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Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Monique » 28 Jul 2010 Read

http://www.espn.co.uk/snooker/sport/sto ... MP=OTC-RSS
O'Sullivan fears he will never win another world title
ESPN staff
July 28, 2010
Image
Ronnie O'Sullivan branded the World Championships "boring" © Getty Images

Ronnie O'Sullivan admitted that he fears he may never win another world title after backtracking on his earlier criticism of the Crucible tournament.

The world No. 3 risked incurring the wrath of the snooker establishment after branding the World Championship "boring" and throwing his support behind Power Snooker, a new tournament in which matches will last a maximum of 30 minutes.

Although he continues to insist that the shorter format is more to his liking, O'Sullivan has moved to qualify his earlier comments about the sport's premier competition.

"It's not boring, it's just a hard slog," O'Sullivan told Metro. "There's a lot of time on your hands, a lot of waiting between matches.

"Less time is good for me. Unless I'm actually doing something I'm not good at sitting still, meditating, you know - one of them bods.

"But with the Power Snooker it is just pitch up, play, have a good night, great, have a bad night, so what? You're on your way home. It's a bit less painful for the mind.

"I'm not sure I can win another world title. I know I've got it in me but whether my consistency levels are at a high enough standard to compete for the World Championship again, that's in question.

"But in the shorter formats I definitely see myself having a good go at that and I enjoy them."


Nothing new really, Ronnie has never been the most confident of guys. But I'm sure he will try!

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Wildey » 28 Jul 2010 Read

Ronnie nobody knows if they will win another theres Ding,Selby,maguire,Allen even younger players Trump and Brecel waiting in the wings to win it over the next 5 to 10 years but what i do know you are as equip as anyone to win it again .

i know exactly what Ronnie meant with the boring statement but press thinks its playing thats boring not sitting waiting to play.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby SnookerFan » 28 Jul 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:Ronnie nobody knows if they will win another theres Ding,Selby,maguire,Allen even younger players Trump and Brecel waiting in the wings to win it over the next 5 to 10 years but what i do know you are as equip as anyone to win it again .

i know exactly what Ronnie meant with the boring statement but press thinks its playing thats boring not sitting waiting to play.


I don't think anybody who is a fan of snooker and watches a lot of it believed Ronnie meant that the "snooker is boring", or that the tournament itself is boring. We all know that if Ronnie is at a venue on a day and not playing, he thinks he's wasting his time. One year, didn't he play on a Sunday at The Masters, then wasn't playing until Thursday again, so went back home to Essex for a few days. In fact, I think Maguire went back to Scotland for a few days, which is a tad further from London. <laugh>

The defence is of course, Ronnie just meant he found waiting around boring at tournaments, and not the actual tournament itself. And also that Hearn must've known Ronnie's personality, there was a possibility he'd say something without thinking. Still, it doesn't change the fact that Ronnie saying that 'The Crucible is boring' was an absolute blinder, even by his own standards. Of course the press are going to jump on a statement like that from somebody of Ronnie's standard. And, it wouldn't be so bad, if it was the first time he'd made a mistake like that.

I think most of us would agree that if this was just Ronnie moaning at the camera after he'd lost a match, we wouldn't think too much of it. Personally, I'd just be glad the whinging bastard was out of the tournament. But, the fact that he did it at a press conference trying to promote the sport, at a time when the sport's half-empty arenas is a huge problem. We can all open our mouths and put our foot in it. I know I can. I don't think I've ever seen somebody who can say the wrong thing at the wrong time as often as Ronnie, to be honest. I mean, we've got a full season ahead of us before The Crucible. What's Ronnie going to do next, tell us not to spend money going to it? Then say; "Actually all I meant was, I don't have to spend money to get there because I play. You should all do so. Pool is a good sport. Sorry, not pool, I mean snooker. Snooker is a good sport. Almost as good as tennis. There, that good enough for you Hearn?" <laugh>

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby N_Castle07 » 28 Jul 2010 Read

I think Ronnie’s last chance to win it again is in the next two years. Personally I never thought he would ever win his third so I’m not going down on record saying he won’t win his forth. But he is approaching his last few years at the top of this sport and he knows it.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby SnookerFan » 28 Jul 2010 Read

N_Castle07 wrote:I think Ronnie’s last chance to win it again is in the next two years. Personally I never thought he would ever win his third so I’m not going down on record saying he won’t win his forth. But he is approaching his last few years at the top of this sport and he knows it.


I think he has got a few more tournament wins left in him if he wants it. It's whether he wants it or not. By recent comments you can tell he isn't as interested in the worlds as he has been.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby SnookerFan » 28 Jul 2010 Read

Monique wrote:I wouldn't be so sure he's not interested ... one of Ronnie's coping mechanisms when facing expectations is to try to lower them, especially his own...


Maybe so. And other then the freak result in China, he's only lost to Higgins and Selby in ranking events and The Masters this season. Higgins has had to be at the top of his game for this, and you can tell Selby gets under Ronnie's skin and throws his concentration. Is this latter fact of Ronnie just being Ronnie, or is it early signs that Ronnie's focus is waning. Time will tell.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Wildey » 28 Jul 2010 Read

i think the problem with Ronnie isn't his desire isn't his will to win or be the best but the message he puts out to other people.

its a negative message far to often for a publicity machine like ronnie to portray to the wider audience.

thats the problem its all perception and ronnie does put out a i don't care bored message.....that what i don't like.

that has never been a message his predecessor as peoples champions Alex Higgins and Jimmy white put out.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Monique » 28 Jul 2010 Read

SnookerFan wrote:
Monique wrote:I wouldn't be so sure he's not interested ... one of Ronnie's coping mechanisms when facing expectations is to try to lower them, especially his own...


