World Snooker Championship 2014

[LitNetIsGreat]

Anybody watching the snooker?

I have been pretty involved this year, even more so than usual. I have been to watch three games already and am going to the Doherty vs McManus final session tomorrow night. I have always wanted to watch the snooker live in the Crucible and this year just got really into it so have just gone to as many games as I could. It helps being off work. The Crucible is a fantastic theatre which really intensifies the drama too.

I thought the quality of the first round was not good though this year, but the second round seems to have shown improved play so far.

I am looked forward to O' Sullivan vs Perry tomorrow morning. I think O'Sullivan is going to pull through against Perry and I am considering shoving some cash on that one, but should be an exciting match.

Anybody watching?

[cacian]

I watch it there and then. I could not say follow.
it lives in BBC2 one can hardly not see it.
I prefer playing snooker more then watching. some games/sports are better played then watched :)
it is interesting however how these guys are professionals though. there is a lot of skills going on.
the media however trashes down it as thought it was combat. some of the presentations seen lately are too trashy to watch.

[prendrelemick]

I think a few quid on Selby might be a smart move, he is the only one of the top, top players who has looked imperious this year.

[prendrelemick]

...Apart from Robertson.

[LitNetIsGreat]

...Apart from Robertson.

I thought Robertson was the biggest threat myself, but he is currently struggling to Judd Trump.

[Paulclem]

I really enjoyed that match in the 1980s -I forget who was playing - when the SAS raided the Irainian Embassy.

[prendrelemick]

Robertson squeaked through and Hawkins was very lucky, Selby looked good. BUT if Ronnie O'Sullivan plays anywhere near his best he will win.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Robertson squeaked through and Hawkins was very lucky, Selby looked good. BUT if Ronnie O'Sullivan plays anywhere near his best he will win.

Yes he squeaked through but in what fantastic style! That final session some of the best snooker so far, but yes Ronnie is still favourite. I am tempted to go and watch the final but it costs 70 notes?!

[The Atheist]

I'd be calling the tournament over now - no way is The Rocket losing anything, and I pick an easy win in the final.

Hitting form at the right time.

Go Ronnie!!!

Love me snooker.

[prendrelemick]

The Robertson Selby match is shaping up nicely. Either one of them, given half a chance, is capable of breaking away and taking the match. The pressure not to make a mistake is so enormous that mistakes become inevitable - I love it.


Terry Griffith nailed it when he said - at this level everyone can pot balls and build breaks, The difference between players is in the head.

[mal4mac]

What do literary greats have to say about this activity?

J.M. Coetzee spent a wasted day watching a Test match between Australia and South Africa on television. He admits: "I was absorbed, I was emotionally involved, I tore myself away only reluctantly. In order to watch the game I put aside the two or three books I am in the middle of reading."

On reflection, however, Coetzee felt regretful. What did he actually find out from the experience? Really how different was what he watched from any other day of cricket? Ultimately, he concedes, "it does me no good that I can detect". Then, with crushing finality: "I learn nothing. I come away with nothing."

Paul Auster agreed: watching sport on TV is "a useless activity, an utter waste of time".

Cotzee: "‘Is sport simply like sin: one disapproves of it but one yields because the flesh is weak?"

From: "Here and Now" by Paul Auster and JM Coetzee, an exchange of letters between 2008 and 2011.

[prendrelemick]

Yes he squeaked through but in what fantastic style! That final session some of the best snooker so far, but yes Ronnie is still favourite. I am tempted to go and watch the final but it costs 70 notes?!


I say go if you've got the chance. There will never be another player like Ronnie, go and watch him. (If he gets through.)

[prendrelemick]

What do literary greats have to say about this activity?

J.M. Coetzee spent a wasted day watching a Test match between Australia and South Africa on television. He admits: "I was absorbed, I was emotionally involved, I tore myself away only reluctantly. In order to watch the game I put aside the two or three books I am in the middle of reading."

On reflection, however, Coetzee felt regretful. What did he actually find out from the experience? Really how different was what he watched from any other day of cricket? Ultimately, he concedes, "it does me no good that I can detect". Then, with crushing finality: "I learn nothing. I come away with nothing."

Paul Auster agreed: watching sport on TV is "a useless activity, an utter waste of time".

From: "Here and Now" by Paul Auster and JM Coetzee, an exchange of letters between 2008 and 2011.


I believe you get the same lift you get from from watching any other form of drama.

[mal4mac]

I believe you get the same lift you get from from watching any other form of drama.

But is watching Ronnie O'Sullivan exercise his, admittedly great, talent today, on TV, going to be any different than watching a recording from last year's tournament? I used to spend many hours watching the Word Snooker championship. But not any more! It's just "same old". Not having a TV license helps :)

One question that comes up in the letters: is watching sport any worse than listening to a piece of classical music that you know well? I think both have an emotional uplift, but boredom is also there, a kind of "seen/heard it all before" feeling. In encountering a new piece of music, or drama, you are encountering something original, having a new experience, or learning something new.

[prendrelemick]

You've sort of anticipated my next point. Only I was going to say that every match is different - chiefly because you don't know the outcome. Its like watching the first ever performance of Swan Lake, or Hamlet.

[The Atheist]

I say go if you've got the chance. There will never be another player like Ronnie, go and watch him. (If he gets through.)

Seconded!

I'd be going if I could.

[prendrelemick]

A bit of pressure on Ronnie at the moment. How's his head?

[The Atheist]

As I write this, he's lost 7 of the last 9, so I'd say not so good.

Seems to me that Mark Selby has the perfect game to counter O'Sullivan and he's fallen to bits. Big hole to climb out of now.

[prendrelemick]

Great performance from Mark Selby, he kept Ronnie in his chair for long periods, Ronnie hates that, he gets frustrated.

I wish I'd taken my own advice and put a tenner on him.

[The Atheist]

Indeed you should have. You'd have got some fancy odds after the first two sessions - at 10-7 up, O'Sullivan looked a cert.

Selby has the perfect game to counter O'Sullivan, playing safe until Ronnie gets frustrated and gives the frame away.

You could see he was hurting; he missed some gift shots in the final session.

Selby is a thoroughly deserving champion.