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.
England Tie With India After Dutch Agree To Learn Rules As They Go Along
THE 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup – England v India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium ended in a draw. Cricket, you may supposes is a mixture of amiable buffoonery, manners and insomnia. But England players no longer move like laden hostess trolleys and try to field without the use of thumbs. England have computers, muscles and actually spend time between playing practicing and not reading John Grisham thrillers.
Sure, they just beat Holland, who gamely opted to learn the rules during an actual game, but in tying with India, where the sport is a big deal, England did well.
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Posted: 27th, February 2011 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
North Korea Hosts First Ever World Amateur Golf Competition
CAN golf succeed where crap failed? Can a swinging four iron bring revolution to North Korea?
At the forefront of the drive for change is young British entrepreneur Dylan Harris, who has arranged the world’s first amateur golf competition in North Korea.
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David Beckham’s Mission To Sell Jesus (With Free Face Cloth)
TO go with David Beckham’s bedroom eyes, is the Pope’s bedroom ceiling – Day-vid’s turned his chest into a Sistine Chapel overspill for tourists to marvel at.
The Jesus and the three cherubs on Day-vid‘s chest symbolise Himself and his three sons Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, 8, and Cruz, 6.
“It’s Jesus being carried by three cherubs and obviously the cherubs are my boys and so my thought of it is that at some point my boys are going to need to look after me and that’s what they’re doing in the picture. It means a lot.”
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Posted: 27th, February 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (4)
Ashley Cole Shoots A Poor Student At Chelsea: John Terry Unharmed
ASHLEY Cole has, allegedly, shot a man. Given his prowess in front of goal for Chelsea and England, you might suppose Cole shot and missed. But no. The NoTW says he hit Tom Cowan, a 21-year-old “student” on a work placement with Chelsea.
Cole, reportedly, was messing about with the .22 gun at Chelsea’s training ground. Cowan was 5ft away when the gun went off.
The paper says “blood [was] pouring from his side”.
In case you were uncertain where your sympathies should lie, readers are told:
On Wednesday injured Tom – who earns only a tiny fraction of Cole’s wages in his work placement role – was asked to attend a three-hour meeting with anxious Chelsea officials in the office of assistant first team coach Bruno Demichelis.
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Posted: 26th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (3)
Joe Murray Defeats Daniel Kodjo Sassou: Brutal Boxing In Photos
JOE Murray defeated beating Daniel Kodjo Sassou during their Featherweight bout at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton. Why do we feature boxing? Because boxing is one of the few sports where the photos capture the essence of that action. It’s brutal, skilful – and painful. OK, it can be comical. But no-one has tried this…
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Six Nations: BBC Celebrates 10,000 French Dead At England V France Match
THE BBC’s Berlin correspondent Steve Rosenberg says that “in the run-up to crucial England-Germany football matches, tabloid paper articles sometimes read more like despatches from the front than from a football tournament.”
Those sad tabloids, eh. They’re not like the noble BBC.
Going into the England v France Six Nations rubber, both sides have won one match apiece, but John Inverdale calls it a “Grand Slam decider”. (A Grand Slam, for anyone not au fait with rugby, is when one side beats the other five.)
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Chile’s Bryan Paul Carrasco Santos Performs Greatest Football Dive Ever: Video
TO the match between Chile and Ecuador. Bryan Paul Carrasco Santos is playing for Chile in the South American Under-20s World Cup qualifier. Ecuador’s Edson Montano is stood before him. Chile are losing 1-0. Carrasco takes hold of Montano’s hand and uses it to punches himself in the face. He wins a free kick.
In football they call this “simulation”. You might have another words for it:
Posted: 25th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment (1)
Arsenal Beat Stoke’s Anti-Football: In Photos
WHEN Arsenal last played Stoke City, Ryan Shawcross broke Welsh Gunner Aaron Ramsey’s leg. This time Stoke played a brand of football that demands time outs. Every stop in play is an advertising opportunity as Stoke spend an age getting the big lads all up front to toss it into the box.
But what can it be like playing for Stoke? All their players are talented. They would have been the best players in their schools, the best in their youth teams and driven and dedicated enough to make it a Premier League player.
