How come early 2010s Earl is better than late 90s-late 00s Earl?
- Thread starter Magyar19
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Lets see 1980, Buddy HALL,M Seigel ,Allen HOPKINS,JIM REMPE,JOSE PARICA,EFRON REYES,JIMMY REED,KEITH MCCREADY,DALLAS WEST,LARRY HUBBART. I believe your sort of right if you reverse it . Alex and Shane can come into this field but Earl is way better off today .sorry Jay you just missed
Lets see 1980, Buddy HALL,M Seigel ,Allen HOPKINS,JIM REMPE,JOSE PARICA,EFRON REYES,JIMMY REED,KEITH MCCREADY,DALLAS WEST,LARRY HUBBART. I believe your sort of right if you reverse it . Alex and Shane can come into this field but Earl is way better off today .sorry Jay you just missed
I don't know the years these 2 factors played. But for some time he had horrible pain from kidney stones and went through a divorce. I'm not sure which was more painful...
Lol. They are both painful and you are glad when both are finally gone!
I would venture to guess that outside stresses have more to do with a persons focus on pool than does anything. If Earl is at a place in his life where he's feeling content about everything else in general, then his pool game could improve dramatically. And for any person at that level or near, an improvement is no small matter.
The scary part is, Earl could be another 100% better if he could stay focused. The skills are there, that's beyond dispute. But the desire (and the external drive) simply isn't there. I don't know what it takes to flip Earl's switch on to full throttle, but I feel bad for whoever figures out what that is.
The scary part is, Earl could be another 100% better if he could stay focused. The skills are there, that's beyond dispute. But the desire (and the external drive) simply isn't there. I don't know what it takes to flip Earl's switch on to full throttle, but I feel bad for whoever figures out what that is.
I agree!
Its the same with Archer, why cant he win? He was the best at one time right? What happened? Did the game change, no.
He cant keep it together against the Big Boys anymore? Is it focus? Desire? heart?
Its the same with Archer, why cant he win? He was the best at one time right? What happened? Did the game change, no.
He cant keep it together against the Big Boys anymore? Is it focus? Desire? heart?
Earl is reading AZB and commenting.
Johnny's held together a foundation of family. While balancing a 50 +/- table pool hall. Each has challenges. Add to that he's spent enormous energy trying to help his fellow pro's.
Ohhh, and play world class.
I agree about the focus element, because when he maintains it he can still play with anybody.
I think his knowledge of the game has naturally improved over the years. His safety play is better than it is has ever been. However, his break and shot making abilities have declined to an extent.
I think Archer and Earl are probably way past fretting over being the best anymore. They already did that. They've got many other things going on in their lives now. But they both can still play at championship level and that's amazing on so many levels given the amount of pool talent worldwide today.
Earl was at his best in the 80's and 90's. Still played good in the early 2000's, but not as good. At his best he was stringing racks (5-7 racks was average!) in every match and made it look like he was practicing. He was the only guy I ever saw who made a 9' table look like a bar table. And he rarely missed a ball!
Earl today makes many more errors and misses far more frequently. You can't win making mistakes like that against today's top players. Sad to say for all the Earl fans, but they would eat him alive in Asia. Give him a dose of today's Chinese players and he might crawl in a hole somewhere. Earl still looks good on some racks, but he is not consistent anymore. He would be a third tier pro in The Philippines, on a par with many of the local hustlers. And that's being generous.
I will say this for him, like Efren he still shows brilliance from time to time, like last year's DCC One Pocket division. But those times are few and far between.
Earl today makes many more errors and misses far more frequently. You can't win making mistakes like that against today's top players. Sad to say for all the Earl fans, but they would eat him alive in Asia. Give him a dose of today's Chinese players and he might crawl in a hole somewhere. Earl still looks good on some racks, but he is not consistent anymore. He would be a third tier pro in The Philippines, on a par with many of the local hustlers. And that's being generous.
