Let me just explain something about the crowd. what you were seeing wasn't barbarianism (lol i see where you are coming from), but good old english football crowd banter and atmosphere. Whilst i don't doubt for a second there were probably a few yobs there whose sole aim was shout insults at earl, i can guarantee you 95% of that crowd had nothing against any player, not least of all Earl.
Anybody who has ever been to a good english football match will testify what the atmosphere is about. it's about getting together with the lads, drinking a few lagers, eating pie and chips, and BANTER. there's next to nothing in the world like 30 odd thousand fans all singing their hearts out, "the referee's a w****r, the referee's a w****r", or "you're s**t, and you know you are, you're s**t!" etc etc. it's all in good fun and nothing personal is meant by 99% of people and everybody understands. there is no sport in the world to offer this sort of camarderie and atmosphere and i'm very proud it's very much a british thing.
the problem here is two things. one, playing pool in this environment, and two. earl playing pool in this environment.
the first is another debate. the second there is two parts to it. firstly Earl is an American from North Carolina. He is not used to this environment, and understandarbly so! second, earl is a more emotional hotheaded character than most, which makes it all a lot lot worse. and he then starts getting lulled into it all and starts talking back to the crowd and it escalates, and it gets nasty. which is extremely unfortunate.
the irony in all this is Earl is a fans favourite and extremely unique personality. if he played played the crowd differently, he would have the crowd pulling for him like no other player could possibly compete with!
i know we're veering off topic here but i felt i needed to explain this.
back on topic, good luck with your lesson with Earl and tell us as much as you can when you're done!
Whatever you do, don't forget to ask "The Pearl" about his world-renowned attitude, sportsmanship, and self-control of one's emotions...he's obviously perfected those elements of his craft in the later years of his career...!!!
Oh yeah, and a few more creative moves, e.g., snapping the shaft of your cue on the floor, unashamedly holding both hands over your ears to drown out applause for your opponent, and ignorantly failing to shake hands with your opponent at the end of the match...just a sampling of a few more "moves" that he's perfected recently...!!!
Earl Strickland disseminating words of wisdom...GIVE ME A BREAK...!!!
This idiot, who is "supposedly" a professional, behaves worse than a spoiled child who's had his candy taken away...!!! It's too bad that the UPA (or whatever ruling body there is in professional pool) hasn't severely sanctioned him publicly before now...he's become an embarrassment to the sport and himself, and yet you continue to revere him...it just doesn't make sense...!!!
But then, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that you're a Mike Tyson fan, either...huh...????????
and you sir, are an ass.
be a 
poster 
