Weather affecting sport

It's been a while since I last posted, mainly due to the fact, there hasn't been much that has annoyed me in recent times, but the one thing that has is this weather.

Living in Stoke is cold at the best of times but when there is snow and ice and general arctic-ness, the potteries is far less appealing.

It's not even the freezing conditions and treacherous pavements that annoy me, but the fact that the weather is preventing sport from taking place.

So not only is Soccer Saturday missing most of the drama that is League Two but our Hockey fixture against Nottingham was also postponed, adding to the frustration.

Hopefully it will clear but i'm not holding my breath.

I think sport in this country should take a leaf from the NFL...



Tweet

I hate to say i told you so...

Well what an enthralling first day of test cricket that was.

All the talking was over and both sides were eager to make a good start and for the Australians it was the perfect start.

That is what you get for writing off the Aussies!

Now I still believe all is not lost and if you'd have offered me 300 at the start of the day I would have taken it, but the fact so many of the impact players in the side got big starts and once again couldn't convert them into tons.

What was all the more disappointing was that Jonny Trott, KP and Colly all got out playing overly attacking shots when what was needed was a little level headedness.

Credit must go to the Australians and to be fair Ricky Ponting.

He rotated his seamers perfectly and used debutant spinner Xavier Doherty properly. However the biggest praise must go to Birthday boy Peter Siddle. His Hat-trick (see video above), turned the innings and the match on its head and he has put his side in a commanding position all while being a doubt for selection before the first test.

Perhaps most frustrating for me though was watching the action next to a Scotsman, who's knowledge of cricket could be written on the back of a postage stamp, with room for a drawing - Who also decided to wear an Australian cricket shirt.

Being a fellow sports nut, I respect his need to make a statement being the inferior Scot, but I wouldn't even consider wearing a Rangers shirt with his idol Kyle Lafferty's name on the back as it would annoy him so much, yet he felt it perfectly acceptable to wear this shirt in front of me.

Away from that though, the first session tonight will be key if we are to get back into the Test so hopefully we can start to rebuild - the Ashes truly begins tonight!

SR




Tweet

England being tipped to retain the Ashes.

For many, you may be thinking, "why is the England are being called favourites to win the ashes a bad thing?" but as an England fan for many years now, there is nothing good about it at all.

Of course England have won two Ashes series in recent years, 2009 and for the first time in 17 years back in 2005, mainly down to great moments like this one from the 'King of Spain' Ashley Giles.




Alas, there was of course a series in between, which I like many England fans like to forget about. That is of course the 5-0 whitewash in Australia.

But while England fans are happy about the preparation including the recent warm-up win against Australia A as well as sending the main bowlers off to acclimatise. 


The problems arise when many experts and ex-players have come out in the press confident that England will retain the ashes or that there is even a shift in the power between the two teams.

Are they mad?

Are we forgetting that we were smashed the last time we were down under, or that we haven't won down under since the regulars in the Sky Sports commentary box - messrs Botham, Willis and Gower among others were part of the team in 1986/87.


The fact that despite promising victories and the fact the Aussies can't seem to win any form of cricket right now, added to the fact even the technology is against Ricky Ponting at the moment, the bookies stil have the Aussies as favourite at 21/20 England 7/4 and the draw 9/2 (all courtesy of Bet365).

While I do in fact believe England will retain the Ashes, and it is undoubtedly our best chance to win down under since that series, saying the Aussies are vulnerable and will lose easily is naive.

Anyways the action gets underway tonight and it will be interesting to see if it goes as well as the first ball of the first test four years ago...







Tweet

Sportsmen who retire, then return, then retire again.

www.celebdirtylaundry.com
"I Don't know why you won't retire either Brett"

For anyone who knows the man above, you will know what I mean.

He is of course Brett Favre, one of the best quarterbacks to have graced the National Football League, but has ruined any credibility he had by putting fans through the now annual saga of "will he, won't he?", while no longer performing at the highest level.

Just look at his stats. In his last season at Green Bay, a place where his name has become legend, Favre threw 15 interceptions and was sacked 15 times in his 16 regular season games.

In the nine games he has played this season he has thrown 16 and been sacked 17 times.

Exhibit B

Another legend of his respective sport, Michael Schumacher is undoubtedly a Formula One great, but once again since his return, he has underperformed in a bad car, and is doing nothing for his reputation.

Why can't the likes of Favre and Schumi just retire at the top of their game and be remembered for the glory years, instead of dragging their reputation as well as the fond memories of the millions of fans that adore them?

Instead, they have to return to their respective sports, do badly and retire again, with the over-riding feeling among fans to be 'good riddance' instead of 'it's a shame you've left'.

And Finally...