Maybe so. And other then the freak result in China, he's only lost to Higgins and Selby in ranking events and The Masters this season. Higgins has had to be at the top of his game for this, and you can tell Selby gets under Ronnie's skin and throws his concentration. Is this latter fact of Ronnie just being Ronnie, or is it early signs that Ronnie's focus is waning. Time will tell.


He's always been this way. Attention span shorter than average and prone to frustration and anxiety. Fu used to get under his skin in the past.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Wildey » 28 Jul 2010 Read

i dont mind him showing that people get under his skin plenty gets under mine :redneck:

the message of boardom cant be bothered i don't like even if he doesn't mean it.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby SnookerFan » 28 Jul 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:i dont mind him showing that people get under his skin plenty gets under mine :redneck:

the message of boardom cant be bothered i don't like even if he doesn't mean it.


It makes it worse for me if he didn't mean it. If it's a complete and total inaccuracy, why bother shouting it to the entire world?

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Wildey » 28 Jul 2010 Read

like monique said its a coping mechanism he has show not to bothered then he releses the presure on himself.

for example if i said in the WC i dont care if zhang beats Hendry id have put less presure on myself than what i said "I KNOW HENDRY WILL WIN HOPE ZHANG ENJOYS THE FLIGHT HOME" i know i wasent involved but when you say something positive you want it to come true or you look like a bannana.

Ronnie being negative means a win is a bonus.

but his negativity is now being passed through the game saying WC is boring we know he didnt mean it in that way but he said it.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Noel » 28 Jul 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:i think the problem with Ronnie isn't his desire isn't his will to win or be the best but the message he puts out to other people.

its a negative message far to often for a publicity machine like ronnie to portray to the wider audience.

thats the problem its all perception and ronnie does put out a i don't care bored message.....that what i don't like.

that has never been a message his predecessor as peoples champions Alex Higgins and Jimmy white put out.


wild what ARE you talking about?
All three, Ronnie, Alex and Jimmy have been forced by us the fans and the media who feed us what we want to hear about them to live not only their professional lives but their private lives as well on a big naked stage!
They cannot have the privacy that we enjoy. "Celebrity" costs the real person HUGE! Look at how many screwed up "Stars" there are. Alex lived his life without giving a rat's ass about what anyone thought. That's how he "coped".
That's one of the reasons we "love" him. If he managed to have a "secret private life" I sure as hell don't want to hear about it!
Ronnie is the same... he carries on like the real person he is, speaking his mind, being vulnerable and from what I sense honest [ unlike some other World Champions. ] That's why people love him and hate him.
Alex, God rest his soul, aside from excusing his appalling excesses because of his extraordinary talent... what "positive" message did he put out exactly? Yes, he "saved" snooker back in his day, but Ronnie has been doing that for 10 years and right now, today! Different suffering same essential "starring" role to play.
If they were the way you and I wanted them to be, then they wouldn't be themselves and then what?

=o|

Noel

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Wildey » 28 Jul 2010 Read

as a real person he is as useful to promote the game verbally as a wooden box.

Alex and jimmy verbally showed what being a player and the sport meant to them sometimes as a player ronnie shows us he would prefer to be anything but.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Noel » 28 Jul 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:as a real person he is as useful to promote the game verbally as a wooden box.

Alex and jimmy verbally showed what being a player and the sport meant to them sometimes as a player ronnie shows us he would prefer to be anything but.



wild.
Is O'Sullivan one of the greatest players in the history of snooker?
Is O'Sullivan the biggest draw in the sport anywhere on earth?
Is he just about the only "marketable" player in snooker?

And sorry... what more is it he can do for you or the sport exactly?


=o|

Noel

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Wildey » 28 Jul 2010 Read

Noal

if the marketable machine sais snooker is boring then he is useless for marketing end of no point stay in bed screw around do what you want but market snooker successfully FORGET IT.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan; The Crucible is boring / New tourname

Postby Monique » 28 Jul 2010 Read

Noel wrote:
wildJONESEYE wrote:as a real person he is as useful to promote the game verbally as a wooden box.

Alex and jimmy verbally showed what being a player and the sport meant to them sometimes as a player ronnie shows us he would prefer to be anything but.



wild.
Is O'Sullivan one of the greatest players in the history of snooker?
Is O'Sullivan the biggest draw in the sport anywhere on earth?
Is he just about the only "marketable" player in snooker?

And sorry... what more is it he can do for you or the sport exactly?


=o|

Noel


What he also does ... promote the sport with the young.

It's all ridiculous really. That sentence was not the smartest thing he has said but he explained himself there and then (see the link to the interview I posted). It's not his fault if the press ignored it. And even so this sentence would not harm the game anyway. Fans of the sport will not be detered but that, people who hate it won't change their mind and people who want to discover it first time won't start with the Crucible as it is far to long and too expensive and you have to order your tix well in advance without guarantee you get the matches you asked for. As I said if anything, the forums reaction will be usefull to Hearn in his negociations.
Ronnie does more for the sport than most. Those who do nothing, do nothing wrong obviously so they never get stick. Great!
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