They ended in 2001 http://www.azbilliards.com/interviews/
I did not even know that section was here until someone posted link to the old Camel tour results and I poked around in that section.
Why did they stop? With email and cell phones these days should be pretty easy to set some things up.
I know there were some posters that put in their own interviews or links in the main forums, but having things in one area would be a lot easier to find.
Could that section be moved to a regular forum so that posters can add in their interviews or ones they find to it?
Stealing a little bit from the Earl interview. A very nice answer that sums up pretty well the skills you need to play well.
" AZB: The Camel Pro Billiards Series enforces the break box rule. How do you think this has affected the game of professional 9-Ball?
Earl: The break box has been a great equalizer. There are so many guys that can break from the side and look like great players, especially where we are playing from. We're playing from inside the 2 diamonds on the bottom rail. We're not actually on the diamonds, we're inside the 2 diamonds. We are actually inside the 2 outside diamonds on the bottom rail by 3 or 4 inches. So the break box is even more narrow than you actually imagine. It is actually such a great equalizer that it only favors people that have such an outrageous break that it's crazy.
Like if the women played matches from the box we break from, and the tables got a little bit wet or sticky or something where the balls didn't break well, it would be like watching grass grow. Believe me, it would be tough for them to play a match out of that break box. Especially under sticky wet conditions like a lot of the tournaments get. Because we don't control the elements in the buildings we play in.
The break box is an equalizer. It makes the better players have a better chance. Even from the side break, the best players are still going to win. But some of your better players will get beat much easier from the side break than they will from the middle. And you've got to have more knowledge to play from the middle. You've got to know how to move the cue ball a little bit more and find a spot to make balls on the break. The speed to hit them and stuff. There is a lot more to the game of breaking from the middle. Other than Francisco Bustamante, he has just got the hardest break in the world and it doesn't matter where he puts the ball up there because he is going to make one. He is the dead favorite as long as he is playing well.
You've got to put it all together though; just like golf or tennis or anything. You've got to get up there and break well. When you get an opportunity to run out, you've got to run out well. When you get a safety, you've got to execute a good safety. Not one that's just mediocre. You've got to make sure to stick the guy where he's got to go two rails or make a long kick. You've got to force the issue playing from that middle break more than from the side break cause you're running more racks from the side break. It's more offensive from the side break. And breaking from the middle, even the patterns come up more difficult. Even if you make a ball on the break, you might have to play safe. You might not get the opportunity to run out. So, there again, it is just bringing more playing to the game.
My honest opinion is that it should be a race to 15 in all formats. 9-Ball or 8-Ball should be a race to 15 with a 30 second shot clock, break from the box. Those would be the greatest pool matches on earth there. That gives you time enough to overcome adversity. Races to 7 and races to 9 and races to 11 are so short now with the growth of the game and the way people are playing now.
There are kids out there playing on coke boxes that are just running out, you know what I mean? Like I was back in the 70s. I used to slide a coke box around the table. You remember the old 24 bottle coke boxes or crates that used to have individual slots for each bottle? They don't exist anymore. A lot of people don't know what those are anymore. I used to slide one of those around because when I was like 10, I was only like 2 feet tall. It was unbelievable how short I was at 10 years old. And I used to have to stand on a coke box and slide it around to shoot the shots. That's why my arm didn't get sideways. It stayed straight. But anyway, the way these kids are learning to play, they are so much smarter. They are playing safeties and they're intelligent; they're not dumb players these days, you know what I mean? And they run out, they break like Bustamante, every one of them. People didn't have breaks like that and they didn't play that good at an early age when I was growing up. There were few people like that and now they are a dime a dozen. You're getting beat by people you don't even know, it's crazy.
So, you've got to extend the matches. If you don't extend the matches, you're defeating the purpose. That's what is happening in pool right now. They've got to extend the matches to protect the best players. The players that have been there for a long time. You can't let a guy that has been playing for 2 year come in and run over a veteran player. It doesn't make sense. And that is what's happening in pool. It ain't like that in tennis because the format is long enough to protect the better player. In racing, the format is long enough to protect the better racer. In golf, there are 72 holes to protect the better player. And then when they play a tougher course, it protects the better player.
Those things are implemented in other sports simply to protect the people in the sport that really draw the audience. That's not happening in pool. They're actually protecting and promoting the weaker player. And it's wrong. I can't understand that. That's just not right. "
I did not even know that section was here until someone posted link to the old Camel tour results and I poked around in that section.
