Home » Sport
Category Archives: Sport
John Terry, the FA and racism
It’s been a few days since the FA’s appeal period for John terry expired. I guess now is the time a real analysis can be given over what has actually happened as a whole. It was a long year coming and perhaps way to long for everyone involved. First and foremost, lets differentiate between the court case and the FA query. The court is a very different atmosphere where justice is missed on many occasions. This isn’t to say that the court made the wrong decision however money often prevails in court.
Many were watching the video on YouTube moments after the game and were making their judgements. It seemed pretty clear what John Terry said and of course Terry couldn’t really deny what he said. Terry’s defence had some clear flaws in it regardless. I’m not going to go into this too deeply but Terry claims he was asking Ferdinand a question, the video doesn’t back his claims. Ferdinand is not looking at him which shows that the likelihood of a conversation being shared is rare. We also saw John Obi Mikel in view who turns and clearly hears something in my opinion. If we take the distance and the facial expressions Mikel expresses we can seriously believe he heard what was said and chose to plead the fifth.
Instead of moving on with the issue and dealing with it swiftly, a year expired and much fuel has been added to the fire. Now lets observe the punishment. A few hundred thousand and a four match ban. I say few with no undervalue of the money, in respect to Mr Terry, the money is futile. What the FA are saying is racism, is one more game severe than a serious tackle . The FA effectively took away John Terry’s pocket-money for a week and gave him a red card. This is all in isolation, not taking Mr Suarez into consideration. For a millionaire, a few hundred thousand really means little financially. Racism is a serious issue. In the workplace this could see an employee sacked. John Terry is still Chelsea captain, which should have been taken the moment he chose not to appeal his punishment. It was in my opinion very cowardly for John Terry to first through his management company claim disappointment for the FA not ruling similar to the courts. John Terry should rest in the fact that the courts didn’t find him guilty so he can have some sort of defence to cling to.
Most people who saw what most did. cannot really defend him even though many can come and provide character witness for him. This was on thing I found annoying. The many people claiming John Terry wasn’t racist or they have known him for so long. In these cases that is very unimportant. Whether someone has never made statements before, that doesn’t mean they can’t do it.
Secondly it was also cowardly for John Terry to remove himself from the England team, claiming his position became untenable. I don’t really know what he was playing at. He played while the case was going through court, while the allegations were in waiting to be tried and right on the eve of his FA hearing, he says he can no longer hold the position. A cowardly way for Terry to act.
In closing with so much going on in the eye of racism, the punishments must be more severe. We should be looking for double-digit bans not single a amount of games. This kind of behaviour is serious and serious punishments must be dealt.
Who Wins The Chip?
As Training camp gets ever so close, meaning the season can’t be far away, the anticipation of the next finals winner is top of any debate. Many basketball players are taking to radio or TV to stake their claim however who will reign supreme? In most scenarios you look for the title holders to be the main contender, is this the case here? Does the fact last year in the NBA was a lockout season make a difference? Is that why we saw two youthful, energetic teams, beat two older teams to get their? Should we pay much attention to this fact or were they just far better? This upcoming season is what will paint the picture for many pundits out their.
Miami are champions so they deserve first mention. A healthy D Wade and Bosh means the big three should be firing on all cylinders. Another year under Mario Chalmers belt means more experience and more confidence. Again the 4/5 spot is where Miami are vulnerable but they had enough to get the chip this year. What about the new additions? R Lewis effectively looked like a well overpaid player the last few seasons, is Miami the place to resurge his career? Ray Allen swapped the bench in Boston for the bench in Miami, best move of his career? Time will definitely tell. With Miami’s additions, you can only say they have improved as a team. The common factor with any LBJ team is it all falls on him to deliver. If Lebron is not firing, the Heat are not the team we saw last finals.
