What has Earl contributed to the sport?
- Thread starter Rasta
- Start date
ginsu said:
Earl is no Efren Reyes. Earl plays nine ball. Efren plays pool. Not only can he play pool, including nine ball, at the highest level, he can do it in a classy manner.
In fairness, quitecoolguy offered a very good argument in his post. However, I am still inclined to believe that overall Earl's not the great contributor to the sport that many claim him to be.
Good Rolls,
Rasta
quitecoolguy said:
Very well said. I knew there were some august pool folk on this forum, and I appreciate you taking the time to write out your thoughts!
It was about 20 years ago at the U.S. Open in Virginia when a young boy from Delaware made the trek to see all of the pool champions up front and close. He watched as many games as possible and was enthralled with the level of play, so far above his.
One afternoon, he watched a match in its entirety, and at the conclusion, everybody scrambled except him. He stood there as if he was frozen watching Earl Strickland gather his gear.
Earl noticed the young boy standing there and made eye contact with him. He walked over and introduced himself, and the two of them engaged in a long conversation about pool. The young boy was so excited that Earl gave him some of his time and always remembered it. He knew then that he wanted to learn this game of pool and be all that he could be. As he grew into a young adult, his game became strong. It was Kevin West of Delaware, and because of Earl taking an interest in the boy, Kevin went on to pursue his pool dreams.
Today, Earl is most likely in the hospital at the time of this writing. With two kidney stones on the left and one kidney stone on the right, he is in a great deal of pain and continues to be plagued by this medical malady. I, for one, wish him a speedy recovery. He is not only a great pool player, but he is, in fact, an American champion. God bless Earl Strickland.
JAM
Just to play devils advocate consider Alex Higgins (my childhood hero), many would argue he "made snooker" and in some ways was Snookers Earl Strickland.
This is a small snippet from an excellent bbc article...
Snooker Bad Boys
The Hurricane won two Benson and Hedges Masters titles and one UK Championship, but many believe he could have won much more.
These days it would be unlikely for a player to be seen drinking and smoking between shots, but in the 1970s and 1980s it was the norm.
Higgins loved doing both and also attracted his fair share of women, who were seduced by his flamboyant lifestyle.
And now the dramatic fall...
In 1986, the Belfast man was asked to provide a urine sample for a random drugs test following his UK Championship match against Mike Hallett and then ended up head-butting tournament director Paul Hatherell. He subsequently found himself fined £12,000 and also banned from five tournaments.
At the 1990 World Cup - snooker not football - he threatened to have fellow Ireland team-mate Dennis Taylor shot and followed that up by abusing referee John Spencer.
As if that did not land him in enough hot water he then proceeded to punch the tournament director at the World Championship which led to a season ban.
Higgins played his last major tournament at the Pavilions in Plymouth in 1997 - a World Championship qualifying event.
Unfortunately for the veteran he reacted to defeat in a bad way and was ejected from the arena only to be found the next morning claiming to have been stabbed.
Since then Higgins has suffered from throat cancer, although an operation to remove a diseased lymph node from his neck proved successful.
Now 54, Higgins has endured financial problems, forcing him, according to many, to go into pubs and clubs to play for money.
Bad Boy rating: 11/10
Full Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/2889881.stm
This is a small snippet from an excellent bbc article...
Snooker Bad Boys
The Hurricane won two Benson and Hedges Masters titles and one UK Championship, but many believe he could have won much more.
These days it would be unlikely for a player to be seen drinking and smoking between shots, but in the 1970s and 1980s it was the norm.
Higgins loved doing both and also attracted his fair share of women, who were seduced by his flamboyant lifestyle.
And now the dramatic fall...
In 1986, the Belfast man was asked to provide a urine sample for a random drugs test following his UK Championship match against Mike Hallett and then ended up head-butting tournament director Paul Hatherell. He subsequently found himself fined £12,000 and also banned from five tournaments.
At the 1990 World Cup - snooker not football - he threatened to have fellow Ireland team-mate Dennis Taylor shot and followed that up by abusing referee John Spencer.
As if that did not land him in enough hot water he then proceeded to punch the tournament director at the World Championship which led to a season ban.
Higgins played his last major tournament at the Pavilions in Plymouth in 1997 - a World Championship qualifying event.
Unfortunately for the veteran he reacted to defeat in a bad way and was ejected from the arena only to be found the next morning claiming to have been stabbed.
Since then Higgins has suffered from throat cancer, although an operation to remove a diseased lymph node from his neck proved successful.
Now 54, Higgins has endured financial problems, forcing him, according to many, to go into pubs and clubs to play for money.
Bad Boy rating: 11/10
Full Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/2889881.stm