OLYMPIC CON-TRICK.

What is all the fuss about tickets for the Olympics ? Anyone with half a brain knew that tickets for anything worth watching would be like gold dust, while tickets for Graeco-Roman wrestling, rhythmic gymnastics and tiddlywinks would be theirs for the asking. The entire ticketting process also seems to have been a laughable mess, overseen by the slimy and egregious Lord Coe.

The whole thing is a massive con-trick, simply devised to try to ensure full arenas at all of the events while extracting the maximun amount of cash out of the idiot punters.

The Olympics as originally envisaged no longer exist. Instead, it's a platform for highly trained professional athletes plus an enormous range of participants in so-called sports that the Greeks had never heard of; instead of being competition between individuals, it's now a competition between nations. Countries import performers and short-cut their naturalisation procedures in pursuit of gold medals, happily aided by their governments; in reality, it's war without the guns.

Of course, I like to see our people doing well, but by 'our people' I don't mean the latest import from the US or Somalia; I mean someone brought up in this country. I also see the Olympics as being an occasion for proper sports, not volleyball, synchronised swimming or mountain biking, and also not the sports the Greeks never played - football, rugby, golf, tennis etc. None of these have any place in the Olympics and their inclusion is nothing more than an ego trip for the organisations than oversee them worldwide. How long will it be before we have a 'Formula 1' Olympic event ?

Those who applied for tickets are idiots. The Olympics are now an occasion for the political classes to show off at; they all get tickets, free, gratis and for nothing, because of their positions. The real people of the country have to pay through the nose for tickets to see events they've never heard of. It's a con. It's a disgrace, but it's also headed by another FIFA, the IOC, with its vast array of delegates, members and officials, all guaranteed tickets for whatever they want to see. It's also another corrupt organisation that seems to be wholely unaccountable. Thank god that 2012 will be the one and only time we have to endure this grotesquely bloated nonsense in this country in my lifetime.

WIMBLEDON, ONE WEEK IN.

As we embark on the business end of the Wimmbledon fortnight, it's interesting to reflect on what's happened so far.

In the mens' championship, the 'Big 3' are all through to round 4, though Djokovic had a mighty struggle against Baghdatis on Saturday. He looked tired and not altogether comfortable although he summoned enough from memory to take him through; whether he can go much further has to be seen. He has to get passed Llodra before he would then face an easy next match on paper in the quarters, but late on Saturday, he looked as though walking on to court might be a problem.

In contrast, Nadal has looked increasingly confident and Federer has looked back to his (almost) invincible best; he's strolled through his matches so far and has carried on the superb form he showed in Paris. The difference is that this is grass, not clay, and that might be enough to see him win the trophy. Nadal now has to face the big-hitting Del Potro, followed by Berdych or Fish before he gets to Murray - will confidence be enough ? Federer has to see off Youzny and either Ferrer or Tsonga - on current form, no problem.

Our own 'Great White Hope'. Andy Murray, has also progressed well after a nervous start. and will come up against an old adversary, Richard Gasquet, on Monday. He ought to win and should make it through to the semi-final, as his presumed quarter final opponent is one of the unseeded Kubot or Lopez.

Who will prevail ? For me, it's a straight fight between the 'Big 2' - Nadal and Federer, with Federer just shading it because of the surface. Djokovic looks spent and Murray is Murray.

In the womens', it's service as usual. Many of the seeds have gone and the Williams sisters, despite hardly playing for ages, are still there. The main contenders ought to be the world number 1, Caroline Wozniacki, Sharapova and Azarenka, but who would bet against another Williams victory ? Wozniacki, in my book, has no chance, Sharapova tends to be brittle and Azarenka has guts but can she really win ? The dark horse, without a doubt, is the unseeded Sabine Lisicki, a player who's been out of action with injuries for a long time but would have been well up in the seedings otherwise. Her prospective quarter final opponent is Serena, and the winner of this match will probably make the final; on the other side of the net could well be the 5 times champion, Venus, though Azarenka has a clear shout.

If Serena retains her title after her year out and pretty horrific time, it would be a miracle; if Venus wins, it won't be far short. I'd go for a final between Azarenka and Lisicki, with something of a fairytale finish for the unseeded German but, with the women, anything's possible.

WELL DONE, RORY McILROY, BUT .......

Inevitably, Rory McIlroy's tremendous win in the US Open golf championship has spawned the usual stupid responses and comments that accompany every home triumph or, even, minor success.

Jack Nicklaus, a truly great player, has been quoted as saying "I think this kid's going to have a great career", surely one of the most banal remarks possible, while McIlroy's Northern Irish compatriot Graeme McDowell has apparently said "He's potentially the next Tiger Woods". This last statement is so moronically meaningless as to make me want to vomit. Every new player is 'potentially' a great player, but no one is ever the 'next' somebody else. Rory McIlroy is not the next anyone, he is the one and only Rory McIlroy; if he can continue his recent form, he could eventually become one of the game's great players, but please don't get caught up in the nonsensical hyperbole so beloved of our bone-headed media.

