Not Again

Here we go again, the Tour de France is again under the microscope, the current champion Alberto Contador has tested positive for a stimulant. He is protesting his innocence with talk of food doping. Whether he was doped or not it shows the sport is still rotten at its core. The cycling union has always talked about how the sport has changed and how it has had a fundamental move from its drug ridden past. 

Cycling has been riddled with drugs since the early days. The book Rough Ride by the Irish cyclist Paul Kimmage is a warts and all autobiography of a professional cyclist. The issue of drugs is dealt with almost as a matter of fact part of the story. In fact drugs were a necessity to get through a punishing season. It seems like that the legacy of drug taking has continued. The drug taking legacy will not stop until those remnants of the past are taken out of the sport. 

The American perspective of the Ryder Cup

http://goo.gl/ALw7

Great article from the New York Times

Where Have the Rugby Crowds Gone

The 2010 rugby premiership season has started and the rugby has been fantastic. Last weekend I settled down to watch Saracens versus Northampton. It was a fantastic game of rugby that ebbed and flowed. This has not been the only great game. The Exeter chiefs upset Gloucester and Leicester the pre eminent force in English rugby have struggled. Predicting results of games has been impossible which has been great. The big queston is where have the crowds gone with the product being so good. 

It is sad to say but the answer maybe the quiet summer of rugby may have damaged the game.Football had a world cup that although not spectacular was surrounded by controversy and sex scandals. Cricket was like something out of a John Grisham novel with match fixing and bribery in the ascendency. Rugby had a quiet time no bloodgate, no speculation on the future of the England manager. It was just a productive summer of building for the future. The autumn internationals are now on the way and watch the crowds explode as rugby gets itself back on the back page. 

The culture of American Sport

They say the US and the Uk are two countries separated by a common language. I would add to that sporting culture. The US is a country obsessed with sport but not the game but the ritual. What do I mean by that? The US love the preparation for sport. This shown by the fact one of the top programmes on the American network HBO is a about the training camp for the New York Jets. Is it better than the european equivalent no just different.

The Greatest show on Earth continued

The Tour De France completed the final mountain stage today. The two protaganists went wheel to wheel up the highest point of the tour. It was incredibly compelling this article sums it up nicley.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jul/22/tour-de-france-stage-17

The Greatest Show on Earth

The Tour de France ends on Sunday and it without doubt it is one of the most exciting sports evens in the world. The football world cup came and went this year, a circus yes a spectacle no. The open championship of golf came and went, without Tiger the game of golf has needs another huge star. 

The tour de France has lived up to its billing as a great sporting event. This has not always been the way. Cycling is a sport that has lived in the shadows for years. The drug scandals have wrecked its reputation. This tainted image is always going to be surrounding  the sport. This Tour de France has been a true opera. The end of a great hero in Lance Armstrong, the rise of Andy Schleck, a brilliant aggressive cyclist from Luxembourg and the current champion doing whatever it takes to retain the yellow jersey. 

This tour has been brutal as a physical event, the climbs have been terrifying and difficult. Even the flat stages have been incredibly taxing with stages over the brutal paved roads of the low countries and northern France. Why has this captured my imagination is that everybody can ride a bike. What these cyclists put themselves through on a daily basis is unimaginable. Their is no hiding when you get tired the tour grinds on and you either make it or not no sport is that brutal this is why it is compelling. 

The Last Days of Football

It is the end of English football premiership today and two billionaire clubs are up for the championship. Barring shocks Chelsea will be the champions. This title run in has the look of the last days of the Wiemar republic. While the world economy is imploding footballers are demanding more money and driving round in more ludicrous cars. With Liverpool football club announcing debts of over 351 million pounds. What hope does the rest of the game have? Austerity measures are on the way and some grand old names of football will vanish. Feel for the fans but understand that their thirst for success has led them to this place.