Earl Strickland Vs Mike Massey - 1992 PBT

This is one from the vault - the semi-final match between Mike Massey and Earl Strickland from the 1992 Tour Championship - from the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tn. This tournament featured the Meucci Shot Clocks - players are on a 20 second shot clock - two 20 minute halves. Great run out 9- ball, a few full-cue jump shots by both players - some familiar faces in the crowd - and Buddy Hall calling the action with Kevin Cusick. There are even some "tip" segments featuring David Howard and Jim Rempe. I uploaded this the way it was on the tape, complete with some pretty cool old school pool commercials... enjoy!
FTR... The Tournament was won by Roger Griffis - he defeated Earl in the final.
Updated - If you're one of the people that doesn't like the rules, I agree, but this video was posted to display one of the most successful eras of the Professional Billiards Tour. While I appreciate comments, the negative and rude ones will be deleted. I follow the rule that says, if you don't like it, then why watch it?
For people that post rude comments about Earl, I consider Earl a friend. I delete the negative and insulting comments out of respect for my friend. If you don;t understand that, then I don't know what to tell you. For those that enjoy this and my other videos, thanks for all of your support for the game of pool!

[@TTSetters]

Mike Massey is a very cool character. I met him in Colorado with my dad, who my dad asked him to play a game of pool. My dad broke, caught nothing, Mike stepped up ran the table and my dad said "Thank you that was awesome" even though he never had a chance. My dad has since passed, but this was a fond fond memory that he always talked about.

[@husnainafsar8708]

touching. :)

[@MrJdsenior]

Very cool. I've heard from many people who knew him to varying degrees that he was (is, I'm sure) a gracious man.

[@tatyanadavydenko2739]

Winner of a video, been searching for "pool hall ideas" for a while now, and I think this has helped. You ever tried - Fensaiah Conavid Review - (just google it ) ? Ive heard some unbelievable things about it and my m8 got excellent results with it.

[@fireang3l217]

Loved watching Mike.

[@fireang3l217]

That's awesome playing with a legend. Wish I could play a game with Mike.

[@saulgoodman7370]

All the dislikes seem pretty disrespectful seeing as it's an old VHS tape that someone bought with the purpose of sharing it. Thanks, I watched the full feature, first time watching Mike Massey shoot, honestly real glad to see the legend play a match.

[@BlackjackDSapolis]

Actually, this is the VHS recording I made when it aired on television back in 1992. The problem is that there is a younger crowd that doesn't realize that back in the day - that is how we recorded professional pool. Today it is real easy - everybody has a camera and can video anything they want in HD quality - back then that technology didn't exist. I have always wondered why someone would take the time to attack a video for it being genuine - but I guess some people really have nothing better to do with their time.

[@SmolenskiPrince]

@@BlackjackDSapolis Don't waste your brain cells thinking about them. Just say a quick prayer that they get some more happiness and purpose in their life.

[@godjhaka7376]

​@@SmolenskiPrince"Praying is BEGGING, keeping you DOWN here that's SLAVERY." -Bobby Hemmitt The slaves of Amerikkka prayed for hundreds of years, and the white man still raped black children and men, lynched, killed, cut off feet and testicles, and every other evil under the sun towards black people aka the original first man created by God to live on earth, scientifically speaking.

[@charlesslade5800]

Notice Earl applauding at 12:43. He has a reputation for being petulant, but at his core he's a sportsman, appreciates the game, and will give credit where it's due. That was an amazing shot. Just ask Earl.

[@BladeRunner-td8be]

If Earl is winning you will regularly see him clapping for his opponent, at least in his early days on the tour. If Earl is losing he never claps for his opponent and you are likely to see all kinds of childish and poor sportsmanship behavior. With any other player I would stop watching them because of this but with Earl I put up with it because of his outrageously skilled talent on the pool table. Cheers

[@godjhaka7376]

​@@BladeRunner-td8beit's a very poor reason to stop watching someone because you don't like the way they are made by God and act. You never knew Earl if you don't know the true kind spirit he is. Same as Minnesota Fats who wouldn't hurt a fly and was actually a friend to animals. But he can hustle you out of your money. Earl is in the top 3 living legends of pool, and besides SVB the only human to win 5 US Opens. Earl name will live on forever, but I can't say the same about you or anyone else in the comments section. Long live Earl the Pearl Strickland!

[@nmartin0500]

thanks for posting, I have a hard time finding videos of Mike Massey playing actual pool games; and earl was almost undefeatable during the 80s...

[@godjhaka7376]

@17:44 this is why Earl the Pearl is the greatest! Under pressure he delivers. Long Live Earl The Pearl Strickland!

