AZ Sporting Memories of 09

We are lucky to be one of the few cities in America that has all 4 professional sports in the area. We've yet to make it to see the Phoenix Coyotes (the NHL Ice Hockey team) but I did get to see some NFL, MLB and NBA games this year. Below are a few pictorial and video sporting memories of 2009 to share with you as we head into the new year...

Tuesday August 11th - Arizona Diamondbacks vs New York Mets - The roof was closed, normal for August in AZ - and we enjoyed baseball in 75f comfort when it was proobably 110f outside. I'd hate to think what the electricity bill must be to keep 50,000 fans cool in a building that size...

We enjoyed great $200 seats behind home plate compliments of Guy and US Airways (I think!); great view, really feel part of the game and waitress service to your seat! Oh, and the Dbacks won 6-2! Enjoy the national anthem on the video below...

Wednesday 12th August - Arizona Diamondbacks vs New York Mets -

The very next day I had booked seats in advance with some friends for the day game. We paid for these ourselves and were therefore much higher up in the stadium. Whilst further from the game, these seats still give you a great overall view...a good way to spend a Wednesday afternoon, although this time they lost 4-6.

Wednesday 11th November - Phoenix Suns v New Orleans Hornets

Andy was visiting from the UK, so we went to take in our first game of the new NBA basketball season at US Airways Center. It was Veterans Day, so there was even more pageantry and patriotism than usual, as well as a flying gorilla at half time! Our luck of home wins contunued as the Suns beat the Hornets easily 124-104.

 

Sunday 15th November - Arizona Cardinals vs Seattle Seahawks

Andy and Ed were visiting from England and they wanted to go and see an NFL game; this is at the University of Phoenix stadium in the city of Glendale, about 45 minutes from us. Again the roof was closed, although I don't know why...it was only about 70f outside... This is a state of the art stadium; the pitch is kept outside and is slid in before the game, allowing players to enjoy real grass whilst playing inside. The Cardinals won...another home victory!

Happy New Year Everybody!

More great football quotes...

Just like a bus, you wait ages and then a few come along at once... here are some more great quotes compiled by ESPNSoccernet... I've listed just a few of my favorites, but take a look at the link at the bottom for a full list...those sensitive to language should read no further...

"A virgin" - October 2007 - Peter Crouch responds to a question about what he would have been if he had not become a footballer. Instead, he ends up with Abbey Clancy (left)... what does she see in the 6 ft 7 inch gangly, not quite handsome millionaire footballer?

"My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment. My greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f****** perch. And you can print that" - September 2002 - Sir Alex Ferguson makes clear his feeling towards United's rivals.

"We call them 'busy c***s' for their endless grumbling about everything in general and nothing in particular. They never stop" - August 2001 - Manchester United defender Jaap Stam secures a move to Lazio as his comment on the Neville brothers in his autobiography reportedly infuriates Sir Alex Ferguson.

"What in heaven's name was f****** Ranieri thinking in bringing Veron on? And I'm sorry, but I f****** think that f****** Desailly is a cheating f***. That was wrong. He's f****** been gone for two and a half years! And instead of playing like an old man and saying, 'All right, I'll f****** stay where I can't get exploited' ... I've always thought that he has no awareness of danger. He is what is known in some schools as a f****** lazy, thick n*****. That is a f****** disgusting performance. Full marks to them, though. They were f****** different class" - April 2004 - Ron Atkinson famously brings an abrupt end to his career as a television commentator/pundit after his racist attack on Marcel Desailly was accidentally broadcast during the coverage of Chelsea's Champions League exit to Monaco.

ESPN Soccernet's quotes of the decade

Great sporting quotes of the decade...

The end of a decade is always great time for reflection; things that you did, things that you said...and perhaps things that you wish you hadn't said...Here are a few of my favorite sporting quotes of the decade...

"He's the only man I know who could start an argument with himself."
Sir Bobby Robson - and his assessment of Craig Bellamy.

Gary Lineker: "So Gordon, if you were English, what formation would you play?"
Gordon Strachan: "If I was English I'd top myself!"
Pundit Gordon Strachan showed just why the BBC hired him for Euro 2004.

"I've had a text from granny - she's going to throw a party for you!"
What Prince Harry told England Rubgy star Mike Tindall after they had won the Rugby World Cup.

"I went to the bank the other day and got a standing ovation."
England rugby player Jason Leonard on how life changed after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup

"He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right."
George Best's verdict on David Beckham.
 
"At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football."
Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers NFL quarterback, during a tear-filled February 2008 news conference. Five months later, he reported to camp with the Packers, who then traded him to the New York Jets, for whom Favre started 16 games. 

