Friday 29 July 2011

Sporting Update

One week into this blog and a lot has happened this week, so be prepared for a long read...or just pick the sports you want to know about...

NFL

2 Years Ago and you would have not caught me even mentioning the American sport, but after being drawn to watching it I have fallen for NFL. I bought Madden NFL 11and have immensely enjoyed all modes of the game, being drafted into the Minnesota Vikings in the Be a SuperStar mode (similar to Fifa's be a pro mode) and taking the same team to the Superbowl in the franchise mode. And if you know anything about the sport, you know that there was a big fear that there was going to be a delay to the start of the season because of a 'Lockout'. For those people who do not follow any American sport, this word spreads dread around the American sporting nation, as the teams and the players fight over who gets the money the sport generates. I think an idea like this would be fantastic in the Premier League and European football, but its taken this long for UEFA to get round to fair spending laws that something like this would take years longer to implement.
However, the lockout has been fixed with an agreement made, 53% to teams, 47% to players, and training is due to begin today, after a week of draft picks and re-signings. I'm sorry to anyone reading this to try and get a summary of all the trades that are going on, but there's no way I can report on the sheer volume of movement. Just before the start of the season I will sum up the biggest signings of the off-season, and my picks to make the Superbowl.

Cricket


I was very happy to be on track with my prediction for the 1st Test match with England recording a comfortable victory after a fantastic last day performance from the England bowlers. However I was disappointed by the Indian batting line-up, and in particular the little master, who failed again to perform on a big stage. His batting was ultra-defensive, even Dravid had a faster scoring rate, and was lucky to last as long as it did. His technique was sloppy and I really don't think hes anywhere near the same player he was. However that wasn't the factor that lead to the loss. To be the top side in the world you have to be strong in all three aspects of the game, batting bowling and fielding. Their batting and bowling definitely lives up to the mark, at least on occasions, but their fielding is woeful. They are lazy, haphazard and even their wicketkeeper is sloppy. Out of the two keeper-batsmen in the match Prior would get the gloves everytime, even if you could argue Dhoni is a better batsmen on average.
At the time of writing this England are 108-6 in their first innings, but apparently the conditions are extremely favourable to bowlers, so I think whoever takes a lead into the second innings will stand a huge chance of winning, but I wouldn't like to guess at a winner. If England can get around 200 or more, they'll fancy themselves to get India out cheaply, with the swing bowlers they have at their disposal.

Football
Man City have caught the transfer headlines once again with the ridiculous money capture of Aguero, but were also in the headlines for the wrong reasons with a previous signing, Balotelli. Balotelli should have been fined for that shoddy show of disregard for the friendly, Mancini was right to pull him off when he did, players should treat every game 100% and his lack of respect for the club and manager came through then. Personally, I'd sell him, his temper is unacceptable for a Premier League player. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14270989.stm
Aguero, however, could be a great capture, even if the price they paid was a bit over the odds. His skill and pace could make him a real handful in the premiership, and its exactly the player city need if Tevez is on his way.
Check next week for a roundup of whose moved and who looks to be on their way in the last month of the transfer window.

Formula One
After Hamilton's storming victory in Germany last week McLaren seem to be moving in the right direction after the first day of Practice in Hungary, with Hamilton topping the time sheet in both sessions. In a reversal of fortune, both Red Bull drivers seem to be struggling after their rivals sudden improvement on the technical side of things, languishing in around 5th place in the second practice. I'm backing Lewis Hamilton to take his second in a row, and a chance for Jenson Button to go high as well, with Alonso maybe splitting the Mclarens.

