Rob Green lights up the bar - Margin

2010-06-14T05:47:00.000+01:00

Watching football in a bar at 11:30am raises some questions. For a start, do you meet up with friends for breakfast before the game? We decided not to. But then do you drink throughout the proceedings? Those of you who know me best know there is only one answer to that, though we genuinely kidded ourselves otherwise for a short time.

Pre-game nerves, Califnornia style - Margin

2010-06-11T20:49:00.003+01:00

So as it turns out, California is different. Very different to New York in fact. x“I hate soccer” was the first thing I heard about the sport I love, and I heard it without solicitation. xThe gruff and seemingly rather negative Mike who runs

The Big Game - Margin

2010-06-10T20:51:00.004+01:00

I landed in Brooklyn three days ago. Didn’t know anything about the place other than it was cheap, but it turns out where I stayed was a lot like Hackney Wick. A few fashionable arty types have taken over a couple of abandoned warehouses as workshops or opened coffee shops. But mostly it’s just poor, industrial, and

England can win – by mimitig

2010-05-17T17:35:00.002+01:00

I’m not going to plunge into an explanation of that headline straight away – too much of a shock for our readers. Let’s ease our way into this unlikely situation.So while club football is almost over – Chelsea have done the double and Dundee crushed the hopes of the Highlands beating Ross County 3-0 in the Scottish Cup - and with at least a few weeks to go before the Football World Cup takes over

MotoGP Strikes again – mimitig

2010-04-12T11:25:00.003+01:00

11 April 2010 – the start of the new MotoGP season. So important to the BBC (who trailed the opening F1 race for weeks) that it was relegated to Freeview only on BBC3.What a shame and what an opportunity missed by the broadcasters because while the opening race of F1 was a drone fest, the first race of MotoGP2010 was a belter.Last season saw the man widely accepted as the GOAT (Greatest Of All

Yellow and red overlapping footballs - Ebren

2010-04-01T09:56:00.003+01:00

There's something insidious about corporate boxes and sponsor tickets.At one level, you know that the cash companies provide means more money for the clubs and - in theory - cheaper tickets for the fans. But it's not right. The FA Cup final filled with officials not fans. And a European Cup quarter final at the Emirates with a man from Little-Rock Arkansas sitting to my left, because he works for

Welcome to the new Decayde - mimi

2010-03-27T09:38:00.000Z

That is “decayed” not some kind of American pronunciation of where we are living. This is not a Decade. This is a new decayed.So why? Well where to begin. With the boys who kick balls – oh that’s the big money place. Well they seem pretty decayed. At the top of the league it’s not about football it’s about mistresses and headlines in the lavvy tops.At the bottom of the league, it’s still lavvy

2009: a review - mimitig

2010-01-22T00:58:00.000Z

Almost three weeks into the new decade and already I am wondering what were the highlights of 2009. What are the big important memories of a year that was post-Olympic and pre-World Cup?There were great achievements for lots of sportsmen and women and teams. Hey, Tiger Woods probably counts all of those in his portfolio – after all, if we are to believe the papers, he’s had more than a netball

Why the BBC and the Public will get it wrong, again - Mimitig

2009-12-10T20:43:00.000Z

Hello dear readers – it’s that time of year again. Yes the time when otherwise unengaged and uninitiated so-called “fans” will vote for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.So the first hurdle to overcome in this ridiculous charade is how the shortlist is arrived at. Does anyone know how? All I know is that at this time of writing, neither of my two sporting heroes of the year seem to have

Thank you: what a weekend of achievement - mimitig

2009-10-23T10:36:00.002+01:00

Are any of you old enough to remember Archie Bell? Probably not but this song is right there in my head as we celebrate yet another British World Champion.Jenson Button signed off on a fairytale season in Brazil by winning the Drivers’ Championship in Formula 1 and ensuring that his team, Brawn, won the Constructor’s title.Jenson, Jense, JB however you cry him, becomes the 10th British F1 World

Ryan Giggs: Missing you already... - PremCorrespondent

2009-10-06T16:40:00.004+01:00

No meaningful football for almost two weeks! This must be the longest break since the big freeze of 1963, when your correspondent was obliged to light bonfires on the pitch to thaw the ground - in April! Undersoil heating has put a stop to that (and promoted the global warming that means that undersoil heating isn't necessary after all). So, with England qualified for the World Cup and very few

Entering the final phase: Motorsport 2009 - mimitig

2009-10-04T22:55:00.001+01:00

The weekend of October 3 and 4 saw both Formula 1 and MotoGP move into their final phase. Formula 1 went racing in Japan: after that only two races left and both flyaways – to Brazil and the finale at first time track Abu Dhabi.MotoGP was in Portugal and Rossi, leading the Championship by 30 points going in to the weekend was looking to maintain his record of nine visits to Estoril and nine

