Steve Davis Contradicts Himself?

[Semih_Sayginer]

how about Tony Drago and Alex Higgins doing the commentary

[spike]

Now that would be interesting!

[hegeland]

Actually Tony's quite a decent commentator.

[Semih_Sayginer]

Actually Tony's quite a decent commentator.

he is at 9 ball, though not heard enough of him at snooker

[spike]

Alex once had a go at commentating in the 84 championship if my memory serves net right but ended up calling all the wrong shots!

[Cyril]

He calls Higgins "the one TRUE genius" that snooker has produced, not the 'only' genius. I can see what he means. Ronnie has more of a prodigious ability rather than genius, whereas Higgins possessed real genius. Ronnie is the best player the game has ever seen but there is nothing truly original about the way he plays. Higgins effectively invented the modern game - he was visionary in a way that Ronnie isn't. So I would say that Higgins is a genius, and Ronnie is a prodigy.

Here are the definitions from thefreedictionary to clarify:

Genius: Extraordinary intellectual and creative power.

Prodigy: A person with exceptional talents or powers.

Excellently put!

[wildJONESEYE]

Oh, I was just going to say how lovely it would be if Hendry at some point was to join the telly team.

Mate can you realisticly see Stephen Hendry sitting in a chair Talking about other players taking home his trophies.............i cant see that EVER Hapening..

[frameandfortunereturns]

A genius is Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or that guy who can learn to speak Icelandic in a week. I'm sorry but a snooker player who hasn't even dominated his sport is no genius.

[Semih_Sayginer]

Mate can you realisticly see Stephen Hendry sitting in a chair Talking about other players taking home his trophies.............i cant see that EVER Hapening..

i can. he wont consider them HIS trophies.

doubt hed do it for a few years, but still think hed consider it at some point later

[gavpowell]

A genius is Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or that guy who can learn to speak Icelandic in a week. I'm sorry but a snooker player who hasn't even dominated his sport is no genius.

In a discussion of Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose once said "A genius is someone whose presence in their field, leaves that field dramatically changed"

I'd say Ronnie is up there, and the opinions of pretty well every professional snooker player, snooker journalist and commentator ever to see him play, are a pretty useful case for proving it's more than just hype. I'f that's not enough, I'll throw in the 5 minute 147, and leave the other 8 on standby

[Cyril]

In a discussion of Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose once said "A genius is someone whose presence in their field, leaves that field dramatically changed"

I'd say Ronnie is up there, and the opinions of pretty well every professional snooker player, snooker journalist and commentator ever to see him play, are a pretty useful case for proving it's more than just hype. I'f that's not enough, I'll throw in the 5 minute 147, and leave the other 8 on standby

Strongest cases for inclusion in such category would be Joe Davis, Hurricane and Ronnie then?

[adrift]

Hawking and Penrose never got through the qualifying rounds, so what do they know? I hear Hawking has a particularly bad cue action

[gavpowell]

Hawking and Penrose never got through the qualifying rounds, so what do they know? I hear Hawking has a particularly bad cue action

Hawking's battling qualities are world-class though.

[gavpowell]

Strongest cases for inclusion in such category would be Joe Davis, Hurricane and Ronnie then?

I don't know enough about Davis, and from what I read of the original world championships in Eye of the Hurricane, it seems they had it a lot easier then. Then again, Davis essentially invented professional snooker, so how can he not qualify?

I have often said Ronnie is the second coming of Alex Higgins so yeah

I've often wondered about Hendry- WT was calling him a genius in the semi-final and part of me thinks to do what he's done he must be, but then we know it comes largely from pure hard graft and an iron will rather than a natural talent on the scale of Ronnie/Jimmy White. And if Hendry's in you have to include Davis, and maybe Reardon, and I'm not sure either of those qualify as geniuses per se..

[Templeton Peck]

Well the two players that had the most impact on the sport were undeniably Joe Davis and Higgins - one turned it into a legitmate sport and the other a spectator sport. Both John Spencer and Hendry advanced the techniques of the game but they didn't really fundamentally alter it. Ronnie isn't a particularly innovative player - indeed he actually sharked all of Hendry's break building techniques - and while he's taken the game to a new level he hasn't really changed the way people play the game. Joe Davis is a debatable inclusion - was his impact on snooker shaped by something within him like it was with Higgins or was he just the right man at the right time. I guess we will never know, but he arguably leaves the sport the greatest legacy.