Well blog readers we are still in the festive season and i feel it is time to hand out some awards for sporting excellence and lunacy before 2011 draws to the end.
Oddly enough, as i write this blog i am watching the 1st cricket test match between Australia and India in Melbourne and i feel obliged, in fact i am highly tempted to travel to India, to personally hand the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) the award for the most bizarre decision in sport this year.
You get the feeling BCCI don't like the introduction of the Decision Review System (DRS) to cricket. Apparently they have major reservations about the accuracy of the whole system particularly when it comes to Hawk/Eagle Eye and LBW decisions or something. I'm sure they don't like Hot Spot or Snicko either, but hey ho each to their own. Anyway, at this present time India are allowed to do a David Cameron and veto any attempt for progress in the game in terms getting correct decisions in games, by refusing the implementation of DRS in a test series, as they have chosen to do the series.
Now call me competitive, but if i was bowling against the likes of a Michael Hussey, who has the uncanny knack of doing an impression of a immovable brick wall a large majority of time in his innings, I would employ every resource known to man in an attempt in getting him out. It appears the BCCI are not of the same opinion however, and as a consequence thanks to their players not being able to use the DRS they had missed the opportunity to dismiss Hussey three times before he reached the dizzy heights of 89 in his innings, according to the dulcet tones of Tony Greig in the Channel Nine commentary box this morning. Apparently Hussey should have in fact been having a beverage of his own choice back in the pavillion last night.
The fact of the matter is Hussey not being dismissed yesterday could well be costly to India as they now require 292 runs in the final innings to win the test match, when they could have been firmly in the box seat to win the test.
I mean seriously am i missing something here. If it was the England Cricket Board deciding on the implementation of the DRS system in this test series, then Hussey would have been having tea, dinner, breakfast and lunch in the pavillion.
ICC, don't think you don't get a mention here. In fact i'm tempted to give them an award for incompetency of the year. Why oh why do India even have the choice to allow or veto the use of technology in a test series based on their own agenda? The fact of the matter is the ICC as cricket's governing body should show authority and decide whether to employ the DRS accross the board in cricket, or simply leave it as a game of decision making by an umpire with an element of possible human error and leave international cricket boards in no doubt that if the DRS is democratically voted for, every country has no choice but to use it whether they like it or not.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Today's Footballing News Is Brought To You By The Word "Abuse".
As the writer of this blog, I face an interesting dilemma when considering the actual written content of this blog. For I am a Liverpool supporter blog readers. Yes I have supported Liverpool FC since my glory hunting days at the age of five.
From a purely footballing perspective, Luis Suarez being banned for eight matches and potentially more if Liverpool FC were to appeal the decision delivered by the FA yesterday, we would be in a "up the creek without a paddle" situation. I mean it frankly looks like Andy Carroll would have more luck scoring off the pitch rather than on it at the moment, so Kenny Dalgish may have to ask the boardroom bosses to use the cheque book during the January transfer window.
Turning to the more serious issue of Luis Suarez being found guilty of a racial slur against Man United's Patrice Evra, well put it this way, having read the views and opinions of various members of the footballing community I think you can safely say that the issue is "complex". There are those who think the issue (i am so going to regret this pun) is black and white (i knew i would), and think the FA were correct to throw the book at Suarez. It's like make an example of one star, other footballers will think twice before considering making abusive comments towards another player based on the colour of their skin. In the purest sense, it could be deemed a very fair decision. Suarez did admit to using a term in front of Evra which in his own Uruguayan culture would not be considered offensive, however, in English culture is considered racially offensive. Cultural ignorance is not an excuse.
Reading the Liverpool FC statement in response to Suarez decision last night, it was meant to have the effect of a JCB Digger digging holes in every aspect of the FA decision and quite a few digs at Patrice Evra at the same time. You would have to say that Liverpool's main issues lie with the guilty verdict based on the evidence of Patrice Evra alone apparently; no one, not even Patrice Evra has indicated during the hearing that Suarez is a racist, yet the fact Suarez was found guilty of a racial slur and given a lengthy ban and fine would imply to the contrary. The players of Liverpool FC have left us in no doubt of what they think about this accusation against Suarez, with a joint statement on the website and then the Luis Suarez T-shirt fashion brigade this evening in the match against Wigan.
As for my thoughts well that's the 1000 dollar question isn't it. Having discovered what Suarez had allegedly said towards Evra well i knew things were not looking too clever and the fact of the matter in England what he said is found to be racially offensive fact. The fact is though Suarez does come from an entirely different culture to that of England. To Suarez, what he said does not have racial overtones based on his cultural upbringing. Which leads us to surely the point that people do need to be educated properly in terms of a country's culture and what is deemed appropriate behaviour and speech, whether visiting, working or living there.
