Athletics must fight to keep No.1 status
ASK people to list their favourite Olympic memories and the vast majority will inevitably include athletics. Daley Thompson, Kelly Holmes, Bob Beamon, Cathy Freeman, Coe and Ovett – track and field moments dominate the proceedings.
For how much longer, though? Athletics has always been the No.1 Olympic sport, but in the eyes of the British sporting public the traditional hierarchy could be turned on its head if the GB athletics team fail to deliver in Beijing.
Britons in other sports have come out firing on all cylinders during the first few days of the Games. As I write this, Nicole Cooke has become Britain’s first “gold pedallist” of 2008 and her team-mates in the GB cycling squad are expected to continue the medal rush this weekend when the action in the velodrome begins.
Elsewhere, in the pool earlier this week Rebecca Adlington became Britain’s first Olympic women’s swimming champion for almost half a century. British cyclists, swimmers, rowers, sailors, triathletes and boxers will only be stronger in 2012, too.
So the message is clear to British track and field athletes this coming week. You’d better get winning, or athletics’ status as the premier Olympic sport will be under serious jeopardy.
Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts
Sunday, August 17, 2008
And he's dome it!
Michael Phelps wins another gold today to bring his total to 8!
Greatest swimmer ever!
Greatest Olympian ever!
Greatest athlete ever?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Stabbing in Beijing............
The father of a former American Olympian was stabbed to death while sightseeing in Beijing with his wife on Saturday, stunning tourists and local residents.
A knife-wielding man attacked the two U.S. tourists at a popular Beijing attraction, killing Todd Bachman, the father of volleyball 2004 Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman.
Elisabeth Bachman's mother, Barbara, was also attacked. She survived but suffered life-threatening injuries and is in hospital. The Bachmans' tour guide was also injured and taken to hospital.
The Bachmans are the in-laws of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, their daughter Elisabeth's husband.
Their attacker, a Chinese national, committed suicide after the incident. He threw himself off the second level of the Drum Tower, a 13th century structure about eight kilometres from the main Olympic site.
"For all intents, it appears to be a random attack by a deranged man," an American member of the International Olympic Committee, Jim Easton, told The Associated Press.
"The only thing we've heard is they were not identifiable except for a small volleyball pin which would probably be invisible to a guy."
American tourist Lynn Ledford said she hoped the incident did not take away from China's hospitality.
"I hope something like this doesn't end up being a stain on how China has been to us," she said.
Denise Carpenter, a Canadian tourist visiting the area, said Beijing was no less safe than any other major city.
"It doesn't matter if you're in Beijing or Toronto or London," she told CTV News. "Things like this are going to happen and you just have to be careful."
The attacks have devastated the U.S. volleyball team.
"They are deeply saddened and shocked," Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee said.
Team member Logan Tom broke down crying while discussing the attack.
"God, we all love Wiz," she said. "It's hard to put it in words. That's not something that's supposed to happen."
The midday attack is considered particularly shocking because violent crime against foreigners is rare in China, although Canadian model Diana O'Brien, 22, was murdered in Shanghai a month ago. Security in Beijing itself has been further tightened for the Olympics.
Xinhua, China's official news agency, identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Interpol told AP that Tang appears to have been recently divorced. The news service reported he had not been seen by relatives for two months.
With a report by CTV's Lisa LaFlamme in Beijing and files from The Associated Press
Which Canadian won the most medals at a single Games?
Test yourself
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Host country China wins two gold medals
Several Canadians have solid days in Beijing
Sports psychologists help Olympians cope
Video
CTV News: Lisa LaFlamme on the fatal knife attack
document.write(format_clip_duration('00:02:02.00')); // see common.js
2:02
CTV News: Steve Chao reports on the Olympic protests
document.write(format_clip_duration('00:01:34.00')); // see common.js
1:34
A knife-wielding man attacked the two U.S. tourists at a popular Beijing attraction, killing Todd Bachman, the father of volleyball 2004 Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman.
Elisabeth Bachman's mother, Barbara, was also attacked. She survived but suffered life-threatening injuries and is in hospital. The Bachmans' tour guide was also injured and taken to hospital.
The Bachmans are the in-laws of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, their daughter Elisabeth's husband.
Their attacker, a Chinese national, committed suicide after the incident. He threw himself off the second level of the Drum Tower, a 13th century structure about eight kilometres from the main Olympic site.
"For all intents, it appears to be a random attack by a deranged man," an American member of the International Olympic Committee, Jim Easton, told The Associated Press.
"The only thing we've heard is they were not identifiable except for a small volleyball pin which would probably be invisible to a guy."
American tourist Lynn Ledford said she hoped the incident did not take away from China's hospitality.
"I hope something like this doesn't end up being a stain on how China has been to us," she said.
Denise Carpenter, a Canadian tourist visiting the area, said Beijing was no less safe than any other major city.
"It doesn't matter if you're in Beijing or Toronto or London," she told CTV News. "Things like this are going to happen and you just have to be careful."
