vintage jimmy winning 1986 grand prix

this one of favourite clips actually remember it quite well even though i turned five this year jimmy had a decent year in 1986 won the mercentile credit classic as well as the grand prix here and lost in the masters final to cliff thorburn but won the irish masters

terrific touch player was jimmy i know these were different times the games moved on much more professional now game evolved

compare that jimmy white in his prime to that of today who lunging at every ball possible belly getting in the way of every shot with fake hair younger fans today maybe dont appreciate jimmy white but he in his prime was something special lacked dedication i know but that part of the package that made him special

amazing to think jimmy at 24 was almost 30 years younger than beaten finalist rex williams nice to see both players being very complementary about each other at the end

and last i heard rex williams still alive ha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEW0okgGC9g

indeed - what was impressive was that Rex had a 5-2 lead after the first session

Just shows you how much the games changed

That is in the era of Jimmy that he should be remembered for. Everything post mid 90's after he removed his bald patch he was a different player. The Jimmy of the 1980's and early 90's was a bucking incredible snooker player. He would stand out just as much in today's game.

Sonny wrote:That is in the era of Jimmy that he should be remembered for. Everything post mid 90's after he removed his bald patch he was a different player. The Jimmy of the 1980's and early 90's was a bucking incredible snooker player. He would stand out just as much in today's game.

I am saddened, sorry to say, when I view Jimmy nowadays. I was huge fan of Jimmy late 80s early 90s, rolled with all the punches (and there were loads). He was a hero.

He loves the game so much which is why he's still playing and you can't take that away from him. But for me personally the last 15 years have tarnished what he was about. Watching him now, you've no way of telling just how exciting and enthralling and bloody good he once was.

Sonny wrote:He loves the game so much which is why he's still playing and you can't take that away from him. But for me personally the last 15 years have tarnished what he was about. Watching him now, you've no way of telling just how exciting and enthralling and bloody good he once was.

i never watched him play in his prime i can only judge on what i see these days

and thats not a lot from jimbo

Sonny wrote:He loves the game so much which is why he's still playing and you can't take that away from him. But for me personally the last 15 years have tarnished what he was about. Watching him now, you've no way of telling just how exciting and enthralling and bloody good he once was.

so the same will apply to Hendry over the last 6-8 years and Davis over the last 10-15 years

That white back waist coat - I got a signed photo from Matchroom office when I was a kid. Cherished, still got it. Agree with sonny, he was feckin special.

thats the sad thing about players that carry on long after their prime kids and youngsters look at them and think what a old fart.

sport is fickle very few now remember how good LFC was in their 70s and 80s prime

GJ wrote:

Sonny wrote:He loves the game so much which is why he's still playing and you can't take that away from him. But for me personally the last 15 years have tarnished what he was about. Watching him now, you've no way of telling just how exciting and enthralling and bloody good he once was.

i never watched him play in his prime i can only judge on what i see these days

and thats not a lot from jimbo

youve missed out.

do yourself a favour since you claim to be a big snooker fan and watch some of his old clips on youtube then you will realise why hes held in such high regard and one of snookers few true geniuses.

Not Davis, he's done plenty to keep his fans happy and has aged better than the rest of them. Anyway, I'm speaking as a Jimmy fanatic when I was growing up. He was my hero and watching footage of him in the 80's and early 90's brings it all back. I like to see him do well for nostalgic reasons but hand on heart the last time I really enjoyed watching Jimmy was when he beat Ronnie at the Masters and Hendry in round 1 at the Crucible and that's going back a fair bit.

Wild wrote:thats the sad thing about players that carry on long after their prime kids and youngsters look at them and think what a old fart.

sport is fickle very few now remember how good LFC was in their 70s and 80s prime

bit different with a team who have personnel changes.

Yeh i loved that Liverpool team of the mid to late 80 and who knows what they would have done in Europe the ban hadnt been in place.

Was sad in a way to see the likes of Whelan, Grobbelar, Molby, Hysen, Nicol etc playing on throughout the early to mid90s when they were past their best

Jimmy White is a legend no further comment

Witz78 wrote:

Wild wrote:thats the sad thing about players that carry on long after their prime kids and youngsters look at them and think what a old fart.

sport is fickle very few now remember how good LFC was in their 70s and 80s prime

bit different with a team who have personnel changes.

Yeh i loved that Liverpool team of the mid to late 80 and who knows what they would have done in Europe the ban hadnt been in place.

Was sad in a way to see the likes of Whelan, Grobbelar, Molby, Hysen, Nicol etc playing on throughout the early to mid90s when they were past their best

yes but people just forget take John Parrott people actually forget just how brilliantly he played to beat Jimmy in 1991 and thinks Jimmy blew another Title.

im like sonny not really enjoyed jimmy matches for the last 15 years or so just a few quality wise that i have enjoyed when jimmy played like the old jimmy white what we all remember him for and not the grafting winning in dribs and drabs

the few that stand out most are the runs in the grand prix 1997 and world championship in 1998 and one or two matches in the masters in the early 2000s other than that he been nothing like what i choose to remember him for and you got clowns like gj who say rubbish like he can only judge from what he sees these days which is not a lot

let me tell you something pal no offence but if prime jimmy white was in the draw last year he would have beaten neil robertson had they played and im a neil roberston fan if jimmy white was around in his prime these days then make no mistake he would have been fighting it out with higgins at the top and given him a bigger run for his money than other players who are at the top are these days

of the current players in the top sixteen i rate ronnie higgins williams and hendry higher than jimmy in fact of the current active players only those four and davis are above white though i think ding in years to come has a chance of overtaking white

and on current form peak white would be in the mix with williams and higgins

John Parrott probably would have beaten anybody in snooker history with a performance like that in the first session

out of curiosity wild, what IS your opinion on Jimmy White as a player?

