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Help or Hindrance?

Ronnie is undoubtedly beneficial to snooker
18
64%
Hindrance, snooker needs to get rid of him
5
18%
Neutral
5
18%
 
Total votes : 28

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Cannonball

The Rocket is about 50% of snooker. His undoubted genius, complex personality (the folk who voted hindrance need to develop one of these!) , and colourful life put snooker in the headlines. No-one else can do this, except match fixers. The day he retires will be a very sad day for snooker. More club players will give up. We have seen local leagues dwindling over the last two decades. I know two county players who only play one frame a week now, and one of them was going to give up completely to play pool money league. They both had a crack at being pros. 147 players who can't be bothered.

When the leading light goes out, there will be even less inspiration, more clubs will close, more players will give up, and that includes our young prospects. We hoped Judd would fill the gap and he proclaimed along with a big mouth N. Irishman that snooker didn't need Ronnie, only for both of them to backtrack later on. Snooker is a hard game and it requires at least 12 hours a week for progress to continue. People like Ronnie, Jimmy, Hendry, have inspired players to stay on the baize.

It says something that Legends with Ronnie sells more tickets than a world tour comp without him. Think about that. It's not just the clubs that will suffer, but the table and cue makers, the fitters, and all the suppliers.

We have the wrong question really; it should be 'Are the grinders and their fans (on here) a hindrance to snooker?'.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby SnookerFan

Sonny wrote:http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rocket-ronnie-snookered-by-fixing-row-but-sport-still-in-the-frame-1.1536665?page=1


Somewhat stating the obvious, isn't it?

The people criticising Ronnie weren't criticising him because they believed that no match-fixing ever happens. They were criticising him for making statement he couldn't prove in the public demain.

If he knows, or suspects that there is something fishy, he should talk to Hearn and not blab about on twitter. That goes for any snooker player, not just Ronnie.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby vodkadiet

SnookerFan wrote:
Sonny wrote:http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rocket-ronnie-snookered-by-fixing-row-but-sport-still-in-the-frame-1.1536665?page=1


Somewhat stating the obvious, isn't it?

The people criticising Ronnie weren't criticising him because they believed that no match-fixing ever happens. They were criticising him for making statement he couldn't prove in the public demain.

If he knows, or suspects that there is something fishy, he should talk to Hearn and not blab about on twitter. That goes for any snooker player, not just Ronnie.


He would have to start with himself. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby SnookerFan

Sonny wrote:I've just been visiting relatives who are staying up here for a couple of days. Two of my uncles obviously know I'm into snooker (they've known me all my life so they know I've been obsessed from an early age) and all they wanted to talk about was what Ronnie said and saying the game is corrupt because of gambling sponsorship and that players are throwing matches all over the place. So there is first hand experience of people with a passing interest at best and how they view the game thanks to Ronnie's outburst on Twitter.

It's stupid because you could say the same about every sport, particularly head to head sports like tennis, darts, badminton, boxing or whatever else. Except you don't hear about it, only snooker. If it's going on in snooker then it's going on everywhere else because every other sport is contested by humans.


I agree. Though it's hardly their fault. Ronnie is the most popular player in the sport by a long way, and the papers love reporting the stuff he says. Sadly, the stuff he says tends to be complete and utter bullocks.

I had a conversation with a mate once, just after Ronnie called The Crucible boring at The Power Snooker launch. He said something along the lines of; "I told you snooker was boring, even the top player in the games think it's boring."

If the press is reporting on it though, people will comment on it and believe it. Even if it's utter nonsense.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Roland

It's true though, the things he says get blown out of all proportion. Since then I've had other people I know outside of snooker call or text me in relation to Ronnie's comments thinking the game is corrupt from top to bottom and that you can't trust any results. Maybe Ronnie actually realises now the damage his comments have done because they have unquestionably done damage.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby SnookerFan

Sonny wrote:It's true though, the things he says get blown out of all proportion. Since then I've had other people I know outside of snooker call or text me in relation to Ronnie's comments thinking the game is corrupt from top to bottom and that you can't trust any results. Maybe Ronnie actually realises now the damage his comments have done because they have unquestionably done damage.


Pretty much everything he says gets blown out of proportion by the media. That's not his fault.

What is his fault is that he says things that without thinking them through, most of which are utter nonsense.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Andy Spark

Ronnie helps snooker. Two points...

1) I would say People who criticise Ronnie's twitter message for harming snooker are actually taking a similar stance as to the old regimes that were predominantly concerned with ridding the media of negative stories and didn't bother so much with actually setting up robust systems to counter corruption, it's a stance that got us into this situation in the first place! It seemed to me that Ronnie's tweet was mostly questioning the openness of the debate from this standpoint, openness being a part of such a robust system, which I think was a fair point.

