Download or read book Alex Higgins Snooker Legend written by J Hennessey and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-05-24 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Alex Higgins' first manager, John McLaughlin, bestowed the nickname 'Hurricane Higgins' on the young, feisty snooker player he had no idea just how apt it was to prove over the next thirty years. Eye of the Hurricane details a sad but uplifting story of a man who had everything to play for but now has to play hard for anything he can get. It describes Higgins, sitting fitfully on snooker's sidelines, still has a story to tell, another controversy to spark. Author John Hennessey promises a 'wart and all' account of Alex Higgin's life and that is precisely what he delivers in this thoroughly absorbing book. . . well-told but cautionary tale of how narr ow the line is between genius and insanity 'This first proper account of Higgin's life is all the more clear-eyed for being written without his co-operation.
Download or read book Who Was Hurricane Higgins written by Tony Francis and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2011-10-13 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins transcended sport in a way very few sportsmen ever have. In this definitive biography, Tony Francis describes how Alex threw himself into life like a man throwing himself off a cliff. No safety net. No plan. No fear. No shame. Francis interviews more than sixty witnesses to this extraordinary life and comes up with a remarkable series of adventures to surprise even Alex's staunchest fans. We hear from his ex-wife Lynn who tolerated him for ten years, helped him recover from a suicide attempt, watched him trash the house, but still has a fondness for the father of her kids. Snooker champion Jimmy White, Alex's best friend, says: 'I loved him, I hated him, I loved him, I hated him!' The author investigates the Irish drink culture which undermined his family, colleagues and, of course Higgins himself. How did Higgins' fellow Irish sportsman and biggest fan, Barry McGuigan, escape the excesses which dragged Higgins and George Best into the gutter? Did drink account for Higgins' wild outbursts or was there something more to it? Why did his lost love describe the man who once head-butted a tournament official as 'the gentlest man I ever met'? For all his faults, Higgins was, for a time, the most loved sportsman in Britain. He remains a legend and the most outstanding, charismatic snooker player who ever walked into an arena. Francis traces his crazy life from the time when as a baby he was kept in a shoe box in his mother's top drawer, to the sheltered accommodation in Sandy Row, Belfast where died. If you want to know what kind of man could mesmerise and terrorise his way to the top; be acclaimed by millions one moment and literally thrown out of a pub the next; die in pitiful isolation yet be celebrated by thousands lining the streets in what amounted to a state funeral, then Who Was Hurricane Higgins? is a must-read.
Download or read book John Virgo Say Goodnight JV written by John Virgo and published by John Blake. This book was released on 2019-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this revelatory memoir, snooker player John Virgo turns the spotlight on himself, sharing secrets from his forty years at the top of one of the world's most popular sports. Famous for his hilarious impersonations of snooker's biggest stars, JV is a household name thanks to his razor-sharp BBC Snooker commentary and the much-loved quiz show Big Break. A fascinating insight into British sporting life, taking readers from John's childhood in Salford, through smoky snooker dens, to tournaments and championships all over the world, as he relives travelling on Concorde, rubbing shoulders with royalty and much more. Admiringly nicknamed 'Mr Perfection', John tells how he overcame adversity to become UK champion, yet also reveals how gambling wrecked his dreams of becoming World Champion, and almost bankrupted him. An affectionate reminder of a time when Britain - and sport - took themselves a little less seriously. With a foreword by snooker legend Jimmy White.
Download or read book The Hurricane written by Bill Borrows and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born on a council estate in Belfast, Alex Higgins left school at 15. At 17 he won the Northern Ireland and All Ireland snooker championships, and turned professional when he was 20. In 1972, aged just 23, he became the youngest person ever to win the World Championship. He repeated this achievement in an emotional final 10 years later, in the process becoming the biggest box-office draw the game has ever known. Alex Higgins was a showman, gambler, comedian, bully, charmer and alcoholic. His antics - and ferocious temper - were legendary yet he was loved by millions. Now, dying of cancer, he has spent everything he has and divided his time between Manchester and Belfast, where he survives by playing u10 snooker matches in pubs. Bill Burrows has had unprecedented access to Higgins and reconstructs vividly the terrifying roller-coaster ride that is his life. Outrageous, gripping and ultimately, emotionally wrenching, this is the definitive account of one of the most charasmatic and self-destructive figures ever to appear in British sport."
Download or read book Snooker Legends written by Jason Francis and published by John Blake. This book was released on 2018-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jason Francis is the man who created the Snooker Legends Tour and who's been at Ronnie O'Sullivan's side on tour for the past 6 years. This is his story, sharing tales on the road with "the Rocket" and some of the game's greatest ever snooker legends like Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry. From his initial idea, to meeting and staging the last ever snooker show with Alex "Hurricane" Higgins to taking over the World Seniors Tour, Jason reveals what he learnt about the players themselves and also the sport as it developed over the years under the guidance of Barry Hearn. Through his tour, Jason was at the center of it all, able to bring the former players together again to renew old rivalries and create new memories. He struggled against those in the game who didn't want him to succeed but never gave up. This is his story, a snooker fan's story.
