Bit of controversy regarding the overused word 'respect'. Ronnie O'Sullivan spurns a 147, because the £10k prize wasn't worthy of the achievement and he wants the pot to build up. Took the easier pink rather than a black on the final red. Upset and accusations of 'disrespect' ensues. I feel a bit sorry for those in the audience, it must be a great occasion to witness a 147 break, and hugely irritating to be told the reason why you didn't was financial. But it's Ronnie, he's a nutter. Next time when its on but you don't fancy the prize, just miss one of the colours by mistake on purpose and keep your mouth shut mate. But of course with a 147 there may never be a next time, even for Ron. Meanwhile Messi and Suarez worked the old Cruyff/Neeskens penalty trick of nudging the ball sideways to a colleague rather than shooting direct. Massive disrespect to the opposition, especially their keeper? Balls, just great entertainment.
Mmmm difficult one, think the pen was disrespectful, if someone did that against me when I was playing I think I might be a little forceful in the next few challenges, then again I'm the spiteful type, If they wanted him to score why not just let him take the pen in the 1st place. With Ronnie it's a different kettle of mustard for me it was clear he wasn't disrespecting the opposition but the sponsors, on one hand I think what a dick he could have just given the 10k to a charity making a difference and it's 10k the big corporation won't miss, however he is highlighting what he considers an issue within his sport, not all snooker players are millionaires and if someone else had won the prize it could really help them out
The O'Sullivan 146 bothered me. I thought it was disrespectful to the many (if not most) of the watching fans to whom £10k is a lot of money and would make a big difference to them.
Agree. Sure he can afford to pass up £10k, but to openly state that he did so because 'it wasn't enough money' is hugely disrespectful to the audience, who pay good money to watch the sport and for whom ten grand is probably a fortune. As for Messi and Suarez? It didn't change the outcome of the match, and didn't benefit either of them individually. If FIFA think there's a problem, a simple rule change to state that a penalty kick has to be a strike on goal will prevent it happening again. Sadly, the 'spirit of the game' isn't a part of football like it is still in many other sports...
The Messi Suarez goal was a tribute to Barca and all round legend Cruyff apparently. Cruyff is suffering from lung cancer. I have no problem with it at all, especially when it ends up like this.
I saw his "wasn't enough money" as a criticism of whoever sets the prize money amount. £10k isn't a lot to a bloke like him and the incentive should be higher given the money the sport generates now. It's more of an incentive for players to take on riskier, more exciting shots. End of the day it's not a team sport so no one missed out in any way. The penalty was a farce. It was only 2-1 at the time. I saw it as disrespectful to the opposition and their own team mates
At least one of them had a wager on Ronnie getting a 147 as well. Probably poor judgement on O'Sullivan's part, but it's a bit much to expect anything else from him.
I was thinking about the betting aspect of O'Sullivans actions, intentionally not taking the 147 and wondered if he could face sanctions
Betting is a biproduct of sport no guarantees Ronnie won his match thats what he set out to do,he owes the betting punters nothing
In my opinion Ronnie should have given the paying public a 147. As posted above, he could have donated the winnings to charity or bought a round of drinks for the audience. Ultimately, sports people are just entertainers, surely. Barcelona put on an amazing show for their fans - what's the problem ? When it comes to sporting disrespect, frankly, you have to go some way to beat a planned 30% price hike on the long suffering Rangers fans to watch more of what we have suffered over the last two years.
I refused 10 years to work on online betting and I feel I was right what has it become? I like rule benders and free minds so both these events IMO are completely justified . Play sport at the highest level you have early the right to think for yourself IMO ... Start putting corporate pressures into the mix and its just a business Like the banking crisis many made big money betting against the house markets not falling in the US Is there respect in business? not at all and sport is both a religion with an evil under belly so I want to see as many free spirits as possible Burn the parasites
It's quite amazing how people are so divided on this. For me, the penalty was clever and wasn't disrespectful in any way. It gave the opposition more of a chance that it could be missed. As for O'Sullivan, he's one of the greatest snooker talents ever and a complete ****er! 10 grand is a huge amount of money to almost all those watching that break and he was totally disrespectful to all of them imo. What a twat!
I don't see disrespect enters into either situation. Sport is about winning, and both O'Sullivan and Barcelona won while entertaining in doing so. However, I do agree that Ronnie's decision was somewhat ill advised, if he wasn't personally bothered about the £10k he should have got the 147 break thus keeping everyone happy and donated the money to charity.
I think the way he came out and said it was "too cheap" has caused a lot of the problem, it's shown him to be an arrogant and totally up himself, using modern parlance........he's now trying to back track saying "he was only having a bit of fun" which makes it sound even worse.......he needs to stop digging a hole for himself. He should have just said nothing and brought everyone a drink...... Haven't seen the Barcelona penalty but from what I've read that is what they do during testimonial games..............
'When I am out there it is the only time in my life I don't think about charity...I just get into a wonderful zone out there.' O'Sullivan admits he gets a kick out of doing it...when he was younger Steven Hendry was watching him and he made a 140 and stopped, just to be noticed. Cries of an attention seeker who has possible lost the buzz and excitement for his sport. Another school of thought could be that it quite rightly should be worth a lot more money. A 147 is the pinnacle achievement for a snooker player, and although £10 000 is a lot, it is not life changing...maybe Ronnie O'Sullivan saw his actions as a clear way of trying to make that point. Interesting interview about it here; http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/35590088
Here's a conspiracy theory..... Given spot fixing and the huge market for in-play betting, how many people online would have seen him rack up 14 reds and 13 blacks, be in position for the black, and during the frame chuck a bet on the 147? Deliberately throwing the 147 should surely be looked at by the game's ethics committee. Wouldn't surprise me at all if we learn that a bunch of far-east gamblers, and through his in-game choice O'Sullivan himself, made far more than ten grand the other night...
O Sullivan is snooker, without him would there be any story? He knows exactly whst he is doing, and the promoters and media are loving it, all the way to the bank.
