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In a week in which I have been following the Shanghai Masters on Eurosport with its colclusion on Sunday, the sad news of one of snooker's finest also made me think of big personbalities in the sport siuch as "Whispering" Ted Lowe who had passed away during the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 2011, when Prince William and Catherine Middleton has just been married for two days. Another one of snooker's finest has now gone, although he mostly played before my time, he was still active in the Steve Davis era of the 1980s, although the dominence of Davis in the succeeding decade had replaced him as a powerful force in the sport - a legend has passed away and I have plans to visit his home nation of Wales next month, staying in Cardiff for three nights, if I have no problems or difficulties with doing that.
Welsh-born Ray Reardon, (who as far I was concerned, someone who had always been around), has died of cancer at the age of 91. Most professional snooker players have nicknames and Reardon's own nickname was Dracula; giving an illusion that Bram Stoker must have liked snooker had the sport been around at the time that he wrote his famous book. Born in October 1932 in the coal mining community of Tradegar in Monmouthshire, Reardon turned professional in 1967 ready for the decade of the his dominent wins ahead. He was World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1978, and a runner-up in 1982; he probably would have wong again had it not been for the Steve Davis-era of the 1980s. He was the first professional snooker to be ranked "World Number One" when the world rankings were introduced during the 1976-1977 snooker season; the first season where televised snooker was seen from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and was seen on BBC 2. As early as 1949 as an ametaur player, he won the News of the World Amateur title and was awarded an ash cue stick, presented to him by 15-time World Snooker champion Joe Davis.
Every decade in snooker seems to have its own ambassador: going back in time, from the sub-Mark Selby-era from the 2010s onwards, we had Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2000s; Stephen Hendry in the 1990s; Steve Davis in the 1980s; Reardon himself the decade before, and John Pulman in the 1960s with Joe or even his brotehr Fred Davis preceeding that. Reardon was the big snooker player representing the 1970s and had helped to promote snooker in the days when something colourful was needed on people's brand new colour television screens in that decade to help them decide whether it was worth forking out oiver £200 for a colour TV set or saving money and renting from Rumbelows or Rediffusion in order to finally get into the 1970s if not the late 20th century, technology-wise. Even outside the professional sport, he also also appeared on novelty shows like Pot Black, usually on BBC 2 on Friday evenings. Reardon was seen quite frequently in the decade of flares, disco music, and avacado living room walls, often playing against incumbent stalwarts such as John Spencer, Graham Miles or Alex Higgins, and often winning against many of them, and no doiubt that Ted Lowe, aka "the Voice of Snooker" in the Reardon decade, often commentated on the matches, and if it wasn't Lowe it would be Pulman doing the honours.
Several big differences with regards to snooker on the television in Reardon's era include small things such as the lack of prominent on-screen scoring which had arrived in around 1994; the punters close by smoking and causing a cloud of smoke to almost get in the way of the players at the table (although it wasn't as bad as the orange powder incident by Just Stop Oil last year); and the referee having to shout the scores out when a ball was potted as the microphones were seldomly used or not used at all, or were simply not around back then; almost making us jump out of our skin as we are used to referees speaking moire calmly via the microphone these days. A 1975 match of Reardon against John Spencer is one example of this, in which BBC 2 had repeated in the late 1990s when there was an extended interval between live matches.
Reardon was still seen on TV as late as the 1990s, making guest appearances on shows like Big Break, proving that he had not quite hung up his snooker cue for good when he officially retired, and also proving that he could still "pot as many balls as he can". I think that he was also part of the group which had inspired other players like Dennis Taylor, allowing them to turn into the personalities that we are familiar wiuth now, and allowed them to become known for reasons other than racing around a snooker table and potting reds and colours in several frames. He latterly wore spectacles just like Taylor, at least when he was playing on the table. He had a great sense of humour as well; most snooker players of the moidern era turn up to do what they are best at doing - playing snooker, and unlike the older generations, they might not be there to crack a joke, but Reardon was one of those people. It might have been Dennis Taylor, but either him or Reardon had made a guest appearance on a Big Break Trick Shot Special in around 1996 and had cracked this joke: "an Irish man was teaching his dog to urinate [sic] in the gutter, and he fell of the roof and killed himself" - like I said, it was either Reardon or Taylor because of the "Irish" remark, but it just proves that light entertainment was just as great as their sporting abilities.
Reardon was Wales' biggest snooker player back in the day; an acolade in which Mark Williams is now the incumbent, and I believe that he used to be Williams' coach during the earlier part of his career. The green of the baise and of course the green ball, was just as green as the green of the Welsh valleys, and Reardon had helped to put the two otherwise unlreated mediums together as one. He was a six-times World Snooker champion, putting him on par with Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan in which all three of them succeeded him. The man who had seemed to be always around, will not be around anymore. He was a rare talent, and thus, he had put the rare (or indeed, I should say "rear") in Reardon.
