Suggestion for all snooker commentators

Hi guys, it has been quite some time since I have posted from here in the colonies. Still extremely busy with work but I have the Masters streaming in the background to keep in touch (gotta love internet technology), but something has irked me for a very long time now so I figured I would take a few minutes to rant in case anyone agrees or can do something about it. Get the message to Steve Davis; he can do something about it.

Remember, I'm an old timer, learned the game like a hundred years ago when the slates were quarried and hauled around by elephants. Hopefully, most of you know that while snooker was actually televised to a small degree in the days of black and white television, it became much more popular with the introduction of colour television, even used as a promotional tool by the BBC to show off the new colour technology.

Now for my rant....
Since the beginning of time, the halves of the English Billiards table (which many improperly refer to as a "Snooker table") have been identified as the "top of the table" (black spot end) and the "bottom of the table" (baulk end). It is tough to get this concept through to American pool players as their parallel references are the "foot of the table" (for our "top") and the "head of the table" (for our "bottom"). It's a topsy-turvy world. Understanding this terminology effectively is most important for those just learning the game, whether from a mate or from a proper instructor. For instance, in discussing what is the best choice of shot for a particular situation, one may advise, "Play that red half safe in the top right pocket bringing the cue ball off top cushion, around black spot, off left side cushion and back to anywhere on the bottom half of the table." Anyone who has been through Snooker 101 knows exactly what I just said, but if you only know the game from watching telly, you may have no idea.

So my problem is that, obviously for television coverage, the most common, convenient, and interesting camera angle is the black ball spot on the bottom of the screen. That of course means the "top of the table" is on the bottom, the "left" is the right, and vice versa. No problem. But problem is when the commentators refer to the pocket on the bottom left of the screen as the "bottom left pocket" when it is in fact, ironically perhaps, actually the "top right pocket". This muddying of the waters of terminology has been going on for decades but I for one would like to see history preserved, the corruption of snooker terminology reversed, and for real snooker players to know the difference between the real "bottom left pocket" and the television "bottom left pocket". However, at the same time I understand the need to appeal to the mass audience so that one simply cannot refer to the "top right pocket" which is obviously and clearly positioned to the bottom left.

How can this be resolved? It is simple really, if only the commentators may be open to simple suggestion. As famously posited by Albert Einstein, any observation is subject to the frame of reference of the observer. In reference to Snooker, this simply means that the player's "top right" does not have to be the television viewer's "top right"; it is all relative. So all the commentator has to do is add one simple word every time that he refers to a pocket or a cushion. And that word is simply, "...our...".

Example: When reds are obstructing each other around the black spot, the commentator will often say something along the lines of, "If he can pot blue and take white off the right side cushion to get on the red nearest black into the bottom left pocket, that will then clear the path for the next red into the bottom right." In proper snooker terminology of course, that is wrong, wrong, WRONG!

What the commentator should say in order to be precise (and after all is snooker not a game of precision?) is, "If he can pot blue and take white off OUR right side cushion to get on the red nearest black into OUR bottom left pocket, that will then clear the path for the next red into OUR bottom right."

Perhaps I am just nitpicking. But while I praise the advancement in technology, I also revere and wish to preserve the history.

Just sayin'.

Congratulations to Steve Davis on his "official" retirement!

Though I must admit back in the 80's, I usually rooted against Steve (hey, I also rooted against Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan today...always been an underdog backer I guess), as both Steve Davis and I have aged, I have more and more come to love his overwhelming passion for the game. I enjoy his training and trivia segments. The man has lived and continues to live a dream, turning his true passion into a profitable career.

With all that said, Thank God for Steve in the commentary box! Of course, I have not been able to follow every frame, but in the short time I have been able to watch and the few frames that Steve has been on commentary, I have heard him use the proper terminology in reference to the anatomy of the billiards table, rather than the usual corrupted references of "top" and "bottom" and "left" and "right".

I heard him say something like, "....try to nudge that Red below the Pink, as we look on our screens" and, quite amazingly, I heard him say of a containing safety played to the top cushion (Black cushion), "He decided to play the safety to the top cushion" when quite clearly (on the television screen), the white ball nestled against the bottom cushion.

