Topic locked

Wild Cards for Legends

Yes
5
29%
No
12
71%
 
Total votes : 17

Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby Wildey

Ronnie O'Sullivan has put forward a Suggestion of having World Championship Wild Cards for Legends like Stephen Hendry.

to start with im a million percent against this idea what does other people think ?

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby jojo

utter bullocks this would be the death of the world championship as we all love it i understand ronnie has enormous respect for legends such as davis white and hendry but theyve had their time if they cant qualify by right anyomore they shouldnt be in there

that goes for everyone the world championship is perfect as it is if they start giving free hand outs to people some of the matches could become a farce and it will devalue the competition

in hendrys case he was awful for most part against perry in the first match and only just scraped through after perry missed the final brown into the middle pocket can you imagine if he was given a wild card and played a better player in the first round and got routed ? bullocks recycling idea ronnie just stick to beating higgins tomorrow pal that all you need to do not come out with silly stuff like this even though your heart in the right place

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby wheelsofsteel

Happens in golf, if you win a Major you have an automatic lifetime entry

Nice idea, but imagine you had Davis, Hendry, Johnson, Taylor, Parrott, Doherty and Ebdon all turning up to claim seven of the qualifying places next April?

Ronnie has got a good point, but it is completely unworkable and would end up being embarrasing

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

wheelsofsteel wrote:Happens in golf, if you win a Major you have an automatic lifetime entry

Nice idea, but imagine you had Davis, Hendry, Johnson, Taylor, Parrott, Doherty and Ebdon all turning up to claim seven of the qualifying places next April?

Ronnie has got a good point, but it is completely unworkable and would end up being embarrasing


Virgo won the UK Championship in 1979, so you got to let him in as well. :D

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby wheelsofsteel

SnookerFan wrote:
wheelsofsteel wrote:Happens in golf, if you win a Major you have an automatic lifetime entry

Nice idea, but imagine you had Davis, Hendry, Johnson, Taylor, Parrott, Doherty and Ebdon all turning up to claim seven of the qualifying places next April?

Ronnie has got a good point, but it is completely unworkable and would end up being embarrasing


Virgo won the UK Championship in 1979, so you got to let him in as well. :D


and Patsy Fagan who won it first.

And soon you have a field full of no-hopers living on past glories

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

wheelsofsteel wrote:
and Patsy Fagan who won it first.

And soon you have a field full of no-hopers living on past glories


You could make 16-people just out of the Legends. Joe Johnson arrives, as 1986 World Champion. Though Alex Higgins doesn't turn up....

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby Wildey

Caledonian Craig wrote:Unworkable really. It would be different if there were 64 players entering I reckon as it may be achievable but with just 32 players it is just not on.

its not unworkable if you have a Friday Wild Card Round featuring the lowest rank qualifiers.

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

Wild wrote:
Caledonian Craig wrote:Unworkable really. It would be different if there were 64 players entering I reckon as it may be achievable but with just 32 players it is just not on.

its not unworkable if you have a Friday Wild Card Round featuring the lowest rank qualifiers.


It's too subjective though. How do you decide who a legend is? Is it just Davis and Hendry? Or does White count? Why not have a commentator play off, with Virgo and Parrot playing for the right to play a top-16er in the first round.

Entrance to the Worlds should be earned, not given to people who were good a decade or two ago.

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby onlyevertonjon

Judging by his twitter response and now this it sounds like Ronnie doesn't want to accept that Stephen may actually retire.

Quite good to see that despite a dodgy relationship at times (mainly because of O'Sullivan) that they are very good terms now.


Stupid idea though!

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby wheelsofsteel

SnookerFan wrote:
Wild wrote:
Caledonian Craig wrote:Unworkable really. It would be different if there were 64 players entering I reckon as it may be achievable but with just 32 players it is just not on.

its not unworkable if you have a Friday Wild Card Round featuring the lowest rank qualifiers.


It's too subjective though. How do you decide who a legend is? Is it just Davis and Hendry? Or does White count? Why not have a commentator play off, with Virgo and Parrot playing for the right to play a top-16er in the first round.

Entrance to the Worlds should be earned, not given to people who were good a decade or two ago.


How do you decide who a legend is?

Not Virgo

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

wheelsofsteel wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:
Wild wrote:
Caledonian Craig wrote:Unworkable really. It would be different if there were 64 players entering I reckon as it may be achievable but with just 32 players it is just not on.

its not unworkable if you have a Friday Wild Card Round featuring the lowest rank qualifiers.


It's too subjective though. How do you decide who a legend is? Is it just Davis and Hendry? Or does White count? Why not have a commentator play off, with Virgo and Parrot playing for the right to play a top-16er in the first round.

Entrance to the Worlds should be earned, not given to people who were good a decade or two ago.


How do you decide who a legend is?

