BBC Video - Like a Hurricane: The Alex Higgins Story

Thanks very much for the links. A very interesting story about a phenominal snooker player battling his demons consistantly throughout his life... what a shame too.

Thanks again,
Jim
 
Thank you very much for posting the links.

With his working class background, wealth of talent, his brash and unorthodox style, his ability to summon up heart when others would have stumbled, and his prodigious appetite for booze, cigarettes, broads, and brawls, Alex Higgins took snooker out of the doldrums. He was the upstart commoner who became the people's favorite.

Higgins, more than anyone else helped build snooker into the richest of cue sports. He drew the audiences and helped make snooker big on British TV.

Despite his many battles with the demons that plagued him, he deserves to always be remembered as one of snooker's greatest.

Fats
 
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Thank you so much for making me aware of Alex Higgins and his contribution to the sport. Yes, the demise was horrible to see, but it really looks like he made professional snooker what it is today.
 
mosconiac said:
Thank you so much for making me aware of Alex Higgins and his contribution to the sport. Yes, the demise was horrible to see, but it really looks like he made professional snooker what it is today.
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Like everyone at the time I loved to watch Alex as much as anyone. But don't fall for the 'I made snooker' mantra. It was BBC2/colour television and the prize money from tobacco sponsorship that made snooker. Like everyone else in that era, Alex Higgins was in the right place at the right time, nothing more. The simple fact is that it was Davis who was defining snooker during its heyday, and later Hendry, all in the total absence of Higgins.

Snooker didn't die without him, like he expected. What really happened is snooker went from strength to strength, and had already begun to be played at a standard that he couldn't live with. He can't hide from the fact that not only was he not close to being the best snooker player, he's not even the best snooker player called Higgins.

Boro Nut
 
Boro Nut said:
He can't hide from the fact that not only was he not close to being the best snooker player, he's not even the best snooker player called Higgins.

Boro Nut
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LOL, you are so right, but when in full flow and i saw him only a few weeks ago he is tremendous entertainment.


Greg
 
Secaucus Fats said:
Thank you very much for posting the links.

With his working class background, wealth of talent, his brash and unorthodox style, his ability to summon up heart when others would have stumbled, and his prodigious appetite for booze, cigarettes, broads, and brawls, Alex Higgins took snooker out of the doldrums. He was the upstart commoner who became the people's favorite.

Higgins, more than anyone else helped build snooker into the richest of cue sports. He drew the audiences and helped make snooker big on British TV.

Despite his many battles with the demons that plagued him, he deserves to always be remembered as one of snooker's greatest.

Fats
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Alex Higgins was the reason I first held a cue and played. Without him there is no doubt in my mind that snooker would never have gained as much popularity as it did and enabled the likes of Davis and Hendry to make lots of money out of it.

He was thrilling to watch and wholly unpredictable and he could play any shot at any time (good, bad or ugly). There were of course better match players, but on his day he was unbeatable. He had a huge amount of natural talent, arguably more than anyone since (O'Sullvan has a good case) and he was an entertainer.

The game did move on to a higher plane after his heyday. but don't let that fool you, the man was a superb player in all aspects of the game. Like any other sportsman though, you must look at him in the context of his generation. To compare him with modern day players simply is not fair.

Off the table however, the man was often a disgrace. I remember being crestfallen meeting him after a tournament in my home town. I was 14 and he was my hero. He swore at me after I asked for his autograph and was obviosuly drunk and aggressive towards a kid who was a fan. Fellow pro Eugene Hughes actually apologized to me on his behalf!

Still, as I watched his demise I found it painful, but in many ways the man was his own worst enemy. Higgins does not see the past as others see it and he does overstate his own importance, but he was absolutely central to snooker's rise in the 1980s and without him the game would not have been as interesting in the least.

The game is now so lacking in characters unfortunately.
 
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