Tour de France, is my heart ready to be broken again?

The Tour de France is nearly upon us again and I am being bitten by cycling fever. Le Tour is a truly seductive event, it takes in some of the finest scenery in the world and the sheer brutality of the event is compelling and as a soap opera it is unbeatable. I want to believe in the Tour de France, I love the event, I remember watching LeMond beat Fignon by 8 seconds in a time trial around Paris. Then the drugs came and they have not gone away. Pantani, Delgado, Ulrich, Mayo and Vino great names in the Tour all drug cheats. Every year we have a new winner an every year since the Festina affair in 98' has become a drug cheat issue. Even the years of Armstrong are clouded by drugs and claims of endemic EPO abuse led by Armstrong himself.

So we come to the Tour de France 2011 before even one peddle has been turned in anger we are in a drugs controversy, the current champion Contador is claiming a false drug test caused by clenbuterol in tainted meat.. Yet I am feeling hope, the reason is the potential shown by Bradley Wiggins, an Olympian and champion cyclist he could win and he brings none of the baggage associated with previous yellow jersey wearers. I hope he wins and restore my faith, in reality he will fail and be beaten by a cyclist with a questionable association with drugs.

Sepp Blatter: the man who holds back progress.

What a state world football finds itself in. Football is the only truly global game, a game that is simple to play and requires minimal equipment and is easy to understand is being destroyed by the man at the top of it. The world cups of 2018 and 2022 were decided by a small group of men. Some of which were brought by cash bribes, it is now obvious that whatever the sense of a proposition. The way to win a world cup bid was by cash. The proposition of a world cup in Russia is understandable, it is a powerful country with a footballing history. Qatar is a different proposition, no love for football or stadium.A world cup played in 55 degree heat does not make sense, it is now obvious that this world cup was purchased, with no thought to anything other than money.

Sepp Blatter was the man who took the world cup to Africa, a great achievement for the continent. Considering South Africa had held the rugby world cup and the cricket world cup it was inevitable Sepp Blatter has made enough errors in this job, no technology, bribed officials and a lack of sense and compassion for the game make him a target for the chop. He has been for another four years so let the madness continue.

The Henson Problem

Gavin Henson made a return to the Welsh team yesterday. Gavin Henson is a tempting proposition for the Welsh coaching team. He tackles hard, kicks like a mule and has the potential to split a midfield with a pass. The problem is that his professionalism has been questioned all the way through his career. Should he go to the world cup? I think his lack of professionalism and dalliance with retirement and celebrity is symptomatic of  a rugby player who has fallen out of love with the game and cannot think of anything better to do. More than any other sport rugby requires love for the game. The reason is because rugby is such a physically demanding game. The ability to take knocks and get up week in and week out requires not only physical strength but also mental endurance. Without a love of the game mental endurance is not likely to be in abundance. Added to this mixture  the obvious resentment of some of his teammates it adds to the impression that Henson is back only to further his brand and celebrity.

The End of the Season Part One

The rugby season has finally ended, what a season it was. I will start with the European cup, this as usual delivered a great tournament. In the sixteen years of the tournament it has rarely delivered a bad tournament year. This year Leinster delivered a second european cup. They were without doubt ideal winners for the tournament. They played with great style and the final was an outstanding game. Talking of the final it was absolutely outstanding to be there the atmosphere was brilliant and demonstrated the true essence of rugby as corny as that might sound.

In England the premiership was won by Saracens, they beat Leicester, It was not the most exciting of finals but it that was to be expected.Saracens won the final in a backs to the wall display. The real star of th final was young Owen Farrell a nineteen year old lad from a rugby league dynasty that could potentially be the next England number 10.

In Ireland the European Champions were beaten by the country cousins of Munster. The champions of the Celtic nations were Irish as well as the champions of Europe. This tells us two things, Irish rugby is not dead yet, the great generation of grand slam winners is being replaced. It also tells us that Wales and Scotland have a long way to go to be contenders.

Sport and City Regeneration

This weekend Manchester had what could be called a golden weekend. Both football clubs won prestigious tournaments. United the premiership and City the FA cup. On the same weekend the city hosted the great Manchester run and the Salford City swim. This was followed by the City games which involved some of the worlds greatest sprinters, sprinting down the main street of Manchester.

Manchester is a great example of the power of sport in urban regeneration. Manchester is a former great city of the British Empire. It was known as cottonopolis due to the power of the cotton trade which passed through its exchanges. Marx and Engels wrote the communist manifesto based on the wealth and poverty of the city. The inevitable industrial decline happened and Manchester fell into disrepair and decay. The bright shining lights throughout the gloom was the football clubs, both City and United played football and produced some of the games greats Best and Sumerbee to name two.

Some where amongst the City fathers of Manchester sport was realised as redemption for a broken down city. The commonwealth games was bid for and won. The city was reborn. This led to the BBC choosing Manchester as its Northern base. Manchester United has dominated football and Manchester City is on the way up. Would the investment have arrived without a city council built stadium? The fantastically successful GB cycling team is based in Manchester this brings further investment into the city as the world visits Manchester to chase gold. Contrast Manchester with its near neighbour Liverpool, without doubt a more architecturally stunning city it has been in the doldrums for years. Both football teams play in Victorian stadiums, investment is short as Liverpool has no proof of carrying out large events like the commonwealth games. The same can be said of Birmingham or Bristol. The conclusion to this blog is that any city that ignore sport is not going to get investment.

The Punch and Rugby!

Chris Ashton was punched and the media goes into an apoplectic fit regarding the ferocity of it. Rugby is a game of physical confrontation played on the edge of reason. Occasionally the red mist descends and fists are thrown.

Rugby has a some deadly sins that should be dealt with by the full force of the law. Gouging being the one I find particularly distasteful. A punch is what happens on the field occasionally. Citing is a step to far.

Thoughts on the Rugby World Cup Take 2 (intensity)

Fortune would have it that I managed to watch three rugby games. Injury prevented me from playing. After watching the super xv game last week. I was concerned about the chances of the Northern Hemisphere sides in the world cup. The two top league matches have made me think again. The other game I watched was lower league which will be the subject of a later blog.

The first game I managed to see was a premiership match between Leicester and Harlequins. The context of the game was the the Quins needed to win to secure a place in the play-off finals. Leicester preferred to win with a big European game next week. The other game I watched was Magners league game between Leinster and Munster. These were two physically tight games where no quarter was asked or taken. The contrast with the Super XV game the week before made me think.

The super xv tournament is between franchises, this is strength and weakness. Strength as it allows national selectors to control players and no risk of relegation allows players to express themselves on the pitch. Weakness because the teams are manufactured. The two games I watched were between two old rivals. In England the game between Leicester and the Quins is an old rivalry between the city slickers from London and the yeoman from the provinces. In Ireland it was between the city slickers of Dublin and the dockers and farmers of Munster. These games would have meant something no matter what the competition. This is where Super XV loses out because of the manufactured nature of the competition the intensity goes out of the game and it becomes more basketball less rugby.

How does this link to the world cup? Northern hemisphere competition is always intense this might give them the edge in the world cup. Bad weather and close games are likely down in New Zealand this might give the pretty rugby will not survive in those conditions.