RUSSIAN ATHLETES IN DOPING SHOCK HORROR.

Today's news has a couple of stories which are hard to believe,

Apparently, Lamine Diack, who is head of the IAAF, is 'shocked' by suggestions that the performance of many Russian athletes is being enhanced by the use of drugs. This over paid goon says, in time honoured fashion, that his organisation will clean it up. Where have I heard that before ?

Athletes have been using drugs for decades. Every now and then, this abuse hits the headlines and there are promises that it will be stamped out. Phooey. The world of major international sport is so lucrative and riddled with corruption that no one will ever do anything meaningful to change things. The leaders of organisations such as the IAAF, the IOC and FIFA have a vested interest in ignoring the abuses and even in sweeping them under the carpet.

International sport is a disgusting cesspit of corruption, run from above by elites who make vast fortunes for themselves while giving not a dickie bird for the sports they are supposed to be representing. It's well past time that the IAAF, IOC, FIFA and all the rest were shut down and we got back to the days when sports was a pastime rather than a money making venture. Some hope. 

SIX NATIONS OPENER IS A CRACKER !

What a great performance by England !

For a Six Nations starter, Wales v England at the Millennium Stadium was always a huge match but it turned out to be a real thriller and a surprisingly good game. The early exchanges were dominated by the Welsh and they quickly built a 10-0 lead, with England being almost overwhelmed. To their credit, England didn't panic and gradually clawed their way back into the match. At half-time, the Welsh still had a big advantage at 16-8 but England were much more in the game. The second half was 'all change'.

From the kick-off, England dominated to such an extent that Wales rarely threatened anything of note. England pulled the score back to 16-15 and then went ahead with a penalty; another penalty put England 5 points ahead and that was the final nail in the Welsh coffin. Two 'almost' tries for England demonstrated their total second-half dominance and, in the end, it was a terrific and well deserved win for the visitors.

What makes this result even more significant is that England had a huge number of absentees through injury; with a fully fit squad, it starts to look as though this could be a really good team with a genuine shot at winning the World Cup later in the year. Bring it on !!

CHED EVANS - RIP ?

Ched Evans. an overpaid footballer, was sent to prison for rape. His sentence was, apparently, 5 years, and he has, as is the custom, been released after serving just half of his sentence behind bars; the rest is 'on licence', meaning that he can now live at home but has to report regularly to the authorities and behave himself on pain of being returned to prison.

There has been much said about him since his early release, probably much more than was ever said before he committed the offence for which he was imprisoned. Most of this commentary has been negative and one can hardly blame the commentators. The problem is that Mr Evans wants to resume his career as a footballer.

If he had been a carpenter or plumber, no one would have heard anything about all of this; he'd have done his time and come out, picked up some work and that would have been the end of it. Unfortunately, he's not a carpenter or plumber, he's a footballer. In the distorted world in which we now live, footballers are, somehow, at the top of the tree when it comes to 'celebrity'. Even though the vast majority of the population could happily walk passed him in the street without having any idea as to his identity, he is that worst of all possible human creatures - a 'celebrity'.

Because of his status, Evans' career is also an issue. Footballers tend to be role models for children and, as such, their conduct is under scrutiny. While on-field thuggery is accepted as being 'par-for-the-course', rape is, no doubt surprisingly to some, considered a little too much to stomach. For others, he's served his sentence and should now be allowed to resume his career. I feel that the truth is somewhere in between.

The fact is that Evans has not yet served his sentence. His release 'on licence' was after serving just half of the 5 years imposed on him. To my mind, he still had 2½ years to go and for him to be welcomed back into the celebrity world of football before that time is up is entirely wrong. Once the full 5 years have passed, again to my mind, he should then be available for clubs to think about signing him up.

Right now, it's reported that Oldham Athletic, a League One club (which equates to old style third division) are reported to be on the point of signing Evans up. 'Why ?' is a question that occurs immediately, but the answer is probably pretty simple. Evans is desperate to get back in to the only job he can do and it wouldn't surprise me if he was offering his services for free. Oldham could undoubtedly do with a player of Evans' abilities, so ........................ .

This is not an easy situation but it seems to me that it can be simply resolved. Evans still has a significant portion of his sentence to serve and, until that time is up, he should not be allowed anywhere near a football pitch. His 'celebrity' status dictates this and it has nothing do with silly legal arguments about such things as 'restraint of trade'.. Once the full 5 years are up, he should be free to work as a footballer anywhere he likes or, at least, anywhere that will have him.

