Snooker's Gone Loopy... but I like it!

Whilst aimlessly channel-flicking today, I came across something a bit different to my usual diet of Soccer Saturday and Friends re-runs. However, it wasn't something that would appeal to a mainstream audience in any part of the country and so it was on that graveyard sports channel ITV 4 - home of the Tour de France, the IPL and the Europa League. I'd read briefly about Power Snooker during the week and felt compelled to see it in action, live from the O2 Arena. This was more for research and time-filling purposes, rather than a deep-seated love of the sport of snooker. Nonetheless, Ronnie O'Sullivan's desired "X-Factor restyling" of the sport had arrived.

The rules in brief: each game last 30 minutes, the player with the most points wins after this time. There is a 20 second shot clock to keep the pace of the game up. One of the red balls is the designated Powerball, which triggers a 2 minute Powerplay where everything counts as double points. The area above the baulk line is designated the Powerzone. When the cue ball is in the Powerzone everything potted counts as double (4 x in a Powerplay). There are 9 reds instead of 15. Other than that, it's just plain snooker.

All this talk sounds ludicrous. Even more so when you see who's fronting ITV 4's coverage of this inaugral event. It's Matt Smith's - ITV's jack-of-all-trades, last seen fronting the channel's IPL coverage with some excitable Indian woman, whilst knowing nothing about cricket whatsoever. Peter Drury (of "Champions League when Clive Tyldsley is busy" fame) provided the commentary, alongside actual snooker expert Clive Everton. This disparate team added to the seemingly overworked use of the POWER- prefix did not bode well in my mind. The whole thing was described as being like "Mario Snooker for the Wii" by my perceptive flatmate. I really wanted to dislike it. I actually wanted to hate it.

And yet... I rather enjoyed it. I sat through the quarter-final match between Mark Selby and Ali Carter and saw a popular future for snooker. First came the introductions, the players striding out to Kasabian and Muse respectively, Selby looking as though he'd arrived straight from the Friday night lash, Carter interacting with the crowd dressed in a very yellow shirt. The whole atmosphere was a far cry from the hushed reverance of The Crucible. The audience, described by Drury as "prandial", owing to the early opening of the bar, cheered when the Powerball was sunk and counted down the final ten seconds, causing Carter to miss a relatively simple red. "LOSER!" shouted one presumably tipsy local. Carter smiled and replied with a thumbs-up - Alex Higgins would have dropped the man to the floor in seconds. The lighting and sound effects were all very space age, pointing to the future for a sport with flagging interest. As the game drew to a conclusion, Selby was in desperate need of a quick comeback and proceeded to pot everything with lightning efficiency. Alas, it was not to be on this occasion and it was Carter who took the victory.

Another part of the attraction is the clear discomfort of Drury and Everton every time a player got on the brown. The crowd's cheering and screams of "POT THE BROWN!" were pretty clear cut, yet our esteemed commentary team felt it wise to ignore this and not elude to any anal sex references. One day very soon, somebody will slip. It'll probably be Ron Atkinson.

This remodelling has clearly been based on the template left by Twenty20 cricket (no it's not just another reason for me to bring cricket into all of my posts!). Quicker play, convenient times, music adding to the drama and, clearly most importantly, easy access to the bar. At the moment, it will tend to appear a bit brainless (Selby was booed for playing a perfectly executed safety shot) as new fans adjust to the more traditional aspects of the game, but in time, the players will seek out new ways to exploit the new regulations and snooker will advance much more rapidly after the introduction of this new form of the game. So long as the World Championships are kept as the pinnacle of the game, the sport will succeed, but with a much wider fan-base.

If it ever gets off ITV 4 that is!
RM

Home and Away - The Ashes Tour: Week 1

Let the build-up commence. As of noon today, the England cricket team is on its way Down Under in an attempt to retain the Ashes won so dramatically just over a year ago. Chances are David Boon's record of cans of lager consumed on a flight will not be broken, yet there is a distinct possiblity that England can record their first series victory in the Antipodes for 24 years. At the very least, they'll want a draw which will ensure they kept hold of the urn. In the next four weeks, I'll be profiling the protaganists of both sides and bringing you news of the warm-up matches as well as the Aussies' ODI series against Sri Lanka. We start with the hosts:

Ricky Ponting (captain, RH bat) - The man they call Punter has an immense deal of personal pride and as such will not want to be remembered as the man who captained his side to 3 Ashes defeats. The threat of this slight on his dazzling career should drive him on to great things in this series, although he has shown a weakness in his famous pull shot, holing out regularly over the last 12 months. England wil target him with the short ball.