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Posted: 24th, February 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (4)
Horse Racing: Banned Horse Names
NOT all names for race horses are approved. The British Horseracing Authority – formerly the Jockey Club – decides which names are acceptable. As it states:
Every Owner or ownership group must register a unique name style to assist in the administration of racing. It is this name that will be used when entries and lists of runners are published.
2.1 The following names that apply to all catagories of ownership in Chapters 2 and 3 are not available for registration:
- 2.1.1 names already on the register, compiled and maintained at the Racing Calendar Office;
2.1.2 names of more than 40 characters, including signs or spaces; or
2.1.3 names of which the Authority considers are too similar to a name on the register.3.1 The following restriction applies to sole Owners as provided for in Rule 31:
- 3.1.1 names of which the Authority are satisfied that the person concerned is better known publically by their assumed, screen, stage or pen name than their real name.
4.1 The following restrictions apply to companies, Business Partnerships, Racing Partnerships and Joint Ownerships as provided for in Chapters 2 and 3:
- 4.1.1 a name which the Authority considers
- 4.1.1.1 is suggestive or has a vulgar, obscene or insulting meaning;
4.1.1.2 may be offensive to religions, political or ethnic groups;
4.1.1.3 is in poor taste;
4.1.1.4 to be inappropriate use of names made up of internet site addresses;
4.1.1.5 may otherwise cause offence;
4.1.1.6 may cause confusion in the administration of racing or betting; or
4.1.1.7 is the name of a prominent Company, Product or Trade except where registered for that Company or Body Association.5.1 The Authority may refuse to accept or cancel any registration as provided for in Rule (A)25.
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Posted: 24th, February 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (2)
Kenny Dalglish, Andy Carroll And Animal From The Muppets At Boyzone Concert
KENNY Dalglish, Andy Carroll, Animal from the Muppets, a woman experiencing the raptureand the chap from the Tango adverts are all at the Boyzone concert in Liverpool…
Spotter: Popbitch
Cricket World Cup: ‘Passing Showers’ Flood Nagpur
CRICKET World Cup 2011 Photos: The Times of India reports: “Passing showers in Nagpur ahead of World Cup match”…
The Worst, Funniest And Strangest Sport Injuries Ever
FROM Clint Malarchuk to Beckham, sportsmen have put their bodies on the line – and the bodies have often lost. In this gallery, you will see the worst, weirdest, unluckiest and funniest sporting injuries of all time. This is not one for the squeamish…
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Posted: 21st, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Cyclist Aziz Awang Wins With Huge Splinter Though His Leg: Photos
AZIZULHASNI Awang is the Malaysian cyclist who crashed at the Manchester Velodrome and got back on his bike with a large shard of wood sticking through his leg.
(And you thought cycling was just going round and round and round. This is pedal-powered Formula one, folks. Buy your Olympic tickets now!)
The yet more incredible thing is that Awang finished third – good enough to earn him the Track Cycling World Cup title.
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Leyton Orient Do Better Than Barcelona Against Arsenal: FA Cup Photos
CALLING Leyton Orient fans, these phones of your mighty 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the FA Cup are for you – and this is the same Arsenal who conquered Barcelona a few days earlier. One other thing to admire about Orient: the fans can watch the game from the flats. Were you one of them on the best balcony in London?
Mikaela Lera: Photos Of Man City Star Carlos Tevez’s ‘Intimate’ Lover
MIKAELA Lera is the Italaian who claims she’s been shagging married Manchester City football Carlos Tevez. The NoTW says Tevez is estranged from his wife Vanesa and dating an actress called Brenda Asnicar.
Says Lera, who met Tevez at a bar in Manchester – he offers no response to the allegation:
“But then he asked me to go back to his house. He said we didn’t have to have sex – we could just watch TV.”
