So it would seem the time has finally come for golf's most fornicated, sorry, decorated son to return to the game after another lengthy absence for abstinence!
No sooner had I put down my quill having moaned about the PGA Tour announcing that no comeback date for Mr Woods had been decided, the man himself pops in to tell us he will return at April's Masters tournament.
It seems fitting that he would choose the scene of his first Major win to try and redeem himself in the public eye. But you have to feel that pulling off a victory will be one of the hardest tasks of his career! Even more so than keeping multiple affairs under wraps for over a year when you're one of the most globally recognisable people to have ever existed! (I'm not condoning his behaviour, but credit where credits due!)
The whole comeback has been greeted with an air of sceptism and widespread tutting in the sporting world as the announcement comes less than a month after Tiger's souless and scripted apology in a live Florida address. At the time the serial bed hopper hinted that it may be a while before he returned but was making progress with a long road ahead. 27 days aint that long!
Golf will benefit from this return more than Woods will. The sport needs him like he needs cocktail waitresses! They're not going to be happy though, with no more hush money income they'll have to survive on wages alone! Tiger on the other hand could happily retire and live out his life in luxury without ever working again. So why rush this return?
You also have to wonder how the bloke has convinced Elin to stay with him. I know he's wedged up but a divorce would see her gain somewhere in the region of $500million, so it can't be for the money! Maybe she genuinely loves him, that would be an interesting twist in a celebrity marriage. Now Elin hasn't come out and said she's definitely staying, but the sickening publicity stunt which saw them both appear out in matching Nike hats hints to giving it a go. The man, the woman and the corporation defiant against the world! Apparently Tiger's offered to whisk her away on his yacht, "Privacy" to get away from the media. Presumably before it becomes her yacht.
Another intriguing subplot in this saga will be to see what endorsements Tiger gets hold of when he's back full time. I still think "Tag Heure" missed a trick dropping him. Think of the taglines that could be created with the brand name. "Tag Heure......and her, and her, and her".
I've got a sneaking suspicion that Tiger will retire when he breaks Jack Nicholas' Major record haul of 18 wins and may well just play in the 4 majors and maybe the WGC events until he breaks the record. Might be a comprimise! The theory being that if he plays four weeks a year he can be a proper family man and still chase the record. Also, the quicker he gets them, the quicker he can have a luxury retirement. Tiger was only playing 10 tournaments outside the majors anyway, mainly due to sponsorship deals. However it will be interesting to see how good he still is, as I'm fairly sure he's undergoing psychological help to stop him putting it in 18 different holes.
Whatever schedule the fallen man decides to take on for the rest of his career it will surely benefit the game of golf. It has been clear to see the decrease in viewing figures since the last time a member of the Woods family swung a golf club, and that was Elin. You can also be sure that his return will cause another media circus, so choosing the Masters makes sense as it is far more private than any other tournament on the calendar.
However, there will be no hiding place for Tiger when he returns, there will still be press baying for his blood and if he thinks he'll get through the week without people prying into his personal life then he obviously hasn't met the British tabloids!
I for one am looking forward to the Masters that little bit more now. For no other reason than Tiger won't win, but just being in the field will push everyone else odds up at the bookies!
And to quote the lothario himself, golf needs Tiger back "Huge....Quickly"
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Long Live Sir David!
It's been a funny old week in the world of David Beckham.
On Wednesday night he returned home to Old Trafford for the first time since his acrimonious exit in the summer of 2003 hoping to upset his former club. He walked onto the pitch to huge applause and chants of "Fergie, Fergie sign him up" echoed round the Theatre of Dreams as the prodigal son warmed up. However 90 minutes later his Milan side had been well and truly beaten 4-0 after a footballing master class from Wayne Rooney and Manchester United. Becks then left the pitch to a standing ovation as he donned a green and yellow scarf in support of the OT faithful.
Just four days later and the bad week got cataclysmically worse for Goldenballs. Playing for Milan in a league game against Chievo, Becks was stretchered off the pitch following an injury that he suffered unchallenged. The icon left the pitch an emotional wreck, knowing the severity of his injury. As i'm sure is common knowledge by now, Beckham suffered a ruptured achilles tendon and will therefore miss the World Cup this summer. The tournament would have made him the only England player to appear in four finals and would more than likely have been his last. The dream of seeing the most popular England captain of our generation lift the World Cup is now over.