Michael Clarke (vice-captain, RH bat, SLA bowl) - The Pup has grown into a man. Clarke has been criticised for his form and slow scoring rate in limited overs cricket recently, but responded with a ton against India last week. Is a great player of spin, so will be a key figure in the middle order against Graeme Swann.

Shane Watson (RH bat, RA medium bowl) - The brash blonde all-rounder has been in sublime form with the bat all year, generally always getting starts, if not always converting. Has taken on Matthew Hayden's mantle of getting the scoring rate off to a flier. Anderson and Broad will look to keep things tight and frustrate him into making an early mistake.

Simon Katich (LH bat) - The crabby technique makes him look like a genuine lbw candidate, but Katich's form has been amazing since his return to the Test side. In my mind, the man most likely to stick around when times get tough. Broken thumb might be a problem, but has enough time. Phil Hughes (LH bat) will be the likely deputy and is more than capable, but a less assured figure.

Michael Hussey (LH bat) - Mr Cricket has been quiet of late, seemingly out of form for a good 18 months. However, two incredible innings against Pakistan (in the now infamous Sydney Test and the T20 semi-final) have reminded the world that he remains a dangerous force on his day. Can also play a rearguard role, as demonstrated in a losing cause at the Oval last year.

Marcus North (LH bat, RA offspin bowl) - North is yet to convince at home after 5 centuries abroad. Place seems constantly under scrutiny, but it seems unlikely that the Aussies would throw a rookie into the deep end in such an important series. Offspin bowling is handy and can tie an end down if the opponents aren't careful.

Brad Haddin and Tim Paine (RH bats, wicket keepers) - Paine is the incumbent, Haddin the No.1 returning from long-term injury. Both have legitimate claims to the berth for this series. Haddin is the more flamboyant of the two, capable of spectacular things in both disciplines. Paine is a more steady choice and demonstrated gritty determination in the tough conditions of India. But Haddin will get the nod for the Gabba I feel.

Finally, a word on Westminster Council's lack of fun. Yes, we know the Palace of Westminster is a listed building. It does not matter if the Aussies project an image of their captain and vice, sending a "Bring It On!" message to the Poms. If anything, it captures people's imagination and gets them involved in what is likely to be a classic encounter. They are threatening to sue Cricket Australia the princely sum of £2,500. Pipe down!

Next week - the Aussie bowling options under the spotlight. Plus, day 1 of England's warm-up against Western Australia and the Aussies' first two games against Sri Lanka.
RM

Reader Competition: Think of a Title for this Piece, Win a Hat! *

This is a completely random piece. I just wanted to quickly post some things that struck me as odd over the weekend.

Firstly, Emile Heskey looks good. Really good. In fact, Big Emile has been doing his best Didier Drogba impersonation for the past few weeks now. Ever since Gerard Houllier arrived, Heskey has seemingly become a world class target man. You might think I'm simply overplaying the consequences of a new manager bringing better form out of his players (considering my lads Dumbarton have gotten rid of their boss, it is certainly fresh in my mind!). And you may also think that I am exaggerating a bit how good Emile has really been.

Well, I have watched a lot of football. A LOT. And I had as many doubts about Emile Heskey's ability as the next man. But, genuinely, an in-form Didier Drogba is the best comparison I can draw with the current incarnation of Emile. Over the past weeks, against Sunderland, Chelsea and particularly Spurs, Heskey has been excellent; extremely physical, quick to the ball and aware of his surroundings. In particular, he has been brilliant recieving the ball on the right flank and driving into the box. Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Ashley Cole and the entire Sunderland back four really struggled against him. Fine, his goalscoring touch still hasn't appeared; he could have put two in the net against Sunderland for example. But at the same time, in the Wolves game (Houllier's second in charge) his headed goal was as powerful and as good as you are going to see at any level.

I don't know quite how Houllier and Heskey connect. What is obvious, though, is that their connection now is as strong as ever.