Kicking the Bottle - PremCorrespondent

2009-09-03T14:58:00.001+01:00

You know it was a good weekend if it doesn’t end until Wednesday, and only then because you finally remember there isn’t a Swiss Cottage in that part of north London after all. But that’s enough of my week. There was some football played and some damned fine football at that.Lets start at Old Trafford with what might prove a crucial clash for champions league qualification come May.Arsenal played

Untested expectations - PremCorrespondent

2009-08-25T07:49:00.001+01:00

Sorry for the late report. Woke up with the sort of hangover you can only get from a bender with Greaves and Best at the height of their powers. Not that I had one of those. Too many footballers on orange juice these days. But I’m older now and the kebab was still moving when I left the shop, which may have played a part. Anyway, partying like it’s the 1960s, Spurs players enjoyed a sober glass

Oh it’s the Ashes – mimitig

2009-08-24T13:16:00.002+01:00

Certainly this is how the England team felt after Headingly . After a chastening, humiliating experience in Australia 18 months ago, who, honestly, hand on heart, would have put money on England regaining the Ashes this summer?There were many at the start of this summer who thought the Aussies, number one Test side, would land on these shores and roll a weak England side over. So we went to

London Rules. Apparently – PremCorrespondent

2009-08-17T14:36:00.000+01:00

The opening weekend is a special time for football fans. Sensible aspirations spill over into optimistic dreams. Rational analysis gives way to excitable hyperbole. And everyone thinks they should win on the return of their matchday routine, which for most involves lashings of Madras sauce with our beer. Let us begin with Chelsea, tipped alongside Liverpool as serious contenders for United’s

The Ashes 2009 – Where to go now? By Mimitig

2009-08-12T18:36:00.000+01:00

So to the Oval we go again with all to play for. Less than 10 days now before England and Australia go toe to toe in South London to decide who gets to keep a little urn.Unlike 2005, this series has not made the front pages of every newspaper on a weekly basis. Fred’s knee has taken a few headlines. The booing of Ricky Ponting has garnered a few column inches of tut-tutting but this series has

Mid Term Report - mimitig

2009-07-21T16:46:00.003+01:00

It’s an interesting place to be now, as long as you’re not fighting for a contract. For the Formula 1 boys, poor Sebby Bourdais has lost his job and is taking Scuderia Torro Rosso to the courts.In Moto GP, even before the race at the Sachsenring, Lorenzo had stirred the soup by opening talks with Honda. Apparently Gorgeous George reckons he should be paid as much as Valentino Rossi. Well that’s

Heiva, a day at the Tiurai va'a races - offsideintahiti

2009-07-19T18:02:00.003+01:00

This July is a veritable whirlwind of sporting events, what with the Tour de France, the Ashes, and, er, the giddy anticipation for the upcoming football season, which will take place exclusively in Madrid.In France, le quatorze juillet is a particularly important sporting day. Regular readers of Mimi's excellent columns here will be aware that this is the day French riders specifically target

Stand Your Ground

2009-07-17T16:22:00.001+01:00

It was the early 1990s and the face of English football was to change forever. Grounds were becoming ‘all-seater’ so as to make the game safe. Soon we would sit through matches instead of stand and jostle and occasionally fall with excitement. And my dad, like many others, lamented that that his son’s generation would be the last of the boys to stand on the Shelf. I remembered that lament

One draw, four wins – mimitig

2009-07-16T19:20:00.002+01:00

Two of the great sporting events of summer 2009 are now underway. Le Tour has faced its first great hurdle – the Pyrenees – and the first Ashes Test came to a dramatic conclusion at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.England posted a nondescript first innings score of 435 and none of the specialist batsmen made the most of a flat wicket. When Australia got in, they certainly did. Four made centuries and

Le Grand Depart 2009 - mimitig

2009-07-05T12:45:00.001+01:00

It’s the beginning of July and that means only one thing: the summer of sport is about to get even better: motor sports reach the crucial half-way point in their season, the biggest contest in cricket starts (The Ashes) and the men in lycra embark on the toughest challenge in cycling.Literally millions of people, the world over, become armchair cycling fans for the duration of Le Tour de France.

