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.
AFC Bournemouth’s ugly shower: Eddie Mitchell and Maxim Demin’s Russian wife
TO Bournemouth, where AFC Bournemouth chairman Eddie Mitchell has been charged with misconduct by the FA after repeatedly swearing during an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live’s 606 call-in.
The Cherries’ chief rowed with presenter Mark ‘Chappers’ Chapman following last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat by MK Dons, after rumours surfaced that Mitchell allowed Bournemouth co-owner Maxim Demin’s wife into the dressing room at half-time to talk to the team. Mitchell was finally kicked-off air after failing to heed his warnings and swearing for a third time.
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The Caretakers – The England managers who didn’t hang around
THE day is upon us, and England Expects… not very much really, if we are honest about it.
It’s Stuart Pearce’s first game as caretaker manager of the national team and the omens aren’t great. Previous friendlies against World Cup runners-up have been largely miserable experiences for England, and the records of previous caretaker bosses are nothing to write home about either. So how does “Psycho” match up against his predecessors?
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Posted: 29th, February 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Who is the best cones man in football?
INDEPENDENT writer Sam Wallace invites us to wonder who is the best cones man in football? And is the job is best down by an Englishman with English cones? As Wallace says:
Steve Wigley laying out the cones for training at Wembley. There’s simply no better venue at which to lay out cones. Pride
Of course, most most cones are made in…China…or Italy…
Posted: 28th, February 2012 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
In photos: Olympic rings sail down River Thames
GIANT Olympic rings were launched on to the River Thames and set off on a journey. The rings, standing at 11 metres (36ft) high and 25 metres (82ft) wide, are travelling on a barge in the centre of the city and will pass landmarks including Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf.
At the same time Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson says:
“With 150 days to go to the Games, we remain on time and within budget. This puts us in a strong position and gives me increasing confidence that we can deliver the Games under budget.”
Posted: 28th, February 2012 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
John Barnes says racism in football is a thought cime
JOHN Barnes wants to talk about racism in football to Daily Mail readers. Racism in football is so rare that a man in the crowd making a monkey noise can be arrested, and a player racially abusing an opponent leads to a ban that occupies the national news (see Liverpool’s Luis Suarez). Even the accusation of racial abuse can lead to a court case and a relatively successful England manager quitting before a big tournament (as with Chelsea’s John Terry).
Says Barnes:
When Stuart Pearce selects his England team to face Holland on Wednesday, it will reflect modern society.
Indeed, football reflects society. It does not, as David Cameron would have use believe, feature the white working leases leading society into race riots if the elite do not inflict control.
There will be a number of black players starting the game for their country, maybe six or seven, but so what? To me it no longer carries any significance.
So. Why mention it, then? Why count the number of black players? Do football fans notice the black faces anymore? Hasn’t hard work and the players’ skill smashed the colour bar?
I will not turn on the television and start counting the number of black faces in the team – we have moved beyond that to investigate deeper issues.
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Did Liverpool fan Mike Dean celebrate Saha’s Spurs goal against Arsenal? Video
DID referee Mike Dean celebrate Saha’s Spurs goal against Arsenal? Dean’s a Liverpool fan, reportedly…
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It’s not too late to send the Olympics to Paris is it? The four ceremony rip-off
IS it too late to send the Olympics to Paris:
London 2012 closing ceremony that organisers have promised will be a celebration of British music “from Adele to Elgar”.
In contrast to the sometimes stilted formalities, they promised a giant after-show party featuring a “melting pot of British creativity”, some of the biggest names in music, 4,100 performers and the obligatory closing fireworks.
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David Cameron vows to ‘crush’ racism at Chipping Norton FC
DAVID Cameron has ordered that football bosses “crush” racism. After that the Prime Minister will order police bosses to crush racism at the station; MPs to crush racism in Westminster; the media to crush racism in newsrooms; the Camerons to crush racism at home; the Bullingdon Club to crush racism in the gin shoppe; and so on…
Says Cameron:
“This is not just important for football, it’s important for the whole country…We need to act quickly to make sure those problems do not creep back in.”
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Posted: 22nd, February 2012 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
MMA fighters knocks himself out
MMA fighter Dan Lariviere manages to nock himself out. Opponent Jeremie Capony is declared the winner.
