[Sodapop]

Who seen the Earl Strickland verse the Ralf Souquet match, at the 2005 U.S. Open? Earl was a total suck the whole match, by the end of the match the crowd was booing him. If I was cue tech I'd pull his sponsor, who would want someone who acts like that representing their cues. It's a shame a man with that much talent has to act like that. He missed a few shots early so the rest of the match he did'nt even try when he sat down he buried his head in his hands and did'nt even watch the match. Whenever it was Earls turn to shoot, Ralph had to tell earl it was his turn to shoot, because he had no clue. At one point Ralph soured so he put the cue ball back on the table and told Earl it was his turn to shoot so Earl got up not knowing he had cue ball in hand and shot from where the cue ball was and just dumped the one to the other end of the table, and every shot he took he just shot it carelessly not even thinking about shape and just banging away from whereever the cue ball landed. I do not understand this guy every time I see him play he does something that is totally uncalled for.

What are your thoughts on Earls behavior.


[ Edited by Sodapop on 2005/9/24 17:55 ]

[FASTLARRY]

I was not there and having not seen it on tape, no comment. Let me state, I like Earl, I know him well and I don't doubt these reports I have heard of this match. He's done things 10 times this bad. At least he did not bust his cue in two and stomp out.

Sponsors never pulled Nasties, or Conner’s or McEnro's support in Tennis and they were much worse than Earl. No, I do not support what he does, it is not right. But, we can not lose a talent of his caliber and we need to save him. I heard he went on Zoloft; he needs to double the dosage.

He needs a new serious manager who will take charge of his life and straighten him out. I can sit down and talk to Earl and have for hours, he is intelligent and a delight to converse with. He knows so much. He is such a giant talent.

I only played him once in 93 and shut him out and he went berserk. He does not like to lose, he loses badly. He is a volcano, just waiting to go off. You know he's gonna blow, so the fans now have learned how to punch his buttons. That is a huge part of the problem. I see him as Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde. One side is nice and rational in a social setting. The other side in a match, becomes aggressive and an angry person. He needs this aggression and fire to win but he’s totally lost control of it and how to use it correctly. If Earl would come to me, it would take me 6 months to reprogram his head, but then on, he would rule. I would do it for free, but I never offer free advice to any pro, they must ask me and then for any pro, my help is always comped and I never tell any one who I work with, it’s all confidential. That is why these people come to me, they know this. I don’t drop their names and use them as others do. I just help them.

Earl is fine if you cheer for him and he's the star. When you root for the other guy, especially a carpetbagger Philippine he gets angry at you thinking you are un-American by not supporting your home town boy. I think he's right on that one, but the fans don't.

He's now got it in for the fans and they got it in for him. It's not pretty, not good for the game and I fear its going to end up badly for him. The two greatest baseball players of all time were once cheered but at the end of their careers they were booed badly, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Once the fans turn on you, it rarely does not change, but it did in Golf with Hogan and Nicklaus. Earl needs serious management who embarks on image repair and spin control.

Most of the great stars went mad and were banned. They reached the top and then hated the game, the fans and every one associated with the sport. Most then self destructed.

Louie Roberts, booze and drugs, was assassinated.

Frank Ives, drank him self to death at 34, might have been the greatest player ever.

Jake Schaefer Jr., became a serious drunk ending his career early. Was the greatest balk line player ever?

Ralph Greenleaf, the greatest pool player ever, became a serious drunk, heroin user, was banned from the game many times and died dead broke at 50 and tossed into a pauper grave with no headstone marking his final resting place. He hated everybody.

Willie Mosconi, the 2nd greatest pool player of all time went nuts on amphetamines and at the end was banned from the game. His head blew up on the drugs and he never was the same after that. He hated every body.

I could name you a dozen more, but I see Earl on that same path to self destruction. He has told me, he hates the game, the fans, everyone around him, he is doomed unless somebody gets a hold of him and reprograms his head and controls his daily actions. He's going down and it is not going to be pretty.

If you could put Souquets head on Earls body, he would never lose. A few years ago I was shooting crap at the Riveria casino in Vegas and it was 3 am and I was 5K up, nothing to brag about playing $50 bucks a bet and I had a lot of bets going on. Souquet walks up and sits behind me to study how and why I am winning. He sits there for a half hour until I got tired and quit and went to bed.

He is very cerebal and intelligent. Bustamante walks up and asks, is he hot, he said yes, he bet's the table max on my next roll, I win, he makes 2 grand and walks off. That is the difference between the 3 of them, the carpetbagger, just wants the money fast, the cerebal thinker wants to know why and how and the warrior out of control. I understand them all, know where they are coming from.



[ Edited by FASTLARRY on 2005/9/24 19:32 ]

[Sodapop]

First off if I was the company paying Earl good money to represent my cues I would not tolerate it, he is representing Cue Tech and the game of pool he should think about that before he acts the way he does.

I found this story about Willie Mosconi online at freepoollessons.com

Do you think this story has any truth to it?

Willie Mosconi;

There is no argument about it, no doubt about it, Willie was the greatest 14.1 (straight pool) player of all time...


1964 at the University Bowl in Boca Raton, Fl., this is the first time I had the opportunity to see this legend - Willie Mosconi play. He was playing some local a 150 point exhibition match. Willie racked em up, called the head ball 2 rails in the side, kicked into the end rail and rebounded into the end ball which banked the head ball 2 rails into the side pocket - amazing...

