Worlds Greatest Player vs. the Peoples Champion

[8pack]

I think you missed the point.

If this match goes, you got me for $50. (please confirm via PM)

Im not missing any point and no one is crowning Earl the greatest player ever.(Greatest 9 ball player yes )What the man has done in his life speaks for itself.
You are more or less calling this a gaffe game.Im sure Shane feels different.Two players agree to certain rules ,let them play.:thumbup:

 

[Williebetmore]

What? What POSSIBLE reason could it be, other than to "give him an advantage?" Earl thinks he's a better shot maker, and he thinks a ten foot table will emphasize that difference--and thereby give him an advantage.

I think I stated the reason for the table size and the rules; decrease the amount of luck by increasing the skill requirement. Try to make the conditions that will reward the "better player", not for personal advantage (though I'm positive Earl considers himself the "better player"). I will also repeat he loves the game, and wishes it was better at differentiating the good from the great. He is definitely a "purist" in that respect (and having said that, I have always wondered at the contradictory behavior of his with the weights and gloves and tape and extensions - but he still claims to be a "purist").

You guys seem to know quite a bit about what Earl thinks. If he told you something different, I would be surprised, but I guess he could have changed his view. I'm just relating what he's told me in the past (way before this match was ever conceived).

 

[pooladdict]

You forgot

"The table has not been built"

I have heard many reasons for money matches not happening, but this would be a first..

 

[cleary]

C-man,
I've heard Earl ramble for a half hour on why tournaments should be contested on 10 footers; and his reason was ALWAYS eliminating the luck factor as much as possible.

I have never heard him say that he thought he needed an advantage to beat any player in the world. He's a fairly confident individual. He is also fairly straight forward, its hard to believe that he has been proposing 10 footers for years just to get an "advantage." This guy LOVES pool, more than about anybody I've met - he does have some concrete ideas on what would be best for the game.

Having said that, he thinks he is the favorite whether its 7 foot, 8 foot, 9 foot, 10 foot, or 30 foot table.

If you've spoken to Earl, and he told you that he did this for an advantage then please ignore this post. Maybe bfdlad could get Earl's statement on this matter; he doesn't tend to hide what's on his mind.

I understand what you are saying but i just don't see the luck factor involved in "10ball has to go last" or the 6" break box. Playing a called combination or carrom on the 10ball is not luck. Finding a break spot where you feel you can make a ball fairly consistently on the break by "figuring out the table" is not luck either. Its using the skill and knowledge that got both of them to where they are to thier advantage.

Like I said, i see very little luck In call shot 10ball, the standard way it's played and anything more than that is finding an edge.

They played before earl was out played not out lucked.

I can't play pool but I can eat. If I challenged big nasty to an eating contest, I got no chance, but I'll at least make it buffalo wings or meximelts cause that's what I like to eat. (Chad, I don't want eating action, just making a point)

 

[Williebetmore]

Im not missing any point and no one is crowning Earl the greatest player ever.(Greatest 9 ball player yes )What the man has done in his life speaks for itself.
You are more or less calling this a gaffe game.Im sure Shane feels different.Two players agree to certain rules ,let them play.:thumbup:

8 Pack,
Well said. I certainly think you are right. I have played countless hours on a shimmed 10 footer; but it only took about 2 minutes of play on one to realize that it is an EXTRAORDINARILY BETTER TEST OF SKILL than a 9 footer; that's no "gaffe." Pool would be a way better game on the 10 footers. It definitely is a good step towards separating the great from the merely good. Its hard to see how someone could argue otherwise if they have ever played on one.

Further, experience on a 10 footer is of limited value to a pro player. Skill will be of GREAT value - they will know nearly immediately what they must do, they just have to DO it.

 

[Williebetmore]

I can't play pool but I can eat. If I challenged big nasty to an eating contest, I got no chance, but I'll at least make it buffalo wings or meximelts cause that's what I like to eat. (Chad, I don't want eating action, just making a point)

While I think your analogy does not apply, I LOVED it. I do not think you love eating as much as Earl loves pool, and I don't think you have quite the commitment to making the sport as "pure" as Earl does.

P.S. - Anyone challenging bignasty to such a contest has serious game.

 

[Celtic]

You are more or less calling this a gaffe game.Im sure Shane feels different.Two players agree to certain rules ,let them play.:thumbup:

I personally don't see this as a gaff game at all.

A gaff game to me is where a player keys in on a specific aspect of the game that might not be practiced by a majoritty of players, excels at that aspect, and then uses that to set up a specific rule set in their favor using that key element.

Donny Mills and his 9-ball pattern rack is a gaff game for instance because it focuses on one key element that most players don't focus on.

The game Earl and Mike are proposing is not keying in on some specific thing that Earl practices, Earl has not practiced and mastered the "breaking from the box" break better then every other player out there. In fact SVB probably still breaks from the box every bit as good as Earl if not better. The 5x10 table is supposedly "not" what Earl lives on, practicing only that and becomming the master on a table size noone else plays. The no combos rule, the 10 goes last, the called shot, these are not things where Earl has some huge edge because he keyed in on those elements and practices only those.

