Sports Category
Sports news, commentary and scores with wit and added value. We compare and contrast the best and worst sports reporting in the mainstream press, blogs, TV and online. We love the English Premier League (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Manchester City) and all things football but we cover cricket, rugby, the Olympics, tennis, golf, F1 and highlights of the sporting year.
Gareth Bale: Real Madrid vie with 4 other clubs for Spurs striker’s signature
THE DAILY Bale – Anorak’s at-a-glane look at Spurs striker Gareth Bale in the news:
National Turk: “All the world’s is talking Real Madrid £80m transfer bid for Gareth Bale, but Welshman wants to play for Manchester United.”
Number of words in the story about what Bale wants? None.
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Posted: 10th, June 2013 | In: Sports | Comments (3)
Striker hits post FOUR times
SOMETIMES, as a goalkeeper, you have to ride your luck in football. Well, one goalie had a cool time against a Greek striker as he hit the woodwork FOUR times with the same shot!
Egeas Plomariou was playing for the island of Lesvos against Papnikolis when he cracked a shot in from an angle to the right of the box.
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Donald Trump honoured that his Aberdeen golf complex won six star Donald Trump golf complex award
HIRSUTE tycoon Donald Trump’s Scottish golf course is the world’s best. The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences has awarded Trump’s Aberdeen course its Six Star Diamond Award.
Back in May, AAHS awarded a “SIX STAR DIAMOND AWARD” to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster in New Jersey for the third consecutive year.
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Posted: 10th, June 2013 | In: Sports, The Consumer | Comment
Gareth Bale: Now worth £100m the Spurs star snubs Real Madrid for the USA
BY now you’ll be wondering what Gareth Bale, the Tottenham Hotspur star, has been up to since the Premier League season ended. How are the heart fingers? How’s the pool? How’s the contract coming along?
Having reported that that Bale is ready to sign a £1300,000 / £200,000 deal to keep the “£50m” player at Spurs, the sports media has more facts. We’ve rounded them up:
June 1
Telegraph: “Tottenham Hotspur will tell Gareth Bale he is not for sale to Real Madrid at any price – Tottenham Hotspur will tell Gareth Bale that he is not for sale at any price when the Wales international returns from holiday in the United States. Real Madrid are urging Bale to submit a transfer request to try and push through a £60 million deal.”
June 2
Daily Mail: “Real Madrid plan £85m Bale swoop as they line-up Spurs star as replacement for Chelsea and United target Ronaldo. The astronomical fee would be almost impossible for Spurs to refuse with Bernabeu chief Florentino Perez pinpointing the Wales superstar as his prime target.”
June 5
SoccerLens.com: “If Bale goes for £100m, how will Tottenham spend it?”
National Turk: “Manchester United Transfer:Glazer family made offer £70m for Gareth Bale”
June 6
Daily Express: “QPR manager Harry Redknapp has unequivocally stated that Gareth Bale is not ready to leave Spurs just yet for Real Madrid.”
Redknapp feels that Bale will stay at Spurs for another year.
“Yeah, I think he will. Gareth won’t want to leave, he’s happy at Tottenham,” Redknapp toldTalksport. “He’s not an over-ambitious lad. He wants to be successful obviously but he’s not someone I can see moving to Real Madrid at this stage in his life.”
June 7
Marca.com: “Bale’s Villas-Boas bond puts spanner in Real move”
Real Madrid has hit an unexpected road bump in its big-money bid for Gareth Bale, in the shape of the Tottenham star’s excellent relationship with Spurs boss André Villas-Boas.
The Daily Mirror is carrying the following quotes from the Welshman, who lavished praise upon the coach: “He has helped me in all aspects of my game. In training, we have been working on things that I can do in games and he has given me the confidence to do what I want and do what I do best, which is a massive thing for a player”.
“We have grown as a team all season. I think that helped me individually, and that is why I am able to play so well and get my awards”.
June 8
Web Orange: “Dembele hopes for Bale boost
Mousa Dembele hopes Tottenham Hotspur can prevent Gareth Bale from heading out of White Hart Lane this summer… He told Sky Sports News HD: “He is an unbelievable player, so you never hope that your best player goes. That’s my case as well.”
BT90M.com: “An agent has stated that Gareth Bale’s high profile transfer to Real Madrid is already done and dusted”
TalkSport: “Tottenham transfer news: What Spurs could do with the £85m Gareth Bale cash
Following Barcelona’s capture of Neymar, Real will offer Tottenham £85m for Gareth Bale according to Spanish newspaper, AS.
June 9
London24: Ex-Spurs favourite admits he can see Tottenham ace Gareth Bale leaving if the price is right
Tottenham favourite Les Ferdinand has admitted that an £80million bid would probably be too good to refuse for Spurs in their bid to keep Gareth Bale.
