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Photo provided courtesy of Dan Meadows.

Whether they love him or hate him, people just couldn't stop talking about Earl Strickland in 1999. Whether it was his 2 Camel Pro Billiards Series wins and 4 finishes in the top 3 or the controversial finish in Milwaukee, Earl was the topic of conversation all year long.

Earl started the year with a 1st place finish in Olathe, where he did not lose a match and came back four months later with another undefeated win, this time at the Camel 8-Ball Open in Las Vegas. Earl seemed to shine this year at the Camel events, not finished less than 17th in any event. Earl pocketed over $100,000 in prize money from the Camel Pro Billiards Series alone.

Earl finished off the year by being invited to represent the United States as a member of the Team USA at the Mosconi Cup where he contributed to another win for the US!

Reached at his home for comments, Earl said "I appreciate that my peers were involved in the voting, and I appreciate that they chose me as player of the year. I know there were a number of players who could have just as easily been picked as me, not that is was easy. It is nice to know that this was not chosen by some writer or journalist or philosopher or magazine, but was a legitimate vote of the players."

Players Votes Votes Player 27 Earl Strickland 24 Johnny Archer 10 Efren Reyes

Fans Votes Votes Player 16 Efren Reyes 11 Johnny Archer 9 Earl Strickland