This match is simply a different rule set but it is such that the best overall pool player will win, not a person who keyed in on a specific aspect of the rule set and gets a huge edge because the other player does not practice that obscure aspect of the game and master it.

Not at all an example of a "gaff game" IMO.

 

[cleary]

Im not missing any point and no one is crowning Earl the greatest player ever.(Greatest 9 ball player yes )What the man has done in his life speaks for itself.
You are more or less calling this a gaffe game.Im sure Shane feels different.Two players agree to certain rules ,let them play.:thumbup:

It's just like when he played Donny Mills. Shane walks into trap games and leaves with the cash.

 

[Celtic]

It's just like when he played Donny Mills. Shane walks into trap games and leaves with the cash.

Only the Donny Mills match was a gaff, this match is not.

 

[Williebetmore]

Not at all an example of a "gaff game" IMO.

Wow, really good analysis.

I will tell you that most of the local bar league players think the 9 foot table is a "gaffe." If they ever come out with a 4 foot table with 6 inch pockets, I'm sure someone will think up a way to propose that it should be the new standard.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Agree this is not a gaff game in the least.

Its funny, no one from the US is going near Shane to play, and here we have Earl that already got bbq'd by him once, and is going to try again. Yet we are on here bickering about the rule set that he wants to play by???? Give the man props for getting up there. Period.

 

[real bartram]

Agree this is not a gaff game in the least.

Its funny, no one from the US is going near Shane to play, and here we have Earl that already got bbq'd by him once, and is going to try again. Yet we are on here bickering about the rule set that he wants to play by???? Give the man props for getting up there. Period.

earl is playing cause he thinks he is the best in the world.

 

[iusedtoberich]

If that's true, then that gives insight into the mind of an ELITE TOP player. Its my understanding that almost all the elite top players think the same way... they are the best in the world. I'm talking of the Earls, SVB's Archers, Alex, etc. Not the players your speed, and I mean no offense by that.

 

[scrappy]

I just think comfortable leads can be maintained to the finish line, which to me is boring. It don't bring out the best in a player coasting to the finish line...when all the player has to do...is maintain that lead. But, now if that lead had to be recaptured every race to 10...then in the sprint races you'd see the best each player has to offer...maybe even some 10 packs...who knows. I do know that this kind of play would stop a player from coasting to the lead, and at the same time, give those watching 10 rounds of consistent action...unless the players are mis-matched, in which case...it also provides an easy out...by the fact that at a certain point in the lead...the looser can't possibly win on points....so, call it a knockout...throw in the towel!

Glen

PS. This also opens the door to calling a match a draw...with both players being equal in their abilities to play!

an excellent idea, this format would keep things much more interesting

 

[bignasty]

I can't play pool but I can eat. If I challenged big nasty to an eating contest, I got no chance, but I'll at least make it buffalo wings or meximelts cause that's what I like to eat. (Chad, I don't want eating action, just making a point)

:thumbup:another fine examplae of smart beating heart!
i got your back cleary!

 

[jay helfert]

If there both playing by the same rules shouldn't the better player still win? Any body want any side action i will make a small wager of 50 and take earl.

I'll take that bet, if you are on the good action list.

 

[Island Drive]

GG what I'm referencing is with a 40 sec shot clock it will take more time actually walking from shot to sho.t I just think Earl thinks quicker on his feet than Shane, meaning he's able to change his mind when down on the shot and still get the results he's after. If Earls got this monster 63'' cue stick he will be able to reach shots down table allot more than Shane and using the crutch WILL become a factor. Since I'm 6'6'' I've always had a big advantage with ''One Foot On the Floor Rule'', plus I used the rake during my prime once or twice a mth.
Another item that may work against Earl tho, the weight of his cue, what is it 23 oz, that's a hell of a lot more weight being swung at 1,000 balls than Shanes cue weight, but does Shanes cue weight have enough umph to hit the long drives like Tiger Woods, meaning a 18-20 foot up/down draw shot?

We're only talking about 6" wider and 12" longer, same difference between an 8ft table and a 9ft...we're not talking about a 6'x12' snooker table[/QUOTE]

One inch is a big deal to a pro pool player...............

 

[real bartram]

If that's true, then that gives insight into the mind of an ELITE TOP player. Its my understanding that almost all the elite top players think the same way... they are the best in the world. I'm talking of the Earls, SVB's Archers, Alex, etc. Not the players your speed, and I mean no offense by that.

funny thing is if they all think like you say.
why dont they bet any of their own money when they play?
i dont mean players my speed cause we bet ours.

 

[Rick S.]

funny thing is if they all think like you say.
why dont they bet any of their own money when they play?
i dont mean players my speed cause we bet ours.

They do....Earl bets his own $$$. Not all the time, but he certainly does. I have seen him bet every dollar he had. (and lose)

as you well know the 'elite' players have a greater chance of being staked than the 2nd-3rd tier players.

 

[real bartram]

They do....Earl bets his own $$$. Not all the time, but he certainly does. I have seen him bet every dollar he had. (and lose)

as you well know the 'elite' players have a greater chance of being staked than the 2nd-3rd tier players.

i dont think you are right there.
all kind of players get staked.