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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The Good, The Bad and The Rugby!

The Good:

Champion Tiger Woods and Legend Jack Nicklaus

Tiger Woods has returned to winning ways this week by winning the Memorial Classic at Muirfield Village. He also equalled Jack Nicklaus' record of 73 career tournament wins; it was ironic that he collected the trophy from Nicklaus himself as this is his tournament! Maybe now Tiger can set about chasing down Jack's all-time record of 18 major titles. At the time of writing, Tiger is 11-2 favourite for The US Open with www.paddypower.com so who knows? Rory McIlroy is 10-1 second favourite, and could also go in to the tournament at the Olympic Club San Francisco as a winner; he is one shot back in The St Judes Classic going in to the final day. 

Also this week, Maria Sharapova is back on the winning trail after thrashing Sara Errani 6-3 6-2 in the French Open final at Roland Garros on Saturday. This completed Maria's career Grand Slam of all the majors and puts her in a unique group of ten women in the history of tennis to achieve this feat.The men's final this afternoon looks to be a fascinating affair as well, as Rafa Nadal takes on Novak Djokovic. Djokovic is trying to achieve the 'back to back' Grand Slam which has not been achieved in the men's game since Rod Laver did so in 1969. I am watching the game as I write, and Djokovic is one set down having lost the first 4-6. 

FOOTBALL'S BACK! Woohoo! Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine started on Friday. There have only been four games so far, and there has been drama to say the least; Good attacking, poor defending and shocking goalkeeping, bad refereeing, penalties missed, a game of two halves and that was just on the first day! If the rest of the tournament lives up to the first couple of days it should be a fantastic tournament. So far, the hysteria in England has been minimal to say the least but I don't doubt it will start to build over the next 24 hours and will probably be somewhere near near fever pitch come 5.00pm tomorrow. 

The Bad:

Timothy Bradley beat Manny Pacquaio last night for the WBO welterweight title. Most seem to have said that it is controversial to say the least. Even though Pacman landed 94 more punches than Bradley, two judges scored the fight 115-113 for Bradley. Amir Khan, who is a potential opponent for both men and was ringside for the fight, said he had Pacquaio winning eight rounds to four. Although it is possible Pacquaio is unlikely to fight Khan as they are stable-mates, but if Khan beats Danny Garcia in July he may well go on to fight Timothy Bradley later in the year. 

Czech Republic full back Theodor Gebre Selassie has said he heard racist abuse aimed at him in the game against Russia on Friday. He said 'It was nothing extreme. I've experienced much worse and personally, I'm ready to put it behind me' but no player should have to contend with this and UEFA should get on top of the matter straight away. They have begun disciplinary proceedings against the Russian Football Union so hopefully the matter will be dealt with appropriately. There were also disturbances involving Russian fans outside the ground which are also being investigated. 

The Rugby:

Although England, Ireland and Wales put up spirited displays in the southern hemisphere this weekend, they lost to South Africa, New Zealand and Australia respectively. Well done to Scotland for beating Australia earlier in the week. The conditions were very much a leveller, but who saw that coming? The Scots were put under immense pressure in the second half and showed tremendous defensive fortitude, and Greig Laidlaw showed a lot of bottle stepping up to slot the last kick of the game through the posts for the win. The respective tours continue over the next few weeks, and most would be not be surprised if they don't win too many games between them. From what I have watched so far, all the southern hemisphere teams are bigger and stronger man for man and they all play a completely different brand of rugby.  Their game is played with a much more progressive, fluid, stylish and aggressive manner and until we start to try and meet them toe to toe on this front things will remain much the same.

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Euro 2012 preview

So the time for talking is nearly over as Euro 2012 begins on Friday. According to FIFA's world rankings, seven of the top ten teams in the world will be there so it is not going to be easy for anyone. There are almost two 'groups of death', and it is certainly quite tricky to try and pick who will get to the knockout stages. 

Will this be England's starting XI?

From an English point of view things could have been easier; having a new manager installed the month before the tournament with only a couple of weeks and two games to prepare is hardly ideal. And injuries and suspensions to key players won't help either. To say English optimism is at an all time low would be a huge under-estimation. That said, England might not have been at their best in the first two games, but if they can somehow win their next six games 1-0, England will be European champions on the 1st July. At the moment it is not pretty, but it is functional and we're winning; and winning breeds confidence which in turn would bring a more attractive style of football.  Whoever wins the tournament will not have had an easy ride for sure. The easiest group may be perceived to be Group A, but all the teams in this group are quite evenly matched so even though they're probably not being talked about as winners, it won't be easy for them either. 

