Jasmin Ouschan vs Darren Appleton. Commentary by Earl Strickland!

[jacob]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVF6LtJk9Ns

I enjoy hearing Earl do commentary. There are several amusing statements during this match by The Pearl.

 

[dnschmidt]

I don't. The only more annoying commentator I can think of is Danny DeLiberto who I simply CANNOT listen to. One more fucking story about Cornbread Red and the good old days and I'm going to throw a brick through my TV. My hometown boy (Pittsburgh) Billy Incardona, who back home went by Cardone is the best.

 

[couldnthinkof01]

I liked one or two of them, then it gets old. There are some treasures in there just like Danny but you must wade through an Everest size pile of ...

 

[BobTfromIL]

I recently watched a match with Earl doing the commentary and all he wanted to talk about was how 14.1 was the greatest game, this was during an eight ball match which seemed a little out of place.

 

[skogstokig]

I recently watched a match with Earl doing the commentary and all he wanted to talk about was how 14.1 was the greatest game, this was during an eight ball match which seemed a little out of place.

straight pool is his latest hangup, he talks about it in every new video.

what earl does great is calling the right shots / english. i think watching his videos would be very educational for amateurs and weekend players

 

[justnum]

its nice to read how uninteresting you think other people are.

there are only so many stories a person can tell well.

if you havent tried to make a commentary track then do one.

 

[couldnthinkof01]

its nice to read how uninteresting you think other people are.

there are only so many stories a person can tell well.

if you havent tried to make a commentary track then do one.

Repetitive commentary becomes uninteresting.

Pool doesn't need a whole lot of commentary.

Those videos are a cool idea, just not with the same person everytime.
In a regular pool video there is still way to much talking and shot predicting. Just let the game speak for itself unless a very tricky situation or rule comes up. Maybe some light background on the players.

Stories are cool. Like one per match, if it's short and not been told before.

I don't wish to do commentary but, it is what it is. No need to sugar coat it.

 

[justnum]

Repetitive commentary becomes uninteresting.

Pool doesn't need a whole lot of commentary.

Those videos are a cool idea, just not with the same person everytime.
In a regular pool video there is still way to much talking and shot predicting. Just let the game speak for itself unless a very tricky situation or rule comes up. Maybe some light background on the players.

Stories are cool. Like one per match, if it's short and not been told before.

I don't wish to do commentary but, it is what it is. No need to sugar coat it.

Agreed pool match commentaries are in need of development or structural changes.

How would you feel about in game interviews?

Question: Why did you miss the 9 ball?
Reponse: WTF

 

[couldnthinkof01]

Agreed pool match commentaries are in need of development or structural changes.

How would you feel about in game interviews?

Question: Why did you miss the 9 ball?
Reponse: WTF

As a fan I love those interviews. I have no idea how players in any sport don't punch those guys directly in the face?
Alex handled his (world 9 ball?) miss interview as good as anyone I've ever seen.

 

[justnum]

As a fan I love those interviews. I have no idea how players in any sport don't punch those guys directly in the face?
Alex handled his (world 9 ball?) miss interview as good as anyone I've ever seen.

That is a made for tv moment, which can be a teaching moment.

Instead of punching someone in the face, the player can say let's watch the instant replay so I can show you who sharked me.

 

[couldnthinkof01]

That is a made for tv moment, which can be a teaching moment.

Instead of punching someone in the face, the player can say let's watch the instant replay so I can show you who sharked me.

" It's 5-5 in a race to 7. You had a 4-0 lead. How'd you fk that up? Do you think you can still win?"

 

[pwd72s]

straight pool is his latest hangup, he talks about it in every new video.

what earl does great is calling the right shots / english. i think watching his videos would be very educational for amateurs and weekend players

I agree,,when Earl sticks to calling shots, nobody can say he doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[sjm]

I don't. The only more annoying commentator I can think of is Danny DeLiberto who I simply CANNOT listen to. One more fucking story about Cornbread Red and the good old days and I'm going to throw a brick through my TV. My hometown boy (Pittsburgh) Billy Incardona, who back home went by Cardone is the best.

Ditto. The best American commentators are Billy Incardona and Jeremy Jones. My favorite commentator in the world, however, is Alex Lely.

 

[arnaldo]

I recently watched a match with Earl doing the commentary and all he wanted to talk about was how 14.1 was the greatest game, this was during an eight ball match which seemed a little out of place.

Very likely has something to do with him approaching and now passing his 60th birthday and no longer faring especially well in the smash-break strategically-different games of 8- 9- and 10-ball against much younger US and international champions.

While he currently "loves" and lauds 14.1 . . . I saw in-person many of his appearances during 14.1 east coast tournaments (like the 1996 Maine Event in Portland; the so-called National Straight Pool Championship at Amsterdam Billiards in NYC about 20 years ago; and one of the Steinway events in Astoria, Queens) and in every one of them there were literally full-blown trademark-Earl screaming rants against opponents and referees -- loud one-way confrontations and objections that embarrassingly halted the entire tournament for 10 or 15 minutes in some cases. Who can concentrate on playing or spectating 14.1 with that kind of ruckus going on?

I'm guessing he's mellowed quite a bit by now and has calmly learned a ton more about 14.1 nuances (and rules) in recent decades. He ran 8 or 9 racks of 14.1 in each of the above-cited tournaments that I attended, largely using a 9-ball influenced style. I'm certain his game would now include plenty of quality short-position play like that which John Schmidt has masterfully excelled at for years (few players are better than John in that regard IMO).

Arnaldo

 

[HomeBrewer]

I am always amazed that I actually enjoy Earl's commentary, but I really do.

Given how much I hate his antics as a player I really never thought I'd like him commentating, but I appreciate that he seems a very different version of himself while doing it.

