Two times World Snooker Champion "Alex "The Hurricane" Higgins was found dead in his flat at the weekend.

He had been battling throat cancer and alcohol addiction for many years.

Love him or loathe him he brought a new life to the then staid "Gentlemans" sport with his "back street" snooker hall, clear the balls before your allocated paid for time was up.
His style was derided by the critics and admired by his fellow professionals.

I'm sure in years to come the videos of his amazing skils will be watched by future generations.

RIP Alex

Thanks Fosse, I meant to post this yesterday.

Hurricane takes me back to the early days of colour TV in Australia - in 1975, one of the most popular shows was 'Pot Black'. Just the fact that we could actually see the yellow, pink, brown, blue etc. was enough to have people tuning in in their 1000s. And not the least of the attractions was the skill of the players - local hero Eddie Charlton, Ray Reardon, John Spencer, and this young bloke named Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins, who seemed a mile away in style to the laid-back (and to the teenaged me, boring,) Ray Reardon. He scarpered around the table, and his play, in hindsight, was like a snooker version of the West Indies.
I read yesterday that, as he grew older, he shunned photographers because he didn't like the way thet he aged. If that's true, it's a sad comment on a man who lived his life to the fullest. He was seen as a 'bad boy' (being suspended a number of times), but he will be remembered as one of the greats. In a way, the Georgie Best of snooker.

RIP Hurricane.

All sports need the wake-up call, the so called "Bad Boys" by the "establishment", like you I was brought up with the "And for those of you with Black and White, the Pink is behind the Blue!" all safety play. Fascinating as it was (I still love a 10 minute bout of safety play on the table ;)) I think the mould was broken by, of all people, "Boring" Steve Davis, given half a chance he'd methodically clear the table with impeccable position play and ball control and then along came "The Hurricane" his flamboyant style with incredible talent, outrageous shots (that nearly always came off) and his complete dismissal of the rigid rules imposed by "The Committee" (But not the etiquette, he was always the first to acknowledge a foul)revived a dying sport. The tributes to his talent have all included his "Bad Boy" image but everyone of the Pro's have said he was one of the best ever.

MrW - He did shun the photographers and got into trouble avoiding them, He was ageing (don't we all) but he was also wasting away with the cancer, he was a former shadow of himself with nothing he could do about it.

Georgie and Alex have paid the price, famous for incredible talent and a "Bad Boy" Image, Some have managed to survive both, the now squeaky clean Gower, Botham and Flintoff and before them Fred Truman all clashed with the "Authorities".

Long may the "Bad Boys" off the field/table or wherever keep coming they don't make the front page because of their talent, but they have to be exceptional to be worth a mention on "The Front Page"

RIP - "When the Great Scorer comes to mark your name, He marks NOT if you won, But how you played the game"

I read Hurricane's obituary in the paper yesterday.
Apparently, he was clear of the cancer, but died of malnourishment, according to his good friend Jimmy White. His sister would bring food for him, put it in a blender (he had no teeth) and try to get him to eat it, but he just would not, almost as if he wanted to die.

A very sad end for a very colourful man.