"It's time to leave."
Brett Favre, in a February 2009 conference call to announce his next retirement. Six months later, he signed a 2 year deal with the Minnesota Vikings.

"To put it in gentleman's terms, if you've been out for a night and you're looking for a young lady and you pull one, you've done what you set out to do. We didn't look our best today but we've pulled. Some weeks the lady is good looking and some weeks they're not. Our performance today would have been not the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi. She may not have been the best looking lady we ended up taking home but it was still very pleasant and very nice, so thanks very much and let's have coffee."
QPR boss Ian Holloway came up with the quote of the century to describe his team's lacklustre performance against Chesterfield that resulted in a win.
 
For more quotes, go here Quotes of the Decade Part 1

100 Best Sports Photos - Part 3

If you've been waiting, here's part 3 of the 100 best photos of the year...

Monks playing volleyball in Bhutan is pretty unexpected! Oh, and if you can't tell, that's me in #15 - I love bog snorkelling!

100 Best Sports Photos - Part 3

Golf Digest Latest News

Golf Digest Latest News

Elin Nordegren moved to the top of the money list on the PGA tour today after "beating" the world's #1 golfer. The win came after the top golfer played the wrong hole.

Sorry, couldn't resist!!

Are you D Wanka?

Happy Boxing Day!

Came across this today; the worst football kits of the decade.

I think the point about the tight fitting Italy shirts is very appropriate and I can see why thousands of shirts from a little known Peruvian side were sold in England.  "Everyone in Britain seems to think we have a funny name," a Deportivo Wanka spokesman told The Sun. "It is very strange."

10 Worst Kits of the Decade

A bit of World Cup fun for Christmas Day

Castrol, one of FIFA' s World cup sponsors have launched a cool little website. You plug in the country you're interested in and it will give you various stats on how likely certain match-ups are or your team's chances of winning the WC based on the likely opposition and World Rankings...

So for example it gives England a 90% certainty of getting out of the group, 59% chance of getting to the Quarters, a better than 1 in 3 chance of getting to the Semi's and a 10.4% chance of winning the World Cup next year...We'll see...

It also suggests that the match against the USA is vital; if England come second in their group they will have to beat Germany, then Argentina, then Spain, then Brazil to lift the trophy... By winning the group they can avoid the Germans and the Argies...

It's just a bit of fun I'm sure, but it should keep you occupied while the relatives are snoozing on the couch after your Christmas dinner...Happy Christmas everyone!

http://www.castrolfootball.com/predictor/

The greatest football games of the Decade

This time of year there are a lot of great articles out there...especially when you come to the end of another decade! This one takes a look at the writer's opinion of the 10 greatest games of football of the decade. Not surprisingly there aren't any England international matches featured...perhaps when reviewing the 2010s in 10 years time, England's  fantastic 6-3 demolition of Brazil in the 2010 World Cup Final will be featured...you read it here first folks...  

The greatest games of the decade

An Ode to Tiger...

I can't claim to have written this very amusing poem; it appeared in my inbox so who knows where it originated...funny though...and the rhyming pentameter is spot on! 

Twas the night of Thanksgiving and out of the house
a Tiger came flying, chased by his spouse.
She wielded a nine iron and wasn't too merry
Coz a bimbo's phone number was in his Blackberry.

He'd been cheatin' on Elin, and as the story progressed
Woman after woman stepped up and confessed.
He'd been cheatin' with Holly, Jaime, and Cori,
With Jocelyn and Kali-ka...The world had a story.

From the top of the Tour to basement of blues,
Tiger's sordid tale was all over the news.
With Hostesses, waitresses, he had lots of Sex,
When not in their pants, he was sendin' them texts.

Despite all his crying and beggin' and pleadin',
Tiger's wife went investing, a new home in Sweden.
She was heard to exclaim from her white Escalade,
"If you're getting laid, then I'm getting paid."

Now she's not pouting, she's of jolly good cheer
Her pre-nup made Christmas come early this year!

Ze Germans are coming...

So Michael Schumacher, 7 time F1 World Champion, is back in the hot seat having signed up to drive for Mercedez Benz in next year's Formula 1 World Championship.  The German, who turns 41 on 3 January, was unveiled at the Mercedes factory in Northamptonshire.

Schumacher has signed a three-year deal with Mercedes. He will partner compatriot Nico Rosberg in the team that won the drivers' and constructors' titles in 2009 in its former guise as Brawn. Schumacher will reportedly earn £6.2m after three years of retirement.