2) There is more than one way to promote snooker. Ronnie has an unorthodox method that hits the media by providing a narrative that has a tortured genius at its center, this plays very well. OK he attends far fewer tournaments than the rest but, in a way, this contributes to the mystique. I'm not doubting he harms snooker with some of the things he says and does; I've criticised him in the past and I think to never criticise Ronnie for anything WOULD be to be a biased fanboy, but generally he does far more good than bad. If we lose Ronnie then snooker loses a valuable asset.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Wildey

if we get rid of Ronnie we will get rid of useless fan boyism from the game or they realize they love the game more than Ronnie and move on being fans of younger players.

no player is bigger than the sport Alex Higgins once said when he was facing a ban "Can Snooker Face Life without me?" answer is yes There is always someone new around the corner no matter which sport you support.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Roland

Fair points Andy Spark. I don't believe there was any malice in the tweets as I've said elsewhere, they came off the back of lots of David Icke retweets who is a major conspiracy theorist. Maybe he sees conspiracy in letting some rumours remain uninvestigated but hopefully now he realises that there is a reason why he can't just come out and say the sort of things he did especially if he values the sport which has made him famous.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby SnookerFan

Andy Spark wrote:Ronnie helps snooker. Two points...

1) I would say People who criticise Ronnie's twitter message for harming snooker are actually taking a similar stance as to the old regimes that were predominantly concerned with ridding the media of negative stories and didn't bother so much with actually setting up robust systems to counter corruption, it's a stance that got us into this situation in the first place! It seemed to me that Ronnie's tweet was mostly questioning the openness of the debate from this standpoint, openness being a part of such a robust system, which I think was a fair point.


I disagree.

Nobody is suggesting Ronnie, or any other player, should ignore match fixing if they know it's going on.

What we're suggesting is, if you know it goes on tell Hearn. If you suspect it goes on, also tell Hearn. Or somebody senior in World Snooker at least.

What you don't do is say that you know it happens on twitter, then back track and say you have no proof. Voicing gossip in a public forum helps nobody. Ronnie says he wants transparency, but he wasn't being transparent. He said it happens on twitter, then said he was only voicing gossip when asked to substantiate his claims.

If Ronnie knows it goes on and knows who is involved, of course he should voice it. As should any other player. It won't get stamped out if people aren't prepared to confront it.

Pretending you know stuff, when you know nothing doesn't help. It just wastes time, and creates negative headlines.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby SnookerFan

I saw the reaction to his tweets. I don't follow him, so hadn't seen what he said.

What are people getting worked up about? On checking his account, he's said something about his mate giving himself a blow job. Is that it? :roll: Doesn't really bother me, particularly.

Or did he say something else that got taken down?

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Raziel

I must admit that I am not usually a fan of Ronnie O'Sullivan's antics.

Some of these antics have been:

(1.) Walking out of a tournament, leaving paying fans sitting in their seats with no snooker to watch.

(2.) Entering tournaments, and then not turning up for them, disappointing fans who had booked tickets just to see him play.

(3.) Continually talking about packing in the game, changing his mind every five minutes, and leaving his fans not knowing what he is going to do.

(4.) Doing a load of other selfish, immature crap over the years which I can't be bothered to itemize and list.

If Ronnie O'Sullivan was appreciative of snooker fans who, in the end, are the people who pay his wages, he would not do the things I mentioned above.

Ronnie O'Sullivan comes across to me as a selfish, spoiled little brat who does not care about his fans at all. The only person Ronnie O'Sullivan seems to care about is Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Maybe, if he had ever been forced to do a "real" job, he would appreciate how fortunate he is to be able to earn millions of pounds by knocking little balls into holes with a stick.

It certainly did for Ray Reardon. Being trapped under a pile of rubble in a coal mine made Ray Reardon appreciate every second of how fortunate he was to be able to play snooker for a living.

However, Ronnie O'Sullivan does put "bums on seats". So I think that, even if he is a selfish, spoiled little brat, he is still an asset to snooker. I still love watching Ronnie O'Sullivan play, even though I am not a fan of him personally.

But, some people who do not like Ronnie O'Sullivan always try to take it too far. They try to make a big deal of everything that he does in the public eye.

And that brings me to Ronnie O'Sullivan's latest Tweets. Even if Ronnie O'Sullivan is a total bell-end, I don't think he should be subject to any kind of sanction for Tweeting something about his mate apparently being able to "nosh himself off".

That kind of thing, to me, is nothing but a harmless bit of fun.