The attacks have devastated the U.S. volleyball team.
"They are deeply saddened and shocked," Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee said.
Team member Logan Tom broke down crying while discussing the attack.
"God, we all love Wiz," she said. "It's hard to put it in words. That's not something that's supposed to happen."
The midday attack is considered particularly shocking because violent crime against foreigners is rare in China, although Canadian model Diana O'Brien, 22, was murdered in Shanghai a month ago. Security in Beijing itself has been further tightened for the Olympics.
Xinhua, China's official news agency, identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Interpol told AP that Tang appears to have been recently divorced. The news service reported he had not been seen by relatives for two months.
With a report by CTV's Lisa LaFlamme in Beijing and files from The Associated Press
Which Canadian won the most medals at a single Games?
Test yourself
Related Stories
Host country China wins two gold medals
Several Canadians have solid days in Beijing
Sports psychologists help Olympians cope
Video
CTV News: Lisa LaFlamme on the fatal knife attack
document.write(format_clip_duration('00:02:02.00')); // see common.js
2:02
CTV News: Steve Chao reports on the Olympic protests
document.write(format_clip_duration('00:01:34.00')); // see common.js
1:34
Michael Phelps ~ What an athlete!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Phelps ~Athlete Profile
On track to win 8 golds in the Beijing games!!!!!
Set four individual world records and won seven gold medals at the 2007 World Championships to become the winningest athlete in World Championship history.
In 2004, became first athlete ever to win eight medals (six gold) at a non-boycotted Olympic Games.
His eight medals tie 1980 USSR gymnast Alexandr Dityatin for most medals by an athlete in a single Olympics.
2003 Sullivan Award winner, becoming the 10th swimmer to be honored as the top amateur athlete in the country.
Only man to win five U.S. National titles at the same Championships.
Only man to ever win a U.S. National title in three different strokes at one national championship.
Youngest male Olympian since 1932 (2000 Olympics).
Youngest man (15 years, nine months) to set a world record, breaking 200m fly mark at the 2001 Spring Nationals.
Earned the award for Swimmer of the Year for a third time in 2004.
2004 - Gold 100m FL, 200m FL, 200m IM, 400m IM, 400m MR, 800m FR-R; Bronze 200m FR & 400m FR-R
On track to win 8 golds in the Beijing games!!!!!
Set four individual world records and won seven gold medals at the 2007 World Championships to become the winningest athlete in World Championship history.
In 2004, became first athlete ever to win eight medals (six gold) at a non-boycotted Olympic Games.
His eight medals tie 1980 USSR gymnast Alexandr Dityatin for most medals by an athlete in a single Olympics.
2003 Sullivan Award winner, becoming the 10th swimmer to be honored as the top amateur athlete in the country.
Only man to win five U.S. National titles at the same Championships.
Only man to ever win a U.S. National title in three different strokes at one national championship.
Youngest male Olympian since 1932 (2000 Olympics).
Youngest man (15 years, nine months) to set a world record, breaking 200m fly mark at the 2001 Spring Nationals.
Earned the award for Swimmer of the Year for a third time in 2004.
2004 - Gold 100m FL, 200m FL, 200m IM, 400m IM, 400m MR, 800m FR-R; Bronze 200m FR & 400m FR-R
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Frankie Gavin leaves the Olympics
Even before the competition starts, our most promising of young hopefuls Frankie Gavin is leaving the Olympics. This superb boxer with a quality of performance which made him a certainty for a medal ~ probably a gold ~ has received a knock-down punch without even getting in the ring.And the problem is not drugs, nor fitness but the simplest of things ~ getting his weight right for the competition.
He has weighed in too heavy for the division!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I ask you.....can you believe this? We send an athlete, a brilliant boxer to the Games and the coaching staff can't even enter him for the appropriate weight devision and/or can't prepare him to fight at that weight.
The mind boggles!!!!!!!!!!
Frankie Gavin ~ Weighs up his Future!
What Gadget does Frankie Gavin need more than any other?
Gavin fails in Games bid ~ British Gold Medal hope to miss Beijing after failing to make lightweight limit!
Gavin: Out of the Olympics
Frankie Gavin's Olympic dream is over after the world champion failed to make the lightweight limit. The 22-year-old had been one of Team GB's big gold medal hopes in Beijing having become Britain's first ever world amateur champion in Chicago in November.
However, Gavin had only boiled down to the 60kg division having campaigned at light-welterweight - even winning the European Amateur Championships at 64kgs in June. It was hoped he could drop down again for the Olympics. However having stayed at the Great Britain holding camp in Macao in a desperate bid to lose the final few pounds ahead of Friday's weigh-in, I’m afraid all his attempts were in vain.
So, the British Olympic Association faced with an overweight boxer, has now decided to pull Gavin out of the event with the Birmingham boxer still short of the limit. Terry Edwards, Gavin’s Olympic coach said, “It is the nature of our sport that we try and get our boxers to the top of their weight and it has been well documented that Frankie has struggled with this over recent months”.
