Well firstly blog readers I think I've learnt that I may well be in love with the Tahitian international football team, but that's a story for a bit later.;
The fact of the matter is blog readers that the sporting week has had very little to do with my love for random things, and more to do with myself, and no doubt millions of others, pondering the answers to several questions such as:.....................
1) Does Novak Djokovic think he is the luckiest man alive who happens to play tennis rather well and is currently residing in the Wimbledon area?
Well put it this way, when we are in an tennis era where four male players are clearly head and shoulders above the rest of world in terms of ability, Novak Djokovic has probably performed several rain dances to the tennis gods this week, thanking them for the fact he more than likely would not come accross Murray, Federer or Nadal over the other side of the net until a Wimbledon Final. In fact Djokovic's biggest opponent for 6 matches at Wimbledon could possibly be complacency.
2) If Gus Poyet and Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club represented a marriage, would they be heading for the divorce courts right now, due to irreconcilable differences?
This question comes about after Gus Poyet, performing pundit duties for the BBC's coverage of the Confederations Cup in Brazil, was informed by the BBC that Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, the club he has managed since 2009, had issued a statement saying they have terminated his contract after a disciplinary hearing, but he does have a right to appeal. Now Poyet, speaking on the BBC coverage, claims he wasn't personally informed of this actual decision by any means of communication, which the club actually deny. If it is correct what Poyet says, Brighton and Hove Albion haven't exactly acted with a great deal of class in this situation. In fact it's tant amount to issuing divorce proceedings to your husband/wife by means of a communique to the entire world.
3) Does the England Cricket Team have the ability to think outside the box when it comes One Day International Cricket?
I must confess odd thoughts have been racing through my brain whilst watching England during the ICC Champions Trophy taking place in England and Wales these past two weeks. I was delighted they reached the final of the tournament which ended with them playing India in the final today. The trouble was even though England had reached the final, I still didn't think they had a hope in hell's chance of actually winning the damn tournament. Was it because of their opponents. Well yes that is partially true. India were actually outstanding during this tournament and deserved their victory today. Duncan Fletcher yet again has done the business and he has the makings of a great team, especially in the shorter formats of the game.
What bothered me somewhat about England had far more to do with their plans when it came to batting. Apart from a two brief cameos with the bat by Bopara, England trotted along (if you pardon the pun) at the same pace during most innings. There was virtually no thinking outside the box. There was zero speculating meaning minor accumulating. England for the most part were too safe, and relied heavily on the fact they did have one of the better bowling attacks in the entire tournament. When they eventually had to come out of their shells today, and really bat well, they completely lost the plot and seemed to decide the best way to deal with the situation was for both batsmen to end up at the same end. England seem to have lost their Mojo, their vibrancy when it comes to batting in the one day game. Where's KP when you need him? Oddly enough scoring a bucketload of runs in a County match.
4) Should Tahiti being playing in the Confederations Cup or any other world tournament?
Absolutely 100% categorically YES! Forget the fact Tahiiti have been on the end of severe pumellings by Uruguay and Spain particularly during the Conferderations Cup. What has iritated me for years and years now is that on every continent except Oceania, there is always a representative who has automatically qualified for a World Cup tournament though winning a qualifying group, yet if you play in the Oceania group you have to go into a play off to qualify for the World Cup. How the hell are the likes of the Tahitis of this world able to improve their performance and quality of their play unless they can play against the better teams of this world. Tahiti may have been the whipping boys of this tournament, but let me tell you they have won thousand of friends around the world for the courage, passion, pride in representing their country. The experience of playing against the best team in the world can only serve to help improve their football and learn how to be better. Surely that is most important?
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Rafael Nadal, Seeded No.5 for Wimbledon 2013. Is someone having a giraffe?
Forgive my cockney East London undertones blog readers, but is anyone finding it quite bizarre that Rafael Nadal is likely to be seeded No.5 in the men's draw as he sets out on his 2013 Wimbledon campaign next week?
Now I accept the fact that as it stands Rafael Nadal is ranked No.5 in the world based on the vagaries of the ATP Ranking system. Obviously having an enforced 7 month lay off with a serious knee injury hasn't helped Rafa's cause. Then there is of course a small matter of Rafa's performance at Wimbledon last year, which we now know was probably largely due to the fact Rafa could barely stand on his legs, let alone return Lukas Rosol's missiles that day.
