McEnroe Versus Strickland

I had a chat the other day with my dear friend Mike L. Mike sees things half empty, I see them half full. He would say he see things as they are, not half empty. ;)

He loves picking on me, and I him. My favorite response to him is “WTFever.” LMAO. We have fun with each other.

This one day he says to me, “By the way if I paypal you 10 bucks will you stop using the McEnroe cliche' ?”

“Why can’t I use him?” I ask back.

Michael:  Because it's apple and oranges.

Me:  Why? Explain it to me, please.

Then I added, “if your explanation changes my mind, ie made sense, then I think I will share that on my blog. I can stand corrected, and have a different perspective, if it convinces me ;)”

Then Mike shares his thoughts on why I should stop saying “what is the big deal about Earls’ “antics”? They are just like John McEnroe’s, and McEnroe didn’t hurt tennis. So why are people complaining?”

Michael: At that time, tennis was one of the biggest sports going. Millions upon millions of people watching. Pool a hundred people watching.

McEnroe had classic “me against him” matches that people followed. Bjorn, Connors etc. Earl not really.

In the media and in promoted tennis, McEnroe had personality and was smart and promoted the game in general with kids and parents etc. Earl does none of that.

Earl attacks everyone in the house. The other player mostly. The fans. And lastly the ref. McEnroe went after the ref. Not the other players, not the fans.

McEnroe gave lots of money to charity. McEnroe gave thousands of corporate outings for the biggest companies in the world. He was sought after by everyone to come to their place to entertain. Earl not so much.

If McEnroe were to get thrown out of a match because of his antics with the ref, a hundred million dollars could be lost from advertisers and networks. If Earl gets tossed, nothing is lost.

In every way, McEnroe was way more important to tennis than Earl. And as a smart guy, he promoted the hell out of the sport. Earl, uh, no.

Me: I differ on one fact. Brad Gilbert talks about McEnroe giving players hell, tho.

Michael:Quite possibly. But you didn't see it on tv in every single match.

Me: True

Michael:Two entirely different situations. Pool is a street game that needs help with building it up. Tennis was accepted and one guy came along and was different and grew the sport all by himself.
McEnroe had charisma.

They both won U.S. Opens, though. And both were the best at what they did at their time. That's all I can see.

Me:  hmmm.

You are saying McEnroe grew the sport himself, even though it was already accepted?

Michael: I'm saying he grew the sport because he brought in a lot more people because of him and his personality and the rivalries that were created. Before him it wasn't as colorful as sport. More country club white clothes sort of thing. He changed tennis. Even if he was personally an a$$ on the court with refs and sometimes players, he overcame it by being smart and charismatic and by endlessly promoting the sport. Promoting the sport may be the biggest single thing pool culture doesn't get. For some unknown reason Pool Pros think they need to get paid to lift a finger to help the game they benefit from.

Me:  Doesn't Earl ask to be paid for his appearances? I know he gets paid for them.

Michael: Sure.

His appearances get a low turnout though. What do you suppose McEnroe would have drawn if he showed up at a regional tennis tournament? Even now?

People still pay good money to watch a 50 something McEnroe play a 50 something someone else. Don’t think you can compare the two.

McEnroe was one of top 10 most well known people in the world. You can’t find 10 people in your local league who even know who Earl Strickland is.

So compare Earl with someone from curling or something.

Me:  lol. WTFever.

Michael: End of rant. Really the bottom line is here: McEnroe draws thousands, Earl draws 10.

Me: But if pool was mainstream like tennis?

Michael: But it isn't. Pool is a game. People aren't interested. Pool people gotta get that out of their head. There is no demand for professional pool. And I know you don't believe it but it's worse because of people like Earl. Apples and oranges.

Me:  Apples. Oranges

Michael: You create popularity for a game by hard work. And the people who are going to benefit should be doing most of the promoting work. In this case they won't.

And then the people doing the work have to have great charisma. Then it has to be interesting for a spectrum of people to watch. Then people need to want to buy tickets. Sports like football, tennis etc have all passed that test. Pool, no. So it's not comparable.

Me:  That’s why Jeanette Lee is famous. She can work a crowd. Just like John Schmidt can work a crowd.

Michael: Pool has a bad case of not knowing what they don't know.

Me:  Apples. Oranges.  But Earl still is one of the greatest rotation players of all time. You can't take that away from him.  :)

Michael: Very True.


Mike makes a lot of good points, and now I understand why he doesn't think I should compare Earl's and McEnroe's "antics."   Hey Mike, I'll take that $10 via paypal now.  ;)