Yeah Earl can play well enough, but he's poison in a team setting, so better to take someone who plays just as well without that cloud of negative energy hanging over everyone's heads...
Put Earl Strickland on Team USA in 2017 Mosconi Cup
- Thread starter JAM
- Start date
Right on the money, sir.
He is just too eccentric to be depended on.
Watching him rake off all those balls and give up against Corey at the Coates tournament indicates that he hasn't got much fight or self control left in him.
A champion plays hard...right down to the very last ball. Even if things look terrible and the outlook is dismal.
Earl Strickland doesn't have that strong desire to win anymore.....he seems to be looking for an excuse to lose. And that's something a player doesn't need...an excuse for losing. (quoting old Bert Gordon here). 'No trouble at all losing when you've got a good excuse...then you have a reason to feel sorry for yourself'.
Then Fast Eddie says...."what if you lose anyway?" And Bert delivers the gospel of competitive games........"then you just lose, it hurts your soul to lose, but you know inside you gave it the best you've got".
Earl isn't doing that anymore...he's looking for excuses to lose. He's lost his character.
Keep on truckin'
:thumbup:
I didn't say you had to be an asshole.. I can guarantee you Efren cannot stand to lose as much or more than Earl. He isn't going to be all smiles and want to go shake hands with everyone and so an autograph tour. He handles it a lot better than Earl for sure. He is known for that. Same goes with SVB I can guarantee when Shane loses he always says good shooting and shakes your hand and is the same if you beat him or he beats you but he isn't a good loser. He hates to lose and so does anyone that's at the top of what they do. It wasn't meant to read the say you interpreted it but I could see where you thought that.
You don't have to be a champion to not like losing. We all want to win. The difference is that most people don't constantly ***** and moan like Earl does when he loses, and we certainly don't blame our shortcomings on others.
Here's two extremly contrasting examples.
In this video, Shaun Murphy is playing Yan Bingtao in a race to 10, and the score is 9-8 (Shaun). At the 45 second mark, Shaun flukes the red into the wrong pocket. He goes on to clear the table, and win 10-8. Watch Yan Bingtao. He shakes Shaun's hand, smiles, and moves on after also shaking the ref's hand.
Pretty big difference in comparison to this video
No, not testy at all (I'm not a big Mosconi Cup fan),
though you are exactly as I thought
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Mike Zuglan played world class in his prime...he took a loss, or a win, as good as
anybody I ever saw.
He didn't make a big deal of it, either way, he just accepted the results, immediately.
I have always admired Zuglan's demeanor. He's definitely got a little spunk in him, but when it comes to winning and losing, his attitude is the same.
I do agree, though, with the old adage of show me a loser who likes losing and I'll show you a loser. Nobody likes to lose. It hurts deep in the core of one's very being, especially those who shoot well and know their capabilities.
With pool, no matter how good you shoot, there is a luck factor involved sometimes. You can make every shot, pocket every ball, and still lose if you are competing against someone who breaks and runs out, breaks and runs out. It's like feed the monkey and watch him poop, as Keith would say. He uses a different word for "poop," though.
And if we were all the same, we'd be knee deep in unicorns and fairy dust. Some folks handle it differently. Who really cares in the scheme of things. Earl is constantly torn down over minor behavior where he has never injured, raped, or robbed anyone.
But athletes in others sports do far worst and are celebrated and given HUGE contracts. heck, I made the baseball reference earlier, and the guy who threw a 95mph fast ball and hit a batter in the head a few days ago and received NO SUSPENSION at all. This was an obvious retaliatory throw from the pitcher for the several earlier instances of fights and a bean ball to someone's leg the inning before.
Yet, folks are not all over social media saying he should not complete, or should be fired, or anything else for that matter. There are a few smart announcers are saying he should have been suspended, and he should be.
Earl is all bark and no bite. If folks can't handle this by now, and they know exactly what is coming when he plays, then they need work on their mental game and quickly. Because the "pro's" know how to adjust, tune it out, or return "fire" when needed.
Now we're talking. If I only I could give you more greenies, but it says I have to spread it around some more before I can. :smile:
Make no mistake about it, Earl will fill every seat in the house if he's competing. Even if it's an oppressive hot arena, like the recent Cup in England, the fans will come in by the droves to watch the exhibition. After all, this is a spectator competition where the audience is encouraged to stomp their feet, scream, sing, and jump up and down -- well, at least in England, they do. :grin:
Earl and Shane get along swimmingly, and I think Shane would like having Earl on the team.
Earl Strickland gives 100 percent of himself each and every time. He practices before and after each match, long sessions. He also likes to hang out with the fans out in the hallway and chat. I've seen him do this numerous times. Say what you want about him, but this man is a legend. He's an American legend. He's the best American pool player in my lifetime, bar none! Just having his name on the roster will sell tickets well in advance.
