pocket.

Shannon sat there stunned. It was his turn but he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't expect to be coming back to the table...ever! Shannon slowly approached the table (I could see he was confused), looked around for maybe ten or twenty seconds and then took the five ball from the side pocket and placed it back on the table in the same spot it had been in before Earl's previous shot, close to the side pocket. He now took BIH on the five ball. People were smirking and laughing in the stands. I have to admit I was slightly amused as well but as the TD I couldn't say anything.

Shannon got down to shoot (it would have been a foul the moment he hit the ball) and Earl stretched forward in his chair and reached out with his cue across the table to stop Shannon from shooting. Shannon looked up and seemed to come to his senses. Earl said, "Put the five back in the pocket." Shannon looked around and a big grin came across his face. He was embarrassed but relieved at the same time. He now took cue ball in hand on the six ball and completed the rack.

Earl won the match something like 11-3, but what I will never forget was Earl stopping Shannon from fouling. Earl impressed all present with that simple gesture on that day. Too bad that Earl is no longer with us.

The guy was confused and didn't know what to do because he was napping? Why would he take the 5 out of the pocket and place it on the table? What rule/situation would allow him to do that? And btw, you did not say that he pocketed the 5 ball but I assume he did. Why did he do that, even confused?

I am just a casual player and not rule savvy, there must be some rule that would allow an opponent to place a pocketed ball back on the table in the spot it was? Sorry for ignorance.

 

[spartan]

We have a good local player with an Earl the Pearl attitude. You get one or two good rolls and he immediately starts running his mouth and crying. I like the guy, though he does show his ass quite often. Well, his sideline tantrums a couple of weeks ago got his face pounded by another player who had finally had enough of his mouth. Others said, "Maybe he'll learn to behave now."

JJ almost came to blows with Earl some years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrFwJEurC0Q
And the ref appeared to give only JJ tongue lashing but not Earl.

He was 18 at the time of that match. Earl had boasted prior the match that NO ONE could beat him on a 10' table, and then Landon really cleaned his clock, soundly defeating him and outplaying him in all aspects of the game.

This match https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HYQjoHjwL4 ?
15-4 Wow

 

[Runner]

This is closer to the truth. When Earl actually was "the best" player in the world, he was earning substantial income for that period of time (late 80's to early 90's), often in excess of 300K a year. Like so many athletes we see today who blow their fortunes on bad choices, Earl (and his wife) lived beyond their means and when his abilities began to waver he had nothing to fall back on. That's the long and short of it.

Yeah, and getting fired by Cuetec Cues didn't help, either.. they had enough
of the shenanigans.

 

[Maniac]

As far as those who say that Earl is good for spectator pool, let me offer this experience I had:

Galveston World Classic, September 2009. I was in the stands about four or five rows up in a position where I could watch play on two tables. Earl was playing some Asian gentleman on one of them(I don't remember who but it was not a top-tier pro). I didn't see what set Earl off but he started with the talking, both at the table and in his chair. For some reason which to this day I cannot explain, his stare was fixated on me during his many rants. After a couple of racks, when he missed a ball he would just brush the balls back to the racking area with his cue and concede the game no matter how many balls were on the table. About three racks of this combined with his fixed stare at me, I felt so uncomfortable that I got up and went to the other end of the grandstands to watch other matches.

So that combined with his many later meltdowns, I swore that I would never watch another one of his matches again...and I haven't.

Would I pose for a picture with Earl? Definitely not. Not just because of my experience AND his many more meltdowns afterwards, but because I do not idolize an athlete of any kind...especially a pool player. Soldiers, policemen/women, firefighters, and teachers are my heroes. I don't care to ever have my picture made with any pool player, and I've certainly had my chances to.

So, I cannot say if it is commonplace or not, but Earl sure turned me away from ever wanting to see him play again.

IMHO, he should act the same at a tournament pool table (and afterwards) as so many on this thread says he does when you just hang around him. It raises serious doubt in my mind that his sideshow isn't purposely done and is now a part of his reputation that he feels he has to uphold.