Now most people will probably be thinking; "Ah well, not a big loss, he's not the player he was and wouldn't have been in the starting eleven anyway." But what a key member of the squad he would have been. You get the sense, watching an England game every time he comes off the bench, that it lifts the crowd and that can only have a positive effect on the players. His dead ball skills are still World Class and in the closing stages of a close game with weary defenders, his precision could make the difference. Not only that, he's bloody gorgeous. It will be a big loss to England this summer but hopefully we've still got the players to do the job.
Right, enough preaching about Sir David. Its been a busy sporting week, not only did Manchester United crush AC Milan, but the previous night Arsenal delivered a lesson in football to Porto to win their place in the Champions League Quarter FInals. As much as I can't stand the man, Niklas Bendtner gained a measure of revenge on the pundits who absued him following his Ade Akinbiyi impression against Burnley last weekend, by netting a game winning hat-trick. My hate for Bendtner is not unfounded by the way. He spent a season on loan in the Championship for my beloved Birmingham and was given ludicrous plaudits for his role in our promotion despite only scoring one in every four games. Not exactly the best return yet apparently he was a superstar!?
We then had another chapter in the demise of Liverpool football clubs as they succumbed to another defeat, this time at the hands of Lille. It just keeps getting worse for Rafa's men, but maybe their defeat of Pompey last night will reignite their push for fourth.......but hopefully not!
A standard premier league weekend saw no change at the top of the table, with United and Chelsea easing past Fulham and West Ham respectively.
Oh and also, before I move on from football, I need to address John Terry's armband celebration last week. What a pleb! Nice to see him keeping himself to himself after his recent shenanigans.
This weekend also marked the start of the Formula 1 season with a nice and dull hour and forty minutes with minimal overtaking. It was pretty much a conga line procession with this new rule on refuelling taking away any last shred of excitement left in the sport. It would be nice if the video on the BBC sport website "Bahrain Grand Prix in 90 Seconds" could replace the actual event.
Nice to see the Brits of Mclaren both getting in the points and the charismatic Lewis Hamilton getting back on the podium. Although I do wonder how he's managed to blag this Pussycat Doll because the man is about as interesting as an Ashley Cole affair. Money talks I guess!
Finally in golf we found out that there has been no date set for Tiger's return! Yes that's right, this was news. It actually came up as BREAKING NEWS on a sports news channel that I shall not name for sake of not bashing Sky Sports....ooops. I don't understand why the PGA Tour felt they had to release a statement to say no date had been set. Surely if this is the road they are going down then we can look forward to similar statements every single day until he decides he no longer loves sex and can start playing golf again. How must it feel for the rest of the players knowing that Tiger's penis is getting more coverage than the guy who win's the tournament...that'll make you feel special.
On Wednesday night he returned home to Old Trafford for the first time since his acrimonious exit in the summer of 2003 hoping to upset his former club. He walked onto the pitch to huge applause and chants of "Fergie, Fergie sign him up" echoed round the Theatre of Dreams as the prodigal son warmed up. However 90 minutes later his Milan side had been well and truly beaten 4-0 after a footballing master class from Wayne Rooney and Manchester United. Becks then left the pitch to a standing ovation as he donned a green and yellow scarf in support of the OT faithful.
Just four days later and the bad week got cataclysmically worse for Goldenballs. Playing for Milan in a league game against Chievo, Becks was stretchered off the pitch following an injury that he suffered unchallenged. The icon left the pitch an emotional wreck, knowing the severity of his injury. As i'm sure is common knowledge by now, Beckham suffered a ruptured achilles tendon and will therefore miss the World Cup this summer. The tournament would have made him the only England player to appear in four finals and would more than likely have been his last. The dream of seeing the most popular England captain of our generation lift the World Cup is now over.