Race Against Me: My Story by Dwain Chambers

2009-06-28T23:59:00.000+01:00

A review by MimitigOver the years of this blogspace’s existence, there has been coverage of football (lots), cricket, motorsport and cycling (quite a lot), rowing (a little bit), very strange sports and occasionally other things.Book reviews are not our forte.However, I think there is a reason to focus our attention on a book about a sport we don’t usually cover.The book is Dwain Chambers’s

In Praise of Ivan Lendl - Mac Millings

2009-06-28T17:57:00.001+01:00

Some people just get no respect. There’s always someone better looking, cleverer, a brighter natural spark and no matter how much harder than them you work, or how much better a career you have, when it comes time to reminisce, the beautiful will always inspire the fondest memories, the functional ending up an afterthought. Geography and history conspired to make Ivan Lendl the plain, industrious

A week(ish) of sport – Mimitig

2009-06-09T10:34:00.002+01:00

There is so much going on at the moment that it is getting very very difficult to keep track.The weekend just passed saw Roger Federer – the nice, Swiss man – equal Pete Sampras’s (not so nice and definitely not Swiss) record of 14 Grand Slam wins in tennis. Federer now joins a pretty exclusive club of gents who have won each of the Grand Slams – Wimbledon, US Open, Australia and the French Open

So what did we learn this Premier League season? – Margin

2009-05-26T08:09:00.004+01:00

First the world; then England!People dallied with the early season notion that a fixture pile up and a deficit to make up on Liverpool might count for something. It didn’t. Manchester had the best manager, the best team, and they won an 18th title at a similar canter to the one United employed for the World Club Cup. Too good to go down. Tottenham Hotspur have seemingly made a lie of the claim

Managing the game away – Margin

2009-05-20T17:15:00.000+01:00

As the football season finally creeps to its infuriatingly late conclusion, there is growing support for a return to a fairer league structure and wider distribution of television and sponsorship money. Sadly though, this comes at a ludicrous price. With May now almost over the people who run football can soon cast off the irritating distraction of fans and football so as to discuss what really

Test cricket can be boring, and England defeats depressing, but I’m always glad it exists - Wooley

2009-05-19T14:41:00.000+01:00

The size of the crowds has been far more worthy of mention than the cricket on display at the Riverside this week. A mediocre England side faced a dispirited West Indies on a wicket sapped of any life, as the Durham board tried to guarantee five days of advertising revenue, and in the process ensured that whatever happened in between those ad breaks resembled cricket in only the loosest possible

Excitement in Spain – by mimitig

2009-05-11T13:22:00.001+01:00

So here we are again. Two weeks since Formula One graced our screens, one week since MotoGP failed to make any inroads in the mainstream sports media, and only a matter of days since Barcelona hogged the headlines.Now, although only a part-time football fan, I did follow the Chelsea v Barca game and was astounded at the reactions of the losing side. Compared to other sports that I follow, Drogba’

Referee outclassed by two modern stars - Margin

2009-05-07T11:33:00.000+01:00

Fans were nearly robbed of the Champions League final we all wanted. Worse still we were nearly given the one final most likely to make us watch something else that night. So it is a sad feeling to have to credit referees for our good fortune. While the result would always carry interest, most of us have the sense not to watch another Chelsea-United finale. The FA Cup Final was awful. Last season

Bahrain and Motegi – more motorsport from mimitig

2009-04-27T11:20:00.000+01:00

As the Formula One circus relocated from China to Bahrain last weekend, so the MotoGP cavalcade moved in the opposite direction, swapping the deserts of Qatar for the shores of Japan and Honda’s backyard – the Motegi Twinring Racetrack.All things being equal, this should have been a weekend with weather taking a back seat. Fears about a fierce sandstorm that had kept Baghdad airport closed for

Hockley's Sporting Second Chance - Wooley

2009-04-23T15:44:00.001+01:00

I can honestly say that no piece of sporting news has given me more pleasure during the long, cricket-free winter months than the return of James Hockley to Kent colours. It all dates back to 2000, the worst season I had ever endured as a Kent supporter, as an injury ravaged squad sneaked away from deserved relegation only in the last game, and Mr Hockley singularly failed to nail down a first

A new season of Motorsport - mimitig

2009-04-20T09:29:00.002+01:00

Formula One got underway in Australia last month with an exciting race in Melbourne. A raft of new regulations designed to spice up the racing on the track – technical changes made in an attempt to make it easier to overtake by reducing downforce and the reliance of aerodynamics had been introduced over the winter.From pre-season testing in Barcelona it looked as though the new rules were going

An earlier Hillsborough disaster - Margin

2009-04-13T10:12:00.002+01:00

Every few years in April a new headline anniversary reminds us of one of the greatest disasters of English football. This year it is 20 years since The Hillsborough tragedy in which Liverpool fans were crushed to death watching their team play an FA Cup semi-final.English football still feels bitter about the sorrow of that day. And we all know why that is. The police screwed up; and with the

Damned United II: The Sequel - Mountainstriker

2009-04-07T20:51:00.003+01:00

Tom Hooper’s ‘The Damned United’ staring Michael Sheen as Brian Clough is currently playing to favourable reviews across the nation. Based on David Peace’s 2006 book of the same name, the film recounts ‘ol Big ‘ead’s turbulent 44 days at the helm of Leeds United in 1974. Most of the stories are common currency amongst football folk – how Clough deserted his long-time ally Peter Taylor to take the