If we assess Rafa's performance since he has returned to grace the tennis courts around the world back in February this year however, a defence lawyer representing the ATP Ranking Systems would likely struggle to present a case in a court of law justifying Rafa's current No.5 ranking, based on Rafa's performance alone.
Let's assess the facts:
1) Since returning to the ATP Tour back in February, Rafa has won 43 matches and only lost 2.
2) He has won 8 titles and has been a finalist in the two other tournaments he has competed in.
3) Just over a week ago he won the French Open Grand Slam title for the 8th time, making him the first male to achieve that feet in any Grand Slam tournament.
4) Rafa is the first player on the tour to qualify for the end of season ATP World Tour Finals at the O2
If that's the form of the no.5 ranked player of the world, I reckon the my jaw should drop to the floor in astonishment at the peformance of the no.1 ranked player of the world. Now I grant you the current World No.1 Novak Djokovic's play has on many occasion left my jaw dropping to the floor in astonishment, but Novak's current match record this year is 30 victories, 5 loses, and 3 tournament wins.
What seems even funnier is the fact David Ferrer, the finalist of the French Open this year went up the rankings following his fantastic run to the final this year. Who did he overtake in those rankings? You've guessed it! The now No.5 ranked player in the world Rafael Nadal, whom Ferrer happened to lose to in the French Open final.
All this simply highlights the ludicrousness of the ATP Ranking System at times. A player is not rewarded for the here and now, but is very much dependent on the past as well and the defending of ranking points.
We now have to face the fact Rafa could be playing Novak, Andy or Roger in the Quarter Final of Wimbledon, assuming they all make it to that round. I'm sure Rafa's adversories are overjoyed by the prospect of playing Rafa before the semi-finals of a tournament. I reckon we should probably all settle down that day for a night under the Wimbledon roof. No doubt we will have fun watching a match between Rafa and any of his three main adversories, but you couldn't help but think at the back of your mind that a quarter final seems too early.
Now I accept the fact that as it stands Rafael Nadal is ranked No.5 in the world based on the vagaries of the ATP Ranking system. Obviously having an enforced 7 month lay off with a serious knee injury hasn't helped Rafa's cause. Then there is of course a small matter of Rafa's performance at Wimbledon last year, which we now know was probably largely due to the fact Rafa could barely stand on his legs, let alone return Lukas Rosol's missiles that day.
If we assess Rafa's performance since he has returned to grace the tennis courts around the world back in February this year however, a defence lawyer representing the ATP Ranking Systems would likely struggle to present a case in a court of law justifying Rafa's current No.5 ranking, based on Rafa's performance alone.
Let's assess the facts:
1) Since returning to the ATP Tour back in February, Rafa has won 43 matches and only lost 2.
2) He has won 8 titles and has been a finalist in the two other tournaments he has competed in.
3) Just over a week ago he won the French Open Grand Slam title for the 8th time, making him the first male to achieve that feet in any Grand Slam tournament.
4) Rafa is the first player on the tour to qualify for the end of season ATP World Tour Finals at the O2
If that's the form of the no.5 ranked player of the world, I reckon the my jaw should drop to the floor in astonishment at the peformance of the no.1 ranked player of the world. Now I grant you the current World No.1 Novak Djokovic's play has on many occasion left my jaw dropping to the floor in astonishment, but Novak's current match record this year is 30 victories, 5 loses, and 3 tournament wins.
What seems even funnier is the fact David Ferrer, the finalist of the French Open this year went up the rankings following his fantastic run to the final this year. Who did he overtake in those rankings? You've guessed it! The now No.5 ranked player in the world Rafael Nadal, whom Ferrer happened to lose to in the French Open final.
All this simply highlights the ludicrousness of the ATP Ranking System at times. A player is not rewarded for the here and now, but is very much dependent on the past as well and the defending of ranking points.
We now have to face the fact Rafa could be playing Novak, Andy or Roger in the Quarter Final of Wimbledon, assuming they all make it to that round. I'm sure Rafa's adversories are overjoyed by the prospect of playing Rafa before the semi-finals of a tournament. I reckon we should probably all settle down that day for a night under the Wimbledon roof. No doubt we will have fun watching a match between Rafa and any of his three main adversories, but you couldn't help but think at the back of your mind that a quarter final seems too early.
Friday, 7 June 2013
Traffic Wardens, Soggy Bottoms, French Kids Auditioning for the X Factor & Interesting Interpretations of the Spanglish Language - My French Open Tennis Experience
Yes blog readers, the Blogathonrunner has been on an excursion to France this past week to check out the sports spectator experience from a different "international" perspective. For example, do the French attempt to bankrupt you, when you simply want to buy a burger and fries at a venue? When you stand in a queue for a particular service at a French sporting venue, do you lose the will to live from standing in exactly the same spot for ten minutes? Are staff at French sporting venues friendly and helpful or are they simply jobsworths with the inability to apply common sense to any given situation?
What better way to find out the answer to such questions, than to find out for yourself. With this in mind, the Blogathonrunner set off with a good friend for a day trip to the French Open Tennis at Roland Garros, where we had tickets for the 2nd show court Suzanne Lenglen, on the first Thursday of the tournament.
Now it should be pointed out at this stage that the Blogathonrunner and friend had been in Paris since the previous Monday doing what tourists essentially do, and quite frankly the weather had been pants. In fact we looked at the weather forecast for the Thursday, in fear we may require a boat to transport us round Roland Garros.
Thankfully however, as we made our way to Roland Garros on the Thursday, it wasn't actually raining, so seeing some tennis was a distinct possibility. Positivity was running through our veins. Forward the clock on 8 or 9 hours so towards the end of that Thursday, it is safe to say we were feeling a mixture of positivity, negativity, depression (largely at the weather), amusement, bewilderment and probably a few other emotions in between.
So what is the Blogathonrunner's verdict on the Roland Garros experience. Well if I was a School Teacher writing a school report, it would probably read along the lines of "Good, but could do better". So here it is the Blogathonrunner's Roland Garros School Report.
Rain
One thing is for certain, Roland Garros organisers cannot be held responsible for the atrocious weather we encountered on the day we attended the tournament. It's not as if they have a hotline to mother nature where they can request sunny weather for the entire tournament. The rain left us all totally frustrated and led some to send amusing Spanglish texts such as "Esta f***ing raining again". All things said and done, the organisers did their best to ensure spectators saw as much tennis as humanly possible that day. Possibly not wise however, to allow media to conduct interviews on court after matches, when the next shower is just around the corner wanting to make an appearance.
Food
If I said I purchased a mozzarella & tomato salad, packet of crisps, a mini cheese cake, bottle of water and a Kit Kat and it came to 20 Euros, need I really say more. I can buy my weekly shopping at the supermarket for only slightly more than that price. Anyway, yes it does seem to be an international phenomenon that sporting venues try to bankrupt you, when you are simply buying lunch. On the positive side good variety food for the gastronomists of the world.
Does anyone know the way to Roland Garros?
When the Blogathonrunner's friend purchased tickets for Roland Garros, she was informed by organisers that if travelling to Roland Garros by Metro and you have tickets for Suzanne Lenglen court, it would be better for you to get off at Boulogne-Jean-Jaures station. First part of the journey equation easily done, and then it gets bizarrely complicated. We exited Boulogne-Jean-Jaures station with a Roland Garros sign pointing in the appropriate direction. After that we may as well been in the middle of the Sahara Desert. The Blogathonrunner, friend, and several disciples we appeared to have attracted on the way, were looking for one god damn sign for Roland Garros. Eventually the sign came from a Traffic Warden of all people, who gave us some encouragement in that we were walking in the right direction and we got their in the end. Ironically we returned to a different station on our way back to our temporary holiday home, and there were signs on the street pavement pointing you in the right direction of Roland Garros. Go figure!
Roland Garros Staff
More or less no complaints whatsoever about the French Open Staff. They were very friendly and helpful all day and spoke English perfectly well and had the uncanny knack of recognising that you were English even when you attempted to speak French. What was rather strange was the fact that staff didn't seem to have the ability to think on their feet after long rain delays. To enter the Suzanne Lenglen court, you have to go up a flight of stairs wherever you happen to be sitting. These flight of stairs are separated into two lanes by a bannister. Now when play is occurring it does make sense to have a lane for people going into the stadium and a lane for people exiting the stadium. However when virtually thousands of spectators are returning to the court after a long rain break, does it not make sense for both lanes to go upstairs for a little while. Noooooooo! That would be too much like common sense.