Sunday 24 July 2011

A weekend to remember for British sport

One week on from Darren Clarke winning the Open at his 20th attempt, we have had a weekend of British sporting success to celebrate, across a multitude of sports as well

Formula One
If you took up my recommendation of sitting down to watch the formula one this weekend, you watched one of the best races this year. Firstly, it was one of the few races that people were fighting for second, behind the imperious race leader Sebastien Vettel. Secondly, this was the first race that I felt that any one of the three major teams (McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull) could have won the race. Mark Webber had grabbed pole, and only 5 hundredths of a second behind him was Lewis Hamilton, who had already proved me wrong when I said that Mclaren were not going to challenge this weekend. Lewis then lead after the first corner when Webber had an awful start, but more surprisingly was the form of Vettel, who slipped to as low as 9th during his home grand prix. Massa, Alonso, Webber and Hamilton all lead at points during this Grand Prix, but it was the latter who sealed his second win of the season in Germany. Showing superb maturity and a stunning overtake on Alonso at the second corner, he thoroughly deserved this and hopefully it is a sign of what's to come from McLaren. Vettel needs to show he can win a race when hes not leading to truly cement his place as the fastest man in racing, whilst Webber needs to learn how to convert a pole position into a win, as that was his 5th pole in a row where he's failed to take maximum points.
For those fans of F1 who want to get a bit more hands on, I'd recommend pre-ordering F1 2011 , is the F1 2010 game is anything to go by, its going to be amazing.


Cycling
And today also marked the end of the Tour de France, but I was correct in only one of my predictions. Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France with a great overall ride. However Cavendish came home in style to become the first Briton to win the Green Jersey, winning the final stage in a sprint finish. Cavendish also moved up to 6th in the all time list of stage wins, with 20 wins to his name. If he can keep this impressive form up for next year he should be considered as one of Team GBs biggest hopes for a medal in the 2012 Olympics.


Athletics/Swimming
More medal hope talk here, with the darling of the last Olympics Rebbecca Adlington finishing runner up in the 400m freestyle at the Swimming World Championship. I hope the media don't put too much pressure on former champions such as Adlington, which they have been known to do in the past. As the Olympics are four years apart, competitors can come and go in the joining years, and its hard to stay at the top of your chosen sport for that long, especially on such an individual level.
On future prospects, our women's 4x400m won gold at the Junior World Athletics Championships, which always bodes well. Tom Daley finished 5th in the solo 10m diving, behind one of the most impressive displays I have ever seen coming from China's Qui Bo, scoring perfect 10s for two of his dives. Check it out on BBC Sport website.

Cricket
In the 2,000th test match at Lords, India and England are set for a final day showdown, with India 80-1 chasing a record 458 to win after Matt Prior scored a great unbeaten century to cement his position as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen of the game today . Is the stage set for the little master to win the match for India? Or will England's quest for test domination begin tomorrow? If England's bowlers can remove the two batsmen currently occupying the crease early tomorrow, I can't see an India win. However Dravid is notoriously difficult to remove, so if he stays in, we could be set for a tight finish.


Boxing
Former Olympic silver medalist Amir Khan floored his opponent Judah in five rounds, making him one of the best pound for pound fighters around. His next target is reportedly Mayweather, who could prove a trickier opponent than Judah, whose talk was far bigger than his game. Could Amir Khan be moving into the limelight as Haye ponders retirement? It would be great for the sport in Britain if there's a Briton at the top of the game, as I don't think enough people are taking up some of the less mainstream sports as they used to, with most kids being drawn to the huge sport of football, which as a Tennis coach I see happening all too often.

Friday 22 July 2011

Well it has to start somewhere...

Hello and welcome to the first blog on this Sports Central blog. I recently have got a bit tired of having to trawl through Sports Websites and newspapers to find the most interesting and accurate sports stories, and thought that I could actually put them all on one website, and also try and raise a few points of my own on certain debates raised in sports. I will be focusing on certain sports, namely Football, Tennis, Formula One, Golf, Cricket and Athletics, but will also feature points from Rugby Union and Cycling on a regular basis. Obviously if there is a large story from another sport it will be discussed here.

