posted Jan 19, 2009

Totally agree with celticwiseman. I too, only watch Snooker when O'Sullivan plays.
It's a desperately dull entertainment (I won't give it credibility by calling it a sport), enlivened only by his Genius.
Without him the viewing figures would collapse

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posted Jan 19, 2009

Ronnie is a 'total genius'.

He is the Phil Taylor of darts, the Pele of football. On his day no one can beat him.

Fellow players like me look forward to watching him play because he is exciting, natural, gifted snooker player.
He has had controversial incidents in his career, but that will not hide the fact that he puts bums on the seats.

Long may it continue!

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posted Jan 19, 2009

agree with the above.
I came away from watching the O'Sullivan match last friday thinking would I have bothered coming if O'Sullivan adn't been playing.

answer NO

There are increasingly fewer players I would actually go and watch in fact. I have seen Hendry, Davis, White, O'Sullivan and Higgins as they are all legends of the game. I was also lucky enough to see a match involving Paul Hunter. However apart from Ronnie I'm not sure who I would bother to go and watch to be honest.

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posted Jan 19, 2009

Hello all, Im new here so please with me! Firstly i do agree with the common consensus that while i am not his biggest fan Ronnie is indeed snookers greatest talent at the moment and does indeed draw the crowds at a level no other player currently could achieve. However i must say that being 20 and from ireland i have never had the chance to see snooker live in ireland due to lack of sponsorship. Now to hear ronnie say what is the point in travelling to places like china,bahrain and Ireland for the prize of 30k is pointless is quite dishearting as a snooker fan to most working class people 30 k is well over a years wages/salary and to be paid this for something that he is giftly talented at is somewhat a case of biting the hands that feed a claim i do believe in since on one of the promotional videos with the players the my 1st....whereby ronnie admitted to never having a job before. This is where i do disagree with the genius of Ronnie O' Sullivan and can only hope he realises just how lucky he is!

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posted Jan 19, 2009

Why do some posters come on the 606 claiming to be fans of snooker 1 sentance and then follow it up with " but i only watch snooker when Ronnie's playing"? Surely if you were REAL snooker fans then you would watch SNOOKER not just Ronnie.

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posted Jan 19, 2009

I watch Snooker - not every match but most. Of course I have my favourites which have changed over the years - Ronnie is not one of them - but I watch the game, not especially the player.

It has been a great week, and I especially appreciated the tribute paid to David Vine - he was at The Crucible in the days when I used to go.

True fan
from Leicester Better luck next time !!

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posted Jan 19, 2009

comment by IrishLad88 -

"This is where i do disagree with the genius of Ronnie O' Sullivan and can only hope he realises just how lucky he is!"

---------------------------------

I don't think he does, he might say he does and believe it, but only when you are working shifts or grafting to the next payday, do you realise what that kind of life means.

I fully appreciate the "watch all snooker if you are a real fan" argument and agree with it. I used to be a fan, but the game is all about efficiency now and minimising errors. It gets pretty boring to watch.

I prefer to see people take shots on, play weird angles and excite the crowd. Ronnie is the best at it, White could do it, Higgins and thats why they will be loved. They show you something different, like Federer or Woods, Arsenal or the All Blacks. Its enjoyable to watch the best and see flair.

But rather look at it negatively, look at it this way; people who are not normally fans tune in when Ronnie plays. Stephen Hendry is brilliant, but in a more conventional way. Snooker needs to decide how it wants to go in the future, either make it more entertaining by encouraging bravery in some form or leave it as it is.

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posted Jan 20, 2009

I'm an armchair snooker fan. By that I mean I know some of the best players, I'll watch a match if there's nothing else on and I can appreciate good shots. I don't follow it properly at all (so there's your opening to say that I'm not a proper fan because I don't appreciate blah blah blah).

I'd just like to say that coming from this position, O' Sullivan is pretty much the biggest draw. He didn't do too much of it on Sunday, but usually he tries to attack and go for the long pots. What kills snooker is when you have people taking 5 minutes to decide to play a safety in the 2nd frame of a first to 17 game.

Obviously, if it's your job and that's the way you have to play to ensure you get enough money to live, then fair enough. But it is so mind-numbingly boring at times.

There's a few players coming through now who also look to attack and this is by no means a bad thing in my opinion.

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posted Jan 20, 2009

In terms of the game, and what it would take to make it more interesting, one thing you certainly couldn't do is dictate how the game is to be played. By this I mean players have their own styles, ideas and strengths - and they will play to their strengths...a player would be mad to attempt try play Ronnie at his own game - attempting to do that would get them wiped off the table.

There's no way everyone could play like Ronnie - and it'd be crazy to suggest that they ought to just because it'd make snooker more interesting for the rest of us.

And even if we asked the rest of the snooker fraternity politely to play more exciting stuff - a la Ronnie - they wouldn't be able to. The snooker fraternity understands the kind of genius he is...you only need to hear what Hendry or Doherty have to say about him, and you'll understand...

Some of the snooker we watch may be a bit dull, however, there is nothing anyone can do about it...this is simply the state of play as it stands...

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posted Feb 13, 2009

Dull it may be for some people when it is not played at a blistering, all out pace with both hands, but some of us quite enjoy wqatching the safety exchanges within reason. I have been playing and watching snooker for years and am very interested to see some of the better safety players pull great shots out of their bag of tricks!

Ronnie is a class apart in almost every dept, and you get that in many sports. he really should be more grateful to the fans he has though and to the game that has given him so much. But then was George Best?

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