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.
Post-Hillsborough Sun overlooks Liverpool idiots to focus on sales
THE new Scouse-friendly Sun’s report on the Liverpool v Manchester United match is illuminating. The game was the first Liverpool home match since the official report proved the police had lied over Hillsborough, forcing the Sun to apologise for its willing and compliant broadcast of those lies.
Whereas the Daily Mail led with “Halsey suffers sick abuse”, news that the match’s referee has been targeted by footy fans hoping he and his wife die of cancer (he is surived one brush with the dread disease; she has been diagnosed with it), the Sun leads with a “VICTORY FOR FOOTBALL”.
Whereas other papers looked at the few numbskulls who stirred up old hatreds –
“Much to warm the heart, but idiots ensured this was not a unifying event” – The Times.
“No escape: Anfield day of reconciliation marred by fans’ taunts” – The Daily Telegraph.
“Defeat and chants tarnish a celebration of justice”- The Guardian.
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Posted: 25th, September 2012 | In: Sports | Comments (3)
Mark Webber is Formular One’s best champagne squirter: the 2012 season in photos
WHO is the best champagne podium squirter in Formula One? No contest. It’s Mark Webber:
Australia
McLaren driver Jenson Button of Britain left, and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany spray champaign after during the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, March 18, 2012.
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Posted: 25th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Theo Walcott is desperate – Arsenal just despair
“THEO Walcott admits he is desperate to stay at Arsenal and sign a new contract.” So says the Sun of the player who turned down a five-year contract worth £75,000 a week.
Desperate is redefined…
Ashley entertains at the Argos vs.Roughriders matchup at Rogers Centre
TO the Argos vs.Roughriders matchup at Rogers Centre on August 10/07. Ashley never did sue…
England team resigns to spend more time watching John Terry and their girlfriends
RAINY day. Monday blues. Cheer up. John Terry will never again represent England at football. Says the untenable Chelsea captain:
“I am today announcing my retirement from international football. I am making this statement today in advance of the hearing of the FA disciplinary charge because I feel the FA, in pursuing charges against me where I have already been cleared in a court of law, have made my position with the national team untenable.
“I now look forward to playing for Chelsea FC and challenging for domestic and European honours.”
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Posted: 24th, September 2012 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
Twitter hunt for @RobbyWallis who says Manchester United players should die in another Munich
HOW did the match between Liverpool and Manchester United go? Did the fans reacts well to Alex Ferguson’s call for peace and harmony? Well, United were fortunate to win 2-1. No-one called anyone a “negrito”. But on twitter @RobbyWallis had much to say. One idiot from millions of sane people who think death is not to be celebrated and mocked symbolises nothing. Unless you want it to:
Says Stan Collymore as he forwards the tweet to his followers: “Should never be allowed anywhere near Anfield.Pure filth.”
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Posted: 23rd, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
In photos: Liverpool v Manchester United – the post-Hillsborough respectful grudge match
LIVERPOOL host Manchester United in the first match between the pair since the State admitted that its had fitted up the 96 who died. Will the fans chant about the death at Hillsborough and the Munich air disaster, when 23 people were killed – including half the United team – using them as the ultimate weapon to hurt? We football fans like our humour to have edge and bite. But chants about these two mass loses of human life are not funny
The game ended with a 2-1 win for United.
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Is anyone going to do anything about racism in Italian football?
SS LAZIO have always been branded as racist or fascist. Not too long ago, Paulo Di Canio gave a straight-arm salute from the Lazio pitch and publicly defended himself by saying “I am a fascist, not a racist”. Of course, very little was done to remedy this.
Lazio were also the club of Benito Mussolini. “Il Duce” even built the ground the currently play in. And when Di Canio gave his shameful salute during the Rome derby of 2005, Mussolini’s daughter was in the crowd and chirruped; “What a delightful Roman salute!” after the game, adding: “I was deeply moved. I will write him a thank you note.”
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Posted: 21st, September 2012 | In: Sports | Comments (6)
World Cup Mascots: From Willie to the Nutty Armadillo
SO, an armadillo it is.
Not the most obvious choice for Brazil’s World Cup mascot, but then the nut had already been by Crystal Palace’s legendary P. Nut, and the connotations of the word “Brazilian” are hardly suitable for a family-friendly cuddly toy.
Anyway, it’s all for a good cause – raising awareness of an endangered species – and it’s not as if other country’s efforts haven’t had their own idiosyncrasies.
England 1966: World Cup Willie
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Posted: 19th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Local News: Nephew of Thierry Henry’s cat found alive and well in Reading
SETTING out to prove that any story can be buffed with a sprinkle of celebrity dust, Get Reading reports on Alan Cooke’s cat, which has returned home after being missing for six years.
