How snooker almost cost me my degree and why I still love it

Table talk / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 16 April 2008 / Leave a Comment

Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco tells us how his revision books were put to one side back in 2001 and why he looks forward to snooker's blue-riband event every year

My love affair with the Snooker World Championships should really have ended when the 2001 edition almost cost me my Degree. I was studying for finals and had my first exam on Constitutional Law the day after the ultimate entertainer Ronnie O'Sullivan (at the time looking for his first World Title) took on the ultimate all-rounder in John Higgins in the final. The plan was for me to watch a frame of the match as a luxury reward for every two hours of study I put in. But by tea-time it was the studying that had become the luxury and the mid-session intervals became the only time available for me to get stuck into the ins and outs of parliamentary sovereignty and the differences between the executive and the judiciary.

As it happens the exam actually went OK but I suspect even if it hadn't, I would still have forgiven the snooker - that' s just the way it goes with things you love. What is it then about this two-week event, held in an old theatre in Sheffield that grips me so much every April?

For starters it's the venue itself. I've never gone to The Crucible but from the comments made by players, journalists and fans I get the feeling there is something quite magical about it, the same way as there is something magical about Augusta or Wimbledon. I've spoken on betting.betfair.com before about how sport changes and how such factors as TV scheduling and sponsorship, all of which signal revenue, are important considerations in how sport is run these days. And in an age where traditional, romantic little venues such as Highbury and the Circus Tavern have been traded in for much larger alternatives that have increased the traffic coming through the turnstiles at the expense of nostalgia, it's refreshing and commendable that the powers-that-be have kept the World Championships in Sheffield.

Then there's the commentary. I'll tell anyone who will listen that I think the BBC's commentary on the snooker is the best of any sport they cover (golf comes a close second, football comes last whenever John Motson is involved). There is nothing that the likes of Clive Everton, John Virgo and Dennis Taylor don't know about the history of the game, the players and the selection of shots available but more importantly it's the way they put this information across - it's expert and fluid without being "anorakey" or condescending - and to do that is not as easy as it seems.

Allsy puts in a good case for The Tour De France as the hardest event in the world to win: http://betting.betfair.com/betting/other/the-hardest-game-in-the-world-that-but-which-one-really-010408.html and I wouldn't necessarily disagree but on a purely mental level, I think snooker's blue-riband event is the one. Two weeks in a claustrophobic room (The Crucible is a lot smaller than it seems on TV apparently) with dozens and dozens of hours at the table or in the loneliness of your chair with no-one for company but your cue and having to deal with the frustrations of bad contacts, kicks and unwanted kisses off the blue are all enough to try anyone's mental sanity to the extreme.

It's not by chance that over the years we've seen some of the game's greatest players seeking comfort in such demon vices as alcohol, drugs, gambling and sugary foods after the mental batterings they've taken from their chosen sport. It's not enough to just pot balls, play good safety and have fine control of cue ball at this event. You also need to be mentally strong, patient, determined and have plenty of self-belief to win it and if you don't have all of these in abundance, then you may as well not bother entering it at all. Watching the players deal with the mental side of the game is one of the most interesting elements for me, though I appreciate it's slightly sadistic that I enjoy it so much.

Many a time have I had conversations about who I'd choose to "bat for my life" in cricket and never having watched Geoff Boycott bat live (a lot of people's choice) I normally nominate Jacques Kallis though Rahul Dravid wouldn't be far behind. Play tennis for my life? Rafael Nadal. Snooker? Peter Edbdon would be there or thereabouts but it would have to be Mark Selby who is my pick to win the 2008 World Champion at around [7.4]. With his never-say-die attitude, mental strength, much-improved potting and physical stamina I think he's perfectly suited to the longer format of this event, having of course made it to the final last year.

A year on he has won his first major event by beating Stephen Lee in the final of the Masters and a few weeks later he followed that up by beating Ronnie O'Sullivan at the Welsh Open courtesy of an extraordinary comeback to take his first ranking title. I have unlimited faith in the "Jester from Leicester" and suspect he'll be having the last laugh at Sheffield this year.

Lastly, I'll leave you with my wish for this event. That if Ronnie O'Sullivan doesn't win it, his exit and now customary controversial post-match comments don't take centre stage over the success story of whoever does win it. Breath of fresh air though Ronnie has been for the sport, he should remember that it was snooker that made him what he is today, it wasn't him that made snooker.