Alex Higgins dead

The only time l enjoyed watching snooker.. On his day a genius.

RIP.

Bad news re Hurricane.

RIP Game has not been the same since the great man great character

fa gs

the word genius is overused but apt in this case. What a player he was.

so sad at this :(

I heard a couple of weeks ago he wasn't eating because he'd lost his teeth and couldn't chew food. Just drank loads of rum. Gave up in the end I think at 61.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1279621/Alex-Hurricane-Higgins-living-baby-food-losing-teeth-throat-cancer-battle.html

I had him in my pub's dead pool - but I will take no pleasure in collecting my winnings.

shares in deagio plummit on this news

Archive - Alex Higgins wins 1982 World title (UK users only)

Former world snooker champion Alex Higgins has died aged 61 after a long battle against throat cancer.

The 1972 and 1982 world champion, a heavy smoker, was reportedly found dead in his flat in Belfast on Saturday.

Recent newspaper pictures showed a painfully thin Higgins in Spain after his hopes of having surgery to get new teeth had been dashed.

Higgins lost all his teeth during his cancer treatment but was not deemed fit enough to have the surgery.

The legendary Northern Ireland player had been suffering from throat cancer for more than a decade and he blamed his illness largely on the cigarette makers who sponsored his sport.

His weight had reportedly plummeted to only seven stone as he had to have all his food pureed because eating in a normal fashion had become excruciating.

Friends of the controversial snooker legend had raised around £20,000 to enable Higgins to have the surgery in Spain.

However, he was deemed too frail to undergo the operation by the Spanish medics.
   

Higgins was in the news in May after claiming that he had knowledge of at least four top players taking bribes to lose tournament matches.

The Northern Ireland legend also revealed that he turned down several big-money offers to throw games in his career.

Higgins, the world champion in 1972 and 1982, claimed Greek gamblers offered him £18,000 in 1979 to lose his Benson & Hedges Masters quarter-final against Perrie Mans and £20,000 to cheat at the Irish Masters in 1989 but rejected both.

Higgins was scheduled to appear in the new World Seniors Championship in November.

The Belfast man clinched his first World title in 1972 as he defeated John Spencer in the final and memorably repeated that triumph 10 years later at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield by beating Ray Reardon.

Higgins was also beaten in the 1976 and 1980 world finals while other triumphs included two Masters titles at Wembley.

He had frequent brushes with snooker's governing body - he once head-butted a tournament director - and his career suffered a downward spiral after being banned for an entire season following a threat to have his compatriot Dennis Taylor shot in 1990.

However, Taylor was among the first of many former players and others connected with the sport to pay tribute to Higgins, admitting: "There was just something about the way he played the game - there was a little bit of [John] McEnroe in there.

"I don't think you'll ever see a player in the game of snooker like the great Alex Higgins."

BBC snooker commentator Philip Studd described Higgins as "snooker's original, troubled genius".
   
Without Higgins snooker would never have become one of the most popular television sports in the 1980s

BBC snooker commentator Philip Studd

"Charismatic, flash, fast, unpredictable, combustible - you just couldn't take your eyes off the 'Hurricane'," the BBC commentator told Radio 5 live.

"While he could never match the consistency of Steve Davis or Stephen Hendry, Higgins on his day was the greatest of them all.

"He touched the heights in 1982 when he won his second world title.

"He pipped Jimmy White to the final thanks to a break still widely regarded as the finest ever made.

"His tears of triumph after beating Ray Reardon - wife and baby in arms - remains one of snooker's most iconic moments.

"Without Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins snooker would never have become one of the most popular television sports in the 1980s and beyond."

Higgins was married twice and had two children with his second wife Lynn, whom he later divorced.

And here we go. The disrespectful posters have arrived.

Who gives a fcuk?! You don't you cretin!

Correct. Someone's died and he finds it funny. Lowest of the low!

I saw Alex a few times in Manchester over the last year or so.  One time was before the Manchester derby in the Red Lion pub in Withington, next to a big cancer hospital where I presumed he was receiving treatment.

It was the day before the Manchester derby at Old Trafford which united won 4-3. He handed me a betting slip with a correct score bet of 3-2 written on it and croaked advice (he couldn't speak) for me to back it.

Honestly, his appearance was shocking.  A walking, drinking skeleton with a copy of the racing post.

Just because of who it was, I put the bet on and was able to trade out at odds-on when the score reached 3-2.  One of my biggest single wins last season.

So, a toast to you, Hurricane, sir.  RIP.

And to post about a dead snooker player on a football forum shows below average intellect.

the guy new he had a problem and did nothing to help himself but carried on drinking and smoking

if i feel for the people who try and make something of what they got

he gave life no respect

I thought you might.

Listen if you genuinely want to talk about a dead snooker player then you will have better chance of a sensible conversation on the snooker forum. Don't be surprised if people don't care on the football forum.

It appears that most of the replies on here are contrary to your thoughts. The fact that you are disrespectful has no relevance here. Goodnight.

Facts only, please Joined: 16 Jan 10
Replies: 207 24 Jul 10 23:03   

I would say he was only posting it to let people know, nothing wrong with that.  If you don't like it, then ignore it. 

You could follow your own advice maybe?