The man who dominated Formula 1 for a decade is reuniting with Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, who masterminded all seven of Schumacher's titles, the first two with Benetton in 1994-5 and the subsequent five with Ferrari from 2000-4.

The question is can Schumacher at 41 years old perform at the same level as he did when he was in his 20s and 30s?  I imagine he feels he can; I'm pretty sure he's not in it for the money...He's joining a team with a winning pedigree - this is the same team that brought Jensen Button his first World Championship in 2009 - and he certainly has the experience.  And looking at this video, physically he doesn't look much different to ten years ago...swine...

This will also be a shot in the arm for Formula 1; Schumacher will bring to Formula 1 what 'Tiger' brought to the PGA, just hopefully without all the ladies....

Citeh? You're having a laugh...

So picture this... you give a man as much money as he wants, allowing him to buy the best available players from around the footballing world (which totalled about £200m); you agree a performance target of a Top 6 finish and around 70 points for the season...and then...you sack him! 

What's that all about? Sometimes the actions of Premier League football clubs are laughable.  Manchester City currently lay 6th in the Premier League table (on target); if they win their next 2 games (likely, as they are vs Stoke & Wolves) they will be at the halfway point of the season and have exactly 35 points (on target). They are in their first Cup semi final for over 20 years where they face Man Utd in January. A reasonable man might think 'So far so good' right? Obviously not. There are few reasonable men running the boardrooms of Premier League football clubs these days. 

Hughes spent nearly £200m on players during his 18-months at the helm, including a record-breaking British transfer fee of £32.4m on Robinho. He also spent heavily on Gareth Barry (£12m), Roque Santa Cruz (£16m), Tevez (£25m), Adebayor (£25m), Kolo Toure (£15m) and Lescott (£22m). It would have been considerably more had outrageous bids for Kaka, Terry and Eto' been accepted...

I think Barry and Tevez were good signings, but the others came with special Arab billionaire price tags...and have not yet proved their worth. But he's not been sacked because of poor transfers.  

City released a statement in which Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak 'explained' the club's decision  "The targets were agreed as a result of the player acquisition strategy of the club being radically accelerated in the summer. A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set. Sheikh Mansour and the board felt that there was no evidence that the situation would fundamentally change."

Now admittedly a run of 7 consecutive draws is problematic when you're pushing for a top 6 finish, but on the other hand, whist they've drawn too many games, City have only lost 2 matches this season - a last minute heartbreaker to Utd *smile* and a fairly significant trouncing by Spurs last week. That's fewer games lost than anyone else in the league!!  When they are where they wanted to be (top 6) and on track for their points target (plus a semi final against their nemisis), how can the evidence suggest that Hughes was doing anything other than what he was contracted to do?   

This is another instance of a multi-billionaire owner throwing his toys out of the pram because they weren't top of league and running away with it. Ask Sir Alex Ferguson...it takes a long time to get to the top...

The question is, can Roberto Mancini do any better? He has been out of football for 18 months since Inter Milan sacked him and replaced him with Jose Mourinho last summer. He did do very well in Italy, but that is no guarantee of success in the Premier League...Only time will tell..

One thing is for certain though...the timing is such that Mancini will be able to spend another fortune in the upcoming January transfer window! Watch out for an influx of Italians to Manchester!  

The 100 Best Sports Photographs of 2009 - Part 2 - Big Shots - Boston.com

As promised here's batch number 2 of the 100 best sports photographs of 2009. Not that I think 'Office Chair Racing' is an officially recognised sport - well maybe it is in Germany...check out number 17!  But to be fair to the Germans, neither is 'Stilton Cheese Rolling' - check out #16...

The 100 Best Sports Photographs of 2009 - Part 2 - Big Shots - Boston.com



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The Tiger Woods Commemorative Plate Collection

Now this is funny...Order now...Get yours today...!

Boys and their toys...

This is quite an interesting video, if you're into cars...and football. Ever wondered what cars some of the biggest soccer stars in the world drive ? Now I'm sure most of them have more than one, so we don't need to delve too deeply into the accuracy of this, but I have 2 questions - What was Allesandro Del Piero thinking? And did David Beckham simply buy the Aston Martin because he though the DB7 was named after him??

The 100 Best Sports Photographs of 2009 - Part 1 - Big Shots - Boston.com

I came across these today; a 4 part series of some of the most striking photographic sports shots of the year... what I like about them is the randomness of the sports covered...from Sand Surfing in Egypt to the Rural Olympics in India.  My favourite of this batch is number 19...

This is part 1; the others will follow in the coming days...