Spotter: tps
Alternative Olympic Sports: Royal Shrovetide Football in Derbyshire
ALTERNATIVE Olympic Sports: Royal Shrovetide Football match in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. The Royal Shorvetide Football match occurs annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town of Ashbourne. It has been played since at least the 12th Century.
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London Olympics horror story: no ice cubes
ONLY 157 Day left until the London Olympics and the news media is seeking out horror stories. Today, the Times links the drought in the south to Olympics hell:
A hosepipe ban is looming for millions of households as critically low rainfall has plunged southeast England into drought.
Families in affected areas were urged yesterday to conserve water by taking showers instead of baths, installing dual flush toilets and washing fruit and vegetables in bowls.
Which leads to:
The worst drought to hit the country in more than 30 years has triggered fears about how to cope with the expected 10 per cent spike in demand as a result of the London Olympics.
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Posted: 21st, February 2012 | In: Sports | Comments (3)
Dereck Chisora and David Haye could work for Team Luis Lazarte – video
DERECK Chisora and David Haye have betrayed British boxing with their graceless hooliganism. As the joke in the Times goes, boxing brought the young fighter off the streets and taught him greed and indiscipline. Chisora and Haye have just done their bit to relegate a once great sport to the ranks of minority sport, an ugly sideshow destined for the small time.
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In search of an Olympics scandal – IOC kills NHS patients
THERE are 158 Days to go until the London Olympics. The race is on to find a story that will shame the IOC and expose the greed and corruption that lie at heart of the Games. So. The Observer presents:
Olympic VIPs take fast lane leaving patients at risk
The VIP fasts lands will are roads lanes closed to anyone but VIP badge holders, members of the cringeworthy “Olympic family”.
Daniel Boffey writes:
Sick and vulnerable NHS patients will be left stranded in ambulances in traffic jams while dignitaries and sponsors race past in a fleet of expensive cars on specially designated lanes during the Olympics, healthcare providers fear.
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Posted: 20th, February 2012 | In: Sports | Comments (5)
Basketball’s big heads: a gallery of a sporting craze
BASKETBALL is not sport that has gripped Anorak – until now. The fans are winning us over by holding aloft giant faces when the opposition goes to shoot.
The last great craze in British football was the inflatable banana:
It was the 1988/89 football season that saw the inflatables craze really take off…. Frank had moved up to a six-foot crocodile but the rest of the fans had caught up with him. At a pub outside Hull he was joined by fans carrying a toucan, a seven foot golf club, a spitfire, a Red Baron and two bananas. At the ground there were still more: parrots, gorillas, panthers and literally hundreds of bananas… The movements reached it apogee in 1987 when four fans appeared at West Bromwich Albion’s ground carrying an inflatable paddling pool. Sharks and penguins were both represented. (Arsenal fans favoured the inflatable fried egg.)
At one end of the terrace stood Godzilla. Six foot tall, green and mean, this dinosaur was a match for anybody. At the other end of the terrace stood Frankenstein’s Monster. Slowly they baean to converge towards the centre of the terrace. The crowd roared.
Oh, how envious are we of the giant disembodied head. If the movement has hero it is Jackson Blankenship, a freshman at Alabama, who uses a massive photograph of his own face. Well, at least this way the fans can work out who not to sit behind. The pioneer was Conor Mongan:
“I was thinking of the most visually disturbing elements that could get into the peripheral of the shooter and kind of throw them off.”
Who would make the best head?
Posted: 20th, February 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Jeremy Lin: Chink In The Armour headline gets ESPN writer sacked
THE ESPN hack who created the headline “Chink In the Armor” in reference to New York Knicks basketball player Jermy Lin has been sacked.
ESPN would like to say:
Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05 am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.
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David Haye and Dereck Chisora’s selfless fight to rebrand British boxing
WHERE now for British heavyweight boxing? Having been defeated by Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko on point, slap-happy Dereck Chisora started fighting with David Haye during the post fight press conference in the Olympiahalle, Munich.
Haye lost to Vitali’s brother Wladimir Klitschko last year.