[@adamwest6680]

No need to apologize.... This was some good fast paced 9ball legend shit

[@joeeckley5272]

Nice verbiage,

[@Omahabigbill]

I thought the video was in excellent shape for being 20 years old. No problems here!

[@deadstroke013]

this is the first match i seen mike reg pool rather than doing his trick shots. love the way the pearl plays. thanks for the upload

[@MrJdsenior]

Man, Earl was RIDICULOUS back then, his game looks like mine would if I just walked up and placed the cue for the next shot, and he does it ALMOST every shot. SUPERB rock control.

[@tightlyshavednun]

good ole days of pool.... better rules and better respect for each other :-)

[@TheWildeyeWillie]

Man, is Mike ever young is this. Like most, not a giant fan of the rules but it is what it is. Thank you for uploading sir!

[@andrewwood9067]

I'm enjoying these old commercials as much as I am watching this great match lol

[@MrRex1949]

Great game here. Enjoy watching the old pool players back then. Sad Mike Massey died. He was a good pool player. Seemed to have a good humor when playing pool. Thanks for sharing this video. 🎱

[@BlackjackDSapolis]

Mike Massey hasn't died. He's alive and well.

[@MrRex1949]

David Sapolis : Sorry there. Your correct. And I was wrong. Mike Massey is still alive. The article I got it from was incorrect. Thanks for your input there. And he is 67 years old now. 🎱

[@clayholliman3724]

David Sapolis where does this guy now living.....id love to meet him and. hear about his lifetime....

[@bobbylight111]

These rules are totally bizarre. I've been playing pool, not to mention watching these old match tapes, for years and I've never seen anything like this. Thanks for the upload Blackjack.

[@jeffarthur322]

Thanks so much for this piece of history, and I also learned a tall guy need not get down to table level to shoot great pool

[@scambodia147]

Jeff Arthur my thoughts,exactly as I said now during this fkn pandemic ,peace bro

[@patrickrobichaux]

I have never seen anything like this. Completely awesome. Only a true professional can even think of competing. No time to think about different shot patterns. I wonder how the player felt about recommending this style? I'm guessing since this is the first I've seen it, it just wasn't popular with either fans or players. I know I personally like more time to predict what the player will do with the cue ball.

[@williamhall7349]

I watch this just to hear Buddy talk been a hero of mine since I saw him play at beenies place in arlington VA about 1973 or 74

[@BladeRunner-td8be]

The game they are playing obviously is 9-Ball, but the rules they are using is anything but obvious and I'm not young. With two players like Mike and Earl the format works well and in my opinion is more exciting than the rules used today. Here's the problem as I see it, and this is probably the reason these rules aren't used anymore. If the player who is ahead starts stalling to use up time to increase his chance of winning. The fairness factor goes out the window at that point and ruins the game/match for the players as well as the audience. This piece of history is outstanding and almost an honor for me to have witnessed. Cheers

[@piratesfan1995able]

Massey looking like an enforcer for the Corleone family while Earl looks like a 1990s movie Theater styrofoam cup

[@veronicahawthorne3452]

Massey reminds me of a big lumberjack shooting pool here lol. But what a great player he was!

[@SMPfilmfan]

2:20 Earl’s control on jump shots is incredible

[@kathykeegan6504]

I was there when C J Wiley ran 27 straight racks in a money match in Melbourne FL. I rode there with C J's backer that night, T R McIntosh. Then I drove T R home to Tampa. C J looked like a kid then. Mike Massey is 6'8 or 6'9. Every time he sees me he runs over to me and hugs me. Once he even dropped his cue on the table first. He was warming up for a tournament match in West Palm Beach. I've also almost had his cue stuck in my ear. My own high run is 7 racks in a practice match against John Schmidt in Tampa.

[@airman20012001]

Awesomeness

[@nitotech]

Ralf Soquet would quit pool if there was a shot clock.

[@awakenedsoul2638]

shot clock is for chess not for pool.

[@giannisola_sta_robot6932]

and where to look john morra.......

[@capacola262743]

i kind of like this format. it's interesting and it keeps things moving along. it encourages difficult shots. also the time pressure adds another dimension to the game.

[@mikescorpio13]

+paul kersey Exactly what i have been repeating for the past 15 years.This was entertaining.More mistakes due to clock and eager to win games.All the engredients for a great show.Sadly it all changed. Safety play is what killed the entertaining aspect of pool.

[@petermgates]

Really enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing.

