Looked Like the Old Earl

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
Love him or hate him, if you truly love the game you had to enjoy Earl win his biggest tournament in years. As seen by the thousands on the Tar stream and in the chatroom last night, those attending live, and on AZ Billiards forums over the years, when Earl does something off the wall in a tournament they let him know quickly that they disliked it and him. Most of those same fans were cheering him on every step of the way through the finals. I’ll be the first to say I was one of the ones down on Earl over the last few years, but I’ve always said that when he is right, there is no one I’d rather watch play. I hope that pool fans that never got to see the REAL Earl play get to see more of what we all saw last night for many more performances like last night for years to come. Go get em Earl. Johnnyt
 
as grumpy and bitter of a human being earl is I still love watching him play and think he is funny to see in interviews. I kind of agree with him on some aspects of pool personally I would like to see the shot clock used way more often. No disrespect to Ralph who is amazing but I don't even like watching him play to the point where I will change the channel or skip a video if I see him shooting. Yes Earl is crazy and probably bipolar but I hope to see him him winning again even though it probably isn't really gonna happen. When he is on.. it's like watching a whole other game right?
 
No gimmick on his body...

I noticed that he had none of the Gadgets in play at all...looked like...

Was kinda surprised that not much was said about it??? He did not appear to have any weights..or hockey mits...eye glasses...bee keepers outfit...etc...ets..

Just a bridge hand glove...

Guess all were just too zeroed in on his good play...

Mr. J.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Earl in dead punch is a sight to behold! I would love to see him recapture the old magic and it sounds as though he was able to do it, at least this time. Go Earl!!!
 
RobDeBank said:
as grumpy and bitter of a human being earl is I still love watching him play and think he is funny to see in interviews. I kind of agree with him on some aspects of pool personally I would like to see the shot clock used way more often. No disrespect to Ralph who is amazing but I don't even like watching him play to the point where I will change the channel or skip a video if I see him shooting. Yes Earl is crazy and probably bipolar but I hope to see him him winning again even though it probably isn't really gonna happen. When he is on.. it's like watching a whole other game right?
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This post pretty much sums up the way I feel about Earl. I've seen him do some things to other players that if it had been me, I would have asked him to step outside. Other than those types of situations, I love the heck out of him. He's a character for sure, and I too agree with a lot of the things he says about the game and how it could be improved. And when he's on and focused, damn, his game is something to MARVEL at!!!

Maniac
 
Leave it to Neil to post that on a thread that was simply meant to appreciate a rare performance by a legend of this game. Sure Hu, nothing but class from that guy. Was I ever out of line.....
 
Neil said:
Just a little humor there, nothing to get worked up about. I have always been an Earl fan. Nothing new about the gadgets he uses, which have garnered him a lot of comments. I just came up with one that would help him focus, and feel good at the same time.

Earl played great, and deserved the win! And, I'm glad to see him get it. It's been a long struggle for him. Hopefully, this win will help his mindset for more wins to come. (there, is that better?)
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Sadly Earl is not one to understand light hearted jibes. The Joe Rogan skit even got to him abit. And it is quite likely Earl will read this forum after his win and read what you wrote and as far as Earl becomming the Earl of old which I also want to see, it is possible it would take little more then his reading what you wrote to hurtvhis efforts to keep his negative emotions in check, which is a key to his playing well and doing what he did this weekend.

Just my 0.02, I don't want to see people doing stuff that can drive Earl right off path again the day after a victory that he should simply feel proud of.
 
Celtic said:
Sadly Earl is not one to understand light hearted jibes. The Joe Rogan skit even got to him abit. And it is quite likely Earl will read this forum after his win and read what you wrote and as far as Earl becomming the Earl of old which I also want to see, it is possible it would take little more then his reading what you wrote to hurtvhis efforts to keep his negative emotions in check, which is a key to his playing well and doing what he did this weekend.

Just my 0.02, I don't want to see people doing stuff that can drive Earl right off path again the day after a victory that he should simply feel proud of.
Click to expand...

tap, tap, tap......
 
RobDeBank said:
as grumpy and bitter of a human being earl is I still love watching him play and think he is funny to see in interviews. I kind of agree with him on some aspects of pool personally I would like to see the shot clock used way more often. No disrespect to Ralph who is amazing but I don't even like watching him play to the point where I will change the channel or skip a video if I see him shooting. Yes Earl is crazy and probably bipolar but I hope to see him him winning again even though it probably isn't really gonna happen. When he is on.. it's like watching a whole other game right?
Click to expand...

