O/T Ronnie O'Sullivan

vargas · Post by **vargas** » 14 Dec 2006, 11:42

4-1 down in a best of 17 match against Hendry, misses a red then concedes the match and leaves the arena. Feel sorry for anyone who had a bet on him for the tournament.

jomothepure · Post by **jomothepure** » 14 Dec 2006, 13:21

The Herbie Hide of the snooker world. Nearly.

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 14 Dec 2006, 13:59

I've had enough of the arrogant little prick, he really doesn't deserve the ability he's got.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 14 Dec 2006, 14:39

Something tells me it was because who is in the "opposite corner" that was the reason why he did this. These two hate each other, Ronnie was playing like a crap - but wouldn't give Hendry the satification of saying "I beat him" - because Hendry never got the opportunity of crossing the finishing line.

Phenomenal-Nutrition · Post by **Phenomenal-Nutrition** » 14 Dec 2006, 14:50

jomothepure wrote:The Herbie Hide of the snooker world. Nearly.

Surely more of a Golota on this development

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 14 Dec 2006, 15:05

One word - wanker.

Rocky Balboa · Post by **Rocky Balboa** » 14 Dec 2006, 15:12

O'Sullivan is without doubt the most naturally-gifted player in history, but he lets himself down badly with major flaws, as shown by today's fiasco.

Ronnie was playing badly, and although Hendry is not the force he use to be, it was hard to see him letting his lead slip away. I know Ronnie is capable of coming back, but he did not even give himself a chance.

IMO, O'Sullivan has taken the piss out of the game. Snooker is struggling big time at the moment; the last thing it needs is the game's most exciting player exiting a tournament is such bizarre circumstances.

Don't know why, but I fancy Peter Ebdon to win the tournament. He's beaten the holder, Ding Junhui, whom has a great future in the sport. Ebdon tries like a bastard on every shot.

He's not the most pleasing to watch, and will not bring the crowds out in their droves.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 14 Dec 2006, 15:14

Big Ebdon fan for the reason you state Rocky, nowt wrong with a bit of Gamesmanship either.

Old bones Ian · Post by **Old bones Ian** » 14 Dec 2006, 15:32

Ok , this shows the difference between boxing and other sports, apart from the punching in the face.
Take Ronnies walk out today, next week he can enter another competition win it and evryone is all smiles again.
Roberto Duran walked out against Leonard, it took him years to get to redeem himself for doing that.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 14 Dec 2006, 16:30

He may well face some kind of disciplinary action from this... I dont think he did it due to any dislike of Hendry but just from frustration with himself, he has done bizarre thing before in his career and I heard warning bells when he said last week that he wasnt motivated, while I feel for the fans who paid to watch a proper match its well known that Ronnie suffers from depression badly and so I dotn think people should be too harsh with him...

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 14 Dec 2006, 18:39

Rocky Balboa wrote:O'Sullivan is without doubt the most naturally-gifted player in history, but he lets himself down badly with major flaws, as shown by today's fiasco.

Ronnie was playing badly, and although Hendry is not the force he use to be, it was hard to see him letting his lead slip away. I know Ronnie is capable of coming back, but he did not even give himself a chance.

IMO, O'Sullivan has taken the piss out of the game. Snooker is struggling big time at the moment; the last thing it needs is the game's most exciting player exiting a tournament is such bizarre circumstances.

Don't know why, but I fancy Peter Ebdon to win the tournament. He's beaten the holder, Ding Junhui, whom has a great future in the sport. Ebdon tries like a bastard on every shot.

He's not the most pleasing to watch, and will not bring the crowds out in their droves.

Ronnie one of the WORST world champions in history at winning a match from behin.

He may be the greatest talent, but talent alone does not make a great player.

Davis (Steve), Hendry and Reardon were all greater champions, it could be argued that Higgins and Spencer were too.

Ronnie is a gifted front runner, thats all.

glittermonkey · Post by **glittermonkey** » 14 Dec 2006, 19:16

KO Artist wrote:Ronnie is a gifted front runner, thats all.

