whitewolf said:
Did anyone think that this could have been in the loosers' bracket?!!!!
I'll bet neither of them were loose as a goose! LOL!
I can imagine going into this match what was dancing in each of their collective heads. Landon, on the one hand, was probably gearing up for this match-up with the American pool champion and was going to take no prisoners, i.e., the good old-fashioned "killer instinct." This is what separates the lions from the lambs. After you get a couple of wins like this under your belt, the wins become easier, and it's all up from there. Landon's got his whole future to look forward to, and he is just beginning to blossom.
Earl, on the other hand, is getting acclimated to playing with a new cue and, like any other competitor, wanted this win to make it to the finals. Earl Strickland as an American pool player has had the longest streak in pool than any other American pool player I can think of. Sigel is right there, too. When you have won as consistently as Earl has over the years, losing is a new phenomenon that can be difficult to swallow. Heck, me personally, I've lost more than I've won when I played pool, so it's no big deal to me losing. However, since Earl has been a pool player his entire life -- how old is he, 45, 46? -- and winning is his main objective at all times, losing is difficult, and it does't matter who he's playing. However, he's still my horse if he never wins another race!
As far as the short races, this seems to be the norm today in pool. I am reminded of Shane Van Boening making it all the way to the finals, but then got defeated by Alex Pagulayan in a race to 7. Shane never got a chance to lose a match, like every single one of the other competitors did in that event.
Short races suck, but it's the way it's done today, and every player knows about the short races going into it. So, in essence, it is a level playing field.
JAM