Heck, I might even drive to Vegas for this one if they include Earl. I'm not kidding, either. Besides, the Cup is on my bucket list, and I'm getting old
Now we're talking. If I only I could give you more greenies, but it says I have to spread it around some more before I can. :smile:
Make no mistake about it, Earl will fill every seat in the house if he's competing. Even if it's an oppressive hot arena, like the recent Cup in England, the fans will come in by the droves to watch the exhibition. After all, this is a spectator competition where the audience is encouraged to stomp their feet, scream, sing, and jump up and down -- well, at least in England, they do. :grin:
Earl and Shane get along swimmingly, and I think Shane would like having Earl on the team.
Earl Strickland gives 100 percent of himself each and every time. He practices before and after each match, long sessions. He also likes to hang out with the fans out in the hallway and chat. I've seen him do this numerous times. Say what you want about him, but this man is a legend. He's an American legend. He's the best American pool player in my lifetime, bar none! Just having his name on the roster will sell tickets well in advance.
Heck, I might even drive to Vegas for this one if they include Earl. I'm not kidding, either. Besides, the Cup is on my bucket list, and I'm getting old
If Earl is on Mosconi Cup this year I will FLY you to Vegas :grin: No Joke !!!
I'll meet you there. I don't fly. But let's break bread together somewhere in Vegas. I'd love that!
Can you pick up Donnie Mills on the way?...hell, he won't even fly into a rage.
LOL. I thought that too. Recently, though, I asked him how he was going to travel somewhere, and he said fly. I was impressed. Maybe he got over his air phobia. I wish I could.
Ha just in case you haven't noticed the fact is it's Earl more times than not that can't handle it which is fine but as Berg pointed out other pro's on his team can't stand his childish abusive behavior and it's detrimental to the team ,
Why in the world would anyone knowingly subject a team to that if your intent is to win
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I did not read Justin Bergman's post to say that.
ETA: This is Justin's post: Earl was one of my favorite players growing up. One of the most talented rotation players ever. For sure top 3 shot makers of all time. He gives up a little too easy now, he doesn't kick that great, but I think he's still capable of winning.
I agree with some people that show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. Most champions would rather die than lose.
I have never played on a team with Earl but I've played with a lot of players that have and they said its brutal. I think I would like it and wouldn't mind playing with him. I could see where some players might not like it. If you are dogging it or playing bad he could very easily make it worse for you.
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You got it. Dinner is on me, And yes, you can bring Keith too so you don't think I'm some creepy guy from the internetlol
This will be fun. I can't wait! Now we just gotta hope Matchroom Sport and Johann will choose Earl Strickland as the wildcard pick.
One thing for sure, the place will be packed. I will have to reserve a room and buy tickets well in advance.
Yes, the folks who won more World Championships and US Open Championships have spoken. Oh wait, they have not, because there is nobody alive that has more and still competes, right?
yeah, I'm sure folks thought Jordan was a detriment to his team when he was verbally abusive to his team mates and his opponents. The difference is that fans overlooked it as did his coaches and his team mates because he dialed it up more than anyone alive. Thus, if all they had to do was eat a little shit, they were more than willing to pull out a spoon if it meant winning... and win they did
Heck, the only pro posting in this thread said point blank that he would play with Earl. But the rail birds have spoken and have decided they know what is best, even after they ran 3 balls with BIH
Yes, the folks who won more World Championships and US Open Championships have spoken. Oh wait, they have not, because there is nobody alive that has more and still competes, right?
yeah, I'm sure folks thought Jordan was a detriment to his team when he was verbally abusive to his team mates and his opponents. The difference is that fans overlooked it as did his coaches and his team mates because he dialed it up more than anyone alive. Thus, if all they had to do was eat a little shit, they were more than willing to pull out a spoon if it meant winning... and win they did
Heck, the only pro posting in this thread said point blank that he would play with Earl. But the rail birds have spoken and have decided they know what is best, even after they ran 3 balls with BIH
That's a nice meaningless non comparison,, but for the fun and laughter tell me again how many championships did he bring to Washington with all those trophies and winning attitude,,
Ya Berg said he'd play he also said he's talked to those who played with Earl and didn't like it and can see why they would feel that way
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Now we're talking. If I only I could give you more greenies, but it says I have to spread it around some more before I can. :smile:
Make no mistake about it, Earl will fill every seat in the house if he's competing. Even if it's an oppressive hot arena, like the recent Cup in England, the fans will come in by the droves to watch the exhibition. After all, this is a spectator competition where the audience is encouraged to stomp their feet, scream, sing, and jump up and down -- well, at least in England, they do. :grin:
Earl and Shane get along swimmingly, and I think Shane would like having Earl on the team.
Earl Strickland gives 100 percent of himself each and every time. He practices before and after each match, long sessions. He also likes to hang out with the fans out in the hallway and chat. I've seen him do this numerous times. Say what you want about him, but this man is a legend. He's an American legend. He's the best American pool player in my lifetime, bar none! Just having his name on the roster will sell tickets well in advance.
Heck, I might even drive to Vegas for this one if they include Earl. I'm not kidding, either. Besides, the Cup is on my bucket list, and I'm getting old
Swimmingly?....Jen, that is a frightfully British way of saying it.
...have you gone to the dark side?
:grin: