Snooker: great game to play, but very poor TV viewing

randella · April 2017

Heartfeltdawn said:
The pond isn't small. Trump's had a good season, Selby is a high quality player, Robertson and Bingham are rather good as well. The quality is far higher than twenty years ago and will only continue to do so now China is well invested in the game.

True, but they all hate playing him for one very good reason: when he finds that form of his and starts slapping in tons like he's down the club with his mates, you can blink and you're three frames adrift. If, and it's a big if, you can force the pace and frustrate him, then you've got a chance but I think that's getting harder as he's much more consistent than he was.

For my money he could rinse any of that lot as soon as look at them and he knows it.

Tavernor · April 2017

Loved the 146 break, amazing TV.

axisus · April 2017

I loved it in the 70s and 80s but I haven't watched for some years now. The last year I was into it was 2002.

crunchman · April 2017

Heartfeltdawn said:

beed84 said:
True, but that's part of what makes him interesting. And he's had is fair share of issues, which have no doubt added to his bizarre behaviour (his autobiographies are worth a read for more insight). Not only that, although he doesn't win all of the time, right now he's like a big fish in a small pond - I'm surprised he's not bored with the 'competition' he's up against. 70s, 80s, 90s and early 00s snooker, that's where it was at.

The pond isn't small. Trump's had a good season, Selby is a high quality player, Robertson and Bingham are rather good as well. The quality is far higher than twenty years ago and will only continue to do so now China is well invested in the game.

The quality of the game is higher than it has ever been - definitely in terms of scoring.

If you look at the stats on numbers of centuries scored they are all dominated by modern players. Hendry is the only player in the top ten who isn't still playing:

http://cuetracker.net/statistics/centuries/most-made/all-time

Ray Reardon (6 times world champion) is only 91st on the list. Terry Griffiths, another former world champion, who was one of the big names in the 80's heyday is only 66th. Judd Trump is only 27 and he's already got 5 times as many career centuries as Griffiths.

The game has changed, and the likes of Reardon and Griffiths had great tactical/safety games and played a lot more conservatively, but even someone like Alex Higgins is only 82nd on that list and he wasn't known for being conservative. There is very little doubt that the overall quality is higher now.

Tavernor · April 2017

It's a curious one. Naturally cue technology is probably a bit more advanced, maybe the tables are a bit faster, but why is the standard so much higher now? Stumped if I know, it's a trend common to most sports/pastimes though with some exceptions.

Iamnobody · April 2017

Tavernor said:

It's a curious one. Naturally cue technology is probably a bit more advanced, maybe the tables are a bit faster, but why is the standard so much higher now? Stumped if I know, it's a trend common to most sports/pastimes though with some exceptions.

In answer to your question, my guess would simply be money. There are serious rewards for people who want to excel at sport.

In the beginning of the televised days of snooker it was a 'professional' sport. But these professionals were often half pissed before they started and had women and gambling on their mind!

The Steve Davis era brought about a more serious approach that has continued to the present day.

However, one of the biggest impacts would probably be the establishment of the pro-tour. Professional snooker players are now playing competitively all year round. There is a well organised route from amateur to pro level.

Cue technology hasn't moved on - it's a turned piece of wood with a ferrul and a tip on the end. A lot of players favour older cues as well.

Completely the the opposite with darts - barrels, shafts and flights have all evolved. You could barely get three old brass darts in the lipstick!

beed84 · April 2017

Heartfeltdawn said:

beed84 said:
True, but that's part of what makes him interesting. And he's had is fair share of issues, which have no doubt added to his bizarre behaviour (his autobiographies are worth a read for more insight). Not only that, although he doesn't win all of the time, right now he's like a big fish in a small pond - I'm surprised he's not bored with the 'competition' he's up against. 70s, 80s, 90s and early 00s snooker, that's where it was at.

The pond isn't small. Trump's had a good season, Selby is a high quality player, Robertson and Bingham are rather good as well. The quality is far higher than twenty years ago and will only continue to do so now China is well invested in the game.

I agree; there are some quality players in the game and I enjoy watching them. However, adding to what @randella said, when Ronnie is on form, there's just no stopping him - he's in a totally different class. Despite the quality of players out there, there doesn't seem to be many with flair or charisma, and for me there doesn't seem to be many I particular want to follow either. Just Ronnie.

matone · April 2017

beed84 said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

beed84 said:
True, but that's part of what makes him interesting. And he's had is fair share of issues, which have no doubt added to his bizarre behaviour (his autobiographies are worth a read for more insight). Not only that, although he doesn't win all of the time, right now he's like a big fish in a small pond - I'm surprised he's not bored with the 'competition' he's up against. 70s, 80s, 90s and early 00s snooker, that's where it was at.

The pond isn't small. Trump's had a good season, Selby is a high quality player, Robertson and Bingham are rather good as well. The quality is far higher than twenty years ago and will only continue to do so now China is well invested in the game.

I agree; there are some quality players in the game and I enjoy watching them. However, adding to what @randella said, when Ronnie is on form, there's just no stopping him - he's in a totally different class. Despite the quality of players out there, there doesn't seem to be many with flair or charisma, and for me there doesn't seem to be many I particular want to follow either. Just Ronnie.

Same here,Ronnie is in his own class when he`s on form ! I sense that he`s about had enough of it all now tho`and can understand that !

crunchman · April 2017

matone said:

beed84 said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

beed84 said:
True, but that's part of what makes him interesting. And he's had is fair share of issues, which have no doubt added to his bizarre behaviour (his autobiographies are worth a read for more insight). Not only that, although he doesn't win all of the time, right now he's like a big fish in a small pond - I'm surprised he's not bored with the 'competition' he's up against. 70s, 80s, 90s and early 00s snooker, that's where it was at.

The pond isn't small. Trump's had a good season, Selby is a high quality player, Robertson and Bingham are rather good as well. The quality is far higher than twenty years ago and will only continue to do so now China is well invested in the game.

I agree; there are some quality players in the game and I enjoy watching them. However, adding to what @randella said, when Ronnie is on form, there's just no stopping him - he's in a totally different class. Despite the quality of players out there, there doesn't seem to be many with flair or charisma, and for me there doesn't seem to be many I particular want to follow either. Just Ronnie.

Same here,Ronnie is in his own class when he`s on form ! I sense that he`s about had enough of it all now tho`and can understand that !

I don't think it's just that he's had enough. His game is going downhill because of age. He's 41 now. He's doing really well to still be playing at the level he is.

I've been looking through the list of World Champions. Hendry won his last world title at the age of 30, and Davis at 31. There hasn't been a winner over 38 since Ray Reardon in 1978 - and one of the two 38 year old winners was Ronnie himself (the other was Bingham). Ronnie also won it at 37. There have been two 36 year old winners (Taylor and John Higgins' third one). All the other winners have been 33 or under at the time. You only have 5 out of 39 tournaments won by someone over 33 - two of those by Ronnie himself who is a freak. Age is definitely not on his side. We need to enjoy him while we can.

stickyfiddle · April 2017

I like watching snooker. Much prefer pool to play though.

EricTheWeary · April 2017

I watch a bit, I've no great interest in the game but there's something very pure about it as a battle of skill.

I'm fairly sure Pot Black was introduced as something to make best use of the new fangled colour TV technology when it came to BBC 2, so the fortunes of the game highly linked to television coverage.

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Snooker: great game to play, but very poor TV viewing

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