Richard Hercock: Re-igniting Ronnie’s rocket is snooker loopy Hearn’s acid test

Not that I am watching for a breaking story on who is signing for my beloved Sheffield Wednesday; I think it is probably my adult version of a comfort blanket.

So when Arsene Wenger pops up on screen I know it is a football story.

Likewise, Frankie Dettori it has to be horse racing. You get my gist?

But Barry Hearn is destroying my equilibrium. These days he has his fingers in so many pies, it is hard to keep track.

The 62-year-old sports enthusiast has been associated with snooker ever since he took under his wing a ginger-haired kid who would go on to dominate snooker in the Eighties. And Steve Davis is still his best friend today over 30 years later.

But he has also boosted the game of darts as chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation by making it prime-time viewing, owns his local football club in the east end of London, Leyton Orient, and even still finds time to be a boxing promoter.

In the last couple of weeks, he has been the face of Orient as they launch High Court action over West Ham United’s bid to take over the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 games.

Then last Saturday evening many will have seen the usually calm Hearn get angry in front of the cameras after boxer Paul McCloskey lost to Amir Khan in controversial circumstances in a WBA lightwelterweight title fight in Manchester.

But it is Hearn’s decision to come back and run snooker, after many years in the wings, which excites many in sport.

It is just 12 months since he took over as chairman of World Snooker but in that time he has revolutionised the sport, new tournaments are being revealed all over the world, prize money has rocketed from £3.5m last year to over £6m next season, and sponsors are coming back to a game which was stagnating.

The challenge of bringing snooker out of its slump is one that has clearly got Hearn’s juices flowing.

“Excuse the smile on my face but I have really enjoyed the last 12 months,” he said at Sheffield’s Crucible this week for the Betfred.com World Championship.

“I can’t think I have been any more motivated with anything I have done for 20-odd years.

“Someone said it is like finding an old girlfriend you haven’t seen in 20 years, and she’s still beautiful.

“This sport has got so many places to go.

“For once, this sport is pulling in one direction, with a unified force going forward.

“It’s very exciting times for me personally.

“I’m coming up to 63 and I like challenges, I have a soft spot for the game.

“I don’t think I would be where I am today if it wasn’t for snooker, so in a way its a little bit of payback.

“But I also like a challenge. I have an ego the size of a house and I knew I could be great with this.

“My wife said to me ‘I thought you wanted to cut back?’ I don’t cut back with anything I do, I live life to 101 per cent with everything I do, I have a passion for it, and I have a passion for snooker.”

That he certainly does, and the game is a better place for it.

Although I think a line has to be drawn somewhere and his latest idea to bring back Snooker Loopy is just a step too far.

Those who can rememember the Eighties will almost certainly remember Chas and Dave, plus a bunch of snooker players, belting out that particular ditty.

Now, 25 years later and Hearn wants the new generation of snooker players to do a special remix, obviously to appeal to a younger market.

A remix is due out in the autumn once they coax eight players to get behind the mic.

“My name’s not Simon Cowell, it’s Barry Hearn,” said the former accountant who first started promoting sports event in 1974.

“It’s not Britain’s Got Talent, but we know snooker’s got talent.

“It’s 25 years since Snooker Loopy. I’m not joking with this. I am going back on ideas that worked.

“Snooker Loopy as a song sold 240,000 records.

“If a record sold 240,000 copies today it would go to No1 for six weeks.”

I cannot see Ronnie O’Sullivan belting out Snooker Loopy somehow, but anyone who saw him in action at the Crucible last week will just be hoping he sticks to the game.

‘The Rocket’ threatened to pull out of the World Championship before it started, due to personal problems, but the sport would be damaged if it was to lose his mercurial talents.

Yes, there are plenty of other talents in the game and many have shone at the Crucible in the first week of tournament play.

Judd Trump shocked everyone by beating world champion Neil Robertson on the opening day, Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy breezed through their first-round ties, while Stephen Hendry enjoyed another of those Crucible drama-filled days as he squeezed by 10-9 against Joe Perry.

Many in the game expect Hendry to retire soon and that will be a sad day for the sport, as the Scot is one of the game’s golden talents.

But O’Sullivan, pictured, is still the biggest box-office hit.

And if Hearn’s dream to make snooker a global brand is to be realised, the journey will be far easier – and enticing – if O’Sullivan comes along for the ride.