 

[HomeBrewer]

Ditto. The best American commentators are Billy Incardona and Jeremy Jones. My favorite commentator in the world, however, is Alex Lely.

On your recommendation I found this great video:

Do you have any you would recommend?

 

[sjm]

Very likely has something to do with him approaching and now passing his 60th birthday and no longer faring especially well in the smash-break strategically-different games of 8- 9- and 10-ball against much younger US and international champions.

While he currently "loves" and lauds 14.1 . . . I saw in-person many of his appearances during 14.1 east coast tournaments (like the 1996 Maine Event in Portland; the so-called National Straight Pool Championship at Amsterdam Billiards in NYC about 20 years ago; and one of the Steinway events in Astoria, Queens) and in every one of them there were literally full-blown trademark-Earl screaming rants against opponents and referees -- loud one-way confrontations and objections that embarrassingly halted the entire tournament for 10 or 15 minutes in some cases. Who can concentrate on playing or spectating 14.1 with that kind of ruckus going on?

I'm guessing he's mellowed quite a bit by now and has calmly learned a ton more about 14.1 nuances (and rules) in recent decades. He ran 8 or 9 racks of 14.1 in each of the above-cited tournaments that I attended, largely using a 9-ball influenced style. I'm certain his game would now include plenty of quality short-position play like that which John Schmidt has masterfully excelled at for years (few players are better than John in that regard IMO).

Arnaldo

Nice post.

In fact, Earl has always loved straight pool, but he had no real reason to dedicate himself to becoming a great technician at 14.1 given a) how few 14.1 events there were in his early career (approx. 1984-90), and b) that nine ball was the primary action game at the time. In a chat I had with him during the 1999 National Straight Pool Championship event in New York City, he commented that it would have been fine with him if 14.1 had remained the primary competitive discipline at pro level, further expressing that he felt he'd have been equally successful in competition had it happened. I'm 100% convinced that Earl would have been right there with Sigel, Mizerak and Varner (the three giants of 14.1 when Earl was a young, emerging player) if things had evolved in that way. Guess we'll never know.

Were you at the 1999 National Straight Pool Championships? Earl was on a big run on his first inning of a match and his run sat at about 130. It sure looked like he was in the process of running 150 and out when the player, named Matt Tetreault, shooting on the table next to him, accidentally bumped into him and caused him to miss. Earl was visibly upset, but took it in stride.

 

[arnaldo]

[Earl] commented that it would have been fine with him if 14.1 had remained the primary competitive discipline at pro level, further expressing that he felt he'd have been equally successful in competition had it happened. I'm 100% convinced that Earl would have been right there with Sigel, Mizerak and Varner (the three giants of 14.1 when Earl was a young, emerging player) if things had evolved in that way. Guess we'll never know.

Respectfully, I disagree with that hypothetical, Stu -- I don't think Earl would have been loving the game all that much when Miz or Sigel in the 1980s were dependably raining 100-plus runs regularly on him, with him pinned in the "electric chair" helpless to reply.

I doubt he'd contemporaneously have the acquired temperament to patiently endure that grueling downside to top-level Straight Pool in that era.

Think of Mike Zuglan composedly and patiently hoping for any whiff of a chance to get at the table during Sigel's legendary 150 and-out in that talent-packed 1992 NYC US 14.1 Open. I can't at all see Earl being calmly in control of his feelings when exposed to that kind of experience too often in the 1980s.

Mosconi captured the nature of that "helpless to reply" downside when he said this about our beloved Straight Pool in an interview:
"This game is a man-killer."

Arnaldo

 

[sjm]

Respectfully, I disagree with that hypothetical, Stu -- I don't think Earl would have been loving the game all that much when Miz or Sigel in the 1980s were dependably raining 100-plus runs regularly on him, with him pinned in the "electric chair" helpless to reply.

I doubt he'd contemporaneously have the acquired temperament to patiently endure that grueling downside to top-level Straight Pool in that era.

Think of Mike Zuglan composedly and patiently hoping for any whiff of a chance to get at the table during Sigel's legendary 150 and-out in that talent-packed 1992 NYC US 14.1 Open. I can't at all see Earl being calmly in control of his feelings when exposed to that kind of experience too often in the 1980s.

Mosconi captured the nature of that "helpless to reply" downside when he said this about our beloved Straight Pool in an interview:
"This game is a man-killer."

Arnaldo

There's much truth in what you've written, but that said, Earl certainly has shown that he has the temperament for one pocket, a game that I'd suggest can be an even greater test of patience than straight pool (I recall a DCC one pocket match in which Darren Appleton went over two hours without a single good offensive look at the table). Few recall that Earl would have been the Derby City 1-pocket champion in 2010 (or was it 2011) if not for a terrible match-deciding roll in the double hill rack of the final. On the other hand, one fact that would seem to support your view is that Earl very rarely won double elimination nine ball events in which he took an early loss. This does, perhaps, bring his stamina and ability to grind in question to a point.

Maybe you're right.

 

[arnaldo]

There's much truth in what you've written, but that said, Earl certainly has shown that he has the temperament for one pocket, a game that I'd suggest can be an even greater test of patience than straight pool (I recall a DCC one pocket match in which Darren Appleton went over two hours without a single good offensive look at the table). Few recall that Earl would have been the Derby City 1-pocket champion in 2010 if not for a terrible match-deciding roll in the double hill rack of the final against Scott Frost. On the other hand, one fact that would seem to support your view is that Earl very rarely won double elimination nine ball events in which he took an early loss. This does, perhaps, bring his stamina and ability to grind in question to a point.

Maybe you're right.

Resilience in the face of adversity. Physically fit -- always. Attitudinally fit -- not always.

Arnaldo