My second, completely unrelated odd observation is from the Edinburgh versus Ulster Magners League rugby clash. Edinburgh won fairly convincingly, although the score could have been closer had Ulster kicker Paddy Wallace been on song. I watched the game on BBC Ulster and thus heard the Ulster commentary team, who by the way are absolutely awful. There was an Australian ex-player who was completely uninteresting (Not just uninteresting. 'Chris Paterson on the sideline' uninteresting) and an Irish commentator. This bloke had no idea who half the players were, or what the referee was whistling up for. And the bias was genuinely too much for me by the second half. But I digress.

Anyway, the Irish bloke comes out and tells us that Wallace is playing in the 10 shirt due to an order from the Irish federation, and that he is the kicker again by order of the IRFU. They apparently have the power to command clubs to play players in certain positions. And so, in spite of having the excellent and mercurial talent of Ruan Pienaar to call on to kick from the tee, the Irish province lost when they could perhaps have won.

I wonder whether the IRFU bigwigs can be happy with that or not.

A final point. Unlike the Irish bloke and his Aussie companion in crime, I found Chris Cusiter to be easy to like when he appeared on BBC Alba's coverage of the Warriors-Ospreys clash. He was as interesting as John Barclay, who was a guest earlier in the year, but was also a lot more chirpy (as one would expect a scrumhalf to be) and thus easier to listen to. He also mentioned the commentators name to all his responses ("Well Hugh Dan...", "Not in my book Hugh Dan..."), which made proceedings seem unnervingly pleasant for what was essentially a night out in Maryhill.

Certainly a lot more genial than the ESPN commentary booth during their rugby coverage. Austin 'Prick' Healey mocks big Ben Kay so much that at some point Kay will simply stand, wrap his massive hands around Healey's head and crush it like an egg shell. It will happen soon...

* Disclaimer: The winner of the Title Contest will recieve a randomly selected hat, subject to competition rules. Please note a £30 postage payment will be required in order to recieve your hat!

GM

The RedZone: Week 7 in the NFL

Ryan's Top 5

5. Reggie Hodges - 1 carry, 68 yards. As anyone who has ever played me on Madden will tell you, I love trick plays. Seeing as the Packers Fake FG Pass failed, I go instead to the Browns and their punters fake out followed by a run through the sizeable hole through the Saints defense. Yes the drive only resulted in a FG in a surprise 30-17 victory, but watching a punter do a RB's job on 4th down was magnificent to watch!

4. Dez Bryant - 4 catches, 54 yards, 2 TD's; 93-yard punt return for a TD. His mother may (or may not) be a whore, but boy is this lad worth the negative press. The Cowboys may have fallen to 1-5 with a 41-35 capitulation against the Giants, but it hasn't been for lack of want from Bryant. Unfortunately with Tony Romo's placing on the IR list imminent, you suspect that with John Kitna under centre, Bryant will be spending most of his rookie season impressing as a PR, rather than a WR!

3. Kenny Britt - 7 catches, 225 yards, 3 TD's. After a truly forgettable week which involved getting into a little bit of a scrap in a nightclub and subsequently being benched for the start of the Titans 37-19 victory over the Eagles, Britt managed to put all of the bad karma behind him and come out with a career day. Having been consistently productive throughout Tennessee's impressive start to the season (5-2), Britt went one step further and shredded the Birds' secondary in the 4th quarter. He has been Vince Young's and Kerry Collins' go-to-guy thus far - he'll probably attract tougher coverage in future weeks.

=1. DeAngelo Hall - 7 tackles, 4 INT's. A truly amazing performance, tying the All-Time NFL record for a single game. Prime's "BABY" went hawking after Chicago's Jay Cutler, who again looked shaky with leaden feet and a crumbling O-Line. He doesn't just try to defend passes, he gambles everything and goes for the pick. This weekend, it paid off for the Redskins. Hall capped off his day by taking one pick 92 yards back to the house. As for the Bears - well, you're pretty much doomed when your franchise QB tosses 4 picks. They lost 17-14.

=1. Darren McFadden - 16 carries, 165 yards, 3 TD's; 2 catches, 31 yards, 1 TD. Where did this come from? McFadden has looked decent in parts this season, but never would you have put the Raiders blowing out the Broncos 59-14 on the road (a franchise record points scored). The Broncos leave for Wembley with their tails firmly between their legs having been unable to contain the Jason Campbell-led offense. In the first half alone, Oakland piled up 38 points before Denver managed to get onto the board.

