Monday 23 April 2012

SURELY WE SHOULD NOW BAN THE MARATHON.

Every time a horse has to be put down following a fall in racing, particularly in the high-profile Grand National, there is an outcry from the animal lobby. "Stop this cruelty" and "Ban racing" they shout, as if horses don't naturally run and jump.

Yesterday, the London Marathon claimed its tenth victim, a young woman who collapsed close to the finish of the gruelling 26 mile race. No one can claim it is natural for humans to run 26 miles at  a stretch and yet no one demands an end to this life-threatening activity.

It is true that people make a positive decision to risk life and limb by entering for marathon races and it's probably true that horses don't make such a positive choice when it comes to national hunt racing. However, running and jumping is second nature to horses and they would no doubt be doing the same thing in some field if they weren't on a race course. They are, also, rarely if ever asked to run 26 miles non-stop.

The young woman who died yesterday clearly tried to push her body beyond its breaking point and suffered the sad consequences. When a horse falls in a race, it is rarely a consequence of the animal being asked to do something which it cannot; the animal, or the jockey, or both, make a mistake or become caught up in the mistake of another. To suggest that horse racing should be banned or the fences made even easier as a result of such mishaps is ridiculous. We might just as well ban marathon running because some runners may push themselves too far and die.

Sunday 22 April 2012

WHO'D BE A TOTTENHAM FAN ?

A little over 3 months ago, I was looking forward to my football team, Tottenham, making a genuine challenge for the Premier League title. They had, despite a fairly awful start, accumulated enough points to make them real challengers to the two Manchester clubs which seemed to be several levels above everyone else.

Sadly, since that time Tottenham's form has deserted them. For whatever reason, a team packed with talented players has found it largely impossible to score goals and has leaked them through its woeful defence. Instead of being a side with a chance of winning the Premier Laegue, they are now a side that is likely to finish in 6th place and not even qualify for a European competition next year. Had they exhibited such form for the whole season, they might now be fighting to avoid relegation.

No doubt this loss of form will be explained away with a lot of nonsense about the future of the team's manager, Harry Redknapp. In truth, this is just nonsense.

If Redknapp is the great manager he is supposed to be, he would have managed this situation and his team would not have imploded in such spectacular style. The players have not changed, leaving only 2 possibilities. Either the team has been unbelievably unsettled by the likelihood of its manager's departure at an unspecified future date, or the manager has failed to manage his team.

If the first is true, one has to wonder about the mental fragility of these superstar sportsmen; frankly, if they are so fragile, I wouldn't want them in my team, though I simply don't believe that such players are, in fact, so weak. If the second is the case, why on earth would England want to employ this man as their national manager ?

What is the truth ? Are the players trying to demonstrate that Redknapp is not good enough for the England job ? Is Redknapp trying to do the same by managing poorly ? Was Tottenham's early season form an illusion ?

Wouldn't it be nice if Spurs' supporters, for once, had a bit of real consistency from their side, such as has been exhibited by Arsenal over the last 20 years or so ? A succession of managers, none given proper support or the time to develop a side with their own ethos, and the regular exodus of top quality players rendered such a result impossible for years. Most recently, it seemed that the corner had been turned and top players were being recruited, rather than sold, but the turnover of managers continues. If Redknapp goes, after only 3½ years, it will be Tottenham's 11th change of manager since Terry Venables took the job in 1987; the Tottenham hierarchy have, in fact, shown thenselves to be so inept that they have also found it necessary to appoint 7 caretaker managers along the way, including David Pleat 3 times. The last time a Tottenham manager lasted more than 4 years was the mediocre reign of Keith Burkinshaw betweem 1976 and 1984; before that, Bill Nicholson manged the side for 16 years during the most successful period in its history.

Whatever is currently going on at 'The Lane', if Redknapp leaves, so will half of the present side - Modric, Bale, van der Vart and Saha plus the on loan Adebayor will lead the exodus and they will quite probably be joined by the likes of Parker, Kaboul, Walker, Defoe and Lennon. Next season will see the Spurs struggling to avoid relegation and, quite possibly, failing.

Why didn't my dad support Arsenal ?

Sunday 15 April 2012

WHERE IS 'GOAL LINE TECHNOLOGY' ?

For reasons unknown to any sane person, the referee in the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Tottenham awarded a goal to Chelsea when the ball cannot possibly have crossed the line. The massed ranks of the interested parties who run football have consistently refused to allow the use of so-called 'goal-line technology', similar to that already employed in top-level Rugby Union, Cricket and Tennis; why, is anyone's guess.

This blatant error must surely be the final nail in the coffin of these antediluvian 'nay-sayers'. Given the shocking wrongness of the referee's decision, it would have been more than understandable had Tottenham been so distracted that they conceded a further goal within moments, effectively ending the contest with more than half an hour to go. Fortunately they did not and, in fact, came back to score themselves within a couple of minutes and the game retained it's life.

Regardless of this, and before the result is known, I write these lines in the feint hope that there will never again be such a travesty in any game of football in this country.