Willie then proceeded to run 150 and out, the local player never got an inning, the crowd applauding and cheering convinced Willie to continue his run and Willie complied. He ran a total of 226 balls, the most amazing thing about this run was, Willie never shot a ball in either one of the behind the headstring corner pockets, it was absolutely beautiful to watch. Willie ran 226 balls in 4 pockets, the way he kept weaving around the balls was really something to behold, it reminded me of a professional ice skater doing a beautiful, smooth figure 8, he was oh so smoooooth...

Willie missed the 227th ball which was just a little off angle to the side pocket, the ball hit the outside point and bounced back toward Willie.

This shot was in the direction of the spectators seated in bleachers that had been placed there especially for Willie's exhibition. There was a brief moment of silence, then the crowd bagan to stand and cheer, but before most of the spectators had a chance to stand...

Willie, looking like he was fit to be tied, pointed his cue at a young boy in the stands and said something to this effect - If you can't make that little brat sit still, you ought to leave him at home. Immediately the crowd looked at the little boy, who by now had tears in his eyes, then they began to boo and jeer Willie, the owner of University Bowl tried in vain to appease the crowd, but they all left, including myself, disappointed, some were even taunting Willie, calling him names...

That's How Much Of A Perfectionist He Was, Perhaps The Greatest Perfectionist Of All Time, At Least In Pool. I Didn't Understand It. Then,...Willie had managed to ruin what otherwise would have been a great memorable experience for everyone. Willie was without a doubt a perfectionist, but he had a temper that he himself couldn't control - what a shame. The next time I had the privilege of watching Willie play was at the last tournament of his career...

1966, Charlie Milliken is holding a world-class straight pool tournament in Long Beach, CA.. Everyone you could think of was entered, including Willie who hadn't played in a tournament since 1954, but he still had the gift, man did he ever...


126 of the 128 man field had been eliminated, two players left in the finals.


Game = Straight Pool 150 Points
Joe Balsis vs. Willie Mosconi
Referee = Arnie Satin


Play begins, Willie wins the lag - Balsis breaks, and does so perfectly. They each play a few super safeties jockeying back and forth trying to get a shot, they both take a couple of scratches during this opening rack, then Balsis is near the end rail and calls a ball behind the stack thathe must cut backwards, he makes it, and receives a thunderous ovation. Joe (the butcher) waits for the noise to stop, then proceeds to run balls and finally misses a difficult break shot, this makes the score Balsis +138 to Mosconi -2. Joe had run 10 racks, surely Willie would fold...


Like Joe, Willie waits for the well deserved applause and cheering that Balsis had earned to cease. He then gets up out of his chair, comes to the table and begins to run balls as smoothly as Fred Astaire could dance. Rack after rack he runs balls with a confidence, skill, and knowledge of straight pool that only Willie posessed. Willie makes an unusually difficult break shot. Now the score is Willie Mosconi 139, Joe Balsis 138, but lo and behold, the cue ball has frozen to the top of the stack, it looks like Willie doesn't have a shot, there are 3 balls all in line frozen together on the right side of the pack with the cueball frozen to the top ball and in the same line, counting the cueball this makes it 4 balls in a row all frozen together. After studying the shot in depth, Willie announces to the referee (Arnie Satin), that he is going to play the middle ball in the corner pocket. The crowd is on their feet, he elevates his cue, hits the cue ball at 10:30 (high left english), and the middle ball splits the wicket.

The crowd starts to go crazy cheering, then Arnie Satin yells foul, Mr. Mosconi has committed an illegal push. Balsis gets up runs 12 and wins the match...


Arnie Satin also had the honor of calling out all those players names who had finished in the money, having them come forth and present them with their prise money envelope. After completing that. He asked if Willie Mosconi and Joe Balsis would come up together, well the audience, which consisted of some of the biggest names in Hollywood, went wild displaying their appreciation of the quality of pool they had just witnessed. Willie was on Arnie's right Balsis on Arnie's left...


Arnie began by saying. "And now to Willie Mosconi who played brilliantly - that's all he got out, Willie grabbed the 2nd place envelope with his left hand and hit Arnie with a right sucker punch uppercut, knocking him out cold! Willie - what a scene, what a temper...

That's How Much Of A Perfectionist He Was, Perhaps The Greatest Perfectionist Of All Time, At Least In Pool. I Didn't Understand It.

[ Edited by Sodapop on 2005/9/24 19:50 ]

[FASTLARRY]

Yes the kid story is true, Greenleaf told many kids to fook off, the final one is what got him banned from the tour at the end of his career, I tried not to bring that up, but as you did, yes it did occur and was covered up. His head blew up right after that with an emblosim stroke and he retired and never returned to tour play but then just did shows and exhibitions well into his early 80's. Willie was a ass hole. I did see him run over 200 12 times. I never saw any one better and I saw Greenleaf and Hoppe and Shaefer.

[Tennesseejoe]

An old friend and great player told me many years ago"Pool is a beautiful game that is only spoiled by some of the people who play it"

[FASTLARRY]

truer words were never spoken Joe

[Leftoverchinese]

What a shame to be remembered that way.

[paco1076]

What a terrible legacy to leave behind. Too bad that had to be that way for those guys.

Craig