What has Earl contributed to the sport?

[9BallBust-O]

THE JUMP SHOT --
Earl was one of the first people to bring the jump shot. I was watching a match and Grady or the guy who was with him, I cant remember who, was saying that Earl was doing jump shots and all the pool players thought he had lost his mind, now everyone does it. I dont know Earl personally but did talk to him for about 20 seconds at the Derby. He was good to me and I happen to like the guy - If you hate him, you hate him but you cant take anything from him.

 

[Hail Mary Shot]

What did I (EARL) contributed to the sport?

I invented televised CHAOTIC entertainment !

I'm a ROCKSTAR ! YIPEE !!!

 

[cigardave]

Here's some interesting numbers... these are the number of hits I got when Goggling the following players' names...

Nick Varner... 25,300

Willie Mosconi... 35,700

Steve Mizerak.... 52,300

Willie Hoppe... 108,000

Efren Reyes... 528,000

Minnesota Fats... 817,000

Earl Strickland... 826,000

Mike Sigel... 832,000


Kinda speaks for itself... doesn't it?

 

[Stones]

I guess I need to make this guy my idol, go out and act like a bonehead and not get my teeth kicked in.

Somehow, I don't think I'll be as successful at it as he has been.

 

[wayne]

I guess I need to make this guy my idol, go out and act like a bonehead and not get my teeth kicked in.

Somehow, I don't think I'll be as successful at it as he has been.

Try to learn to run '3 freaking balls' also.

 

[Rasta]

Here's some interesting numbers... these are the number of hits I got when Goggling the following players' names...

Nick Varner... 25,300

Willie Mosconi... 35,700

Steve Mizerak.... 52,300

Willie Hoppe... 108,000

Efren Reyes... 528,000

Minnesota Fats... 817,000

Earl Strickland... 826,000

Mike Sigel... 832,000


Kinda speaks for itself... doesn't it?

I added the word "antics" to the search, along with each player's name, and obtained these results:

Nick Varner..........375

Willie Mosconi.......136

Steve Mizerak.......119

Willie Hoppe.........224

Efren Reyes..........452

Minnesota Fats......19,300

Earl Strickland.......17,200

Mike Sigel.............16,000


Replacing "antics" with "'bad sport'" yielded:

Nick Varner..........3

Willie Mosconi.......5

Steve Mizerak.......3

Willie Hoppe.........7

Efren Reyes..........7

Minnesota Fats......23

Earl Strickland.......107

Mike Sigel.............4


Not all publicity is good publicity.

I posted previously in this thread about the World Series Of Poker, and Benny Binion learning that not all great poker players were good for poker's public image. What I did not mention was that Binion found Minnesota Fats to be just one such player, not good for poker's public image.

Earl is like that for pool, IMO. If players want to be perceived as professionals, they have to act professionally. Earl may bring pool publicity, but it the same kind of attention that a four year old throwing a tantrum during a wedding might get. Nobody wants to be that kid's parents.

Good Rolls,
Rasta

 

[Southpaw]

I didnt know that Minnesota Fats was a poker player......Hell, he hardly gambled at pool.

Southpaw

 

[justnum]

Earl contributed a good portion of his life, so far.

Look foward to letting Earl and his crew realize this is a young man's game. AKA baby boomers and Gen Xers

 

[Rasta]

I didnt know that Minnesota Fats was a poker player......Hell, he hardly gambled at pool.

Southpaw

I guess Binion did a pretty good job keeping poker from being associated with Minnesota Fats. As I understand it, Fats gambled on most everything he played, including pool and poker.

Good Rolls,
Rasta

 

[Neil]

...............

 

[sky..]

Off the subject, but for your info,47 people associated with the Clinton scandals have turned up dead. Including one that the coroner ruled natural causes even though they were beheaded.

okay.. america just got weirder for me.. somebody was beheaded and the death was rules as natural cause?!?

