Post a reply

Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby Roland

John Higgins at back of the cue for brains

Some fear the John Higgins scandal is the end for snooker; the rest of us fear it isn't.

He isn't the first player to be allegedly snookered by a brown envelope, or at least the promise of one, but he's the first world No.1.

There are those who accept Higgins' alibi and believe the tabloid sting was a frame-up -but his 'Russian mafia' excuse would have held more water if he'd notified snooker bigwigs on his return to the UK.

The fact he kept schtum does him no favours.

And besides, Russia is not known for its contribution to snooker other than that bloke Inoff The Red. In Russia a cue is what you stand in to buy cabbage.

The big question from the video evidence made public at the weekend is this: who was thicker - Higgins and his manager or the tabloid sting merchants?

They were allegedly offering £260,000 not to fix a match at a high-ranking tournament but a single frame in what amounted to a series of four exhibition games. In other words the kind of events you'd struggle to get a fiver on.

Their figures were so wide of the ballpark you half-expected them to push their little finger to their lips, Dr Evil-like, when uttering them.

That Higgins seemingly failed to smell a rat is damning proof he's even dumber than he looks, which I wouldn't have believed was possible.

I'm told that between £5,000 and £10,000 would be enough to get a jockey to throw a run-of-the-mill race on an odds-on favourite - economically viable for crooks because they could earn 10 times that from such a con - so who in their right minds would pay a snooker player, even a world No.1, £250,000 to lose a frame in pretty much a non-event?

Who in their right minds would believe such an offer was genuine?

But the most startling revelation in the whole Kiev sting - stinging in Ukraine - was that snooker matches are artificially lengthened to fill allocated TV air-time.

It makes you wonder about all those finalframe cliffhangers that kept us entranced in the 80s.

All those games that could have finished 13-2 but instead went to 13-12 just because it suited TV (and of course snooker).

Steve Davis must be wondering just how committed Higgins was in their Crucible showdown when the Scot played like someone who'd just placed 50p on the side of the table and said 'I'm on next.'

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnist ... -22231750/


Derek Mcgovern :bird:

Re: Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby Bourne

"That Higgins seemingly failed to smell a rat is damning proof he's even dumber than he looks, which I wouldn't have believed was possible."

People in glass houses - stfu McGovern you clueless hoe.

Re: Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby JohnFromLondonTown

Breaks my heart these 2 Bob jurno's jumping on the bandwagon planting these poisonous seeds in people's minds. The only thing I am thankful for is that Barry Hearn has got himself involved, given the direction & action will be taken. By this he is at least working on keeping the integrity where it belongs in the public domain.

I feel for the John Higgins fella, but he should have reported it as soon as he got out of the room, especially with Pat Mooney with him. He definitely should have known better, deffo. :-(

Re: Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby Wildey

what he has failed to mention regarding close matches that might have been 13-2 finishing 13-12.

in the 80s there was 2 Ranking finals that finished 9-0 and 10-0 a Masters Final that Finished 9-0 the British Open Final finished 13-2 and a World Final that finished 18-3 why wasent they organised to finish to suit TV <doh>

Re: Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby JohnFromLondonTown

wildJONESEYE wrote:what he has failed to mention regarding close matches that might have been 13-2 finishing 13-12.

in the 80s there was 2 Ranking finals that finished 9-0 and 10-0 a Masters Final that Finished 9-0 the British Open Final finished 13-2 and a World Final that finished 18-3 why wasent they organised to finish to suit TV <doh>

Tell him that wild. Here is an email address of his....

betsguru@aol.com

Re: Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby Wildey

GJtheaussiestud wrote:most of them are clueless football journalists who dont care about other sports

tabloid trash <doh>

its nothing new these types of articles was in the 80s regarding snooker yes they are iratating but i also take it as a compliment that snooker does intrest them enough to write about it only the great sportsmen gets criticised and the same for great sports <ok>

Re: Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby Wildey

Bourne wrote:They're only writing about it because it was front page scandal though, not because of the actual snooker.


yes but think about it another way a rag redtop tabloid paper went to all this expense and trouble to trap a "Snooker Player" i thought nobody interested in snooker no more buck me the NOTW was big style.

Re: Report in the Daily Mirror - more tabloid scum alert

Postby GrumpyMrDavros

Let's just remember that in Fleet Steeet rivalries between newspapers makes the rivalry between Higgins and Davis or Hendry and O'Sullivan look like a love in . If a Mirror Group newspaper had pulled off the sting instead of a News International newspaper then The Sun would have published a similar article whining that they hoped this would have been the end of snooker