40 years ago, the "union" of Steve Davis and Barry Hearn began a far-reaching snooker revolution, and 40 years after the "strongest official match", the two are frantic about an interview question of whether there has ever been an argument.
Text / Jeremy Wilson
Hearn and Davis
The two eventually agreed on the spark of the 2013 "I'm a Celebrity, Let Me Out," a wilderness survival reality show produced by British independent television (ITV), when Hearne managed to convince Davis to participate.
Hearne: "Old Day, they want you to go to I'm a Celebrity. ”
Davis: "You let me go, they'll make me jump off the plane." ”
Hearne: "Then I'll give them an ridiculously high price, and if they still want you to go, will you go?" ”
Davis: "Okay, that sounds fair. ”
Hearne smiled evilly and recalled, as if he were proud of his negotiation strategy. Five minutes later, Herne's numbers lit up again, and Davis would never forget the other side's opening line: "Do you know where the parachute shop is?" You're going to Australia. ”
Davis: "I've got one..."
Davis was 56 years old at the time, but in order to maintain a 45-year-long "relationship" that did not even bother to sign a paper contract, he had no way back. So, the 6th World Championship champion who had sung "Snooker Madness" for Hearn was going to eat bugs in the forest!
Davis now focuses on psychedelic and experimental music, working as a DJ at the Glastonbury Festival and having just launched a book co-authored with musician Kavus Torabi. In Paris, the two hit it off at a concert with the avant-garde rock band Magma, and have since released 4 albums together.
Hearne loved his 6-word book review of Davis— "I can't read the Prologue," but he at least pretended to be interested. "What a ghost he did, it was so annoying!" But I did listen to his music, and then I realized we were on different planets. Herne said, "We're like an old couple. Don't talk much, don't go out together. But if something happens to us, or if we have any exciting news, we'll talk to each other. Old Dai is better at opening up completely different fields than I am, and he can turn the past and start a new life. ”
Barry Herne
It's 4:30 p.m., and Davis, dressed in a casual outfit, sits on a couch that looks completely different from the ginger-haired, shirt-and-vested triumphal machine of the 1980s. "I don't want to have any contact with creatures like that anymore." Davis said.
For the next ten days, however, he will effortlessly reappear on screen as a narrator, just as Clark Kent transformed back into Superman, re-entering the world he once controlled like a giant. Just driving through the Crucible Theater would still give him a physiological reaction.
"It's like Mount Everest." Davis said: "It's so awe-inspiring in the eyes of the snooker players that you don't want to look at it. I'm still afraid of that place. How many times have you experienced heartache in that room? How many bad days have you had that make you want to go underground? But every now and then, that place will erupt like Mount Vesuvius, and that's when the miracle happens, and you want to be part of the miracle. ”
Davis and Hearne
Hearne called it "the greatest day of my life, without a doubt," and to this day he often goes to bed reminiscing about the triumph of his 23-year-old "disciple."
Davis's brilliant color, followed by tears being embraced by Herne's bear, has become an important scene in the history of snooker. Behind the champion is a sports promoter who exudes personal charm and ambition. "As you get older, you reflect on the past." "I don't look back with anger, fear or regret, I generally look forward," Hearne said. ”
"But I'll look back with joy. If it weren't for that time, I would never have experienced that excitement, that joy, that feeling of my heart beating wildly and my palms sweating! I've played in thousands of top events, and to this day, I've never felt that way again. I get goosebumps when I say it now! ”
"I was living in a public rental house in Dugenham, and Old Day was from a public rental house in Plumsted. We have a dream, and we stand on the threshold of changing lives. I kept saying to myself, 'Don't do anything stupid,' but my body didn't listen to my brain, so I walked out. My expression in that moment said it all. It's not just 'we win', it's 'we win the world'. ”
Davis described the scene as an "emotional roller coaster," a magical blend of relief, relief, and excitement. "We have had good luck and success after success. It may seem inevitable now, but it is not. ”
What happened next is truly legendary. Not only about how Davis dominated the world of snooker, but also about how snooker became a very important part of the British sports scene. Hearn says the key to their success is knowing where the other person is doing the best. Hearn will confidently hand over the good play of snooker to Davis and his father, Bill, as if they had full control over the table.
Later, Davis was invited to an exhibition event for a fee of £10,000 a night. He endorsed the slippers and had his own aftershave. The others set up plump —Steve's "funny" Davis — is exactly the same as a real person. In the final of the 1985 World Championships, Davis's match against Dennis Taylor reached more than 18 million viewers. He then won the SportsMan of the Year award and set a record for the most top three attempts, a record that still stands today.
Davis said: "Barry has put in what he is good at, and we are very lucky that snooker has developed unexpectedly. He also stressed that calling his era the "Golden Age" of snooker may be exaggerated: "The standard is much better now than I was then – Ronnie O'Sullivan is the most amazing of all sports figures, and together with the athletes of all sports, he is one of the best, and he was beaten by a carer and a horseback rider in the Sports Person of the Year awards!" I'll go! Snooker's Golden Age is now! ”
Hearn predicts that the cumulative global viewership of this year's World Championships will exceed 500 million, compared with 100 million in the 1980s, and that this billion is provided by the limited UK market.
Compared with the 1981 championship prize of £20,000, the prize money for the World Championship today is as high as £500,000. It's all a powerful argument to counter the disgruntled rhetoric of today's players, such as world number one Judd Trump, who complains that the sport is not up to date. Hearne said: "For those who are in charge, they have to relax their minds. We know what we're doing. Today's global audience is far greater than the so-called golden age. ”
What about the dress code? Will Hearne take Trump's advice on dressing casually? T-shirts and sneakers? Maybe OK. But in Crucible? Herne flinched and asked, "Would you rather take the Rolls-Royce sculpture off the hood?" ”
Hearne explains: "There are a few events that are casual, such as the one-time limited time competition to attract young audiences, and the Trump decided not to go. You have to know that we have brand value, that we at Snooker are a global movement, that all kinds of people believe in all kinds of values, and that we attract people who pursue that value of us. That doesn't mean that snooker brand values have to run through every event, but as for our most important events, those that have history — history you can't buy — are the special values you already have, and history is the whole of the World Championships, including dress. So you have to wear that. ”
1985 World Championship Final: Davis vs Taylor
Herne then continued his history lesson: "Everyone who plays snooker today owes Steve Davis, who is like Tiger Woods in golf. Snooker is a local niche sport that would not have attracted fans from countries such as China, Brazil and Japan without our efforts. We have a vision that we are still on this journey to build on what Davis has given us. ”
Herne peeled again: "On May 3, the world champion will get 500,000. Whoever wins should have a picture of Steve Davis on the mantelpiece of his house. Moreover, they should bow their heads in respect when they enter the room... Because they don't deserve to look this great man in the eye! ”