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I’ve not posted for over a month now thanks in part to holiday and then to having a broken hand (hockey is such a girls game!).  But what a few weeks we have had in the World of sport, with the usual highs and lows.

The highs have to be the performance of both Olympics teams as we achieved record medal hauls in both and the Para Olympics.  Add to that England finally putting in a performance worthy of the word and not only winning a game but winning it with style and flair.  Long may it continue although no doubt we will be back to normal come Octobers match.  The resurgence of our much maligned cricket team should be added to this list as well, under the new and seemingly inspirational captaincy of Kevin Pietersen.
On a more personal note, Pompey eventually managed to play some decent football and put together a few wins, including their first ever in Europe, before Calamity James lived up to his nick name and helped the newly rich Manchester City to a 6-0 thrashing.

While on the subject of football their is the nonsense that is Newcastle United, who appear to have gotten everything they deserve, with Mike Ashley looking to sell and Special K having walked, a few weeks earlier than even I predicted.

Sadly though the last couple of weeks have seen the demise of Amir Khan, surprisingly beaten in 57 seconds by a guy who should have been a stepping stone to better opponents.  Well that should let Khan and his management team know he has a bit of work to do at least.

Then more recently this weekend saw Europe relinquish their hold over the Ryder Cup in spectacular fashion, which we should have seen coming with all the talk of us being favourites.  Faldo has come in for some major criticism (largely from the media, who has never seen eye to eye and were clearly waiting for if not hoping he would fail).  In my opinion any such criticism is unfounded - Faldo’s most controversial wild card pick one the most points.  It was the “big guns” who failed to fire over the 3 days.  Most notably Garcia and Harrington.

Anyway all of this just goes to show that sport can get us cheering and laughing one minute and crying into our beer the next.  Seriously though - would we have it any other way?

Team GB are having their best Olympics for decades and the thanks could be laid at the feet of an unlikely source - ex-Prime Minister John Major.

It was John Major’s government that instigated the National Lottery (since renamed the “Lotto”) and this has been the primary source of funding for athletes ever since.

From the original days of the Lottery, British athletes were given approx £50m per year - in the last few years this has been increased to £100m, with one eye on London 2012, where they will hope to improve on this game’s success, in front of a home crowd.

The success has been truly remarkable, especially when held against Sydney and Athens, which also saw an improvement in total number of medals and even more so when compared to the performances of our National Teams in our “major” sports such as football and rugby, where money is no object.
Our top athletes are now receiving an average of £70k per annum.  This sounds like a lot of money, but it doesn’t all go directly to the athletes themselves.  It should be remembered that in order to compete at the very top these people need a mini entourage of physios, coaches and nutritionists, not to mention having to travel around the world to compete.  On top of this they need to be able to live as well of course, so £70k disappears pretty fast.  If you compare £70k per annum to the money received per week by Premiership Footballers for example it really is a drop in the ocean.  Let’s not forget that the Football Club will supply the entourage and pay for first class travel if and when required, not to mention the odd winter break now and then.
Also, compare the lifestyles and dedication of the Premiership Footballer to the top athlete.  Double gold medalist Rebecca Adlington for example, has an excruciating training schedule 6 days per week, motivating herself to get up at 5:00am, in swimming which is a sport which receives little or no exposure in this country.

The average footballer will train for a couple of hours a day (normally mid morning, certainly not at 5:00am) and play twice per week.

So why do people like Adlington do it?  Because they are hungry for success and want to be the best in their chosen sport.

There are a few exceptions in the world of football i.e. players who play with passion week in week out, are hungry for success and don’t simply  turn up in order to pick up their massive pay cheques at the end of each month.

However, there are a large number in my opinion who simply go through the motions and are not too concerned if they are dropped, win nothing or end up injured for a few weeks.  As long as they are still being paid and can afford the mock Tudor house, sports car, WAG and bling they are happy.  If all British footballers showed the same determination as our Olympic athletes, then I’m sure we would never have a problem qualifying for and maybe even winning the odd major tournament.

However, lets take this chance to bask in the success of Team GB, rather than talk about the over paid and under performing football teams.  While we do that, let’s hope that John Major’s vision will go on reaping dividends for years to come and this success will encourage a few more couch potatoes away from their computers and out into the fresh air.  Who knows it might even reduce the obesity academic in the process!

Like thousands of others I set my alarm on Saturday night to listen to the 5 Live commentary of the Mayweather Hatton fight, full of expectation.  It went off at 3:55am and I listened half asleep to somebody going on about Alice in Wonderland for 5 minutes, wondering if it was on digital radio, which would have meant getting out of bed and going downstairs.  Then thankfully they went to Vegas after the 4:00am news (yes they still have news at that time of the morning!).  I then dozed in and out, wondering if it would ever start before waking with a start at the sound of the bell.

I’ve still not seen any highlights, but from what I heard (ignoring the fact that the referee seemed to be helping Mayweather in the early rounds at leat), Hatton was well beaten by a better and stronger opponent.  He seemed unable to hurt the American but keep getting picked off before hitting fresh air.  Nobody can doubt his courage and determination, but unfortuately that only gets you so far and legions of British fans were once again left with that feeling of disappointment in a year of disappointments and near misses (the Ashes series aside of course).

It was satisfiying therefore to see Joe Calzaghe win Sports Personality of the Year - at least he did win something.  It would have been wrong to reward Hamilton or Hatton who have undoubtedly achieved much, but not actually won their ultimate prizes. 