The 100 Best Sports Photographs of 2009 - Part 1 - Big Shots - Boston.com

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"I could see she was a big girl, round and strong."

Now you know there are some things that you should never say to a woman; so next time your wife asks you if that dress makes her look...shapely...don't use that quote as your answer.

This story is amazing; and given what weightlifters must subject their bodies to, we can only hope the surprise arrival grows up to be "big, round and strong".

Olympic Weightlifter Unexpectedly Gives Birth During Training Session - Incredible Health - FOXNews.com

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No Tiger, no refund for Match Play event north of Tucson

OK, sorry I've been out of commission the last few months...lots of things go on which kept me away...but I found this little snippet interesting...

Golf really is a one man draw at the moment, and this might be an ongoing issue for them until Tiger stops night putting and get's back to his day job...

No Tiger, no refund for Match Play event north of Tucson

At a fight, when a game broke out...

Often a fight between 2 baseball teams is just a lot of 'dancing', but that wasn't the case last night at a game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium...towards the end of this video you'll see the Toronto pitcher has a sizable lump on his forehead...

The Yankee manager, Joe Girardi, is in the middle of it all, apparently trying to split it all up; he ended up with a black eye and a cut face for his troubles. Can you imagine Sir Alex Ferguson jumping in when trouble brews on the football pitch!?

The 'benches clearing' incident is actually pretty healthy for a club if no-one gets hurt; it shows the guys that the team will stand up for one other and 'have their backs', promoting a sense of unity and good team spirit as the Yankees head towards the Play-offs and hopefully another World Series Championship...

This all started because 2 Toronto hitters had been hit earlier in the game by Yankee pitchers...apparently accidentally. However, the Toronto team obviously didn't believe they were accidental, as this Toronto pitcher throws the ball behind the Yankee hitter (Jorge Posada) as a warning; eventually all hell breaks loose! The Yankees lost the game, but won the fight...judging by the lump on the head of the guy that started it!

It's a minute or so into the video before things heat up, so watch and learn how baseball is played...but it's not a good example for your kids in Little League...

Daylight robbery in Manchester upsets Frenchman

Now let me make this clear - I support Manchester United; but even I can say that Utd's 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday was daylight robbery! Not unusual in Manchester may I add!

Did the best team on the day win? No, absolutely not. But Arsenal have no-one to blame but themselves, and in particular their culpable goalkeeper and centre back. The first for a needless foul that gave away a penalty and the second for the most calamitous own goal you'll see this season...Did Utd deserve to win...? No not in a million years, but win they did.

But really, do Arsenal ever lose without an excuse or a reason why the world is against them? Their manager "Arsene Whinger" (Wenger), perhaps the most accurate nickname ever, has really come up with a doozy this time - his latest claim is that Utd are 'anti-football'. Shock horror! Is this the same Utd whose sparkling brand of football has entertained and brought countless trophies to Old Trafford in the last 15 years?

The Gunners' boss launched a thinly veiled attack on United midfielder Darren Fletcher, who he claims is in the team purely to make tackles. Excuse me, but isn't that the most important part of a defensive central midfielder's role?! Admittedly Paul Scholes could never be accused of that, but his is a different job! Thankfully! Patrick Viera, Roy Keane, Nicky Butt, Phil Neville - tackling is/was at the heart of their game - what is he talking about!!!!!!!!!!!? It's well known that his 'girls' 'don't like it up 'em', to coin a wonderful English phrase, but really anti-football...? Perhaps, if Arsenal had a tackling midfielder then they may have won a trophy in the last 5 years...And I don't really like Darren Fletcher anyway - they can have him! He's not Utd class in my book.

Don't get me wrong, I think Arsenal have been playing some fantastic football this year; and with Arshavin, Fabregas and Rosicky, they have perhaps the most talented (if slightly lightweight)midfield in the country. But seriously, can Wenger once not just lose gracefully; after 12/13 years in the Premier league he really is starting to piss me off!

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=672333&sec=england&cc=5901

"Money money money, must be funny in a rich man's world!"

So John Terry has just signed a new 5 year deal with Chelsea for a reported 150,000 Pounds a week - so multiply that by 52 weeks and by $1.60 and you get $12.5m salary; add some endorsements, sponsorships and it probably comes out to, let's say, $20m a year - considering he earned $18m last year, I think he was due a rise don't you?

