Young Earl Strickland just after his first big win.

[BillPorter]

Tom Shaw, of Pool & Billiards Magazine, emailed me recently to let me know he would be using an image of mine in their next issue. It is a shot of Joe Kerr, Earl Strickland, Joe Burns, and Buddy Hall taken at the 1982 Dayton 9-Ball Open. Earl had just beaten Buddy in the finals to take his first significant tournament victory. I happend to be there and said, "Smile for the camera." Just thought some of you guys might want to see the image, and forgive me if I have posted this one before. I have put so many pics up on this forum that I should be using a database the track them!

And BTW, those of you who like the historical side of pool might want to check out Pool & Billiards Magazine. Tom has a long-running series called "Legends of the Road" that chronicles some of the great pool players and "road warriors." I believe the next one he is going to run will be about Mike Lebron.

 

[sjm]

Tom Shaw, of Pool & Billiards Magazine, emailed me recently to let me know he would be using an image of mine in their next issue. It is a shot of Joe Kerr, Earl Strickland, Joe Burns, and Buddy Hall taken at the 1982 Dayton 9-Ball Open. Earl had just beaten Buddy in the finals to take his first significant tournament victory. I happend to be there and said, "Smile for the camera." Just thought some of you guys might want to see the image, and forgive me if I have posted this one before. I have put so many pics up on this forum that I should be using a database the track them!

And BTW, those of you who like the historical side of pool might want to check out Pool & Billiards Magazine. Tom has a long-running series called "Legends of the Road" that chronicles some of the great pool players and "road warriors." I believe the next one he is going to run will be about Mike Lebron.

Wow, what a great picture! That's Earl for sure. I saw him come through NYC in 1981 as a road player, still a relative unknown, and that's what he looked like. He played the game at a level which me, and most other NYC onlookers, had never seen before. Nine ball was only starting to catch on in NYC at the time.

 

[BillPorter]

Earl showed no interest in this photo when I offered it to him years ago

Wow, what a great picture! That's Earl for sure. I saw him come through NYC in 1981 as a road player, still a relative unknown, and that's what he looked like. He played the game at a level which me, and most other NYC onlookers, had never seen before. Nine ball was only starting to catch on in NYC at the time.

sjm, when I saw him play in that Dayton tournament I just kept thinking, "What a natural talent!" He just seemed like he was designed to run 9-ball racks. And could jump a ball accurately long before the days of jump cues. I still remember he was really nervous just before playing Buddy in the finals. A friend of mine talked to him and tried to calm him down. I didn't realize at the time that his nerves might well have something to do with this being his first big tournament finals.

About 10-12 years back I mentioned to Earl that I had some photos of the tournament where he scored his first big win. He said something like, "Uh, yeah, that's interesting," and walked off. I imagine that now, after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, he might value those photos a bit more. I asked Tom Shaw to mention the photos to Earl and tell him I'd be glad to get some prints to him. Mabye I'll run into him at the next DCC and give him the prints.

 

[juegabillar]

Bill, on June 11, 2006 Mike Lebron will officially be inducted into the Yabucoa Sports Pavillion Hall of Fame, one of very few Sports Hall of Fame in Puerto Rico. Mike Lebron was also a helluva baseball player. I have been invited to participate in the ceremony.

Harold Acosta - President
Puerto Rican Billiard Federation
http.//fedbillarpr.bravehost.com

 

[BillPorter]

Thanks for the information, Harold

Bill, on June 11, 2006 Mike Lebron will officially be inducted into the Yabucoa Sports Pavillion Hall of Fame, one of very few Sports Hall of Fame in Puerto Rico. Mike Lebron was also a helluva baseball player. I have been invited to participate in the ceremony.

Harold Acosta - President
Puerto Rican Billiard Federation
http.//fedbillarpr.bravehost.com

Wow, that is a really nice honor for Mike. I know you will enjoy being there at the ceremony.

