Why we will always need a "Ronnie O Sullivan"

Any of us,who grew up watching the world championship in the 80's will remember an elderly gentleman who seemed to be sat in the same front row seat for every session of every match ,every year.I remember in my youth been extremely jealous of him and wondering how he always managed to secure the same seat.

This man came into my thoughts again over the last few weeks when I was having a look on YouTube at some of the old BBC musical montages.In particular I was looking at the one from 1996.In this video set to the Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" we see various clips of a young Ronnie O'Sullivan in action but the part that struck me was the clip where we see Ronnie wheeling away from the table after another clearance and this elderly man in the background standing to his feet to applaud what he had just witnessed..

Here was a man who had been front and centre for some of the sports most iconic and historic moments and yet he could be still brought to his feet by seeing someone do something special on the table.That for me says it all about Ronnie.

Today,when the whole "will he wont he" saga came to an end and Ronnie announced that he will be defending his world title at The Crucible in April the twitter world came alive with excitement from those who have longed to see him back and was then quickly followed with the usual scorn from those who believe that the world of snooker doesn't revolve around what Ronnie O'Sullivan does.

Of course these people are correct in so far as snooker will continue long after Ronnie has finished playing but I don't think many would argue that it isn't a better and more interesting place with him in it.I mean football will continue when Messi retires but it doesn't mean we wouldn't miss the little Argentine genius if he was gone.

The point is that sport in any sphere is brilliant but it's the individuals who get us off our seats that really make watching sport something special.Lets hope this is the start of another great chapter in the career of Ronnie and whats more I have a sneaky feeling that his imminent return might just spur a few of the other top players on.If I'm correct we could be set for a real grandstand end to this season.