Life Ban from Snooker

[Boris Bajic]

I've never followed snooker, but the Internet gives us access to things we wouldn't turn a page to read...

I was fascinated by a piece saying that Stephen Lee (who?) has been banned from the game for twelve years. Not fascinated by the length of the ban or what he did to deserve it or how good he was or wasn't, but by video footage of him. He really does look the most unhealthy professional sportsman I've ever seen. He appeared about to flake out.

There is some argument about whether his 12-year ban ought to have been a life ban. From the way he was huffing and puffing in the interview, I'd say they were one and the same thing.

I feel both sad and slightly, smugly middle class for thinking that, but I do think it. This is not a chap for using the stairs when the lift breaks down, is it?

Does he have any competition in the 'unlikely professional sportsman' category.

 

[AndyRM]

Does he have any competition in the 'unlikely professional sportsman' category.

Anyone who plays darts. Or indoor bowls.

 

[JoeyB]

Darts sprung to mind immediately. I've always wanted to try indoor bowls but I fear I'll be too young for the next 20 years or so.

 

[AndyRM]

Darts sprung to mind immediately. I've always wanted to try indoor bowls but I fear I'll be too young for the next 20 years or so.

I may have been a bit harsh on the indoor bowls. I watched it relatively recently and I'm sure that the Australian and GB teams were fairly young.

Crown Green, on the other hand, is a different matter but I don't think it's professional. I played for a club in Glasgow when I was in my early twenties. Knocked the median age of the club down by around 30 years.

 

[accountantpete]

I think Lee has looked after himself!

Bill Werbeniuk, who died in Vancouver on Monday aged 56, loomed large over the professional snooker scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s; although never ranked higher than eighth in the world, Werbeniuk's colossal girth - he was the first man to split his trousers during a televised match - and his consumption of 50 pints of lager a day made him one of snooker's most recognisable figures.

 

[asterix]

Wiki..

He is noted for his unusually high weight for a professional sportsman, although he has attempted to reduce this by not binge-drinking or eating late at night, so far with little success.

..or to put it another way, he is a fat, greedy barsteward.

Half listening to the news t'other day I'm sure they said he had been a promising gymnast in his youth. Maybe I dreamt it..

 

[JoeyB]

I'm sure they said he had been a promising gymnast in his youth.

Training as a crash mat? There's still time.

 

[Beebo]

Lee has always been a bit overweight, he does appear to have piled on the pounds in the last 12 months, probably due to the stress.
You will be hard pressed to find another overweight snooker player, (Shaun Murphy maybe) but by and large they are mainly quite a fit bunch. Playing best of 35 frames is a physical, as well as mental marathon over 2 days.

I know that any game with only two players and two outcomes is easier to fix, but what are the chances of race fixing in cycling? We have had team sanctioned drug abuse so why not take this a step further and an entire team agrees to throw a TTT?

 

[swee'pea99]

Bill Werbeniuk... was the first man to split his trousers during a televised match.

Now that's what I call an epitaph.

 

[ohnovino]

There's been times when Lee's struggled to make a shot because he can't stretch himself across the table. It always struck me as odd that he didn't hire a personal trainer and get his weight down, given the effect it was having on his career.

As for the fixing, it's ruined snooker for me now. Watching the pros miss easy shots as they crumble under pressure was always part of the appeal, but now it just looks dodgy.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Lee has always been a bit overweight, he does appear to have piled on the pounds in the last 12 months, probably due to the stress.
You will be hard pressed to find another overweight snooker player, (Shaun Murphy maybe) but by and large they are mainly quite a fit bunch. Playing best of 35 frames is a physical, as well as mental marathon over 2 days.

I know that any game with only two players and two outcomes is easier to fix, but what are the chances of race fixing in cycling? We have had team sanctioned drug abuse so why not take this a step further and an entire team agrees to throw a TTT?

For many years it was assumed that the little chats on certain stages at the head of a breakaway or leading group was a negotiation between riders for the stage.

This seems supported by the odd bit of punditry by former riders over the years.

The issue with cycling is that relatively little money is bet on it. Corruption comes in through the door with betting.

Boxing, snooker and the turf are all rank with the sleaze of gambling. Cricket also seems pretty badly scarred in terms of reputation (through betting) and is likely to remain so. The BBC (I have no idea why) still insist on giving betting tips on Radio 4. It is a grubby business at every level, lent no respectability by its championing by some members of the establishment.

Cheats in cycling tend to cheat to win. In the sports I mention above, there is more temptation to cheat to lose. Cycling cheats are misunderstood, tortured souls who give their all. Cheats in other sports are just sleazy cur.

 

[Amack]

Now that's what I call an epitaph.

That made me laugh both comments!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Bill Werbeniuk

Great pics of the big man in training. Booze and fags, a true sporting hero.

 

[accountantpete]

Great pics of the big man in training. Booze and fags, a true sporting hero.

Check this pot out

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Check this pot out

It's great isn't it, you need to watch it a few times just to get it clear on what he actually did!