When I started writing this article it was my intention to emphasize the differences between soccer and snooker. This has led to an explanation why I´m following my preferred soccer team which resulted in talking about success and failure. As a conclusion I have outsourced that content which is now available here: Success as a source of personal growth.
So below I´m sharing the initial beginning of my article as well as the further content in terms of soccer vs. snooker.
During the recent articles I have shared profound thoughts which require a lot of self reflection. So for now I would like to lighten it up a little bit.
For this reason, the following article is intended to share an observation which has popped up in my mind during the recent years. Going forward it´s my intention to emphasize the differences between two different sports. I´m talking about the differences between soccer and snooker.
Background of soccer
Since the age of five I´m with FC Bayern Munich. It´s the most successful German team. Additionally, it´s one of the best teams across Europe. During the season I simply check the results as soccer is not a main priority for me. However when it comes to the end of the season usually I will follow the games on TV due to the decision of championship. In addition, I follow the games on TV when they´re playing as part of Champions League.
For myself, I started playing soccer when I was a child. After two years I decided not to continue. At the age of 19 I resumed playing for the duration of one and a half years. During that time I was serving the army. Once I got injured while being exercising and practicing as part of army. I missed several trainings as due to that injury physically I was not able to play anymore. As a conclusion I finally gave up on soccer.
Worth to mention, even without being confronted with that injury I was not that good at playing soccer. I figured out several reasons for that. Much later after I had quit soccer I recognized that my legs are not in line which always prevented me from shooting straight passes. In addition, usually I did not turn off my mind while being out on the field. I mainly played the game within my head. However I did not transform my thinking to my legs. Furthermore, I simply did not want to hurt anyone. In my mind, I knew exactly how to behave when being confronted with a duel. However I knew that if I act in a wrong way that this can lead to severe pain to my opponent.
Background of snooker
It was at the age of 15 when I detected snooker on the sports channel on public TV. Due to his calm and gentle behavior I immediately admired Stephen Hendry. Fast it got very clear that by watching him playing I was following one of the best snooker players out there. So I dedicated further time on watching him. In this context I obtained an enlightening fact. Experiencing someone succeeding without the act of constantly screaming “Look at me, I´m the best” was incredibly satisfying. Wow.
The point is that until then I was mainly following the races of Formula One (loud engines) or as mentioned above soccer (aggressive behavior out on the field accompanied by loud fans). But now I was following a man on his way to success by executing his routine in a calm and gentle behavior. Astonishing.
It could not be more contrasting
As a conclusion, I assess that snooker is probably the most contrary sports when compared to soccer. What I truly like about snooker is that it´s not possible to cheat on the opponent. In this context the referee is mainly guiding the match in terms of an administrative function.
This is completely different to soccer where the referee´s decisions are highly discretionary. For example, in snooker, it´s obvious when there is a foul. In soccer, it´s not. In snooker, the audience will not shout to the referee as he simply cannot make a severe wrong decision. However in soccer the fans will always interact and shout loudly to the referee. Maybe because sometimes their concerns are valid as in the past there have been severe wrong decisions made by respective referees.
My strong aversion towards cheating
I guess the main reason why I´m not following soccer in a regular manner is due to that cheating behavior. For example, in soccer it´s not that difficult to pretend a foul by falling to the ground without the opponent touching you. Or maybe the opponent touched a bit, but not enough that it legitimates falling to the ground. If the referee did not have sufficient oversight due to the position he was standing at that moment and decides that a foul has occurred, the cheater is been given an advantage which in a certain way he does not deserve.
The point is that I simply can not give any respect to that kind of cheating behavior. Worth to mention, I even never start cheering when my team receives a penalty. Moreover I become modest by starting reflecting that the person who was fouled was given the chance away of scoring in a regular way. In addition, it´s not a goal yet. If the penalty is turned into a goal likely that I will cheer. That´s underpinned by the fact that I´m aware that striving for a penalty is a tactical approach and an allowed procedure as per the rules.
But at the moment when one of the team members I support is being fouled I´m simply not able to cheer. If I see fans or other team members shouting in a happy mood acting like small kids at the moment of a penalty received I immediately lose respect towards them.
My antipathy towards dishonesty
In this context, I still remember one of my team members being „fouled“ by a member of the opponent´s team when I was playing soccer at the age of 19. During that moment I was standing at the side of the field as I was considered as a substitute player. At the moment when the opponent´s team member had touched my team member he was falling to the ground shouting out incredible screams as if three knives had been stuck in his stomach. In that situation the referee decided for foul. As a conclusion our team was given a free kick. Some seconds after the free kick had been executed my team member gave a quick look to the substitute players. Followed by a slight grin.
I´m fully aware of the fact that my team member simply followed a tactical approach. In addition, he was a nice person and we were sharing several drinks together. But during that moment in a certain way I lost all of my respect towards him. I simply was not able to stand that kind of dishonesty.
Fairness vs. distraction
That´s why I love watching snooker. It´s one of the fairest sports I know. The best will win. There is no intention and no possibility to cheat on each other. In general, referee decisions will be taken in a respectful manner. In contrast, when in soccer there´s a foul, a fight and a discussion will start. Fans as well as team members will show aggressive and loud behavior. The fact which I consider as being annoying is that both sides are constantly questioning referee decisions. Team members are constantly interfering and seldom showing respect to referee decisions. Fans are constantly willing to confuse members of the other team to distract them from acting at their best.
For example, it was in 2012 when I followed a friendly game between FC Bayern Munich and a team as part of the third league within the stadium. It was during the second half of the game when FC Bayern Munich received a corner ball. While Toni Kroos made up his walk to the corner flag in a calm and concentrated manner a fan of the opponent´s team who was standing in the fan block jumped on the fence. He did not walk there in a smooth way. Moreover he was running down the stairs of the fan block by immediately jumping on the fence. With both of his feet he held tight on the fence by shaking it intensively. What makes him different from a monkey is what occurred in my mind at that moment. In addition, he was screaming and shouting out (probably offensive) words towards Toni Kroos while waving his fists into Toni´s direction.
It´s obvious that the fan intended to distract Toni Kroos from shooting a proper corner ball. I´m aware that probably every one who has ever watched a soccer game has come across a similar situation live or at least on TV. I´m not mentioning that situation in order to describe how soccer works. What I want to point out is that in no way I can imagine that kind of behavior occurring next to a snooker table.
Final conclusion
To sum it up, snooker is all about executing a routine behavior as part of an allowed procedure in a calm manner by showing constant respect to anyone involved as part of the game. In contrast, pretending fouls and questioning referee decisions seem to be inherent parts of soccer.
What I take out of this comparison is that the variety of sports out there probably has arisen to the variety of personality aspects and it´s differences across humans. Due to that variety of sports existing I conclude that every person out there should be feasible to detect a sports activity which is in line with the way his or her body and mind works.
Any thoughts on this can be sent privately to send@realthoughts.me or publicly via the comment function below
Martin