Download or read book Interesting written by Steve Davis and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-04-09 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steve Davis was just a rookie from Plumstead, south London, learning how to play from an old book his snooker-obsessed father had given him, when an encounter with Barry Hearn changed his life forever. With his backing, Steve began touring the country in a clapped-out car as an amateur. Challenging established professionals and winning titles, supported by his loyal following the Romford Roar, it wasn’t long before he progressed to the world’s stage. By the eighties, Steve had helped transform a previously shady sport into a national obsession. He and a cast of legends such as Ray Reardon, Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins, with other young guns like Jimmy White, were doing silent battle in front of huge audiences. Tens of millions of viewers would witness the nail-biting conclusions of his world championship finals; this was snooker’s golden era. The man behind the ‘boring’ tag has always been the sport’s smartest and sharpest man. With his cool, obsessive approach, Steve rewrote the rule book and became untouchably the best player in the world and the best paid sportsman in the country. Interesting lays it all bare: what it was like to win in those pressure-cooker situations; how to cope at the top, when everyone wants you to lose; and how you deal with the moment when a man comes along who is finally better than you. This is a memoir that closely evokes the smoke-filled atmosphere of those arenas, the intrigue behind the scenes and the personal psychology and sacrifice that is required to stay at the top of such an exacting sport.
Download or read book Snooker Legends written by Dean Hayes and published by History Press (SC). This book was released on 2004 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of snooker legends
Download or read book Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards written by Clive Everton and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-12-02 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout its chequered history, snooker has had more than its fair share of heroes and villains, champions and chumps, rascals and rip-off artists. In the last 20 years, every sleazy scandal imaginable has attached itself to this raffish sport: corruption, match fixing, bribery, sex, recreational drugs, performance-enhancing drugs, ballot rigging, fraud, theft, domestic violence, common-or-garden violence, paranoid politicking, dirty tricks - all against a background of inept petty tsars fixated on the pursuit, retention and abuse of power. In Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards, Clive Everton recounts the glory and despair, the dreams and disillusion, and the treachery and greed that have characterised the game since it was invented as an innocent diversion by British Army officers in India in the nineteenth century. He tells the true and unexpurgated tale of snooker's transformation into a television success story second only to football and exposes how its potential has been shamefully squandered.
Download or read book Ronnie written by Ronnie O'Sullivan and published by Seven Dials. This book was released on 2019-11-14 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ronnie is snooker's most written and talked about player, and its greatest showman. His supreme talent and style have made him the People's Champion and, as one commentator put it, 'the question is not how much does Ronnie O'Sullivan need snooker, but how much does snooker need Ronnie O'Sullivan?' A honest and candid account of his extraordinary life, Ronnie tells of the infant who was introduced to legendary snooker clubs at an impossibly early age; of the boy who frightened off the bookies aged just 12; of the teenager whose life was decimated when his father and mentor was sent to prison for life; and of the man dubbed the 'genius' of the modern game who regularly threatened to quit the sport to pursue other interests at the grand old age of 28. 'A fine autobiography ... compelling' - Independent 'O'Sullivan is as frank about his spell in the Priory clinic as he is about his father's murder conviction. His accounts of snooker tournaments and sketches of the sport's personalities will fascinate fans, but even snooker haters will be rooting for Ronnie in the game of life' - OK!
Download or read book Me and the Table My Autobiography written by Stephen Hendry and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2018-09-06 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: STEPHEN HENDRY became the youngest professional snooker player in 1985 aged 16 and, in 1990, he was the youngest ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. Widely regarded by fans and pundits alike as one of the greatest players of all time in the sport, over a 27-year career, Hendry went on to win the World Championship seven times, and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive seasons between 1990 and 1998. Hendry retired in 2012 with a record-breaking seven World Champion titles under his belt, a record that remains to this day. He's now ready to tell his life story for the first time - from a childhood spent climbing the ranks of the sport, through the highs of the '90s and lows of the 2000s, to his life now as a sports pundit and commentator. With an insight into the world of the man behind the cue, and what made him such a top-class player, this is the definitive autobiography of the legend that is Stephen Hendry.
Download or read book Jimmy White Second Wind written by Jimmy White and published by . This book was released on 2015-05 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The autobiography of snooker player Jimmy White, 10-time ranking event winner and 6-time World Championship runner-up.