He told talkSPORT: “I think the club will try everything they can to keep him [Gareth Bale] but, then again, if someone comes in and offers £80million I think everyone is sensible enough to know there is a price for every player. It sends out a good message if you’re able to keep your best players. Last year we saw Luka Modric leave and if Tottenham do the same this year it just sends out the wrong message.”
Sports Mole: Zinedine Zidane: ‘Only a world record fee will buy Gareth Bale’
Daily Star: “TIM SHERWOOD: GARETH BALE IS STAYING AT TOTTENHAM”
Bale, 23, is a £60million target for Real Madrid, PSG and ManUnited.
But Sherwood, in charge of Spurs’ youth team, said: “Gareth’s fantastically happy at Tottenham. I see him around the training ground every day. He’s got a good relationship with the manager and loves his team-mates. They show him the respect that he deserves and he gives it back to them. I don’t see him banging the door down trying to get a move. I believe one million per cent he will stay.”
Such are the facts…
Posted: 9th, June 2013 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Why are England rubbish? Blame the foreigners says Graham Taylor
HOW bad are Roy Hodgson’s England? The Daily Mail’s Riath Al-Samarrai says England are in danger of missing out on the Brazil World Cup. And he knows why. No, it’s not a lack of guile, team-cohesion, adventure and patience. It’s them:
Outgoing FA chairman David Bernstein and national manager Roy Hodgson have the same message: not enough English players are getting a chance in the Premier League.
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Wayne Rooney: Manchester United striker is called Mr Potato in crisps advert
WAYNE Rooney wants to leave Manchester United. But what will the lasting image of the graceless United striker be? Will it be of him dressed in the red of United to advertise potato crisps in Malaysia. Will he always be known as Mr Potato?
English football club mottos: the Latin, the motivators and the downright crap
NEWS that Everton Football Club™ has decided to modernise its historic badge, and in the process jettison its famous Latin motto, has caused not altogether unpredictable outrage among the Goodison Faithful ™.
The motto in question translates as ‘Nothing but the best’, so the timing of its retirement is unfortunate, coinciding as it does with a period of uncertainty following the departure of the ‘Moysiah’ to Old Trafford.
All of which begs the question of whether some other long-established club mottos and slogans are fit for purpose in the modern game. A select few still favour the classical Latin, so we will consider them first.
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West Ham’s anti-Semitic chanting at Spurs shows the FA to be clueless on race
The King and Queen visit bombed east end of london.
WHEN some West Ham United fans serenaded Spurs fans with songs-designed-to-offend back in November 2012, they hit the mark. Chants included the ridiculous “Adolf Hitler, he’s coming for you”, a not untypical hissing noise meant to simulate the sound of taps in a gas chamber and the answer to the Spurs fans refrain “Can we play you every week?” with “Can we stab you every week?”, that a reference to the Tottenham fans attacked by nutcases in Rome.
Two West Ham fans earned a police caution for anti-Semitic gestures during that match, a 3-1 win for Tottenham. One fan was handed a lifetime ban from West Ham’s ground. The gesture was, allegedly, a Nazi-style salute. That a West Ham fan should ape the people who bombed London’s East End in World War 2, a place where many Hammers fans lived, is so pathetic as to be laughable. You might also have head the West Ham fans chanting “Hitler was a cockney”. But he never did like the area much. (And he was busy blowing Goebbels, pretty Goebbels…)
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Posted: 4th, June 2013 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Fight breaks out at amputee football match
WHEN the national amputee teams of Holland and Belgium played their first match at Westerlo in the Belgian province of Antwerp on Saturday there was a fight. All 20 outfield players had just the one leg. The two goalkeepers had one arm each. With the scores locked at 3-3, a Belgium tyro pulled his Dutch opponent over by tugging at his one leg. Then the bipeds invaded the pitch.
Interestingly, no bipeds fight the amputees. Hooligans have standards, you see. They don’t kick the shit out of the old, the infirm, the very small goalkeeper. Looking on, we recall the words of an East Europan hooligan captured on Sky’s hidden camera, “We don’t drink or smoke. We are sportsmen.”
Highlights to look out for:
50 seconds: Dutch Number 10 does an impression of Dennis Wise.
1min 2 s – The two-legged hooligan.
Thrill seeker climbs very tall crane in Southampton then dangles off it with one hand (video)
IN this video, James Kingston, 22, climbs a big crane in Southampton. He then dangles from the very tall crane. With one hand.
On Facebook Kingston says he’s an “Athlete – Constantly looking for adventure!”
On Twitter, he says “climbing/ jumping is my forte”.