So anyway, all this talk of big bucks got me to thinking how that compares to the highest earning sportsmen in the world...So where else do you go but to Forbes for such fascinating information! Take a look there are lots of interesting lists on there... www.forbes.com/business/sportsmoney/

Now while all these numbers are undoubtedly large, let's put it all in perspective shall we? Let's take Tiger Woods for example; Nike alone are responsible for more than $30m of Tiger's $110m income. $110m a year is more than $2.1m a week or $302k a day, or $12,600 an hour. What do you get paid an hour? So Tiger could buy our house after a day's work (if you call Golfing work!)...not bad at all. And that is in a year where a knee injury took his prize money income down from $25m to $5m! Poor thing!

The interesting thing is that there are no representatives from the most valuable sporting league in the world - the National Football League. The NFL is the richest sport in the world. The reason: No other league has so successfully exploited new stadiums as the NFL during the past decade. Each of the top 10 most valuable teams plays in a modern stadium, or will by 2010.

Yes, England's best football team, Manchester United, is still the most valuable team in the world ($1.8 billion), but there are only four soccer teams (Real Madrid, Arsenal and Liverpool are the others) worth over $1 billion. The NFL now has 19 teams worth that much, compared with five last year and none five years ago. But the highest paid NFL player, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, earned (just!) $27.7m thanks to a salary cap which only allows teams to spend a set amount of their income on player salaries - an idea being touted for the Premier League in England. Mind you that's about $1.5m a game, so poor Ben is not doing too bad!

The Forbes list of the highest-paid athletes looks at earnings derived from salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and licensing income between June 2008 and June 2009 and does not deduct for taxes or agents' fees. Overall, the top 20 earned $789 million, down 1% from last year. The cutoff to make the list was $30 million.

• Tiger Woods - $110m - Golf
• Kimi Raikonnen - $45m - Formula 1
• Kobi Bryant - $45m - NBA Basketball
• Michael Jordan - $45m - Basketball (Retired!)
• David Beckham - $42m - Soccer
• Lebron James - $40m - NBA Basketball
• Phil Mickelson - $40m - Golf
• Manny Pacquiao - $40m - Boxing
• Valentino Rossi - $40m - Motorcycling
• Dale Earnhardt Jr - $34m - Nascar
• Roger Federer - $33m - Tennis
• Shaquille O'Neal - $33m - NBA Basketball
• Oscar De La Hoya - $32m - Boxing
• Lewis Hamilton - $32m - Formula 1
• Alex Rodriguez - $32 - Baseball
• Vijay Singh - $31m - Golf
• Kevin Garnett - $30m - NBA Basketball
• Jeff Gordon - $30m - Nascar
• Derek Jeter - $30m - Baseball
• Ronaldinho - $30m - Soccer

Here's a thought, while I've been looking into all this for this blog, Tiger's just banked another $20k...Anyway, I'm off to look down the back of the sofa for a few bucks to go shopping, so don't feel too bad for poor John Terry not making the list!

Who wants to be Gary Neville?

This story broke a couple of years ago, but I've only just stumbled across it now...so apologies if you've already seen it...

Imagine a football squad made up of the likes of Henry, Kaka, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Carragher, Cafu, Essien, Gerrard, Terry, Messi, Rooney, Van Nistelrooy, Casillas...You might think it's Real Madrid on another spending spree, but no, this team plays its football in the lowest division of the Coronation League in Birmingham. It's not Manchester City is Lynam Athletic, named after everyones favourite sports broadcaster, Des Lynam...

Lynam Athletic were losers...they finished dead last in the South Birmingham Sunday League last year and they'd had enough. They were going to be winners. So they transferred leagues - evidently a lot easier for a Sunday League team than for Celtic & Rangers who'd like to do the same - and decided they needed a new identity. So, one by one, they changed their names by deed poll. If you're not familiar with the term, that means they have legally taken on these new names. They need new passports, new driving licences, new bank accounts - everything!

So Darren Yeomans became Thierry Henry, Kevin Alban became Cristiano Ronaldo, Majid Ali became Ronaldinho. Out went Jon Barber, Paul Blears, Dan Branch, Darryl Brown, Marc Clifton, Connor Edgcumbe, Ian Flatt, Chris Gray, Pete Hall, Nick Hall, Neil Kimpton, Andrew Mullan, Jon Robins and Ben White. In came Jamie Carragher, Dani Alves, Cafu, Michael Essien, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Iker Casillas, Fabio Cannavaro, Hernán Crespo, Petr Cech and Wayne Rooney. A team of world-beaters if ever there was.

They chose their names according to the position they play, and all players had to have played in the Champions League to qualify...Paul Blears plays right back and the only right-backs he could think of were Dani Alves and Gary Neville ... He chose Dani Alves saying "who wants to be Gary Neville?"