[@fastballonly]

In those days, they used to slam balls instead of playing safe. lol

[@ericsalles3393]

cant play safe in this format

[@seamusmcfadden994]

You missed the "no safe" rule of this tournament. Great format for that and the scoring!!

[@gordonwilliams3680]

Thank you. Two of my favorite players.

[@djchino7724]

What a match. Great upload

[@heatbucspies55]

Actually, yeah, it is entertaining to see players actually have to attempt difficult shots instead of just going safe until they have a shot they know they can make. I can appreciate that kind of play, but there are a million tournaments like that, and it's fun to actual see an interesting shot made every so often. I don't think that makes anyone an unappreciative fool.

[@marklewis3884]

28:18 It was a remake of the shot. Notice the position of the 9-ball. In the original shot, it's just below the black racking dot. In the remake (where it looks like there's a camera right behind his right hand), the 9-ball is a couple of inches above the black racking dot.

[@humanentity2214]

legends. thanks for uploading

[@CupOfOrangeJuice1]

Strickland, the only player that can make 20 seconds look like a long time.

[@5000rgb]

This is peak Earl Strickland. Mike Massey is wonderful, too, but this format is the style of play Strickland was born for.

[@workz780]

wouldn't it be a trip calling that number in the commercial and someone answering back in time XD

[@kiekser]

Thank-you for posting. If u have more.... go :-)

[@je52007]

I can clarify exactly what happened. Mike hits the cue ball with an extreme amount of left english, and a good amount of top english, and it's the top english that forces the cue ball up (like rolling a bouncy-ball as hard as you can into a sitting basketball). Mike is also about 6 foot 8 and has to got to weigh close to 300 pounds, so when he hits a ball with a lot of force, he makes it look real easy lol.

[@bobbylight111]

Such a bizarre format, lol...great upload

[@Bart_Depestele]

good old days ..

[@kgiven100]

Wow this brings back memories!!

[@mikescorpio13]

3:52 creating angles with body english is a lost art form

[@martinparker9249]

@2:20 WOW THE AUDACITY OF THE PEARL ......GREAT SHOT ...UNREAL !!!

[@martinparker9249]

GOTTA BE ONE OF THE BEST SHOTS IVE EVER SEEN

[@hujklnm23]

After watching 1992 pool, i understand why earl doesnt like pool nowadays. This pool is so much more exciting.

[@fireang3l217]

Love Mike Massey; watched him for years that's how I learned to shoot pool. Went to bars when I was in my teen years and shot pool made good money had a pool table at home use to do home tournaments every weekend with everyone wanting to play against me because I always ran the table all but a few games I lost but shoot I was young now I want to go shoot pool and teach my kids from what I learned from Mike Massey doing trick shots watching it on the vine before KZbin. Late 90s-mid 2000s started shooting pool at 8 watching him on tv then. Mike's really good, my favorite pool player and trick shooter. (Are we allowed to say shooter or is someone going to get offended?) I couldn't care less.

[@weakfingers]

What the...? First person view camera at 28:22? That's incredible! How did they get that to work?

[@toscodav]

Everybody talks about Efren's Z shot? In reality, That shot by Earl to end the half was more amazing.

[@muckyeye]

Loved that shot at 17:46 amazing from Earl.

[@neuvocastezero1838]

Earl played a jump shot! And is he breaking with a carbon shaft in '92? And how about the 1st person camera stuff? Did they set the shots up with head cameras after the match and then splice them in in production? This was before GoPro.

[@MrJdsenior]

They really are pool gods at times, that shot at 17:42. WTH did that come from? A carom to a two rail cross side with with just a handful of seconds on the clock to shoot it. AMAZING! I think he may have actually just been trying the corner away from him, but with these guys, I'm never sure. I guarantee you Earl would say that was the shot he was trying, whether it was, or not. ;-) According to him, on one interview, he's NEVER missed a shot that was his fault. LOL. Maybe it helps to believe stuff like that to get to this level. Who knows?

[@nusstu]

Haha...yeah, it seemed so effortless that I thought it was a scoop. But you're right he needs to hit the ball pretty darn hard to get it to bounce like that. Blackjack's slow mo clearly shows what u described too. Thanks for clarifying guys :)

[@rstar88105]

Did you guys see that? At 27:30 the table was bumped rolling the 2 ball away from the rail a bit then after the 2 ball settles back close to the rail Mike addresses the ball and plays a bank. I wonder what the penalty is for bumping the table like that to get a better leave. I've seen guys do that to drop a 9 ball hanger before.

[@MrJdsenior]

Don't apologize, the quality of that tape, up to where it didn't matter, was REALLY good. ;-)

[@williamtruitte4929]

Strange format , I feel like ultimate pool definitely took some of these rules. I'm glad you cant pass on any shot like that anymore that was very strange.

