"Where's the cue ball going?"
Few broadcasters are as synonymous with one single line as John Virgo. A doyen of snooker commentary, Virgo has seen his catchphrase turned into internet memes, printed on t-shirts and repeated back to him ad infinitum.
So how often is he stopped in the street, in the supermarket or anywhere else and asked just where that cue ball is going?
"All the time," he admitted. "I've learned in my life, if you say something enough times, people are going to treat it as a catchphrase."
But what most people probably won't know is Virgo wasn't the originator of the line with which he is most famously associated. Ted Lowe, known affectionately to viewers as 'Whispering Ted', was one of the forefathers of snooker commentary.
Jimmy White picks out what Ronnie O’Sullivan needs to do ahead of World Champs
"I got it from Ted," Virgo said. "Ted didn't say it as often as I do, but Ted would ask 'where's the cue ball going?' So I just raised it up a notch."
Readers of a certain vintage will remember Virgo from Big Break, the Saturday night hit TV show alongside Jim Davidson. A northern socialist and a cockney Tory. It shouldn't have worked. But it did.
"I learned a lot of my commentary moves from Big Break," Virgo continued. "You can call it a commentator's eye or whatever. But if I see the cue ball heading towards the pocket, I want people to be aware that it could go in-off.
"And if that adds a bit of excitement and gets people involved, then brilliant. People ask me, 'why do you keep saying it?' Because I want people to enjoy watching snooker. It's as simple as that."
Virgo has given a lifetime's service to snooker, first in a playing career which peaked in the late 1970s. His best finish at the Crucible came in 1979, when he was a losing semi-finalist to Dennis Taylor, the same year he was crowned UK champion - his only Triple Crown title.
Virgo hosted Big Break alongside Jim Davidson back int he 1990s (BBC)He played in the very first iteration of the World Championship at the Crucible in 1977, and one change in particular springs to mind when recalling his earliest memories of the Sheffield snooker cathedral.
"The fact we started play at 10:30am was very unusual," he remembers. "Normally all the matches you played were in the afternoon and the evening. That was a bit of a culture shock to say the least.
"I can think of some players that wouldn't get out of bed until midday, never mind get up to play a match."
Almost 50 years on, snooker is settled in its spiritual home in the Steel City.
While talk of a shift away from the Crucible won't go away, further fuelled by the sport dipping its toe into the Saudi Arabian market which is making a fair first of monopolising big sporting events, Virgo is in no doubt the World Championship should remain where it is.
O'Sullivan issues opinion on snooker's match-fixing probe as chiefs hit back
"I know people say that it only holds 950 people but that is perfect for snooker," he said. "Everybody can see the table and get involved. The atmosphere it has created over the years has been unbelievable.
"There was talk of building a bigger venue in Sheffield, but that would be a retrograde step for me. I've commentated in these arenas and they're too big.
"People are so far away. Basically what they do is what happens at the darts: you finish up watching it on a television screen. And if you're doing that, you're not concentrating and you won't get the hush that you do at the Crucible.
Virgo celebrates winning the 1979 UK Championship - his only Triple Crown title (Daily Mirror)
Virgo in action at The Crucible in 1990 (Bob Thomas/Getty Images)"If you're in a 4,000-seater venue looking at a screen, you're not involved. You're sat with your mates having a drink and chatting away. That's not conducive to snooker. It would be a terrible thing if it happened."
Now 78, Virgo still loves commentating on snooker's Triple Crown events for the BBC and is as popular as ever with viewers.
It was that popularity that led the BBC to reverse their decision to axe Virgo and Taylor from their coverage, which they had planned to do at the end of the 2022-23 season.
The plan was met with uproar from fans, and the duo were subsequently informed they would remain part of the coverage for the foreseeable future. And Virgo has no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.
"I would like to think I've got a few years left in me yet, but you never know," he said. "They did tell us it was going to be our last year and there was an unbelievable response on social media to say that would be a bad thing and they changed their mind.
"I love doing it. I love the game. We have our little snooker golf society with Stephen Hendry, Dennis, Ken Doherty, John Parrott and Steve Davis. I'd miss that dearly. And I'd miss the snooker. I'd miss the commentary.
"It's 17 days that I've been doing since 1977. So it would be sad. It will come one day. But hopefully it's a few years away yet."
On the table, all eyes will once again be on Ronnie O'Sullivan as he bids to land an eighth World Championship crown. It would pull him clear of Stephen Hendry and mean he has the outright record for the most Crucible titles.
Victory would also see the Rocket complete a seasonal Triple Crown for the first time having already claimed glory at the Masters and the UK Championship this term.
And despite O'Sullivan making his priorities clear by picking and choosing which events to compete in, Virgo is clear that snooker's biggest global star owes the sport nothing.
"A lot of the snooker fans I talk to say they don't like Ronnie's attitude," he said. "But he has given the game 30 years' service. Whatever he wants to do now, it is up to him.
"What he has given the game has been remarkable. He's kept the game popular. Even those that don't particularly like his views on the game, everybody loves watching him play.
"Whatever Ronnie O'Sullivan wants to do, that's fine by me. Because what he has done is beyond the call of duty."
Some have speculated O'Sullivan could call time on his career should he seal glory in Sheffield, given the scale of the achievement. But Virgo doesn't see that being the case.
"I can't see him sailing off into the sunset," he added. "No matter what he says, I know he loves the game. He loves playing, he loves practising, he just loves the game.
"Nobody likes the pressure that you are under when you are playing in these events. You have to find a way of pushing that pressure to one side. But Ronnie will do that.
"I honestly believe that he could get up to double figures in world titles. He's a genius. He's found his purpose in life and that is playing snooker and entertaining the fans. Long may it last because we'll miss him when he's gone."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