Football

During this time of year one topic is dominating the news: The Summer Transfer Window. As a West Ham fan I have often viewed the Transfer window with a sense of dread, wondering which promising youngster we'd be losing this time, but as a fan I love the excitement as managers scramble to build a squad they think is an improvement on the last years model. This year the two biggest names on the move (or not) are Fabregas and Tevez. Tevez has said that he doesn't want to return to 'small and wet' Manchester, so his future at City looks very much in doubt. Fabregas, if you believe the media, also wants to leave Britain to return to his first club Barcelona. The two stories have a completely different feel to them however. I can't remember a summer where Fabregas wasn't linked to Barcelona, whereas Tevez simply made up his mind that he didn't want to be back at his club. Tevez's reason for wanting to leave is his family, and obviously that's an honourable reason. However, he signed a contract and unless the club receives an offer that they feel is acceptable, I hope he has the integrity to carry on playing, unlike Adebayour. Fabregas has been asking to leave for a while, and Arsenal need to start building a squad that's going to be good now, not in a few seasons time. So if I was Wenger, I'd take the £37m and rebuild the squad, although I wouldn't want to tell a manager as great as him in the transfer market who to buy. Man City do not have to worry about balancing books, as long as they can continue to manipulate any rules regarding the balancing of funds, and will continue to buy anyone and everyone that looks mildly promising/talented.
In terms of other teams in the Premiership, I think Man Utd have really done the business they needed to in the transfer market, signing some new players to a squad people thought was looking tired and overused, without paying as much as some for the talent they have acquired. Liverpool, on the other hand, have paid over the odds to buy some untried players, and I think £20m for Stuart Downing was way over the market value, but well done Villa for waiting for that kind of money.

Cycling


The biggest event on the cycling calender, the Tour de France is in its final week. As a first time follower of the Tour, I have been sucked into the competition, and already have my favourite teams and riders to support. The rules may seem challenging but you do not need to know them back to front to appreciate the sheer athleticism involved. These men cycle hundreds of kilometers a day, seemingly with ease, and the speed at which they travel seems ridiculous considering the mountains they climb. My pick for the Yellow Jersey is one of the Schlecks, Andy having just taken the Jersey with the time trial stage to come, so he's in a very strong position. I think the Green Jersey is all but decided, and I think Cavendish will take it with a well deserved win after a fantastic tour.

Tennis


After the rush of two grand slams in a month, tennis fans have had to face a long wait for any tennis, with only the Davis cup offering any action to speak of. However, for GB fans, even that has been a bit lacklustre, with Murray dropping only 15 points in the second singles rubber, showing the real standard of the group Great Britain finds itself in. As the US Open draws nearer, I'll profile the 5 players I think have a chance of winning the final Grand Slam, plus my dark horse picks.

Formula One


This weekend is my favourite kind of weekend, a formula one weekend. The sport really brings something that I feel other sports lack, and can liven a slow weekend, especially since there isn't any football.  Could this be the weekend that Ferrari catch McLaren or even Red Bull? Or maybe Lotus can move even closer to the main group. For me, Formula one is one of the most watchable sports around as even if you cant be bothered to understand all the technical jargon that goes on, the sheer speed, action and competitiveness of everything that happens makes the spectacle of the entire weekend beyond anything any sport can offer. If you've never watched a weekend, just give it a chance; pick a driver or a team and enjoy the spectacle. Having seen the first two practices I think this could be the weekend Webber picks up his first win of the season, although it wouldn't be hard to imagine Vettel running away with it again to pick up his first home GP win. However I don't think McLaren are going to be overly competitive unless they were hiding something today.

Cricket


The 2000th Test match begins tomorrow as England look to become the top ranked Test side for the first time ever by beating India in their 5 match series. If England win the 1st match, I think England will have overcome the biggest hurdle and will be well on their way to becoming world No1, as an England test side with the wind behind them are seemingly unstoppable. Graeme Swann and Jimmy Anderson, easily the best spin and swing bowlers of the current time, could run riot if not stood up to early on, and Cook has been in imperious for ever since the first Ashes test last year. England to win the series 3-1. After most of the first day gone, Pietersen looks like hes found a bit of form again, and India are now without their main strike bowler but unsure as to how long for. If England can make a big score this innings and their bowlers live up to their reputation, India shouldn't have a chance.

Check back later in the week for updates on the other sports mentioned at the start, including golf and the countdown to the Olympics.