| 'The hardest thing is people's doubts' The three-times world snooker champion talks about the tabloid sting, family turmoil and his plans for the future"I'm probably going to get a bit emotional here," John Higgins says on a quiet morning in Bothwell, a plush and pretty town on the fringes of Glasgow, where he is trying to rebuild his life after five shattering months. There is an autumnal chill in the air, and murky drizzle all around, as Higgins looks up.His eyes are glazed when, almost on cue, church bells ring out from across the street and he starts to explain how he ended up at the centre of snooker's worst match-fixing scandal before, 12 days ago, he was finally cleared of the most serious charges."It's been a horrible time," Higgins says, his voice sounding thick and gravelly. The reasons are obvious. After the elation of being found innocent of corruption at the end of a two-day tribunal, and having his character exonerated in striking detail by the chairman of the disciplinary hearing, Ian Mill QC, Higgins' world collapsed around him again. The day after he was cleared he heard that his father's long battle against cancer had reached its final stage. John Higgins Sr has been released from hospital so that he can spend the time he has left at home."Sometimes, when you're lying in bed at night, and you can't sleep," Higgins says, "you ask yourself: 'Is this the reason why my dad is so ill?' He's been battling cancer for five years but he went downhill around the time this [scandal] started. He seemed to lose a little of his determination to fight on – and I don't know if my situation was the reason for that."I've been discussing it with my mum and the strange thing is that dad maybe feels it's his fault. He used to manage me and he tried to shield me, but the last five years he's not been able to travel to tournaments. But of course your dad can't shield you from everything and I'm 35 now."In early May, on the morning of the World Championship final, the News of the World broke the story that it had video footage which apparently proved that Higgins, the defending champion, had agreed to throw frames at some future tournaments in eastern Europe. Higgins was ranked world No1 and at the centre of the promoter Barry Hearn's plans to revitalise a sport that had lost much of its popular appeal. Steve Davis, who had defeated Higgins so memorably 10 days before at the Crucible, described it as snooker's "darkest day".It would be the first in the News of the World's string of exposes that have had such a profound impact on sport this summer. Higgins, trapped in a skillfully woven web of deceit and intrigue, reacted with hopeless naivety and crass stupidity when he was taken to Kiev by his now disgraced former manager, Pat Mooney."The game had been in trouble," Higgins says, "and we all felt we should try open it up to different countries. Snooker has just been a British-based sport for such a long time and when I started at 18 the furthest you'd go would be London. Lately, we've been playing more in the Far East – but we've also had invitations to play in Europe and going somewhere new like Russia or Ukraine is a bit daunting."In Kiev, Mooney suggested his new business contacts were keen to sponsor four more tournaments. Yet just before they entered a meeting with these unknown men, Mooney told Higgins he might be asked to throw the occasional frame. Higgins has now been instructed by his lawyers not to discuss the specific machinations surrounding that infamous videotape – for the possibility of him taking legal action has not been discounted. But he conveys his own confusion."I was bewildered. I'm not the sort to start screaming and shouting but I couldn't believe he had said this so flippantly. Once we were inside a few more things were said that didn't add up. It was pretty intimidating and I thought let's get out of here as quickly as possible. That's all I was thinking."Higgins was hardly thinking at all. He not only appeared to agree to the suggestions of the supposedly dangerous men in front of him but, more seriously, he failed to report their illegal approach to the snooker authorities when he returned to Britain. "I came back late on the Friday night," Higgins says, "and there was just time for me to help Denise [his wife] put the kids to bed. I was still getting my head around everything. Denise had to go to Glasgow early the next morning as her sister was getting fitted for her wedding dress. So I was running all over the place with the kids. At the same time Mooney had left messages for me but I didn't want to speak to him."He then left another message saying it was really important I called back. He said the News of the World had videotaped our meeting in Kiev. I just put the phone down. My whole world was in a spin. I had to go pick up Denise in Glasgow. When Denise and her mum got in the car she saw I was chalk-white. She said: 'What is it?' But I couldn't speak because the kids were in the back. When we got home the reporters were already waiting for us in the drive."How did his wife react? "Denise faced the same emotions as me. She was mad, angry and hurting inside. And that night I had to phone my parents. They were devastated."Higgins has also witnessed the impact on his children. "I sat down with my eldest boy, Pierce, because he's eight and, at school, kids can be cruel. We had to tell him people are saying bad things about daddy but they're not true. He said: 'Well, daddy, if they come here and say those things I'll punch them.' He's seen a lot of emotion in our house. Even the smaller kids, Oliver and Claudia, would be thinking why is daddy or mummy or granny upset? But my family has been really strong."That strength seemed to be draining away 12 days ago, as Higgins waited for the outcome of the tribunal in London. "It really hit home five minutes before the verdict. I noticed how quiet everyone around me had become. I had to go to the toilet then because I thought the worst could happen. People have been to jail when they're innocent. I knew I would never miss a single ball on a snooker table on purpose and, until then, I was sure the evidence would support me. But that was a terrible moment. I came out of the toilet and they said: 'We're going in now.' I knew I was about to hear my fate."Higgins was cleared unequivocally of agreeing to fix matches – but he was suspended for six months and fined £75,000 for failing to report an illegal approach and for bringing snooker into disrepute. In his ruling Ian Mill QC said Higgins was guilty only of making a poor choice of manager and for acting in an "extremely foolish" manner. But he praised Higgins's "truthful" account and his otherwise admirable character."It was important to me," Higgins says, "that someone who had looked so closely at the evidence, and the video, said such nice words about me. Ian Mill went a