Bit to common now,but then was an achievement, cliffs in the masters was goid aswell

what about ding first 147?he shouted after he made that break

Probably because they come along as often as buses in this era-they ceased having the same meaning years ago, because they are made so often due to the ultra fine cloths & attacking style of today.

Yeah, he probably had a gram of cocaine stuck up his nose at the time.

​@@Hi-kq1vi It's down to the players playing to a MUCH higher standard today,not just because of the cloths the players are simply better

@@davidmellish3295 Yeah if it was down to the clothes then Kirk's white suit would make him a winner every time.

Kirk Stevens seemed to have a relaxed and skilled style of play, really good to watch. If only he'd been more consistent

​@@allthekingshorses7178 definitely underachived with his skillset and composure. He was the pinup of snooker in them days, i can't say for certain but maybe the lifestyle of being THAT guy was detrimental to his consistency, like George Best I suppose but not as extreme.🤷🏼‍♂️

..as a fellow Canadian...I agree...another one is Bob Chaperone...1990 British open champion

My m8 hit a 146, works in a snooker hall llf no interest in turning pron😂 my highest breK 45😂😂 shite lol

Ciiff thorburn in the crucible is good,,people from the next table stop playing and watch! Big bill werbenek 😂😂

I imagine a few 🎱 were sniffed that night👃

***** That was a wornderful maximum as well (and again with two great figures involved, Jimmy and Tony) but in my opinion Kirk was more difficult. Two great breaks and players though, gotta love them both.

+Mssmaimone colours are in open play, not that difficult

+Ryan Mannie Totally disagree, Ronnie's fastest 147 is impossible. The best 147 in former and future history.

If Kirk had not sucked coke up his nose for years, he might have ended up a legend.

Completely agree. Very understated in terms of the calculated effort put in. It was a steady and smooth and don't forget this is a Kirk Stevens who in general during this particular point of planet earth was a flamboyant talent. Cheers

Really man 🔥

John virgo is

Yeah... and the 147 was alright, too. 😂

I was thinking that too great looking table.

He used to hustle at Times Square Billiards at Yonge/Dundas in 1979-80. He cleaned everyone out. I saw him a few times at Golden Mile Billiards, and at Cliff Thorburn's pool hall at Yonge and Gould. He was the best player to ever come out of Canada with the possible exception of Thorburn and George Chenier.

parkerbohnn if it was not for crack cocaine he would have been at the top level for another ten years... Shame, was a really good player and character.

@@cambellblack9166 Not only crack and powder coke but he liked to drink as well.

@@Firestone1 At the time Cliff Thorburn was ranked #1, Kirk Stevens was #2 and Jim Wych was #3. I think Jimmy was way better than Chenier ever was.

@@ihaveatalkingpenisanditsay6699 I saw Wych play at the CNE back in the 80's, and he was good. Kirk was probably the best shooter of those 3, but he was inconsistent.

I think the black had decided to stay out until Jack Karnehm shouted "GERRRIN!!!"!

Not the best at all,the mere fact that he had to pull off tough shots just shows how he lost the white and ran out of position. In a real decent break the white is on a string and no tough shots are needed because of the top notch cue ball control

@@davidmellish3295Bet you’re fun at parties. “Actually this isn’t their best song ever, a really good song demonstrates more lyrical variety and tonal distinction”. 🥱

This was a best of ten match and Jimmy was leading 5-3 at the time, so this 147 meant Kirk was Staying Alive.

​@@seanscanlon9067 🎶Ah ah ah ah staying alive 🎵

And it was on a saterday night?

@@seanscanlon9067best of ten?

@@glxxyz Sorry best of 11. I only wanted to do the Staying Alive joke really but looked up the result online and the first two times they played each other in 1984, the website I used said Jimmy won in the Professional Snooker League 6 (10) 4 and this one in the Masters with Jimmy winning again 6 (11) 4. But between me switching back and forth between browser tabs from the snooker website and here to type my message, I inadvertently looked at the best of 10 match, where because it is a league I think you can have a 5-5 draw, even though Jimmy won 6-4 anyway.

+Zeusdaz - The Unemulated Retro Game Channel Agreed it was a lovely sophisticated break with very few shots "to recover position" also like the commentary of jack karnhem... very understated

Yes agree.. and left little up to chance, owned and steered that ship in👍

​@@dlamiss Jack was one of the best commentators. Why on earth the BBC sacked him, daft decision.

ha ha

Damn.. you.... old ;) I was 1 back then

My late wife and I also attended, and so did Donald Sutherland who jumped up to congratulate Kirk immediately after he sank the final black -- I think it's Donald (off camera) who shakes Kirk's hand after Kirk hugs the referee and his opponent, and before Kirk went back to his corner.

Brian Thompson Cool , Kirk is a nice guy , talked to him a couple times in Kitchener Ontario Canada . couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

John Street

Pretty lucky considering what substances they had in them, the roads were much safer with them as passengers.

Oh shut up

And that explains the big hug for the ref. Thank you.