Maniac (no fan-boy of pool players just because they can put balls into the pockets better than some others)

 

[NINEBALLART]

Earl's never been busted for drugs, sexual assault, steroids...Never committed a crime...His only downfall has been being disrespectful to other players at times..
It has to be a mental condition because as Jay has said, he used to not be that way....

I've seen Earl many times and he can be very polite but sometimes he explodes....I personally don't like that but he still is one of the greatest pool players to ever live......Theres usually a reason for the way people act and I don't know Earls but I'd still have my picture taken with him...

 

[M.G.]

Exploding probably somewhere in this video, but I havent watched it yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9_bxamUH2Y

Or here in the "moments" section:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Fn0dHs_jk

Meanwhile, Snooker's gentleman approach is attracting more and more people, the matches are unbelieveable, both from strategic as pocketing perspective.
And when O'Sullivan wins (or loses) and he give a sympathetic pat on the other player you just feel warm inside and all is well in the world.

 

[De420MadHatter]

Earl's never been busted for drugs, sexual assault, steroids...Never committed a crime...His only downfall has been being disrespectful to other players at times..
It has to be a mental condition because as Jay has said, he used to not be that way....

I've seen Earl many times and he can be very polite but sometimes he explodes....I personally don't like that but he still is one of the greatest pool players to ever live......Theres usually a reason for the way people act and I don't know Earls but I'd still have my picture taken with him...

Being a sore loser is a mental condition?
Otherwise earl has the most functional mental illness I've ever seen.
Someone said bi-polar lol. Funny how it only manifest itself when he's losing. All Earl would have to do is quit playing to cure his "mental illness. Millions of people in the world, who are bi-polar that wish that they could just do something as simple, as quit playing a game, in order to fix their condition.
Earl doesn't like winning anymore. Earl likes finding excuse of all kinds, so he has a REASON to lose.
Winning is tough plain and simple.
Earl is simply a pussy, and a disrespectful nit at that.
You couldn't pay me to take a pic with him, or shake his hand, and I've been around him plenty.

 

[alstl]

Is the match archived? I always enjoy watching Earl play pool.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Exploding probably somewhere in this video, but I havent watched it yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9_bxamUH2Y

Or here in the "moments" section:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Fn0dHs_jk

Meanwhile, Snooker's gentleman approach is attracting more and more people, the matches are unbelieveable, both from strategic as pocketing perspective.
And when O'Sullivan wins (or loses) and he give a sympathetic pat on the other player you just feel warm inside and all is well in the world.

See above.

Is the match archived? I always enjoy watching Earl play pool.

 

[alstl]

See above.

Thank you.

 

[KRJ]

If you are comparing Michael Jordan trash-talking with Earl's trash-talking then you are comparing a huge case of apples to oranges.

In the NBA almost EVERY player on the court trash talks each other. Even the players (and sometimes coaches) on the bench get involved.

In pool the proper etiquette is to sit in your chair and STFU when your opponent is at the table. In fact, the fans ought to keep their pie-holes shut too.

Find a better comparison.

Maniac (and for crying out loud could he at least be professional enough to be considerate to his opponents and afterwards not look for so many excuses why he lost?)

Jordan didn't trash talk, he insulted folks. He brought up folks sisters and mothers. That is NOT the norm. Plus, show me on this video where Earl was trash talking anyone during the match ? Oh, that's right, it didn't happen, it was after the match. I'm thinking the etiquette is not to bang strippers while on the road with the team, or gamble 100's of thousands of dollars, and get involved with some malcontents. Yep, doing thing his way, didn't hurt him or the sponsors one bit. John McEnroe, was there not etiquette in tennis? Hmmmm, that' weird, I thought there was. LOL

Oh, proper etiquette was Jordan should NOT argue with officials, team mates, coaches, etc. Or John McEnroe, etc. But, yes, Earl said some hurtful words after a match and the entire pool world melted. Holy shit.

 

[KRJ]

Yeah, and getting fired by Cuetec Cues didn't help, either.. they had enough
of the shenanigans.

Yeah, funny, he got fired around the time he stopped winning. But, for years, they had no problem putting money in his pocket while he was doing the same stuff. lol