Download or read book A Scottish Football Hall of Fame written by John Cairney and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-04-15 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Those who have been football supporters all their lives can never forget the first match they ever saw, although they might not recall the result. This is because it is the players that stay in the memory and the magic moments they provided for millions of spectators in their time.Every generation throws up its own football field magicians and The Scottish Football Hall of Fame encapsulates the Saturday afternoon spell cast by fine footballers for ordinary working men who lived to cheer on their heroes every week. Fervour was passed down from father to son, and in this way the future of the clubs as well as the fame of a few golden greats was guaranteed. Players like R.S.McColl (Queen's Park), Bobby Walker (Hearts), Alan Morton (Rangers), Denis Law (Manchester United) and Kenny Dalglish (Celtic) are in this pantheon, and they span the arc of Scottish football from its earliest days till modern times. These, and more than a hundred like them, are the men you will read about in these pages. Men who were once household names are captured here in their sporting immortality and introduced to generations of football enthusiasts who never saw them play. The Scottish Football Hall of Fame gives a unique overview of the beautiful game, where by means of illuminating narrative and anecdote, legend can unite with historical fact to honour not only the wearers of the famous dark blue shirt but every foot-soldier in the Tartan Army who has ever shouted 'Scotland! Scotland!' from the terraces.
Download or read book Eye of the Hurricane written by John Hennessey and published by Mainstream. This book was released on 2001 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Alex Higgins' first manager, John McLaughlin, bestowed the nickname 'Hurricane Higgins' on the young, feisty snooker player he had no idea just how apt it was to prove over the next thirty years. Eye of the Hurricane details a sad but uplifting story of a man who had everything to play for but now has to play hard for anything he can get. It describes Higgins, sitting fitfully on snooker's sidelines, still has a story to tell, another controversy to spark. Author John Hennessey promises a 'wart and all' account of Alex Higgin's life and that is precisely what he delivers in this thoroughly absorbing book. . . well-told but cautionary tale of how narr ow the line is between genius and insanity 'This first proper account of Higgin's life is all the more clear-eyed for being written without his co-operation.
Download or read book Whirlwind written by Aubrey Malone and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2012-12-20 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White is Britain's best-loved snooker player. A one-time ragamuffin straight out of the pages of Charles Dickens, he has enthralled audiences worldwide for three decades with his electrifying brilliance, winning ten world-ranking events - although, heartbreakingly, he has lost six Crucible World Championship finals. In this in-depth, warts-and-all biography, die-hard fan Aubrey Malone examines White's background, his illiteracy, drinking and tempestuous relationship with his wife Maureen, set against his incredible rise to the top in snooker's halcyon days of the 1980s. There are tales of Jimmy using a walking stick to make a century break at his local snooker hall, his battles with the twin demons of drink and the yips, and how he nearly lost the world trophy, despite never having won it! But in the end it is White's obsession with winning, and his astonishing ability on the baize, often against all the odds, that shines through.
Download or read book One of a Kind written by Nolan Dalla and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2006-05-30 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First biography of the greatest card player of all time. Stuey Ungar was a true original, a mass of contradictions and a god among gamblers. As a high school dropout, Ungar soon developed a reputation for talent and raw nerve in playing gin. A nonstop gambler he was soon conquering Las Vegas. One of a Kind chronicles Stuey's spectacular rise as the most feared tournament player in poker history to his tragic fall. Compelling and riveting, this is the first ever look at the man behind the legend.
Download or read book Amazing Snooker Trick Shots written by John Virgo and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At last--this is the book that makes the most spectacular snooker trick shot a piece of cake! In John Virgo's "Amazing Snooker Trick Shots -Secrets From the Best!" 100 trick shots are included together with full color photographs and diagrams. Each trick shot is clearly explained with step-by-step diagrams and John Virgo's trademark droll, quick-fire wit. Size is no problem as all trick shots shown can be played on any snooker table, large or small. The inspiration for John Virgo's "Amazing Snooker Trick Shots" came from the weekly trick shot segment performed by John on the iconic UK TV program "Big Break". Divided into three sections - Absolute Beginners, Trickier Trick Shots and Try 'em If You Dare!, there is something for everyone. Even if you're a beginner with some practice you'll be able to perform every shot in the book.
Download or read book Running written by Ronnie O'Sullivan and published by Orion. This book was released on 2014-10-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan's first volume autobiography RONNIE was a major bestseller, acclaimed for its candour and insight into the life of a top sports star. In his second book, Ronnie reflects on how much of his life has been running away or running towards (often inadvisable) things. When he was young, snooker was a way of running away from school and the expectations of childhood. When he was seventeen, his father and mother ran away from him - his mother was sent to jail for tax evasion, father for murder. At times, Ronnie has escaped from tournaments because his mind was so troubled, and he found release in endless benders. He has literally run away from the troubled relationship with Jo, the mother of two of his children - his hobby is partly responsible for the breakdown of their relationship as it begins to take over his life. And only last year he ran away from the game itself, incredibly and unprecedentedly while still world champion. Ronnie explains how and why he ended up working on a farm in 2012 and 2013 while taking a year's break from the game. His return to the snooker table is arguably the most eagerly awaited in top-class sport. This book shows us why.
