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really interesting watch :)
It's one of the cool things about youtube (and this site too), to catch stuff like this that I'd otherwise never have occasion to see.
 
CreeDo said:
really interesting watch :)
It's one of the cool things about youtube (and this site too), to catch stuff like this that I'd otherwise never have occasion to see.
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I think it is something that every fan of pool/snooker/carom should watch. There is a lot of history contained in that documentary and it accurately tells the story of how Alex Higgins brought snooker out of the back alleys and into the mainstream. It also has great footage of classic matches, including his historic table clearance in 1982 - and his win in the finals against Ray Reardon.
 
this guy was an even bigger character than I could have ever believed.

We think earl's bad, but imagine if earl slugged a ref, gut punched another player, gave drunken press conferences, headbutted one of the top honchos on a tour, beat up his wife, tossed a TV out his window, fell out a 2nd story window, got stabbed a few times in the arm by a girlfriend, and tried to kill himself on sleeping pills?

Depressing to see him now, almost as depressing to see him then.
 
CreeDo said:
this guy was an even bigger character than I could have ever believed.

We think earl's bad, but imagine if earl slugged a ref, gut punched another player, gave drunken press conferences, headbutted one of the top honchos on a tour, beat up his wife, tossed a TV out his window, fell out a 2nd story window, got stabbed a few times in the arm by a girlfriend, and tried to kill himself on sleeping pills?
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Funny thing, if Earl actually did do those things, there'd still be a large contingency of people like you, defending his every asinine actions like they do now.

Wouldn't matter.
 
CreeDo said:
this guy was an even bigger character than I could have ever believed.

We think earl's bad, but imagine if earl slugged a ref, gut punched another player, gave drunken press conferences, headbutted one of the top honchos on a tour, beat up his wife, tossed a TV out his window, fell out a 2nd story window, got stabbed a few times in the arm by a girlfriend, and tried to kill himself on sleeping pills?

Depressing to see him now, almost as depressing to see him then.
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Higgins makes John Daly look like a model of moderation:D
 
Can I just agree with BlackJack and encourage everyone to watch this 1982 69 break against Jimmy White.

Especially the long blue he pockets halfway through the clip, just love the follow through, how about that for a bit of afters? Maybe some of you guys can't fully appreciate how hard that is to accurately pot full length of the table and generate that kind of spin on thick green baize cloth and snooker rails. He made those little balls dance.
 
cumisk said:
Can I just agree with BlackJack and encourage everyone to watch this 1982 69 break against Jimmy White.

Especially the long blue he pockets halfway through the clip, just love the follow through, how about that for a bit of afters? Maybe some of you guys can't fully appreciate how hard that is to accurately pot full length of the table and generate that kind of spin on thick green baize cloth and snooker rails. He made those little balls dance.
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Thank you. It would be a shame if this thread (which is meant to celebrate the talents of Alex Higgins) turned into a "bash Earl" thread. Alex added excitement to a game that desperately needed it and as a result many players have prospered from the results. IMO, there will never be a player that brings as much excitement (as well as controversy) to any cue sport.

Here is my favorite Alex Higgins story:

At one time he fell in with that famous hell-raising actor, the late Oliver Reed. They were made for each other. In Bill Borrows' marvellous book on Higgins The Hurricane, Stephen Ford, a friend of Reed's, recalls one spectacular two-week bender at the actor's home in Guernsey. They drank the house dry, at which point Reed poured a bottle of his wife's 200 Giorgio Armani perfume into a glass and dared Higgins to drink it.

"Naturally, Higgins obliged. He was violently ill for two days. When he made something of a recovery he mixed Reed a cocktail of créme de menthe and Fairy Liquid and watched as the international film star drank it. 'He was burping bubbles for a week,' laughs Ford. 'But Higgins had the last laugh. He was farting perfume. They must have thought he was the messiah'."
 
Don't wish to steal this thread too much away from paying proper homage to "The Hurricane", but spare a thought for the Whirlwind too.. its quite scary how much cue power he had on this pink... he's really stretching the natural physics available to him on a snooker table. Just watch how it checks on the final rail to finish perfect on the black.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_fE-pvT084.

These two guys are the crown jewels and heritage of the fine game of snooker. They both brought real "stand up from your seat" excitement to the game which is sadly maybe not there anymore.
 