Way to go Steve! Do not succumb to the pressure to dumb the game down. I imagine the television and marketing people want the commentators to use plain English "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "above", and "below" just referring to what we see on the screen. But these seemingly simple terms actually have specific meaning in reference to an English Billiards (Snooker) table. Part of the commentators' jobs is to inform and educate the viewers about issues such as these. Teach us why it is called the "top of the table" but it happens to be shown as the bottom of the tv screen. Inform us why the player correctly played his position "above the Black" to open up the Reds even though the White is now lower on the screen than the Black. Fill in your commentary with some of the rich history of Snooker rather than just the instant gratification of "he played that nicely".

Keep at it Steve, and try to get the rest of the commentators on board now.

I only managed a few sentences but the top end of the table is the baulk end mate.

king.kauto wrote:I only managed a few sentences but the top end of the table is the baulk end mate.

No, its not:




"Rules of the Game of Snooker", Section 1.1(d)

king.kauto wrote:I only managed a few sentences but the top end of the table is the baulk end mate.

I disagree.
The top of the table is the end where the black is spotted.
Baulk is the bottom end.

fridge46 wrote:

king.kauto wrote:I only managed a few sentences but the top end of the table is the baulk end mate.

No, its not:




"Rules of the Game of Snooker", Section 1.1(d)

Interesting, its the top of my telly screen so I just assumed it was the top.

fridge46 wrote:

king.kauto wrote:I only managed a few sentences but the top end of the table is the baulk end mate.

No, its not:




"Rules of the Game of Snooker", Section 1.1(d)

Interesting, its the top of my telly screen so I just assumed it was the top.

Exactly my point, King. The "top of the table" was defined as such something like 300 years ago, long before television or in fact, before Snooker itself was invented. There is no need to re-define these terms just because the table looks nice flipped upside down on the tv screen. The commentators should use the correct terminology and in the process teach the viewers like yourself why we use these terms.

Acesinc, I wish you were a commentator!!! :)

Dan-cat wrote:Acesinc, I wish you were a commentator!!! :)

Nice of you to say Dan-cat, but believe me, you don't want my harsh, nasal Chicago accent polluting your ear canals. Couple that with my odd, occasional Southern twang (from my time living down in Georgia) and my out-of-place "British-isms" spoken in a Yankee tongue and the listeners would wear out the mute buttons on their remotes. No, I am much more eloquent with the written word than the spoken. Snooker is definitely meant for the soft and soothing idiom of the Queen's English from a Ted Lowe or a Jack Karnehm. For all of my time there, I cannot even muster a passable fake British accent.

I must say, I think Steve Davis is having an effect on others in the box. Just yesterday, I definitely heard John Virgo make a proper reference to the "top cushion". I hope to see this trend continue. Of course, all of the commentators know the correct terminology. It is just my belief that they have been directed to use the common language so as not to confuse all the grannies and non-snooker players in the viewing audience. What I mean is that, if you are a snooker player, then you KNOW that there is only one of the six pockets that is referred to as the "top left pocket"....and it is NOT the one near the Yellow spot on the television screen. My take on this is that the commentators should be teaching the grannies and non-players that the "top left pocket" is in fact the one that we see at the bottom right of our screens at the moment.

Of course, this sounds trivial now because it is so easy to use common language based on our flat two dimensional tv screens. The day is coming probably not surprisingly far off when we will gather around our 3D "televisors" that will broadcast in three dimensions like Princess Leia being broadcast out of R2D2's innards and every individual can select his or her own viewing angle preference as if sitting within the hallowed Crucible itself. At that time, proper terminology will again become important to describe the parts of an English Billiards table. So let's not lose that in the interim.

The BBC commentators don't know their bottom from their elbow, you can't expect them to know top from bottom.

BTW: I remember knowledgeable snooker authority Clive Everton addressed the idea that it is "improper" to refer to the table as a "snooker table" in an issue of Snooker Scene mag. He said that these days it is not improper to use the term "snooker table" because snooker is now a far more popular game than billiards.

Are there really people who get the bottom if you don't call it a billiards table?

If you're playing snooker on it, it's a snooker table.