Queues
Roland Garros needs more toilets! In our infinite wisdom, the Blogathonrunner and friend thought it would be a good idea to go to the toilet before play started after a long rain delay. We found one of the toilet entrances in the dungeons of Suzanne Lenglen court, but we began to think it was of those places you went into, got lost, and struggled to find your way out of again. It took us so long to get to the loo, we actually missed the covers coming off court, the players warming up, and Gregor Dimotrov achieving a break of serve in his match in the process.
Stadium Seats
The courts really do need folding seats if there is no roof overhead. It is seriously advisable to purchase a large packet of Kleenex or waterproof seat cover, if it rained as much as it did that Thursday. I went through a big packet of Kleenex trying to wipe the excess water off my seat. Even though, you couldn't really avoid that damp feeling if you know what I mean.
Things that were simply annoying full stop
There were two things that really annoying because that's the sort of tennis spectator I am blog readers.
The first revolved around some French staff working in a "Boutique" underneath. I think because they were cold and miserable due to the weather, they decided to create an audition tune for the French X Factor. The only problem was they were auditioning all flipping day long. You could even hear them in the stadium when players were on court.
The second revolved around the bag that held all the products I purchased at the Boutique. It simply disintegrated after an hour in the rain. I went in another Boutique and was leaving a trail of purchased products behind me on the floor. I'm all for recycling but please have better quality paper bags thank you.
Oh, one more annoyance. Only got to see Rafa warm up for his match and it poured down with rain for the final time. I wasn't angry at all!!!!!
Overall Assessment
Roland Garros, all said and done, is not a bad sporting tournament at all. It does suffer from the fact in terms of size, it is the smallest of the Grand Slam tournaments. The trouble is, the popularity of the tournament and tennis is increasing by the bucket load every year. If it wants to become more successful it will need to grow and improve facilities in terms of spectator experience, particularly on those horrendous days when the skys open.
As the Australian Open and Wimbledon have highlighted, keeping these tournaments as outdoor summer tournaments is an essential ethos as to why they have been so successful in recent years. The Grand Slams are a business with a product to sell, however, with increasingly unpredictable weather appearing on doorsteps of countries throughout the world, having roofs on stadiums is essential for spectators and television viewers around the world and ensures a smoother running tournament in terms of scheduling. That is why the Australian Open and Wimbledon are a few light years ahead of their sister tournaments in Paris and New York at the moment.
Roland Garros has a lot going for it. Fingers crossed it continues to move in the right direction.
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What better way to find out the answer to such questions, than to find out for yourself. With this in mind, the Blogathonrunner set off with a good friend for a day trip to the French Open Tennis at Roland Garros, where we had tickets for the 2nd show court Suzanne Lenglen, on the first Thursday of the tournament.
Now it should be pointed out at this stage that the Blogathonrunner and friend had been in Paris since the previous Monday doing what tourists essentially do, and quite frankly the weather had been pants. In fact we looked at the weather forecast for the Thursday, in fear we may require a boat to transport us round Roland Garros.
Thankfully however, as we made our way to Roland Garros on the Thursday, it wasn't actually raining, so seeing some tennis was a distinct possibility. Positivity was running through our veins. Forward the clock on 8 or 9 hours so towards the end of that Thursday, it is safe to say we were feeling a mixture of positivity, negativity, depression (largely at the weather), amusement, bewilderment and probably a few other emotions in between.
So what is the Blogathonrunner's verdict on the Roland Garros experience. Well if I was a School Teacher writing a school report, it would probably read along the lines of "Good, but could do better". So here it is the Blogathonrunner's Roland Garros School Report.
Rain
One thing is for certain, Roland Garros organisers cannot be held responsible for the atrocious weather we encountered on the day we attended the tournament. It's not as if they have a hotline to mother nature where they can request sunny weather for the entire tournament. The rain left us all totally frustrated and led some to send amusing Spanglish texts such as "Esta f***ing raining again". All things said and done, the organisers did their best to ensure spectators saw as much tennis as humanly possible that day. Possibly not wise however, to allow media to conduct interviews on court after matches, when the next shower is just around the corner wanting to make an appearance.
