2 of my very fav pool legends right here. Nick being the soft spoken one and Earl, well, not so much soft spoken lol. That 4/9 rack winning combo by Earl is legendary as well as his expression afterwards. These old matches are fun to revisit.
Just pulled out my VIP seating pass autographed by Varner at this very match! Earl was something else to watch through the whole event. I'm in the pink jacket lol, but there were 3 pink jackets that day. The camera barely got me.
Announcer said, sometimes Earl can run a 9 ball rack in 3 minutes Lol, I've seen him break and run 2 racks in less than 3 minutes, Fact, THE 9 BALL GOAT
Ralphie sue-kay with hair!! Nick was a legend, but really only had a certain time that he excelled. Earl is by far the greatest 9 ball player to ever live. Fantastic all around player, but that greatest title belongs to the magician.
Whoever started Accu-Stats, or whoever had the foresight to record this stuff and archive it, deserves the highest position in the pool hall of fame, or to have a tournament named after them That shot at 26:00 is a real cool piece of history - it's something else being able to watch Strickland progress over 30-40 years. I'm not sure how many other times we get to see something like that, especially from the comfort of our couches for free.
Great call...and Earl's intensity and pleasure at making it was great , too. I believe he knew he was going to pocket that 9....I'm envious but practicing hard.@@DA-xh3tw
One question I have is in the 2nd game when Earl made the 3-ball but scratched getting position on the 4 why then was the 3-ball spotted and Nick had to make it again and get position for the 4-ball once it was down it should have stayed down that's not fair to Nick IMO
Bill Incardona is as knowledgeable in the booth as they come. His partner this tournament tho, Kim Prince is way out of his league. Right down until after the match was over. When he said Nick Varner was simply (outmatched) by Earl proves he's just a stand in. In 1991 Nick Varner dominated the pool world like no other player has. Nick simply caught a hanger on that 2 ball down 7-8 racing to 9. Nick will make that 4 out of 5 easily on a tough table. That makes the match 8-8 with Varner breaking. BTW: I'm one of Earl's biggest fans since the early 1980's. But no one wanted to play Nick in 1991. Period.