Class! If only we'd done this at Westbury Wanderers a few years back!!

Ashes to Ashes...

Approaching the end of day two in the final test match and England have a real good chance of beating the Aussies in the deciding 'winner takes all' game.

Unfortunately, having been mainly disappointed by English cricket for the last 30 years, I'm not yet in a position to start celebrating! So many times England have managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory; and with so much time still to play (3 days) against the 'don't know when they're beaten' Australians, we won't really know where we stand for a day or two yet.

For Americans reading this, it won't mean much...but imagine if Baseball was truly an international game, where nations regularly played against each other (Think the World Baseball Classic, but taken seriously...) in series' with over 100 years of history. Think Yankees v Red Sox on an international scale, with national passions not local rivalries stirring the pot.

So let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that these scenes can be repeated next week... at the moment I'm about 50/50!

"It's just not British..."

Here's a story that caught my eye - Bloodgate. If you don't follow British sport, and in particular Rugby, you may have missed this one.

Dean Richards, a legend of English rugby, was banned from coaching for 3 years after accepting responsibility for a 'fake' blood injury by his team Harlequins against Leinster in a Heineken Cup tie in April. Long story short, it was a close game and winger Tom Williams faked injury to allow fly-half Nick Evans, a drop goal specialist, to return to the field late in the game. The laws of Rugby allow for a substituted player to return to the game as cover for an injury...

The 'quins physio (now working with England...well not any more I guess) has been banned for 2 years and Williams 4 months. These are pretty substantial bans, plus the club has been fined over £259,000 or more than $400,000 which is a significant amount for a Rugby club.

The greater realisation that this is a wider issue - Cheating is such a dirty word - has now hit the IRB (International Rugby Board) and the RFU (English Rubgy Football Union) who will no doubt be keeping a closer eye in the future. And the old saying that 'cheats never prosper' held true, as Leinster held on to win the game 6-5 and ultimately won the whole competition.

Here's the view of former England player, and now TV pundit, Jeremy Guscott

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8207752.stm

And we're off...

It always amazes me how quickly the first day of the Premier League season comes around...and every year it seems to get quicker! I think that is more a symptom of getting older than a shorter off-season!

I'm a little short of time today, but I thought I'd get in a few predictions and we can see where we fall short next May...

Premier League Champions - Chelsea

FA Cup Winners - Arsenal

League Cup Winners - Tottenham

Champions League Winners - Barcelona

I don't see Man Utd winning the league for a 'fourth' (thanks Gary) year...I haven't seen enough yet to show me that they won't miss the spark, energy and creativity of Ronaldo...but I hope to be proven wrong. I think Chelsea will get their stuff together with Ancelotti, but I think Liverpool missed their chance last year. Man City could sneak into 4th ahead of Arsenal...

Oh yes, and Bristol City will finish 7th in the Championship - just missing the play-offs again...

I'd be intrigued to see your thoughts...

"There's only one Bobby Robson"

Sir Bobby Robson died today after a mammoth 18 year battle with 5 types of Cancer. First diagnosed in 1991, he beat bowel cancer in 1992, a malignant melanoma in 1995 and a tumour in his right lung and a brain tumour, both in 2006.

It's not often that England has a truly good English England Manager; in fact with possible exception of Terry Venables, they've pretty much all sucked since 1990 when Bobby Robson left the job to join PSV Eindhoven.

The defining moment of Sir Bobby's 8 year tenure as England manager came on July 4th 1990, that World Cup Semi Final, when those of my generation got as close as we've ever come to seeing England in a World Cup Final...when we lost agonizingly on penalties to Germany.

He was also manager at the 1986 World Cup when England lost 2-1 to Argentina with the infamous 'Hand of God' goal making the difference; after which he was quoted as saying - "It wasn't the hand of God," ... "It was the hand of a rascal. God had nothing to do with it".

You could claim that England had little luck under his management - when both of those games could be described with an "if only..." His legend would have been far greater if the ref had spotted that handball in 1986, or if his players had been able to score penalties in 1990...

Fittingly, Sir Bobby was honored in his final days; nice to see someone honored in life, not just in death. Just last Sunday he made his final public appearance at a charity match at his beloved St James' Park in Newcastle on Sunday. 30,000 people showed up...

An England side, featuring Alan Shearer and several members of the 1990 World Cup squad including Paul Gascoigne and Peter Shilton, played a repeat of the 1990 World Cup semi-final, but this time beat a Germany team 3-2. FYI - Shearer scored the winner in Sunday's friendly, from the penalty spot. If only that had been the result 19 years ago...