Haile Gebrselassie is undoubtedly the biggest name in marathon running and holds or has held numerous world records, and when he announced his retirement after the New York Marathon shocked very few, myself included but I found myself very disappointed to see this:

"Haile Gebrselassie calls off retirement" 

BBC Sport Website -  Monday, 15 November 2010 


How in the space of a few weeks go from:

“I don’t want to complain any more after this, that’s why it is better to stop here"

to this:

"Running is in my blood and I decided to continue competing."

He hasn't competed again yet and it will be interesting to see how he gets on, but having failed to finish the New York Marathon and calling time on his career, things don't look too promising.

SR

Tweet

Annoying Sportsman #3 - Audley Harrison

Harrison downed against Michael Sprott
(www.boxingfancast.com)

I could probably leave it here with just the title and picture, but after Saturday's embarrassment of a Heavyweight Title bout, I was so annoyed by the whole thing that I just had to discuss it.

Firstly for those lucky enough not to see it, the fight ended in three rounds, with neither fighter landing a punch in the first round and Harrison landing only one in the entire fight.

Hopefully now all the false confidence and 'YES I CAN' t-shirts (Harrison's slogan) have long since disappeared , the Heavyweight division can move on and not be dragged through the mud by the likes of Harrison.

That is the main reason he annoys me but also because he got an opportunity that not only he didn't deserve but other boxers would give their right arm for - and he landed ONE PUNCH!

Add to this the fact boxing fans the world over had to pay £15 for the pleasure thanks to Sky Box Office, and you have a lot of upset boxing fans.

Well at least it was better value than Amir Khan's first box office showing...LOL




SR

Tweet

Amster-DAMN, travelling is a pain

http://www.rudystaxicompany.nl/page5.php

So I have returned from my travels safe and sound. Amsterdam is a lovely city, my only problem with the weekend has been the travelling to and from the country because I really hate flying.

The flight itself is bad enough, although 45 minutes from Heathrow to Schiphol is really not that bad, It is more the waiting around in the airport, and the combination of children and arrogant Americans with a serious case of 'little man syndrome' or Napoleon Complex.


Let me explain...


We're all at the gate waiting to take the bus to the plane and on gets a mouthy little American bloke probably mid 30's with what can be assumed is his wife/partner. Having made little effort to accommodate the other passenger and move down the bus, he was then told rather abruptly by a steward to move before making loud comments to no-one about how he couldn't move further down the bus and how there was no room when there clearly was. I mean what right does he have to stop others getting on the bus and i understand he needs room for him and his inflated ego but seriously...

That was the tip of the iceberg though.

During the flight i'm sat in my seat as you do, and bearing in mind its only a 45 minute flight and half of that is taking off and landing, realised I wouldn't be able to get much sleep.

The woman in front had other ideas, proceeding to recline her chair as far as possible so that I was near enough resting my chin on the top of her head.

Having been politely asked to move up so I could gain access to my tray table, she then lifted up a little, before moving back down seconds later.

I wouldn't have been too bothered if there wasn't a child making so much noise that it was hard to hear myself  think.

For me, if you are going to have children, you shouldn't bring them on planes, only to ignore them as soon as they want something.

That aside, it was a great trip and Amsterdam is well worth visiting again and is a top weekend, just not the travelling.



SR



Tweet

Door Supervisors

Just a short post today, as I don't want to dwell on this point for too long but my rant today is about bouncers or 'door supervisors' as they now like to be known.

Having spent nearly all of my life at one point or another, either living in, working in, or socialising in pubs, I have a good knowledge of and respect for bouncers, doormen whatever you wish to call them.

That being said last night was a prime example of why some people are in the job for the wrong reasons.

So, a group of friends out for the night walk into a bar in town. Being a large group of us, plenty of money is spent as we all get a pint and a shot to sit down and drink.

We start playing a few games to get everyone up for the rest of the night and admittedly we were a little loud.

Having been clocked by the two doormen as soon as we all walked in, we were made to feel unwelcome from the frosty attitude.

The first bouncer comes over a politely says "could you quiet down a bit as there are others in the bar" etc etc

No problem we thought.

While all this is going on, the other bouncer comes over picks on one of the group and before saying anything else says "you stop being a C**K"

Automatically the lad is taken aback and straight away quiets down. Clearly not enough for said bouncer.

He says it a few more times before making it more than obvious he doesn't want us there anymore.

The first bouncer comes back and says look guys I think you should drink up and leave, to which we agree completely and duly drink up and go.

Now for me, the first bouncer has the one characteristic any good bouncer will have...COMMON SENSE.

He could see we were not causing trouble, though being a tad loud we weren't looking for trouble and he recognised that we were spending a good amount of money in there at the same time.

The other one had the excessive aggressiveness that has given door men a bad name.

The need to exert some sort of physical power and dominance defies logic and show the bouncers in question to be nothing but small, paranoid individuals.

Ending on a lighter note, we left the pub and went onto have a great evening despite the efforts of the stupid bouncer.





SR

Tweet