... at least until Filler.
Efren vs Earl Color of Money
- Thread starter LastTwo
- Start date
Yes, the next generation of cueists will raise the level yet again. We now live in a world where 61 players play to an 800+ Fargo rate, and elite players seem to be popping up in every corner of the globe. The next level is sure to blow our minds.
From entertainment to robotic perfectionists. I prefer the former. Modern pool IS mind boggling good but it has a sterile quality that imo is off-putting. I try to watch current players(not all but most) and i rarely watch a whole match, there's a human element that is sorely lacking.
Never did see this.... Efren/Varner match over three days? Where Nick beat Efren in the Philippines.
I have watched this several times but it has been years. My opinion, Earl did break down a bit. Fatigue, pressure, or just Efren getting the lead in the dance, hard to say. In the old 125 to 200 point straight pool matches it wasn't unusual for the loser to be in single digits no matter how great they were. The other player got control of the table, played monster safeties when they needed to, then took off again. The losing player may have gotten up and swung a stick a few times but they never really had a shot. It is like a dance with one player having the lead and the other following. Another way to put it, one is acting, the other forced to react to what the other is doing instead of playing their game.
From one standpoint it is hard to believe that Efren came back from that far behind. Almost anybody on the planet would have bet on Earl if they could have gotten the money down at the beginning of that last tape. Many things came into play, I think including Efren slightly changing strategy and Earl getting frustrated and then starting to feel the fatigue. You are a lot less tired when things are going well!
An amazing match. With two great players it pays to remember that no matter how big one's lead is, the other is capable of that lopsided a run too. Looking at scores like 9-2 in races to eleven it seems impossible for the losing player to come back but it happens often enough to keep pool interesting. Sometimes only a tiny change in strategy is all it takes.
Hu
From one standpoint it is hard to believe that Efren came back from that far behind. Almost anybody on the planet would have bet on Earl if they could have gotten the money down at the beginning of that last tape. Many things came into play, I think including Efren slightly changing strategy and Earl getting frustrated and then starting to feel the fatigue. You are a lot less tired when things are going well!
An amazing match. With two great players it pays to remember that no matter how big one's lead is, the other is capable of that lopsided a run too. Looking at scores like 9-2 in races to eleven it seems impossible for the losing player to come back but it happens often enough to keep pool interesting. Sometimes only a tiny change in strategy is all it takes.
Hu
Hu.... anytime a match score total is 7 or 11.... matters do change. Law of large numbers. I've seen it happen too many times when those numbers are involved.
I feel the same way about MR FB forum.
While I respect the right of the old timers to suggest that pool was more entertaining back in the day, this old timer, who has been a traveling fan since 1976, disagrees.
Strange as it might seem, Sigel once offered, many moons ago, that Earl had ruined 9ball. What Mike meant was that Earl, arguably the first to truly dominate with his break, was making the game look too easy, robbing it of some of its identity. Nonetheless, we marveled at how Earl won more 11-2 matches than would have seemed possible. Twenty years later, Shane ruined 9ball again, especially from 2011-16, during which he, similarly, dominated so many opponents. Still, we marveled. Now, Filler is playing 9ball at a level that few would have imagined possible.
We marveled when Earl was blowing out opponents, and marveled again when Shane did something similar. Blowouts are entertaining when you see that once in a generation player that raises the bar for his entire sport. Filler is picking up where Earl and Shane left off. I do not agree that he plays anything close to perfect pool, but he has changed my sense of what is possible at the pool table.
I have watched the entire 9ball era up close and today, I am as entertained as I ever has been. More people are paying attention to pro pool than ever before, and event producers are investing more money than they ever have. That’s because they know that pool is as entertaining as it ever has been.
The next generation will produce a player that raises the bar the way Earl, Shane and Filler have. I just hope I live long enough to see it up close.
Strange as it might seem, Sigel once offered, many moons ago, that Earl had ruined 9ball. What Mike meant was that Earl, arguably the first to truly dominate with his break, was making the game look too easy, robbing it of some of its identity. Nonetheless, we marveled at how Earl won more 11-2 matches than would have seemed possible. Twenty years later, Shane ruined 9ball again, especially from 2011-16, during which he, similarly, dominated so many opponents. Still, we marveled. Now, Filler is playing 9ball at a level that few would have imagined possible.
We marveled when Earl was blowing out opponents, and marveled again when Shane did something similar. Blowouts are entertaining when you see that once in a generation player that raises the bar for his entire sport. Filler is picking up where Earl and Shane left off. I do not agree that he plays anything close to perfect pool, but he has changed my sense of what is possible at the pool table.
I have watched the entire 9ball era up close and today, I am as entertained as I ever has been. More people are paying attention to pro pool than ever before, and event producers are investing more money than they ever have. That’s because they know that pool is as entertaining as it ever has been.
The next generation will produce a player that raises the bar the way Earl, Shane and Filler have. I just hope I live long enough to see it up close.
I agree 100% but have to make an addition "kicked as well as Efren when it mattered the most"There may never be another soul who kicked as well as Efren.
With all the improvements of players over the yrs.
The Knoxville Bears record will stand the test of time.
More difficult than running over 800 in 14.1
It only happened once.... and I can't imagine Anyone attempting to do this.
Why? A waste of time.
The Knoxville Bears record will stand the test of time.
More difficult than running over 800 in 14.1
It only happened once.... and I can't imagine Anyone attempting to do this.
Why? A waste of time.
You left out Parica, only the best 9-Ball & Ten Ball player on the planet for over twenty years!
There may never be another soul who kicked as well as Efren.
Ronnie Allen
It took me a long time to come around, but after watching so much of Filler and Gorst plus Shane and Dennis, I'm inclined to agree. They probably would have smoked just about everyone from my era. Of course the playing conditions/rules were vastly different back then, but the ball pocketing and cue ball control is at a higher level today among the very best players. Only Parica sticks in my mind as perhaps being their equal. His focus and concentration was always 100% on all shots and he moved the cue ball like he had it on a string. He seemed to never miss, I'm sure he was 800+, and he never flinched for a bet or a challenge. He brought the pool world and all the champions to their knees when the heat was on. Jose spotted everybody, including some of the greats mentioned above. Earl got the nine in Ten Ball! Buddy didn't want any!