Now most people will probably be thinking; "Ah well, not a big loss, he's not the player he was and wouldn't have been in the starting eleven anyway." But what a key member of the squad he would have been. You get the sense, watching an England game every time he comes off the bench, that it lifts the crowd and that can only have a positive effect on the players. His dead ball skills are still World Class and in the closing stages of a close game with weary defenders, his precision could make the difference. Not only that, he's bloody gorgeous. It will be a big loss to England this summer but hopefully we've still got the players to do the job.
Right, enough preaching about Sir David. Its been a busy sporting week, not only did Manchester United crush AC Milan, but the previous night Arsenal delivered a lesson in football to Porto to win their place in the Champions League Quarter FInals. As much as I can't stand the man, Niklas Bendtner gained a measure of revenge on the pundits who absued him following his Ade Akinbiyi impression against Burnley last weekend, by netting a game winning hat-trick. My hate for Bendtner is not unfounded by the way. He spent a season on loan in the Championship for my beloved Birmingham and was given ludicrous plaudits for his role in our promotion despite only scoring one in every four games. Not exactly the best return yet apparently he was a superstar!?
We then had another chapter in the demise of Liverpool football clubs as they succumbed to another defeat, this time at the hands of Lille. It just keeps getting worse for Rafa's men, but maybe their defeat of Pompey last night will reignite their push for fourth.......but hopefully not!
A standard premier league weekend saw no change at the top of the table, with United and Chelsea easing past Fulham and West Ham respectively.
Oh and also, before I move on from football, I need to address John Terry's armband celebration last week. What a pleb! Nice to see him keeping himself to himself after his recent shenanigans.
This weekend also marked the start of the Formula 1 season with a nice and dull hour and forty minutes with minimal overtaking. It was pretty much a conga line procession with this new rule on refuelling taking away any last shred of excitement left in the sport. It would be nice if the video on the BBC sport website "Bahrain Grand Prix in 90 Seconds" could replace the actual event.
Nice to see the Brits of Mclaren both getting in the points and the charismatic Lewis Hamilton getting back on the podium. Although I do wonder how he's managed to blag this Pussycat Doll because the man is about as interesting as an Ashley Cole affair. Money talks I guess!
Finally in golf we found out that there has been no date set for Tiger's return! Yes that's right, this was news. It actually came up as BREAKING NEWS on a sports news channel that I shall not name for sake of not bashing Sky Sports....ooops. I don't understand why the PGA Tour felt they had to release a statement to say no date had been set. Surely if this is the road they are going down then we can look forward to similar statements every single day until he decides he no longer loves sex and can start playing golf again. How must it feel for the rest of the players knowing that Tiger's penis is getting more coverage than the guy who win's the tournament...that'll make you feel special.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Fifa cross the line....or did they?
So once again the powers that be have decided to shelve plans to introduce goal-line technology in professional football.
A statement was released around lunchtime on Saturday suggesting that the door was closed and no level of technology will be used. Apparently despite the FA and the SFA voting in favour of the developments, we were denied after them there rascals in Wales and Ireland voted against us and sided with FIFA. Seeing as the use of technology would have prevented Ireland losing to France and possibly sent them to World Cup I'm surprised by their decision. I seem to remember them kicking up a little bit of a fuss when Thierry Henry slapped France to victory.
It's typical that within hours of the decision being made, a huge case was made for the inclusion of technology. My beloved Birmingham were trailing 2-0 to cash-strapped Pompey with 10 minutes in the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup with a visit to Wembley at stake. Blues are starting to pick up steam and win a corner. The corner bends majestically into the box and is met by future England captain Roger Johnson - just you wait and see - and goes flying towards goal. David James makes a good save but is only able to parry to Liam Ridgewell who heads downwards and James can only hook the ball away from beyond the line, 2-1. Or so it should have been. The linesman denied the goal that would have lead to an exciting finish with Birmingham chasing a replay, despite replays showing the ball to have clearly crossed the line.
Now obviously I'm a little bitter about this as it worked against my team. Plus one of my good friends is a Pompey fan and he was mean to me on Facebook as a result. However, surely its time for football to move with the times? We live in a technologically dominated world and if there is the means to aid the referee without too much effort than why not use it?
