Fleece3 said:
Purely for the entertainment factor, I would LOVE to see...
Strickland vs McCready
HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS
LOL. Earl and Keith have faced each other numerous times on the American tournament trail, long before I ever met them. The first time I saw the two veterans match up in a tournament was in Rochester, NY at a Joss Tour event, maybe about 3 years ago. All of the top players came to compete, to include Alex Pagulayan, The Russian, Santos, Danny Hewitt, Charlie Williams, Mika Immonen, Dennis Hatch, just to name a few that I can remember at the time of this writing. Keith and Earl rose to the top of the charts, and you couldn't have asked for a better finals.
Story on AzBilliards Main Page:
http://azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=799
At the beginning of the set, Earl marched in towing his three cue cases, full of weapons of mass destruction, and he was wearing that game face, serious and ready to do battle.
It was standing room only, and nobody knew what was about to unfold. As the match progressed, the two of them played topnotch pool, much to the delight of a full house of onlookers. Keith genuinely admires Earl Strickland as a fellow professional, but most importantly, they are good friends, and the two of them had a very relaxed demeanor in this finals match. Earl has a great sense of humor, and they put on a colorful performance, trading quips and chuckling between shots.
The match went to the infamous hill-hill, with Keith breaking. He made a couple balls on the break, an oddity in itself with Keith's 9-ball game, but before all of the balls came to a rest, the cue-ball got knocked in the side pocket and scratched. Earl then had ball in hand and never looked back, and thus, he won the whole shebang. It was a very fun time, one that I will always remember.
JAM