Earl "The Pearl" Strickland!

[Holden Chinaski]

What a legend Earl Is! The guy is hilarious. He's got to be the most agressive and annoying player ever, in any type of sport. He's definitely the worst loser! Very good pool player though.

[sealer]

to me he does not look well

[willtyson]

Absolute legend haha, gotta love the Pearl.

[jrc750]

Yep he's world class isn't he, ....................................a world class plonker !!!

[gtjohnnymac1965]

Not so much a Legend.....more a complete To**er as far as I am concerned I am afraid....can you imagine having to put up with his antics down your Snooker Hall? I know what would happen to him in my local in Morley!!!

GT

[Holden Chinaski]

I think he's hilarious. Of course he's a to**er but he's a legendary to**er!

[Raldon]

John McEnroe of Billard.

We dont need many characters like him.
But without its kind of boring sometimes.

[NorthWestJunior]

Can't stand him. His anger can be pretty priceless but as soon as he turns into that childish sore loser I lose all respect for him.

[DandyA]

he's highly strung, he's emotional, and he's a very fine pool player, one of the very best ... so I'll always enjoy watching him play ... as willtyson said, the Pearl is a legend ...

oh ... and after he's calmed down, he normally does apologise profusely for his "heat of the moment" stuff, well most times at least ...

[willtyson]

Not so much a Legend.....more a complete To**er as far as I am concerned I am afraid....can you imagine having to put up with his antics down your Snooker Hall? I know what would happen to him in my local in Morley!!!

GT

Difference is, he isn't down the snooker hall, he's playing POOL. Crowds are different and so is the etiquette, doesn't mean he isn't an idiot at times but I've watched much more American pool at times just to see what he's going to do and even if he isn't threatening a crowd he's always playing great pool. That's why he's a legend...

[gtjohnnymac1965]

Sorry Will...Of course I am more than aware the guy is a Pool player, am just a bit "old school" and still refer to it as a snooker hall, even tho' there are more pool tables there than snooker I am afraid! Just dont think there is any need to behave the way he does, and even as good as he is at the game, the point I was making is that acting like that, he would be "politely" requested to leave down where I play. I honestly dont think there is a place for that type of petulance at all, let alone in the sport he has chosen to play.

GT

[ace man]

Yes, he's a bad loser and not many take him seriously when he rants, but many of his rants do make a lot of sense and he does have influence at the game. For e.g. some events have recently introduced a bit harder 10ft tables in addition to standard 9ft mostly due to him begging for those for years. Table maker Diamond even officially produced some of the tables in 10ft size. Hopefully they become standard in future.
I 100% agree with him regarding small jump cues...they are pathetic and should be banned. He also advocates shot clock for pool at all times. Good idea as some 9ball guys are in fact slower than Ebdon (yes, seriously).

[damienlch]

Sometimes I wonder if he does not do it on purpose to get at his opponents.

I love the way he plays pool, free flowing, fast and furious, plays it the way it's supposed to imo. I'd certainly consider him amongst the all-time greats... but his antics on and off table is really annoying. Makes for good entertainment to some extent though.

Jump cues should be banned. I know some will say it's a skill in itself but I think it just demeans a good hook (hope I'm getting my pool termininologies right).

[willtyson]

Very much old school myself as well when it comes to snooker I play pool for a bit of laugh and he certainly makes me chuckle lol Totally see what you mean though and I wouldn't even think about doing it, even when just having a laugh! I believe he was diagnosed with bipolar as well which I don't suppose helps him much, although it's probably not the complete cause for the outbursts. Guy's a cracking pool player and a legend, but not a sportsman :snooker:

[narl]

He's nuts, he's employed just about every gimmick in the book to try and help his game, "finger extenders" that were actually rolled up pieces of card with Elastoplast around them that didn't actually extend anything, yellow glasses that helped you "concentrate better", a cardboard ring he used to use on his bridge hand around the cue for the break shot, weights on his arms, legs ass and ankles... and his current gimmick is playing with a standard length cue that has a 12" extension screwed into the end, so around 72" total length.

He's entertaining but mental, gets a bit old hearing him complain about people moving on his shot when they clearly didn't and saying "everyone's against me" when they're not..Its like he wants to put excuses out there early in the game he can then fall back on if he loses.