From Slumdog Millionaire to Stratford Masterpiece!

On Friday evening, I wasn't particularly enthralled by the prospect of sitting through three hours of the Olympic ceremony. As there wasn't much else on the box at seven o'clock, I thought 'what's the harm in watching the build-up?' The set looked intriguing from the first time I saw it. A mini Glastonbury Tor in honour of the music festival that was cancelled to allow Police resources and public toilets to be redeployed to Olympic venues; fluffy white clouds floating around the arena (that were to provide rain later on!) and farmers fields complete with farmers and livestock! What followed was not only breath-taking, it was intrinsically British from start to finish. If the history of Britain theme was inspired, then the show itself and the make-up of its cast was definitely inspiring. As well as the farmyard animals, there was a tribute to the NHS and Great Ormond Street Hospital which included NHS employees and children from Great Ormond Street; The Red Arrows display; Bradley Wiggins; Kenneth Brannagh as Isambard Kingdom Brunel; Her Majesty the Queen meeting James Bond; Mr Bean playing Chariots of Fire on the piano! All this and much much more set to a soundtrack including The Sex Pistols, The Arctic Monkeys, Mike Oldfield and a personal favourite of mine, Underworld's Born Slippy from one of Danny Boyle's most famous works Trainspotting.

The Olympic Rings, molten!

I'll be honest, I went in to the ceremony thinking 'how can a budget of £27million be justified in such austere times?' At the end of the main part of the ceremony I was left feeling even more proud to be from our fantastic nation than I normally am, having sat through a fantastic display of everything this country should be proud of and that has made Britain Great! 

It is a shame that Britain's sporting prowess hasn't quite come to the fore just yet; although I am sure it will. Perhaps one of Britain's main medal hopes, Mark Cavendish and Team GB failed to finish on the rostrum citing tactics of the other teams as a contributory factor. Cavendish said in his post race interview that his team couldn't have done more for him, and they went above and beyond the plan for the race. All the British riders looked absolutely spent at the end of the race, which is no surprise because by all accounts they had dragged the peloton along for most of the race. If they tried their absolute best, which it certainly seemed that they did, isn't that all anyone can ask? After triumphing in the most famous cycle road race in the world last weekend maybe this was just one step too far? All I hope is that in trying to elevate Cavendish to a gold medal, the other team members chances of medals in other events have not been compromised. Aside of Korean flag mishaps and match programme errors in the football, I think things have gone pretty well so far so long may it continue. (although I have lost count of the amount of times I've heard people call Team GB England. That will endear our Celtic neighbours I'm sure..!

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 After American MotoGP rider Ben Spies announced this week that he would be leaving Yamaha at the end of the season, the rumour mill didn't take long to start hinting that Valentino Rossi could be set for a return to his old team? Lord he knows he needs to be on a bike that can get him nearer the front. You can see he still has race in him, but his Ducati is just not quick enough. 


South African Steven Pienaar has re-signed for Everton after failing to make in impact at Tottenham, and spending the latter half of last season back on loan at Goodison Park. Will the thirty year old be able to rekindle his previous form? Time will tell.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has said that Andy Carroll is happy to stay at Liverpool and that he can fit into the 'keep-ball' style of play he is trying to bring in at Anfield. As a Reds fan, I am more than happy about this as the prospect of seeing Carroll with either Suarez or Borini, or perhaps both, was quite exciting after Carroll's late season return to form last term. 

Back next week folks!

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Well Done Wiggins and Ernie, and Welcome to Olympics Week!

Wiggins wins the Tour de France

On Sunday Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to triumph in The Tour de France as his Team Sky teammate Mark Cavendish won the final stage on the streets of Paris. Cavendish has now won this stage four times in a row which is some feat in itself. Wiggins conquered the peaks of the Alps and Pyrenees on a hellish two thousand one hundred and seventy three mile journey spanning three weeks, which surely puts him amongst Britain's greatest sports men and women of all time? Having won three gold, a silver and two bronze medals at three Olympic Games, as well as seven gold, four silver and one bronze at various cycling World Championships I can't see that there is an argument against this train of thought. A mention should also go to his team mates whose support was valuable to Bradley throughout. Briton Chris Froome, also of Team Sky, finished second behind Wiggins and three minutes ahead of their nearest rival. Bradley also showed great sportsmanship to fellow competitor Cadel Evans who suffered three punctures on one stage; carpet tacks were thrown on the road and Wiggins slowed the Peloton to allow Evans to catch up which isn't always the done thing. I'll be honest, I'm no expert on cycling and I wouldn't even say I'm a fan just yet. But what Bradley Wiggins achieved over the last three weeks is monumental, and his accomplishment, coupled with the fact that the Olympic Road Race is in the Surrey Hills just down the road means that I will probably tune in and I suspect I won't be alone. 