[@jt10ball]

I think I kinda like it David, thanks for sharing.

[@horaceball5418]

Everyone loves Earl the Pearl, and he is obviously everyone's favorite pool player!

[@knightingalesaid]

Great video, thanks.

[@toscodav]

The shot clock is a big advantage to Earl. He plays his best when the games are fast. Massey should have run out the clock prior to Earl making that amazing 9 ball combo as time ran out.

[@milsumla]

Earl is such a great shot maker.

[@19ADAM80]

Thanks for the video!

[@Krushard]

Holy smokes, what did I just watch, pool has come a long way for sure :). On a side note, make big pockets great again, it's fun as fuck when risk is rewarded!

[@Mahatma618]

Love the stroke of Mike Massey

[@Solder_king]

not a huge fan of the shot clock but it shows how great they both perform under pressure. loved this match. thanks for the upload!

[@fastballonly]

I like the way Massey banged the balls when playing out of shape.

[@jeddfarley]

The Rules are call shot 9ball? What's the name of rules? I've played like this many times but never realized it went farther then a sorta bar rules/pool hall rule. If you mess up your opponent can give you the shot back for your mistake. Love it

[@davids11131113]

WPBA has standardized rules for tournament play worldwide.

[@jeddfarley]

I bring it up to some people who are used to ball in hand rules and tell me it sounds fishy or stupid. I like it

[@cueball1019]

Why not this instead of bonus ball?

[@therealmattdamon5161]

There's an 8 second shot clock

[@jdbankshot]

how you doin' blackjack? love your channel, i'm subbed, hopin' you can go to the vault more often. despite these rules, this was still pure gold. thank you, & keep up the good work...maybe i'll play you someday.

[@JohnFilax]

That was awesome!

[@fernandochase2848]

i dont mean to be off topic but does anyone know of a method to log back into an Instagram account?? I was stupid forgot the account password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me.

[@rowankylen8353]

@Fernando Chase instablaster ;)

[@fernandochase2848]

@Rowan Kylen i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@fernandochase2848]

@Rowan Kylen it worked and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy:D Thanks so much you really help me out!

[@rowankylen8353]

@Fernando Chase You are welcome xD

[@BlackjackDSapolis]

I just posted a video response where I slowed it down, Mike hits down on the cue ball, so he doesn't scoop. Because he hits downward, the cue ball jumps and bounces... sort of what you see on many 9 ball break shots.

[@BladeRunner-td8be]

This downward strike of the cue ball doesn't stop with the break and on jump shots. Professionals use this almost imperceptible technique all the time while shooting in the actual game. It's difficult to believe but many, if not all, professionals have the ability to use follow using this downward force and not letting the cue ball touch the felt until contacting the object ball. On soft shots you won't see it but especially with mid range and longer shots they do it all the time. The cue ball doesn't roll on the felt, it flies through the air instead. Doing this takes one variable out of the equation, mainly the friction and other imperfections from the felt and slate, and they are able to do a lot more with whitey because contacting the object ball at different heights allows for a greatly increased amount of places they can easily put the cue ball after each shot. How ?, because physics. Cheers

[@marcman5109]

Wow Earl looks young in this

[@scambodia147]

marcman5109 Earl "the girl"was. And still is a great player but an embarrassment to the human race,including anericans

[@Snellular12]

man those are some crazy rules. and the tables back then! shew they were buckets! entertaining.

[@dineshchawla]

why was earl able to ask mike to take the shot at 11:14 ?

[@kchiang4]

+Dinesh Chawla I believe in this tournament, there's no safety play. So, if a player misses/safeties, then the opponent has the option to give it back to the player.

[@luismiguelgallego9393]

This is a 9' table? This man's huge... maybe because of this, the table seems smaller. By the way, I recently watched a movie, `Poolhall Junkies', in wich Mike Massey has a cameo portraying Louie 'Saint Louie' Roberts. An entertaining movie to watch.

[@thedailyvariety4407]

Love this format

[@LeonFleisherFan]

Thanks so much for this one! :-)

[@dougoverhoff7568]

Interesting format. I liked the fast play, and with the loser breaking it makes it impossible to string racks.

[@scambodia147]

4 minutes in,can't believe how Massey doesn't get down on the cue,but then again that's why I am only commenting rather than being the man...... Did however win 400 bucks off a loud mouth last Monday,during coronavirus here in cambodia😂,peace to all Pool fans

[@fredsavage4925]

Bring back the 20 second clock!

