Say it ain't so, John!
I am shocked, shocked! That John Higgins, the 2009 world champion of snooker, would agree to take a bribe. Of course, the discussion about a bribe occured in Kiev, Ukraine, when John was there with his manager supposedly discussing with two businessmen setting up a tournament. The thing is, the businessmen were actually two journalists working for The News of the World, the shlockiest paper in Britain, equivalent to Entertainment News in the US, and he was obviously set-up, since the cameras were rolling all the time.
John Higgins comes across as a decent, affable guy, who also happens to be one of the best snooker players in the world. If you told me that one of the top men was prepared to take a bribe to lose a few games, he would be the last one I would guess. But, for 300,000 euros who wouldn't at least discuss it. The manager has already resigned from his positions in snooker and John has been suspended from playing by the world snooker association. They claim that they felt threatened by what they supposed was a pair of Russian mafia, and they agreed to everything in order to get out of there as soon as possible.
Many people don't realize that in snooker a defensive game is as important as an attacking game. In attack you shoot balls into pockets, but in defense you try to place the white cue ball as far away from your opponent's target ball and if possible snooker him. Snookered means that he cannot hit the required ball directly (usually a red) with the cue ball, but has to bounce it off 1 or more side cushions. In doing so he often misses, and so you gain points. No doubt John is currently thinking up various defensive moves. I have always thought that snooker is analogous to the game of life. Here is a good example of that.
Last week, in the 2010 World Championship matches currently going on at the Crucible in Sheffield, England, John Higgins lost in the first round to an old-timer, Steve Davis, who is 52 years old and hasn't won there in 25 years. It was a great match, very close and exciting and quite a surprise outcome. Now we must all be wondering. Say it ain't so, John!
John Higgins comes across as a decent, affable guy, who also happens to be one of the best snooker players in the world. If you told me that one of the top men was prepared to take a bribe to lose a few games, he would be the last one I would guess. But, for 300,000 euros who wouldn't at least discuss it. The manager has already resigned from his positions in snooker and John has been suspended from playing by the world snooker association. They claim that they felt threatened by what they supposed was a pair of Russian mafia, and they agreed to everything in order to get out of there as soon as possible.
Many people don't realize that in snooker a defensive game is as important as an attacking game. In attack you shoot balls into pockets, but in defense you try to place the white cue ball as far away from your opponent's target ball and if possible snooker him. Snookered means that he cannot hit the required ball directly (usually a red) with the cue ball, but has to bounce it off 1 or more side cushions. In doing so he often misses, and so you gain points. No doubt John is currently thinking up various defensive moves. I have always thought that snooker is analogous to the game of life. Here is a good example of that.
Last week, in the 2010 World Championship matches currently going on at the Crucible in Sheffield, England, John Higgins lost in the first round to an old-timer, Steve Davis, who is 52 years old and hasn't won there in 25 years. It was a great match, very close and exciting and quite a surprise outcome. Now we must all be wondering. Say it ain't so, John!
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:54 AM
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