The Team of the year went to the English Rugby Union team - they too failed to reach their ultimate goal but with no competition from cricket or football, it was pretty much a full gone conclusion.  I wonder who might have won it had they been beaten first round…

It almost here.  The biggest fight of the decade and it involves a British fighter.  Both fighters are undefeated but Hatton is making a step up in weight so is the underdog.

Yesterdays, predictable yet still exciting skirmish (these guys know how to hype), as given it that extra edge as if it was needed.

Although the underdog, with most experts predicting that Hatton will need to stop Mayweather to win, he will have the full support of the whole of the UK, not to mention a legion of fans who have made the trip to Vegas.

I’m out on Saturday night and and have to be up on Sunday to play my first vets game (i know I don’t look it), but still thinking about staying up to watch it.  I’ve not been so looking forward to a fight since Bruno v Tyson.  Lets hope the out come here is different!

If Hatton can get inside Mayweather and do some damage without picking up too much on the way in then he has a chance.  The longer the fight goes on though the more chance there is of Mayweather winning, as he is used to the weight.

It will be fantastic for Hatton and British Boxing though is he can pull it off.  All Brits love to see a cocky, loud arrogant Yank get beaten, especially in his own back yard.  Or is that just me?

After the near misses of the F1 World Championship and the Rugby World Cup, finally we have had a weekend to be proud of.  I’m not just talking about Portsmouth’s demolition of Newcastle this weekend (incidentally a result, which puts them in the Champions League spot), but the wins of Justin Rose, Paula Radcliffe and Joe Calzaghe.

Joe Calzaghe was the first to win, defending his Super Middle Weight title successfully against the Dane Mikel Kessler.  This fight was not a full gone conclusion and Calzaghe was hit with some good shots and rocked a couple of times, but ultimately his guts, determination, stamina and ability to adapt got him through.  He is now eyeing up a step up to light heavy weight after defending his title an amazing 21 times. 

Then came Paula Radcliffe, who won a close run London Martathon on Sunday.  The win itself is remarkable enough and something to be proud of, but considering she gave birth to her daughter Isla just 10 months ago, it is made even more remarkable. 

And then Sunday afternoon up stepped Justin Rose in the Volvo Masters, knowing that a win would also give him the European Order of Merit Title.  He seemed to be coasting 4 shots clear until the 11th, where he made a double bogey, and then went on to drop 2 more shots in the next 3 holes.  This was compounded when Graeme McDowell produced an Albatross 2 at the 17th to show that anyone of 5 could potentially win.  However, it was the 18th hole at Valerama, which once again gave us the drama, with the top 3 (Rose, Dyson and Kjeldson) all taking bogeys, and going into a 3-way play off.  With Padraig Harrington finishing 2 shots down in 4th, it meant that Rose was assured the Order of Merit title and this seemed to relax him enough to go on and win the play off with a 12 foot putt.

The timing for all three couldn’t be better in terms of spot lighting their sports with the Sports Personality of the Year Award coming up in December.  All should be in contention along with Lewis Hamilton, and of course Jonny Wilkinson. Let’s hope it does go to one of the “smaller” sports and for somebody who actually won something rather than just came close.  Britain needs to celebrate winners rather than the “nearly men”.

I haven’t sat down to watch a boxing match for years - I think the last time probably Bruno v Tyson and the less said about that the better.  This Saturday however called for it.  With a couple of the lads around, curry bubbling away on the stove and beer in hand it needed something manly on the TV, so we sat down to watch Amir Khan bid to take the Commonwealth lightweight title from Willie Limond.

Khan started well but without taking any kind of clear advantage, and then in the sixth round got caught, and as he was falling got hit 3 more times such was the speed of Limond.  Khan’s protest that he was pushed was disproved by the replay, and the following 90 secs saw Limond throw everything at the 20 year old, who was trying to hang on for dear life while praying for the bell.

It looked as if I had brought the “Bruno curse” to the 21st century as nobody thought he would last much longer.  But Khan surpreised everybody with coming out hard again and a serious of crunching uppercuts broke the Scotsman’s jaw and forced him to retire giving Khan his 13th pro win.

Now I don’t know a lot about boxing (I actually thought Bruno stood a chance against Tyson) but to me it was a remarkable turnaround and showed that Khan has the ability and fear of losing that will take him far. 

People who are far more qualified than me e.g Barry McGuigan and his own promoter Frank Warren have said that techincially he has a lot to learn, and wont challenge for a World title for another 5 or 6 fights.  What he does have in spades, is confidence and a desire to win, and with the right management he should be able to go all the way!

I have to say I have mixed feelings regarding the appointment of Sir Clive Woodward as Director of Elite Athletes for the 2012 Olympics.  No doubt he worked wonders with England World Cup rugby squad but since then he seems to have had a bad fall from grace , having seemingly alienated the RFU and been overlooked for the top job there.  In addition there was his baffling move to Southampton where he has shown an inability to change sport and maintain respect.  Not so long ago there were reports of him threatening to sue SFC because he didn’t have the respect of the players in the dressing room - this from a guy who has one of his best qualities listed as “motivational”.  Strange way of motivating people in my book.  The brief he has been given is enormous - he is supposed to get to grips with the coaching methods and technique and technique for 35 sports.  Being able to understand what is required is only part of the issue as any sports player will know, and athletes tend to respect people who have done it rather than talked about it.  Team GB may not have the overpaid egotistic character of many footballers, but will still need careful handling.  I just hope Sir Clive listens to the people around him, and takes advice from the experts in each sport, rather than try and apply text book teaching across the board.  If he does I fear he, and Team GB are heading for disaster

Fraser

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