Why did they stop? With email and cell phones these days should be pretty easy to set some things up.
I know there were some posters that put in their own interviews or links in the main forums, but having things in one area would be a lot easier to find.
Could that section be moved to a regular forum so that posters can add in their interviews or ones they find to it?
Stealing a little bit from the Earl interview. A very nice answer that sums up pretty well the skills you need to play well.
" AZB: The Camel Pro Billiards Series enforces the break box rule. How do you think this has affected the game of professional 9-Ball?
Earl: The break box has been a great equalizer. There are so many guys that can break from the side and look like great players, especially where we are playing from. We're playing from inside the 2 diamonds on the bottom rail. We're not actually on the diamonds, we're inside the 2 diamonds. We are actually inside the 2 outside diamonds on the bottom rail by 3 or 4 inches. So the break box is even more narrow than you actually imagine. It is actually such a great equalizer that it only favors people that have such an outrageous break that it's crazy.
Like if the women played matches from the box we break from, and the tables got a little bit wet or sticky or something where the balls didn't break well, it would be like watching grass grow. Believe me, it would be tough for them to play a match out of that break box. Especially under sticky wet conditions like a lot of the tournaments get. Because we don't control the elements in the buildings we play in.
The break box is an equalizer. It makes the better players have a better chance. Even from the side break, the best players are still going to win. But some of your better players will get beat much easier from the side break than they will from the middle. And you've got to have more knowledge to play from the middle. You've got to know how to move the cue ball a little bit more and find a spot to make balls on the break. The speed to hit them and stuff. There is a lot more to the game of breaking from the middle. Other than Francisco Bustamante, he has just got the hardest break in the world and it doesn't matter where he puts the ball up there because he is going to make one. He is the dead favorite as long as he is playing well.
You've got to put it all together though; just like golf or tennis or anything. You've got to get up there and break well. When you get an opportunity to run out, you've got to run out well. When you get a safety, you've got to execute a good safety. Not one that's just mediocre. You've got to make sure to stick the guy where he's got to go two rails or make a long kick. You've got to force the issue playing from that middle break more than from the side break cause you're running more racks from the side break. It's more offensive from the side break. And breaking from the middle, even the patterns come up more difficult. Even if you make a ball on the break, you might have to play safe. You might not get the opportunity to run out. So, there again, it is just bringing more playing to the game.
My honest opinion is that it should be a race to 15 in all formats. 9-Ball or 8-Ball should be a race to 15 with a 30 second shot clock, break from the box. Those would be the greatest pool matches on earth there. That gives you time enough to overcome adversity. Races to 7 and races to 9 and races to 11 are so short now with the growth of the game and the way people are playing now.
There are kids out there playing on coke boxes that are just running out, you know what I mean? Like I was back in the 70s. I used to slide a coke box around the table. You remember the old 24 bottle coke boxes or crates that used to have individual slots for each bottle? They don't exist anymore. A lot of people don't know what those are anymore. I used to slide one of those around because when I was like 10, I was only like 2 feet tall. It was unbelievable how short I was at 10 years old. And I used to have to stand on a coke box and slide it around to shoot the shots. That's why my arm didn't get sideways. It stayed straight. But anyway, the way these kids are learning to play, they are so much smarter. They are playing safeties and they're intelligent; they're not dumb players these days, you know what I mean? And they run out, they break like Bustamante, every one of them. People didn't have breaks like that and they didn't play that good at an early age when I was growing up. There were few people like that and now they are a dime a dozen. You're getting beat by people you don't even know, it's crazy.
So, you've got to extend the matches. If you don't extend the matches, you're defeating the purpose. That's what is happening in pool right now. They've got to extend the matches to protect the best players. The players that have been there for a long time. You can't let a guy that has been playing for 2 year come in and run over a veteran player. It doesn't make sense. And that is what's happening in pool. It ain't like that in tennis because the format is long enough to protect the better player. In racing, the format is long enough to protect the better racer. In golf, there are 72 holes to protect the better player. And then when they play a tougher course, it protects the better player.
Those things are implemented in other sports simply to protect the people in the sport that really draw the audience. That's not happening in pool. They're actually protecting and promoting the weaker player. And it's wrong. I can't understand that. That's just not right. "
Last edited:
