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.
The Oscar Pistorius Range: contest to find artwork and slogans for runner’s next Nike ads
NIKE have pulled the Oscar Pistorius advert, the one about the bullet being in the chamber. The South African runner killed Reeva Steenkamp, his lover. On The Drum website, a contest is underway to produce creatives for any future Oscar Pistorius range for Nike. Sick? Too soon? A woman died… Says the site: “…it clear that our intention was never to trivialise the tragic news about Reeva Steenkamp’s death, but to highlight the vulnerable position that brands are placed in when their endorsements of high-profile figures such as Oscar Pistorius attract controversy. If you have to explain the advert, then it’s not working, is it:
Posted: 5th, March 2013 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment (1)
Gigi Becali: the shiny boss of Steaua Bucarest gives way Chelsea tickets
ARSENAL fans bemoaning the limp, passion-free presence of the club’s owner ‘Silent’ Stan Kroenke should take a gander towards Steaua Bucurest, whose backer, Gigi Becali, is giving good press. In readiness for Steaua’s Europa League match against Chelsea, Becali pulls on a disco shirt, furls his tie into his shiny suit’s top pocket, dips his zircon in yellow gold and sat at a gilded desk, tosses away tickets.
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Spurs v Arsenal: No need for bananas – Gareth Bale had his ears pinned back?
WHO threw a banana at Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale during the North London derby with Arsenal?
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Posted: 4th, March 2013 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
Tottenham Hotspur revealed: the secret of Gareth Bale’s lightning pace is…
ADVERT or story? The Daily Mail introduces its readers to the secret of Tottenham Hotspur’s star Gareth Bale’s success: socks.
Working in a similar way to a golf glove, the socks have distinctive rectangular, non-slip patches on the outside and inside, which help to stabilise the foot inside the sock and the sock against the boot, allowing the wearer to push off with optimal power so less energy is wasted.
For a player like Bale, whose game is based on lightning pace and, increasingly, the ability to hit powerful shots and free-kicks from distance, this is particularly important.
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Chelsea players don’t need a manager like Di Matteo, they just need a scapegoat like Benitez
AS Rafa Benitez gets ready to count his redundancy millions, the Mirror’s Oliver Holt reflects on the life and times of another former Chelsea boss, Roberto Di Matteo. Today he writes:
“Benitez versus a squad of players who pretty much won the Champions League by running the show on their own and who are famously independent.”
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Posted: 1st, March 2013 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Celtic FC’s Green Brigade are victims of the war on free speech
THE Sun repeats the claim that PC Tommy McCrindle has been banned from policing Celtic fans. He is alleged to have written on his Facebook page (now deleted): “Fume-a-Pest & Termite Control.” Likening Celtic fans to rats and fleas is not on. McCrindle’s alleged words were further broadcast by the Green Brigade, avid Celtic fans who sit in block 111 at the Parkhead ground and give full throat to their Irish republican sympathies with singing, banners and clothing. They bring colour and atmosphere to the ground.
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Posted: 27th, February 2013 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (12)
Tottenham: Gareth Bale and AVB owe nothing to tabloid favourite Harry Redknapp?
TOTTENHAM’S Welsh wizard Gareth Bale is over the sports news. The club’s manger, Andrew Villas-Boas, has given Bale a freer role. Credit due for that. But what about Harry Redknapp’s role in Bales’s career? Sami Mokbel tells Daily Mail readers:
“Former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp’s influence on Bale’s career is undeniable. Taking a player who was widely recognised as a left back and transforming him into one of the most feared wingers on the planet is something Redknapp should reflect on with immense pride when he retires to his Sandbanks residence.”
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Posted: 27th, February 2013 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
That Olympics legacy: a ‘smoke and mirrors approach’ to Olympic ticket sales
THE Olympics Legacy:
The London 2012 organising committee has been criticised for a “smoke and mirrors approach” to Olympic ticket sales after figures revealed a significant number were obtained by VIPs rather than the public and some were not distributed evenly across individual price bands.
Golly, Gosh. Isn’t that shocking?
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Every Spurs striker say Tottenham will beat Arsenal – for 17 years they’ve all been wrong
CAN Spurs finish above Arsenal in the Premier League? Tottenham have not finished a season ahead of Arsenal since 1995. Will this season be any different? Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor now plays for Spurs. He wants to end the hoodoo:
“Last season at the last game of a tough race, you know what happened. We don’t want to commit the same mistake. For me it’s a big chance to show people I was right to leave Arsenal, which means finishing on top of them. If that’s with Tottenham even better.”
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Posted: 25th, February 2013 | In: Sports | Comments (3)
The other side of West Ham and England’s Bobby Moore ‘King of the Bar Stool’
AS the West Ham faithful congregate at the Bolyn Ground to remember Bobby Moore, here are some memories of the maestro, not all of which are likely to be mentioned in the match programme…
Boozer
Moore’s drinking exploits were legendary, and a couple of crates of lager were always on hand when Bobby held court. He was once even sensationally dropped from the West Ham team for breaking curfew the evening before an FA Cup tie in Blackpool. Best friend Jimmy Greaves called Mooro the ‘King of the Bar Stool’. Usually, however, Tina and Mrs Peters were not involved…
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Posted: 25th, February 2013 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers v Wolves Dean Saunders in battle of the bilge
WHILST Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers continues to talk nonsense, we glance down the leagues to see if any rising star can match the master of bilge. Wolves boss Dean Saunders is making his pitch. Speaking after his side’s 0-2 defeat to Championship leaders Cardiff, Saunders noted:
I have got self-belief. If you said to me ‘Do you want to open the batting for England. They are playing down the road’, I’d say ‘Go on then, give me a bat’.Then I’d get to the bottom step and see the fast bowler marking his run-up and realise I can’t do that. But my first reaction is ‘I will give it a go’.”
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Cheerleader Ashlee Arnau slams half-court forward flip shot to the envy of Harlem Globetrotter!
IF you’ve ever tried to play basketball, you’ll know how annoying it is trying to score any kind of basket at all, ever. Stand on the three-point line and watch as you continually hit the blasted hoop and scarcely hear the satisfying ‘fttt’ of the ball vanishing down the hole.
With that, imagine scoring from the halfway line. While doing a forward flip.
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Oscar Pistorius: did the Daily Mail lie about the bloody cricket bat and Reeva’s head injuries?
OSCAR Pistorius murder trial: did the Daily Mail make-up the claim that Reeva Steenkamp’s head had been crushed with a cricket bat? And was it suicide?
The Daily Star leads with the entirely uncorroborated Daily Mail claim that Oscar Pistorius struck Reeva Steenkamp about the head with a cricket bat. He did this not to resuscitate her, rather to hurt her, allegedly. The paper’s front-page headline declares:
“Pistorius smashed lover’s head in with bat”
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Posted: 25th, February 2013 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
Kiwi rugby coach Ruben Wiki tackles half time streaker (epic photo)
TO the NRL rugby match between New Zealand’s New Warriors and Australia’s Brisbane Broncos. Ruben Wiki, the onetime Warriors centre now working as the club’s conditioning coach, wows the 15,000 fans at Forsyth Barr stadium in Dunedin, when he brings down teh anked streaker. Nice tackle. (You too.) It’s one for the gallery:
Posted: 25th, February 2013 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Oscar Pistorius: a bloody cricket back, Reeva’s cracked skull and a nightie
DID Oscar Pistorius murder Reeva Steenkamp? We don’t know. A trial looms. We’ll know more then. But given South Africa’s disregard for anything approaching contempt of Court, we might get it all well before the accused runner takes the stand. The jury could be sworn in, asked for its verdict and the whole thing be over in three minutes flat.
The Daily Mail has news of the cricket bat found at the crime scene:
Pistorius ‘DID beat model girlfriend with a cricket bat’ before he shot her police tell horrified family and relatives have seen her extensive head injuries
Barbara Jones writes:
Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius crushed his girlfriend’s skull with a cricket bat before shooting her dead, police have told her family.
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Oscar Pistorius: We all knew he was going to kill someone one day
OSCAR Pistorius murder trial: Carl Pistorius, the runner’s brother, has been charged with culpable homicide (manslaughter). No. Nothing to do with Reeva Steenkamp’s death. This is about the alleged accidental death of a female motorcyclist in 2010.
Add this to news that officer Hilton Botha has stepped down from the post because he too is facing charges of attempted murder – he’s replaced by the lavishly named Lieutenant General Vinesh Moonoo – and you get the impression that everyone involved in this case is a suspect.
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Paul Elliott booted by his own Kick It Out anti-racism thought police
SO. Farewell Paul Elliott, who has left his role as the Football Association’s ambassador. He resigned. The former Celtic and Chelsea player, aged 48, was part of the FA’s judicial panel and sat on a load of Uefa committees. He made a big noise as a mouthpiece for anti-discrimination body Kick It Out.
Says Elliott:
“Earlier this week, a former friend and business colleague, made public a text message I sent him, in which I used a term which is widely known as being derogatory to my own community. I regret using it; it is inappropriate and not part of my everyday vocabulary. As an advocate of high-standards of public behaviour, and integrity in public life, I know the use of this word sends out mixed messages and contradicts my position as a Kick It Out trustee. I will continue to be active in other projects in what I believe to be a true and just cause.”
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South Yorkshire’s chief constable David Crompton calls Hillsborough campaigners liars
AND still it comes, the drip of police bile and subterfuge that defamed the Hillsbourgh victims as agents of their own deaths. Just days before the truth was established to a degree that even the conniving elite found impossible to deny, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire accused the families of Hillsborough victims of lying. On September 8, 2012, four days before the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report was released, David Crompton wrote in an e-mail to Andy Holt, his assistant chief constable, and Mark Thompson, the force’s head of media:
“Their version of certain events has become ‘the truth’ even though it isn’t.”
Truth. The email was released by the South Yorkshire Police & Crime commissioner, Shaun Wright, following a Freedom of Information request by the Daily Star’s Johnathan Corke.
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Oscar Pistorius jokes: The funniest thing you’ll read about the killer Olympian
OSCAR Pistorius Balls: Anorak’s look at drivel written about the killing of Reeva Steenkamp. The runner has been portrayed an heroic oil painting. Today Tony Parsons writes in the Mirror:
The bigots are happy – the Oscar Pistorius murder case has given them licence to openly despise the disabled again.
To recap: Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead by her lover. She was unarmed. She might have been murdered. The runner thought the woman who shares his bed was a burglar. There was no burglar.
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Posted: 23rd, February 2013 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (2)
Oscar Pistorius balls: the most stupid things said about the suspected murderer
OSCAR Pistorus is at large. He’s out on bail. Reeva Steenkamp, the unarmed woman he shot dead, has been cremated. Can journalists go further than the Sun, which was both well pleased and saddened by the death of a photogenic blonde in a bikini.
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After Liverpool lose to Zenit Brendan Rodger and Dominic King leave us laughing
LIVERPOOL lose 3-1 to Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa Cup. Over two legs they tied at 3-3, going out on the away goals rule. Two quotes about the game are worthy of repeating here. Brandan ‘Polyanna’ Rodgers, the Liverpool manager:
“I don’t think the players could have done any more, the crowd certainly couldn’t have done any more. It was one of those nights. It was a fantastic night but unfortunately we probably lost the tie over there.”
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Oscar Pistorius wins bail: ‘some kind of species the world has never seen before’ (photos)
OSCAR Pistorius has spent 4 days applying to be bailed for his shooting dead of Reeva Steenkamp, his lover. If this has been a big show, just wait until the main event. He’s won bail. A reader writes:
The Pistorius affair looks as though it may become a white athelete – black cop thing rather than an out and out temper/drug fuelled murder of a young woman. Either way Oscar’s finished, split and smoked like a haddock.
Magistrate Desmond Nair says the media have treated Pistorius like <em >“some kind of species the world has never seen before”.
He asks a key question: why did the accused fly into the apparent danger zone without his prosthetic legs when he had other course of action open to him?
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Posted: 22nd, February 2013 | In: Key Posts, Reviews, Sports | Comments (3)
Oscar Pistorius from despair to bravado: the changing face of the Olympics star in court in photos
OSCAR Pistorius murder case: has the Paralympic runner’s demeanour changed over the last few days? Have defiance and even bravado replaced desperation? Cameras are allowed into the Pretoria courtroom. They allow the world to see snapshots of one man’s trial for the murder of his lover, Reeva Steenkamp. He shot her dead. But did he mean to? He says “no”. The State says “yes”. The defence is muddying the once clear waters. Their job seems simple: they have to make it hard for the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond any reasonable doubt:
February 14, 2013
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Posted: 22nd, February 2013 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Facebook fail: New York dentist invites dead football star to open offices
FACEBOOK is a great way to connect your business to its customers. Lalor Creekside Dental asked its Facebook followers to help pick a celebrity to be there for its new office grand opening in April. Who would go to Binghamton, New York, to see Dr Teeth and the gang? The star selection box included such notable faces as: Oprah Winfrey, Jim Carey, Robin Williams, Meatloaf and Steve McNair. Who? Steve McNair, the American football star who made a name with the Tennessee Titans.Well, pick him if you want to see something amazing. He died in 2009.
Spotter: June
Posted: 21st, February 2013 | In: Sports, Technology, The Consumer | Comment
Gay former mayor of Barnet says he had sex with Arsenal striker
BRIAN Coleman, 51, a former mayor of Barnet in North London who now serves as an independent on the London borough’s Council, writes on his blog that he once had sex with an Arsenal striker.
“For someone who has little interest in Football, although I did attend Barnet v Port Vale at Underhill a couple of years ago, and once slept with an Arsenal striker, I am not fussed if Barnet survive in the Football League or bothered where they play.”
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