 

[lewdo26]

Whoa, great picture! I like Buddy in it too.

 

[juegabillar]

Wow, that is a really nice honor for Mike. I know you will enjoy being there at the ceremony.

Do you have any old pictures of Mike?

Maybe I can present one to him the day of the ceremonies.


Harold

 

[sniper]

Wow Earl looks real young in that photo, anyone know how old he was back in 82? I wasn't even born yet when that photo was taken

 

[Tom In Cincy]

Earl Strickland was born on June 8, 1961, in Roseboro, North Carolina.

So, if the Dayton tournament was after June 8th 1982, Earl was 21.

 

[Nostroke]

Wow, what a great picture! That's Earl for sure. I saw him come through NYC in 1981 as a road player, still a relative unknown, and that's what he looked like. He played the game at a level which me, and most other NYC onlookers, had never seen before. Nine ball was only starting to catch on in NYC at the time.

Tony Robles told me Earl was just unreal when he came through the city the first time but it may have been before that. I think he said Earl was 17 and just didnt miss.

 

[bud green]

Buddy doesn't look too happy in that picture. Not too hard to tell who won from that photo.

 

[sjm]

Tony Robles told me Earl was just unreal when he came through the city the first time but it may have been before that. I think he said Earl was 17 and just didnt miss.

Earl was already 19 when I watched him in early 1981, and was still capable of sneaking up on the best locals. I don't doubt that he came to NYC two years before that (Tony Robles would know), but if he did, he somehow managed not to kill his road action in NYC.

 

[Nostroke]

Earl was already 19 when I watched him in early 1981, and was still capable of sneaking up on the best locals. I don't doubt that he came to NYC two years before that (Tony Robles would know), but if he did, he somehow managed not to kill his road action in NYC.

Nah- Im prolly not remembering what TR said correctly re age. He said he saw him at the Golden Cue. No way are you going to sneak in after playing there.

 

[BillPorter]

Here is the one image I have that has Mike in it

Do you have any old pictures of Mike?

Maybe I can present one to him the day of the ceremonies.


Harold

Harold, I think I only have this one image that has Mike in it. You wll see him leaning against the wall on the right side of the picture. Efren Reyes is there in a white jacket. Grady Matthews and Freddy Bentivegna on on the left side of the shot. I believe that Tom Shaw may use this exact image in an article about Mike. If you think Mike would like a print of this shot, we can work that out for no cost to you or Mike. You can PM me with a mailing address and the size of print you would like. You would have plenty of time to have it put in a nice frame for him.

 

[juegabillar]

Bill, check your PM and many thanks for your offer....

Mike would be questioning himself how in the world did I get that foto....

 

[TheConArtist]

Wow great pictures thanks for posting them up. I was just born in 82 thats incredible to think about now on how much i love this game that Earl was doing his thang back then.

 

[Schwinn]

Harold, I think I only have this one image that has Mike in it. You wll see him leaning against the wall on the right side of the picture. Efren Reyes is there in a white jacket. Grady Matthews and Freddy Bentivegna on on the left side of the shot. I believe that Tom Shaw may use this exact image in an article about Mike. If you think Mike would like a print of this shot, we can work that out for no cost to you or Mike. You can PM me with a mailing address and the size of print you would like. You would have plenty of time to have it put in a nice frame for him.

This is a nice one. Do you know what year this was?

 

[BillPorter]

The year was 1986

This is a nice one. Do you know what year this was?

The photo was taken in 1986 at the Clyde Childress Memorial Tournament in Lexington, KY. I would suggest that you take a look at my gallery of images from that tournament, but, at the moment, we have closed down all our pool photo galleries on Smugmug as we are near the limit of our allowed "traffic" on that site for the month of May. Check the galleries in 2-3 weeks and it will probably be open ( http://billporter.smugmug.com ). On June 1, we are opening two galleries; 1983-1984 Red's Tournaments and 2006 Derby City Classic.