Tubberlad wrote:Jimmy White is a legend no further comment

which brings me 0nto my next poser

just who exactly are the true snooker legends, the phrase is dished out willy nilly these days to anyon, ive even seen folk here say Dale is a legend

for me the following players fall into a true snooker legends category.

Joe Davis
Ray Reardon
Alex Higgins
Steve Davis
JimmyWhite
Stephen Hendry
Ronnie O'Sullivan


honourable mentions to.....

Fred Davis
John Pulman
John Spencer
Eddie Charlton
Cliff Thorburn
Terry Griffiths
John Parrot
Ken Doherty
Peter Ebdon
John Higgins
Mark Williams

Wild wrote:

Witz78 wrote:

Wild wrote:thats the sad thing about players that carry on long after their prime kids and youngsters look at them and think what a old fart.

sport is fickle very few now remember how good LFC was in their 70s and 80s prime

bit different with a team who have personnel changes.

Yeh i loved that Liverpool team of the mid to late 80 and who knows what they would have done in Europe the ban hadnt been in place.

Was sad in a way to see the likes of Whelan, Grobbelar, Molby, Hysen, Nicol etc playing on throughout the early to mid90s when they were past their best

yes but people just forget take John Parrott people actually forget just how brilliantly he played to beat Jimmy in 1991 and thinks Jimmy blew another Title.

Jimmy going out on the snake hiss on the Sat night b4 the final didnt help 7-0 down after 1st session was a mountain to climb.

yes much as i hate to say it that first session from parrot was something of a freak show it was so bloody good i remember that session it completely turned the carnival atmosphere in my household as a kid and the rest of the match wasnt fun as jimmy was always up against it

i was rooting for a jimmy revenge in the uk final and i hated the site of parrot but was pleased when he beat him in the following year and at the worlds in 95

whats interesting watching that clip is how little live snooker that was shown on TV in thoes days even finals was on highlight package.

I'd nearly give Denis Taylor a spot as he won the sport's greatest ever match...

Alex Higgins, Steve Davis, Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry & Ronnie O'Sullivan

but highlights seemed like live play anyway wild you dont have all the technological stuff like you do today in those days you could only follow on ceefax and in my household we refrained from checking the scores on ceefax when we wanted to watch the highlights the suspense was brilliant there was always an urge to check on ceefax and that was part of the thrill

jojo wrote:but highlights seemed like live play anyway wild you dont have all the technological stuff like you do today in those days you could only follow on ceefax and in my household we refrained from checking the scores on ceefax when we wanted to watch the highlights the suspense was brilliant there was always an urge to check on ceefax and that was part of the thrill

sounds like my house

Tubberlad wrote:I'd nearly give Denis Taylor a spot as he won the sport's greatest ever match...

Alex Higgins, Steve Davis, Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry & Ronnie O'Sullivan

Yes i missed Dennis from my honourable mention list, knew id missed someone obvious

Joe Davis is the Godfather of snooker and will always be an iconic figure.

Reardons a 6 time WC, hes a memorable personality from the golden age of snooker and his rivalry with Alex helped drag the sport into the mainstream

Wild wrote:

jojo wrote:but highlights seemed like live play anyway wild you dont have all the technological stuff like you do today in those days you could only follow on ceefax and in my household we refrained from checking the scores on ceefax when we wanted to watch the highlights the suspense was brilliant there was always an urge to check on ceefax and that was part of the thrill

sounds like my house

haha brings back the memories.

i remember if iwas waiting for snooker highlights, id maybe want to check football scores on Ceefax page 302 or Oracle page 140 but would wait for about 2 minutes before i looked to make sure the pages had loaded up incase whilst the numbers were going round the clock to thatpage, incase the snooker result appeared in the headlines that flashed up every few seconds on the main menu page.

i wouldnt like to put dennis taylor up there really his win against davis the blackball fight just look at most the shots taylor played they were criminal it was almost hit and hope

the double attempt across the whole length of the table and the attempted pot into the green pocket when he missed by about a foot was cringeworthy

anyhow that added to the excitement but i still feel the better player over the two days lost

when Talking of Snooker Legends my top 10 is

1 Joe Davis
2 Alex Higgins
3 Steve Davis
4 Stephen Hendry
5 Ray Reardon
6 Jimmy White
7 John Spencer
8 Ronnie O'Sullivan
9 John Higgins
10 Mark Williams

i honestly dont think a top 1o Lists of Snooker legends is now complete without John Higgins and Mark Williams on it.

yes you have to include higgins and williams as much as i hate higgins

jojo wrote:yes you have to include higgins and williams as much as i hate higgins

not one to hide your feelings are you

Wild wrote:when Talking of Snooker Legends my top 10 is

1 Joe Davis
2 Alex Higgins
3 Steve Davis
4 Stephen Hendry
5 Ray Reardon
6 Jimmy White
7 John Spencer
8 Ronnie O'Sullivan
9 John Higgins
10 Mark Williams

i honestly dont think a top 1o Lists of Snooker legends is now complete without John Higgins and Mark Williams on it.

and Hearn too perhaps