So what does Gavin need ~ apart from a more alert Coach?
If Gavin’s a "gadget" person, he might appreciate the Tanita BC554 Ironman Innerscan Body Composition Monitor Elite (*est. $130) .
This pricey digital scale measures weight, body fat, body water, muscle mass, bone mass, metabolic age, visceral fat, physique rating and daily calorie intake. By the user's programming in age, gender, height, current weight and activity level, the Innerscan can calculate accurate measurements. The weight capacity is 330 pounds and the scale measures in pounds, kilograms and stone. Useful for a coaching staff that seems to have a very limited ability to read anything.
The scale can store data for up to four people. So, appropriate for the GB Boxing team which is around that number and getting smaller each day. The Innerscan also has a guest mode for visitors and an athlete mode for those on a rigorous fitness regimen. For most people this scale is probably overkill. Owner opinion is mixed, but mainly positive. A few owners complain that there really isn't a manual to show you how to use all the various features.
So what does Gavin need? ~ His very own Digital scale and a manual for the coaching staff.
Gavin fails in Games bid ~ British Gold Medal hope to miss Beijing after failing to make lightweight limit!
Gavin: Out of the Olympics
Frankie Gavin's Olympic dream is over after the world champion failed to make the lightweight limit. The 22-year-old had been one of Team GB's big gold medal hopes in Beijing having become Britain's first ever world amateur champion in Chicago in November.
However, Gavin had only boiled down to the 60kg division having campaigned at light-welterweight - even winning the European Amateur Championships at 64kgs in June. It was hoped he could drop down again for the Olympics. However having stayed at the Great Britain holding camp in Macao in a desperate bid to lose the final few pounds ahead of Friday's weigh-in, I’m afraid all his attempts were in vain.
So, the British Olympic Association faced with an overweight boxer, has now decided to pull Gavin out of the event with the Birmingham boxer still short of the limit. Terry Edwards, Gavin’s Olympic coach said, “It is the nature of our sport that we try and get our boxers to the top of their weight and it has been well documented that Frankie has struggled with this over recent months”.
So what does Gavin need ~ apart from a more alert Coach?
If Gavin’s a "gadget" person, he might appreciate the Tanita BC554 Ironman Innerscan Body Composition Monitor Elite (*est. $130) .
This pricey digital scale measures weight, body fat, body water, muscle mass, bone mass, metabolic age, visceral fat, physique rating and daily calorie intake. By the user's programming in age, gender, height, current weight and activity level, the Innerscan can calculate accurate measurements. The weight capacity is 330 pounds and the scale measures in pounds, kilograms and stone. Useful for a coaching staff that seems to have a very limited ability to read anything.
The scale can store data for up to four people. So, appropriate for the GB Boxing team which is around that number and getting smaller each day. The Innerscan also has a guest mode for visitors and an athlete mode for those on a rigorous fitness regimen. For most people this scale is probably overkill. Owner opinion is mixed, but mainly positive. A few owners complain that there really isn't a manual to show you how to use all the various features.
So what does Gavin need? ~ His very own Digital scale and a manual for the coaching staff.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
American cyclists apologise!!!
Beijing Olympics: American cyclists apologise for 'smog masks'
Four American cyclists who arrived at Beijing Airport with their faces covered by black respiratory masks have been forced to apologise to the Beijing Olympic organising committee (BOCOG).
By Simon Hart Last Updated: 12:51PM BST 06 Aug 2008
Controversy: Michael Friedman was one of four US cyclists who arrived in Beijing wearing a black respiratory mask. Photo: Reuters
"Those athletes regret that action and have written an apology to BOCOG on their own behalf," said Jim Scherr, chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee. "They now realise and understand how their actions were perceived by the host nation and by the organising committee".
He added: "It probably wasn't the most opportune time for these athletes to wear these masks. They were overly cautious."
Images and TV footage of the four riders - Mike Friedman, Sarah Hammer, Bobby Lea and Jennie Reed - were beamed all over the world on the day the International Olympic Committee went on the front foot on the subject of Beijing's pollution problem by claiming it had been exaggerated by the media.
The cyclists were later summoned to a meeting with the US Olympic Committee's head of sport, Steve Roush, where they agreed to apologise to their Chinese hosts.
Roush said: "Unfortunately, you never want to go to somebody else's place and cause any embarrassment, but in this case I think they did."
One of the four, track cyclist Lea, said that he and his colleagues had not intended to make a statement or protest about the air quality.
"We didn't realise the impact that wearing the masks would have," he said. "From our standpoint it was to take care of a perceived health risk. In reality it came across as offensive. We don't want to insult BOCOG or the Chinese public."
Sherr said that around 200 of the 596-strong American team had been issued with masks through their governing bodies but he believed improvements in the air quality in Beijing would mean they would not have to use them.