Mike Pyle reports:
Mr Cooke and his family feared the worst after they reported the Bengal cat – whose uncle is owned by former Arsenal footballer Thierry Henry – missing on January 17, 2007.
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Sky says justice for the 96 is as good as an Everton goal
QUOTE of the day that outs football in perspective was supplied by Sky TV’s Alan Parry, who saluted Everton’s second goal, that gave them a 2-1 lead in match that would finish 2-2, with the words:
“For the second time in a week, justice is done on Merseyside.”
96 Liverpool fans cleared of any blame in their own deaths… A Premier League goal…
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Fergie wants end to United and Liverpool’s tasteless chants
THE relationship between Manchester United and Liverpool has always been a tricky one. Like sparring, feuding brothers, a deep rooted respect is often translated to burst noses and enough bickering to make even the pettiest human cry.
Over the years, both sides of this near-derby has seen some pretty unsavoury words shared. Of course, it makes for a fascinating spectacle, but Sir Alex Ferguson has just about had enough of it and wants the tasteless chanting that has marred matches between the two, to stop.
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Hillsborough: the truth is that the 96 were killed by the State
SIR Norman Bettison. He’s the chief constable who likes to protest his image, accused of manipulating his Wikipedia page to say nice things in a nice way. He was the chief inspector in South Yorkshire police at the time of the Hillsborough disaster (surely State-encouraged mass manslaughter? – Ed). He’s on the cover of the Sun, his face appears amid the headline:
Families of the 96: top cop must go
This is the:
Hillsborough Report Row
And:
Fury at defiant chief’s comments
What is is to be on the side of the angels for the trusty Sun, the paper that for 23 years sided with the State and libelled the dead. Its editor at the time, Kelvin MacKenzie, never resigned amid considerable fury. Indeed, no-one at the Sun did. No-one resigned from the Sun’s its parent group, News International. Indeed, the Sun’s sister title, the News of the World (now dead – and I for one miss it), went on to spy on people, including Milly Dowler, the murdered child. No-one at the top resigned for any of that.
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Posted: 14th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (6)
Hillsborough: Now for Justice
YOU can see the horror of the Hillsborough disaster here. Below are photos of some of the people who took on the Establishment. They fought for the 96 victims. They won. The minority view was right. Now it’s time to go after the liars who libelled the dead and portrayed the grieving as fools. Few things bring a tear to the eye: 9/11 and 7/7 are two. But Hillsborough, especially for any football fan who went to the match in the 1980s, is different – blessedly, there were no barriers at Arsenal, but we were still scum to be corralled and poked into our brutalist pens. The victims were abused and cheated by their own country. Their loved ones’ dignity is phenomenal:
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Posted: 13th, September 2012 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Kelvin Mackenzie finally apologises for the Sun’s Hillsborough lies – again
THE 96 Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough in 1989 had their names besmirched by the police and the media. Finally, 23 years later, Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie has apologised for the Sun‘s coverage.
In the face of massive evidence that the police lied to protect themselves and people died who could have been saved, Mackenzie apologises.
We’ve been her before. In 2007, MacKenzie said on BBC1’s Question Time that he had only apologised for reporting as “TRUTH” the lie that Liverpool fans had been masters of their own fate – “Some fans picked the pockets of victims. Some fans urinated on brave cops” – because Rupert Murdoch had told him to.
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Proof that police changed evidence to implicate Liverpool fans in Hillsborough disaster
WILL the family and loved ones of the 96 Liverpool FC fans who died as a result of events on 15 April, 1989, know the truth? No, not the Sun’s version of “THE TRUTH”. This is the truth shorn of police, government and media lies. Today, the Hillsborough Independent Panel releases its final report into the horror.
Hillsborough inquest coroner, Stefan Popper, said the dead died from “traumatic asphyxiation”. He said 94 people died on the day before 3:15. (Two people died later in hospital.) Only, sources say at least one, Kevin Williams, might have been breathing after 3:15. His mother, Anne Williams, claims Kevin was still alive at 16:00.
We will now see the medical records. Could nothing have been done for the dead after Popper’s “cut-off” time of 3:15? It’s hard to believe that’s the case, especially when so many who were injured recovered.
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Posted: 12th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Sun ignores Andy Murray’s epic US Open win to report on Theo Walcott’s head cold
HARD cheese on Andy Murray. He wins the US Open and not a single British newspaper bothers to hold the back page, front page or a small section between the classfieds to herald his achievements. And that includes the Sun, which despite leading with a “THANK YOOOOO…to your Olympics and Paralympic heroes”, begins its sports pages with the stella news that Stoke City’s Peter Crouch “refused to be on standby for Euro 2012”.
