Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Any given sport has many components that raise it above the normal and make it a spectacle that can cause extreme excitement or total despair in equal measure.
A key ingredient is the competitors themselves and not just their individual talent but their character and personality have an important part to play.
In boxing circles the saying 'styles make fights' is close to the truth. No one wants to see two boxers who counter punch against each other as that would leave a fight with no aggressor.
When Mohammed Ali was in his prime he captivated not just the boxing world but every other environment due to his political stance to his slave ancestry and the war in Vietnam which was increased due to his outspoken nature.
Of course, having Joe Frazier as his nemesis helped in that Frazier had none of these outspoken views and was a tough brawler who was perfectly matched to Ali's 'artisan' qualities. It was a fantastic time for boxing with fights between the two dominating the headlines for months before the bouts even took place.
With globalisation and the television coverage spreading all over the world it is even more relevant that sport has its idols and its competitive element - the networks demanded it. How important it is can be demonstrated by the fact that if Tiger Woods is in the running to win a tournament on the final day then TV coverage goes up by as much as 30 per cent.
Woods has brought more money to the golf circuit than anyone has ever done before. Many players who hover around the top 100 rankings are multimillionaires thanks to Tiger and they don't even have to win a tournament to achieve this.
What is missing though from the Tiger Woods Show is a great rivalry such as Watson had with Nicolas, because this adds a crucial element. Several players including Els, Mickleson and Singh have threatened to become that challenge but have all ultimately failed and drifted off into the second tier of world golf.
This is not because they do not have the talent; it is because they did not have the mental strength or belief that they could do it on a regular basis.
Much the same can be said for tennis which has gone through the Federer period marvelling at his skill and dominance but hoping a challenge will come and at last in Nadal, and maybe some of the other young guns, they are getting it. McEnroe and Borg after Connors and Borg were classic tennis periods with the ice cool Swede pitted against the volatile Americans: no rivalry better explains the importance of different personalities on a sporting field being essential to the spectacle.
The current Snooker World Championships are an interesting point for the sport in that it has been a long time since one individual dominated. After Joe Davis there was Ray Reardon and then there was Steve Davis who was followed by the greatest of them all, Stephen Hendry. Each of these men won several titles on the bounce and set the standard for all of their generation to follow.
Interestingly though, two men who were never as successful made the spectacle more special. These two players were Alex Higgins and Jimmy White both hugely talented players but with flawed mental temperaments. Higgins won the title twice but White failed to achieve his dream losing six times in the final. However, their contribution was massive and without them the successful players would never have earned the respect or the money they did.
Hendry, of course, is still playing and suffered a humiliating defeat to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals last week in what may have been the most stunning display by a snooker player ever. Coming off the back of his third World Championship 147 the Rocket whitewashed the Scot in the second session and left players and commentators alike running out of superlatives.
If as expected he goes on to win the title it will begin to do justice to his talents as it is still important to actually win. We can never be sure that he will deliver, he is no Hendry or Davis who, when in their prime, were unbeatable. Ironically, Hendry may have suffered because of who he is in the latest encounter as O'Sullivan would have been determined to beat him and rise to this particular challenge. Against Carter he may be more relaxed and suffer for it but I still expect for him to be world champion ... but you just never can be sure.
O'Sullivan has everything a sport needs from its best player - raw talent, an interesting background and a slightly erratic personality.
With this comes drama and unpredictability and for that we should be grateful to the man from Essex.