He added: "We would not prevent athletes if they want to wear a mask and feel it is in their best interests to do so. It is their right to do so."
The city remained covered with a murky haze for the third successive day today, with temperatures reaching a stifling 34C, though the official Air Quality Index rating of 85 was a slight improvement on the previous day.
A BOCOC spokesman said: "The conditions are not unfavourable at the moment and my understanding is that we are not going to be taking any extra measures."
Four American cyclists who arrived at Beijing Airport with their faces covered by black respiratory masks have been forced to apologise to the Beijing Olympic organising committee (BOCOG).
By Simon Hart Last Updated: 12:51PM BST 06 Aug 2008
Controversy: Michael Friedman was one of four US cyclists who arrived in Beijing wearing a black respiratory mask. Photo: Reuters
"Those athletes regret that action and have written an apology to BOCOG on their own behalf," said Jim Scherr, chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee. "They now realise and understand how their actions were perceived by the host nation and by the organising committee".
He added: "It probably wasn't the most opportune time for these athletes to wear these masks. They were overly cautious."
Images and TV footage of the four riders - Mike Friedman, Sarah Hammer, Bobby Lea and Jennie Reed - were beamed all over the world on the day the International Olympic Committee went on the front foot on the subject of Beijing's pollution problem by claiming it had been exaggerated by the media.
The cyclists were later summoned to a meeting with the US Olympic Committee's head of sport, Steve Roush, where they agreed to apologise to their Chinese hosts.
Roush said: "Unfortunately, you never want to go to somebody else's place and cause any embarrassment, but in this case I think they did."
One of the four, track cyclist Lea, said that he and his colleagues had not intended to make a statement or protest about the air quality.
"We didn't realise the impact that wearing the masks would have," he said. "From our standpoint it was to take care of a perceived health risk. In reality it came across as offensive. We don't want to insult BOCOG or the Chinese public."
Sherr said that around 200 of the 596-strong American team had been issued with masks through their governing bodies but he believed improvements in the air quality in Beijing would mean they would not have to use them.
He added: "We would not prevent athletes if they want to wear a mask and feel it is in their best interests to do so. It is their right to do so."
The city remained covered with a murky haze for the third successive day today, with temperatures reaching a stifling 34C, though the official Air Quality Index rating of 85 was a slight improvement on the previous day.
A BOCOC spokesman said: "The conditions are not unfavourable at the moment and my understanding is that we are not going to be taking any extra measures."
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Best Chinese athletes.
Pressure On Chinese Athletes Liu Xiang And Yao Ming
Peter Parks
Liu Xiang electrified China when he won the 110-meter high hurdles in Athens, becoming the first Chinese male athlete to win a gold medal in track. He became a huge national sports hero, right up there with NBA basketball star Yao Ming.But he's been struggling with a hamstring injury — and his world record was shattered by Dayron Robles of Cuba. China, of course, is hoping for a storybook finish, with the trailblazing star capturing a second gold medal in front of the adoring home crowd. But the speedy Robles and Liu's balky hamstring could ruin the storyline.
Yao Ming is just getting back into shape after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot during the past NBA season. The Chinese men's team isn't expected to win a medal. But as the great global crossover star in China, Yao needs to play well for home country pride.
Peter Parks
Liu Xiang electrified China when he won the 110-meter high hurdles in Athens, becoming the first Chinese male athlete to win a gold medal in track. He became a huge national sports hero, right up there with NBA basketball star Yao Ming.But he's been struggling with a hamstring injury — and his world record was shattered by Dayron Robles of Cuba. China, of course, is hoping for a storybook finish, with the trailblazing star capturing a second gold medal in front of the adoring home crowd. But the speedy Robles and Liu's balky hamstring could ruin the storyline.
Yao Ming is just getting back into shape after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot during the past NBA season. The Chinese men's team isn't expected to win a medal. But as the great global crossover star in China, Yao needs to play well for home country pride.
Looking forward to the Olympics
I'm really looking forward to the Olympics ~ after all I've been waiting 4 years since the last one!
I'm sure China will put on a great games ~ their preparation has been meticulous. I have been a China-Observer now for about 10 years and I have watched a nation in the painful process of change and development ~ and so much has changed for the better.
Good Luck China in your Games!!!!!!
I'm sure China will put on a great games ~ their preparation has been meticulous. I have been a China-Observer now for about 10 years and I have watched a nation in the painful process of change and development ~ and so much has changed for the better.
Good Luck China in your Games!!!!!!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Murray wins at Cincy
Murray fights off Djokovic for Cincy title
Mason, OH (Sports Network) - Eighth-seeded Scotsman Andy Murray scored an upset of third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic in a heated battle at the $2.615 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters tennis event on Sunday.
Murray won in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), but the feisty Djokovic forced a tie-breaker in each before Murray ultimately pulled out his third ATP title of the year. It was the sixth title of his career in just his 10th career ATP final. The Scotland native notched victories at Doha and Marseille earlier this year.