That's a tad harsh. You don't get to where he's got if all you are is a gifted front runner, there has to more him than that. Although the sentiment is along the right lines, he certainly gets frustrated if he's not winning, and winning well.

I prefer; He's a great player who is just mentally frail. He's getting more and more fragile too, I don't think O'Sullivan is going to be playing much longer at all.

DavidPayne · Post by **DavidPayne** » 15 Dec 2006, 05:08

He's got a really crapppy old mobile phone too.

Saw him in LA* and he had the crappiest phone, and I thought, aw wel he's got his feet on the ground not wanting any fuss, then the phone rings

"Oh yeh mate, I just wanna knock 'im art, j know what I mean - everyone 'ere finks I wanna fight....blah, blah.

*Luton Airport

DavidPayne · Post by **DavidPayne** » 15 Dec 2006, 05:12

He was also at the Hamed v Spanish fella fight.

With a minder, who stood outside the disabled toilets whilst he went for a slash.

Ignoring my brother in law, who in classic style, shouted "Ronnie" and tried to catch up with him, once ignored he then shouted "TWAT!", just as he noticed the Valuev bouncer he had with him.

How sad is that, now to me I can only think of one current sporting star who would need a minder to prevent problems.

And he lives in Spain.

To me he's a talented prick, a bit like John Holmes really.

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 15 Dec 2006, 06:20

stujones wrote:Big Ebdon fan for the reason you state Rocky, nowt wrong with a bit of Gamesmanship either.

Ebdon is the Sven Ottke of the snooker world.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 15 Dec 2006, 06:31

I can't stick Ebdon, I still remember what an enormous phallus he was when he had that stupid pony tail, and those ridiculously over the top celebrations. Watching him play is like having your bollocks slowly ground down with sandpaper, a long, drawn out and highly painful affair.

I think O Sullivan has some big problems, but there's no doubt about it, when he's on song, he is by far the best player the game has ever seen, even Hendry at his finest couldn't handle O Sullivan's best game.

He's basically Alex Higgins without the chronic alcoholism and violent mood swings. Considering his personality disorders, it's amazing that O Sullivan has won as many titles as he has.

You cannot really compare Reardon, he prospered in a totally different era, whilst he was the best of his era, there were so many fewer players, and really, the game was only semi-professional, a century break was considered a rarity back then, and most of the frames of snooker were scrappy affairs with lots of bouts of safety. Nowadays you've got to

What's amazing at the moment is the fact Stephen Hendry is world number 1! Normally, once a player goes off the boil and loses their top spot in their mid 30's, it's a gradual spiral down the rankings into the feeder tournaments, with occasional appearances in the major tournaments when they qualify. Although Hendry isn't winning titles like he used to, he's placing very well in all the major tournaments, which is some achievement at his age, where does he find the hunger to continue practicing after 20 years as a pro and after all the money and titles?

DavidPayne · Post by **DavidPayne** » 15 Dec 2006, 07:00

I still rate Davis as the finest player I've seen. It's the consistency that strikes me.

And at 49 he's still a top ten player.

Staggering fact last night - he's reached 17 UK Quarter Finals in 22 years.

DavidPayne · Post by **DavidPayne** » 15 Dec 2006, 07:01

Though Joe Johnson was always my favourite.

Was there a ball he wouldn't take on in 1986?

They could hav eplayed on a 25 foot table, he still have taken on the long one's.

Brilliant for 18 months was Joe.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 15 Dec 2006, 07:11

DavidPayne wrote:I still rate Davis as the finest player I've seen. It's the consistency that strikes me.

And at 49 he's still a top ten player.

Staggering fact last night - he's reached 17 UK Quarter Finals in 22 years.

Hendry is head and shoulders above Davis, and Davis is a collossus of the game. Look at their records, Hendry's career is just full of records. Most titles in a season, longest unbeaten run, longest spell as world number one, most centuries, most 147's in competition, most televised 147's. You name the record, Hendry has it.

