Would you want your children to take up snooker?

I’m indifferent on the matter. Couldn’t care less, in fact. It sounds better than darts. Or dressage.   

Ronnie O’Sullivan, on the other hand, is opposed to the idea. Never one to keep his views to himself, he was recently quoted at the Scottish Open as saying, “If I had a child I would not want him to play snooker, I really wouldn’t.”

And he does have a child. Three of them, in fact. Take note, Ronnie Jr!

For a professional sportsperson and legend of the game to be admonishing their own sport in this way is certainly controversial and perhaps ill-advised. But is it really, as fellow professional John Higgins claims, ‘a disgrace’?

Perhaps Higgins’ comments were calculated, with a view to making the next day’s headlines. If that’s the case, job done. Mission accomplished. Or maybe, like so many people these days, his outrage-o-meter is permanently dialled up to the max.

Fortunately for O’Sullivan, his disgraceful comments are unlikely to top the news agenda for long, as he’s competing against a vast assembly of other recent disgraces.

ASDA’s distribution centre and delivery worker pay freeze is a disgrace. The Buckley town centre Christmas tree is a disgrace. The litter surrounding North Devon schools and colleges is a disgrace. Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic is a disgrace, and that’s according to Piers Morgan, who has doubtless been branded a disgrace himself for his comments (and possibly for his general personality). And this is all in the past 24 hours.

See something you don’t like? It’s disgraceful. Hear something you don’t like? It’s shameful. Those comments are shameful. That person should be ashamed. And resign. And never do or say anything ever again.

Some things in life are regrettable. Some are mildly disagreeable. Some are truly abhorrent.

But whether you’re reading the news, listening to politicians, or sitting down to watch the snooker, in this age of hyperbole, melodrama and perpetual over-reaction, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to access a balanced and reasonable perspective on anything. It’s a disgrace.

Photo by Rowan Freeman on Unsplash