Murray pocketed $420,000 for the hard-fought victory.
"I mean, it's huge to win your first sort of major tournament, and to do it in a match like today makes it more special," said Murray. "I've been in the semifinals four times before this week, and lost every time against tough players. This week I played well the whole week, and even though he had the chance to when he get back into the match, I was really happy with the way that I fought and stayed in there. I put in a lot of work off the court to be able to win these sort of tournaments, and it makes it all worthwhile."
Djokovic owned a 4-1 advantage in head-to-head matchups coming into the match including a win this year at Monaco. Murray, however, was victorious in their last meeting, a quarterfinal matchup at the Rogers Cup just two weeks ago.
Murray advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over 16th-seeded Ivo Karlovic in a match that lasted one hour and 21 minutes.
Djokovic ousted second-seeded Rafael Nadal in the semifinals with a shocking 6-1, 7-5 upset of the soon to be No. 1 ranked player on tour. The Serb failed in his bid for a fourth title this season in his 15th career ATP final.
Despite Djokovic's snapping of Nadal's 32-match winning streak, the Wimbledon and French Open champion will dethrone Roger Federer as the No. 1 ranked player on August 18th. Federer has held the top ranking a record 235 consecutive weeks (since February 2, 2004), while Nadal has been No. 2 for a record 158 straight weeks (since July 25, 2005). The last player to rank No. 1 before Federer was Andy Roddick.
Nadal will become just the third Spaniard to take hold of the No. 1 position, joining Carlos Moya (1999) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003).
08/03 20:24:40 ET
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Mason, OH (Sports Network) - Eighth-seeded Scotsman Andy Murray scored an upset of third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic in a heated battle at the $2.615 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters tennis event on Sunday.
Murray won in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), but the feisty Djokovic forced a tie-breaker in each before Murray ultimately pulled out his third ATP title of the year. It was the sixth title of his career in just his 10th career ATP final. The Scotland native notched victories at Doha and Marseille earlier this year.
Murray pocketed $420,000 for the hard-fought victory.
"I mean, it's huge to win your first sort of major tournament, and to do it in a match like today makes it more special," said Murray. "I've been in the semifinals four times before this week, and lost every time against tough players. This week I played well the whole week, and even though he had the chance to when he get back into the match, I was really happy with the way that I fought and stayed in there. I put in a lot of work off the court to be able to win these sort of tournaments, and it makes it all worthwhile."
Djokovic owned a 4-1 advantage in head-to-head matchups coming into the match including a win this year at Monaco. Murray, however, was victorious in their last meeting, a quarterfinal matchup at the Rogers Cup just two weeks ago.
Murray advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over 16th-seeded Ivo Karlovic in a match that lasted one hour and 21 minutes.
Djokovic ousted second-seeded Rafael Nadal in the semifinals with a shocking 6-1, 7-5 upset of the soon to be No. 1 ranked player on tour. The Serb failed in his bid for a fourth title this season in his 15th career ATP final.
Despite Djokovic's snapping of Nadal's 32-match winning streak, the Wimbledon and French Open champion will dethrone Roger Federer as the No. 1 ranked player on August 18th. Federer has held the top ranking a record 235 consecutive weeks (since February 2, 2004), while Nadal has been No. 2 for a record 158 straight weeks (since July 25, 2005). The last player to rank No. 1 before Federer was Andy Roddick.
Nadal will become just the third Spaniard to take hold of the No. 1 position, joining Carlos Moya (1999) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003).
08/03 20:24:40 ET
Powered by The Sports Network.
Vaughan ~ Should have gone earlier!
When one thinks of Vaughan's poor and unspirited recent displays, his inability to see through his own worth to the team and his lack of muscle and consistency as captain, the question to be asked is : Why wasn't he sacked a year ago?
England's results will be better without him dragging the team down!
England's results will be better without him dragging the team down!
Pietersen gets the England job!!
Pietersen appointed England cricket captain
The Associated Press
Published: August 4, 2008
LONDON:
Kevin Pietersen's remarkable career took its latest and arguably most dramatic turn Monday when he was named England cricket captain.
The South African-born batsman will lead England in test, one-day and Twenty20 matches, starting with the fourth test against South Africa this week.
The appointment came a day after Michael Vaughan's sudden resignation and caps a remarkable rise for the 28-year-old Pietersen, who was viewed as the enfant terrible of English cricket when he made his debut against Australia three years ago.
He has since toned down his outspoken comments — and outrageous haircuts — to become one of the team's most reliable members.
"I will always respect what has happened in the past and I will always respect what Michael did and what my predecessors did," Pietersen said. "I will always look for advice because I'm new in this job.
The Associated Press
Published: August 4, 2008
LONDON:
Kevin Pietersen's remarkable career took its latest and arguably most dramatic turn Monday when he was named England cricket captain.
The South African-born batsman will lead England in test, one-day and Twenty20 matches, starting with the fourth test against South Africa this week.
