Is Earl Strickland Crazy or Extremely Passionate About This Sport???

I have been an Earl fan since mid eighty's so I have thought about his actions for a long time. Seems to me the one thing that makes him a great player is also what makes him go off. That is his over self confidence. He expects to make every ball and to be in dead stroke all the time and when he is not, he looks for excuses. he is so used to winning that it is really painful. He also sees the end coming and it is more important to perform good until he can't. I really believe he is a genius at pool and like many genius or savants have a people problems.
 
I think I missed something (not the first time) Is this going to be a movie???? There is nothing like a pool movie for promoting pool! We have The Hustler, The Color Of Money (it was green), Pool Hall Junkies and a few more sleepers. Lions Gate still hasn't come up with Kid Delicious's movie.
 
''Beast-Mode'',!!!

In addition,,Earl still runs 6 miles daily and does 500 situps,,!!

He's a beast,,,I was at the ''Turning Stone'' when he shut out Johnny Archer 9-0,,,with his ''I'll Shoot Your Liver Out'' taunts,,,,!!!

Alan.
 
In the midst of all of these positive responses to Earl and the trailer for the video, I want to thank "Stones" for his contribution.

I go to lots of pool tournaments. If Earl is playing in the next round, I position myself for that round where I can watch the most interesting match for that round which is farthest away from where Earl is playing.

As for The Mosconi Cup, I avoid all pool events at which pool players wear uniforms, play as part of a team, or have obvious rooting sections. I was taught that in billiards you can sweat and press during a match but you don't let your partisanship show.

Here is a very short list of people who are passionate about pool, just as examples: Greg Sullivan, Mark Griffin, George Fels, Shane van Boening. Earl is passionate about something else. Can you tell the difference?
 
He is both. More crazy than passionate.He is also a great actor.
Should there be a remake of Dog Day Afternoon, he would be one of the favorites. Or he should join WWF managing some wrestlers :wink:
 
freedog69 said:
After watching this trailer to the "Strickland Story" I find myself wondering is this guy a few sandwiches short of a full picnic basket? Or is he that passionate about this game that he loves so much? I can't wait for this to air on Dec 1st. Love him or haye him you have to respect him. I love his quote "If pool deserves to die and not be respected like other sports. Then all sports deserve to die"

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9031051/strickland-the-greatest-ever
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Of course he's both, tremendous passion over many years will do that. Also trying to fade on a daily basis being both hated and loved, both defending and acknowledging who he is to thousands of people, and also being a genius of sorts, will tend to make you a little nuts. I'm a big Earl fan, we're all a little nuts.
:grin:
 
Maniac said:
The only problem I have with Earl is when he is in a tournament/TAR setting, and he is in the chair yapping away like a Myna bird on crank.

He wants to be considered as "old school"...but uses NONE of the old school etiquette (at least none of the kind I was taught).

He just gets downright RUDE to opponents...and you just cannot deny this. I can't believe more of them hasn't told him to shut his damn mouth up or step outside (a la double-J).

If it was me that he did that too while I was at the table.....one of us would be in the hospital...or at least at the police station.

I wouldn't tolerate it....at all. Total BS that he gets away with it so much!!!

Maniac
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I blame Earl's attitude on Joe Bob Humphrey.:eek:
 
Tobermory said:
Here is a very short list of people who are passionate about pool, just as examples: Greg Sullivan, Mark Griffin, George Fels, Shane van Boening. Earl is passionate about something else. Can you tell the difference?
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Not sure if it's what you're getting at, but I think Earl is passionate about winning.
He loves the game in his own way, but if he's not in the spotlight and has no audience,
or if the audience sees him losing... he doesn't love it nearly as much.

Guys like Greg and Mark seem to love the industry and it doesn't matter to them or anyone else
if they can make a ball, or if they even try to make a ball.
 
CJ Wiley said:
I agree, we can all pretend, but will never know what it takes to walk in another man's shoes. Earl has had some brutal shoes to walk in, and I say that from being around him on many occasions, in a variety of different situations.

After interviewing him for our upcoming documentary (The Million Dollar Challenge) I have an even better understanding of him......I ask him the tough questions and he answered them from the heart......one thing about Earl, love him or not, he will state his opinion, boldly, and doesn't care what the consequences are. :D

I believe he has as much talent as any other athlete in history. We've played a lot of golf, tennis and competed against each other in high profile tournament matches - many people don't realize his eye sight, hearing and touch is uncanny - not "natural," more like "super-natural"......I literally had to see it to believe it!
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Great post CJ and I have some Accu-stats videos of Earl and yourself playing against each other and they're quite enjoyable to watch. One big disappointment I had with Earl was a match you played against Earl at the US Open maybe the last time you played in the Open. I looked forward to that match all day and I couldn't wait to see two of my favorite players go at in the US Open. You won the match and Earl did get a couple of bad rolls in the beginning, but he literally gave up in that match. I know you know the match i'm talking about and it was terrible to see Earl walk around looking at the floor. I couldn't understand what was wrong and I wasn't the only one. I'd just like to say I hope he does well in the Mosconi cup this year and maybe he'll be the MVP.

James
 
sometimes our mind/body just can't perform for one reason or another.

SCCues said:
Great post CJ and I have some Accu-stats videos of Earl and yourself playing against each other and they're quite enjoyable to watch. One big disappointment I had with Earl was a match you played against Earl at the US Open maybe the last time you played in the Open. I looked forward to that match all day and I couldn't wait to see two of my favorite players go at in the US Open. You won the match and Earl did get a couple of bad rolls in the beginning, but he literally gave up in that match. I know you know the match i'm talking about and it was terrible to see Earl walk around looking at the floor. I couldn't understand what was wrong and I wasn't the only one. I'd just like to say I hope he does well in the Mosconi cup this year and maybe he'll be the MVP.

James
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Yes, I remember that match and what people don't know is the match we played before that one a couple of years earlier I ran 10 racks in 2 innings......I think he was still sharked about that....who knows, sometimes our mind/body just can't perform for one reason or another....it happens to everyone, some more than others.

We have the Finals of the Million Dollar Challenge we are about to post in the next day or that was on PRIME SPORTS (FOX) and it's exciting with Jimmy Mataya doing the commentary. The Semi Finals is available now at www.cjwiley.com for "a deuce" ;)

Aloha
 
Quite simply put, Earl Strickland consists of all the things that make up a highly skilled savant !...He is a composite of John MacEnroe, Ty Cobb, and Mike Tyson...All of whom displayed awesome skills at their game, but were too often a complete embarrassment to themselves, and their sport !

Of all the guys who fit that mold, Earl may have been the most talented at his game, but he was also the MOST lacking in 'social skills' !..His tantrums, and insulting actions, were off the charts !...I for one, refuse to give him a medical pass for his shortcomings..There are medications that can control his obvious bi-polar, paranoid condition !..He simply does NOT care what people think of him, and rarely (if ever) expresses an ounce of remorse for his frequent outbursts !

Love him if you must, but when was the last time you saw a deserving champion, like Efren Reyes, or Ralf Souquet make a complete ASS of themselves when things weren't going right for them ???

SJD
 
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SJDinPHX said:
Love him if you must, but when was the last time you saw a deserving champion, like Efren Reyes, or Ralf Souquet make a complete ASS of themselves when things weren't going right for them ???
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Uhmmmmmm..................................never!!!

Fit-throwing, insults, tantrums, and general rudeness may be okay in some sports, but IMO, it just isn't right for the game of pool. Sure, more people MIGHT tune in to watch it on TV if all the players acted that way, but would it be enough to make a difference? I doubt it. And....do we really want the glorious game of pool going down the "reality show" road with gimmicky drama to try and save it? I think not.

My hat goes off to those pool champions that win or lose with composure, humbleness, and grace. They are the ones that bring honor to the sport.

Maniac
 
an incredibly interesting story of pain, victory, suffering, and brilliance.

devorator said:
Earl Strickland IS CRAZY PASSIONATE ABOUT POOL!

I said this before...
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Earl Strickland, love him or hate him is an incredibly interesting story of pain, victory, suffering, and brilliance.......he actually is balanced, the "scale" is just extreme.
 
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