Follow-Up: Ronnie's 1,000th

This is a lot of fun even if you're the furthest thing from a fan. Doesn't everyone enjoy seeing moments of exceptional triumph in any sport or game? Ronnie managed to reach the magic 1,000 mark in the winning frame of Players tournament. For those of you who don't watch snooker, ordinarily the audience is not allowed to call out when the players are at the table. Far from the case at the end of this break, as you'll see!

Fun.

Fittingly, I'm off for my regular weekly date playing pool with my friends at the Moose Lodge. Back later with some non-gear-related photo posts, including what I did on my weekend off.

If you're wondering, what the players are talking about at the end of the break as the crowd cheers is that Ronnie accidentally sunk the cue ball on the last shot, which happened to cost him the high score of the tournament, for which there is a bonus prize. If he hadn't done that he would have had a 141. As it happens, his opponent, Neil Roberston of Australia, had the high break with 140. So the cue ball going in at the end took £5,000 out of Ronnie's pocket and put it into Neil's.

Mike

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Comments

[Patrick Dodds]

If you want to get good at pool, play a bit of snooker.

[Michael]

Probably the happiest and most relaxed I've ever seen Ronnie in a tournament,lets hope he is enjoying a good time in his turbulent life.
Michael.

[JohnMFlores]

Thanks in part to you, Mike, I'm hooked on watching snooker videos on YouTube. I watch just the highlights, mind you, not full matches (not enough time in the day), which gives me this distorted perception that these pros make nearly every shot. On the rare occasion that I've watched a full match, I've gotten a fuller picture of the game and appreciate now that even the best of the best can flub a shot. That said, Ronnie's a generational talent, with a pace and panache that few seem to have. He's a joy to watch.

[Eric Rose]

Inspiring! I use to play a fair amount of snooker years back. Funny thing was the table was in a family friends bomb shelter. The only way he could get a building permit was to call the shelter a "games room". Ah the 60's, ya gotta love it.

[Rodolfo Canet]

I've watched many, many Ronnie's matches, and I cannot remember him so happy, not even when winning a Worlds Championship. It looked like it was a liberation, a job finished at last.

An absolutely exhilarating moment!

[Rob Campbell]

He could have bought a Leica Q2 with the five grand difference.

Poor man. :-)

Rob

[Adam]

In the words of the late snooker commentator, the ever deadpan "Whispering" Ted Lowe, "Oh, he's going to be happy with that"

[Max Young]

Watched this event live Michael and it was sensational. Roberston is as good a player as any in the world, but he was flattened by the Rocket. The red ball needed for the 1000/100 was seriously great drama.

BTW, have you watched American Hustle series as Ronnie tours the USA and visits numerous pool halls? Enjoyable low key entertainment with a few chuckles thrown in.

Max

[Randall Teasley]

You could say he snookered himself out of five grand.

[Brian Reitenauer]

I have never ever watched Snooker - maybe even only heard of it once. But I was intrigued with your comment about seeing moments of exceptional triumph in any sport. What a wonderful way to spend 15 minutes. I really enjoyed “learning the rules” by watching what happened. And even I could appreciate the extreme skill involved - both mental and physical. It’s good to learn something completely new on a regular basis - especially stuff you wouldn’t pick on your own. It’s why I used to listen to Ted talks randomly rather than choosing only topics I am interested in. How else do you get exposed to completely new things. Thoroughly enjoyed this! Thanks!

[Randall Teasley]

I was a bit tongue in cheek with my last post about this video but I really appreciated watching it. I know nothing about snooker although it seems like a fascinating game. What I do know is the joy of watching someone who is a master at their craft. The really great ones make the incredibly difficult look so easy. It never ceases to awe me.

[Jim Arthur]

I've never watched que sports before. I was struck by how quiet the game is while maintaining such a nice pace. Quiet is good. Most sports use noise to mask the fact that nothings going on most of the time.

I ended up watching the full match. O'Sullivan really is amazing. He makes everything look so natural and easy.

The Ted Lowe quote above reminded me of the Carl Spakler (Bill Murray) flower scene from Caddy Shack, "...he's gotta be pleased with that...the crowd is on its feet here..."

[Ken James]

I am smiling - I like that you talk about equipment because you talk about what you use, and I am interested in the level of equipment you prefer. But people complain about it and you are gonna stop? But people complain and you keep on with pool, billiards. Go figure. I am joking Mike. Of course in every joke . . .

[01af]

> ... is that Ronnie accidentally sunk
> the cue ball on the last shot ...

It's my impression he didn't do that accidentally but on purpose.

[Mark Power]

Glad you enjoy snooker, Mike. After five years in England I became a big fan, even played in a local snooker hall where I once made a break of 12 ( about as good as a quadruple bogie in golf and I was actually proud of it). It made me realize what a fiendishly dificult game snooker is and what a exceptional athlete Ronnie O'Sullivan is. I can't think of another sports figure as brilliant and charismatic as Ronnie except maybe Roger Federer but he lacks a bit in the charisma department. I've watched a lot of snooker matches but never before heard such a roar as went up when Ronnie made his 1000th century. Usually there's no audience more silent than fans at a snooker venue unless it's people watching a chess match. Maybe one day Americans will realize how fascinating snooker is but I doubt if I'll see the day. So it's youtube for me now.

[Doug Thacker]

I've been really excited about this and waiting for it a long time. I tried a few times to write something about it, but all I succeeded in doing was proving to myself that I'm still too new to the game to even try sounding like I know what I'm talking about. What I do know is that I'm glad I was around when it happened. Watching Ronnie going through the gears as he did when he racked up that thousandth century was pure pleasure. Here's to the second thousand!

[Simon]

Ronnie is a legend of snooker and a real 'character' over the years. Always a rather tempestuous character, his approach to the game has been transformed by working with Dr Steve Peters, who came to prominence through his groundbreaking work with the British track cycling team.

Peters, a clinical psychiatrist, has popularised a straightforward theory of how the human brain works called 'chimp management', controlling the potentially self-destructive impulses we all have. He has successfully helped Ronnie train and manage his chimp.

Snooker has been televised on mainstream channels in the UK since the 1970s. In those days players would drink beer and smoke cigarettes in between stints at the table while tournaments were sponsored by tobacco brands. Even for those of us with no great interest it can be an intoxicating experience and one can lose hours watching a game simply because you don't want to miss the outcome.