 

[ShootingArts]

seems reasonable to me

Off the subject, but for your info,47 people associated with the Clinton scandals have turned up dead. Including one that the coroner ruled natural causes even though they were beheaded.

This seems reasonable to me. It is perfectly natural to die when you are beheaded.

Hu

 

[wayne]

okay.. america just got weirder for me.. somebody was beheaded and the death was rules as natural cause?!?

Just because someone wrote something to this effect doesn't mean it has any basis in fact. The person said the coroner decided it was from natural causes. The coroner doesn't make these decisions (that would be the job of the medical examiner), the coroner is an elected official not a medical doctor. Probably, the person writing the falsehoods read that it was accidental and somehow changed it to natural cause. My guess is it was the 2 boys in Arkansas who got run over by a train after they had supposedly fallen asleep on the tracks after smoking too much pot. It was ruled accidental but it may have been murder and drug connected. I believe Bill Clinton was in Arkansas at the time (playing pool I believe) so someone came up with the fact that he was involved (maybe he was).

Just because someone writes something doesn't make it a fact.

 

[wahcheck]

tap tap tap

By the way, he hates that name.

What has Earl contributed? Interesting question deserving of an answer. For me, I got to be a witness to the greatest tournament 9-Ball player of all time. To watch him at his peak was pure pool artistry. And if you like this game, that ain't so bad. Too much of his career is lost to history (other than the record) as it was performance art. You had to be there to see it. Thankfully, much of his success has been recorded by Accu-Stats and ESPN.

I can think of no player, before or since, who could control a 9-Ball match like Earl. At any moment he was a threat to win, whether he was leading, or down by five or six games. To me, Earl gave us all a glimpse of what is possible in being a pool player. He made the game look simple and beautiful at the same time.

I prefer to remember this Earl, the great pool player, and not the man who has deteriorated into a buffoon and crassly disturbed athlete. Years from now, not much will be said about the strange behavior of Earl Strickland. What will be remembered and talked about was his amazing skills on a pool table. No one ever put together racks more superbly and more frequently than Earl. When Earl got rolling, it was poetry in motion and you hoped it would never end. Unfortunately, it has.

What has Earl contributed? My answer, "MASTERY".

As usual, Jay, you have articulated better than I could about how this guy's ability just stood apart from all the other champions.....well said.....I think the 1982 Caesar's Tahoe tournament (I was there) was the first time I saw Earl shoot....and I thought it was phenomenal .....If I recall correctly, he also won a car in addition to the 1st prize money.....Thanks for your valued input...

 

[Neil]

.................

 

[ShootingArts]

speculation

Your'e right. It doesn't make it fact. I received an e-mail listing all 47 names and how most of them died. I thought about posting it in non-pool-related section, but I won't just because it is hearsay and I hate saying something about someone without facts. If I could take back that post, I would.

It has been years since I have seen that list. It is highly speculative as I recall it, but there may be some merit to it also. A lot like the anti-war stuff about Jane Fonda, people never know when to stop embellishing and then the whole thing appears to be BS.

The truth is that the Clintons have a very interesting past and people have died at very convenient times for them. It seems that many are ready to forget that Hillary would have almost certainly been indicted for a felony along with her former partners had she not been the first lady at the time too.

Hu

 

[Stones]

Try to learn to run '3 freaking balls' also.

Maybe we can match up sometime. I don't gamble much anymore but for you, I might make an exception.

Going to be in Vegas in May?

I see Earl must be your idol as his insulting behavior has rubbed off on you.

 

[hilla_hilla]

I was always told that it was Earl that invented the jump shot. Maybe Toupee Jay or Hemicuda could clarify this??

Earl actually learned the jump shot when he was on the road from a player from San Diego named Billy Graves (who expired a few years back). Ask Earl the story sometime. He actually laughs about it .

