What sport has its world championship in a city in Yorkshire every year, at the same venue, the championship running for a whole two weeks, playing every day, afternoons and evenings, often until very late at night, and ending on a British public holiday?

Is it the World Snooker Championship held in Sheffield, Yorkshire?

It is.It's going on now , as anyone near a TV set in Britain cannot have failed to notice

Good grief 130 hours of this stuff! Don't you have anything better to do with your time Fred than listen to Ray Stubbs et al whisper soporifically into the microphone,

"..now if he can just keep putting his balls away.."

At least in Canada we have that edge-of-your-seat sport of Curling to look forward to.


Here's a link to the BBC: World Snooker Championships

It's great. 10 a.m. to midnight some days!

It's doing a lot for the Cuban economy, too. Fidel can afford private medical care on the strength of my consumption of cigars when it's on.

The Snooker has become an English tradition, like the Boat Race, the Grand National Steeplechase and Wimbledon. All these have one thing in common: nobody among the millions who watch has ever had the slightest interest in the game or sport in question.They watch the event and with the Grand National have a bet directly or in the office sweepstake, and that's it until next year as far as their interest goes. The World Darts finals came close for a brief spell but never caught on in the same way. That went down the tubes when the organisers decided that allowing the players to drink alcohol betwen shots was bad for the image of the game. Seeing Jockey Wilson hitting treble twenties whilst sinking double scotches was part of the fun Now it's all sober young Dutchmen, who play like geniuses, but are boring to watch.