Sunday 28 January 2007

ROGER FEDERER - SUPERSTAR !

If there is one sporting superstar in the world today, it is surely the tennis wonderman, Roger Federer. At just 25 yeras of age, Federer has now won 4 Wimbledon titles plus 3 each in Australia and the USA, 10 Grand Slams in all and already well on his way to a record haul; only the French title has so far eluded him and he may well rectify this omission on June 10th at Roland Garros. He may even become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all 4 Grand Slam titles in the same year.

But it is not the numbers that make Roger such a phenomenon, it is the manner of his play and victories. No matter what the challenge, he seems able to rise to it; unreturnable shots are returned, impossible winners are hit. He destroys other players with a relentless approach and superb skill, rarely showing emotion and certainly never abusing either his opponents or the officials.

He is a great tennis player, a superb sportsman but, above all, an example to all. What a pleasure it is to watch him, rather than those over-rated, spoilt, jumped-up, petulant little yobboes, most often masquerading as footballers, who appear so much more frequently on our screens and in the newspapers. This man is a true Sporting Superstar.

Monday 22 January 2007

ANDY MURRAY

Andy Murray has now left the Australian Open Tennis Championships after a valiant battle with Raphael Nadal. He gave his all and lost in the true British spirit.

These words are true and yet they fail to say so much. The British have become so immured to failure that we regularly treat failure as success. Andy Murray is a very good tennis player, in time he may even become a great one, however, he is currently no more than a good prospect. Today's performance was good and there were times when he appeared to have Nadal on the ropes, but it also included periods when he seemed to do a 'Goolagong', going 'walkabout' for several games at a time. In the end, he collapsed in the face of a superior force.

Murray is 19. While in some world tennis terms this may seem almost elderly, in British terms it is still juvenile. Murray has beaten most of the world's top 10 at some time and has given the second-best player in the world an almighty fright today. Nadal was genuinely at a loss at various times during the first 4 sets of today's match.

The challenge now is for Murray to build on his performance. Tim Henman was a very good player, perhaps the best this nation has seen for 70 years, but Murray has the potential to be even better. Let us not go overboard about him though, but let him show, through his performances, what he can do.

Good on you Andy and keep it up !

Friday 12 January 2007

Beckham's bucks

So the Yanks have been conned into paying our David $1m a week to do heaven knows what. Leaving aside the fact that this man is not considered good enough to be a regular in the Real Madrid starting line-up, is there not something horribly wrong with a world in which a second rate ball-kicker can be the recipient of such obscene largesse ?

Beckham and his wife have done nothing to enhance our world in any respect. We can only hope that this ludicrous venture proves to be as much of a flop as did the previous attempt to convert our American cousins to 'soccer'; on that occasion they had some genuine talent, with the likes of Pele and George Best involved and yet it still failed. At the very least, it will cost the sponsors a fortune and perhaps teach them a lesson, and it will remove the Beckhams from our shores and, hopefully, our television screens magazines and newspapers, for a very long time, if not forever.

Or am I being too optimistic ?

Tuesday 9 January 2007

ENGLAND BOUNCE RIGHT BACK ............

to lose yet again !!

Following their catastrophic performance in the Test series, England's cricketers have now lost their latest match, a 20-20 fixture, to the Australians. But then, what more could we have expected ? A recalled captain who hasn't played seriously for over a year and a raft of others who wouldn't have made it to most county teams of a few years ago. Wakey, wakey England Cricket Board; our boys simply aren't up to it, and won't be until we make them play a bit more and make their lives a bit less comfortable. Playing for your country is a privilege you earn, not a right, and our players need to be reminded of this. Sack the coach, drop the lot of them and start again is what I say; make those who have failed so abysmally work for a recall, if they really are good enough.

I don't often agree with Geoffrey Boycott, but on this subject he is more right than wrong.