What else does the Sun say on sport? This is the paper that brought readers: “Boorish football needs to get the Olympic message” (Steven Howard), “Our Olympic heroes have humiliated arrogant footballers” (Hunter Davies) and “How vile football is back”, by Rob Beasley.
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Harry Redknapp make Bournemouth FC still more interesting
HOW’S life at Bournemouth FC. Answer: interesting. Club chairman Eddie Mitchell (yep, him) has added Harry Redknapp to his kitchen (fitters ) cabinet. Redknapp is volunteering as an “advisor”, offering help to manager Paul Groves and assistant Shaun Brooks.
Mitchell says:
“They have both worked with him before and I think there’s only person who would be able to get on that coach tomorrow without Paul and Shaun rejecting the idea, and that one person is Harry.”
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London 2012 Paralympics in photos and Coldplay muzak
THE London 2012 Games closing ceremony was a joy. Good and game of Coldplay to perform the muzak, selflessly allowing everyone else to enjoy the show, notably he contraptions created by the Mutoid Waste Company, Prince Edward arriving in a Bugsy Malone-style gangster car (fact: custard pies are his favourite teatime treat), Lissa Herman’s rendition of God Save the Queen, which in spite of being warbled in the manner of those pre-football game US anthems was stirring, Rihanna wearing some clothes and the crowd, who were brilliant…
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Could London 2012 live up to Simon Barnes’ Olympics hype?
HOW were the London 2012 Olympics and the Paralympics for Simon Barnes of The Times?
September 10, 2012:
Bliss was it in that summer to be alive, but to be in London was very heaven. It wasn’t the finest summer of sport we have ever known: it was much better than that. It was the finest celebration of humanity in a quarter of a million years of our existence. It was the best party in the history of the human race…
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The 27 best photos of the 2012 London Paralympics
DID you watch the 2012 Paralympics on the telly? Or were you just glad it was on but didn’t think it worth a viewing, sure that you were not watching the world’s best? If you din’t watch, you missed some fantastic moments:
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Posted: 9th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Shane Warne’s new hare endorsement
WHAT lies in store for Andrew Strauss, who has announced his retirement from cricket? Will he follow in the highlights of other former England captains Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan and advocate the wonders of new hair? Will Shane Warne, leading hairologist, need to up his game in the face of competition? QuebecTango wonders:
Posted: 7th, September 2012 | In: Sports, The Consumer | Comment
Times says Lance Armstrong is ‘biggest charlatan in sport’ 600,000 times
THE Times continues it mission of revenge on Lance Armstrong, the cyclist who successfully sued the paper for suggesting he was something less than honest. Simon Barnes asks the rhetorical question: “Who is the greatest charlatan in sport?”
It is a question that takes on new and urgent relevance with the latest revelations about Lance Armstrong. By charlatan, I mean hypocrite, phony, faker and humbug — a person who lays claim to conspicuous virtue with no intention at all of trying to attain it.
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Hillsborough: Sun reporter says Kelvin MacKenzie created the headline “The Truth”
HARRY Arnold tells BBC TV’s Hillsborough: Searching for the Truth that it was editor Kelvin MacKenzie who created the headline “The Truth”. On 15 April 1989, 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives at Hillsborough football ground. They were in Sheffield for the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
Harry Arnold was a Sun reporter from 1976 to 1990. He tells the show:
“On the Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie was the rather controversial editor at the time, he liked to write his own headlines. He wrote the headline ‘The Truth’, and the reason I know that is I was about to leave the newsroom when I saw him drawing up the front page.”
The Sun yelled:
“The Truth – Some fans picked pockets of victims Some fans urinated on the brave cops Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life.”
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Posted: 7th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
When Alastair Campbell interviewed Lance Armstong David Walsh was missing
AS the Times titles go after Lance Armstrong, and writer David Walsh is listened to anew, the paper might reflect on the decision to let spin doctor Alastair Campbell interview the cyclist in 2004.
The story teases:
Cancer, death, WMD, Bush, drugs, divorce … and five Tour de France victories. Discussions at the summit with Lance Armstrong were tough and uncompromising
When I arrive at the flat at the scheduled time, it is Sheryl Crow, his new pop-star girlfriend, who greets me at the door, very warm and welcoming. She comments favourably on the haircut, then Armstrong appears at the end of the hallway, smaller and slighter than he looked on the bike in Paris, big Texan smile, T-shirt, blue jeans, brown boots. A long, firm handshake and we go into the kitchen for coffee and curly little chocolate biscuits he says he got from a store down the street.
It gets no better.
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