And, in this "age of the Internet", anybody who is offended by what Ronnie O'Sullivan Tweeted should really go and find something better to worry about.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Wildey

I Agree


lets not make a big deal of nothing tweets. everyone does it at times.

However Tweets that says Snooker is Boring or Corrupt does nothing for the sport and extremely harmful.

if he has evidence that corruption is rife Tell the Authorities and put it out there in a official statement Not Tweeting it.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Roland

It was the picture more than anything, had to laugh at the caption "here he is what a ledge"

With Ronnie the only things which annoy me are when he takes the snake hiss out of the game and does harm that way. Things like this I had to laugh, I mean look at his upbringing, he probably thinks nothing of posting that picture. Either that or it was aimed at publicity to promote his book which is being serialised in The Sun I believe. Anyway fingers crossed he gets away with this unscathed because I understand a lot of people are very unhappy about it. Also note no mention of it today. When he had his outburst about Lee it was on the BBC site within minutes. Journo's are always watching him so they must know and probably didn't want to draw attention to it, especially as he only took it down a couple of hours ago.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby TheRocket

I must say, I'm surprised how many people here are always acting like little crying chickens. I mean. Yes, sometimes he is acting like a little arrogant brat and I don't want to defend his antics, especially not that what happened at the China Open press conference.

But even then I wouldn't presume to evaluate him as a person because I don't even know him personally/in reallife. Maybe he is different than some people here are supposing? But let's say, he isn't and he is a rubbish person. I mean, who gives a buck about that? I think, everybody agrees, that there are tons of sportsmen in this world, especially soccer players who are big brats in reallife.

But people won't give a rubbish about that. They only care about the performance. And many people love players with rough edges, they want to see a character, not a shy guy with no charisma. Would be boring to only have hyper correct players around the table.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Raziel

I have met Ronnie O'Sullivan on quite a few occasions, and I will tell you how I found me to be. I found Ronnie O'Sullivan to be inconsistent. Sometimes he is as nice as pie, and sometimes he is a complete bell-end.

The thing with Ronnie O'Sullivan is, it's all about how he himself is feeling. If he is feeling OK, he will be fine to you. But if he is not feeling OK, he will not be at all concerned about hurting your feelings or letting you down.

Whereas someone like Shaun Murphy will always be nice to you, and will not hurt your feelings or let you down, whether is feeling OK or not feeling OK.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is a total slave to his feelings, which is a sign of emotional immaturity.

But, whatever Ronnie O'Sullivan's personality is, he is still a genius on the snooker table, and I will never stop enjoying watching him play. :-)

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Andre147

Raziel wrote:I have met Ronnie O'Sullivan on quite a few occasions, and I will tell you how I found me to be. I found Ronnie O'Sullivan to be inconsistent. Sometimes he is as nice as pie, and sometimes he is a complete bell-end.

The thing with Ronnie O'Sullivan is, it's all about how he himself is feeling. If he is feeling OK, he will be fine to you. But if he is not feeling OK, he will not be at all concerned about hurting your feelings or letting you down.

Whereas someone like Shaun Murphy will always be nice to you, and will not hurt your feelings or let you down, whether is feeling OK or not feeling OK.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is a total slave to his feelings, which is a sign of emotional immaturity.

But, whatever Ronnie O'Sullivan's personality is, he is still a genius on the snooker table, and I will never stop enjoying watching him play. :-)


Yeah totally agree with you and these last few posts here which I must say are a fair reflection of what Ronnie represents to the world of snooker. I too don't like some of his antics at times, but you have to admire the man's ability to play snooker and I hope he plays for many more years to come. He may yet again say in the future that he'll retire, etc, and we'll hear it for the 1000th time, but I think he will still be around for a few years, definately until he's 40 and this kind of flat draw system and the money rankings which will be in operation next season definately suit a player like him who doesn't want to play in everything, and if my memory serves me correct I think he's about 5th or 6th place if the money ranks were to be the norm today, so next season I think he'll definately be in the top 10 money rankings.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Wes

As immature and disrespectful Ronnie can be sometimes, on the other hand theres another side to him.
After a match he will always complement the other players game. The first thing he will say is how great his opponent is.
He never says his opponent was lucky. He never complains about kicks or the run of the balls. In that aspect, a lot of other players could learn from Ronnie.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan: Help or Hindrance to snooker?

Postby Wildey

I Was a massive Alex Higgins fan and went to see him play Jimmy White in a Exhibition in 1995 Alex lost that Exhibition Match 5-4.

i went up to him to get his Autograph he told me to "buck off ive just lost a bucking Match" those was his Words.

that hasent ruined my perception of Alex because i expected that from him and the same for Ronnie Fans despite being known as unpredictable you do predict bad behavior at times from them and accept it.