Strickland Match
- Thread starter nicksaint26
- Start date
Well, I'll bet Mark lost a few fans with those comments. No business saying stuff like that on a public stream.
Not to bust your bubble, but I wish I had heard it, he would have gained a fan, as in the past his dull commentary has been a turn off.
Sheesh, sjm, he's a 5-time WORLD and 5-time U.S. CHAMPION, and he's 53 years old. He really doesn't have a damn thing to prove to anybody. The pool world is lucky to have Earl Strickland still around. He's akin to the likes of Alex Higgins. Believe me, Earl not being at the Mosconi Cup might be great for 10 percent of the pool world, like those blue-blooded pool purists who enjoy robots with no emotion playing mum pool, but for the other 90 percent, people like watching Earl.
Love him or hate him, he's a draw for any pool tournament he steps foot in. You could have any European champion playing in a room with Earl at another table. I guarantee you, the majority of the crowd will have all eyes on Earl. He's a celebrity, a pool super star. You just can't take that away from him. So what if he can't run 10 racks in a row like he used to. He's still got game enough to compete at a high level.
Your M.D. might never reach the heights that Earl has.
And he knows it, based on some of his recent commentary regarding MD.
Dechaine is fully coming into his own and is showing the hallmarks of a seasoned professional. Just in the last year alone his game has elevated to an almost unbeatable level, and he hasn't even hit 30 years of age.
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Sheesh, sjm, he's a 5-time WORLD and 5-time U.S. CHAMPION, and he's 53 years old. He really doesn't have a damn thing to prove to anybody. The pool world is lucky to have Earl Strickland still around. He's akin to the likes of Alex Higgins. Believe me, Earl not being at the Mosconi Cup might be great for 10 percent of the pool world, like those blue-blooded pool purists who enjoy robots with no emotion playing mum pool, but for the other 90 percent, people like watching Earl.
Love him or hate him, he's a draw for any pool tournament he steps foot in. You could have any European champion playing in a room with Earl at another table. I guarantee you, the majority of the crowd will have all eyes on Earl. He's a celebrity, a pool super star. You just can't take that away from him. So what if he can't run 10 racks in a row like he used to. He's still got game enough to compete at a high level.
Your M.D. might never reach the heights that Earl has.
Mike will never be Earl, obviously, and whether we'll ever see another American with Earl's resume of 6 World Championships is quite uncertain.
In my post, I called Earl one of the best few ever and I meant it, but I reacted to Mark's assessment of Earl's game today, a comical over-evaluaiton of Earl's recent accomplishments.
Although Earl's competitive pedigree is, except to the delusional, greatly diminished, I agree that Earl still adds some nostalgia to our game. Unfortunately, he also subtracts from our game by regularly showing fans, fellow pros, tournament directors, and referees disrespect, and yes, I'm reporting this first hand as I've seen it time and time again. Despite what he accomplished in his prime, he's a negative role model in our sport today, and he sure doesn't get a free pass from me for his disgraceful conduct. He is the sorest loser I've seen in any sport.
Still, he's a hard worker and is still passionate about the game. I admire him for that and I really would delight in it if he were to, once again, shine on one of the big stages in our sport. By the way, nothing shameful about tied for 25th here, given how impossibly difficult this field was going in.
You should have seen what they wrote about Alex Higgins when he was alive, yet he is heralded today as one of the very best who ever picked up a snooker cue. His fans adored him. Earl has fans, even with all his warts and faults; they're just not blue-blooded pool purists. Alex Higgins drank booze, smoked, did drugs, but he was still a super star.
I disagree that he is having a negative impact on pool today. People clamor around him wherever he goes. He is, in fact, a super star. One only needs to say "Earl," one word, and everybody knows who we're talking about.
Not only that but I've NEVER heard of him apologizing to anybody about the way he disrepects them and the game. Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong about that.
It's one thing to lose control of yourself while in the heat of battle, but most decent people would later acknowledgement their poor behavior and offer some sort of apology. Not so with Earl. He just continues to do it over and over again.
Yeah, it's absolutely ridiculous. Mark should have a press release explaining his mistake and announce the group of hopefuls is extended to include Earl, Mike and Sky W.
And he knows it, based on some of his recent commentary regarding MD.
Dechaine is fully coming into his own and is showing the hallmarks of a seasoned professional. Just in the last year alone his game has elevated to an almost unbeatable level, and he hasn't even hit 30 years of age.
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In my life, I've made over 100 different trips to England. I have seen Alex Higgins dozens of times, including live in a snooker event in Stoke on Trent in the late 1980's. Indeed, he was a wild man off the table, but behaved passably in the competitive arena.
Did you know that he actually disappeared for a while (meaning his other half couldn't find him) for a while and it was front page news in the British tabloids an it was mentioned on the BBC News?
When a sport already has widespread acceptance and respect, the wild men actually help by keeping their sport on the front pages. In sports striving to gain widespread acceptance and respect, and pool is such a sport, it's just the opposite.
Well, I am not ready to park Earl out to pasture with the weeds quite yet. I think he still has a lot of star power, and he must be doing something right since countries around the world host Earl in their facilities to put on exhibitions. Without Earl, pool just might be in worst shape, if you can believe that, than we are now.
Pool would be better if there were more Earls in it, especially American pool.
Alex Higgins was a beast when he competed at times and was in fact disqualified and banned from the sport on occasion, yet he still bounced back and held the hearts of all those who knew him.
Count me as one of the delusional because to me Earl is still a legitimate threat to win any event he enters. Fully agree about his behavior.
But.....and I am serious about this.....he is enabled by tournament directors all over the world.
If they would simply tell him that he would be disqualified immediately upon any display of unsportsmanlike conduct then I bet he would dig deep and control it. And if he controls it then we might even see him fully focused on the game and then watch out
Jay Helfert enables it, Barry enables it, Earl's opponents enable it.
Just warn him before the tournament and follow through and then he will behave or be gone. either way the complaining about his behaviour will cease.
For a guy who is touting class and composure for team USA that comment from a commentator and the MC captain certainly shows a serious lack of both...
Sheesh, sjm, he's a 5-time WORLD and 5-time U.S. CHAMPION, and he's 53 years old. He really doesn't have a damn thing to prove to anybody. The pool world is lucky to have Earl Strickland still around. He's akin to the likes of Alex Higgins. Believe me, Earl not being at the Mosconi Cup might be great for 10 percent of the pool world, like those blue-blooded pool purists who enjoy robots with no emotion playing mum pool, but for the other 90 percent, people like watching Earl.
Love him or hate him, he's a draw for any pool tournament he steps foot in. You could have any European champion playing in a room with Earl at another table. I guarantee you, the majority of the crowd will have all eyes on Earl. He's a celebrity, a pool super star. You just can't take that away from him. So what if he can't run 10 racks in a row like he used to. He's still got game enough to compete at a high level.
Your M.D. might never reach the heights that Earl has.
Same goes for Keith! He's a celebrity and pool super star who always attracts a crowd.
So what ? This is pool, not synchronized swimming....
Here's a tip, they shark in most sports, go ask mr. Jordan about it....and nobody stopped watching basketball, sponsors never stopped, and he became one of the richest athletes of all time, and now owns a part of an NBA team,,,,,,,,but he talked smack on the court....what a loser
