Earl Strickland's ability

SKILLZELITE said:
Hes a great player ,his experience and practice is the reason for that..

Now Earl as a individual ,is a genuine A$*H*l* !!!
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I would like to know if this is personal experience or an assumption based on the views of others who have made assumptions....

I have had several conversations with him and I have not came away from any of them thinking he was an ah*le... I think he is high strung and very passionate about the game and it is killing him that the sport is in such a state of disrepair..... I have seen him stop and take time to chat with fans at the tournaments even after matches where he had minor implosions....

I think it would be rough action to be the greatest player in the world at some point and have absolutely noone outside of the diehard fans know or care.... The game is amazing... You can start as a kid and still be playing well into your latter years and stay competitive.... It's a game that takes a lifetime to learn and luckily you can play it for the whole ride... Golf may take a lifetime to master as well but at some point age starts taking yards off your swing and your ability to be competitive goes away........
 
Call Accu-Stats and order anything with Earl on it and You will see the greatest athlete in sports history. He was the most awsome competitor I have ever seen. When he gets into his one stroke rhythm it's like watching Godzilla rip through Hong Kong.
 
Hey guys thanks for all the posts. to clarify, I didn't mean to doubt him. I was just interested in watching some of his best matches so I turned to you guys for which ones that may be. I'm watching the color of money now, and enjoying the hell out of it. So much pool! haha
 
Since the mental game in pool is such a crucial aspect, i would rank Earl Strickland quite low. Stricklands technical ability is good, but nothing to rave about - i rather watch Mika Immonen any day of the week.
Strickland is harmfull for pool, as he comes off as a stereotype asshole, and affirms peoples perception about pool and pool players.
Having watched clips of Strickland defending not only him self, but USA as a country in a turnament, i guess many Americans feel a bit shamefull.
Just look at this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLR9pAkGes4

He comes off as a hillbilly crybaby and should have been banned from that competition.
 
Kim Bye said:
Since the mental game in pool is such a crucial aspect, i would rank Earl Strickland quite low. Stricklands technical ability is good, but nothing to rave about - i rather watch Mika Immonen any day of the week.
Strickland is harmfull for pool, as he comes off as a stereotype asshole, and affirms peoples perception about pool and pool players.
Having watched clips of Strickland defending not only him self, but USA as a country in a turnament, i guess many Americans feel a bit shamefull.
Just look at this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLR9pAkGes4

He comes off as a hillbilly crybaby and should have been banned from that competition.
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The Arrogant American is a common stereotype wherever you are from I am guessing.... And while Earl may lend some credence to that stereotype from time to time does he make me ashamed to be a fellow American?? Are you serious??

I guess you never saw Keith McCready go off in a tournament? Ever hear of John McEnroe? How about Pete Weber??? There are players across all sports that have fire and intensity which can lead emotional outbursts... You want pure cue sports?? here is a link for you... Snooker players make 10x what a pool player makes and they are not immune....
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/article553149.ece

So am I embarrassed to be an American?? Guess that may depend more on where YOU are from than Earl.......
 
The Renfro said:
The Arrogant American is a common stereotype wherever you are from I am guessing.... And while Earl may lend some credence to that stereotype from time to time does he make me ashamed to be a fellow American?? Are you serious??

I guess you never saw Keith McCready go off in a tournament? Ever hear of John McEnroe? How about Pete Weber??? There are players across all sports that have fire and intensity which can lead emotional outbursts... You want pure cue sports?? here is a link for you... Snooker players make 10x what a pool player makes and they are not immune....
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/article553149.ece

So am I embarrassed to be an American?? Guess that may depend more on where YOU are from than Earl.......
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So Earls behaviour towards Ralf Souquet in the 2007 Mosconi cup did not make you embarrassed?
I'm not putting USA as a country down, stop being so defensive. Earl is a twat regardless of wich country he would play for.
When did i ever say that Earl was the only unsporty athlete?
I understand that the "winner culture" is much stronger in American than in Europe, and that the champion can get away with more due to his status. If you'r a jerk, you'r a jerk regardless of your talents in sports, politics or any other arena of life.
For the record: i know many nice Americans, so my view on Americans is not based on sitcoms or cheesy Hollywood movies.
 
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History repeats itself: Many of history's finest geniuses are the most eccentric, passionate people. Combine this with:

- pool's affinity for self-destruction at the highest level
- Earl's sincere belief of the purity of the greatest game in the world

and you have fire and gasoline. Some people's genius come at a very heavy price; often carrying with that - things not of their choice or control.
 
beating a dead horse again

I wish I had a C-note for every post about Earl's poolshooting talent v.s. his antics in competition; I was just thinking along these lines........How boring it would be if Earl was a perfect gentleman who always politely said everything you wanted to hear........Jeez.....it wouldn't be Earl at all!
 
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Earl had more talent than anyone else, before or after, playing 9-Ball. Simply put he had a higher gear than anyone else. When he was dominating pro pool he was able to keep his emotions in check. After his divorce, he seemed to lose it a lot more often, to his own detriment. Several years of this and it became harder and harder for him to control himself. He is only now appearing to cope a little better and play some good pool once more. I doubt he will ever be the player he was in his prime, but oh what a prime he had!
 
jay helfert said:
Earl had more talent than anyone else, before or after, playing 9-Ball. Simply put he had a higher gear than anyone else. When he was dominating pro pool he was able to keep his emotions in check. After his divorce, he seemed to lose it a lot more often, to his own detriment. Several years of this and it became harder and harder for him to control himself. He is only now appearing to cope a little better and play some good pool once more. I doubt he will ever be the player he was in his prime, but oh what a prime he had!
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Truer words never been spoken!
 
