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.
Sunderland’s Titus Bramble Would Have Fitted In With Steve Bruce’s Manchester United Drinking Club, Allegedly
TITUS Bramble is a footballer whose ability to secure Premier League contracts continues to baffle Anorak. Newcastle, Wigan and, now, Sunderland have all paid Bramble handsomely for ambling about the pitch looking distracted. Bramble is in the news of late because he’s been linked to an alleged sexual assault and possession of a Class A drug. Sunderland have suspended him. The club’s manager, Steve Bruce, has been scathing about Bramble, in whom he sees an example of much that is wrong with the modern footballer:
“I don’t think on a Tuesday night, you should be in a nightclub – I don’t think any footballer should be in a nightclub on a Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, not with a game on a Saturday, especially after the way you have just been beaten on the Monday night.”
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Sun’s Steve Howard Overlooks Paul Scholes’ Refusal To Play For Manchester United To Slam Tevez And Man City
BENEATH the teaser “Steven Howard: Carlos Tevez couldn’t have treated Man Utd like he has City”, the Sun’s Steve Howard writes:
CARLOS TEVEZ has treated Manchester City with contempt for one very good reason. Because he believed he could.
Also because, despite all the badge-kissing, he’s never really felt anything for the club. Certainly, he never refused to play for Manchester United even at the end when he was clearly unhappy.
In fact, he used to scurry round the pitch even faster to show interested clubs exactly what a great team player he was.How he fooled us all. And he never took on Alex Ferguson the way he has Roberto Mancini. Even Tevez, epitome of the dangerous power afforded the modern-day footballer, was wise enough to realise Ferguson’s untouchable position at the club meant there would only be one winner. The difference between United and City is in the way they are perceived by the men who play for them.
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Posted: 30th, September 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (3)
Manchester United David De Gea ‘Steals’ Doughnut: Ignores Prawn Sandwiches
MANCHESTER United player David De Gea has been “CAUGHT NICKING £1.19 TESCO DOUGHNUT”.
The Sun explains how De Gea overlooked the prawn sandwiches and own-brand treats:
SUPER-rich Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea was given a yellow card by Tesco — for pinching a £1.19 DOUGHNUT.
The allegation is that De Gea was spotted eating an Original Glazed bun from a Krispy Kreme cabinet at a store in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.
He then, reportedly, left the shop without paying for it.
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Posted: 30th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (5)
The Annual Bramble Mid-Solent Cricket Match In Photos
THE sun shone at the annual Bramble Bank cricket match. This year old salt Sir Robin Knox-Johnson joined members from the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble, Hampshire and the Island Sailing Club in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, for the annual cricket match on the Bramble Bank in the middle of the Solent. The bank is a shallow area of sea in the centre of the Solent which is exposed for about an hour during the lowest tides of the year. The teams take it in turns to win in alternate years and host the post-match festivities. Next year, should the football season not pan out, Fabio Capello’s England will be invited to play an exhibition match…for the full 90 minutes.
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Rio Ferdinand’s Defeat Triggers Open Season On Cheating Footballers: Kiss ‘n’ Tells Are Back
RIO Ferdinand lost his case against the MGN, publishers of the Sunday Mirror. The married Manchester United player and self-declared role model was unhappy that the paper had published the words of Carly Storey, who earned £16,000 for kissing and telling on their 13-year affair.
Judge Nicol J had to rule between the paper’s right to freedom of expression and the alleged breach of confidence.
The Daily Star summed up the case well:
Married dad-of-three Rio, 32, is seeking aggravated damages over allegations in a Sunday newspaper that he accepted the England captaincy from shamed John Terry despite having a mistress himself.
As we reported:
Married family man Terry was stripped of the captaincy in disgrace following his alleged extramarital affair with team-mate Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel.
Ferdinand told the court:
“I was extremely upset to read the story – I view it as a gross invasion of my privacy and extremely damaging to my private life. People started shouting things out at me in the street.”Things like: “Where’s your new bird?”
The facts of the case went like this, as told in the court report:
On 25 April 2010, the Sunday Mirror published an article about the Claimant’s relationship with Ms Carly Storey, who he had first met in 1996-1997. The article alleged that the Claimant had been having an affair with Ms Storey until the beginning of 2010 when he terminated the relationship after being made England Captain in February 2010. The article alleged that he had ended the relationship out of fear of being exposed like his predecessor, John Terry.
