Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Mark Selby - Discussion

[solva_gran]

exactly. I was in the press room and the last thing Ronnie was asked, already on his way to the door, was what he thought about Mark's game. His answer was "He played very well, very well" with a smile and thumb up. So, clearly, his comments on his own game are not aimed at rubbishing his opponents, it's just about how HE feels about HIS game.

You compare this with Hendry's reaction (I was there also).
Asked what he thought about Mark's game the answer was "It's easy to play well when you have no pressure"; asked how he thought Mark would do in his quarters match, his answer was "Who cares?", almost snapping.
Yet Hendry got no stick...

To be fair to Hendry, it was minutes after a heavy defeat, he was bitterly disappointed and the guys are only human. But the same is true for Ronnie. People who claim he doesn't care obviously don't know him at all. What I don't like is the double standards.

Very well said.

[Looki]

Yes and I'll persist. It's not about Hendry specifically, it's about the systematic slagging off. Whatever ROS says or does is scrutinised and interpreted in worse possible way. When others do similar things, or worse, it's swept under the carpet.
Personally I don't care if Hendry showed his anger. He WAS angry, mainly at himself I guess. I like to see the human side of the players. It's the double standards that angers me.

I know, just pulling all of yours leg a little.

[Monique]

mon there are not many was of interpreting the sentence ' does anyone want to give me a nosh!'

Indeed ADR. And I NEVER said I condone everything Ronnie does or says. He's done his fair share of silly things, no doubts. But I was at each of his press conference here in Sheffield, in fact I have been in every press conference, and there was nothing that he said or did there that justifies the slagging off he got.
ROS was depressed and downbeat in each and every of them, particularly after the match with Mark Williams, but he didn't say he will quit, and he did praise his opponents and answered the questions that were put to him. The answers were predictable and maybe tedious, but then so were the questions.

It may not please you but the simple truth is that Hendry is the only one who has been truly ungracious up to now, after losing. But nobody made a big deal of it, rightly so IMO, the guy is only human and he was deeply disappointed. Almost shell-shocked at the heavy defeat.

All I ask is that the same "understanding" applies to all players.

[Black_cat]

Here's me rehashing old material regarding post-match press conferences:
http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...&postcount=434

Because this is the ONLY way none of the players will say anything ungentlemanly or controversial. The ONLY way!

And we'd be spared of nosh offers (although, hm... ), two-syllable answers, stubborn silences, threats to stop the interview, malicious comments, next-season banalities and the mandatory sponsor moment.

*Note: the above apply to all players, not just one.
You know who.

[vmax4steve]

Problem with ROS is that he expects to play to exhibition standard in tournaments, which is just not on. For a start he is up against someone who is trying to beat him. Secondly, although this someone doesn't have a talent for the game that's equal to his, he doesn't need it in order to beat him.
If ROS wants the titles he has to play hard match snooker and play within his abilty, not on the edge of it. If the titles don't mean as much as the performance, then he should relax and enjoy it and then maybe the brilliance will shine through again.
Quite frankly I'm fed up with this tortured artist tag that ROS has been given. He has a divine talent for a game that's given him financial freedom, which is the best freedom that anyone of his limited intelligence can hope for (BIG BROTHER fan remember). He does not possess the intellect to see the universe in a grain of sand, he's just a snooker player.
When our sun goes Red Giant and swallows our solar system, everything will be gone. All the so called great leaders and kings and queens and dictators and the morons who did their bidding to be remembered in the annals of history will have lived for nothing, for history will also be gone. All you have is your own life and the love of your family and friends while you are alive, so enjoy it and pass that on to your children, because that's all there is.

OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert....near them, on the sand
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the hand that fed:
And on the pedastal these words appear:
My name is OZYMANDIAS, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair !
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1818

[FOXMULDER]

He has a divine talent for a game that's given him financial freedom, which is the best freedom that anyone of his limited intelligence can hope for (BIG BROTHER fan remember).

I think it was pretty obvious he wasn't being serious when he said that; he was simply answering in a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek manner like most the players do during that 'Heaven and Hell' interview...

He does not possess the intellect to see the universe in a grain of sand, he's just a snooker player.

Pretentious, a little? Anyone who sees the universe in a grain of sand is suffering from more than an excess of intellect...

[trains]

What do you mean by 'progressive safety'?
Something that either ends up perfect (snooker or close), but has a big risk of leaving easy-ish long pot attack opportunities if such safety shot does not work out to a millimeter?

Indeed,Graham Dott took a veiled dig at Selby on the beeb just after tonights win saying Selby played negative safety,his take on Selby's safety is the converse of Ronnie's in the last few frames of the ROS Selby match imo.
I find Dott's comments a bit strange though,he epitomises the conservative/negative approach as much as anyone,(v tough matchplay).I dont disrespect Dott's play it just seemed he tried to falsely spin himself just because he won.

[Monique]

Graeme praised Selby's fighting spirit and grit. He said it was tough, tough match. He however was looking forward to the Robertson match "because we are both attacking players. It should be good." Graeme is a very genuine man, he's speaking his mind. Asked if he thought Neil gained an advantage by finishing early today he said "Yes". Plain yes. and it's true.
I really, really don't understand why so many of the members here can't live with the simple truth. Yes, Selby, does play negatively at times, and no, most of the other players don't like it. Selby of course is well within his rights to play the way he does. But so are the players who say they dislike the tactics. It's not disrespect, it's honesty. Denying it would be hypocrisy.

[trains]

He comes across as perfectly genuine to me and I dont remotely have a ratsa55 of bias to Selby at all,I just found it a bit odd he highlighted Selbys conservative safety when his was no different,btw if he keeps up his play I favour him v Robbo.

[vmax4steve]

Pretentious, a little? Anyone who sees the universe in a grain of sand is suffering from more than an excess of intellect...

The real Fox Mulder would disagree.