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Timing-wise, it just felt right, says Steve Davis, as he reflects on his decision to end a 38-year career in professional snooker with a public farewell at the Crucible Theatre a fortnight ago. Audiences at Sheffields snooker mecca saw Davis win six world titles during an era of dominance that coincided with the sports boom under Barry Hearns guidance in the 1980s. As he held the trophy aloft ceremonially - and a little sheepishly - for a final time, there was a feeling of relief that the circle was closed.It just slowly got harder to compete at the top level. Its not that I didnt love the game, its just that Ive been playing competitively for so long that when you practise, you practise with a view to playing in a tournament, Davis says. And if youre losing every match then it perhaps isnt worth practising.Six years after he last qualified for the World Championship, the game was up.Just Jimmy White remains active of the 80s giants who laid bare on the baize a range of contradictory personalities that helped propel a pub game out of the Pot Black era and into the big-time.A BBC film called The Rack Pack chronicling a fictionalised version of Davis rivalry with Alex Higgins was released in January, and the nostalgia - the sense he was part of the past rather than the present - played its role in the 58-year-olds retirement. Davis rivalry with Alex Higgins was a cornerstone of snookers success in the early 1980s More influential, though, was the death earlier this year of his father Bill, whose unswerving practical, technical and paternal support took his son from the south London clubs to the amateur circuit and, in just a few years, to the top of the world.Things coincided with my father passing away, Davis says. I didnt really feel the desire to play on longer with him not around, and by complete coincidence The Rack Pack came out. That just brought home that first wave of enthusiasm for snooker to hit the UK - everything seemed to be leading towards the conclusion that it was the end of an era.What an era, though. Davis emerged in the late 70s as a kind of other-worldly automaton pitted against the all-too-human Higgins and the unaffected Whites outrageous talent, and he had ringmaster Hearn in his corner.Given the way Essexs great sporting impresario has subsequently exploited the pantomime potential of boxing and darts - for the benefit of player and promoter alike - it is tempting to wonder whether the man vs machine narrative of the time was at all scripted. Not so, says Davis. Barry Hearn (right) backed Davis rise to the top of snooker and helped commercialise the sport It was just the way it was. We were all pushing boundaries in our own way, and you just did what you did the way you could do it. Part of your personality comes out on the table - you cant really do very much about that.The robotic, emotionless person I was on the table was how I dealt with the problem at hand. It wasnt so much Barry Hearns influence as [a reflection of] the way each one of us lived our life at the time. I was pretty regimented, probably the hardest practiser.That treadmill of practice-competition-practice took him to 28 ranking titles, and a genuine passion for a hobby-turned-profession helped maintain his meticulous approach even during the harrowing time when Stephen Hendry was wresting control of the sport.The Scot bolted a total lack of fear onto Davis merciless professionalism and toppled snookers king, surpassing his record of six Crucible wins. Somewhere along the line, though, that new vulnerability - first glimpsed in the famous final-black world final defeat to Dennis Taylor in 1985 - meant the snooker-watching public came to love Davis where once hed been merely admired. Davis roll of honour Six World Championship titles 28 ranking titles 53 non-ranking titles 355 century breaks A genial willingness to embrace Spitting Images Interesting Steve Davis caricature did no harm, and he remains the only snooker player to win the BBCs Sports Personality of the Year award, but Davis wonders now whether he or any of the circuits fabled 80s characters would leave a mark in todays post-internet, multi-channel world.I think the trouble is that the worlds become quite immune to characters. The analogy of Big Brother would spring to mind. The first winner of Big Brother [Liverpudlian everyman-type Craig Phillips in 2000] was just a normal bloke called Craig. Nowadays, it seems youve got to be some sort of absolute weirdo even to get on the show.I think the same applies in the world of sport. What was once considered to be a character now doesnt cut the mustard. The way we look back at some of the old characters... I dont think the modern-day players are any different to them. People have become a bit immune.Think of the relative lack of interest in say, the brash idealism of Judd Trump or Mark Allens spiky outsider status, and it is easy to agree. The exception, of course, is Ronnie OSullivan, who spoke after his recent Crucible exit about the combined pressures of being snookers new figurehead and its most popular player. Davis sympathises. Davis and Jimmy White pose ahead of the 1984 World Championship final The same thing happened for Jimmy and for Alex, he says. People wanted them to do so well, and when they werent youd get people shouting come on Jimmy and come on Alex. Sometimes I felt as though that hindered them more than helped. That didnt happen too often from my perspective, but actually perversely [the lack of support] was probably easier to deal with.Ronnies certainly got the pressure of not only being the No 1 ranked player when he wants to be, hes also got the pressure of everybody wanting him to win. Its a double-edged sword.Davis now has the luxury of looking on from a distance, and although his enduring love for the sport is obvious both from