Earl Strickland
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Earl Strickland (born on June 8, 1961, Roseboro, North Carolina) is an American professional pool player and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 2006.[1] He is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time because of his numerous championship titles within a 25-year time span.
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[edit] Early Days
Strickland started playing pool at the age of nine, and after intensive practice he entered his first pro tournament at 15.
[edit] Career
Strickland rose to national prominence in 1983, with a victory in Lake Tahoe. [2] This was followed in 1984, in Caesars Palace Pro Billiard Classic, Las Vegas.
According to sources, Strickland played "like a polished gem." He was beginning to be a dominant force on the tournament trail and recognized as a future world champion. He had the "skill, endurance, patience, temperament, and tenacity of which champions are made."[3] Because of his dominance, Strickland was named The National Billiard News Player of the Year in 1984.[4]
He won the 1988 World Open championship, after a momentous final confrontation between himself and Mike 'Captain Hook' Sigel".
A 45-second shot clock was used to monitor each shot because the tournament was being recorded for broadcast for a seven-week series. At the conclusion, Sigel commented he could feel the pressure of being clocked. Strickland, on the other hand, said they "could have made it only 30 seconds between shots, and it wouldn't have mattered."[5].
At the 2004 Derby City Classic, a week-long multiple tournament event held every January in Louisville, Kentucky, Strickland was one of six competitors in a nine-ball ring game. Veteran Grady Mathews, when introducing Strickland, says when Earl Strickland is in the house, "A hush ensues, and there is an expectation," because of his brilliant shot-making capabilities. [6]
[edit] Awards and accolades
Strickland is a multiple winner of the prestigious Player of the Year Award,[7] and his career highlights include five wins at the U.S. Open Nine-ball Championships (more than any other professional pool player worldwide), and the WPA World Nine-ball Championships. Strickland is the only WPA World Nine-ball Champion ever to win the event in consecutive years. He is also an ever-present player for the American team in the annual Mosconi Cup tournament.
Strickland once ran 11 consecutive racks against Nick Mannino during the first PCA tournament in 1996 where there was a stipulation that anyone who could break and run 10 racks would win US$1,000,000.[8] Jimmy Mataya, who was present at the event, witnessed Strickland's last shot, a tough nine-ball combination in which Earl showed no fear and "fired it in with authority" to win the prize.[9]
For 2007, he was ranked #6 in Pool & Billiard Magazine's "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.[10]
[edit] Controversy
Strickland has engaged in back-and-forth colloquys with fans, players, referees, and tournament officials. His 2003 World Pool Championship match with snooker star Steve Davis was particularly notorious. Before the match, Strickland had given a particularly charged interview with a Sky Sports reporter, in which he complained that fans had been disrespectful to him (booing when his name had been broadcast over the PA), and that the event "Revolves around Davis" (the event was organised by Matchroom Sport, headed by Davis's manager Barry Hearn, while Sky's coverage had featured Davis heavily in order to win an audience in the UK). He also appeared upset that Sky Sports had been repeatedly showing replays during the build up to the match, showing his defeat to Davis, which clinched the previous year's Mosconi Cup for Team Europe.