My work colleague told me an interesting story while watching the QVC shopping the other day. Apparently an American woman referred to a bum/belt bag as a fanny bag. The English presenter was absolutely aghast when she heard the term "fanny" and made it clear to our American friend should could not employ that word again. Apparently she still continued to employ the word "fanny" as she had learnt to employ that term for a bum/belt bag.
My point is that yes ok punish Suarez, but is it appropriate to hang him out to dry. The fact is mud sticks and at the moment the punishment dished out could have potentially serious implications for his career. Is an eight match ban and a £40,000 fine seriously going to win the victory against racism in football. I very much doubt that. As Tony Blair once said at a party conference, Education, Education, Education is what is needed. Get Suarez involved in the fight against racism in football.
Whatever happens Suarezgate is not going to go away very fast. Neither is Terrygate either and he faces a potentially even worse fate. Jail!
Not forgetting this footballing news is brought to you by the word "abuse" i would like to personally express my disgust at what i witnessed during Blackburn's match against Bolton last night. Steve Kean, not the greatest manager of a Blackburn team ever admittedly, was copping the most astonishing abuse from fans during the match. At one point i spotted an old bearded man giving Kean abuse literally within five yards from where he was standing. Firstly, where were the police and secondly, what on earth gives an alleged football fan the right to do that? It seems England is creating a new brand of football fan, who thinks if everything is not right with his or her team, they have devine right to hurl abuse at a manager or players. No doubt the argument we pay their wages and so we have a right to say what we want will come out and we are passionate about our club. Don't care, if you were a true fan you would cheer your side to the final whistle and hold on a second, maybe even support the representatives of your team.
From a purely footballing perspective, Luis Suarez being banned for eight matches and potentially more if Liverpool FC were to appeal the decision delivered by the FA yesterday, we would be in a "up the creek without a paddle" situation. I mean it frankly looks like Andy Carroll would have more luck scoring off the pitch rather than on it at the moment, so Kenny Dalgish may have to ask the boardroom bosses to use the cheque book during the January transfer window.
Turning to the more serious issue of Luis Suarez being found guilty of a racial slur against Man United's Patrice Evra, well put it this way, having read the views and opinions of various members of the footballing community I think you can safely say that the issue is "complex". There are those who think the issue (i am so going to regret this pun) is black and white (i knew i would), and think the FA were correct to throw the book at Suarez. It's like make an example of one star, other footballers will think twice before considering making abusive comments towards another player based on the colour of their skin. In the purest sense, it could be deemed a very fair decision. Suarez did admit to using a term in front of Evra which in his own Uruguayan culture would not be considered offensive, however, in English culture is considered racially offensive. Cultural ignorance is not an excuse.
Reading the Liverpool FC statement in response to Suarez decision last night, it was meant to have the effect of a JCB Digger digging holes in every aspect of the FA decision and quite a few digs at Patrice Evra at the same time. You would have to say that Liverpool's main issues lie with the guilty verdict based on the evidence of Patrice Evra alone apparently; no one, not even Patrice Evra has indicated during the hearing that Suarez is a racist, yet the fact Suarez was found guilty of a racial slur and given a lengthy ban and fine would imply to the contrary. The players of Liverpool FC have left us in no doubt of what they think about this accusation against Suarez, with a joint statement on the website and then the Luis Suarez T-shirt fashion brigade this evening in the match against Wigan.
As for my thoughts well that's the 1000 dollar question isn't it. Having discovered what Suarez had allegedly said towards Evra well i knew things were not looking too clever and the fact of the matter in England what he said is found to be racially offensive fact. The fact is though Suarez does come from an entirely different culture to that of England. To Suarez, what he said does not have racial overtones based on his cultural upbringing. Which leads us to surely the point that people do need to be educated properly in terms of a country's culture and what is deemed appropriate behaviour and speech, whether visiting, working or living there.
My work colleague told me an interesting story while watching the QVC shopping the other day. Apparently an American woman referred to a bum/belt bag as a fanny bag. The English presenter was absolutely aghast when she heard the term "fanny" and made it clear to our American friend should could not employ that word again. Apparently she still continued to employ the word "fanny" as she had learnt to employ that term for a bum/belt bag.
My point is that yes ok punish Suarez, but is it appropriate to hang him out to dry. The fact is mud sticks and at the moment the punishment dished out could have potentially serious implications for his career. Is an eight match ban and a £40,000 fine seriously going to win the victory against racism in football. I very much doubt that. As Tony Blair once said at a party conference, Education, Education, Education is what is needed. Get Suarez involved in the fight against racism in football.