Looking at the arguments, we have the case for Hawkeye, which works well in both cricket and tennis. With a tiny weeny chip placed inside the football, and little unnoticeable cameras in the goalposts, everytime the ball crosses the line, the referee gets a cheeky beep in his headset and he signals goal. In the words of the world's biggest celebrity....Simples.
Even the use of television replays makes sense. I disagree with the argument that it would slow the game down. In incidents like Henry's handball and Ridgewell's header the viewing of one replay would give officials the answer. While the player's who feel hard done by are remonstrating with the referee the fourth official could watch nine or ten replays and make a decision to pass on to the referee.
Look at American Football, ok it's slower than our game anyway and there are already plenty of stoppages where replays can be assessed, but rarely to wrong decisions get made and therefore the team that deserves to win generally will. As long as the rules are implemented properly and you set guidelines for the situations where challenges can be made then it makes sense to bring it in.
I know the decision has been made because FIFA officials want to keep up the tradition of the game. But, if a sport like golf, with its snooty background and age old traditions can stretch to letting players don collarless shirts and allow women play in tournaments with men, then why can’t football use what they’ve already got to help the referee?
Hopefully one day Fifa will see the light.
On a positive note, referee Mark Halsey makes his return to the game tonight after winning his battle with cancer. He takes charge of tonight’s reserve game between Leicester and Scunthorpe. Here’s wishing him a speedy return to the top flight!
A statement was released around lunchtime on Saturday suggesting that the door was closed and no level of technology will be used. Apparently despite the FA and the SFA voting in favour of the developments, we were denied after them there rascals in Wales and Ireland voted against us and sided with FIFA. Seeing as the use of technology would have prevented Ireland losing to France and possibly sent them to World Cup I'm surprised by their decision. I seem to remember them kicking up a little bit of a fuss when Thierry Henry slapped France to victory.
It's typical that within hours of the decision being made, a huge case was made for the inclusion of technology. My beloved Birmingham were trailing 2-0 to cash-strapped Pompey with 10 minutes in the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup with a visit to Wembley at stake. Blues are starting to pick up steam and win a corner. The corner bends majestically into the box and is met by future England captain Roger Johnson - just you wait and see - and goes flying towards goal. David James makes a good save but is only able to parry to Liam Ridgewell who heads downwards and James can only hook the ball away from beyond the line, 2-1. Or so it should have been. The linesman denied the goal that would have lead to an exciting finish with Birmingham chasing a replay, despite replays showing the ball to have clearly crossed the line.
Now obviously I'm a little bitter about this as it worked against my team. Plus one of my good friends is a Pompey fan and he was mean to me on Facebook as a result. However, surely its time for football to move with the times? We live in a technologically dominated world and if there is the means to aid the referee without too much effort than why not use it?
Looking at the arguments, we have the case for Hawkeye, which works well in both cricket and tennis. With a tiny weeny chip placed inside the football, and little unnoticeable cameras in the goalposts, everytime the ball crosses the line, the referee gets a cheeky beep in his headset and he signals goal. In the words of the world's biggest celebrity....Simples.
Even the use of television replays makes sense. I disagree with the argument that it would slow the game down. In incidents like Henry's handball and Ridgewell's header the viewing of one replay would give officials the answer. While the player's who feel hard done by are remonstrating with the referee the fourth official could watch nine or ten replays and make a decision to pass on to the referee.
Look at American Football, ok it's slower than our game anyway and there are already plenty of stoppages where replays can be assessed, but rarely to wrong decisions get made and therefore the team that deserves to win generally will. As long as the rules are implemented properly and you set guidelines for the situations where challenges can be made then it makes sense to bring it in.
I know the decision has been made because FIFA officials want to keep up the tradition of the game. But, if a sport like golf, with its snooty background and age old traditions can stretch to letting players don collarless shirts and allow women play in tournaments with men, then why can’t football use what they’ve already got to help the referee?
Hopefully one day Fifa will see the light.
On a positive note, referee Mark Halsey makes his return to the game tonight after winning his battle with cancer. He takes charge of tonight’s reserve game between Leicester and Scunthorpe. Here’s wishing him a speedy return to the top flight!
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Breaking News: Footballers aren't perfect!!
Right, as much as it pains me to do this, I don’t think I can start up a sports blog this week and not at least say something about the biggest ‘sporting’ story of the moment.