I will say this for him, like Efren he still shows brilliance from time to time, like last year's DCC One Pocket division. But those times are few and far between.
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The olden days players didnt need to be perfect when they played other top pros. The pockets were bigger the high level players fewer. The proof is in the statistics. Watch the old matches even with giant pockets and ez to hold shape slow cloth, they missed hangers. What makes earl better today is necessity. The 4 minute mile was broken finally and all of a sudden everyone could do it. Earl got in good physical shape and practices. I think Johnny Archer like a lot of american pros is a golfer now isn't he? At 58, I still compete and am better now than ever because I want to win in today's competitive environment. Earl is not resting on his laurels.Earl was at his best in the 80's and 90's. Still played good in the early 2000's, but not as good. At his best he was stringing racks (5-7 racks was average!) in every match and made it look like he was practicing. He was the only guy I ever saw who made a 9' table look like a bar table. And he rarely missed a ball!
Earl today makes many more errors and misses far more frequently. You can't win making mistakes like that against today's top players. Sad to say for all the Earl fans, but they would eat him alive in Asia. Give him a dose of today's Chinese players and he might crawl in a hole somewhere. Earl still looks good on some racks, but he is not consistent anymore. He would be a third tier pro in The Philippines, on a par with many of the local hustlers. And that's being generous.
I will say this for him, like Efren he still shows brilliance from time to time, like last year's DCC One Pocket division. But those times are few and far between.
I honestly do not see anyone fascination with Earl, his antics, as if Earl was in another sport he would be benched, booted, banned, or forced to act in compliance with rules of conduct or behavior.
JMHO
JMHO
To be fair, this is true of most top American pros, as are the comments about competing in Asia.
Earl isn't at his best now, but he's playing better than what I've seen of him from the mid 2000s. I think it's mostly just physical fitness. He suffered with kidney stones for years (?) and put on a lot of weight. Physical fitness can be a big difference in cue sports - you see it with snooker players who slim down, too.
Disagree. Almost all sports have players who act like Earl, and in all of those sports the spotlight is on them. I don't necessarily think that's a good thing, but it's certainly not something unique to pool.
They do and John McEnroe was the Bad Boy of Pro Tennis who finally they had enough of. He was fined, an suspended for a while. Guess he missed the money, and returned to Tennis with less antics.
Yes every sport has a bad boy or two, but sooner or later the NLF, MLB, or the other Sport Body governing the sport has enough, and suspend, fines, or bans the offender for life.
Be it for behavior, repeated drug usage, gambling like the great Pete Rose was banned from Baseball. Pete IMHO has served his time, and should be allowed back, and inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Earl was at his best in the 80's and 90's. Still played good in the early 2000's, but not as good. At his best he was stringing racks (5-7 racks was average!) in every match and made it look like he was practicing. He was the only guy I ever saw who made a 9' table look like a bar table. And he rarely missed a ball!
Earl today makes many more errors and misses far more frequently. You can't win making mistakes like that against today's top players. Sad to say for all the Earl fans, but they would eat him alive in Asia. Give him a dose of today's Chinese players and he might crawl in a hole somewhere. Earl still looks good on some racks, but he is not consistent anymore. He would be a third tier pro in The Philippines, on a par with many of the local hustlers. And that's being generous.
I will say this for him, like Efren he still shows brilliance from time to time, like last year's DCC One Pocket division. But those times are few and far between.
I think Earl's ability hasn't actually declined all that much. It is more his ability to maintain focus. When he maintains it, he can still play with anybody- like him beating Shane on the 10 footer race to 100 a few years back or hanging tough with him in a 9 ball TAR match after that- he was neck and neck- something like tied at 63 and then he went psychologically off the rails and it was over.
I really enjoyed watching his match against Efren on the 10 footer at Steinway. Earl plays that 10 foot table really well. The 10 footer makes pool look like a top level sport that required athleticism.