The appointment came a day after Michael Vaughan's sudden resignation and caps a remarkable rise for the 28-year-old Pietersen, who was viewed as the enfant terrible of English cricket when he made his debut against Australia three years ago.
He has since toned down his outspoken comments — and outrageous haircuts — to become one of the team's most reliable members.
"I will always respect what has happened in the past and I will always respect what Michael did and what my predecessors did," Pietersen said. "I will always look for advice because I'm new in this job.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Federer V Nadal at Wimbledon
James Lawton: Why Federer v Nadal was simply the greatest sporting event I've ever seen
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
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Yes, you're right, it could be that the emotion of the moment distorts, and perhaps devalues, the glories of the past. True, also, that all attempts to make some absolute judgement on the superiority of one passage of sport over another are always going to be arbitrary and perhaps easily flawed.
So does this mean we are bound to revisit Wimbledon on Sunday night and concede we might just have got a little carried away when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer fought out what John McEnroe and Rod Laver believe to be the best Wimbledon final anyone has ever seen?
You may think that it needs to be done, if only as a mark of respect to all those who had gone before, men like Laver and Borg and McEnroe and Sampras and, perhaps not least, Goran Ivanisevic, who came as a wild card after three final defeats and distilled all his passion for the game into an unforgettable victory over the formidable Australian Pat Rafter. But then I don't.
Indeed, the stronger inclination is to return to SW19 and hoist a flag or plant a tree and reaffirm that here, on Sunday 6 July 2008, we not only saw the greatest tennis match ever played, we were also given, cleanly, beautifully, the very essence of all that is best in sport and in a way I had never quite seen before and do not confidently expect ever to see again.
Maybe we should try to define the best of sport. It can come in a variety of forms but always it must be underpinned by a purity of effort, a refusal to hold back on anything of yourself, even in the most discouraging circumstances, and when we see this, as we did on Sunday as the day stretched into the night, we can only hope for one ultimate bonus. It is that the competition is so balanced, and so intense and brilliant, that it is only in the very moment of victory that we can draw a line between the victor and the vanquished and that even when this has happened, we know as surely as we have known anything of what we have seen in any sports arena, that if the prospect of defeat had become unbearable the one who suffers the pain of it is not diminished in any eyes but his own.
Who could not say this of Roger Federer after he brought himself back from the possibility of annihilation so superbly that the obituaries being penned even before he stepped on to the Centre Court against his strong and magnificently competitive young challenger were made to seem premature to the point of bad taste?
No, we do not know how Federer will respond over the months to the loss of his Wimbledon title, but it should not be forgotten that, at the age of 26 and after recovering from a bout of glandular fever, he long ago negotiated the challenge that now faces the precocious boy-man from Majorca. It is the one that comes when you have exceeded all your hopes and then wake up one morning wondering about the health of your appetite – and your eagerness to go on repeating all those days of self-sacrifice, of continuing to see your sport as the core of your life. If Roger Federer proved nothing else on Sunday, he did that, and then when you consider the scale of his recovery and the fineness of his eventual defeat and all the searing virtuosity that had preceded it, is it not fatuous to believe that this was the end of something that for so many years was unique?
You could see on the faces of Nadal and Federer how much this match meant to them, both at the start and the finish. Nadal had ecstasy at the end and Federer, it seemed, the deepest resolution to revisit this place and make a different result. Yet even as you speculated on how they would readjust to their new situations, you could not but return to the astonishing inspiration and facility of the tennis they had produced under pressure that, plainly, neither of them had quite felt before.
Nor, when you left Wimbledon, could you ignore the question that beat in your brain and tugged at your heart: had anything you had ever seen of sport before touched you so deeply, not so much in the spectacle of it – though heaven knows it was breathtaking enough – but in the spirit and the conduct and the ambition of the men who made it?
Of course, there are more than a few contenders and perhaps the one which is closest in the intensity of the head-to-head competition, and the profundity of the commitment of both men, is the great world welterweight title fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns in Las Vegas in 1981. It ended in the 14th round and it was titanic. It shifted in turns subtly and violently and you could never be sure of the outcome until Leonard, whose wife Juanita had been crying from ringside, "No more, baby, no more," finished it in the fashion of the street fighter he really was beneath the glitter of dazzling skills.
That fight was great in the way Nadal-Federer was great because when Hearns was taken out of the ring, hanging on the shoulders of two beefy security men and his feet trailing in the dust, you knew that you had just seen two hugely talented men go to the very edge of their ability and their courage.
It was haunting to see Brazil lose to Italy in the Sarria stadium in Barcelona in the 1982 World Cup and some of the images of the game, you knew, would last for ever, Falcao volleying in for an equaliser and Paolo Rossi, lurking like the assassin he was, scoring three goals, but the contest was flawed because the Brazilians lost their discipline and found instead vanity and, unlike Federer, had too many reasons for regret in a shattering defeat.
