Watching the Grand Prix Snooker this week (endlessly interrupted by The Conservative Nazi Conference), I was reminded what a fucking genius Jimmy White is. Although he got bumped in the 2nd round (a final frame thriller), it brought back sterling memories of the late 80's & early 90s when he repeatedly reached the World finals only to be beaten by Stephen Hendry (The Alien).
Watching now, although he's not as good as he was, he still has the crowd & he still has the game (provisionally no 5 in the World Rankings), and he's a bright light amongst all the charisma-less accountants that play the game these days.
If you never read another sport book, read this biog, it's a drinking frenzy with some snooker in it. Fear and Loathing in Sheffield.
I once worked with a guy who knew him & was out on the famous Tooting drinking session where they took the corpse of Jimmy's brother with them - now that's a wake.
He was beaten this week by outsider Ian MacCulloch - who has presumably cut off his floppy fringe so he can see the balls better.
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