Ronnie O Sullivan

Rows Grower

He's motoring well again at the World Championships.

My wife is probably one of his biggest fans, she called me in there to show me the interview he gave after his win last night and even though she'd already seen it live last night she had to watch it through her fingers.

I stuck a small few bob on him there anyway at 7/4 for the craic.

Here's what I could find online of the interview...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNZie_KIrSs

razorblunt

He's a great talent, no doubt, but he's an absolute arsehóle at times too.
His comments on the younger players was incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional.
You can argue he has a point (I'd say he does) but there are so many ways he can put them across.

Tilikum17

Rows Grower wrote: »

He's motoring well again at the World Championships.

My wife is probably one of his biggest fans, she called me in there to show me the interview he gave after his win last night and even though she'd already seen it live last night she had to watch it through her fingers.

I stuck a small few bob on him there anyway at 7/4 for the craic.

Here's what I could find online of the interview...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNZie_KIrSs

He’s a complete arsehole. Always has been. He’s like a big child. Every time he loses there - he says he retiring. Just retire then ffs.

pauliebdub

While he is correct in what he is saying it does come across as very disrespectful. He is still very talented and I think the game is in big trouble when he retires, so many ordinary players without a semblance of personality.

The Nal

Nothing wrong with what he said. The standard coming through is awful. Hes been saying for years now that no one has the balls to step up and want to be number 1. Trump finally has. They're pro sports people. They need to grow a pair.

I get that to become a pro at snooker you basically have to play so much you sacrifice your education and its a huge risk so maybe thats just the way its going. More people are staying in school. Jimmy White was basically illiterate when he turned pro.

Joe_ Public

They are discussing Ronnies interview on RTE radio right now. People are talking about snooker outside the dedicated snooker forum.

Is that actually a good thing? Never really sure how to judge those things.

everlast75

The Nal wrote: »

Nothing wrong with what he said. The standard coming through is awful. Hes been saying for years now that no one has the balls to step up and want to be number 1. Trump finally has.

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Thanks for the laugh. FFS lol

The Nal

Joe_ Public wrote: »

They are discussing Ronnies interview on RTE radio right now. People are talking about snooker outside the dedicated snooker forum.

Is that actually a good thing? Never really sure how to judge those things.

Yes its a good thing. All publicity for the game. We need more characters. He certainly is one.

everlast75 wrote: »

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Thanks for the laugh. FFS lol

Hes the defending world champion and has won 6 ranking titles this season. First player ever to do that.

fullstop

everlast75 wrote: »

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Thanks for the laugh. FFS lol

You may think that was referring to the wrong Trump...

Mint Sauce

He is entertaining, along with a few other 40 yr old plus players, of who there are not enough of in the game. I would rather see him, and one of the older players in the final, than two 20 yr old lads.

FutureGuy

Don't follow snooker but he *is* right, though?

Maybe will give some of them a kick up the hole to do better.

US2

Those comments should light a fire under the younger players arses.

s1ippy

I can't believe people have a problem with the interview, it's objectively hilarious. If you're offended by that you might as well go away and have an acid bath for yourself, what's the point of anything in life only to pass the time and have a laugh doing it. Ronnie is great craic, hopefully some incensed young fella will throw himself into the game hammer and tongs and actually give the older lads a bit of competition after hearing him saying that.

This NSFW video has him being an absolute character in the face of a streaker who interrupts the 1997 final:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiw_wPnj784

I bet a lot of the people on here saying he's out of line are the same people who love Jeremy Clarkson, upper class twat extrordinaire who is inappropriate and dickish because of his irrevocable status as a white, rich Brit. Ronnie doesn't have any of the same notions about himself and just has a great sense of humour but knows when to draw the line before getting in too much trouble as well (all the "****" incidents I can think of where he got away with it, hahaha).

Ronnie brings a great sense of humour and fun in the face of what could be a very stuffy, boring sport. He's unquestionably outstanding in his field so he can be cheeky and have a laugh. If you don't like it, good, you're the kind of person he's trying to rile up!

radiata

I can't stand him. He's such a moany prick and always has been

Montage of Feck

The young Ronnie looked quite like Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst).

The Nal

Whatever about the interview, hes on at 2.30 if you want to see a genius at work.

Marhay70

Quite simply the best player ever to grace the green baize. If he had had the temperament of Stephen Hendry or Steve Davis he would be untouchable even now. Then again if he had that temperament he wouldn't be the entertainer he is, I've lost count of the times I've thought; "Surely he won't play that shot", or "Did he just play that shot?" Always willing to try the unconventional and with supreme confidence in his own ability, with a touch of arrogance thrown in.
And he's absolutely right about the new breed of players, just not good enough. I watched a pair the other day and I was just amazed they had got to this stage of the championship, to have one player a little below standard is probably not unusual but both? One of them actually missed a blue off its spot into the centre pocket, I mean WTF was he doing there.
Hopefully Ronnie will be around for a few years yet, the sport will be the poorer for his going.

