Quite saddened by JV’s passing. Absolute legend from my younger days when snooker clubs were still a thing and you don’t hear many people say a bad word about him. RIP x
I saw Ray Reardon do a demo at Butlitz as a kid. I must have been nine or ten, so dad probably only got me a half. Anyway we didn't have a crucifix, garlic or holy water and were perfectly fine!
I don’t think you were the only one. Didn’t he once stick the heed on an official, backstage? He was a very naughty boy…
He was very badly served by the snooker establishment. It was Higgins, with his mercurial antics, his high-risk playing style, his love of playing to the gallery with seemingly suicidal exhibition shots that made snooker a mainstream entertainment money-printing machine. He came from a poor background, had obvious behavioural and psychological challenges and a well-known predeliction for drinking and gambling and no clue how to cope with celebrity. Even though snooker's ruling bodies could not publicly back him after he assaulted an official and had violent drink-fueled altercations with his wife, they owed him an awful lot and they could and should have provided him with support behind the scenes. Instead he was abandoned to drink and gamble away his money and his health while the game went on to make vast amounts of money from his legacy. Admittedly he didn't make it easy, having declared his hatred of the snooker establishment, but they should have nurtured their star with better care before things got to that point.
I went to an exhibition match in Harrogate between Higgins and Joe Johnson. They were both first class blokes and joined everyone in the bar afterwards. Great days…
I see Fred Smith died. Bassist with Blondie - which I think we can skip, since the main appeal was looking at Harry Debbie - then with Television; crucially, playing on Marquee Moon, one of the all-time great rock albums.
