… hmm, I finally realised that my pool cue butt design is a clone (Taiwanese-made I suppose) of Earl “The Pearl” Strickland’s pool cue design after watching his defeat to Tony Drago in the World Pool Masters 2003 semifinal match on ESPN (dai sei… 
)
Earl uses the Cuetec Starlight 6 Prong #99259 and mine’s the same design, except without the Cuetec logo at the butt’s forearm:
:: Click for a bigger picture ::
Now, when I first bought the cue off Gavin back in 2002 (I think), I fell in love with the butt design instantly, the cue’s of 19 oz. in weight, and suited my playing well…
However, Earl Strickland is the only pool player that I really hate (well, and Karen Corr too in the female section… ), in terms of his attitude during the game… lotsa people in the game know what I mean, him arguing with the referee, scolding the crowd for making noise, argued with Takahashi in a World Pool Championship match last year (I think) against using jump cue…. he’s a great pool player, no doubt about that, but his attitude towards other players and fans of the game disgust me…
I still love the design nonetheless, except now got a bitter feel that Earl uses it too…
I’m gonna look for a new tribal design pool cue soon… and relegate this cue to being my break cue… 
P/S: Or better still, a Calvin & Hobbes design one…
June 4th, 2004 at 7:41 pm
Hi, I stumbled on your blog by random. I share your sentiments about Earl Strickland. I’m an avid pool player myself and I watch as many pool matches as my leisure hours allow, and I can’t stand Strickland’s attitude. He writes in his personal info that he’s a nice but mistaken player, but I say it’s rubbish. He is unsportsman-like and that overshadows his talent. I can’t tolerate him standing up almost happily when his opponent misses a shot at a critical juncture, and his use of the controversial finger extensions give him an unfair edge over his opponents. And yet he complains about others using jump cues. Pui!