The Claimant claimed that the article was a misuse of his private information and a breach of confidence. The Defendant defended the article as a legitimate exercise of its right to freedom of expression on the following public interest grounds:
1. That the Claimant had presented a false or misleading image of himself as a reformed character and a family man.
2. That the Claimant had embarked on a misleading campaign since 2006 to project a more responsible and positive image than the reputation he held in the past.
3. That there was an ongoing public debate as to whether the Claimant was a suitable person to be appointed as England Captain following the dismissal of John Terry (who had been sacked over an extra-martial affair).
4. Ms Storey’s own right to freedom of expression under Art 10 and her right to personal autonomy under Article 8.
The judge ruled:
…the Defendant’s right to freedom of expression outweighed the Claimant’s right to privacy. The publication of the article was justified in the public interest and the information contributed to a debate of general interest in a democratic society on the following grounds:
• The Claimant had given an interview to the News of the World in January 2006 in which he had portrayed himself as a reformed family man who had given up the ways of his past, including ‘cheating’ on his long-term partner, Ms Ellison. The same themes were echoed in the Claimant’s autobiography and subsequent media interviews. While that image persisted, there was a public interest in demonstrating it was false.
• There was a further public interest due to the Claimant’s appointment as England Captain. Many members of the public expect high standards from someone in the Claimant’s position and for many, the Captain is expected to be a role model who maintains those standards off, as well as on, the football pitch. The Defendant’s article reasonably contributed to a debate of general interest in a democratic society as to his suitability for that role.
• In terms of the additional details in the story about the early part of the relationship, the Defendant was entitled to place the relationship in context. The photo was unexceptional and its publication provided an element of support to the story. The publication of the additional details did not cause the Claimant unjustifiable additional distress (distinguishing Campbell v MGN Ltd).
Ferdinand was slaughtered by the Judge:
“I did not find this answer persuasive. In his evidence the claimant said that (Fabio) Capello had told him to be professional, not only on the pitch but ‘around the hotel’. In the past, the Claimant (Ferdinand) had not behaved in a professional manner around the hotels into which he had tried to sneak Ms Storey. Whether or not he had done that in the few weeks since he had been made the permanent captain of England, his relative recent past failings could legitimately be used to call into question his suitability for the role.”
Also:
“On the evidence presented in this case, it is by no means a universal view that the captain’s role is confined to what happens on the pitch or what affects the players’ performance. Ferdinand, he added, had voluntarily assumed the role. It was a job that carried with it an expectation of high standards. In the views of many the captain was expected to maintain those standards off, as well as on, the pitch. There were many who would indeed see the captain, at least, of the England football team as a ‘role model’… During the course of the hearing I asked the parties whether it was incumbent on me to decide whether the claimant was fit to be England captain. Thankfully they agreed that it was not. The issue is rather whether the defendant’s article reasonably contributed to the debate as to his suitability for that role.”
This is the first privacy trial in which the disclosure of an extra-marital affair was considered justified in the public interest. Kiss ‘n’ tells are not dead – they’ve just been waiting for this case to finish. It’s game on for cheating footballers…
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Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (2)
Harry Redknapp Says Spurs Luka Modric Is An Insult To All Young Footballers (And So Is Carlos Tevez)?
HARRY Redknapp offers a few thoughts on Carlos Tevez’s refusal to play for Manchester City:
“What message does that send out to young footballers? If on Sunday morning an under-10’s team manager wants to put a sub on and he stands there saying: ‘I ain’t going on’. It can’t be right.”
You may recall that Luka Modric, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur – the club Redknapp manages – reportedly declined an offer to play for the club against Manchester United. Modric was, as media reported at the time agitating for a move to Chelsea.
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Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (31)
Shagging Stefan Effenberg Adds Irony To Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez Debate
GERMAN legend Stefan Effenberg wades into the debate over whether or not Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez refused to play against Bayern Munich:
“That player would never play in the same club as me again – that goes without saying. There is a clear order from the coach and he disregards it. That is poor behaviour and the club has got to come down hard on it…You just don’t do something like that. It is disrespectful to your team-mates and is not just in spite of the coach, but in spite of the whole team.”
Might this be the same Effenberg who in the late 1990s was shagging Claudia Strunz, wife of his Bayern Munich team-mate Thomas Strunz? (See photo of the now married couple used to publicise the player’s book.)