But not falling.
If you’re unnerved by heights – as I am (it’s fear mixed with a desire to jump) – see how much of this you can stand:
Photos: of Carol Anthony, the woman allegedly dating Liverpool legend Ian Rush
IRISH singer Carol Anthony, aka Havana, is said by the Sun to be dating Liverpool legend Ian Rush. The Sun alleges:
The Liverpool FC hero has been seeing Irish beauty Carol Anthony for three years in secret behind wife Tracy’s back.
There is talk of divorce.
By coincidence, Carol Anthony tweets:
Currently doing a tv show called Living With Legends which sees me having to live with sporting heros, really exciting and great TV! 🙂
Posted: 2nd, June 2013 | In: Celebrities, Sports | Comments (2)
Kenya’s epic jumpers present a history of high jumping before Dick Fosbury flopped
BEFORE Dick Fosbury (above) flopped in the mid-1960s, high jumpers took on the bar with a scissors kick. They went high. You can still clear a high bar with the old pre-Fosby method. In this video, Kenyan high school students show us how it’s done. They land in sand pits:
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Brazil v England: the ten most interesting encounters
WITH the renovated Maracanã stadium reduced to well under half its previous capacity, and finally ruled safe for England’s match against Brazil – and with the record standing at 11 wins for Brazil, four for England, and nine draws – we look back at ten of the most interesting encounters…
1956: England 4-2 Brazil
Hungary may have thrashed England 6-3 and 7-1 a few years earlier, and England may have been unceremoniously dumped out of the 1954 World cup by the USA, but as far as most people were concerned, the Empire Stadium at Wembley was still the home of football.
This was Stanley Matthews’s day, and his domination of the legendary full-back Nilton Santos was probably the deciding factor in winning him the first Ballon d’Or. A notable achievement in itself, and even more so when one considers that he was 41 years old.
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Posted: 1st, June 2013 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Chelsea fan in Brazil names son Leandro Lampard, aka ‘Lampardinho’
YOU know England are playing like Brazil when a native of Rio names his son Leandro Lampard. At the Bola Pra Frente charity project in Rio, we saw Chelsea fan * Leandro Tavares Guedes’s son Leandro Lampard, aka “Lampardinho”.
Rumours are that Little Lampard has been forcibly separated from nursery school classmate Steven Gerrardinho amisdallegations that they “cannot play together”.
Chelsea fan * Leandro Tavares Guedes can name the entire squad for the 1986 Full Members Cup final when his favourite Blues player Colin Pates lifted the mighty Cup. Or maybe he just started liking them when they got very rich and won the European Cup?
Jose Mourinho auditioned for Manchester United job and Mancini stays at Manchester City (says the Sun)
THE football transfer season is well and truly underway. With no competitive club footy to report on the newspapers jostle to prove that they have the inside track on the great game. Let’s look at the Sun.
The Sun reported on May 7 2013 that Jose Mourinho has signed a £40m four-year-deal to take over at Chelsea. The self-styled Special One is not off to Manchester City, then? Well, nothing has been announced, yet.
The Sun, November 30, 2012: “Jose waits on Man City job”
JOSE MOURINHO is ready and willing to take over as manager of Manchester City next summer… And even though Mancini has signed a contract through to 2017, City owner Sheikh Mansour might be tempted to sever ties with the Italian if he can get the former Chelsea manager.
The Sun, January 15 2013: “Come and get me, Man City”
PEP GUARDIOLA will decide to become Manchester City manager in the summer. Guardiola has opted for City as he is convinced they can become a force to rival his former club Barcelona.
…a top source in Spanish football revealed: “It is 100 per cent certain that Guardiola is going to City this summer. And when I say 100 per cent I don’t mean 99 per cent, I mean 100 per cent!”
The Sun, March 6 2013: “Jose turns on the charm”
THE only thing missing was a Manchester United scarf draped elegantly round Jose Mourinho’s neck. Short of that, the Real Madrid boss couldn’t have delivered a more obvious job application for the manager’s position at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
March 9, David Moyes made new Manchester United boss.
The Sun, April 28, 2013: “Mancini stays”
ROBERTO MANCINI will be Manchester City’s manager next season — even if they lose the FA Cup final.
May 14, 2013: Mancini sacked.
Manuel Pellegrini is poised to take over at Manchester City. But he’s yet to sign a contract.
