Ssb - fears grow for alex higgins

[jb134]

it took joe Davis 40 years before a world championship match was shown on TV it took Alex Higgins 1 year 1973 was the year.

Joe Davis was the architect Alex Higgins was the builder that build it up.

Do you think there could be any chance that perhaps this may have had anything to do with the prevalence of television?

You may not be aware of Joe Davis touring the country with a giant magnifying mirror behind the stage playing to sell out crowds.

[jb134]

im not proving any point im stating facts you can pussy foot around thinking rubbish if you want but he was the guy that made jimmy white take up snooker thats not made up that is fact and then from there came Hendry,Ronnie etc

Barry Hearn never managed Higgins but ask him who was the driving force and he will say Alex Higgins.

his influence was much more than anything else in snooker.

Higgins was desperate to be managed by Barry Hearn who refused to have him as he was nothing but bother.

[jb134]

Like you i think he his health problems are of his own making and thats why i wouldnt donate but if he had led his live differently he wouldnt be the alex higgins some people love and some dislike, me i think he is one of the greatest players ever , just like george best, Paul Gascoigne, true geniuses

That about sums it up for me, Einstein was a genius for example, as a species, we have been blessed by many geniuses.

Gascoigne and Best were good a kicking a ball, Higgins could hit a ball into a hole with a stick. Geniuses they are not.

However for their ability and the entertainment they provide, and for the manner in which they provide it, we love them.

It does not make them good people, especially best who deprived a deserving case of a liver and then killed it.

Fir whatever reason we give them chance after chance no matter how often they prove themselves unworthy and we raise them on a pedestal higher than Davis or Hendry or Charlton or Ball whose boots they could not lace.

Please do not tell me Higgins was a nice man and do not tell me he DESERVES this or that and do not preach about charity.

How can Higgins be put above for example a childrens hospital or for that matter the RSPCA? The kids and the animals did not do it to themselves.

I'll finish by repeating myself, Higgins was my hero, when he dies I'll he very sad, I'll probably shed a tear and yes he's an example of a rebel who came good, but look at those rebels now, Best, dead, Higgins, nearly dead, Gascoigne, in very poor mental health.

I'd say the message, kids, is don't be a booze bag rebel!

[DandyA]

That about sums it up for me, Einstein was a genius for example, as a species, we have been blessed by many geniuses.

Gascoigne and Best were good a kicking a ball, Higgins could hit a ball into a hole with a stick. Geniuses they are not.

However for their ability and the entertainment they provide, and for the manner in which they provide it, we love them.

It does not make them good people, especially best who deprived a deserving case of a liver and then killed it.

Fir whatever reason we give them chance after chance no matter how often they prove themselves unworthy and we raise them on a pedestal higher than Davis or Hendry or Charlton or Ball whose boots they could not lace.

Please do not tell me Higgins was a nice man and do not tell me he DESERVES this or that and do not preach about charity.

How can Higgins be put above for example a childrens hospital or for that matter the RSPCA? The kids and the animals did not do it to themselves.

I'll finish by repeating myself, Higgins was my hero, when he dies I'll he very sad, I'll probably shed a tear and yes he's an example of a rebel who came good, but look at those rebels now, Best, dead, Higgins, nearly dead, Gascoigne, in very poor mental health.

I'd say the message, kids, is don't be a booze bag rebel!

very good post jb, I agree ... well except possibly about Einstein - many would say he was the one who sought (and got) the glory for the special theory of relativity but there were many others involved - notably Henri Poincare ...

[wildJONESEYE]

Higgins was desperate to be managed by Barry Hearn who refused to have him as he was nothing but bother.

barry hearn said "if he was a pain all the time i could have managed that but you never knew where you stood with Alex and thats unmanageable"

[paperbackwriter]

Whenever something terrible happens to a public figure, straight off there're voices that say "Well, many people are hurting right now". When this person also needs help and gets it, it's always followed by a comment about how unfair it is, how countless others deserve it more. And it's hard to express how I hate reactions of such kind. For me, it's a bit like saying that you don't care if one of your acquitances is in serious trouble because there're so many people who have real problems (and who knows, maybe they're better people!).
But it doesn't work like that- certainly not with our friends, no matter if they messed up themselves or not, and why the same shouldn't go to other people that affected our lives in some ways?
And if someone says that Alex Higgins was his hero or was a crucial figure in the history of snooker- than here stops treating him like any other person who needs help and measuring who's most noble and should get it first. If we were entertained by him, if we still have lots of fun thanks to people who were inspired by him, if we thought "wow, how cool" about some of his doings which got him where he's now- then saying that he means to us no more than any random person seems rather unfair. He hasn't been perfect, he may not be a good man- but he contributed to snooker's history and had some (at least nice) impact on our lives- and that's why he deserves help. Ignoring that and trying to be pitilessly rational isn't exactly the sign of goodness.

[astle_the_king]

That about sums it up for me, Einstein was a genius for example, as a species, we have been blessed by many geniuses.

Gascoigne and Best were good a kicking a ball, Higgins could hit a ball into a hole with a stick. Geniuses they are not.