I don't think Earl is crazy or bipolar. I just think he wants to win so damn bad that it eats him up when he isn't playing his best, and he has some stong opinions on how the game should be played.
 
alstl said:
I don't think Earl is crazy or bipolar. I just think he wants to win so damn bad that it eats him up when he isn't playing his best, and he has some stong opinions on how the game should be played.
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Tap, tap, tap!!
 
Maniac said:
This post pretty much sums up the way I feel about Earl. I've seen him do some things to other players that if it had been me, I would have asked him to step outside. Other than those types of situations, I love the heck out of him. He's a character for sure, and I too agree with a lot of the things he says about the game and how it could be improved. And when he's on and focused, damn, his game is something to MARVEL at!!!

Maniac
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haha yeh with earl it's a love hate relationship he doesn't seem to get very rattled playing with Efren though which is nice. I could be wrong btw just from what I have seen, unless someone knows otherwise?
 
The thing is pool needs his personality and bravado. Talking to the crowd and celebrating. What it doesn't need is the earl that throws his cue down on the ground during the Mosconi cup. I would like nothing more then to see him competing in tournaments. I would love to see him in the valley forge tournament this month. Someone like him would do soooooo much for our game.

Congrats. Earl! Hope to see you win many more!
 
Earl was on his beat behavior all week, and truly seemed more like the "old" Earl. He was able to banter with the fans and not let anything bother him. He was generally friendly in his conversations with other players as well. It truly seemed to be a complete attitude adjustment from his previous behavior at tournaments. His demeanor all week was calm and rather tame and he never had to be warned by tournament officials for anything. He came to the arena on time, played his matches and then went back to his room.

I was most impressed by how he handled himself after losing the first set in the finals 5-0 to Darren. He didn't give up and kept his game face and focus just as intense as it had been before the whitewash. He played a superlative second set, with the only error being careless position on what could have been the match ending eight ball. Rather than let this affect him (after Darren won that game), he broke and ran out for the win! He never had any run-in's with other players and seemed to get along well with everyone gathered here.

It was a revelation to a lot of people, me included. I think his new attitude may have also helped him play so well. There was no negativity for him to dwell on or distract him. I think the smaller tables may be very conducive to Earl's game at age 48. He has always played well when he is able to stay close to the balls. The long shots were the ones that have been giving him trouble. There aren't any long shots on a bar box and Earl had the best cue ball control all week. His touch on the very fast tables was marvelous.

This is his biggest win in years! He may be embarking on a comeback for the ages. The rest of the year should be very interesting to see what he can do to validate this victory.
 
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Count me as a fan. I had the fortune of hanging out with Earl at a pool school and he really went out of his way to make sure everyone had a great time. Go Pearl!
marty_and_earl_strickland-small.jpg
 
Celtic said:
Sadly Earl is not one to understand light hearted jibes. The Joe Rogan skit even got to him abit. And it is quite likely Earl will read this forum after his win and read what you wrote and as far as Earl becomming the Earl of old which I also want to see, it is possible it would take little more then his reading what you wrote to hurtvhis efforts to keep his negative emotions in check, which is a key to his playing well and doing what he did this weekend.

Just my 0.02, I don't want to see people doing stuff that can drive Earl right off path again the day after a victory that he should simply feel proud of.
Click to expand...

You got it!!

He won't read the forum....but I am playing golf tomorrow with him. You can bet I won't be mentioning the Rogan video, or the Neil post.

He should feel good, he absolutely hates bartables. And still finished on top of a 184 man field. A STRONG 184 man field at that.

He damn near stayed here in Az to play golf instead of going to Reno. I'm sure glad he changed his mind!! I know he is too.

I'm always amazed by the people that want to see him go off. The chatroom was just full of them.

Looks like everyone there in person was respectable towards him, no insults in either direction. No problems all week, that was great to see. You can see what this man is capable of....it's really something to watch. Earl hitting on all cylinders....there isn't really anything better.

We saw that the pilot light is still lit, there's still a flame!!!
 
Rick S. said:
You got it!!

He won't read the forum....but I am playing golf tomorrow with him. You can bet I won't be mentioning the Rogan video, or the Neil post.
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Tell him I and many others are happy as hell to see Earl show the new generation what the old generation knows so well, Earl when he is firing on all cylinders and in control of his game is a danger to anyone, and I mean anyone. SVB as good as he is had better bring it if he wants to have a chance against Earl if he plays to his potential.

For every Earl hater out there there are 100 of us fans that wish the haters would just STFU and let the man do what he does best, and by that I mean noone does it better when Earl is playing like he can.
 
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