More facts to follow…
Posted: 1st, June 2013 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Daily Mail spots trolls in Wayne Rooney’s family album
THE Daily Mail’s editorial meetings must be great. Back in February 2013, Laura Cox noted that nasty people had been saying nasty things about a baby. The headline told readers:
Twitter trolls target Fearne Cotton’s baby boy over parents’ decision to name him Rex
Then in March, Laura Cox noted that after Wayne Rooney’s second son had been born, nasty people had been saying nasty things about a baby:
ONCE, his arrival would have been marked with a simple newspaper announcement. Sadly for Klay Rooney, times have changed. His parents chose to share their joy at his birth yesterday on Twitter – and it didn’t take long for the internet trolls to respond.
As ever, the people on twitter were “bullies”.
A short time later Claudia Connell told, erm, Mail readers about Wayne Rooney’s son Kai:
Naming your new baby the B-list way…
Is that just catty or bullying? And someone tell Cox not to both sitting on Twitter all day looking for trolls. A quick walk about the Mail’s newsroom should provide rich pickings…
Football boss breaks into mystic’s house over love-spell
PEOPLE in football are all thunderous bores or terrifically crackers. Mercifully, we’re looking at the latter here with Jose Laparra.
Jose, who used to be president of Spanish side Club Deportivo Castellon, has been accused of breaking into his fortune teller’s home in a bid to reclaim the $180,000 he paid for a ‘love spell’ that apparently failed to work.
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Posted: 30th, May 2013 | In: Sports, Strange But True | Comment
Lorra Laughs: Comedians are making even more than footballers
ARE comics making more cash than footballers? Yes. So we’re told:
Laughing all the way to the bank: The comics who are earning a fortune and even overtaking Premier League footballers.
Peter Kay tops the list, pocketing £32.8million in the past two years.
Michael McIntyre next highest earner on the list with earnings topping £21m.
Third is John Bishop reporting profits of £6.3m in two years.
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Posted: 28th, May 2013 | In: Celebrities, Money, Sports | Comment
Hideous Puma flash mob mocks Borussia Dortmund players after Champions League defeat
HEY, guys! Wouldn’t it be great if after Borussia Dortmund have lost the Champions League final and are stood waiting to board a plane home at Stanstead Airport, we get a flash mob of stage school dancers and singers to stand before the guys and put on a ‘impromptu’ show? Puma think it’s an amazing idea. Anyone got a song? Yeah, Moving On Up by Primal Scream. Great.
And with that football in the post Nick Honby era pulled its novelty jester’s hat down over its eyes and jumped over a shark…
How much is promotion really worth to Crystal Palace?
DID Kevin Phillips secure a bonus for his decisive goal that saw Crystal Palace beat Watford and qualify for the Premier League? If he did, were calculations based on what victory in the Champion play-off was worth to the visitors?
What is it worth? Let’s see:
£145m – Daily Mail
£135m – The Times
£120m – Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph
£110m – The Daily Star
Meanwhile, Hull who must be cursing their luck. Bloomberg said their promotion to the top flight in English football was worth £90m.
It’s almost as if the experts just guess.
In photos: Bayern Munich win the 2013 Champions League
BAYERN Munich win the Champions League – a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund. The teams were fabulous. Their fans were vibrant. Their song were in English. To find out how the match figures in the history of German club football, do read this:
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President Mugabe says Liverpool’s Luis Suarez has gone too far
AFRICAN dictator Robert Mugabe says Liverpool’s Luis Saurez went too far when he bit Chelsea’s player Branislav Ivanovic.
“They must train our participants to recognise the reality of sport. Sport is sport. It is not war.”
The advice is clear. White famers not already killed by Mugabe’s men or chased out of Zimbabwe should at all times be dressed in full football kit. At first site of Mugabe’s thugs, they should sound a whistle and start playing. The farmers will thus become innocent sportsmen and no longer targets for Mugabe’s race warriors.
Posted: 25th, May 2013 | In: Sports | Comments (3)
A wonderful history of German football clubs in Europe: 1960 til now
THE Germans are coming (again)
German football didn’t turn professional until the mid-sixties, but by that time the (West Germany) national team had already won the World Cup, and one of their clubs had reached the final of the European Champions Cup.
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Gibraltar is now a Uefa football team able to play in the European Cup
GIBRALTAR has been accepted into UEFA. The rock could soon be playing England, Germany, Italy and World Champions Spain in competitive matches.
Gareth Latin, President of the Gibraltar Football Association, is happy:
“This is a momentous occasion for football in Gibraltar. UEFA membership means that we can begin the next chapter of Gibraltarian football.”
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Argentinian football fan throws his teeth at players in disgust
IN England, fans show their dissatisfaction by booing or throwing their season tickets at dug-outs. It is all rather quaint really. In the rest of the world, they really know how to do a protest.
You may recall someone throwing a whole pig’s head at Louis Figo in Spain, but an Argentinian fan beats that with sheer spontaneity, by hurling their teeth at the pitch in abject disgust.
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