MURRAY'S WIMBLEDON DREAM.

Unfortunately, Andy Murray has managed to win the Queen's Club tournament with a fairly rousing performance against the talented Frenchman, Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga. I say 'unfortunately' because his victory has added even more fuel to the media storm that erupts every year at this time, when the chances of a Briton winning the Wimbledon championship are hotly debated.

For several years, it was Tim Henman who was our 'Great White Hope' and now it is Murray. Henman was never quite good enough even to reach a Grand Slam final, but that didn't stop the media from 'talking-up' his chances, year after year. Murray is almost certainly a better player than Henman ever was and may well be our best ever; he has reached 3 Grand Slam finals but suffered crushing defeats every time. The Britsih media choose to ignore this last point and simply repeat, ad nauseam, that 'This could be his year !'

Murray is playing well, of that there is no doubt; he is a fine player, again no doubt. But is he really good enough to beat Nadal, Djokovic or Federer over 5 sets in a major championship ? If he is, his cause is not helped by the ridiculous jingoistic clap-trap spouted by our press and media, in particular the sycophantic commentary team on the BBC. Listening to the tripe pouring from Andrew Castle, John Lloyd and even Sue Barker, made me want to switch off. All 3 were decent players in their own right, Barker being genuine top class, but as commentators they are definitely 'bottom-drawer'. Disappointingly, Barker used to be one of the more enjoyable presenters but, over the years, she has descended to the same level as the rest of the BBC's sports commentary squad.

Murray could win Wimbledon, if Nadal, Djokovic and Federer suffer an upset. Even then, he would be no more than 1 of 3 or 4 second-line contenders; his chances with the 'Big 3' in place, are remote. Why can't the media accept this and leave any celebrations until AFTER the tournament ?

BAHRAIN GETS BLACK-FLAGGED.

Motar sport has hardly covered itself in glory in recent times, with total confusion over the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix.

The race, initially scheduled for March, was 'suspended' due to unrest in that country with the intention of rescheduling it later in the year. Last week, the motorsport governing body, the FIA, announced that the race would take place in October, with the Indian GP being pushed back to December. Rather unsurprisingly, there was a degree of unhappiness about this proposal, both due to the apparent disregard the decision showed for the recent actions of the Bahraini government, and for the disruption that was to be caused to the end of the F1 season. Yesterday, the F1 teams association, FOTA, expressed their view that the proposals were unacceptable and today Bernie Ecclestone, the effective boss of F1 has said that they are simply 'no-go', so it looks as though the saga is now at an end.

How Formula 1 got itself in this mess in the first place may be a question that needs considering but at least they've arrived at the right answer in the end.

NADAL STILL THE KING OF ROLAND GARROS !

Despite all of the earlier worries about Rafael Nadal not liking the new balls and not being in his usual form, he still ended the French Open Tennis Championships as Champion. Match by match, he grew in confidence and his defeat of Andy Murray in the semi-final showed that the Scot still has a long way to go before he can really challenge for top honours. In the final, he eventually showed his top form and proved, again, too strong for his opponent, Roger Federer. Federer had already achieved the result of the tournament with a brilliant performance against the hitherto unbeaten, and seemingly unbeatable, Novak Djokovic in the semi-final. The Swiss showed just why he's been so good for so long with a masterful and unexpected victory that reminded us all that he is still very much a contender for major trophies. In the end, he didn't quite have the weapons to see off Nadal as well and lost to the Spaniard for the fourth time in a French Open final, not a record he'll want to be reminded of.

The women's tournament saw the defending champion, Francesca Schiavone, defy a poor run so far this year and reach the final, only to fall victim to the power of the first Chinese to win a major title, Na Li. Schiavone had had her difficulties during the rounds, but had begun to look good for a repeat of last year until Na Li simply out-powered her and Schiavone seemed to run out of steam.

Now it's on to Wimbledon in a couple of weeks and we can look forward to the British press hyping up the chances of Andy Murray, yet again. In truth, Murray has next to no chance, with the 'Big 3' of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer way out ahead of everyone else in the field. With a decent draw, Murray may well get to the semi-final, which would be no bad performance, but his chances of going any further really rely on his likely opponent at that stage, Nadal, slipping up earlier on. Nothing is sport is certain, but if the Wimbledon champion isn't one of Nadal, Djokovic or Federer, it'll be a major surprise. The women's championship could, however, be won by any of a dozen competitors though Na Li must now be near the top of the list, along with Maria Sharapova. All will be revealed by 3rd July.