Whatever happens Suarezgate is not going to go away very fast. Neither is Terrygate either and he faces a potentially even worse fate. Jail!
Not forgetting this footballing news is brought to you by the word "abuse" i would like to personally express my disgust at what i witnessed during Blackburn's match against Bolton last night. Steve Kean, not the greatest manager of a Blackburn team ever admittedly, was copping the most astonishing abuse from fans during the match. At one point i spotted an old bearded man giving Kean abuse literally within five yards from where he was standing. Firstly, where were the police and secondly, what on earth gives an alleged football fan the right to do that? It seems England is creating a new brand of football fan, who thinks if everything is not right with his or her team, they have devine right to hurl abuse at a manager or players. No doubt the argument we pay their wages and so we have a right to say what we want will come out and we are passionate about our club. Don't care, if you were a true fan you would cheer your side to the final whistle and hold on a second, maybe even support the representatives of your team.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Now, Now Amir, It's Time You Learn Some Sporting Manners!
This blogger has a confession to make. I'm not the greatest fan of boxing. Oddly enough i did quite enjoy boxing when i was younger but then all of sudden something clicked. This sport can damage a person's life beyond repair. Take for example Muhammad Ali, arguably greatest sports personality the world has ever seen. When he said something, you listened, because he was an artist with words. Several years later however, his brain function has been destroyed by the punches he suffered as a boxer and he now suffers from Parkinson's Disease.
The reason i mention boxing however is because i actually caught the end couple of rounds of the Amir Khan v Lamont Peterson today, which Peterson ended up winning on a points decision. There were two things that struck me about Khan's defeat.
Firstly if you consider the fight in it's entirety you would actually have to concede that Peterson deserved to win and for one reason only. Peterson was prepared to actually fight for 12 rounds. Khan apparently knocked down Peterson in the early rounds, but you could almost read the mind of Khan by the final round. He was thinking "Damn, why are you still standing?", while running 100 circuits of the ring to try and avoid Peterson head butting him. The point is everyone knows the world's greatest boxers may have the ability to knock the living daylights out of another fella, but they also have the ability to win ugly and slug it out for 12 rounds. Whether Khan has the ability to win ugly, and i should say within the rules, he may struggle to be treated as a serious boxing contender in any weight catergory.
Secondly, how ungracious was Khan in defeat. Virtually no credit to his opponent for slugging it out and being able to get up from the canvas and beat him. All Khan wanted to do was bemoan the fact the referee deducted two points from his score for misdermeanours. Yes blog readers, this blogger is from the old school of good sportsmanship and graciousness in victory and defeat. I find those sportsmen and women who get intp the "blaming"culture, where everyone else is culpable for their defeat except themselves.
So here is my advice to you Amir Khan. Be gracious in defeat, man up, take responsibility in dealing with your frailities in the boxing ring, and most importantly learn from the defeat and use what you learn to be a better boxer.
The reason i mention boxing however is because i actually caught the end couple of rounds of the Amir Khan v Lamont Peterson today, which Peterson ended up winning on a points decision. There were two things that struck me about Khan's defeat.
Firstly if you consider the fight in it's entirety you would actually have to concede that Peterson deserved to win and for one reason only. Peterson was prepared to actually fight for 12 rounds. Khan apparently knocked down Peterson in the early rounds, but you could almost read the mind of Khan by the final round. He was thinking "Damn, why are you still standing?", while running 100 circuits of the ring to try and avoid Peterson head butting him. The point is everyone knows the world's greatest boxers may have the ability to knock the living daylights out of another fella, but they also have the ability to win ugly and slug it out for 12 rounds. Whether Khan has the ability to win ugly, and i should say within the rules, he may struggle to be treated as a serious boxing contender in any weight catergory.
Secondly, how ungracious was Khan in defeat. Virtually no credit to his opponent for slugging it out and being able to get up from the canvas and beat him. All Khan wanted to do was bemoan the fact the referee deducted two points from his score for misdermeanours. Yes blog readers, this blogger is from the old school of good sportsmanship and graciousness in victory and defeat. I find those sportsmen and women who get intp the "blaming"culture, where everyone else is culpable for their defeat except themselves.
So here is my advice to you Amir Khan. Be gracious in defeat, man up, take responsibility in dealing with your frailities in the boxing ring, and most importantly learn from the defeat and use what you learn to be a better boxer.
Monday, 5 December 2011
You May Well Have A Point There Ladies!