Close your eyes, listen to Nessun Dorma on this video, and it'll take you back to that summer of what might have been...

Just Perfect!

There are somethings that happen very rarely in sport, like a hole in one or an undefeated season; today perhaps the rarest of sporting feats was achieved in Chicago when Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox pitched a 'perfect' baseball game. 'Big deal' I hear being cried from the other side of the Atlantic...well let's put this achievement in perspective for those who don't know the game.

Baseball is played over a long and gruelling season. Teams play 162 games in the regular season (i.e. before the play-offs) in the space of 180 days. So that's only 18 days off (and a 'day off' may include a 5 hour flight from NY to LA for the next game) in 6 months. That means there are 2430 games played each season between the 30 MLB teams; if you count the playoffs it's getting up towards 2500 games a year.

The last time a perfect game was thrown was in May 2004 by then Arizona Diamondback pitcher Randy Johnson. So that's about 12,500 games since it last happened. Only 19 'perfect games' have been thrown in the history of Major League Baseball, and that's around 140 years, depending on which date you believe the 'league' was formed. So there have probably been somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 games of Major League Baseball since the league's inception...the fact that this has happened only 19 times tells you what a rare feat it is...only nine times in my lifetime.

So for international readers, just what is a 'Perfect game'?

According to Wikipedia, a 'perfect game' is defined as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any other reason—in short, "27 up, 27 down".

I can't think of an equivalent feat in another sport...maybe a cricketer bowling for 2 or 3 hours without giving up a run, a wide or a no-ball?? Never happens, so maybe even that isn't a good comparison. So even if you don't like or follow, or even understand baseball, you can probably imagine that Mark Buehrle is certainly enjoying a career defining moment, even as he flies from Chicago to Detroit for the next series of games, having joined a very exclusive club.

It must also be a thrill when the sitting President is a White Sox fan, as Obama demonstrated at the All Star game just last week when throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in his White Sox jacket; President Obama called Buehrle after the game to congratulate him on his perfect day. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama told Buehrle: “It was an unbelievable achievement, something that everyone will always remember.”

President Obama throws first pitch at the MLB All-Star game
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Money can't buy you love...

There's obviously something about Manchester City Football club that does not appeal...

Now as a typical Man Utd fan (i.e. someone not from Manchester!) I don't feel a natural animosity to Man City, as perhaps I would Bristol Rovers (also being a Bristol City fan raised in Bristol), so it's not a biased opinion. But has anyone else noticed that no-one seems to be that keen to go to Eastlands, no matter how much money is on offer?

City have so far spent £55m signing Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez - decent players certainly, but hardly the 'Galactico's' that they were after! £200k a week not enough for Kaka; £250k a week appears not to be enough for John Terry. Emanuel Adebayor seems to be on his way from Arsenal, but really that's no big shakes...

Executive chairman Gary Cook insists that players coming in are an investment for the future; he wants Man City "to become the darling of world football." He added: "I think Man City has a strong heritage in the world of football, particularly in England. We've become the focus of attention, most definitely in the past 12 months."

That will happen when you spend £150 million in 12 months and still have a first 11 team that reads...

1 Shay Given

2 Wayne Bridge

3 Micah Richards

4 Richard Dunne

5 Pablo Zabaleta

6 Shaun Wright-Phillips

7 Gareth Barry

8 Stephen Ireland

9 Robinho

10 Carlos Tévez

11 Roque Santa Cruz

I don't know about you, but I don't think the likes of Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea will be too concerned - they might give Arsenal a run for their money, but when you consider the current Real Madrid squad (with my choice of first 11 highlighted in yellow) (and look at the names left out!) who do you think will be the 'darlings of World football' in the coming years? Not sure if they'll win anything though...I'll still put my money on Utd...

Goalkeepers
Casillas
Dudek
Defenders
Salgado
Pepe
Ramos
Albiol
Marcelo
Torres
Heinze
Metzelder
Garay
Midfielders
Javi García
Drenthe
Diarra
Gago
Lass
Guti
Parejo
De la Red
Sneijder
Van der Vaart

Forwards

Cristiano Ronaldo
Kaka
Robben
Raúl
Benzema
Van Nistelrooy
Higuaín
Huntelaar

Explaining cricket to a foreigner...

So 2 years have come around again and, if you follow cricket, it's time for the most anticipated few months on the cricketing calendar. The Ashes - A 5 match battle between the Australians and England, that the Australians typically win! Held every 2 years, Australia won the last Ashes battle in 2007, played Down Under, and England won the last series here in England in 2005. Prior to that I think the Australians had held the Ashes for about 20 years!