He took Davis' basic game, astute tactics, breakbuilding, long potting, excellent safety, and added an element of fearlessness that wasn't fashionable in Davis' era. People forget now, but when Hendry first came along, he was potting long balls midtable, with the cue ball tucked tight on the baulk cushion, and he was also playing fast too. Hendry's all around game is just incredible, and it was alloyed to an absolutely steely determination, which is best illustrated by his remarkable comeback in the world championships against Jimmy White. Although White choked a bit to come back from 14-8 down to win 16-14 is testament to his mental toughness.

harrygreb · Post by **harrygreb** » 15 Dec 2006, 08:21

hang on james, two points to pick you up on
1 hendry is the only snooker player i have seen yawn in a competive match.
2 you said ronnie is "like alex higgins without the violent mood swings" ???? what? have you ever seen ronnie o'sullivan? thats the whole thing about him his incredible changes of mood. perhaps you need to read every article ever written about ronnie since he started playing pro.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 15 Dec 2006, 08:31

Stephen Hendry yawned....and? It didn't stop him winning seven world titles.
Compared to Higgins, O'Sullivan is like a zen master. As far as I am aware, O Sullivan has yet to headbutt and official, urinate in a plant pot at the cruicible, or threaten to have Dennis Taylor offed by loyalist paramilitaries.

Alex Higgins demons were so rampant that they eventually consumed him and his career, and he never met his true potential. Whilst O Sullivan has more in the locker than he has shown, he has managed to hold his shit together much better, he knocked the booze and drugs on the head, got himself in shape, and is in much better shape, at least physically than a couple of years ago.

He's always going to have problems, but he's done his best to sort them out. Mercurial he is, but he's not an out and out nutbar like Higgins was, even at his very peak.

DavidPayne · Post by **DavidPayne** » 15 Dec 2006, 09:44

Alex didn't cheat* though.

*practice.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 15 Dec 2006, 11:56

I think the snooker authorities have by and large been far more indulgent of Ronnie than they were of Higgins, there were a number of people, usually former players whom Higgins had eclipsed, who made it their lifes work to try and drive Higgins out of the game and eventually with a bit of help from Alex himself they succeeded, ....much to the detriment of the game itself.... I do worry that Ronnie will one day implode and go off into a downward Higginslike spiral... the parallels between them are ominous.... in Ronnies favour though is the fact that he seems to have hit the drink and other stuff on the head, something which Alex could never do sadly...

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 15 Dec 2006, 12:43

Higgins was his own worst enemy. It's not for no reason he basically has no friends. Everyone who has ever had dealings with Higgins has testified to his unpredictable, erratic and violent behaviour. My dad had a mate who used to play pool with him, and he said that Alex was a compelte and utter liability, starting fights with people constantly and usually getting beaten up. He said that one minute Alex would be quietly drinking his pint, and the next minute he'd be up stubbing a fag out on someone's head with no good explanation as to why. The picture painted was of a completely reprehensible character who people initially gravitated towards because of his reputation, but who in the end ended up reviling the man.

Higgins was like a god to me as a kid, I idolised the man, and he was a real showman, the like of which Snooker has never seen before or since, but he was an absolute nutter, and he alienated himself from the game by behaving like a complete and utter twat.

He tried to chat up Dennis Taylor's daughter, and when Dennis expressed his (entirely justified) dissaproval, Higgins said something along the lines of "I'll have you fcuking shot you feiniann bastard." Or so the story goes.

Even his harshest critics, admitted that Alex Higgins revolutionised the game, and that in terms of pure talent, he was possibly the greatest player that ever lived, but he just could not live within the boundaries of any kind of norm, and thus, went the way of the dodo....

How the fekker is still alive is beyond me, it's quite incredible. Still drinking like a fish and smoking like a chimney by all accounts, even after almost being claimed by throat cancer.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 15 Dec 2006, 12:51

Yeah it's amazing the slack he's given by the press & all the rest - just rolled over and walked out, sod the paying audience.

Imagine the scorn a boxer gets by walking out after falling a few rounds behind - it'd be pretty much the end of his career for a long time. It took Duran YEARS to live it down.