You could have been mistaken for thinking last week was a quiet sporting week. The fact that Crystal Palace beat a Manchester United Z team barely caused a tremor on the sporting richter scale. England's opponents in the Euro 2012 Football finals didn't really bother people and probably won't bother most people till the start of the Euro 2012 finals. In fact the burning issue of the week thAe BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominations did not include a single nomination for a British female sports star. Yes apparently 27 editors from various British publications concluded that not one single British female sportswoman was worthy of a nomination for the prestigious award this year.
The furore this has caused amongst British female sports stars has created several column inches in those exact publications that created the nominations for the Sports Personality of the Year. Of course in 2011 their question is, why on earth is a woman not nominated in one of the most prestigious awards of the sporting calendar?
There are of course two questions that need answering here, the first one being for own satisfaction.
Firstly why in the god name's hell is the award entitled Sports Personality of the Year? For anyone who witnesses this event every December, they would know that this award has absolutely nothing to do with personality. It is purely as simply a measurement of sporting achievement for the year. Why pretend it is anything but?
Secondly, i'm the sort of person who is of the belief that irrespective of whether you are are sportsman or sportwoman, if your nomination for an award is merited then fair play to you, you have earned the right to be lauded by the Great British public. I personally think it is an insult to women to simply have a nomination for an award purely because of their gender. If their sporting achievement justifies recognition however, that's a whole different kettle of fish.
Which leads us neatly to the runners and riders for the 2011 Sports Personality of the Year. I have placed these gentlemen in three particular categories.
1) Merited - 100% - No arguments if you see them standing with a Sports Personality trophy in their arms.
2) The Jury is Out - Can't see them lifting the trophy, but they've had a reasonable sporting year.
3) Really! - Why on earth were they nominated?
Mark Cavendish - Merited
The Manx man became the first British man to win the Tour De France Green Sprinter Jersey in 2011, taking his overall career number of stage wins to 20. He then went on to win the World Road Race title in Denmark. Pretty good year by anyone's standards really.
Darren Clarke - Merited
The Northern Irish golfer delighted sports fans around the world with is victory at the British Open this year, after years of often emotional toil on the tour, especially during time his late wife Heather became ill. If this was purely about personality then Darren Clarke would win hands down. Who can forget Guiness O'Clock.
Alastair Cook - Merited
The fact of the matter is that this year thanks to Cook scoring a gazillion runs in test cricket, England have had an almightily successful year in test cricket. He wasn't bad leading the side as Captain in his first series in One Day International Cricket against India. Less said about his first overseas tour in this position the better.
Luke Donald - Really!
No denying this fella is a great golfer and his consistent results have meant he has become World Number One golfer, but he hasn't won a major yet, and that is what you he will be remembered for at the end of his career, not the fact he won the BP Open in Ohio (made that up by the way, but i'm sure you catch my drift).
Mo Farah - Merited!
Impressive is what can be described as Mo Farah's season. A World Championship Gold Medal in the 5000 metres, and literally metres away from achieving a golden double in the 10,000 metres.
Dai Greene - Merited!
This 400 metres hurdler carried on his success of 2010, by beating an impressive line-up to win Wold Championship Gold in Daegu, Korea this year.
Amir Khan - The Jury's Out
It cannot be denied that after a shaky start to his professional career, Amir Khan is going from strength to strength having unified the World WBA and IBF Light Welterweight crowns. For Amir to reach the next level, he may well have to step up in weight to Welterweight where the likes of Floyd Mayweather awaits. Rather him than me and i'll personally hand him the award if he is successful.
Rory McIlroy - Merited!
What a year for the young Northern Irish golfing star. Having had in anyone's parlons a nightmare on the final day at the US Masters at Augusta, he then proceeded to leave the rest of the field out of sight at the US Open a few months later to win his first major. Added to consistent results and victories throughout the course of the season, McIlroy is now on the tails of Luke Donald for the Number one spot.
Andy Murray - The Jury's Out
You could argue Murray has had a pretty decent season on the tennis circuit. He reached the final of the Australian Open and the semis of all the other Grand Slams. Add to that a few titles and it's been ok. However, these is an underlying feeling that at present he is not getting closer to winning a Grand Slam. Whether that is simply due to three certain players being simply better than him or Murray's mental frailities who knows, but you sense until he wins a Grand Slam he will not be worthy of the the Sports Personality trophy.
Andrew Strauss - Really!
Not sure leading a succesful test side justifies a nomination in a Sports Personality award. As per any captain in a team, you do lead by example and that means performing to the highest levels yourself, and i'm afraid in the case of Strauss he did not perform to nearly as high a level as his colleague Alastair Cook this year.