Massive congratulations to South African Ernie Els who won his fourth Major and second Open Championship on Sunday at Royal Lytham and St Annes.  Many thought that 'The Big Easy' might never reach such heights again, but he did all you can do as a golfer; post a score and see what happens. What did happen beggars belief. After the fourteenth hole where Scott made a birdie, some bookmakers were offering odds of 1/100. You have to wonder how many people thought they could make a quick killing? Scott went on to make four bogeys, missing a putt to take the tournament to a play-off and the rest is history. It will give Ernie a massive boost, but you have to fear for Adam Scott. The Australian was quite pragmatic in the aftermath, but like a boxer taking punch after punch, it must take its toll. He definitely has the talent, and Steve Williams on the bag must be a plus point, but he needs to invest in a sports psychologist I would say!


Strangely for me, I am getting somewhat disillusioned by the Olympics. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be a complete shambles. The threat of striking by British Border Control staff, the 'crackdown' on enterprising business people who aren't allowed to use words like 'Summer', 'London', 'Gold', 'Silver' or 'medal' in conjunction with each other. Just in case it is perceived as guerrilla advertising. Hardly. It is just honest people trying to earn an honest living, yet again being hindered by bureaucracy. It seems the 'Team GB' umbrella only extends so far. I am sure I will get in to the swing of things once the competition gets underway, but the seven years since I had a tear in my eye when Jacques Rogge announced London had won the bid is going very, very slowly. The last few weeks have been like swimming in treacle but we'll see.

Sorry to get all political, but it had to be said!

Close-season football shorts

Football's pre-season friendlies have begun so its not long now! 

Luka Modric is on strike at Spurs; Chelsea have signed Brazilian Oscar, Belgian Eden Hazard and they are also signing the younger Hazard, Thorgun. 

Much to my surprise, Everton sell Tim Cahill to New York Red Bulls for around £1m. I wouldn't want to doubt David Moyes, as pound for pound I think he is the best manager in the league. I have been saying for years that he will be the next Manchester United manager, but there will be more to come on that when it happens.

Unless Portsmouth can offload their last senior players, they will have no option to close their doors on the August 10th deadline. There are seven high earners left who must find a compromise, or the South Coast club will have played its last game. A very sad state of affairs.

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Where now for Khan and Chisora?

After Danny Garcia's 'Swift' dethroning of Amir 'King' Khan, where does the Bolton born boxer go from here? Certainly not in the direction of a super-fight with Floyd Mayweather which was the intention before the fight at The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.  

A stunned Khan takes a count from referee Kenny Bayless

Once again Khan failed to stick to the game plan, and as soon as Garcia started to catch him with heavy shots his brain went and he wanted to get in to a war; most boxing fans knew that this was never going to be the way to win the fight. If I am honest, as soon as Garcia caught Khan with the long left hook (half in the neck!) in the third round the fight was over. I thought Kenny Bayless was generous to say the least with his first count and if that punch had come ten seconds earlier the fight would have been over there and then.
So where now? I heard British super-middleweight Paul Smith say the other day something along the lines of 'boxing is funny, because it's hard to get the fights you want when you're winning, but everyone wants to fight you when you're losing' so getting fights shouldn't be a problem but they will certainly not be at the same level. Khan did well to get back to the big time after losing to Breidis Prescott, so to do so again is a mountain and a half to climb. I probably see Khan taking time out to reflect and seeing how the division develops over the next six months or so. It remains to be seen what is to happen to Lamont Peterson, so there isn't a re-match there at the moment so the only fight out there at light-welterweight is a re-match with Garcia. Would Khan want it? I doubt it. That means either coming back to European/Domestic level which is unlikely, or stepping up to welterweight anyway and trying to fight his way up from the lower levels of the division. I can see Khan fighting someone in the top 20 welterweights to get a foot in the door and trying to rebuild a career from there. The only thing is, that he will then have men that are 7lbs heavier raining punches down on his glass chin. It is a tricky one. Khan is a wealthy man, so could he retire at the tender age of 25?