 

[quitecoolguy]

I have been sitting in my office reading all the post to this thread...I am a big Earl the Pearl fan.. I may not agree with the things he does sometimes..however when the statement of what has he contributed to the sport...wow..well i will tell my own story..Years ago when i first started playing pool there were two people who I looked up to playing pool..first was my father..who is an awsome player himsefl..second was Johnny Archer..hell i wanted to be him..but being a young overweight black kid kinda threw that idea right out the window (chuckle to myself) but I watched Johhny's play when ever i could..at that time he was living in NC and i would go to Brass Tap and watch him play..I tried to imitate his stroke, his break..hell i was eveing picking lint out of the nap on the table..hehe..but just last month i was in the bath room doing what i do best and picked up a billiard magazine (the best place for old issues) and read the Billiard Digest story of Earl making the hall of fame..and their in black in white was Johhny Archer's own words.."He wanted to be Earl..he wanted his stroke and position play and practiced and copied his stroke.. do you know how many poeple play this game because of Johhny Archer..But their in the background, quietly shadowed by his rants and rage is the legend of Earl Strickland. I to this day have purchased a small fortune in Accu-stats video..and time and time again i look to the Strickland vs ?? tapes to reshape and sharpen my game...i watch his run outs his english on the ball his head placement..hell all that makes him who he is..and I thank him for that..I dont know one HOF member of billiards who would think that hearing from a fan that their influence helped shape the game of thousands of players accross the world..is worth more than any plaque that they could be given...Make no mistake ..Earl is that ass sitting in the chair yelling at the crowd..he is the guy that slamed his cue down at the world championship...he is guy who shaped and molded the game of some of the best players in the world..He is all those things..but that is the beauty of being a legend...your like two sides of a page in history..it makes no mind which side of the page a person reads..either page will still end with Earl Stickland...legend... NOT just my normal 2 cents ..but the truth.. Good Luck to you Mr. Earl..in what ever you do from here. Rest easy cause you done all the hard work already.

 

[teambizy]

I have been sitting in my office reading all the post to this thread...I am a big Earl the Pearl fan.. I may not agree with the things he does sometimes..however when the statement of what has he contributed to the sport...wow..well i will tell my own story..Years ago when i first started playing pool there were two people who I looked up to playing pool..first was my father..who is an awsome player himsefl..second was Johnny Archer..hell i wanted to be him..but being a young overweight black kid kinda threw that idea right out the window (chuckle to myself) but I watched Johhny's play when ever i could..at that time he was living in NC and i would go to Brass Tap and watch him play..I tried to imitate his stroke, his break..hell i was eveing picking lint out of the nap on the table..hehe..but just last month i was in the bath room doing what i do best and picked up a billiard magazine (the best place for old issues) and read the Billiard Digest story of Earl making the hall of fame..and their in black in white was Johhny Archer's own words.."He wanted to be Earl..he wanted his stroke and position play and practiced and copied his stroke.. do you know hom many poeple play this game because of Johhny Archer..But their in the background, quietly shadowed by his rants and rage is the legend of Earl Strickland. I to this day have purchased a small fortune in Accu-stats video..and time and time again i look to the Strickland vs ?? tapes to reshape and sharpen my game...i watch his run outs his english on the ball his head placement..hell all that makes him who he is..and I thank him for that..I dont know one HOF member of billiards who would think that hearing from a fan that their influence helped shape the game of thousands of players accross the world..is worth more than any plaque that they could be given...Make no mistake ..Earl is that ass sitting in the chair yelling at the crowd..he is the guy that slamed his cue down at the world championship...he is guy who shaped and molded the game of some of the best players in the world..He is all those things..but that is the beauty of being a legend...your like two sides of a page in history..it makes no mind which side of the page a person reads..either page will still end with Earl Stickland...legend... NOT just my normal 2 cents ..but the truth.. Good Luck to you Mr. Earl..in what ever you do from here. Rest easy cause you done all the hard work already.

Big TAP TAP TAP