I think you can safely say women have made a worthy point. The likes of Rebecca Adlington, Kerry Anne Payne and Chrissie Wellington should be there with at least a chance of winning the spoils. Editors, what the hell were you thinking!
The furore this has caused amongst British female sports stars has created several column inches in those exact publications that created the nominations for the Sports Personality of the Year. Of course in 2011 their question is, why on earth is a woman not nominated in one of the most prestigious awards of the sporting calendar?
There are of course two questions that need answering here, the first one being for own satisfaction.
Firstly why in the god name's hell is the award entitled Sports Personality of the Year? For anyone who witnesses this event every December, they would know that this award has absolutely nothing to do with personality. It is purely as simply a measurement of sporting achievement for the year. Why pretend it is anything but?
Secondly, i'm the sort of person who is of the belief that irrespective of whether you are are sportsman or sportwoman, if your nomination for an award is merited then fair play to you, you have earned the right to be lauded by the Great British public. I personally think it is an insult to women to simply have a nomination for an award purely because of their gender. If their sporting achievement justifies recognition however, that's a whole different kettle of fish.
Which leads us neatly to the runners and riders for the 2011 Sports Personality of the Year. I have placed these gentlemen in three particular categories.
1) Merited - 100% - No arguments if you see them standing with a Sports Personality trophy in their arms.
2) The Jury is Out - Can't see them lifting the trophy, but they've had a reasonable sporting year.
3) Really! - Why on earth were they nominated?
Mark Cavendish - Merited
The Manx man became the first British man to win the Tour De France Green Sprinter Jersey in 2011, taking his overall career number of stage wins to 20. He then went on to win the World Road Race title in Denmark. Pretty good year by anyone's standards really.
Darren Clarke - Merited
The Northern Irish golfer delighted sports fans around the world with is victory at the British Open this year, after years of often emotional toil on the tour, especially during time his late wife Heather became ill. If this was purely about personality then Darren Clarke would win hands down. Who can forget Guiness O'Clock.
Alastair Cook - Merited
The fact of the matter is that this year thanks to Cook scoring a gazillion runs in test cricket, England have had an almightily successful year in test cricket. He wasn't bad leading the side as Captain in his first series in One Day International Cricket against India. Less said about his first overseas tour in this position the better.
Luke Donald - Really!
No denying this fella is a great golfer and his consistent results have meant he has become World Number One golfer, but he hasn't won a major yet, and that is what you he will be remembered for at the end of his career, not the fact he won the BP Open in Ohio (made that up by the way, but i'm sure you catch my drift).
Mo Farah - Merited!
Impressive is what can be described as Mo Farah's season. A World Championship Gold Medal in the 5000 metres, and literally metres away from achieving a golden double in the 10,000 metres.
Dai Greene - Merited!
This 400 metres hurdler carried on his success of 2010, by beating an impressive line-up to win Wold Championship Gold in Daegu, Korea this year.
Amir Khan - The Jury's Out
It cannot be denied that after a shaky start to his professional career, Amir Khan is going from strength to strength having unified the World WBA and IBF Light Welterweight crowns. For Amir to reach the next level, he may well have to step up in weight to Welterweight where the likes of Floyd Mayweather awaits. Rather him than me and i'll personally hand him the award if he is successful.
Rory McIlroy - Merited!
What a year for the young Northern Irish golfing star. Having had in anyone's parlons a nightmare on the final day at the US Masters at Augusta, he then proceeded to leave the rest of the field out of sight at the US Open a few months later to win his first major. Added to consistent results and victories throughout the course of the season, McIlroy is now on the tails of Luke Donald for the Number one spot.
Andy Murray - The Jury's Out
You could argue Murray has had a pretty decent season on the tennis circuit. He reached the final of the Australian Open and the semis of all the other Grand Slams. Add to that a few titles and it's been ok. However, these is an underlying feeling that at present he is not getting closer to winning a Grand Slam. Whether that is simply due to three certain players being simply better than him or Murray's mental frailities who knows, but you sense until he wins a Grand Slam he will not be worthy of the the Sports Personality trophy.
Andrew Strauss - Really!
Not sure leading a succesful test side justifies a nomination in a Sports Personality award. As per any captain in a team, you do lead by example and that means performing to the highest levels yourself, and i'm afraid in the case of Strauss he did not perform to nearly as high a level as his colleague Alastair Cook this year.
I think you can safely say women have made a worthy point. The likes of Rebecca Adlington, Kerry Anne Payne and Chrissie Wellington should be there with at least a chance of winning the spoils. Editors, what the hell were you thinking!
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