Earl doesn't play lights out. When he is in gear it's lights on because his stroke generates electricity.

In the WORLD freaking Championships one year in the finals against Mark Wilson Earl comes to the table looking at the object ball with NO clear shot. The announcer says Earl has placed the chalk on the rail where he will bank it. Earl steps up to the table and banks the ball through traffic to make it and run out.

So I thought hmmm, placing the chalk sounds like a good idea and rewound the tape. Not only did Earl NOT place the chalk no one had touched it or moved it for a game or two.

What Earl DID do is look at the table for about a minute - NOT walk around the shot - step to the table and bank the ball in like the table had 10" pockets.

He had so much unbelievable raw firepower that he simply just ran over you. No dinking about just run out run out run out from every position. Leave him a super long difficult cut with the need to go three rails into a six inch target???? No problem he doesn't agonize over it he steps up and smacks it in like a hanger.

His tournament record may never be equaled.
 
I wouldnt of said it if my personal encounter with him was pleasant , Ive met him and I find him to be arrogant and stuck up, just plain full of himself..
 
That sucks

skillzelite said:
i wouldnt of said it if my personal encounter with him was pleasant , ive met him and i find him to be arrogant and stuck up, just plain full of himself..
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all i can say is: Your experience with earl is very different from mine & most others as i understand it.

we are all human.

I think most people like me, but there are probaly some that i have offended & don't like me.

That is just the way it goes.

Have a good one,

SLIM
 
SCCues said:
You hit the nail on the head with this suggestion. I have the video of Earl vs Efren in Hong Kong which is a race to 120 winner take all for $100 K and it's some of the best 9 ball i've ever seen........What a Match!

James
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They both played .900 plus on accu-stats in this match which is unbelievable pool, especially for a match of that length!!!!!
 
What I don't get about earl is how he's always dissing jump cues and gimmicks yet busts out every gimmick there ever was. I've seen him with goggles and finger extensions and jump cues and his extra long stick and taped up hands, and all sorts of things that look like bowling and baseball gear. You name a gimmick, he's tried it. I don't get why given his ability.

And on that match with Ralph Souquet... Ralph is so slow and annoying he's lucky Earl is just all bark. Ralph tests my patience just watching him the way he has to look at just about every shot from both angles front and back, and also plays at turtle speed on top of that. Earl's a fast shooter anyway and i think Ralph uses extra slowness just to shark earl on purpose. If anyone was sharking in that match I say it was Ralph.
 
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Coming with a shot

JB Cases said:
Earl doesn't play lights out. When he is in gear it's lights on because his stroke generates electricity.

In the WORLD freaking Championships one year in the finals against Mark Wilson Earl comes to the table looking at the object ball with NO clear shot. The announcer says Earl has placed the chalk on the rail where he will bank it. Earl steps up to the table and banks the ball through traffic to make it and run out.

So I thought hmmm, placing the chalk sounds like a good idea and rewound the tape. Not only did Earl NOT place the chalk no one had touched it or moved it for a game or two.

What Earl DID do is look at the table for about a minute - NOT walk around the shot - step to the table and bank the ball in like the table had 10" pockets.

He had so much unbelievable raw firepower that he simply just ran over you. No dinking about just run out run out run out from every position. Leave him a super long difficult cut with the need to go three rails into a six inch target???? No problem he doesn't agonize over it he steps up and smacks it in like a hanger.

His tournament record may never be equaled.
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Besides his firepower, he was known in his prime for his ability to "come" with a shot which would be a difficult and game deciding effort....One of the best I ever saw was a straight in long shot from one corner to the diagonally opposite corner...the cue ball was practically in the pocket on one end, the object ball was somewhere in the middle of the table, but lined up straight to the other pocket....He basically jacks up and fires the eight ball (?) into the far pocket with enough draw to come back for the nine ball....at that point, his opponent (I think it was Danny Diliberto) just concedes the hill-hill match.....to me it was an amazing shot for the difficulty of it.....
 
Celtic said:
Earl's talent is not due to his emotions. Earl has a more powerful and straighter stroke then pretty much anyone this game has ever seen. He is the most naturally talented pro player on the planet. Earl's emotions did not cause that stroke or talent, they simply get in the way of it.
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..hope me two Irish grandmothers will forgive me for disagreeing with a
name like Celtic .....
I prefer Buddy Hall's stroke (in his prime)..technically superior.
What I like about what Earl brought to this game is , I feel, directly related
to his emotions.
He's like a great artist who paints the best picture ever...and rips it up
because he sees the imperfections.
His tremendous desire to play great leaves him very open and vulnerable.

And his ferocity is fascinating...he's got what Marciano and the Pacman
has....the desire to give it every thing you've got....many players only
pay lip-service to this...they develop a 'style' that will give them
consistency rather than excellence.

I'll cut Earl a lot of slack...I love what he brought to the game.

And if you can pry the cue out of his hands, he can talk intelligently
on many subjects.
I hope he has another major title in him.

I see a bit of Earl in Shane, but he hasn't turned it loose yet.
 
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