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Rugby World Cup Dances: Kiwi Haka Undone By England Player’s Sob Stories And Nelson Mandela
BEFORE the Haka became a menacing throat-slitting war dance (the Kapa O Pango) to be met by the oppositions’ rock-steady gazes, it was a Maypole and bladder on a stick short of being a Morris Dance. The Ka Mate can be matey as this clip shows:
How do you facedown the Haka? Giggling would be easy, but possibly trigger a diplomatic incident. Better, perhaps, if each nation brought their own version of pre-match ritual to the rugby field:
England: Each player steps forward and delivers a sympathetic sob story about a dead granny before singing Flying Without Wings (forwards) or Nellie The Elephant (backs)
Scotland: Run pellmell up the pitch and smash up the goalposts
USA: Form an Iwo Jima-type formation and erect a huge Stars and Stripes flag slap bang in the middle of the pitch while vowing to shoot anyone in the face who dares tamper with Old Glory
Georgia: Erect a human wall on the half-way line and then invite the smallest member to peep through a chink in the burly thighs and shout “Russians!” The wall then collapses and bodies lie immobile for up to ten minutes
South Africa: A speech by someone recounting the day they met Nelson Mandela (slides on the Big Screen optional)
Australia: A Fox Trot
Italy: Retreats to deep behind their own liens before stepping boastfully forward clad in the shits of their opponents
Russia: Crying
Posted: 28th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment (1)
Carlos Tevez Is Heading To Spurs: Manchester City Begin Desperate Search For New Rich Brat
CARLOS Tevez, Manchester City’s £200,000-a-week striker, explains why he didn’t play against Bayern Munich as a substitute:
“This is not the right time to go into specific details as to why this did not happen but I wish to state I never refused to play. There was some confusion on the bench and I believe my position was misunderstood.”
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Referee Sends Off 6 Bath Players For ‘Wearing Wrong Knickers’
THE Bath Chronicle reports on six players being sent off in a Bath City FA Youth Cup match against Newport at at Spytty Park.
The referee for the club’s match between Newport and Bath said the players’ underwear breached FA rules. Undies must be the same colour as shorts.
Rule 4 says:
“If thermal undershorts are worn, they are of the same main colour as the shorts.”
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Posted: 27th, September 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
Espanyol’s Walter Pandiani Makes The Anti-Perspirant Advert His Own: Great Video
ESPANYOL striker Walter Pandiani is hot. No, really, he’s hot.
If anyone from an anti-perspiratioan company is watching, Walter’s yer man… (Keep skipping the interview along.)
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Real Madrid Newspaper Marca Says Barcelona And Real Are Sponsored By Mad Muslims
HOW does Spanish hack Miguel Serrano cover the news that Barcelona has signed a €165million sponsorship deal signed with the Qatar Foundation. He writes in Real Madrid support sheet Marca:
“Thanks the word revealed by the Ayatollah Pep, FC Barça has turned into FC Burka. Against the traditional ‘Hala Madrid’ the culés can now say ‘Allah, Barça!’ After putting themselves into Arab hands the prohibitions will begin. Now you can’t smoke in the Camp Nou. Don’t rule out making the players wear turbans or do stonings every Thursday. Now Barça really is more than just a club: it’s an Emirate.”
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Posted: 26th, September 2011 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
The Greatest Own Goal Ever (2)
YOU are about to see a great own goal made all the better by the sound effects. Dumph:
Inter Milan’s PR Masterclass: Claudio Ranieri’s Admirable Use Of Doors
PR executives and apologists are invited to take note of Inter Milan’s sacking of hapless coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who lasted a mere five games. The official statement shows a mastery of the corporate communique:
“Inter announces that today’s training session has been carried out by Daniele Bernazzani and Giuseppe Baresi. The club wishes to thank Gian Piero Gasperini for the effort shown during his tenure and manifests its true disappointment for the interruption of the relationship with the coach.”
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If Arsenal Are In Crisis Figures Indicate Barcelona Are F*cked
ARSENAL’S highest attendance at the Emirates Stadium was marked by the 60,161 souls who turned up to watch them take on Manchester United, FA Premier League, 3 November 2007. The stadium’s capacity is 60,335.
Last season, Arsenal’s average attendance was 60,025. The seasons before that it was: 59,927; 60,039; 60,070; and 60,045.
So far this season, Arsenal have been watched by:
60,090 (v Liverpool)
60,087 (v Swansea)
59,727 (v Bolton)
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Posted: 25th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (6)
Anyone For A Game Of Dodgeball? 2,000 Aside Sound Okay?
DODGEBALL. It means very little to anyone outside of America, save that dreadful film that did the rounds a while back.
However, we’ve stumbled across a video that isn’t just your average, run-of-the-mill game of stupid dodgeball. This is mondo stupid dodgeball with 4,000 people split across two teams with 750 balls.
Yup. It’s the biggest game of dodgeball in the world… EVER!
