To coincide with the release of The Gambler starring Mark Wahlberg in cinemas this Friday, we have decided to take a look at at the risk takers. Those sporting individuals who have the belief and talent to go above and beyond what is expected.
They're the ones who create the memories that many of us will happily recall in years to come. As much as we might like to let on that we can see the beauty in a tactically intriguing 0-0 World Cup final, the real moments of beauty are delivered by the risk takers.
It may not always pay off but when it does, it's the only thing that you'll be talking about with your friends and colleagues for days and even weeks after. Come to think of it, even if it doesn't pay off, it'll still be the only thing you're talking about. So, let us toast to the individuals that are the reason we all fell in love with sport in the first place.
How much would you risk? Play your own Black Jack game here.
Simon Zebo
We'll start off with a specifically Irish example. Simon Zebo is an archetypical risk taker and, for some, he pays the price for it. It must be said that there's a difference between those who play with innate flair and those who purposefully take risks. Unlike someone such as Ronaldinho for example, Zebo is much more of a risk taker as moments of flair from him can easily be punished. If Ronaldinho attempts an elastico in the oppositions penalty, it's unlikely he'll cost his own team a goal.
However, the much more linear formation of rugby means that Zebo's moments of flair have a greater degree of inherent risk. There wasn't too much risk about his famous moment of heel-flicking magic against Wales, yet, the more recent memory of this attempted lay-off against Australia is a risk, and many have said an unnecessary one.
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Classic Zebo play according to many. Rather than a simple offload to Johnny Sexton he attempted to lure one more defender before laying off behind said defenders back. If it worked it could have seen Sexton in for a try but it wasn't the intelligent play. Did Zebo regret it? Possibly. Would he do it again? Probably.
Hindsight, looking back at it, it didn't work out too well for us, but that is just something that happens.
As a result, he may not be one of the first names on the Ireland team-sheet if a full choice panel is available but he'll always be a useful option off the bench at the very least. A bit like Aiden McGeady for the Irish football team, we need a risk taker at some point. Games sometimes turn into slogs and Simon Zebo is an excellent option to turn to. As Nick Phipps runs in for a try, we won't appreciate Zebo and that's okay as long as we can put it out of our minds and welcoming his risk taking proclivity when we do need it.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Arrogant, cocky, lazy, lucky? Or just too talented to have to try hard?
Ronnie O'Sullivan is a maverick in the most endearing sense of the word. For most of us, snooker is not the main sport taking up our precious time and attention. That's not to say it's not for some people but even those who have only a passing interest are aware of Ronnie O'Sullivan's mercurial talents.
After beating Ali Carter at the Crucible in 2013 on the way to his fifth world title, O'Sullivan summed up his sometimes nonchalant, but never boring, attitude to the sport.
Lucky? Yes, I am a very lucky guy. I guess I am just one of those people. But I am a trier, and I will keep getting back up and take risks.
O'Sullivan's talent is such that you won't have to look too hard to find single moments of risk taking genius, so instead let's look at what perhaps remains his finest hour. The 1997 World Championships during what you could call the first coming of Ronnie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmsCjDOIZ78
The fastest 147 break in history. And you could be forgiven for thinking that it was no big deal whatsoever when, in fact, it was only the fourth maximum break in World Championship history. Most players would have slowed down and considered the shots that were about to change their career. Not O'Sullivan, as he said "keep getting back up and take risks". It's how he plays and it's why he is so valuable to snooker.
Ayrton Senna
This is a difficult one as the default thought once Senna is mentioned is that he is no longer with us as a result of taking risks. However, it would be wrong to allow that fact to diminish the memory of what the Brazilian did best. Everyone who decides to get in a car and race is taking risks but Senna's pursuit of world titles saw him do so probably more than any other driver in Formula 1 history.
During his march to World Championship glory in 1990, he summed up his feelings towards the obvious dangers of his sport.
By being a racing driver you are under risk all the time. By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing, we are competing to win. And the main motivation to all of us is to compete for victory, it's not to come 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th. I race to win as long as I feel it's possible. Sometimes you get it wrong? Sure, it's impossible to get it right all the time. But I race designed to win, as long as I feel I'm doing it right.
