Exhaustive research informs that snooker derived from the game of billiards as far back as the 16th century. The modern version of the game is alleged to have originated in the British Army garrisons of India some 150 years ago. By the way, 'exhaustive' does not necessarily imply 'extensive'. People familiar with my work will readily attest to the fact that extensive research is not a hallmark of that work. My productions are much more a consequence of inside/out gambits than outside/in campaigns. This piece is no exception.

Snooker is one of the very few remaining manifestations of human enterprise that exudes a sense of style befitting gentlemanly behavior. At the professional level, the participants dress and behave like gentlemen. Ladies & gentlemen of the audiences also behave with a similar degree of admirable decorum. Unlike in golf which used to be a classier sport, you never hear such boneheaded exclamations like, “Get in the hole!” or “Be the man!” I’m convinced that the patrons of such imbecilic outbursts have set their televisions to record the golf tournament prior to attending the venue of the event. Afterwards, they go home, rally round their friends and replay the moment when their moronic cries hit the airwaves. Thoreau may not have been right about many things but, he was close to the mark with, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation…”. A desperation for attention no matter what level of self-debasement it takes!

I don’t pretend to be an aficionado of snooker having only been following it on television here in Cambodia for a couple of years. Nevertheless, the skill involved is remarkable…particularly, how the top players control the cue ball. Being able to place it within a few centimeters for the next shot is incredible. However, be that as it may, that’s beside the point I’m trying to make here. It is the style and comportment of the players & audiences that I admire most. And, it is a style and comportment that I so wish was more evident in others fields of human endeavor.