rocket_ron wrote:i have to laugh at some of the posts on here, people saying their shocked! Why?? Im not, its not nice to say this but he has been knocking at deaths door for years and years. i can rememer when i was still school age watching a documentary about him and at the end it shown him looking real ill sitting in a pub with a drink shouting at the tv cos he was betting. im 26 next so that must be at least 10 years ago. how he has stayed alive all this time is beyond me.
Now im sad he has died and really gonna miss him, what he did for snooker was honerable. But im not Shocked
This was a BBC documentary from 2001. Its a cracking programme and id fully expect it to be repeated very soon as a tribute and probably with an addition to document the last 9 years of his life so it covers his whole life. I watched it at the time too, and i actually have it on DVD along with many other Higgins documentaries, matches etc. Infact only last week i watched the documentary, kinda spooky coincidence that now
Anyone wanting a copy of this or any other great snooker DVDs should check out
Classic snooker DVDs for saleHe looked more of a mess in that documentary than he did in recent years id say, obviously that was just after a lot of the initial chemotherapy to control the cancer and put him into remission from it. After that he settled back into a routine of the occasional personal appearance, exhibition match but mainly just going down to the Royal or round to the likes of Robinsons, The Crown and some of the other pubs near the Europa Hotel just round the corner from his flat, where hed sit quietly in a corner with his trademark hat on studying the Racing Post and being interrupted occasionally be well wishers who send a drink over to him.
Will always regret never asking for a photo with him all the times i met him, i was actually too afraid to ask plus i didnt think hed like getting his picture taken given his appearance so i always prefered to suss out what kinda mood he looked in then decide whether to just send a drink over to him and give him a nod of acknowledgement or go over for a brief chat about snooker and life in general
The decline in the last 6 months or so was alarming though and very sad to see. Whilst it wasnt really a shock it still was as you get that used to him having survived through the cancer for so long and being almost immortal. In some ways he is though, the legend of The Hurricane will always live on. Just glad im of an age to be old enough to remember snooker in the 80s. Hes most definetly the biggest influence on me getting into snooker from an early age and will always be my favourite player of all time.