Many
things have been written about this Irish snooker player
but there is no doubt in my mind that he was a genius.
Many
things made snooker popular. The advent of colour television
and Pot Black being a couple, but for me though, Higgins
was the most important ingredient. Here was a man who had
the ability to make snooker exciting and was not afraid
to do so, even when he wiped his cue with a damp cloth was
somehow theatrical and added a new visual dimension to the
game.
Alex
played differently to the way anyone had played before.
Quick, attacking and fearless,he would play shots in matches
that most of us would baulk at in practise! When he first
came on the scene in 1972, he was like a much needed breath
of fresh air. Snooker up to his arrival, had been played
in a very Victorian manner. The new professionals like Ray
Reardon and John Spencer who were taking over the game,
seemed to be carrying on this manner of play. To be a successful
spectator sport, it needed more pace and a new ingredient
and along came the aptly named 'Hurrican Higgins' - beating
Spencer to claim the 1972 world title at his first attempt
and changing the face of snooker forever.
Needless
to say with Alex, you got more than just his exciting snooker,
his antics off the table were to provide more headlines
than ever before. They say that there is no such thing as
bad publicity, I feel that maybe Alex wouldn't agree but
I don't know about snooker!
Only
a few weeks ago he was generating excitement with the rumour
of his possible return to the table, however, in last months
article about Willie Thorne, I mentioned how hard it is
to go through the qualifiers and reach the television stages
- so I don't think we will be seeing Alex on our screens
again. Although what a legacy he left us. Without his example,
I don't think we would have seen the likes of Jimmy 'Whirlwind'
White or 'Rocket' Ronnie O'Sullivan flying the banner of
what makes professional sport great excitement.
PS.Watch
this space for more 'Hurricane' news stories