the way he talks and from his insightful television analysis, the tone is one of proud granddad ruffling the hair of his favourite grandson.It is time for some of his other passions to share top billing now. Already a published author - he has co-written two books on chess - Davis life story Interesting is nominated for Autobiography of the Year at the prestigious Cross Sports Book Awards. Snooker legend Davis retires Steve Davis is to stop playing snooker 35 years after winning his first World Championship An interest in music - from rare 70s soul to obscure prog rock - has been a matter of record for years but has brought new opportunities recently after promoters tuned into his community radio show and spotted his potential for bringing out-there electronica to a wider audience.Acclaimed DJ sets have followed, and when Davis answers his phone to Sky Sports he is busy rooting through the racks in a record shop in Manchester.Its great fun, he says. One minute were doing a radio show, the next minute someones asked us to play a music festival, and now all of a sudden were DJs. Its been brilliant, amazing.A rapid rise from part-timer to pro? A burgeoning career he describes as a hobby gone berserk? All sounds a bit familiar... Also See: Rocket warned over no-show Bring the party to snooker Nick Chubb Jersey . 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This remedial statistical method has gone 9-5 in picks through the first three rounds.WINNIPEG -- Blake Wheeler says his Winnipeg Jets are racing for a Western Conference playoff spot. Winnipeg got out of the post-Olympic starting blocks quickly with a 3-2 shootout win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night as Wheeler scored his 23rd goal of the season. "A vast percentage of the league is going to be pretty rested after a 2 1/2-week break," said Wheeler, who played for the United States in Sochi, but saw limited minutes as the Americans 13th forward. "I think its an all-out sprint. Theres no time to be tired." Wheeler was joined on the score sheet by Bryan Little. Olli Jokinen put away the shootout winner in the fourth round for Winnipeg (29-26-6). Devin Setoguchi also beat Coyotes goalie Mike Smith in the shootout, while Antoine Vermette was the only Coyote to solve Ondrej Pavelec. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Martin Hanzal scored in regulation for Phoenix (27-21-11) in the first game for both teams after a 19-day break for the Winter Olympics. The Jets continued their winning ways under new head coach Paul Maurice, improving to 10-3-1 since he replaced the fired Claude Noel. Despite some less-than-crisp play, the coach said he was pleasantly surprised by how well his team played after such a long layoff. "It was tough at times, but just from the stuff I watched the last two days (around the league), it was a better game than I thought I was going to see," Maurice said. Winnipeg pulled within one point of the Coyotes as both teams chase a wild-card playoff spot, although Phoenix has two games in hand. Dallas sits in the final spot with 66 points, one better than Phoenix and Vancouver, and two ahead of Winnipeg. Pavelec made 34 saves for the Jets, with two of his toughest stops coming in overtime. "It wasnt an easy game for both teams. It was the first game back and we didnt know what to expect a little bit," said Pavelec, who stopped Mike Ribeiro to end the shootout. Smith stopped 27 shots for the visitors, including a pair of scoring chances in the final seconds of regulation. "For the most part I felt not too bad," said Smith, whho was a member of Canadas gold medal-winning team in Sochi but didnt see any playing time.dddddddddddd "But like I said, it doesnt matter how you feel, you need to come out on the better side of things." Hanzal put away a rebound to tie the game at 2-2 with Jets centre Jim Slater in the penalty box 6:40 into the third period. Winnipeg took advantage of a giveaway by Coyotes defenceman Zbynek Michalek to take the lead late in the second period. With Ekman-Larsson in the penalty box, Little intercepted Michaleks pass in the low slot and beat Smiths glove hand to make it 2-1. The teams wasted no time reminding fans of one of the differences between international hockey and the NHL game. Winnipegs Zach Bogosian and Phoenixs Rob Klinkhammer dropped the gloves just 78 seconds into the game after Klinkhammer shoved Bogosians defence partner Toby Enstrom into the boards. The Coyotes opened the scoring with an Ekman-Larsson wrist shot from the high slot that went in off the post 12:17 into the first period. It took the Jets less than three minutes to respond, as Wheelers shot from the corner hit Coyotes defenceman Michael Stone in the leg and bounced into the net. Smith was distracted earlier in the sequence by Winnipeg forward Dustin Byfuglien, and the Coyotes argued for an interference call. Smith and Coyotes coach Dave Tippett both said they disagreed with the non-call in their post-game comments. "Personally, I think if theres incidental contact in the net and then the puck goes in after, it shouldve been not a penalty, but it shouldnt have been allowed," Smith said. Notes: Jocelyne Larocque of Ste. Anne, Man., a defenceman for Canadas Olympic gold medal-winning womens hockey team, performed the ceremonial puck drop. a The Jets welcomed back Slater, who missed 52 games with a sports hernia, and left-winger Evander Kane, who sat out the last six games before the Olympic break with a hand injury. a The Jets head to Nashville for a one-game road trip on Saturday, while the Coyotes play in Denver Friday night before heading home. a The teams have one remaining meeting, April 1 in Arizona. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Jerseys Stitched NFL Jerseys China Womens NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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