let me tell you about my good friend alex

[spike]

No sign yet, Spike. Says it's not in stock now, but I pre-ordered it, so they've obviously made a cock-up somewhere. I think I'll give it another day or so, then just cancel it and get it somewhere else!!

If you do end up getting it elsewhere, I found Amazon to have it in stock, and delivery was prompt..

[Kingscratcher]

Cheers, Spike - looks like I'll be giving that a go!

[Mignon]

Have ordered it (Amazon).

Review by John Blake > http://www.independent.ie/entertainm...o-2537086.html

The year was 1972. Alex Higgins had just been crowned World Snooker Champion and his friend John Virgo went to visit him at his digs in Manchester.

Virgo -- himself a snooker player of some repute -- will never forget what he saw. Far from living in the sort of luxury one might expect of a world champion, Higgins was residing in a crummy flat. Hundreds of congratulatory telegraphs were strewn all over the floor and the World Championship trophy was sitting in the sideboard, like an afterthought.

But it was a saucer bearing a small piece of cheese that was left on the ground which attracted Virgo's attention more than anything. Higgins explained that he didn't want the flat's resident mice population to starve.

Such anecdotes pepper John Virgo's affectionate account of life in Alex Higgins's slipstream. "He was one of my best friends," he says, "and I wanted to capture what he was like, warts and all. Every day, people ask me about Alex -- he captured the imagination in a way that no other snooker player, or other sports star ever has."

Today, Virgo is best known as one of the BBC's snooker commentators, but he believes his entire career -- and that of all snooker players since -- owes a great deal to the man from Belfast dubbed 'The Hurricane', whose death last year robbed the sport of its most indelible character.

"He transformed the game thanks to his lightning fast style of playing and also because he was such a character," Virgo says. "He arrived on the scene just as snooker was getting a lease of life thanks to the widespread popularity of colour television in the late 1960s, but I'm convinced that snooker wouldn't have become so big in the 1970s and 1980s if Alex hadn't played. He truly was the people's champion.

"I don't know if there's another sport that owes its popularity to one man like snooker does to Alex. Maybe Seve Ballesteros had that impact on golf when he first came on the scene, but Alex effectively turned snooker from a fringe sport to one with huge, widespread appeal. A lot of people -- myself included -- did very well thanks to him, but not everyone in the game will acknowledge the debt they owe to Alex."

Right from the off, Virgo says, Higgins polarised opinion. He charmed the masses, but many who got close to him could be subjected to a fearsome temper. "Alex could be a very difficult person to be around. He was his own worst enemy, but then that was all part of the personality that he took to the snooker table too. There was a recklessness there, and when you think about it that was a huge part of his appeal. Nothing was ever predictable with Alex and that's why people loved watching him so much. It was the same with John McEnroe -- even those who wouldn't normally watch tennis were glued to their screens. What would he do next?"

Although Virgo paints Higgins in a more flattering light than others might have, Let Me Tell You About Alex doesn't shy away from his dark side. "It wouldn't be honest to write a book that didn't capture that as well," Virgo says. "Everybody knows he had a problem with drink, and I saw that from the beginning, and there were some awful fights, not least with his wife Lynn."

But there were many tender times too. "One of snooker's most enduring memories is when Alex won the World Championship in 1982 after a gap of 10 years. He was incredibly emotional at the end and there's that lovely moment where he embraced Lynn and Lauren (his 18-month-old daughter) and the tears were streaming down his face.

"And he had a real connection with his audience too. Unlike other top sports people, Alex wasn't surrounded by minders. He took his chances in the bars, for instance, where you might find someone who'd spot him and would want to make their name."

Considering his wild lifestyle and unwillingness to properly harness his talent, there was something horribly predictable about Higgins's grim final years which saw him penniless and grappling with illness while living in a caravan.

"He was effectively destitute. The man who had given so much for the sport, only made a fraction of the money that lesser talents achieved. But there was really no one to blame for that but Alex himself. Time and again he lost out on big commercial earnings simply because he would storm out of a meeting in a huff. That devil-may-care attitude would try the patience of even his closest friends, and it was hardly surprising that he made a lot of enemies."

There was a cruel irony to the fact that he died from throat cancer. A 60-a-day smoker, his flamboyance with a cue made his sport an attractive sponsorship opportunity for tobacco companies.