Sporting changes - Mac Millings

2009-04-07T20:49:00.001+01:00

As fans of sport, we are becoming increasingly disillusioned by the growing gap between how our favourite sports are played now, and how we think they should be played. The following simple rule changes are guaranteed to redress the balance.Tennis:To avoid increasingly boring domination by a select few players of all surfaces, replace grass, hard and clay courts with 3 of the following: ice;

SuperCav wins ... Classic for the first time! – mimitig

2009-03-23T21:26:00.002Z

In August 2008 headlines in the mainstream sports media switched from endless stories about the dirty world of druggie Pro-cycling to glorious tributes to Dave Brailsford’s Team GB Cyclists. Mostly the Track boys and girls, but a nod here and there to the wonderful Welshwoman Nicole Cook. By September cycling was almost forgotten bar a tiny tiny wee mention for Nicole who did the never-before

Testing times and unfriendly friendlies - Ringo37

2009-03-11T17:00:00.001Z

It’s the standard-issue answer from your standard-issue sports professional as (with his standard-issue fat tie-knot and hairfudge-moulded mullet) he fronts up to the standard-issue post-match inquisition: “The result,” he’ll say, “is the main thing.”Well, what if it wasn’t? What if the result wasn’t the main thing? What if the result wasn’t anything?Modern football – hell, maybe football

Let’s Hear It For The - Who? -- Zephirine

2009-03-08T13:25:00.005Z

The England Cricket XI is ranked no 1 in the world.The England Cricket XI includes the top-ranked batsman in the world.The England Cricket XI includes the top-ranked bowler in the world.The England Cricket XI has just retained the Ashes.Last year the England Cricket XI beat the West Indies, South Africa and India.Currently the England Cricket XI is playing in the World Cup in Australia, and has a

What's England's problem - Ebren

2009-03-07T13:48:00.000Z

It's a week off in the Six Nations championship, and time to reflect.While there's plenty to write about Wales, Ireland, France Scotland and Italy, that's not what I'm going to do - instead I'm going to ask a question that's been on my mind for years now: "What's England's problem?"Why am I asking this now? Well, put simply it's because all of a sudden the question has become a lot harder to

Atrocity in Lahore - Mimitig

2009-03-06T10:58:00.001Z

Geographically Lahore is many miles from these shores but the events of Tuesday 3 March have brought terrorism painfully close to home. The ex-Patriot Pakistani community in the UK and those born here of Pakistani origins are perhaps the most affected as they have immediate family to be concerned about – not that in most of the reporting I’ve heard and read over the last few days has any mention

The Fattest Footballer In The World: Can The Ogre Save River Plate? - Clack

2009-02-23T16:55:00.001Z

30 minutes remaining, River Plate 1-0 down at Rosario Central on the 2nd weekend of the Argentine championship, and the signal is given to the man known as the Ogre to remove his large posterior from the bench, and commence warming up, or wobbling up rather. Cue loud cheers and collective donning of shrek masks from the 5000 traveling fans. The 24 year old with a figure more akin to a middle-aged

Two down Three to go – Mimitig

2009-02-15T14:37:00.002Z

I’m not known in these parts for writing about Rugby, but it’s that time of year.It’s Six Nations time, and for the first time in my grown-up years Wales are not only the defending champions, but favourites to retain the crown.This means that the Welsh blood in my veins stirs, and makes me do things like search out this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBY4PMk39QM&feature=relatedAnd so we are

Where's Chelsea's money going? - Ebren

2009-02-13T15:13:00.000Z

Chelsea are in debt. Fans of other clubs have seen this as either an excuse for losing to them, or a source of mirth if they don't win.They’ve been losing money hand over fist since Roman Abramovic began his quest to make his personal plaything the best club in the world. This "pimp my club" experiment he has lost £140 million (2005), £74.8 million (2007) and £66 million (2008) - the losses from

The Indian Premier League 2009 Auction - Mimitig

2009-02-07T01:15:00.001Z

Last year a new cricket competition was launched. The Indian Premier League.Over the past few weeks, more than England’s chances in the West Indies, the cricket-watchers have been chattering, or maybe even “tweating” about this year’s IPL Auction – which took place in the wee small hours of the 5th Feb (UK time). You may wonder why. Well the main reason has been because of the enormous amount of

A Report from Our Cricket Correspondent by Beyond the Pale

2009-01-25T16:44:00.002Z

(With brief explanatory note re. the provenance of the document) Richard Wilson: The Cock Tavern (Tate Gallery) (Ed. note: As rosy-fingered dawn inveigled her roseate dactyls into the shadows still enclosing the pleasant village of Quatt in gentle slumber, a vague form gradually began to take shape upon the quiet lawn before the Cock Tavern: a crumpled, prostrate and inert body, its limbs