One upside for whoever does make it to the quarter-finals is that Groups B and C look incredibly difficult to get out of, and it could well come down to goal difference as to who makes it through. If things go wrong (or right!) in the groups we could see two of the fancied teams going home early. Spain and Holland will be favourites with Germany not too far behind, and after that it is anybody's game really; particularly with Portugal, Czech Republic and Italy losing the weekend before the tournament. 

Future European champions?

I am going to stick my neck out now, and say I think Holland will win the tournament. Why? They won 10 qualifiers in a row, and only lost their last game to Sweden when they were safe. They are likely to start with Robin van Persie who has been electric all year, and if he needs a rest they have Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to come off the bench and he's been pretty handy as well. As well as this, these two will be ably assisted by Wesley Schneider, Arjen Robben, Rafa Van der Vaart, Ibrahim Affelay etc etc! 


Until now I had been quite underwhelmed, but with five days to go I am starting to get excited, almost irrespective of what happens with England. There is something special about tournament football that strikes a chord and I can't wait! I will be there at five o'clock on Friday supporting Greece v Poland (those who know me will know why) and hoping that the tournament can be a festival of football as it is meant to be. 

SPORT SHORTS

British athlete Mo Farrah made his intentions clear as he ran the fastest time (12m 56.98s) in the world this year over 5000m. He says he intends to concentrate on the 10,000m in London as it is run first, but surely there is not much better preparation than winning races. 


Kevin Pietersen 'retired' from international limited overs cricket this week, and will now only feature in the test team for England. It seems like he wanted to pick and choose when he played for England, and this was something that the ECB wouldn't stand for and rightly so. He might be missed in the beginning, but there will be another big-hitting superstar along soon enough; no player can be bigger than the team. 

Red Bull Racing F1 team have been told this week that they must make changes to the floors under their cars to make them compliant with regulations. Team principal had been adamant that his cars were compliant when asked on several occasions previously, but maybe change won't be a bad thing. Despite Mark Webber's win in Monaco, this season doesn't come close to the success RBR have had in the last couple of years.

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Carl 'The Cobra' Froch: Legend?

As the three time super-middleweight champion of the world, one would think so. But going in to last nights fight with Lucian Bute as the underdog suggests that some still still don't rate Froch as highly as others.

Carl Froch floors Lucian Bute

Carl Froch has spent the last three or four years fighting the best boxers in the division all around the world; going in to the lion's den to fight other people in their back yard. Conversely this was Bute's trickiest fight by some way, and his first away from North America so it is no wonder that Froch outclassed Bute. I'd be highly surprised if Bute's team took up the option of a re-match as they would surely not want such a ritual humiliation for their charge for a second time. It is difficult to know where Bute will go now, but surely Froch is well on the path to greatness and a spot in the history books as a British legend. He did spend the early part of his career in the shadows of Joe Calzaghe, but he always called out Calzaghe even though the fight was never made. Why? We shall probably never know, but since then Froch has never ducked anybody and has beaten most. There is a chance that he will get the opportunity to avenge the Kessler defeat, and I would think he could then retire with his head held high and nothing else to prove.

As Froch said in his post-fight interview, he could not have done it without his long-time coach Rob McCracken. He also openly admitted that if he does as he's told he could win like that all the time; all he has to do is 'listen to the guru!' Hopefully McCracken (British amateur boxing's performance director) can work his magic on Team GB's boxers at the London 2012 Olympics which are not too far away.  

SPORT SHORTS

Well done to Mark Webber for winning today's Monaco Grand Prix for the second time. It wasn't the most exciting race that we'll see this season, but hopefully it can be a spring board for Webber to go on to bigger and better things. 

Congratulations to Harlequins for winning their first ever English Premiership Rugby Union this weekend. The club has been through some hard times following the 'bloodgate' scandal of three years ago, but they have shown true character to come back to where they are now. 

England's footballers won their first match under Roy Hodgson. Better that than not winning, but if England carry on playing like that, not only will they not go very far in Euro 2012 but it won't be long before fans (and the media) start calling for Hodgson to be sacked. I am not one of them though,. The poor bloke has only has three days training with the team, and the circumstances have hardly been ideal. There should be no pressure for this tournament, and it should be looked upon as a building block for the future; after all there will be several current players that may not be in the squad for the world cup qualifiers in September.  

Luke Donald has retained his BMW PGA championship title at Wentworth today by beating the field by four shots. He carded a solid 68 to enter the clubhouse having defended a title for the first time in his career. Onwards and upwards to major success?

Jessica Ennis set a new British heptathlon record as she won in Austria with 6,906 points. Not bad for a fat lass! Whoever said that was a fool. She is one of the best medal hopes that we have going in to the Olympics; is that the way to try and settle our athletes down? Sad news that heptathlete Kelly Sotherton has announced her retirement following a back operation. 

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