"The simple fact of the matter is that snooker doesn't capture the public's imagination in the way it did in Alex's heyday," Virgo says. "It's lost its characters, and without people like Alex the casual viewer just doesn't want to know. But for those of us who love the game, watching him pot impossible shots or fight back in matches when his back was against the wall are the reasons we will never forget him. He was a one-off."

[spike]

Instead of starting another thread on Alex, here's a recent video i have found posted on youtube on Alex Higgins. What makes this footage quite interesting is to see Clive Everton taking the role as interviewer, with Alex on the receiving end..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpIyb...eature=related

[ryanah147]

"Let me tell you about my `good friend`Alex "

I didnt see you at his funeral Mr. Virgo !!!!!

[spike]

"Let me tell you about my `good friend`Alex "

I didnt see you at his funeral Mr. Virgo !!!!!

He was at the funeral....he was sitting next to Jimmy White when the service took place..

[ryanah147]

Either I need my eyes testing or he was the invisible man, but I didn't see him.

[CueAntW147]

As Spike says he was at the funeral, and in the book he talks about the dilema he had whether to go or not, but after a chat with Jimmy White he decided to go, Virgo himself didn't look well at the funeral either i was shocked how he did look, but it was later reported he had a problem with his back after an accident.

I think the book was ok big writing and few pages as such but i will never miss an opportunity to read about Alex much like most of his fans, and it gives an insight into some behind the scenes moments that never made the press.

I also think some of the facts were incorrect in it i think Virgo wrote Alex's last appearance at the crucible world championships was 1990 against Steve James resulting in the famous speech he made after the game, but his last time was 1994 where he lost to Ken Doherty, this is all from memory so Spike will correct me if i've got this wrong.

Apart from that still worth a read for the Alex fans......

[ryanah147]

Well, as you say he was there, so if he was well and good, but I didn't see him. Not that iv had been looking out for him. Personally I can't stand the man

[CueAntW147]

Well to be honest i only noticed him because of how ill he looked himself.......i think i mentioned it on here at the time, but more importantly the day was all about people paying there last respects to the great man, who had done so much for the game, because without Alex i don't think we'd have had a great game to talk about, the players of today whether they like it or not owe him a great debt.

[ryanah147]

I agree with you 100pc, Alex was the John Mc Enroe, the George Best, the Mohammud Ali, the Tiger Woods, he put the game on the map and without him the game as we know it would never be where it is today only for his input

[CueAntW147]

Quite right...

This is how i shall remember Virgo & Alex together in this little clip

Virgo in his waistcoat the hurricane showing his genius in just 2 shots

which is also mentioned in the book !

http://youtu.be/MC9VLT-Likk

What also makes this special is Alex asked him where he wanted the black potted earlier in the frame i think he was on the yellow at the time, Virgo said " in the middle" to which Alex replyed " ok and i'll do it one handed " .

Who'd have thought it still possible the position he was in on the pink !

enjoy !

[Mal]

I got the book recently and enjoyed the read. As Spike says there was a good few stories in it and we got a different perspective of them from John Virgo - Some reference to his first wife Cara and how they decided to get married (she rarely gets mentioned elsewhere.) The tales of the exhibitions were good and it was honest about Alex's attitude to others. The tale of Alex's theft was a bit surprising although typical Alex regarded it as amusing.

I thought the book was quite jumpy both chronologically and in writing style and could have benefitted from a (better?) copywriter. It would have been good to have something on his UK Championship win - arguably his best, where he beat Griffiths, Knowles and Davis from 7-0 down. Also his 89 Masters victory against Hendry, but in fairness JV probably wasn't at that tournament.

It certainly paid homage to his 'genius' but it would have been good to have more tales of his tender and humourous side, but perhaps there aren't many, or perhaps they aren't as interesting!

Worth getting, but price was a bit steep, but it does add a bit from Alex's own autobiographies (From the eye of the Hurricane/Through the looking glass) and the books by Bill Borrows and John Hennessy. I understand there is another biography coming out - Who was Hurricane Higgins'

[spike]

Yes Mal, the book will be available in October 2011.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Hurrican...9266648&sr=1-1

[Gerry Armstrong]

I agree with you 100pc, Alex was the John Mc Enroe, the George Best, the Mohammud Ali, the Tiger Woods, he put the game on the map and without him the game as we know it would never be where it is today only for his input

Tiger Woods didn't put the game of Golf on the map, Seve Ballesteros did.