Not Virgo


That's the point. There's no concrete way of deciding whether somebody is a legend. If it's that you won a major, then Virgo is one. If it's that you have to have been a World Champion, Jimmy White isn't one. We could be arguing from here to the 2012 Worlds to decide who is legend enough for entry, and who you wouldn't include.

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby Roland

It's different in golf and tennis because you've got about 500 people in the event at the start. The Crucible only has 16 qualifying spots. Go figure.

Anyway, the words were put in Ronnie's mouth by the question knowing that he would respond like this.

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby Caledonian Craig

Sonny wrote:It's different in golf and tennis because you've got about 500 people in the event at the start. The Crucible only has 16 qualifying spots. Go figure.

Anyway, the words were put in Ronnie's mouth by the question knowing that he would respond like this.


Spot on Sonny. :clap:

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby wheelsofsteel

Sonny wrote:It's different in golf and tennis because you've got about 500 people in the event at the start. The Crucible only has 16 qualifying spots. Go figure.

Anyway, the words were put in Ronnie's mouth by the question knowing that he would respond like this.


words put in Ronnie's mouth?

there must have been a bit of space for them then beside 'quit, retire, enough, holiday and withdraw'

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby sundaygirl

I'm totally against wild cards for the Worlds it would be very unfair on whoever missed out.
In golf the former champions don't take a places other players have earned.
And I don't think that anyone given a card could possibly put in a credible performance as they would not be match fit.
Also I don't think Ronnie is talking about Hendry here in spite of the timing I think he is talking about himself :john:

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

Spot on. All this; "Well, it happens in golf" is silly. It's a totally different sport.

Should we give a yellow card every time somebody makes a foul shot, because yellow cards are given in football?

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby Wildey

SnookerFan wrote:
Wild wrote:
Caledonian Craig wrote:Unworkable really. It would be different if there were 64 players entering I reckon as it may be achievable but with just 32 players it is just not on.

its not unworkable if you have a Friday Wild Card Round featuring the lowest rank qualifiers.


It's too subjective though. How do you decide who a legend is? Is it just Davis and Hendry? Or does White count? Why not have a commentator play off, with Virgo and Parrot playing for the right to play a top-16er in the first round.

Entrance to the Worlds should be earned, not given to people who were good a decade or two ago.

totally agree

in years to come you could have about 10 Legends in their 60s and 70s with Davis in his 80s with a nurse maid <laugh>

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby wheelsofsteel

sundaygirl wrote:In golf the former champions don't take a places other players have earned.


Correct - because former champions, as exemptions, get those places first <doh>

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby sundaygirl

wheelsofsteel wrote:
sundaygirl wrote:In golf the former champions don't take a places other players have earned.


Correct - because former champions, as exemptions, get those places first <doh>

Not an expert on golf but places in top events go to players who win an event, either that event in previous years or one of many sanctioned qualifying tournes. When a player tees off at Augusta he knows that winning it will earn him a lifetime pass into the event as do the rest of the field. Places are not allocated by a committee.

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby wheelsofsteel

sundaygirl wrote:
wheelsofsteel wrote:
sundaygirl wrote:In golf the former champions don't take a places other players have earned.


Correct - because former champions, as exemptions, get those places first <doh>

Not an expert on golf but places in top events go to players who win an event, either that event in previous years or one of many sanctioned qualifying tournes. When a player tees off at Augusta he knows that winning it will earn him a lifetime pass into the event as do the rest of the field. Places are not allocated by a committee.


Good explanation. Thought that was what I said :bow:

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

Wild wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:
Wild wrote:
Caledonian Craig wrote:Unworkable really. It would be different if there were 64 players entering I reckon as it may be achievable but with just 32 players it is just not on.

its not unworkable if you have a Friday Wild Card Round featuring the lowest rank qualifiers.


It's too subjective though. How do you decide who a legend is? Is it just Davis and Hendry? Or does White count? Why not have a commentator play off, with Virgo and Parrot playing for the right to play a top-16er in the first round.

Entrance to the Worlds should be earned, not given to people who were good a decade or two ago.

totally agree

in years to come you could have about 10 Legends in their 60s and 70s with Davis in his 80s with a nurse maid <laugh>



Would the Nursemaid be entered as a legend?

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby wheelsofsteel

Witz78 wrote:Its just a pity they never thought about this 20 years ago to keep Alex in the WC every year.


20 years ago the players who were playing the game wouldn't have wanted him there, never mind those running snooker

Re: Wild Cards for Legends !!!!

Postby PLtheRef

The difference is that this not a tournament with allocation as in World Snooker dont choose the 32 players who compete in the finals.

The idea of Stephen etc getting automatic entry to the finals is unfair, - and what effects would it be to the 16 seeds, do we reduce qualifiers to having four or five spots?

Why not give them entry to the qualifiers but they have to earn their place to Sheffield