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Posted: 20th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment (1)
FA Cup Photos: Chelsea v Everton – Blues Lose While Toffees Cruise
THE FA Cup in photos: To the Bridge where Chelsea were beaten by Everton. The game was memorable for two things: another defeat means that those die-hard Chelsea fans priced out of watching their team by people who prefer rugger, move one step closer to reclaiming the club bought from under them; and Phil Neville – that likable, intelligent and loyal antithesis to John Terry – took his shirt off. Ladies – this is for you…
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Kate Upton For Sports Illustrated: Photos
KATE Upton is the star of the 2011 sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. Introduced without comment. But anyone in Egypt no longer addicted to Facebook may find cause for celebration…
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Champions League Hijack: Arsenal Beat Barcelona In Brilliant Photos
ARSENAL have beaten Barcelona 2-1 in the Champions League. And Anorak can contain its bias no more. This was brilliant. (I went nuts.) Arsenal fans – the only ones likely to be reading this – will enjoy the great photos of night that throbbed like a Justin Bieber mosh pit…
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Posted: 16th, February 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (9)
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 2011: Photos
THE Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition for 2011 features Irina Shayk, Brooklyn Decker, Cintia Dicker, Esti Ginzburg (banned in Sydney!) and Izabel Goulart. Remember those days when you had to make do with the gardening section of the Argos catalogue for sporty shots of women in swimsuits?
Posted: 16th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Rooney Flies In Photos: Manchester United 2 – 1 Manchester City
WAYNE Rooney scores as Manchester United see off Manchester City in the Premier League. The photos are great. The goal was better. And after the hype and the prostitutes and the crap World Cup and the transfer request and the Hello! interviews and the telly wife and the greed, Rooney delivers. A goal can make it all so forgivable…
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The Daily Mail’s Hypocrisy Over Richard Keys And Andy Gray’s Sexism
RICHARD Keys and Andy Gray have left Sky Sports to take up jobs at TalkSport. The Daily Mail must be delighted that their sexism has seen them so demoted. After all its Matt Lawton wrote:
That was certainly a common gripe among the football-writing community, with Gray almost coming to blows with one much-respected reporter who once dared object to his arrogance…He has, of course, damaged the Sky brand with his deeply offensive remarks. As, of course, has his co-presenter Richard Keys. Two men who Dame Judi Dench, in her role as Ian Fleming’s ‘M’, might have called sexist, misogynist dinosaurs…
They got too comfortable, too big for their boots and, in the end, exposed themselves as the men who were out of touch. As Gray discovered yesterday, what goes around comes around.
All good stuff. and it might make interesting reading for the Mail’s Steve Curry who in 2007 reacted to the news that Jacqui Oatley had been made a commentator on Match Of The Day, the BBC’s football highlights show, thus:
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Olympics: West Ham Win Right To Play Championship Football In A Second-Rate Stadium
SO. Now we know: £9bn of public money will create a football ground fit for a Championship club. West Ham United are the official choice of the 2012 Olympics legacy officials to take over the stadium.
The bid by Tottenham Hotspur to move in and then spend private money knocking the ground down before building a big Premier League-standard, purpose-built football stadium in its place has been derided as madness.
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Posted: 11th, February 2011 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Trevor Bailey RIP: A Life In Photos
RIP Trevor Bailey. At 87 years, the cricketing great died in a fire at his Essex home. He liked to keep his commentaries brief. Christopher Martin-Jenkins called him “the greatest distiller since Johnny Walker” – “Sunny say; no clouds to worry about; good pitch“.
Enjoy the gallery – the captions are as vital as the nostalgia:
England’s Next Friendly To Be Game Of Shag, Marry, Avoid
ENGLAND beat Denmark in a game that featured a non-England team playing in front a crowd you might see as mid-ranking dressage event. England were shorn of what are still billed as first-choice players, like Steven Gerrard, who succumbed to the kind of off-the-camera incident all too common in modern football. Let’s hope he recovers in time for Liverpool’s next match.
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Tiger Woods Sells Mattresses In India
TIGER Woods is selling mattresses in India. Tiger uses a Shivam “deep sleep” mattresses, to have ruby dreams about two-dimensional white women and a man with a handicam and microphone.
Does Tiger dream of women and a man in Comfi-Slax who oversees all his doings, offering a running commentary, thick-voiced tribute, occasional whoops and screams of “In The Hole”? Does Tiger want to be caught on camera?
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