Sebastian Coe's 1500 metres gold in the Moscow Olympics will always rank high because that too was the result of an extraordinary recovery of will. When earlier he lost in the 800 metres to his fierce rival Steve Ovett, he was so distressed his father and coach Peter had to hold on to him when he left the stadium. He was, at least psychologically, as ravaged as Tommy Hearns.
Yes, when you think about it, there is no shortage of claimants to the high ground occupied by Nadal and Federer.
There was England winning the World Cup as a team in 1966, and Maradona claiming it virtually on his own 20 years later, and England's cricketers, in one shining, lost summer winning back the Ashes in 2005, and Steven Redgrave making Olympic history on a diamond of a morning in Sydney, and Lester Piggott bringing home The Minstrel at Epsom with such conviction that you had to wonder where he found his hauteur and his resolve. Manchester United winning their European Cups, particularly the one that came a decade after Munich and the other prised out of the ether in Barcelona have a place, obviously, as does Tiger Woods winning his first major at Augusta by a mile and his last one in California last month by an inch despite the acute pain from a wounded knee.
Yet, still, the belief here is that there was something unique about what happened on the Centre Court last Sunday.
A lot of it was to do with the balance of the match and how that was recreated only after Federer, who had come over his years as Wimbledon champion to represent so much more than mere versatility, had to remake himself under the gaze of so many who had arrived convinced that it was to see him crack. Well, he didn't crack; he was broken for a while and it was the sight of him recovering his game and his pride that was the most compelling ingredient of all.
Partly this was because it meant that no one could say Rafael Nadal had merely presided over the disintegration of a great player. No, in the end this ferocious and engaging young sportsman was not pushing aside a parody of possibly the most naturally gifted champion tennis had ever seen. He was engaging him on the highest ground their sport had ever occupied, and he was doing it with phenomenal power and skill and application.
The warming effect will certainly last this one lifetime.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Related Articles
Nadal triumph means Federer faces greatest ever challenge
Champion takes a break before setting sights on world No 1 spot
Leading article: Splendour on the grass
Nadal reigns in Spain, despite missing his next tournament
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Yes, you're right, it could be that the emotion of the moment distorts, and perhaps devalues, the glories of the past. True, also, that all attempts to make some absolute judgement on the superiority of one passage of sport over another are always going to be arbitrary and perhaps easily flawed.
So does this mean we are bound to revisit Wimbledon on Sunday night and concede we might just have got a little carried away when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer fought out what John McEnroe and Rod Laver believe to be the best Wimbledon final anyone has ever seen?
You may think that it needs to be done, if only as a mark of respect to all those who had gone before, men like Laver and Borg and McEnroe and Sampras and, perhaps not least, Goran Ivanisevic, who came as a wild card after three final defeats and distilled all his passion for the game into an unforgettable victory over the formidable Australian Pat Rafter. But then I don't.
Indeed, the stronger inclination is to return to SW19 and hoist a flag or plant a tree and reaffirm that here, on Sunday 6 July 2008, we not only saw the greatest tennis match ever played, we were also given, cleanly, beautifully, the very essence of all that is best in sport and in a way I had never quite seen before and do not confidently expect ever to see again.
Maybe we should try to define the best of sport. It can come in a variety of forms but always it must be underpinned by a purity of effort, a refusal to hold back on anything of yourself, even in the most discouraging circumstances, and when we see this, as we did on Sunday as the day stretched into the night, we can only hope for one ultimate bonus. It is that the competition is so balanced, and so intense and brilliant, that it is only in the very moment of victory that we can draw a line between the victor and the vanquished and that even when this has happened, we know as surely as we have known anything of what we have seen in any sports arena, that if the prospect of defeat had become unbearable the one who suffers the pain of it is not diminished in any eyes but his own.
Who could not say this of Roger Federer after he brought himself back from the possibility of annihilation so superbly that the obituaries being penned even before he stepped on to the Centre Court against his strong and magnificently competitive young challenger were made to seem premature to the point of bad taste?
No, we do not know how Federer will respond over the months to the loss of his Wimbledon title, but it should not be forgotten that, at the age of 26 and after recovering from a bout of glandular fever, he long ago negotiated the challenge that now faces the precocious boy-man from Majorca. It is the one that comes when you have exceeded all your hopes and then wake up one morning wondering about the health of your appetite – and your eagerness to go on repeating all those days of self-sacrifice, of continuing to see your sport as the core of your life. If Roger Federer proved nothing else on Sunday, he did that, and then when you consider the scale of his recovery and the fineness of his eventual defeat and all the searing virtuosity that had preceded it, is it not fatuous to believe that this was the end of something that for so many years was unique?
You could see on the faces of Nadal and Federer how much this match meant to them, both at the start and the finish. Nadal had ecstasy at the end and Federer, it seemed, the deepest resolution to revisit this place and make a different result. Yet even as you speculated on how they would readjust to their new situations, you could not but return to the astonishing inspiration and facility of the tennis they had produced under pressure that, plainly, neither of them had quite felt before.