No it’s not the enthralling Carling Cup final that saw Wayne Rooney mastermind another trophy win for Sir Alex and Manchester United, it’s not the horror injury suffered by the highly talented young Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, it’s not even the latest in a long line of bizarre haircuts sported by David James (Seriously, he’s gone too far this time hasn’t he!?). I am of course talking about ‘Bridgegate’.
The latest development was in Saturday’s emotionally charged game at Stamford Bridge between Team Terry and Team Bridge (Chelsea v Manchester City for any of you living in a cave….in which case you’re showing great dedication to my blog!) The ‘big’ story here was Wayne Bridge refusing to shake the hand of his tormentor John Terry in the pre match pleasantries. Stop. The. Presses.
Let’s briefly recap. It has emerged of late that John Terry engaged in an extra-marital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the mother of Wayne Bridge’s son. At the time of the affair, Bridge and Perroncel were very much in love and Terry was Bridge’s captain and best friend at Chelsea. Naughty, naughty.
In the wake of the allegations hitting the presses, John Terry has lost his England captaincy, as well as his friendship with Wayne Bridge and the respect of many of his peers and fans. On top of this, the situation has convinced Wayne Bridge to step down from the England national squad despite Senor Capello practically force feeding him a plane ticket to South Africa for this summer’s World Cup.
After going through all that, would you shake John Terry’s hand? I can think of a few things I’d have done to the bloke, shaking his hand wouldn’t be top of the list. Unless maybe he was using it to cling onto the window sill.
Anyway, the point of my tale is that its not really big news is it? He was never going to shake his hand, we all knew it would happen so why did it merit massive coverage and a million replays?
It saddens me that the media have turned us into voyeurs of these professional sportsmen. It’s time to go back to appreciating what happens on the pitch with goalposts and balls, not bedposts and, well, balls.
This is a huge year for English football with the World Cup coming up, one in which we have a genuine chance of glory. Let’s forget about John Terry’s little indiscretions and concentrate on football. He’s not exactly the only bloke doing it is he? I mean Tiger Woods cheated on his wife with countless women and no one’s banging on about that...
No it’s not the enthralling Carling Cup final that saw Wayne Rooney mastermind another trophy win for Sir Alex and Manchester United, it’s not the horror injury suffered by the highly talented young Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, it’s not even the latest in a long line of bizarre haircuts sported by David James (Seriously, he’s gone too far this time hasn’t he!?). I am of course talking about ‘Bridgegate’.
The latest development was in Saturday’s emotionally charged game at Stamford Bridge between Team Terry and Team Bridge (Chelsea v Manchester City for any of you living in a cave….in which case you’re showing great dedication to my blog!) The ‘big’ story here was Wayne Bridge refusing to shake the hand of his tormentor John Terry in the pre match pleasantries. Stop. The. Presses.
Let’s briefly recap. It has emerged of late that John Terry engaged in an extra-marital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the mother of Wayne Bridge’s son. At the time of the affair, Bridge and Perroncel were very much in love and Terry was Bridge’s captain and best friend at Chelsea. Naughty, naughty.
In the wake of the allegations hitting the presses, John Terry has lost his England captaincy, as well as his friendship with Wayne Bridge and the respect of many of his peers and fans. On top of this, the situation has convinced Wayne Bridge to step down from the England national squad despite Senor Capello practically force feeding him a plane ticket to South Africa for this summer’s World Cup.
After going through all that, would you shake John Terry’s hand? I can think of a few things I’d have done to the bloke, shaking his hand wouldn’t be top of the list. Unless maybe he was using it to cling onto the window sill.
Anyway, the point of my tale is that its not really big news is it? He was never going to shake his hand, we all knew it would happen so why did it merit massive coverage and a million replays?
It saddens me that the media have turned us into voyeurs of these professional sportsmen. It’s time to go back to appreciating what happens on the pitch with goalposts and balls, not bedposts and, well, balls.
This is a huge year for English football with the World Cup coming up, one in which we have a genuine chance of glory. Let’s forget about John Terry’s little indiscretions and concentrate on football. He’s not exactly the only bloke doing it is he? I mean Tiger Woods cheated on his wife with countless women and no one’s banging on about that...