Food
If I said I purchased a mozzarella & tomato salad, packet of crisps, a mini cheese cake, bottle of water and a Kit Kat and it came to 20 Euros, need I really say more. I can buy my weekly shopping at the supermarket for only slightly more than that price. Anyway, yes it does seem to be an international phenomenon that sporting venues try to bankrupt you, when you are simply buying lunch. On the positive side good variety food for the gastronomists of the world.
Does anyone know the way to Roland Garros?
When the Blogathonrunner's friend purchased tickets for Roland Garros, she was informed by organisers that if travelling to Roland Garros by Metro and you have tickets for Suzanne Lenglen court, it would be better for you to get off at Boulogne-Jean-Jaures station. First part of the journey equation easily done, and then it gets bizarrely complicated. We exited Boulogne-Jean-Jaures station with a Roland Garros sign pointing in the appropriate direction. After that we may as well been in the middle of the Sahara Desert. The Blogathonrunner, friend, and several disciples we appeared to have attracted on the way, were looking for one god damn sign for Roland Garros. Eventually the sign came from a Traffic Warden of all people, who gave us some encouragement in that we were walking in the right direction and we got their in the end. Ironically we returned to a different station on our way back to our temporary holiday home, and there were signs on the street pavement pointing you in the right direction of Roland Garros. Go figure!
Roland Garros Staff
More or less no complaints whatsoever about the French Open Staff. They were very friendly and helpful all day and spoke English perfectly well and had the uncanny knack of recognising that you were English even when you attempted to speak French. What was rather strange was the fact that staff didn't seem to have the ability to think on their feet after long rain delays. To enter the Suzanne Lenglen court, you have to go up a flight of stairs wherever you happen to be sitting. These flight of stairs are separated into two lanes by a bannister. Now when play is occurring it does make sense to have a lane for people going into the stadium and a lane for people exiting the stadium. However when virtually thousands of spectators are returning to the court after a long rain break, does it not make sense for both lanes to go upstairs for a little while. Noooooooo! That would be too much like common sense.
Queues
Roland Garros needs more toilets! In our infinite wisdom, the Blogathonrunner and friend thought it would be a good idea to go to the toilet before play started after a long rain delay. We found one of the toilet entrances in the dungeons of Suzanne Lenglen court, but we began to think it was of those places you went into, got lost, and struggled to find your way out of again. It took us so long to get to the loo, we actually missed the covers coming off court, the players warming up, and Gregor Dimotrov achieving a break of serve in his match in the process.
Stadium Seats
The courts really do need folding seats if there is no roof overhead. It is seriously advisable to purchase a large packet of Kleenex or waterproof seat cover, if it rained as much as it did that Thursday. I went through a big packet of Kleenex trying to wipe the excess water off my seat. Even though, you couldn't really avoid that damp feeling if you know what I mean.
Things that were simply annoying full stop
There were two things that really annoying because that's the sort of tennis spectator I am blog readers.
The first revolved around some French staff working in a "Boutique" underneath. I think because they were cold and miserable due to the weather, they decided to create an audition tune for the French X Factor. The only problem was they were auditioning all flipping day long. You could even hear them in the stadium when players were on court.
The second revolved around the bag that held all the products I purchased at the Boutique. It simply disintegrated after an hour in the rain. I went in another Boutique and was leaving a trail of purchased products behind me on the floor. I'm all for recycling but please have better quality paper bags thank you.
Oh, one more annoyance. Only got to see Rafa warm up for his match and it poured down with rain for the final time. I wasn't angry at all!!!!!
Overall Assessment
Roland Garros, all said and done, is not a bad sporting tournament at all. It does suffer from the fact in terms of size, it is the smallest of the Grand Slam tournaments. The trouble is, the popularity of the tournament and tennis is increasing by the bucket load every year. If it wants to become more successful it will need to grow and improve facilities in terms of spectator experience, particularly on those horrendous days when the skys open.
As the Australian Open and Wimbledon have highlighted, keeping these tournaments as outdoor summer tournaments is an essential ethos as to why they have been so successful in recent years. The Grand Slams are a business with a product to sell, however, with increasingly unpredictable weather appearing on doorsteps of countries throughout the world, having roofs on stadiums is essential for spectators and television viewers around the world and ensures a smoother running tournament in terms of scheduling. That is why the Australian Open and Wimbledon are a few light years ahead of their sister tournaments in Paris and New York at the moment.
Roland Garros has a lot going for it. Fingers crossed it continues to move in the right direction.
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