During the match, a Strickland entered the arena visibly downbeat, and soon began to engage in heated verbal arguments with fans and referee Michaela Tabb. Microphones caught him using foul language to one member of the crowd, then telling Tabb to "shut up" when she reprimanded him. In response, Davis made use of his entitlement to take a break in the match, intentionally leaving Strickland to the mercy of the crowd. During the gap, Strickland put his fingers in his ears to block out the crowd's support for Davis, which had the opposite effect on the crowd, who mocked the gesture, and cheered loudly for Davis whenever Strickland took his fingers out. Late in the match, he responded to Davis' missing of an easy shot by leaping out of his chair, fists aloft, shouting to the crowd "Yeah! He dogged it!". When Davis took a second break, Strickland loudly complained that this was not allowed, adding "He's Steve Davis, he can do what he likes". Strickland's tirade against Davis, the crowd, and the rules of the event, continued in a post-match interview, before visibly calming and apologising for his behaviour.[11] He brought the referee flowers by way of an apology during his next game.[12]
During the 2006 Mosconi Cup, which took place at Rotterdam, Netherlands, December 7-10, 2006, the audience was loud, cheering and blowing horns when rooting for Team Europe. During a match with Nick van den Berg, someone shouted from the audience for Team USA Member Strickland to "shut up" since he had continued talking whilst opponents were taking their shots. The noise was so intense that Referee Michaela Tabb warned spectators they could be thrown out of the arena if they persisted. [13] During Strickland's match with Team Europe Member Thomas Engert, he broke his own cue out of frustration by smashing it against the floor after a failed shot attempt during the difficult playing conditions. Strickland, however, went on to win the match, 7-4, despite the loud noise consisting of cheering and blowing horns from the audience as they were rooting for Team Europe. [14] At the same event the following year, a particularly bad-tempered clash between with new world champion Daryl Peach led to the normally mild-mannered Englishman stating in a live TV interview "Strickland is the scum of the Earth".
[edit] Titles and achievements
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[edit] References
- ^ Earl Strickland inducted into Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame 2006
- ^ "USA Dominates World Nine-ball", Pool & Billiards Magazine, May 1990
- ^ "Earl 'The Pearl' Strickland Wins Another Caesars Event," page 11, the The National Billiard News, October 1984. Retrieved May 18, 2007
- ^ "Pot Shots" by Bruce Venzke, page 5, The National Billiard News, February 1986. Retrieved May 19, 2007
- ^ "Brunswick's World Open on T.V. Features the Best," Pool and Billiard Magazine, pages 27-28, July 1888
- ^ Billiard Club Network, 2004 Derby City Classic, Louisville, Kentucky
- ^ Pool & Billiard Magazine. "Top Picks in the Sport of Kings", Harold Simonsen, 1988-01, p. 15. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. (English) ""The Professional Billiard Association (PBA) has announced that Earl Strickland has replaced Mike Sigel as the Number One ranked player for 1987"
- ^ "Earl, According to Earl", Billiards Digest magazine (online edition), April 2006; Note: The million-dollar prize seemed to be a very safe stipulation because runs that high are quite rare especially in formal tournament play; there have been no similar promotions since.
- ^ Billiard Club Network, 2004 Derby City Classic, Louisville, Kentucky
- ^ "The Survey Says...: Pool & Billiard Magazine's 22nd Annual Player and Fan Poll" (February 2008). Pool & Billiard Magazine 26 (2): p. 14. Summerville, South Carolina: Sports Publications. ISSN 1049-2852.
- ^ "Panozzo Mount St Earl Erupts, Wins!".
- ^ Mike Panozzo. "Mr. Congeniality: 2003 World Championships", Billiards Digest, July 19, 2003.
- ^ "Van den Berg Wins a Classic" 2006 Mosconi Cup, Rotterdam, Netherlands, December 7-10, 2006
- ^ MosconicCup.com article December 2006 "Strickland Smashes Cue and Still Wins"
[edit] External links
- "Earl Strickland, Player Profile", InternationalPoolTour.com, International Pool Tour
| Preceded by Inaugural champion |
WPA Men's World Nine-ball Champion 1990-1991 |
Succeeded by Johnny Archer |
| Preceded by Mika Immonen |
WPA Men's World Nine-ball Champion 2002 |
Succeeded by Thorsten Hohmann |
| Preceded by Mike Sigel |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 1984 |
Succeeded by Jimmy Reid |
| Preceded by David Howard |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 1987 |
Succeeded by Mike Lebron |
| Preceded by Tommy Kennedy |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 1993 |
Succeeded by Efren Reyes |
| Preceded by Rodney Morris |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 1997 |
Succeeded by Buddy Hall |
| Preceded by Johnny Archer |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 2000 |
Succeeded by Corey Deuel |
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