Every time I see this photo of earl at the 2008 Mosconi Cup ,my blood boils ,this moron still doesn't understand it's not about him ,its about his representation of our great nation .If this doesn't convince those that select the players that this moron is not FIT to represent the USA then "ALL IS LOST" he has with his arrogance & ignorance given America a black eye which at this time or any other time is not needed
Earl Strickland Salutes the Fans at the 2008 Mosconi Cup
- Thread starter Sieben
- Start date
With all due respect to Earl's past, the ONLY reason he has been on the team the last few years is his antics, and reaction to the fans. It puts butts in the seats, and sells ppv/dvd's. His level of play hasn't supported the decision the last couple of years, for sure.
In any sport that is properly regulated he would have been fined several thousand dollars for that gesture.
But in pool it's Ok because he's Earl.
But in pool it's Ok because he's Earl.
Was this when . . .?
It doesn't make the gesture right but starting a post about only the gesture out of context isn't right either. Wasn't the gesture actually directed at the european players area after one of those "classy" guys threw something at him? I seem to remember other threads indicating that throwing things at Earl was an issue at that entire event. There is something wrong with a major event that tolerates throwing things at a competitor at any time, much less during a match.
I don't find Earl's behavior acceptable but portraying it as one-sided is incredibly biased.
Hu
It doesn't make the gesture right but starting a post about only the gesture out of context isn't right either. Wasn't the gesture actually directed at the european players area after one of those "classy" guys threw something at him? I seem to remember other threads indicating that throwing things at Earl was an issue at that entire event. There is something wrong with a major event that tolerates throwing things at a competitor at any time, much less during a match.
I don't find Earl's behavior acceptable but portraying it as one-sided is incredibly biased.
Hu
Cuebuddy said:
I agree.
There's one so-called "American" player currently who's playing on both sides of the fence, and that's 2007 Korea Pro Tour Champion Hyeon Ho Kim. I guess you go where your bread gets buttered.
At least Earl is a patriotic American and is proud to represent his country. I just can't picture him EVER shooting pool and representing another country.
Here's Hyeon Ho Kim (depicted on the left) high-fiving his team mate on the right.
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cuedoctor said:
You got to be kidding! I don't care what happened. A pro is suppose to be bigger and better then that. What did they do, say something? Stick and stones!
Earl supporters are the same people who complain in other threads about why pool doesn't made money like golf or bowling.
Earl supporters are hurting pool HURTING the game.
I like to watch Earl play as much as the next guy, but it's actions that are killing the sport.
It's hard enough to get sponsors to pay out their $$ now an days. They don't want to pay for a 40 year old to act like he's 4. Perfect example was the XFL. The number one sport in America is football and some people got together and created a football league that would allow players to act just about any way they wanted. And most acted like jerks. What happened next was no surprise, most people didn't like it and the sponsors left.
Just about every sport has league office that reviews things like this and take action against the player. However pool doesn't have this check and balances.
Until WE the people demand more from the pros we will NEVER see a true real time pro tour like golf, tennis, or bowling.
Please understand if there was a real legitimate pro tour then there would be many more opportunities for us amateur players (again, see other sports).
Don't even get me started about about representing America in a much better way.
Let make this sport better!
cbi1000 said:
LOL. Don't get me started on how supportive the American pool culture is to American professional pool either.
Let us make the sport better? The pro players themselves are already supporting the sport in America with every single dime they earn, most of which goes to expenses to follow the international tournament trail. There's little to nothing coming from the American mainstream viewers, and then there's the American pool culture, many of whom don't have a clue about professional pool.
Football has its "Monday morning quarterbacking," and pool has its "railbird chatter." :grin-square:
JAM said:
JAM, I agree with your post. In order to get this sport to the next level we have to have only the best represent the sport. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the entire lot.
Look, in the 60's and 70's there were many pro events that that paid out 10, 20, and 30k for first place. We even had a pool player on main stream tv commercials. Pool was on the way up. What happened? The pro player ruined it. There were too many players cheating, dumping, working together, and acting like they are 5 year old brats that couldn't get a freaking candy bar.
It does suck for the pro player who is trying to make a living at this sport. Someone trying to promote the sport at the highest level.
But it only takes a guy flipping the bird or another guy who decides to go play a round of golf instead of playing on the b side because he lost is first match to push tv, sponsors, or investors away.
I'm saying we need the very best to represent. If we do we will see things improve.
Earl's antics !
This subject was re-hashed in a thread just last week. I doubt any opinions have changed much in so short a time.
Let's keep it in perspective though. We all know the average U.S. citizen did not witness Earl's actions, or even knows who he is or what the "Mosconi Cup" is for that matter.