Scott’s miscellany - Ringo37

2009-01-25T16:32:00.001Z

The helmets-for-goalposts kickarounds of Der Kleine Frieden – the ‘little peace’ that broke out along the Western Front on Christmas Day 1914 – have been well-documented, and represent perhaps the best-known examples of sport played in the greatest extremity. Less celebrated, though, is a game – or, rather, a series of games – that took place in an even less hospitable environment three years

Winter Sports 2 - Beyond the Pale

2009-01-20T15:21:00.000Z

English Premiere League: Greatest Moments 2008 by Beyond the Pale--A Video Review Scoring While Immortal Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) vs. Portsmouth 1.30.08http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E-DjTdND53oCristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) vs. Bolton 3.19.08 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TOHPjpeDb9o&feature=related_____

Margin - Laaa Laaa La La La La La Laaa...

2009-01-19T12:47:00.002Z

Margin – Laaa Laaa La La La La La Laaa….We’ve seen a couple of righteous articles on Pseud’s Corner recently following Kanoute’s t-shirt incident. And while I have replied to them in comments, I thought it might be time as some one paid to write about politics to opine on this matter in full.So let me start with a question or three for Mr Kanoute.Why stay silent while Israel showed months of

Mark!!! Leave him! He’s not worth it!!! - mountainstriker

2009-01-17T12:56:00.001Z

I must admit that this is really - no I mean REALLY starting to annoy me now. Manchester City have apparently bid 100 million Euros to secure the services of AC Milan’s Brazilian star Kaka. ‘He’s not worth it!’’ screams Alan Shearer, frantically juggling a kebab in one hand while pulling his mini skirt an inch further south in a valiant, but ultimately doomed, effort to retain his modesty with

Winter Sports 1.5: History and Football Part II - Beyond the Pale

2009-01-16T10:59:00.000Z

Show of support: Liverpool will have to answer questions from the FA after an orchestrated display to back Michael Shields, a fan convicted of attempted murder Photo: GETTY IMAGES.(Photo from The Telegraph) Football and history, suggests Pseuds' Corner regular Greengrass, have always been "inextricably intermingled".Pseuds' regulars Mac Millings and Margin have raised

Winter Sports 1: Football and History -

2009-01-13T20:10:00.001Z

A brief video essay starring Frederic KanouteBeyond the Pale After an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza. Photograph: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Imagesphoto from The Guardian "I learnt all the words and broke them upTo make a single word: Homeland"I Come From There by Mahmoud Darwish ___________________________________________________________________________The

Why They Boast - Mac Millings

2009-01-13T20:09:00.001Z

Which nation has the most arrogant sportsmen? Many of you are thinking of one country. However, on-field gloating isn’t unique to Americans, nor is it the norm amongst them. In fact, this “arrogance” has little to do with nationality, and almost everything to do with context.There’s little room for boastfulness in baseball. A good catch or well-executed double play is met with little more than

So What Was the England Cricket Row About This Time? – Zephirine

2009-01-10T18:12:00.005Z

Sigh. It seems like only yesterday that I was reporting to Pseudscorner on the sudden and emotional departure of an England cricket captain or two.And now here we are again.This time many of us saw it coming, but perhaps not quite so soon.Last summer, after the apparently coincidental resignations of captains Vaughan and Collingwood, the England National Selector, Geoff Miller, was determined

NFL Playoffs: The Case for Momentum - Mac Millings

2009-01-10T18:06:00.002Z

“Can the Cardinals just turn it on after weeks of poor play? I don't think so,” asked an idiot, amateur, 0-for-4, below-the-line pundit recently. Arizona proceeded to defeat the visiting, and strongly favoured, Atlanta Falcons last weekend. Said idiot amateur pundit – you’ll never guess who it was - had fallen victim to the Momentum Fallacy.The Cardinals had lost 4 of the 6 games leading up to

Gomes – Margin’s part in his success

2009-01-08T11:42:00.000Z

In mid November Spurs’ number one priority for the coming transfer window was to buy a new Number One. The fans groaned as much every time a cross threatened us. The press printed it and listed possible replacements. And Harry Rednapp hinted the same with all the subtlety of a Soho Strumpet after a cut price jug of sugary purple cocktail. Of course Gomes wasn’t ever as terrible as he appeared.