Evans was convicted of doing something very bad and to expect to simply forget it and go back to a privileged lifestyle is wrong. He has to be made to understand this and to accept it. So do the clubs who still want to ignore basic morality in pursuit of footballing glory.

A QUESTION OF SPORT.

Whatever happened to "A Question of Sport" ?

Years ago, this was a genuinely good and interesting sporting quiz, albeit compered by some right idiots in David Coleman and David Vine, surely 2 of the worst sports presenters in television history. However, the teams were good with a degree of intelligence thrown in alongside the occasional knockabout humour. In recent times, all this has changed.

Since the introduction of team captains such as Ally McCoist, Matt Dawson and, most notably Phil Tufnell, the programme has descended into puerile farce though, despite its puerile nature, it's also been scheduled later and later, possibly due to the doubtful nature of much of its content. Team members now seem to be chosen more on the basis of their connection to the BBC or on grounds of political correctness rather than anything else. The boringly regular inanity of the chit-chat allied to the general stupidity exhibited by the current captains has made this programme, once unmissable, now one to be avoided at all costs.

No doubt the BBC would say that all they've done is to 'update' the programme's format to meet the expectations of a modern audience. Well, if that's so, then one despairs for the 'modern audience'.  For this viewer, all they've done is to drive him far, far away.

KEVIN PIETERSEN - R.I.P.

Kevin Pietersen has raised his head above the parapet once more, this time to throw a whole variety of brick-bats at his former team mates and team manager. Of course, the main reason for his re-appearance is to publicise his autobiography, which appears to be little more than a diatribe against those whom he blames for his own demise, and a self-justificatory monologue.

The evidence appears to suggest that Pietersen was, at least partially, responsible for his own troubles. As a captain, he was a disaster; as a player, he seems to have been much more interested in his own achievements than in supporting his team mates. His regular disruptive acts, whether planned or simply thoughtless, created difficulties which must have been problematic for the team and its management. In the end, he made his own bed and now he appears keen to set fire to it. 

Whatever the rights and wrongs of it all, Pietersen has now burnt his boats once and for all; he will never play for England again and is most unlikely to ever play any other part in the national cricket set up. A highly talented player has allowed arrogance, pride and his own ego to destroy him.

RYDER CUP POSTSCRIPT

Oh, My God !


Just seen that the trophy has been presented by Alex Salmond, wearing the most appalling pair of tartan trousers.


To have Salmond presenting the trophy was, on it's own, contentious given that more than half of the Scottish population didn't vote for his independence motion and the 'welcome' he received from the crowd showed this. His presence was a purely political move and is deplorable; his trousers simply made the matter worse.


Why do politicians feel the need to intrude into non-political arenas in this way ? Why don't they, instead, concentrate on the often earth-shaking events for which we elect them ? Only they can say, though we all know.

EUROPE WINS RYDER CUP - AGAIN !

A brilliant European team retained the Ryder Cup with an emphatic victory over the USA at Gleneagles. Leading 10-6 after the first 2 days, it would have been easy to think that ultimate victory was a foregone conclusion but, at times, the final day looked anything but easy. When Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose were 3 and 4 down, it seemed that the Yanks might be about to repeat the 'Miracle at Medinah' in the opposite direction, but both clawed their way back in to their match and gained vital points. In the end, the European team were stronger overall over the 3 days and deserved their eventual victory by the quite emphatic margin of 16½-11½.

The one down side for me was that I had to watch it on the SKY platform. While the general commentary was fine, I don't think it was anywhere near as good as the BBC manages for their golfing coverage. The studio analysis was often somewhat lame, with Colin Montgomery, fine golfer though he was, proving yet again that he's pretty bloody poor as a studio analyst / summariser. His remarks were usually 'of the bleedin; obvious' or were just irrelevant. Additionally, trying to keep track of the overall match was almost impossible as the coverage switched from game to game, often with no reference to which hole was being played and with some games being largely ignored; a summary scoreboard was shown but so rarely that it was of very little help. Frankly, finally being mugged by Alec Ferguson, who appears to have hung around in the background for ages waiting to be interviewed, was the final straw for me as I have no idea what he had to add; it was clearly one of those stupid 'celebrity opportunity moments' so beloved of broadcasters but which add nothing to an occasion. SKY need to give some serious thought to their coverage of this event if they're to remain as its principal broadcaster and to have any real credibility.

Regardless of any criticisms of the television coverage, this was a great few days for European golf and it showed that, while the Americans have many of the world's top players, so does Europe, the only difference being that the Europeans are usually less well known but, possibly, have greater determination. Roll on 2016, when another team of lesser known but determined Europeans will again beat the all-powerful Americans, this time on their own soil.