Watching snooker on TV provides something for everyone

Table talk / Paul Moon / 17 April 2008 / Leave a Comment

Pablo Luna - Monlighting for Betfair. Pablo tells us why despite chaos within the governing bodies and in-fighting amongst players, we all still sit down and watch snooker on the BBC when it comes around

On 19 April 2008 the 888.com World Snooker Championship commences at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and the BBC will have full and comprehensive coverage on TV, interactive, online and radio and you can be certain that Betfair customers will gorge themselves on these gladiatorial happenings! BBC will be keeping snooker on terrestrial television until at least 2011 along with the Grand Prix, the UK Championship and the Masters.

Despite Snooker's lack of foresight and planning by not preparing for 'post-tobacco sponsorship' it remains one of the most popular television sports. Viewing figures for the World Championship final in May between John Higgins and Mark Selby were over 8 million. I know that cannot be compared to an audience of 18.5 million that watched Steve Davis lose to Dennis Taylor at 12.30am in the 1985 final but those are still figures that sponsors dream of and are in spite of, not thanks to, the stewardship of the game. The game has got huge potential for sponsors but no one is looking in the right direction.

Prize-money has plummeted and the number of tournaments has decreased and the knock-on effects have been felt. In some areas the sport has failed to move with the times. The in-fighting and lawsuits amongst the players themselves, agents and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association is a sport in itself. Paradoxically, snooker's television coverage remains high (1,900 hours annually on all platforms) and ratings respectable. Amazingly, twice in the last four years the Crucible final has beaten the FA Cup final.

So why is televised snooker loved so much? There are more reasons than you may think! The core of its appeal must be gladiatorial with the grand regalia and coiffured hair. Manicured hands brandish their trusty swords or in this case - cues, in an intense amphitheatre. It is a sport where you nail your colours to one or the other and then find yourself mentally playing the shot or willing the opponent to mis-cue or rattle the jaws and bounce out!

It has a history and transcends all age groups, all classes and both sexes. People from 15-90 years old love watching it. Teenage youths hope to emulate their idols, married women comment on who is the best looking or has the best bum. Married men lament about not taking up snooker earlier because they were pretty darn good on the pool table at the local pub. You can also dip in and out while viewing as the tournament builds and unfolds.

Senior citizens can watch it safely whilst drinking their cocoa, finding it serene with the hushed tones, primary colours and the green baize. They feel that if the BBC is supporting it then it is a duty to watch. I remember my late Mum and Dad watching Pot Black and Mum willing Ray Reardon to win while father would always be contrary. She would comment on how handsome he was, how smart, how comical, how he looked liked Dracula, she viewed him beyond snooker. They both watched snooker right to the end of their days. It brought them comfort and reassurance in these fast modern times.

Within these skinny pallid faced players we observe and absorb a slow incremental revelation of the individual. Despite the masking and bravado their different personalities are gradually unearthed and revealed to the viewer. Their faces cannot disguise their feelings as close up images beam into our sitting rooms for us to peruse and comment.

Having already profiled the players you feel the excitement, the highs and lows, the tension, the nerves, the doubt. You sympathise the missed pot and feel their anguish. You react to the occasional tantrum by adjudicating like a presiding judge.

It is a unique sport with no rewards for athleticism but where personality, character and bottle are more essential. Snooker players' personal joys and tragedies are embraced by spectators who accept this as all part of the game. You require the soap opera ingredient to compliment the skill factor. Players became national heroes overnight to people outside of the sport.

Snooker has comedy, pathos and triumph and is great fun and addictive even to those who do not play. Also it has been pioneering in terms of offering new technology, particularly with the introduction of interactive and broadband rights.

Without rationale or justification I have my own favourite snooker players and those that I dislike. That statement in itself tells me much about myself regarding heart over head, so stakes are minimal, at least initially. Latest Betfair odds show: O'Sullivan [4.7] Selby [7.4] Maguire [8.2] Murphy [9.6] Junhui [13.5] Higgins [14] Robertson [27] Doherty [38] Fu [38] Hendry [42] Day [42] Williams [46] Ebdon [48] Stevens [48] Bar [50]. Two at interesting prices must be Lee [160] and Bond [730].