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Football Dive Of The Season: The Referee Takes One For The Team (Video)
FOOTBALL Dive of the Season: the referee takes one in the face…
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Maradona Kicks Fan, Which Is Just Brilliant
THERE are many people out there who hate Diego Maradona. These people are stupid. Very, very stupid. Maradona is exactly the kind of nutter that we need in football.
Wild, unpredictable, temperamental with flashes of genius and a mouth that can easily run away with itself much more readily than the legs were ever willing, Diego reminds us of a time when football still had something of a personality.
Now, all we have are sneering, preening swans like Ronaldo and Nani or the likeable, but ultimate personality vacuum, Messi.
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Arsenal Swoop For Barcelona Starlet Guim Laporta
ARSENAL have moved to secure the services of Guillem Laporta, aka Guim Laoporta, aka son of former Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
El Mundo Deportivo says the Gunners signed the 14-year-old son of former Barcelona president Joan Laporta after his moved to London.
Laporta was the chief of Barcelona when they managed to unsettle Thierry Henry and then sing him. The Catalan club also singed Alexander Hleb and Cesc Fabregas.
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QPR’s Kindly Joey Barton Orders His PA To Throw Away His Childish Cars And Watches
JOEY Barton, formerly of Newscastle United now of QPR, is talking to The People:
“Obviously I conformed to the footballer thing before, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought a £100,000 car. But you change as you get older. I’m 29. I’m not a young footballer any more. You grow up and see things in a very different way. I thought it was so wrong that I had a collection of designer watches worth hundreds of thousands. People are struggling to put food on the table and there I am with flash watches and cars.
Adding:
“I told my PA to get rid of them.”
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Posted: 22nd, September 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (7)
Is This The Greatest Own Goal Ever? The Belgian Flying Header
THIS might be the greatest ever own goal – Andrei, of Belgian side Tubize, executes a fabulous diving header….past his own ‘keeper…
Spotter: Pies
Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger Resigns Himself To The Sun’s Biased Reporting
THE Sun sees Arsenal defeat Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in the League Cup and thunders:
Arsene Wenger fumes at Arsenal vote of confidence
The paper illustrates its story with a photo of a man sat amid a row of empy seats. In all, 46, 539 fans came to watch the mid-week match between the Gunners reserves and the League 2 team. That is the lowest ever crowd at the Emirates.
But to offer context, on the same night:
7,104 people went to see Blackburn Rovers play Leyton Orient
7,749 saw Wolves play Milwall
And 15,023 saw Stoke play Spurs.
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Posted: 21st, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (9)
Children Abused In Cage Fighting Ring Are Training For The Olympics
IT’S fight night at the Greenlands Labour Club, in Chatburn Road, Preston, Lancashire. The Lancashire Evening Telegraph reports on children as young as eight cage fighting before a crowd. It sees “a scantily clad ring girl parading between rounds” (that you Maddy Jackson?)
At one point, one of the youngsters appeared to be crying, and qualified medical staff were brought into the ring to assess the youngsters, who were not wearing head gear or padding.
The paper is looking to foment outrage. But a child crying can be indicative of many things. Have any readers seen a child cry at the school nativity play or at a ballet show? And don’t youngster do lots of judo and karate in their spare time? Indeed, cage fighting is also known as Mixed Martial Arts.
Event organiser Steven Nightingale claimed it was an ‘extremely good event’ and the club’s owner defended the spectacle. But medical experts at the British Medical Association today branded the bout “disturbing”.
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Posted: 21st, September 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (7)
Cesc Fabregas Sport Article Is A Fake: Barcelona Captain Never Slammed Arsenal
CESC Fabreagas says Arsenal has not a hope in hell in winning anything. That might be true. But the Barcelona new boy never said it.
The quotes appeared in Sport magazine.
“I want to be in a club that is able to win the big titles year after year and I don’t see that kind of future for Arsenal. I still have many feelings for Arsenal, but I fear that they won’t be able to push the other big clubs in England away. If you look at the team this season I can’t see them finishing in front of teams like Manchester United or [Manchester] City, or Chelsea. There’s just too big a difference between the squads. I respect that Arsenal don’t have the same financial opportunities as the others, but it was part of my decision to leave that I find it hard to see Arsenal winning the Premier League or Champions League in the near future.”
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Manchester City Look Like Barcelona – When You Shut Your Eyes
BRIAN Marwood is talking to the Manchester Evening News about Manchester City’s news trnaing ground and the club’s ambition to be just like Barcelona:
“You could have closed your eyes and see a young Andres Iniesta or a young Xavi and that is something on which we need to work very hard here.“
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