Over the course of the World Championship I’ve challenged one snooker aficionado to highlight the best quirky, outlandish, unusual, laughable and questionable observations of each day.
As if to further enhance his (or her!) alter ego as snooker’s sleeper, this spy has elected to go through the tournament in disguise.
Read below for day two’s offering, but who is behind the Free Ball?
Day Two – It’s a Dirty Job, But..
By Free Ball
It’s not easy being a snooker fan.
To be truly involved in a match, whatever about a tournament, you really need to watch it all. The to and fro of a frame or session, the run of the ball, the moments of nuance. I’m in the fortunate position of being able to take time off from reality on occasion to get properly sucked into a tournament. It’s probably not very good for my health, but if you take a look at some of the players and referees, it’s definitely worse for them.
There’s trepidation before a big tournament starts. I know I’m going to get lost in it. My life’s gone for a week or two. I take a look at the sessions and pick a handful I could sacrifice. But it rarely works. On Saturday morning, I said I’d just have a peek at the Selby/Maflin match then go do some work. Well that went well. I didn’t leave the TV for the rest of the day except to quickly nip out and get some food and, eh, refreshments. I come close to the point of agoraphobia. I don’t sleep properly because all I see and hear is snooker.
Actually, now that I think about it, the players don’t know how easy they’ve got it. They either lose and go home to their families, or go through and have a day or two off. And they get paid! And us diehards are left with our nerves in tatters, frame after frame, day after day.
So in conclusion, I think we should have sponsors. Either from a health food chain or a beer company. Brian Wright, the man who proposed at The Crucible a few years ago, must already be sponsored. I’ve seen him sat behind the players for years. I can remember when he had a mullet, he’s been there that long. I’ve even spotted him in the crowd at England football away games. I need to befriend this man and learn his wily ways.