However for their ability and the entertainment they provide, and for the manner in which they provide it, we love them.

It does not make them good people, especially best who deprived a deserving case of a liver and then killed it.

Fir whatever reason we give them chance after chance no matter how often they prove themselves unworthy and we raise them on a pedestal higher than Davis or Hendry or Charlton or Ball whose boots they could not lace.

Please do not tell me Higgins was a nice man and do not tell me he DESERVES this or that and do not preach about charity.

How can Higgins be put above for example a childrens hospital or for that matter the RSPCA? The kids and the animals did not do it to themselves.

I'll finish by repeating myself, Higgins was my hero, when he dies I'll he very sad, I'll probably shed a tear and yes he's an example of a rebel who came good, but look at those rebels now, Best, dead, Higgins, nearly dead, Gascoigne, in very poor mental health.

I'd say the message, kids, is don't be a booze bag rebel!

like i said in other post these people of emence natural ability some times find it hard to cope with there success,i agree with most of what say but i still say,Higgins,Best,Gascoigne were geniuses ,(A genius (plural genii or geniuses,[1] adjective ingenious) is a person, a body of work, or a singular achievement of surpassing excellence. More than just originality, creativity, or intelligence, genius is associated with achievement of insight which has transformational power. This is called genius spark. A work of genius vastly raises the expectations of its audience. Genius may be generalized, or be particular to a discrete field such as philosophy, sports, statesmanship, science, or the arts.And please i know your joking when you say best wasnt fit to lace charltons boots(ok in his personal life i agree)but on the field, im lucky enough

to have seen best play and mark my words he was a genius,

[Monique]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...rucial-op.html

SNOOKER legend Alex Higgins is too ill for a life-saving operation to give him new teeth.

Doctors told the frail former World Champion, who lost his teeth battling throat cancer, he must build up his health before risking surgery.

But 61-year-old Higgins can only eat mashed food and his weight had already plummeted to seven stone.

Dentist Dr Daniel Simon said last night: "It's a vicious circle.

"He can't get better and have the new teeth unless he eats and gets back to health. But he can't eat without the teeth."

He added: "Right now he is in a very weak situation in his general health, he is not feeling very well, his lungs are not good.

"These are all complications for a general anaesthetic."

Higgins, who blew a £3million fortune as he battled booze problems, failed medical tests after flying to Marbella in Spain for the specialist treatment. Star pals had raised £20,000 for the surgery, which involves implanting bolts to his jaw for the dentures.

Higgins snubbed a free hotel to stay at a pal's pad in nearby Cabopino. He spent most of the week sipping rum in a bar and chain-smoking cigarettes.

A source said: "The whole week I barely saw him eat a morsel of food. He was quite rude and insulting to people who tried to help him. It's sad."

So I was right all along. Sadly.

[jb134]

Enough said!

[jrc750]

"He spent most of the week sipping rum in a bar and chain-smoking cigarettes.

A source said: "The whole week I barely saw him eat a morsel of food. He was quite rude and insulting to people who tried to help him. It's sad.""
As much as i liked Alex, ime just pleased i didnt contribute towards his holiday, absolutely no excuse for it

[Neil Taperell]

Some people just don't want to be helped . Very sad indeed .

[Kingscratcher]

I find it hilarious the way people believe every word of an article printed in The Sun, especially with quotes from such a reputable character as 'a source'!!

[Mr P]

If this is true, it's incredibly sad. Always a great guy, you just have to worry how long his life will be now

[beechy1212]

What i find rather sad is you get a lot of the same posters slagging off the News of the World for it's story on John Higgins, claiming a stitich up because the NOTW cannot be trusted, then they believe the Sun

Unreal.

[tammajock]

Whether I believe Higgins is to be helped or not is not for the governing body to descide as he reaped the rewards from a sport that in turn, lets agree as a forum, that he had a part in playing. Nobody is bigger than the beast however, and whereas Higgins was an important cog to the sport, I feel in my humble opinion that it is a personal choice for those who wish to help the poor fella. Although if you have made the descision yourself to harm your body through substance abuse, whether it be booze,drugs or tobacco, you then lose your right to demand anything, not that he has for anybodys help in the first place?.......... Is this not what you hear in papers on a daily basis? Why addicts have the right to sit on their backsides just because they are a user, or why people using tobacco have the right to cancer treatment as they knew the risks and finally obese people and their right to have tax payers gastric bands? bit radical i know and whether I can sit in judgement to a fella who has obviously not gathered many admirers outside and during a snooker match is not for me to say, i find myself in somewhat middle ground as my compassion to a human being kicks in. Do we ask how money is spent in sending it to africans starving? We as a human race whether its proper or not have a duty whether whoever the race , creed and especially whether he signed a few autographs or not to help someone who is obviously for whatever reason cannot help himself, In truth it makes us who we are is it not? To conclude I wish Alex Higgins all the best in his recovery and I will be making a donation and hopefully others will follow but i do agree it is a personal choice....i have however enjoyed reading this thread and all the opinions