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Sports upper classes nab tickets for Olympics men’s 100m final
ENTHUSED by the London Olympics yet? Got your tickets for the mens 100 metres final? Are you one of the lucky 29,000 people who scored a ticket for the big event, the one everyone wants to see? Or maybe you’re one of the 61,000 elite who got a ticket for that showpiece race, a member of sports upper classes – the media, officials, fans related to IOC wonks or those of you working with a corporation or Olympic sponsor that makes those healthy sugary snacks and fizzy drinks?
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Chisora slaps Klitschko at the weigh-in and runs off
HAS Dereck Chisora put a few more bums on seats for tonight’s WBC heavyweight title challenge by slapping champion Vitali Klitschko at the weigh-in? Chisoa was, reportedly, wearing a ring. That slap must have hurt.
Will it be the only contact of note Chisora makes when the two meet again at the Olympiahalle?
Said Chisora’s trainer: “It was completely unacceptable.”
Klitschko’s team preferred the multilingual: “You’re f***ed now, Dereck.”
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Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cotterill explains how football works
NOTTINGHAM Forest manager Steve Cotterill does the maths:
“If we’d kept a clean sheet tonight, we’d have won 1-0“
Forest lost 2-1 to 10-men Middlesbrough…
Posted: 16th, February 2012 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Alternative Olympic Sport: Darren Taylor’s amazing dive
DARREN Taylor (aka Professor Splash) will now throw himself off a platform 36 feet up and land in just 12 inches of water. It is today’s Alternative Olympic Sport:
Stan Collymore or Andy Gray? Oliver Holt writes in
STAN Collymore is one of the better football pundits. But is he better than Andy Gray? In the Daily Mirror, Oliver Holt is shocked and dismayed that Gray has replaced Collymore on TalkSPORT’S Champions’ League shows:
“Stan Collymore does a brilliant job for talkSPORT. He is one of the main reasons why the station is gaining in popularity. His phone-ins are full of energy and intelligent debate, his knowledge of the game is superb, his match commentaries are packed with insight and vitality, his research is meticulous. So, in those circumstances, it seems absolutely bizarre that the station has decided to drop him from its Champions League coverage this week, and in the future, in favour of Andy Gray.”
And know:
“This is not a dig at Gray”
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Ravel Morrison’s homophobic twitter slur is an unfair cop?
WHAT news of former Manchester United teenager Ravel Morrison, offloaded to West Ham United?
Well, the 19-year-old has been charged by the FA over this allegedly homophobic Tweet:
“crack head ? Go suck out u little f*ggot your a guy that talks if u see me you try slap me I’m in manchester every week.”
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Posted: 15th, February 2012 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
Alex Ferguson gets his suits at Man at Mao
SIR Alex Ferguson, of Manchester United, is a stout man of the working classes. The Irish Independent has further proof:
Sir Alex Ferguson clearly hasn’t forgotten his working class roots. The Manchester United manager surprised the protesting Vita Cortex workers in Cork on the 60th day of their sit-in yesterday by calling them up to show his support. Sir Alex, no stranger to protests himself, told the workers to “stick with it” and that he was “right behind them”. The unexpected phone call was organised by Cork tailor Dave O’Connor, who was at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground yesterday measuring Mr Ferguson for a range of suits…
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England sign Spurs boss Redknapp for £64m – and rising
HOW much will is cost the FA to persuade Tottenham Hotspurs to let Harry Rednapp become the next England manager / saviour? The newspapers know:
“FA FACE £15M BILL TO LAND HARRY REDKNAPP” – Daily Star
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Fenway’s New York Times and New England Sports Network say Liverpool and Suarez beat Manchester United
IN “Another Ugly Incident Mars Liverpool’s Good Name” Rob Hughes tells New York Times readers all about Luis Suarez, Liverpool’s individualistic striker who racially abused Patrice Evra and then refused to shake the Manchester United’s captain’s hand.
The New York Times’ parent company is a shareholder in Fenway.
Says Hughes:
If the Fenway Sports Group (FS is to be the responsible team owner in soccer that it has proved to be in baseball, it needs to get hold of Liverpool, its club in England’s Premier League, and repair its global image fast.
And not just that. The FSG owns the New England Sports Network (NESN). This is its report on the United – Liverpool match:
Luis Suarez Shows Strength of Character, Scores in Face of Adversity
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Posted: 12th, February 2012 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (4)