He was one of the last surviving professional players to ever play on a 1970s snooker table.
Welsh-born Ray Reardon, (who as far I was concerned, someone who had always been around), has died of cancer at the age of 91. Most professional snooker players have nicknames and Reardon's own nickname was Dracula; giving an illusion that Bram Stoker must have liked snooker had the sport been around at the time that he wrote his famous book. Born in October 1932 in the coal mining community of Tradegar in Monmouthshire, Reardon turned professional in 1967 ready for the decade of the his dominent wins ahead. He was World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1978, and a runner-up in 1982; he probably would have wong again had it not been for the Steve Davis-era of the 1980s. He was the first professional snooker to be ranked "World Number One" when the world rankings were introduced during the 1976-1977 snooker season; the first season where televised snooker was seen from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and was seen on BBC 2. As early as 1949 as an ametaur player, he won the News of the World Amateur title and was awarded an ash cue stick, presented to him by 15-time World Snooker champion Joe Davis.
Every decade in snooker seems to have its own ambassador: going back in time, from the sub-Mark Selby-era from the 2010s onwards, we had Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2000s; Stephen Hendry in the 1990s; Steve Davis in the 1980s; Reardon himself the decade before, and John Pulman in the 1960s with Joe or even his brotehr Fred Davis preceeding that. Reardon was the big snooker player representing the 1970s and had helped to promote snooker in the days when something colourful was needed on people's brand new colour television screens in that decade to help them decide whether it was worth forking out oiver £200 for a colour TV set or saving money and renting from Rumbelows or Rediffusion in order to finally get into the 1970s if not the late 20th century, technology-wise. Even outside the professional sport, he also also appeared on novelty shows like Pot Black, usually on BBC 2 on Friday evenings. Reardon was seen quite frequently in the decade of flares, disco music, and avacado living room walls, often playing against incumbent stalwarts such as John Spencer, Graham Miles or Alex Higgins, and often winning against many of them, and no doiubt that Ted Lowe, aka "the Voice of Snooker" in the Reardon decade, often commentated on the matches, and if it wasn't Lowe it would be Pulman doing the honours.
Several big differences with regards to snooker on the television in Reardon's era include small things such as the lack of prominent on-screen scoring which had arrived in around 1994; the punters close by smoking and causing a cloud of smoke to almost get in the way of the players at the table (although it wasn't as bad as the orange powder incident by Just Stop Oil last year); and the referee having to shout the scores out when a ball was potted as the microphones were seldomly used or not used at all, or were simply not around back then; almost making us jump out of our skin as we are used to referees speaking moire calmly via the microphone these days. A 1975 match of Reardon against John Spencer is one example of this, in which BBC 2 had repeated in the late 1990s when there was an extended interval between live matches.
Reardon was still seen on TV as late as the 1990s, making guest appearances on shows like Big Break, proving that he had not quite hung up his snooker cue for good when he officially retired, and also proving that he could still "pot as many balls as he can". I think that he was also part of the group which had inspired other players like Dennis Taylor, allowing them to turn into the personalities that we are familiar wiuth now, and allowed them to become known for reasons other than racing around a snooker table and potting reds and colours in several frames. He latterly wore spectacles just like Taylor, at least when he was playing on the table. He had a great sense of humour as well; most snooker players of the moidern era turn up to do what they are best at doing - playing snooker, and unlike the older generations, they might not be there to crack a joke, but Reardon was one of those people. It might have been Dennis Taylor, but either him or Reardon had made a guest appearance on a Big Break Trick Shot Special in around 1996 and had cracked this joke: "an Irish man was teaching his dog to urinate [sic] in the gutter, and he fell of the roof and killed himself" - like I said, it was either Reardon or Taylor because of the "Irish" remark, but it just proves that light entertainment was just as great as their sporting abilities.
Reardon was Wales' biggest snooker player back in the day; an acolade in which Mark Williams is now the incumbent, and I believe that he used to be Williams' coach during the earlier part of his career. The green of the baise and of course the green ball, was just as green as the green of the Welsh valleys, and Reardon had helped to put the two otherwise unlreated mediums together as one. He was a six-times World Snooker champion, putting him on par with Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan in which all three of them succeeded him. The man who had seemed to be always around, will not be around anymore. He was a rare talent, and thus, he had put the rare (or indeed, I should say "rear") in Reardon.
He was one of the last surviving professional players to ever play on a 1970s snooker table.
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