Graeme's Top 5

5. Mike Williams - 11 catches, 87 yards, 1 TD - This week I'm giving all my awards to the guys that really deserve recognition from this column; blokes who have been crap for most of their careers but pulled one out of the bag when it counted. First up is Mike Williams. Anyone who has followed the Detroit Lions for the past decade will be aware of their absolutely terrible record of drafting bust wide recievers in the first round (P.S. Calvin Johnson was so obviously brilliant that an idiot could have drafted him. And did). Mike was drafted 10th overall and was overweight, lazy and hopeless. After being released, he bumped around the league and ended up sitting at home with no teams interested. Except the Seahawks and coach Pete Carroll, Williams' coach at USC. I don't know what Carroll says to Mike, but it certainly makes him perform as he seems to now be playing like the talent he was predicted to be. On form, and at 6'5" and 235 pounds, he is almost unguardable.

4. Todd Bouman - 18/34. 222 yards, 2 TD's- Fine, he lost to the Chiefs, and fine he threw a pick 6. But that was one of only three mistakes Bouman made playing a decent team in a hostile stadium. Not bad for a 38 year old who has been cut and re-signed by the Jags three times prior to this year, was cut again this season and was only brought back a week ago due to injuries to everyone else.

3. David Bowens - 2 INT's, 2 TD's - Yes, Ex-Saint Scott Fujita had the better day (with 11 tackles, a pick and a sack), but when you're a journeyman outside linebacker/ end playing for your 6th team and you get 2 pick 6's against Drew Brees you get on The RedZone!

2. The Titans' O-Line - let Kerry Collins throw for 276 yards, 3 TD's - Collins has the mobility of a medium sized rock, and will thus be sacked at least 3 or 4 times a game (3 in this game). However, for the most part the dangerous Eagles pass rush got nowhere near the old bloke under centre, who aside from the sacks was not hit at all, allowing him to light it up to Kenny Britt.

1. The Raiders' O-Line - Darren McFadden rushed for 165 yards and 3 TD's behind them, Jason Campbell threw for 202 yards, 2 TD's and only two sacks! - The Oakland Raiders' offensive linemen are exactly the kind of players this column seeks to praise. They were completely dominant against the Broncos. And I don't care what team they were playing, the Oakland line dominating anyone is an event unheard of for at least the past 7 years. Draft bust Robert Gallery, journeymen Cooper Carlisle and Khalif Barnes, unwanted Samson Satele and no-hoper Mario Henderson; this writer salutes your rare display of competence.

GM

Tackling issues killing off defensive excellence

Two sports, both alike in dignity. Both plagued by very similar issues. We'll ignore the star-crossed moneygrabbers Wayne Rooney and Vincent Jackson from the footballs Association and American respectively, and instead examine the issue of tackling, which has caused great divisions of opinion in both sports in the last month. In an effort to improve player safety, the NFL has started imposing hefty fines for what it deems to be illegal hits, whereas the British media has gone crazy for the spate of hefty challenges produced by the likes of Nigel de Jong and Karl Henry, to name but a few. Many people have applauded the efforts to stamp out these risky situations. I however do not.

Whatever sport you follow, you like to see and even match, be it between bat and ball, Federer and Nadal or, in this case, offense and defense. Every classic encounter in any sport worth remembering features a fine balance, decided on key moments that tip the scales one way or the other. If the authorities begin imposing themselves on one party, the likelihood of such tension occuring is minimised. Take Test cricket for example - for the most part on the sub-continent, matches are played on flat and slow wickets, allowing the batsmen to boost their averages, whilst the bowlers toil and pick up niggling injuries in the heat. Modern day groundsmen have tilted the balance towards the bat. In the same way, both FIFA and the NFL are hampering defensive play.