It was John Smyth. John Street was a different referee from Devon

cos he was high all the time 😛

Haha Tom cruise!!!

I just met Cliff at the Crucible less than a month ago. I had a chance to reminisce about the snooker tournament held every summer at the CNE throughout the 70s. Cliff was surprised to meet some who remembered those matches...

Daryl Wouters played in the UK briefly back in the mid 90's. And Marco Fu was Vancouver based of course.

Certainly was, sports like these have been killed by forcing players to be robotically professional at all times. I dont want to see that, i want the dramas of your MacEnroes and Higgins's with characters and humour. These are the very concepts that give the public someone to route for. Who we going to route for if they are all forced to act the same... what a shame.

Brilliant times. Unfortunately the media and society have ruined the future of great sporting moments. In those days we had 4 tv channels available unlike the hundreds we have now. We had great tv shows and great sporting events which were there for everyone to watch. Today you need satellite or cable and then pay for PPV. We have crap reality tv and snowflakes on our screens 24/7. Those glory days from my childhood are gone forever I'm afraid.

Indeed it was. Being able to have a beer or smoke, sponsored by booze and cigs firms etc. The camaraderie while still being professional. Ok, cutting out those vices is probably a good idea and the game has never been to a higher standard and cleaner than today, but at what cost? It is staid and tough to watch some matches as a result. Just look at the 147, for example. Kirk probably got paid £100k for that, 300k today's money? What's it today, 10k, and then you have to split it if there's more than one maxy? Ok, more of the money goes to lesser players, but it's a farce, which is why Ronnie has turned it down on more than one occasion. Get to that level and not be paid properly for it...

@@nuntana2 He only got £11,000 for it. £10,000 for the 147 plus £1000 for the high break prize, which is about £35,000 in today's terms. The winner's share was only £35,000, which is about £110,000 today. The prize for the masters today is £250,000. The money for snooker in the 1980s heyday of the sport was pretty shit.

Being allowed to stay up an extra 14 minutes must have been thrilling

If I recall correctly, he bought that suit because it was the only one he could afford! 😆

... sheer class wasn’t it.

@@sphericalempirical9359 , yeah, I remember watching live and calling the max after approx five reds. The standard is much higher generally now, but for entertainment cand tension, these were the golden years of Snooker! Fantastic.

Everybody had hair like that back then lol

Doesn't look like a pool cue to me..pool cues had screwable tips and brass ferrel was longer

In your opinion maybe, but no, it wasn't/isn't. Kirk was great and the golden era of snooker was a fine time to be around to watch the sport. This was good (I remember watching live) and probably on par with Thorburn's (also watched live), but there were just too many loose shots and faffing for it to be considered 'best' material. There have been so many great 147s over the years but none can be compared to O'Sullivan's maximum in the 1997 World's of just over 5 minutes. Not just because it was so fast, but because of the flow/quick decision making and the pretty much spot on positioning throughout the break. He had the white on a string. As a fan and player of the game of many years, that is about as good as it gets... IMO.

​@nuntana2 You're totally right,Ronnie's maximum break in world record time of 5.08 was the best ever. The white on a string ,never goes out of position and does it quicker than most pros make a ton. Just incredible

very true! Stevens is often overlooked when people mention the naturally talented entertaining players, waa always great to watch.

You walked in front of your school while watching this at 13? How did that work exactly?

201081hero

😂

10k then was the equivalent of about 31k now - however, there is more money in snooker and advertising now than there was then, so really the standard prize money for a 147 in a major tournament now should be notably more than 31k.

newname fuc osulivan he a prize KNOB!

147 is very hard at that time.

@@lusiratna8385 yes, I think the equipment and cloth are better now

Darin Thompson The cloth back then was slower so that the cue ball has had more grip. You can See that when they hit the cue ball with side/spin. And the pockets were a Little bit bigger i guess.

Almost nobody liked using the rest back then.

yep, the balls then were terrible, and don't get me started on the cushions ! but the table did seem to be running quick. great to see the old nth american style two piece cue

Oh, bull.

Thorburn made that world championship 147 a year earlier than Kirk (in 1983)

Kirk Stevens was also my favourite player back then!

PointyTailofSatan Cloths in the old days were much heavier and less responsive, imagine what Higgins, White and Stevens in their prime could have done on modern tables.

@@rochestersmonkey5627 The modern players are much better than Higgins, White and Stevens were in their prime.

Well £10k was a lot worth back then. Probably buying power of £30k today.

general rule is the square law: the value of the same amount of money halves every decade(or $1 10 years ago is twice as valuable as today). So, now in 2017, 3 decades since 1987, $10k back then would've been equally valuable as $10k multiplies 2^3 = $80k today. But that's just the general idea, housing price today is probably 20-100+ times as they used to be 30 years ago in major cities.

@@Wagoo Poor Steve Davis won a Lada car for getting the first televised one in 1982 at the Lada Classic.

@@Hi-kq1vi That sounds more like a forfeit than a prize! 🤣🤣🤣