The Night The Unbelievable Nearly Happened (United's Difficult Victory in the World Club Cup) - Beyond the Pale

2008-12-22T19:11:00.001Z

Underestimating your adversary is a poor strategy in any competition.Last night in Yokohama, where they were contesting the final of the World Club Cup, Manchester United came dangerously close to doing that. Their opponent, Copa Libertadores champion Liga de Quito of Ecuador, put up a courageous fight. Proving themselves a far more formidable opponent than expected, at the end a talented and

I, RespectBot - Ringo37

2008-12-22T18:30:00.003Z

New new Wembley, 2066. Eighth quarter of the BeckhamCorp World Cup Final™. AlanBall-o-matic passes to Hurst-o-tron – Hurst-o-tron swivels, and shoots! Russian-made linebot TofikBakhramo v2.0 hesitates… and says – or, rather, displays on a flashing kilometre-wide holo-screen – No Goal! Yes, the linebot’s spotted some hurly-burly at a molecular level. The ball’s bounced down from the crossbar, and,

FIFA World Club Championship: A Longer Look - Beyond the Pale

2008-12-20T17:56:00.002Z

For argument: The problem with approaching any non-European competition as an a priori supporter of English or other European leagues or clubs is that one tends to be blinded by one's predispositions and miss what virtues there may be in such competitons. Take the currently ongoing FIFA World Club Championship tournament in Japan. While in general agreement with the commonly held disparaging

Tears of Joy (Mexican League Apertura Final 2008) - Beyond the Pale

2008-12-18T16:08:00.001Z

If you can't remember the last time you watched thousands of mature adults, on a day of deep blue skies and blindingly bright high altitude winter sunshine, all weeping and singing at the same time, then you're like me. And while you like me have probably read in the news lately that happiness has been discovered to be contagious, but only when shared in person, a case might be made for the

For the Love of the Game by Mouth of the Mersey

2008-12-15T19:42:00.004Z

Football fans profess love for their clubs, tennis and golf fans may profess love for a player (say Roger or Tiger) and rugby union fans may profess love for the culture of the game. But cricket fans regularly profess love for the game qua game, not even as ex-recreational players, but simply as spectators.On completion of the extraordinary First Test between India and England played in the

No pain, no game? - Ringo37

2008-12-14T03:18:00.000Z

“I felt I was good enough to deal with the bowlers without using a helmet.” Sir Viv RichardsA hockey ball weighs 5½ ounces, the same weight as a cricket ball. Hard, white, muddied in those days, and studded with the milk-teeth of unready goalkeepers... I was eleven years old and I wasn’t nearly good enough to deal with this.This was my first club game: I’d been shanghaied into filling in as

Sportswriting About Sportswriting About...--or, Is the Champions League A Bore? by Beyond the Pale

2008-12-14T03:16:00.001Z

Duly noted that we Pseuds--Ringo37, Beyond, and our several brilliant commentators--have lately involved ourselves in involving ourselves with involving ourselves in....what am I saying? Sportswriting about Sportswriting about Sportswriting?Back in the hoary days of yesteryear (just so we're clear, this is not product-placement, as the product no longer exists) there was a cleaning substance sold

The Awards 2008 (as seen by Mouth of the Mersey)

2008-12-13T08:59:00.006Z

Yes it's a cliche, but it's fun too. Comment is welcomed below, but pseuds' own nominations are welcomed posted to the address above. As personal as possible please! Team of the YearSuch is the volume of football available to the subscription holding viewer that it is easy to become sated with the game, but Euro 2008 lit up a dank English summer with free-flowing, imaginative and skillful play.

Eboué and the Rights and Obligations of Football Crowds – Mac Millings

2008-12-12T15:40:00.002Z

Last Saturday, Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboué was booed mercilessly by his own team’s fans during their game against Wigan. Such was the vehemence of the jeering, that it prompted Richard Williams to write on the Guardian SportBlog that, “It was the self-expression of the new breed of football fan, with his £1,000 season ticket and his increasing sense of entitlement…it is nasty, and it needs to be

"The Runyonesque Archetype" (a response to Ringo37's "Talking the Talk") - Beyond the Pale‏

2008-12-10T13:22:00.003Z

A few words of response and clarification may be in order re. Ringo37's recent post here on the great sportswriting tradition of which the work of Damon Runyon (1880-1946) still stands as both prototype and principal representative.First, Ringo37 credits Runyon with capturing "the familiar spirit of the Polo Fields and Madison Square Gardens".To be a bit of a fact-stickler, actually that was not

Histon v Leeds, 30 November 1973 - mountainstriker

2008-12-09T17:10:00.002Z

Histon’s recent victory over Leeds was a classic FA Cup tie featuring ITV coverage that equalled its glory days of the World of Sport and The Big Match. Leaving the Guild Hall in Hartlepool where Big Daddy - roared on by a crowed of homicidal grannies high on a lethal cocktail of gin and mint imperials - had finally triumphed over Jim Breaks, Steve Rider, his bouffant greying visibly on camera,

The fighter still remains - Ringo37

2008-12-09T17:04:00.001Z

In the week I was born, and in the city where I was born, Paul Sykes fought the Connecticut heavyweight Dave ‘Doc’ Wilson at the Theatre Club, and beat him up so badly Wilson was hospitalised for a month. A year later, in the summer of 1979, he challenged Hackney’s John Louis Gardner for the British Empire Heavyweight Championship, and lost; nine months after that, in Lagos, Nigeria, he was