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Great clip! The guy in the chair, Kirk Stevens, who also has one hell of story about his fall from grace. He went from being ranked in the world's top 5 to selling used cars. I'm not sure if Kirk has ever fully recovered from his addictions, but I wish he was still playing snooker. He was also quite a character (white shoes and white suit - looks like he popped out of an 80's music video).

Great shot by Jimmy! IMO, that shot is in the same category as Alex's shot on the blue in the 1982 semi final.
 
Wow. I watched that entire hour-long special and I'm not even into Snooker.

Excellent show. It's a shame he didn't have more of a level-head, he probably would have won a ton more. How about that 3-railer to beat that guy w/ the stupid looking glasses (forget his name, the guy he threatened to shoot)???? He shot THAT during a snooker world championship???????????????????????? He could have easily cut it in, and he opted to ram it to the guy by 3-railing it. Holy sh**.

I LOVE THIS GUY-

Dave
 
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SpiderWebComm said:
Wow. I watched that entire hour-long special and I'm not even into Snooker.

Excellent show. It's a shame he didn't have more of a level-head, he probably would have won a ton more. How about that 4-railer to beat that guy w/ the stupid looking glasses (forget his name, the guy he threatened to shoot)???? He shot THAT during a snooker world championship???????????????????????? He could have easily cut it in, and he opted to ram it to the guy by 4-railing it. Holy sh**.

I LOVE THIS GUY-

Dave
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Lol... that was Dennis Taylor. It was actually not during a world championship, it was during a challenge match in Southern Ireland which was hyped by the threat that Alex made against him. Those glasses were special glasses that were used during the late 1980's and early 1990's - they are like that to get the frames out of the way, which is why they are so big. A player named Tommy Donlon used to always wear them as well.
 
Here is a picture of Tommy Donlon wearing the same type of glasses.

tommydonlon.jpg


and here is Dennis Taylor's pair. I always thought he looked like Michael Caine.

dennistaylor.jpg
 
That is one cool pair of glasses. Do they have a name or are they available?

I watched the fist Higgins video, the second would not load. Seems tragic to me. Why is it these Irish guys play so well. I'm Irish and I can't play any where near like they do.:mad:

It certainly appears to me that some people just have a natural talent for the game that is something akin to a piano virtuoso. I'll have to see what I can find about exceptional talents in various sports.
 
I had to edit my post, I THINK it was a 3-railer instead of a 4 - since the ball went in the opposite corner pocket. I realized that while driving to a lunch appt and had to rush back and make the change. Nevertheless, it may be one of the most ballsy, arrogant, stick-it-up-your-A** shots I've ever seen in any professional tournament in my ENTIRE life.

If I was his opponent (the Michael Caine guy w/ huge glasses), I would have crawled under the table to die. Apparently he had the last laugh, because he won their last match.

He should have pulled a Strickland by telling the guy to "put on your bullet-proof vest," making the shot, and then turning to the camera and saying "that's what I meant by 'shooting' him."

If you're gonna go for that stuff, might as well play it up and woof HARD before pulling the trigger.

Thanks for whoever posted those videos... it was like going to Snooker school for an hour. I really learned a lot about the history of the game. I WISH there was a snooker table where I lived, I feel like playing now!!
 
Two things:

-flickit, you got me wrong. I don't defend earl, you must have me mixed up with someone else. I know he's an ass (but what a player) =) Higgins was an ass too but I somehow like him more after seeing him crying and holding his baby at that championship. I agree with blackjack tho, let's avoid another earl thread.

- About the crazy 5 railer... do they basically let all snooker innings continue until you miss (even after you have enough points for a win)? Therefore that 8 was meaningless? Makes it a lot less impressive in that case.
 
CreeDo said:
- About the crazy 5 railer... do they basically let all snooker innings continue until you miss (even after you have enough points for a win)? Therefore that 8 was meaningless? Makes it a lot less impressive in that case.
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The maximum points: 15 red = 15, 15 black = 105, and the six colours = 27, for a total of 147. Therefore, anything above 74 might be showing off. However, even if you have 74, your opponent may snooker you, get points from your unsuccessful escape, and be able to win the frame.

If you have a break going you continue to the end, if you want to. Many tournaments have a prize for the highest break, and may have a fat prize for a perfect break.
 
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