And so to Haye versus Chisora. Haye finished the fight with a KO in the fifth round, and to be honest he looked a class above Chisora throughout the fight. Chisora was a game opponent until the fifth round, but I think it was obvious that Haye's class would tell in the end. If you ask me Chisora got what his actions in the recent past deserved. Maybe now he will take his disgusting behaviour and disappear into a dark hole somewhere. To both boxers credit, they were quite gracious to each other after the fight, despite the ridiculous trash talk in the build up. If you ask me, the fact that Chisora has even had a world title fight is a huge indictment about the state of the division at the moment. The sooner there is a greater degree of competition the better. I can't wait for David Price to make the step up to that level.  If he carries on making progress as he has done over the last few years it should be exciting. His trouble will be getting people to fight him as he has got a reputation as a bit of a banger. Price may even fight Chisora on his way to greater things. One thing I can say for sure is that Frank Maloney will not rush things with Price. It looks from an outsiders view that he knows Price can achieve big things if he has the right fights at the right time.

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Well done to Britain's Adam Gemili, who this week triumphed at the World Junior Athletics Championships, and also became the fastest ever man in the history of the championships by running 10.05s. After being at Chelsea as a young footballer, he only started to concentrate on athletics at the beginning of the year! Exciting times ahead. 

This time next week Britain could have it's first ever winner of the Tour de France. Bradley Wiggins has a lead of around two minutes with six stages still to go. It would be a huge acheivement for the three time Olympic Gold medalist to add to his CV. Good Luck!

Mark Webber pipped Fernando Alonso to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last Sunday. The conditions were changeable to say the least, but Webber was on the right tyres at the right time and overtook Alonso with four laps to go and stayed ahead to take the chequered flag. Red Bull Racing will be double pleased as Webber signed a one year extension to his contract this week. Webber did admit to being tempted by the lure of the prancing horse, but head prevailed over heart in the end.

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Murray Mania... (and more!)

Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

So Great Britain has a player in the final of the Men's Singles at Wimbledon for the first time in seventy-four years, but the hard work starts now. Roger Federer looked awesome whilst beating World number one Novak Djokovic earlier in the day. He looked every ounce the champion and legend that he is, and to say that Andy Murray will have his hands full on Sunday would be understatement of the year! With Federer at 1/2f and Murray an outsider at around 6/4, the bookmakers aren't too confident that he'll win; but can he? Of course. Overall Murray has beaten Federer more times than he's been beaten by him (his record is 8-7) so it is possible although they have never played each other on grass. Roger has been the King of Wimbledon for some time winning six titles from seven appearances in the final over the years; and although he might not have been in the final for a while he has looked as good as ever this year and he has an added incentive. If he wins he will regain the world number one spot for a second time. One thing that will go in favour of Murray, is that it is highly unlikely that Roger Federer will have played in an arena that will be so in favour of the other player. I can't see the crowd being excessively vociferous as they have very much taken Roger to their hearts over the years, but they will be pro-Murray for sure. There will be lots to play for come Sunday afternoon. Aside of the glittering trophy and the adoration from the fans, there is the small matter of £1,150,000 to play for.

I ought to mention Brit Jonny Marray who's made the Men's doubles final with his partner Freddie Nielsen by beating the defending champions Mike and Bob Bryan. The last time there were British winners of the Men's doubles was in 1936, coincidentally the same year that Fred Perry won the Men's singles. The last thing I would want to do would be to tempt fate, but could it be fate? 

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Tiger woods won the AT&T National title in Maryland last weekend to overtake Jack Nicklaus in the all-time PGA tour titles rankings. With his 74th title, Tiger is now only second to Sam Snead who won 82 titles. At the moment, Tiger is 6/1 favourite to win another Major at Royal Lytham St Annes in a fortnights time; Can you bet against him? Luke Donald at 16/1 or Phil Mickelson at 28/1 might take your fancy?

Kell Brook steps up to world level this weekend when he faces Carson Jones in an IBF World welterweight title eliminator in Sheffield. It looks like being a tasty affair as there has been a bit of needle in the build up. Both fighters are predicting a knockout so this one is a must see for any boxing fans. Hopefully Kell's class will shine through.

FIFA have decided this week that goal-line technology will now be used in football. (At last I hear you say!) The Premier League are saying that it could be brought in at some point this coming season, although the beginning of the following season looks more likely. At least there will be no repeat of Frank Lampard holding his head in his hands against Germany as it will definitely be used in the Brazil 2014 World Cup.     

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