Earl Strickland

Earl Strickland (born June 8, 1961) is an American professional pool player who is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time.

He has won over 100 championship titles and three world titles.

Strickland rose to national prominence in 1983 with a victory in Caesars Tahoe Billiard Classic defeating Steve Mizerak in the finals and winning $35,000.

This was followed in 1984 by winning the McDermott Masters 9-Ball Championship.

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."

Because of his dominance, Strickland was named The National Billiard News Player of the Year in 1984.

Strickland is a multiple winner of the prestigious Billiards Digest Player of the Year in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 2000 including Billiards Digest Player of the Decade in the 1980s.

His career highlights of a record three WPA World Nine-ball Championships & a record five U.S. Open Nine-ball Championships along with Shane Van Boening & a record three McDermott Masters 9-Ball Championships.

Strickland is the only WPA World Nine-ball Champion ever to win the event in consecutive years.

He won the 1988 PBA World 9-Ball Championship, after a momentous final confrontation between himself and Mike 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."

In 1996, Strickland won the largest cash prize to date winning the PCA $1,000,000 Challenge by being the first player to run 10 consecutive racks in a tournament.

He is also known as one of the sport's most controversial players for his outspoken views and his sometimes volatile behavior at tournaments.

Strickland started playing pool at the age of 8.

After intensive practice, he entered his first professional tournament aged 16.

At Mosconi Cup, from 1996 until 2005, Strickland holds the record for winning nine times along with Johnny Archer.

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 10 racks would win US$1,000,000.

Jimmy Mataya, who was present at the event, witnessed Strickland's last shot, a tough nine-ball in which Earl showed no fear and "fired it in with authority" to win the prize.

Up to that time, no one had ever run 10 racks of 9-ball in a row during a professionally sanctioned event.

The feat has never been duplicated in a tournament since.

This Million dollar Challenge event was a kickoff for the new tour, which Earl Strickland, C.J. Wiley, and others helped to build.

He won it on the first day of the event and the very start of the brand new tour association (PCA).

The insurance company backing the event refused to pay and lawsuits were filed.

Two and one half years later, the insurers were forced to pay up.

Unfortunately, due to expenses of the legal battle, Earl received less than a $1,000,000 and this resulted in negative publicity around it and led to a very premature demise of the new PCA tour.

Earl was very gracious about the money, but sorely disappointed that the new tour got off to a bad start.

The scandal and a feud with the already existing feud with the Professional Billiards Tour fearing lost revenues and television contracts spelled doom and led to a quick demise of the new tour.

His 2003 WPA World Nine-ball 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 organized by Matchroom Sport, which was headed by Davis' manager Barry Hearn, while Sky's coverage had featured Davis heavily to win an audience in the UK).

He also appeared upset that Sky Sports had shown numerous replays during the buildup to the match of Davis beating him in the previous year's Mosconi Cup, the match which settled the event in favour of Team Europe.

During the match, Strickland entered the arena visibly downbeat, and after beginning the match in a quiet mood, Strickland soon began to engage in heated verbal arguments with fans and then referee Michaela Tabb.

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 that when Strickland is in the house, "A hush ensues, and there is an expectation" due to his brilliant shot-making capabilities and unpredictable behaviour.

In 2006 he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame.

For 2007, he was ranked #6 in Pool & Billiard Magazine ' s "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.

Strickland has engaged in exchanges with fans, players, referees, and tournament officials.