Rule Changes in Sport. Carpe Diem - PhilWest

2008-12-08T17:17:00.001Z

[Editor's note: this was a lot more timely, but I'm rubbish at uploading things at the moment. Don't blame Mr West though]In this modern era where time is of the essence, some sporting contests just go on for too long. There’s a long unnecessary build-up of tension.Must we really be forced to watch a tennis match for three hours, an F1 Grand-prix for close to two hours, and darts for three and a

Talking the talk - Ringo37

2008-12-08T17:13:00.002Z

During the summer of 1913 the Chicago Record-Herald, somewhat alarmed by the extravagant fancy of its baseball reporters, asked its readers if they would prefer a return to plain English. Such of them as were literate enough to send in their votes were almost unanimously against a change. As one of them said, “one is nearer the park when Schulte slams the pill than when he merely hits the ball”.-

Seven rule changes - MacMillings

2008-12-01T10:56:00.000Z

Like a love affair, the rules of sport must be inflexible, subject to video replay, and should favour one side over the other. The following changes are the only ones necessary.Formula 1 – How can I take you seriously if all you do, essentially, is drive around in circles for an hour and a half? That’s not a measure of driving skills. Traffic lights, roundabouts and pedestrians to be added to all

The road to Vancouver - Allout

2008-11-30T23:58:00.002Z

Quirky Scottish sports have a mixed record in gaining popularity abroad. A bizarre game featuring the hitting of a little white ball with odd-shaped clubs is now played all over the developed world. On the other hand tossing the caber, like deep fried Mars bars and black pudding suppers, remains a Scottish eccentricity. In the middle of these two extremes lies curling, a game involving the

On the Clapham omnibus - Allout

2008-11-30T18:19:00.002Z

Charlie, the thirty something man on the Clapham omnibus, carefully picks the one graffiti free seat and stretches back following a hard day at work. Out of the corner of his eye he sees a large sports bag and, eschewing the obvious explanation that it is being used to transport the takings of a local break-in, he thinks how unusual it is to see a Briton participating in sport, rather than

England's dilemma by Mouth of the Mersey

2008-11-30T12:15:00.003Z

Should England's cricketers board a flight to India and play two the Test matches scheduled for December? They are now with their families and friends in England and it's a fair bet that few wives and parents will be urging them to return, but you can't always get what you want. England's security adviser is assessing the position now and his report will be keenly awaited by players and

Leeroycal's BB5 piece

2008-11-29T20:06:00.001Z

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. This truism is at its truest when it comes to television programmes. UKTV Gold and its constantly multiplying off-shoots are testament to just how lucrative the fuzzy memory of the viewers can be. (It is a little known fact that by 2015, 85% of digital TV output will be repeats of Howard's Way and Turnabout). But, if you actually take the time

The Rome derby on a laptop - PrivateDic

2008-11-29T11:51:00.000Z

Sports fans of a certain age reminisce about huddling round a crackling wireless to listen to the ‘Matthews Final’, or joining half the street in cramming into the living room at no. 20, where they had a TV, to watch England win the World Cup in black and white. It sounds quaint in the age of wall-to-wall Sky and Setanta, yet a fortnight ago I found myself experiencing the modern equivalent as I

Football crunch - MacMillings

2008-11-29T11:45:00.001Z

Those of you wondering how the global financial crisis is going to affect football might be asking the wrong question. It may not simply be a case of football clubs being affected by the Wall Street collapse. What if they are being run just like failed and failing lending institutions and Wall Street firms – with, at best, scant concern for shareholders and consumers, and sometimes outright

It's a Sin - Sisu

2008-11-29T09:58:00.002Z

The late Washington Post correspondent Mary McGrory once wrote: Baseball is what we were. Football is what we have become. She could not have known how right she may turn out to be. Today, as the MLB seeks to exorcise the asterisks that will forever stalk its record books, the NFL could be on the verge of its own BALCO moment.After crossing for a franchise-record 54th career touchdown with a

Eight rule changes - Mouth of the Mersey

2008-11-28T18:34:00.001Z

Like a love affair, if a sport isn’t improving, it’s dying, especially in an age when there has never been more competition for diminishing attention spans. Sports’ rulebooks have always been mutable things, intermittently updated to move the sport forward, but not too far forward – you can leave your core audience behind. The best rule changes should simplify and not complicate – the competitors

The Return of Lance Armstrong - mimi

2008-11-26T11:40:00.001Z

Whatever you think, this is the BIG story of cycling for at least the next seven months. And headlines in the cycling press about Lance will ensure that successes earned by others on the road - eg Mark Cavendish - will be forgotten.Last week in a feverish state of aaargh! I wrote with all emotions spilling freely about Lance. Thanks to our wonderful editor, Lord Ebren, none of you were subjected