Nor, when you left Wimbledon, could you ignore the question that beat in your brain and tugged at your heart: had anything you had ever seen of sport before touched you so deeply, not so much in the spectacle of it – though heaven knows it was breathtaking enough – but in the spirit and the conduct and the ambition of the men who made it?
Of course, there are more than a few contenders and perhaps the one which is closest in the intensity of the head-to-head competition, and the profundity of the commitment of both men, is the great world welterweight title fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns in Las Vegas in 1981. It ended in the 14th round and it was titanic. It shifted in turns subtly and violently and you could never be sure of the outcome until Leonard, whose wife Juanita had been crying from ringside, "No more, baby, no more," finished it in the fashion of the street fighter he really was beneath the glitter of dazzling skills.
That fight was great in the way Nadal-Federer was great because when Hearns was taken out of the ring, hanging on the shoulders of two beefy security men and his feet trailing in the dust, you knew that you had just seen two hugely talented men go to the very edge of their ability and their courage.
It was haunting to see Brazil lose to Italy in the Sarria stadium in Barcelona in the 1982 World Cup and some of the images of the game, you knew, would last for ever, Falcao volleying in for an equaliser and Paolo Rossi, lurking like the assassin he was, scoring three goals, but the contest was flawed because the Brazilians lost their discipline and found instead vanity and, unlike Federer, had too many reasons for regret in a shattering defeat.
Sebastian Coe's 1500 metres gold in the Moscow Olympics will always rank high because that too was the result of an extraordinary recovery of will. When earlier he lost in the 800 metres to his fierce rival Steve Ovett, he was so distressed his father and coach Peter had to hold on to him when he left the stadium. He was, at least psychologically, as ravaged as Tommy Hearns.
Yes, when you think about it, there is no shortage of claimants to the high ground occupied by Nadal and Federer.
There was England winning the World Cup as a team in 1966, and Maradona claiming it virtually on his own 20 years later, and England's cricketers, in one shining, lost summer winning back the Ashes in 2005, and Steven Redgrave making Olympic history on a diamond of a morning in Sydney, and Lester Piggott bringing home The Minstrel at Epsom with such conviction that you had to wonder where he found his hauteur and his resolve. Manchester United winning their European Cups, particularly the one that came a decade after Munich and the other prised out of the ether in Barcelona have a place, obviously, as does Tiger Woods winning his first major at Augusta by a mile and his last one in California last month by an inch despite the acute pain from a wounded knee.
Yet, still, the belief here is that there was something unique about what happened on the Centre Court last Sunday.
A lot of it was to do with the balance of the match and how that was recreated only after Federer, who had come over his years as Wimbledon champion to represent so much more than mere versatility, had to remake himself under the gaze of so many who had arrived convinced that it was to see him crack. Well, he didn't crack; he was broken for a while and it was the sight of him recovering his game and his pride that was the most compelling ingredient of all.
Partly this was because it meant that no one could say Rafael Nadal had merely presided over the disintegration of a great player. No, in the end this ferocious and engaging young sportsman was not pushing aside a parody of possibly the most naturally gifted champion tennis had ever seen. He was engaging him on the highest ground their sport had ever occupied, and he was doing it with phenomenal power and skill and application.
The warming effect will certainly last this one lifetime.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Name & Shame
Should England Rugby Management name the players who have been involved in various sexual incidents whilst in NZ recently?
Yes ~ for the sake of all team members! At the present time all of the players are under scrutiny for the wrongdoings of a minority.
NAME & SHAME the few , I say!! For the sake of the good names of the majority.
Yes ~ for the sake of all team members! At the present time all of the players are under scrutiny for the wrongdoings of a minority.
NAME & SHAME the few , I say!! For the sake of the good names of the majority.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Pikeys in the news....at the F1
In view of ITVs recent commentator's......comments, I think we need a few Pikey jokes............
A group of pikeys arrive at Heaven, and St. Peter is waiting at the Pearl Gates. "We want to come in." One of them says.
St. Peter replies, "One moment please. God has a thing about pikeys coming in to Heaven.
"He visits God and tells him about the pikeys. "No way!" God shouts. "Go back to the Pearl Gates and tell them to piss off!
"St. Peter goes back to the Gates and then back to God.
"They're gone." He says.
"The pikeys?" God asks.
"No," St. Peter replies, "The Gates."
A group of pikeys arrive at Heaven, and St. Peter is waiting at the Pearl Gates. "We want to come in." One of them says.
St. Peter replies, "One moment please. God has a thing about pikeys coming in to Heaven.
"He visits God and tells him about the pikeys. "No way!" God shouts. "Go back to the Pearl Gates and tell them to piss off!
"St. Peter goes back to the Gates and then back to God.
"They're gone." He says.
"The pikeys?" God asks.
"No," St. Peter replies, "The Gates."
Sunday, June 8, 2008
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