Monday, 1 March 2010
The Porn Barons at Upton Park
I should start this entry with an admission...I am a Birmingham City fan.
Yes I know, its not exactly the glitz and glamour you'd associate with some other clubs but it's too late to change now, i'm well and truly in love.
Yes I know, its not exactly the glitz and glamour you'd associate with some other clubs but it's too late to change now, i'm well and truly in love.
This love is probably the main reason that I have a major problem with the way that David Sullivan and his goat-like sidekick David Gold have conducted themselves since they took over West Ham United last month.
In all honesty it's a shame that they have driven me to this outrage after their achievements with my beloved Blues. In 15 years they turned us from a club in the third tier of English football into a Premier League club (then Championship, then Premier League again). Before selling us on for a healthy profit to a wealthy investor who wants to turn the club into a major league contender. They also balanced the books and made us the only top flight club with £0 of debt. So in all they did alright.
But I still hate them.
One thing that always managed to irritate us bluenoses was the uncanny ability to pretend they were trying to make us huge when in all honesty they were running a business. My all time favourite was after Steve Bruce left the club. The first person they offered the job to was Italian World Cup winning gaffer Marcelo Lippi. Wonderful you might think? Not so much. This was one instance in a long line of attempts to impress us fans. Simply make a bid for someone out of our league to impress the fans, knowing full well that the player/manager in question will rebuff the offer but hey, at least they tried.
It now seems the West Ham fans are being lead down the same garden path. The attempts to secure the Olympic Stadium as the future home of the Hammers will not be the last time they let you down so you'll have to get used to it!
Now for the serious bit. When Sullivan and Gold sold Birmingham City, there was a payment issue that caused a rift between the comedy duo and new Blues owner Carson Yeung. By refusing to settle the payments, the ex-owners infuriated Bluenoses everywhere (mainly in the Birmingham area) and any shred of adoration that was left for the pair disappeared.
It now seems that they are trying to undermine the progress of Birmingham every time they make an appearance on telelvision. They are persistent in their claims that West Ham are a bigger club despite having less money and more debt, currently sitting five places and 13 points below the midlanders in the the Premier League and being eliminated from all cup competitions while Birmingham look forward to an FA Cup Quarter-Final on Saturday.
Not only this, but they have begun attempting to steal players from under our noses as if on some sort of childish revenge mission. First there were claims they would attempt to take Joe Hart on loan next season despite his major success this year under the guiding eye of Alex Mcleish. Now Sullivan has decided to announce his intentions to snatch Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez over the summer.
These are further examples of the false hope they are giving to Hammers fans. They have admitted the club are hugely in debt and cost cutting measures need to be made, so why tell the fans that they will chase a highly rated young goalkeeper and a £10 million striker when they are currently struggling to pay the cleaners. Surely they can't keep up this charade forever? Birmingham will out muscle financially anyway and after both players have spent a successful year developing under Big Eck at Blues, neither would be likely to move on. But hey, as I said before at least they tried.
It would be nice if football club owners could start running a club with the fans and the football in mind rather than just trying to win a popularity contest and make some money. I highly doubt that West Ham will suffer the same fate as Portsmouth under the current owners, but they will have to accept mid table mediocrity for as long as it takes for them to sell the club they "love" for another one that they "love".
A Quick Introduction
Evening Sports fans!!
Now that I have that cliched welcome out the way I'll tell you all a little about myself!
My name's Andy and I am an aspiring sports journo, currently working in bars and writing on the internet so it's going well.....
I've done a bit of work here and there for local newspapers and had a three week stint at Setanta Sports News before their dramatic demise (no correlation between my placement and their bankruptcy....honest). My claim to fame is that I helped interview Jonny Wilkinson on television...I try and fit that into all conversations with people I've just met.
Basically the aim of this blog is to discuss sports and get feedback from you lot. It's a way for me to practice my writing as well as a way to vent my never ending list of frustrations with the sporting world.
Right, before I bore you I'm going to end this and get on with more pressing issues! Let's see how long I go before I'm forced to write about John Terry's indescretions.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)