[@ThatKidsRich]

Hey guys I'm new to pool but was wondering i haven't noticed such a time limit in newer games I've watched? Can anyone tell me if there is still a time limit and also how long it is?

[@gman21xx]

Nice match, despite the rules. This is a good rule to use though when you have two players of extremely different skill level.

[@evansantos9148]

2:52 Man it looked like he barely moved his arm on the break but broke the balls hard. What a strong guy.

[@godjhaka]

@40:20 at LEAST you were able to record this on tape. If you have old tapes to restore, I'm willing to fund a professional restoring.

[@BlackjackDSapolis]

I posted this video in 2012. Back then I had all of the proper equipment to transfer VHS to digital - and I did a few of them that are on my channel - not all of them. Since then, there have been other people that have done the same, and practically all of the matches i had saved on VHS are now on KZbin. If you do a search you can find just about everything that was broadcasted back then.

[@godjhaka7376]

Earl the Pearl didn't come to play! Though Massey is amazing, Earl is lightning amazing.

[@bigthirst82]

Awesome video!

[@jediblaster7627]

This is a classic game.

[@commandernoodles2367]

What are the rules of this game? Why can they just refuse to shoot the shots they don't like even it's not after push?

[@TimoGoesKnots]

Thanks!

[@D.H.1987]

28:21 how the hell they filmed that in those days??!!!

[@marklewis3884]

They didn't. It was a remake of the shot. Notice the position of the 9-ball. In the original shot, it's just below the black racking dot. In the remake (where it looks like there's a camera right behind his right hand), the 9-ball is a couple of inches above the black racking dot.😁

[@xanh350]

Can you upload the finals please???? Thanks

[@nimajnebrm]

Whoa, sweet upload!

[@BlackjackDSapolis]

They were trying to speed the game up - it was a cool idea, but it didn't last because of the reasons you stated.

[@ryanvelazquez9263]

nope, I believe what you saw is a scoop, however what actually happened is a bottom spin and when it hit the first ball, it popped off it and returned in place for the next ball. So not illegal

[@furmeinvader3475]

This is a Man's game here. You miss a shot its your opponents option to make you shot again or take the shot. No safety pee when you get out of line. You play a safety you better make sure you can get out of it! And the time clock thing, well it was exciting in this match, and I see why Earl isn't as good as he used to be cause He cant run around the table fast anymore.

[@nusstu]

3:54 isn't that an illegal scoop shot from Mike? Anyone can clarify cuz I'm pretty new to pool? Thanks :)

[@joedwyer2313]

Mike is HUGE. He makes the table look like toy.

[@jerrymooney7782]

I live in Johnson City Tennessee and Mike Massey visited Newman's Billiards one night while I was out there playing we played a Game of nine-ball I asked him to play a game and he obliged he ran the table down to the eight and the nine kicked at the 8-ball it rattled came right back out of the pocket so that left the 8 and the 9 setting right in the pocket I made them both and beat him I said well does that make me a pro since I beat a pro he said I don't know let's play a race to 10 for 10,000 bucks LOl.....

[@Wezleigh]

At 32:30, that was a lucky double kiss on that 5 ball!

[@Quatsch83]

Awesome camera angle at 28:19

[@nusstu]

I just saw ur slowed down vid, yup its pretty clear now that he didn't scoop that shot. Cuz his cue was approaching the ball from a slightly downward angle, he must have hit it pretty hard to bounce off the cloth like that tho. haha...

[@tangialam99]

thanks you for upload this video. if you have some video about Earl, can you upload more. I like Earl strickland.he is the strongest player , when he was young . Earl strickland is the champion of the champion.

[@topneorej]

What happened at 11:32 Earl lets Massey in again? Funny rules back then.

[@snipinglive5798]

topneorej he called a pocket. Since he missed, earl can take the shot or leave it.

[@theevilone1646]

SnipingLive its 9 ball. You don't call pockets, plus those old rules are bogus. Earl just gave him back 2 shots that potentially could been great safties.

[@theevilone1646]

Those old rules kind of broke the option for safety. Glad they changed them

[@shayne.7770]

Anyone have advice for someone to jump with a regular cue? I dont have a jump cue yet as I have not yet learned them but I have small hands and cant seem to get my regular playing cue up to jump it. Is my small stature a problem for that? I play with a regular nick varner cue

[@b49730]

Best to get a jump cue so you can actually learn to jump. Best thing to do is get a decent break/jump cue. A full cue jump can be difficult and can depend on your tip that is on your regular cue. But learning how to jump gives you a slight /big edge against your opponent.

[@daijhin3064]

Damn that man is Huge.. It seems like the table was low