Man with broke phone

His daughter isnt his biggest fan anyway.

c.p.w.g.w

Ronnie strikes me as a lad who wants to play snooker and have nothing to do with the media side...

He was saying last week, it's great to be able to stay so close to the arena, as in previous years to avoid fans, he has to stay ages away...

joeguevara

Whatever about Ronnie saying that he would have to lose an arm and a leg to drop out of the top 50 (which seeing as he can play either hand isn't that unbelievable) a bigger issue that came out was the quite public spat between McGill and Clarke, with Clarke, the lowest rank player, accused of standing in eye line during a shot. McGill after confronting him then put on twitter 'if you want to dance, lets dance'. Got quite nasty.

Richard Hillman

Not a fan of him. Seems to have an eternal craving for attention. I don't know how many times he has said he is going to retire. He knows full well he will miss the attention of not playing.

Say Your Number

He's great to watch but the people who act like he's the only person who plays the game would nearly put you off him for good.

hynesie08

O'sullivan to me is the definition of a broken genius. I wish that he could consistently play at the levels he's capable of, and if he could I believe he'd be a double digit world champion, but half the appeal is in which ronnie will show up, and the fact that every match comes with a chance of an "i was there" story.

Deebles McBeebles

He had a point in his interview but I'm not sure he put it across properly. Maybe trying to be tongue in cheek for parts too but that wasn't as clear as it might have been.

Whatever about that, he's one of the few remaining interesting people in snooker and most of the reason I'm watching the World Championship.

The Unbearables

Snookers Conor McGregor. An absolute genius and an absolute cock of a person.

Joe_ Public

joeguevara wrote: »

Whatever about Ronnie saying that he would have to lose an arm and a leg to drop out of the top 50 (which seeing as he can play either hand isn't that unbelievable) a bigger issue that came out was the quite public spat between McGill and Clarke, with Clarke, the lowest rank player, accused of standing in eye line during a shot. McGill after confronting him then put on twitter 'if you want to dance, lets dance'. Got quite nasty.

It was top 16 and it was Clarke on twitter, not McGill, and it had all blown over by last night anyway.

joeguevara

Joe_ Public wrote: »

It was top 16 and it was Clarke on twitter, not McGill, and it had all blown over by last night anyway.

Apologies, i got the names wrong. Did the ref not tell the player to sit in his seat in the first place?

Say Your Number

McGill was on Eurosport last night, he said he asked him politely to move and he took it wrongly and it ended up being this big drama, and that they made up off camera last night.

Joe_ Public

joeguevara wrote: »

Apologies, i got the names wrong. Did the ref not tell the player to sit in his seat in the first place?

McGill asked Clarke to move, then ref immediately intervened to try and stop it developing into anything. Clarke shouldn't have let it bother him that much imo. Hot headed and lack of experience.

Gretas Gonna Get Ya!

In a world where the most important thing is "don't be a d!ck" (Like here in this pacified overly modded snowflake wonderland we call boards :P), then you could say his comments were out of order...

But in the real world, I find his comments refreshing and very honest.

Most people in life don't have the b*lls to speak their mind, or worse don't even like to form any opinion that might make them stand out from the herd. And these people use terms like "don't be a d!ck" in an attempt to make everyone else behave the same way as them... bland, boring, safe, uninspiring, dull opinions on everything!

Hangdogroad

His oul fella was done for murder.

dennyire

Hangdogroad wrote: »

His oul fella was done for murder.

What the f is that got anything to do with it

joeguevara

dennyire wrote: »

What the f is that got anything to do with it

In all fairness, this is a thread in AH about him in general, as per the OP, and not in relation to a specific incident. This is not a specific thread in the snooker forum, where the majority of people would know about his dad.

dennyire

joeguevara wrote: »

In all fairness, this is a thread in AH about him in general, as per the OP, and not in relation to a specific incident. This is not a specific thread in the snooker forum, where the majority of people would know about his dad.

Dont understand your logic. OP was commenting on his interview . What has his fathers past got to do with anything?

joeguevara

dennyire wrote: »

Dont understand your logic. OP was commenting on his interview . What has his fathers past got to do with anything?

This is my logic:

He said ROS was motoring well at the crucible - no mention of interview

Stuck a few quid on him - no mention of interview

Can be an ar5ehole at times - no mention of interview

And then as a throwaway comment at end said ' here is what i could find about the interview -

Majority of OP was commenting about ROS in general not specifically about interview.