I for one, compared him to John Mac Enroe as far as his "spoiled brat" image is concerned. The difference being, everyone on the planet knows who Johnny Mac is, and most have witnessed his tirades, if not as a tennis fan, usually on the 6:00 news that same night.
Myself, I'm kind of glad the whole thing is confined to our little pool world, where we seem to accept the shortcomings of someone, as long as they play really, really good.
I am a very proud American, but sometimes wish I were maybe 1/2 Filipino, so I could be proud of the way players like Efren and Busty have comported themslves in our small world. JMHO---FWIW.
Dick
PS. Show me one sport where poor sportsmanship is condoned, (much less applauded) for any reason.
Oh, I forgot Pro-wrestling !
This subject was re-hashed in a thread just last week. I doubt any opinions have changed much in so short a time.
Let's keep it in perspective though. We all know the average U.S. citizen did not witness Earl's actions, or even knows who he is or what the "Mosconi Cup" is for that matter.
I for one, compared him to John Mac Enroe as far as his "spoiled brat" image is concerned. The difference being, everyone on the planet knows who Johnny Mac is, and most have witnessed his tirades, if not as a tennis fan, usually on the 6:00 news that same night.
Myself, I'm kind of glad the whole thing is confined to our little pool world, where we seem to accept the shortcomings of someone, as long as they play really, really good.
I am a very proud American, but sometimes wish I were maybe 1/2 Filipino, so I could be proud of the way players like Efren and Busty have comported themslves in our small world. JMHO---FWIW.
Dick
PS. Show me one sport where poor sportsmanship is condoned, (much less applauded) for any reason.
Oh, I forgot Pro-wrestling !
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cbi1000 said:
I guess you dont follow football,baseball,or basketball because there are many instances of players "interacting with the so called fans" and thats ok(Pistons in the NBA went into the stands and beat the crap out of a few fans). I have been around pool and went to many shows and tournaments and I dont have any great expectations about pool becoming something other than what it is. I suport them by traveling to all these shows and spending my money but after many years its always the same old faces at these places. Yeah,Earl has a problem..but during the ryder cup in golf did the gallery get together and have large place cards with a rude message for team Europe to get things going.No,we showed class but overseas they have none. Dont tell me about how Earl should have behaved,those classless fans should have been thrown out but the tournament directors at these events have no BALLS at all.
Just my opinion but,
Up here in Canada our national sport is Hockey. In big games we do just about anything to throw our opponents off their game. We call their mom’s names, their girlfriends names and just about anyone else we think they might know names. Then we drop gloves and fight. All this goes on and we sell out arena’s clear across the country.
Earl, he gives a guy the finger, throws a bit of a tantrum, or sharks his opponent a little and you guys think he’s the devil. Hell, a lot of you wanna ban the him from the sport.
One way or another Earl brings excitement to a match. Even his shooting style is exciting to watch. And a lot of pool matches lack just that, excitement. The commentators are boring, the players are boring and the hype for the match is boring. That’s why you can’t market pool matches these days to the North American public because they = boring.
Earl has had a lot of ideas over the years to better the sport, most of which I agree with. If the folks had listened to some of them 10 – 15 years ago the sport might actually be something today. Instead it’s run by people who only think about their paycheck today.
I’m not saying I agree with everything Earl has done over the years. But there are a million other pros out there in other sports who have done 10 times worse things than Earl has. And a lot of them are admired. OJ for one.
People often forget your marketing a product, not a sport. The die hard pool fans on here will always support pool. All 100 of them. It’s the 10 billion others out there your trying to suck in.
Earl is the least of this sports problems.
Up here in Canada our national sport is Hockey. In big games we do just about anything to throw our opponents off their game. We call their mom’s names, their girlfriends names and just about anyone else we think they might know names. Then we drop gloves and fight. All this goes on and we sell out arena’s clear across the country.
Earl, he gives a guy the finger, throws a bit of a tantrum, or sharks his opponent a little and you guys think he’s the devil. Hell, a lot of you wanna ban the him from the sport.
One way or another Earl brings excitement to a match. Even his shooting style is exciting to watch. And a lot of pool matches lack just that, excitement. The commentators are boring, the players are boring and the hype for the match is boring. That’s why you can’t market pool matches these days to the North American public because they = boring.
Earl has had a lot of ideas over the years to better the sport, most of which I agree with. If the folks had listened to some of them 10 – 15 years ago the sport might actually be something today. Instead it’s run by people who only think about their paycheck today.
I’m not saying I agree with everything Earl has done over the years. But there are a million other pros out there in other sports who have done 10 times worse things than Earl has. And a lot of them are admired. OJ for one.
People often forget your marketing a product, not a sport. The die hard pool fans on here will always support pool. All 100 of them. It’s the 10 billion others out there your trying to suck in.
Earl is the least of this sports problems.