Bearing in mind that I might have some Americans reading this, I thought a quick explanation of the rules of cricket may be in order... Pay attention, I may be asking questions!

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. With me so far?

When they are all out, the side that's out, comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. You wonder why it takes 5 days to play?

There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game. Get it, good!

Here's a little animated snapshot that may help you understand the history of this great sporting rivalry... Enjoy

World's largest press conference

This article on American sports blogging site http://www.deadspin.com/ provides an interesting "American" take on Ronaldo's crowning at Real Madrid this week...I especially like some of the comments that follow it...

http://deadspin.com/5309191/cristiano-ronaldo-stars-in-worlds-largest-press-conference

Has Formula 1 hit rock bottom?

Has Bernie Ecclestone driven another nail into the coffin of Formula 1?

Ecclestone, who owns the commercial rights to Formula 1, is no stranger to controversy. He once said women should dress in white "like all other domestic appliances." In fact he probably craves the coverage to boost his net worth; after all the PR gurus say there is no such thing as bad publicity.

But Formula 1 has indeed suffered enough bad publicity recently; the internal squabbling, the financial issues. Personally I lost interest in Formula 1 during the procession of the Michael Schumacher years, when the very dull German won the championship for what seemed like 25 years in a row. So my facts may be a little out, but the sport does need revitalizing and I think that has been accepted.

As sport in general has become more global, with the media injecting money left right and centre, sport has to re energise itself to keep the public interest, to stop viewers selecting other channels, to keep them buying tickets and stop them spending their money elsewhere. Take Twenty20 cricket as an example. Something had to be done to save domestic cricket, especially in the UK, and this new and improved format is bringing kids back to the sport.

The future of Formula 1 depends on the public, the kids; not Ferrari, Marlboro or other big business. Because if people aren't watching and buying merchandise, then the sponsors will soon disappear...something Mr Ecclestone would do well to remember before making comments like these...

nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/31734969/ns/sports-motor_sports/

Maybe it's because I'm English...

...but I'm really struggling to like Andy Murray...!

As 'Murray Mania' continues (the hype was bad enough with Henman, who never really had a shot to win it!) I'm doing my best to get enthusiastic and excited about Murray's prospects of being the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936. But whenever I see him interviewed I always feel like I want to punch him in the face...He is the absolute antithesis of Beckham - A PR man's nightmare...

There was something about Tim Henman that was likeable; maybe it was the fact that our wish for him to win Wimbledon (or anything!) was based more on hope than expectation. He seemed a genuinely nice guy who was "alright" at tennis. We enjoyed the roller-coaster of 4 Wimbledon semi-finals (without ever progressing to the final), the agony of him somehow managing to steal defeat from the jaws of victory. But he did it with a smile on his face; and there was something terribly English about that - a little celebratory fist-pump for a point well-played was as excited as Henman got.

Murray undoubtedly has more talent than Henman; ranked number 3 in the world (Henman and Rusedski (wasn't he Canadian?) only ever made #4 I think) and having beaten Federer the last 3 or 4 times they've met, he has a real chance to win - especially with Nadal out! But is he likeable? Every interview I've seen (and maybe I've missed the good ones?) he seems to be a typical 'dour' Scotsman. No offence!

His recent 'image' adjustment has helped; he now looks less like an extra from the Gibson movie Braveheart, and more like a poster boy tennis player. But for someone who reportedly stands to make $160 million/£100 million if he does the 'unthinkable' and wins Wimbledon on Sunday, you'd think he'd smile a bit more. Maybe he will relax if he wins it!

I'm sure the 'bandwagon' has been well and truly crushed from the weight, but I was watching a crowd interview from 'Murray Mount' on ESPN, where 2 youngish lads (13/14 I'd guess) were asked what they thought of Murray? 'He's alright, I guess.. but he's Scottish ain't he!'

And maybe that's where I struggle. As an English sports fan, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish were always the enemy no matter what field or court they played on - Rugby, Football, Cricket, Tiddlywinks. I spent 3 years at university in Wales, where the Welsh would cheer on anyone who was playing against the English... even the Germans, the Argentines or the bloody Australians! Come on now...really! So perhaps I've been twisted by that anti-English bitterness, but you know it's the same with the Scots...

So although 'Tiger Tim' left us English disappointed and emotionally drained, I can't imagine they were drowning their sorrows on the streets of Glasgow when he lost, so why are we going crazy about the possibility of a Scotsman winning in London? That said, come Sunday I'm sure I'll be watching and probably cheering him on...just so we can do away with this '1936' thing!