Irish eyes aren't smiling - seand

2008-11-24T19:35:00.001Z

Finally! Another dismal season of League of Ireland football shudders to a merciful halt. The final table may reflect Bohemians' supremacy on the pitch, but as ever in the shambolic League of Ireland the real drama occurred off the pitch.Eight of the twelve Premier Division clubs hit major financial problems. The most spectacular meltdowns, so far, have been at two of the country's most

When Father Time Whispers - PhilWest

2008-11-24T01:25:00.001Z

Twenty-three years ago I played football for a staff team in West London. I was a dreadful footballer, but 1500m track training added to 80 miles/week meant I had a fair turn of speed and I was sometimes able to wear down markers by non-stop running. I could at least give the (usually false) impression that I was a danger.I remember a player on our side who was so old/unfit/useless that no one

Mystic blog - MacMillings

2008-11-21T13:32:00.002Z

Scorpio: There can be no more glamorous time or place, Scorpio, to start your International managerial career than a freezing November night in Glasgow. Sorry, no less glamorous time or place.Lucky Number: 1986. Unlucky Number: 1990.Sagittarius: No matter how much you preach the virtue of “good areas”, we all know, Sagittarius, that good areas for your squad do not include: Antigua, India, or Any

In defence of Rijkaard - Allout

2008-11-21T12:58:00.001Z

This autumn Frank Rijkaard’s stock has fallen more spectacularly than some Icelandic banks’. As Barcelona have smashed six past Atletico Madrid and Valladolid alike, commentators have been quick to praise new manager Josep Guardiola, and contrast his hands-on approach to Rijkaard’s laissez faire style. “It’s because they have a coach now” said Sid Lowe explaining Barca’s recent form on Football

Thinking inside and outside the Box - Mouth of the Mersey

2008-11-21T12:17:00.000Z

Just three months ago, we could believe that the money was real, but we know now that the money was funny . As the world tips into recession, football is already finding empty spaces in the stands and on the shirts. Like every other industry, football must come to terms with what the credit crunch means for its future.Even in the days when Tony Benn was the only man who advocated nationalising

What's Missing from Football? - Beyond the Pale

2008-11-20T09:43:00.005Z

For the past two years or so, football's been missing something for this writer, and, what with his his being a bit slow, it's taken this long for him to figure out what that something was. Then it came to him all in a rush, one November morning in the dark, while watching, from many thousands of miles and several cultural light-years away, a famously petulant starlet-of-the-moment gracelessly

AhcumfiGovan! - Donwendyagain

2008-11-20T09:43:00.001Z

So reads a plaque on the desk of Sir Alex Ferguson. It is a stark reminder, if one were needed, of the working class Glaswegian roots of the greatest manager to grace the British game. While Sir Alex may have travelled far from those tough beginnings and now enjoys the finer things in life, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of his first professional football contract, he is still driven by

Personality of the Year blog - swander

2008-11-20T09:41:00.001Z

It's been an amazing year for British sport: Team GB collects its finest Olympic haul since London 1908, the youngest ever F1 champion seals a nail-biting victory at the end of only his sophomore season, and tennis sees its first British-born Grand Slam finalist for over 30 years. With no home country involvement in Euro 2008, some new stars finally got to bask in the adulation of their public…

SPOTY: Chris Gayle – Zephirine

2008-11-14T19:46:00.002Z

My nomination for Overseas Sports Personality of the Year is Chris Gayle, Captain of the Stanford Cricket Superstars and recent winner of a million dollars.For anyone who’s been in the Sahara, in rehab, on the space shuttle or otherwise out of reach of the sports media lately, I should explain that on November 1st this year Texan millionaire Allen Stanford hosted the ‘20/20 for 20’ match at his

Who Should win The Sports Personality of the Year, and Why? - mimitig

2008-11-14T19:45:00.000Z

Over the years there has been a fundamental problem with this BBC award. Is the winner a Personality or a supreme achiever in their sport?This year will no doubt ask that question again as 2008 has been a year of great achievement for so many sportsmen and women, but how many have imprinted their characters upon us?For me, there is only one winner. Mark Cavendish – the Manx Express.Cav is

Pseuds' corner and home of the frustrated hack

Farewell, Super Sic: A tribute Marco Simoncelli - Galactus

The return of motorsport – mimitig

Sport Matters – mimitig

Champions league pretenders - Premcorrespondent

Paying the penalty - Premcorrespondent

Oh mister tangerine man... - Premcorrespondent

Are we nearly there yet? – mimitig

World Cup 2018 - cissethedog

For the love of the game - ebren

When the Hell welcomes the Tour - mimitig