Don't get me wrong - I don't like seeing players get hurt, least of all when it is the fault of a fellow professional. But sometimes, a little perspective should be saught. Take de Jong's challenge on Hatem Ben Arfa for example. Yes, it was a hefty challenge, yes, it is unfortunate that Ben Arfa's leg was broken but it was a fair challenge and one where de Jong took the ball. The referee was right not to penalise de Jong. Yet he has been villified (possibly owing in part to his previous track record) for hurting a so-called "creative player". The reality is this - accidents happen. We should not go so far as absolving the likes of Martin Taylor from blame, that tackle on Eduardo remains unwatchable to this day. But to jump down the throat of a player who has actually done nothing than show commitment and skill in winning a tackle is wrong. To drop him from the national side for his "behaviour" was disgraceful, particularly when Bert van Marwijk has abandoned the Total Football principle and built a team of hardmen around de Jong. If we insist upon punishing every tackle that injures a player, fair or not, we run the risk of losing the contact element of football. The same holds true in the NFL. Dunta Robinson of Atlanta was fined $50,000 for a massive hit than concussed the Eagles' DeSean Jackson. Now, normally I wouldn't have a great deal of sympathy with Robinson, but a fair hit is a fair hit. Jackson's (and Robinson's) injury was simply an unfortunate consequence of a game in which risk is involved. If you flag every single play that ends in a violent but fair hit, you'll have every single defense backed up against their own goal line for most of the game and some impoverished DB's.

Not that the case for the defense has been helped by various soundbites from around the respective leagues. James Harrison, LB for the Pittsburgh Steelers, came out after concussing Mohammad Massaquoi and Josh Cribbs of the Browns and said "I don't aim to injure players but I aim to hurt them". Unwise in these politically correct days of censure. It landed Harrison a $75,000 fine, driving him to thoughts of early retirement. Which obviously was never going to happen while he stands a chance of another Superbowl Ring. Before that came the finger of blame pointed by Fulham's Danny Murphy at Blackburn, Wolves and Stoke. Which didn't go down too well. These teams are not blessed with any creative geniuses but must find a way to survive in the field of riches that is the Premiership. The best way for them to utilise their resources is to play hard and disrupt the creative flow of superior opposition.

So long as this is done legally and fairly, I see no reason to change any rules in either sport. It's tactics like these that allow underdogs to prevail. No matter how "functional" it looks!
RM

Running Man Rooney Will Find No Comfort In Change

What is Wayne Rooney leaving behind? Why does he desire so strongly to leave Manchester United, and why are Manchester City and Chelsea linked with him?

Rooney's stance, that he will not sign on at Man United and will look to leave, comes with too many questions attatched. All we can do is speculate as to who or what exactly has triggered this new-found desire to flee the Red Devils.

The off-field baggage Rooney is carrying seems to be a combination of a failure to recover mentally from his pathetic World Cup efforts, and a complete failure to deal with the controversy, true or manufactured, surrounding his marriage.

What this has to do with Manchester United I have no idea. There is no connection between the club and any of Rooney's problems. Unless there has been a fundamental failure by Sir Alex Ferguson and the club's negotiators to support and empathise with Rooney, then there are no grounds which can properly justify his stance of seeking to move.

Of course he has a choice, but he also chose to express his love for United and to swear that he would stay for life. He has heaped praise on Ferguson and has never voiced any complaints about mistreatment, by Ferguson or otherwise.

Does he think that by leaving United his problems will be left behind at Old Trafford? Is he really so deluded that he cannot see the inevitable escalation of criticism and media intervention that a move to any other English club would bring? Or does he really think that moving himself to Madrid or Milan will help; he can't speak the language, he struggles outside of his Northern comfort zone, will he be able to bring his wife and child or any family with him?

It seems that whoever is there to safeguard his career and his mental wellbeing is failing grossly at their task. Either Rooney is following his own snap decision to try and run from his problems like a child, in which case that advisor should be telling him to reconsider, or else said advisor is the one pushing the idea on the player, in which case they are clearly an narrow-minded imbecile.

Sir Alex spoke on the BBC website (calm down, not directly TO the BBC, simply to MUFCTV and subsequently posted by the BBC) on the issue, where he revealed that he has had face to face talks with Wayne, in which he reiterated his desire to leave. Ferguson, understandably, seems genuinely upset by the prospect of Rooney leaving, and I believe that this is due to the fact that he knows that Wayne will only go downhill if he leaves, and that Ferguson and the Man U organisation are best placed to help the clearly tormented star.

Manchester United have a reputation for developing and maintaining strong relationships between players and the manager, and seem to be very involved when to comes to sorting out problems. For example, they long have had a policy whereby they aid new arrivals in finding suitable homes to buy close to like minded teammates, and otherwise help them integrate.

Ferguson we assume, as there has been no evidence to indicate otherwise, has the longest, closest and best working relationship with Rooney. Why on earth Wayne wishes to forsake all this support for the lonely road is a mystery.

GM