Conall Cernach

Snooker is a far less popular sport among young people now than when it was when Ronnie was starting out. In the 80s and 90s there were snooker halls everywhere, now they'd be an oddity. As such there are far fewer players and so the quality must dip.

Gretas Gonna Get Ya!

dennyire wrote: »

Dont understand your logic. OP was commenting on his interview . What has his fathers past got to do with anything?

In their head, they probably think it lends weight to the idea that ROS is not a nice guy... because his dad might not be a nice guy!?

That's the only line of logic I can see.

It's not logical though, ROS is actually very well liked by practically everyone in the sport... but he is also very well known for speaking his mind and being a bit eccentric at times!

Oh yeah, and he's pretty damn good at snooker too! (when he's in the mood) :pac:

c.p.w.g.w

Conall Cernach wrote: »

Snooker is a far less popular sport among young people now than when it was when Ronnie was starting out. In the 80s and 90s there were snooker halls everywhere, now they'd be an oddity. As such there are far fewer players and so the quality must dip.

Where we grew up, there used to be 3 snooker halls all within 20 minutes by foot...Don't think any of those 3 have survived...Older brother would have played a lot as a young lad

veryangryman

A character in sport. A dying breed.

Doesnt give him a pass for saying potentially derogatory comments but id sooner have him than not. Brilliant to watch

Joe_ Public

Conall Cernach wrote: »

Snooker is a far less popular sport among young people now than when it was when Ronnie was starting out. In the 80s and 90s there were snooker halls everywhere, now they'd be an oddity. As such there are far fewer players and so the quality must dip.

Yes and no, really. There are a huge number of people playing the sport worldwide, far greater numbers than ever, just the anticipated surge of real quality players from the east hasnt happened yet. Maybe take another generation for that balance to swing, but I'm inclined to think it must do.

Say Your Number

Internet has probably played a part as well, would a 13 year old Ken Doherty have spent as much time in a dingy Snooker Hall if he had a laptop and a good WIFI connection.

dennyire

ROS probably best snooker talent ever,,,,including some of the greatest ..Hendry,,,Steve Davis etc
Ok hes a bit eccentric and has his own personal health issues...who doesent
But he attracts people to the game who might never watch it otherwise
His interview...maybe a little tongue in cheek...might not have pleased everyone but at least he was honest....or maybe just having a bit of craic
My initial point was why bring the sins of the father on to the son? Nothing Ronnie could do about that

Say Your Number

He just completey mis-cued there

The Nal

Say Your Number wrote: »

Internet has probably played a part as well, would a 13 year old Ken Doherty have spent as much time in a dingy Snooker Hall if he had a laptop and a good WIFI connection.

You'd have to find a snooker hall first these days! I used to play a lot in Jasons in Ranelagh which was a two story building with 20 odd tables smack bang in some of the most expensive land in the county. Crazy looking back at it now.

Even Kens place in Terenure is rarely full and theres only 5 tables in there.

dennyire wrote: »

My initial point was why bring the sins of the father on to the son? Nothing Ronnie could do about that

Very odd upbringing, very odd adult. He grew up very wealthy surrounded by porn with a gangster Dad and a hot Italian mum.

joeguevara

Say Your Number wrote: »

He just completey mis-cued there

He probably wasnt in the right frame of mind and just saw red.

Bob Gray

joeguevara wrote: »

He probably wasnt in the right frame of mind and just saw red.

Yeah, people should just give him a break.

Ash.J.Williams

joeguevara wrote: »

He probably wasnt in the right frame of mind and just saw red.

and wanted a nosh

joeguevara

Bob Gray wrote: »

Yeah, people should just give him a break.

I'd say the younger players drive him baizey.

howareyakid

I love to watch Ronnie O’Sullivan similarly to how I love to watch Roger Federer play tennis because he’s a natural talent. He makes the game look ridiculously easy and his flair, speed, two-handedness etc. make him a joy to watch. But comments like the ones he made last night are exactly why some people can’t stand the man and love to see him get beaten.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

I thought it was funny myself. Probably disrespectful. Actually, definitely disrespectful but any non-media trained sports interview is always refreshing.

joeguevara

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I thought it was funny myself. Probably disrespectful. Actually, definitely disrespectful but any non-media trained sports interview is always refreshing.

I completely agree. Anyone who took offence at this, is looking to take offence at it. Firstly, he is speaking the truth. He is better than them all and gets annoyed if he isn't even challenged. He speaks his mind, would you expect anything else? He is a legend of the game, so its a breath of fresh air than having to listen to the same rote script interviews we are used to hearing in every sport.