long way to helping me clear my name. It's the hardest thing I'm going to have to overcome in the future – people doubting me. When you can't sleep at night you click on certain blogs. A lot of nasty and untrue things have been said about me."The opinion of his father matters most of all to him. His dad, after all, introduced Higgins to the game he loves. "A lot of the time he would be working offshore, out on the oil rigs. And when he was home he'd take me and my brother to this club in Wishaw. I was nine and my brother was 12 and I think the reason he put us on the snooker table was so that he could have a few quiet pints. It was one way of keeping us out of mischief."What did he tell his father on that memorable Thursday he was exonerated? "I said: 'Dad, stop lying about in hospital and get yourself up. I'm playing again in November and I want you there.' I don't know if dad was crying or laughing because the cancer and the radiotherapy has affected his speech. You have to be up close to hear what he's saying. But he was delighted."I was on such a high myself that Thursday night. I woke up the next morning and said to Denise: 'I can't believe it's over.' But that's when I called my mum and she told me the news they had just got about dad. There was no point in him having more chemotherapy. She broke down on the phone – and nothing else seemed to matter."Higgins has not picked up a snooker cue since the News of the World story erupted on 2 May. But yesterday he took a symbolic step forward when a couple of men arrived at his home in Bothwell to re-cover his snooker table with fresh baize. "You don't realise what you've got in life until it looks like it's going to be taken away from you. My wife keeps telling me things happen for a reason. Maybe she's right. Snooker players go into steady decline and lose their intensity after a while. But I will have real purpose the next five years. I want to prove people wrong and win a lot more tournaments."Darkness draws in early on these autumn days in Bothwell and Higgins looks weary as we near the end. "These last five months will shape me for the rest of my life," he says. "It will make me a better person, and a stronger person. When my dad came out of hospital he didn't seem in a good place. But in the last day or two he's perked up."He has a bed downstairs now and he can walk over to the TV and sit in his normal place and take charge of the remote again. There's been snooker in Glasgow this weekend and he's watched it. He couldn't have done that if his boy had not been cleared. So that's given me a goal. I want people to believe in me again and I want to become world champion next May. I've won three world titles and I've dedicated them to my three children. I'd like to win a fourth – and dedicate it to my dad. Before he goes I'd like to win it for him."John HigginsSnookerDonald McRaeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cowboys beat Texans 27-13 for first win By CHRIS DUNCAN 2010-09-26T20:59:29ZHOUSTON (AP) -- Jerry Jones can exhale, at least for now. So can Wade Phillips.... hosted.ap.org |
Butt calls on Marxist in case for defence The former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has turned to a political activist and ex-cricketer to defend himPAKISTANWith the ICC announcing this week that the appeal against suspension of the three Pakistani players accused of spot-fixing has been set, the Times of India notes that the Pakistan Cricket Board is not providing financial assistance for their legal battle. The former captain Salman Butt, as a result, has turned to the hugely colourful Aftab Gul to represent him."I have been a political activist for more than four decades and I am a founder member of the Pakistan Peoples Party. I am on the left and in thrall to Karl Marx," Gul tells Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror.Also a former cricketer, he played in six Tests between 1969 and 1971. "I am the only player who played a Test match while on bail," Gul adds. "It was the first Test at Lahore against Colin Cowdrey's MCC in 1968: I was released so I could play." He had been detained for political activities as a student leader. An opening batsman, Gul scored more than 1,000 runs on tour in England in 1971. "I was the leading run-getter until being hit on the head in the first over of the first Test at Edgbaston." Gul was declared fit after his wound was stitched, prompting a Brian Johnson classic: "Gul's all right. The doctor inspected his head this morning and found nothing in it."Gul, now practising in Lahore, will represent Butt at the end of this month.SOUTH AFRICASome celebration in South Africa this week as the most underachieving major side in rugby union, the Golden Lions, have become the first club to be owned by a black South African. Robert Gumede, an IT billionaire who used to own a football club called the Dangerous Darkies in Mpumalanga, sealed the deal for just over £7m. He says he has invested because of "the nation-building ability of the game. The first step is to create role models for young black players."All good PR. Less well reported is that the deal was done with Gumede's "long-time family friend, international businessman and philanthropist, Ivor Ichikowitz". That's the press release version. Jane's Defence Weekly says Ichikowitz recently brokered a deal to sell six South African Mirage F1 AZ jet fighters to Gabon. The nation's Times newspaper's headline is blunt: "Arms dealer buys into ailing Lions."‎USAVictoria Beckham says she teaches her kids about the value of money by making them "buy" breakfast from her. "They say 'Mum, we want our Cocoa Puffs.' And I'm going, 'Cocoa Puffs! That'll be $1.20!'" But David isn't so on-message.The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Becks, visiting the city, went straight from the airport to the Barclay Prime restaurant, where he ordered the region's trademark Philly cheesesteak.The standard Philly cheesesteak is made of cheese and steak, on a roll. It costs $4. Becks' version was a bit more upmarket. The Prime cheesesteak is "Sliced Kobe beef, melted Taleggio cheese, shaved truffles, sautéed foie gras, caramelised onions and shaved heirloom tomatoes on a homemade brioche roll brushed with truffle butter and squirted with homemade mustard." It costs $100 (£63).Philadelphians think the $4 cheesesteak is fine as it is. "You shouldn't mess with the Philadelphia cheesesteak," says local resident Samuel Lehrer, on Msnbc.com. "Let it alone." Pakistan cricket betting scandalPakistan cricket teamCricketGiles Richardsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
What's good, what's bad thus far in 2010 NFL season With every NFL team having played at least four games, USA TODAY back at the first five weeks of the season. rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
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