Senna was a risk taker but that's not to say he was reckless. He understood the risks and what they meant. On the day of his death at Imola in 1994, he had agreed to take on the leadership of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, which had been reformed in the aftermath of Roland Ratzenberger's tragic death during qualifying that weekend. The Association was intended to highlight driver's concerns and Senna was thought to be the best man for the job.
As we all know he didn't get the opportunity to fulfil that role and it's unfortunate that his death has overshadowed his ability and bravery behind the wheel. During his legendary battle with Alain Prost, the Frenchman may have been the better natural driver, but Senna's ability to to exploit opportunities that others wouldn't consider were what made him the driver he was.
Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson is, for the most part, something of a lone wolf in this field of risk-takers. Unlike some of the other entrants on this list, he has the air of a mild mannered and analytical character. However, those that know Mickelson and his game appreciate that he can be prone to moments of hair raising risk taking.
Take for example the 18th hole at Winged Foot. The final day of the 2006 US Open and Mickelson is leading by one going into the final hole. From the tee he decided to hit a moderately risky sliced drive to take out the dogleg left. He over-sliced wildly and left himself with a huge decision for his second shot.
Play safe and try and get up and down for a scrambled par or attack a green that he couldn't actually see owing to the large tree in front? Mickelson gambled and it didn't pay off. He hit the tree, which left him with a tough third which he then put in the green-side bunker. Eventually he came out with a double bogey six, which handed Geoff Ogilivy the title by one shot.
You'd have thought Mickelson may have been burned by his experience in 2010 but when the big moment came once more, he was more than ready to weigh up the options and choose the riskiest one.
The now famous 13th hole at the 2010 Masters is perhaps Mickelson's finest hour and undoubtedly once of the riskiest shot selections in golf history. Asked the difference between a great shot and a smart shot, Mickelson once replied;
A great shot is when you pull it off. A smart shot is when you don't have the guts to try it.
This was undoubtedly a great shot. Off the fairway once more and with no dire need to attack the pin, he nonetheless pulled out a six iron and threaded the eye of a needle over a hazard onto a minuscule putting area at the front of the green. It's an iconic moment and rightly so. The catalyst for an error free final stretch, Mickelson ended up winning by three shots over Lee Westwood and collecting his third green jacket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHzhAzYlRUY
Manuel Neuer
We started off with someone playing a team sport and we'll finish with one as well. Manuel Neuer has transformed from someone whom many said did not warrant £20 million of Bayern's money in 2011, into the third best player in the world. How does that happen?
Risk taking. Neuer has expanded the remit of the goalkeeping fraternity and in doing so has carved out a special place in world football. That's not to say he doesn't make mistakes, but considering the fact that his all new extreme form of sweeper keeper-ing has seen him elevated into the company of the greatest goalkeepers ever, it would be fair to say the risks he take more than often pay off.
The risks that don't pay off are the exception that prove the rule. Take one of his more famous 'mistakes'. Dejan Stankovic's incredible finish for Inter against Schalke in 2011. Whereas most (all) goalkeepers would have weighed up the angles on the through ball and attempted to close down the onrushing Diego Milito, Neuer did what he does and came flying through with an extremely effective diving header. The fact that it led directly to a goal is entirely as a result of Stankovic's brilliance.
The cult of Neuer that has developed this season is largely down to the World Cup second round tie against Algeria. People may look back on Germany's fourth world title as an inevitable procession but in reality it was anything but. Algeria were the better side for large parts of the game and Germany's defence was ripe for picking off.
Enter Neuer who later summed up the match thusly:
Our Round of 16 match against Algeria [which Germany won 2-1 after extra-time] sticks in the memory because I had to come out of my area to act like an outfield player so many times, and that caught the attention of people who didn’t know that much about me before. Anybody who watches the Bundesliga will have been aware for some time of the various ways I interpret my role. I had to take risks against Algeria because it suited a match in which our team were playing high up the pitch and Algeria were using the pace of their players to counterattack strongly.
He took risks, Germany won in added time and from there, they may have well as cantered to the World Cup. Neuer will continue to take risks because, as he says, that's his game. Yes, many of us are at the point of hoping he gets his comeuppance, but there's no denying he has made goalkeeping an awful lot more entertaining. If that's not a glowing endorsement for taking more risks, then nothing is.
How much would you risk? Play your own Black Jack game here.