What now for the runners-up last year? We have seen a steady improvement from the Thunder, reaching the conference finals, the finals and now what comes next? In some senses its boom or bust. The Thunder only have so much more space to manoeuvre on the upside before anything they do is called a declining year. Surge Ibaka signed and sealed, the nucleus of the team seems to be set for the future but what about the Beard? Coming off a poor showing in the finals by his standings and a poor Olympics (which can be explained due to chemistry and playing time) what is next for Harden. With the new agreement, Harden may be destined for a new jersey.
The Lakers have revamped a somewhat strong roster now and look like a refreshed beast. Stronger line-ups and bench means the Lakers will no doubt be contenders this year. Boston were one game away from the Finals and you can expect them again to push Miami. Jason Terry and two good prospects from the draft will only strengthen a great coach and players. San Antonio are San Antonio, it is clear what we expect from them now. Good regular seasons and unpredictable playoff performances.
Any smart analyser of Basketball can’t really make a real substantial claim for any other team to win the chip so who will it be. Is the title staying in the East or is the Title going back home to the West?
Time will tell.
Doping in the sport’s world
Doping in sports is ever-present, which is a fact. I found myself reading several articles recently about doping in athletics and many of them were about Usain Bolt. Perhaps due to the fact he just finished doing something never done before. This article is not here to call Usain Bolt a cheater nor any other athletes who have not been judged as cheaters. I have no proof he or any athlete is taking PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) so don’t read this article thinking that. I’ve read convincing articles stating he is and convincing articles saying he isn’t…likewise with radio shows. The key word is convincing. This doesn’t mean fact. Until we have facts that’s all it will ever be. 
It is interesting because I don’t believe I ever felt about Bolt and cheating until I read these articles recently. Why can’t someone run that fast and have time to celebrate at the end? Bolt brought something new to the table which was never really seen before on that kind of level. In my generation at least – making real introductions is accredited to Bolt. I’ve heard the comments of both Bolt and Lewis, in their on-going spat of words and both say vital things. Someone who is a specialist in the world of athletics may look at some of the questions I made above and say I am foolish as Carl Lewis stated. I can accept his statements…why? He has lived it, he has been around it. I’ve heard people say you cannot cut so much time off your run in one year, others say you can in certain circumstances. The point is Usain Bolt has never tested positive for tests. I say this not ignorantly, knowing of others who never tested positive but were juicing. What I say is this, they had their day.
I watched Marion Jones speak in interviews months ago, before I even thought about this stuff and say she was clean. Later on to say she had let down so many people. God has his own way of showing the world things. Whether Bolt is clean or not, it will come out eventually.
Hearing all this stuff recently about how Blake (Usain’s partner) tested positive a few years back is also convincing but not concrete for Bolt. All that means is Blake tested positive nothing else. It did make me think however about sports as a whole. Basketball, the NFL, MLB, Football, Track and Field, the lot. Occasionally in some of these sports people are said to be doing something wrong, however not as much as athletics. What is it about athletics that makes it so dope crazy? Should the question be why are other sports not dope crazy? Is it neither, are other sports better at covering it up or are they more stringent? Whatever the answer be to these questions, we know it is there.
Bike riding has seen an influx in recent years but something like tennis rarely has these issues. Why is it like that?
I don’t claim to know much about these testing systems, I’m a man with a computer, a blog and an opinion.
What’s your opinion?
This one decision shouldn’t prohibit your whole career
Yesterday saw the Olympic ban on British athletes overturned. As most thing in sport, there are split opinions on the decision. It was said that a lifetime ban was too long of a ban in simple terms, meaning athletes would now only be banned for two years. One thing which has been annoying me about all the media coverage is this constant reference to the “cheat”. I don’t really know how the drug thing works in athletics, if my thinking is right, you take drugs to enhance ability and then when you stop taking the drug, it stops. Due to the comments it seems as if once you take these enhancers it can’t be overturned. The debate is, why should cheaters be allowed to compete? I’m a reformist and believe in reform. People can change their ways and lead a different life, why can’t drug cheats? The constant plague of they are still cheaters is unnecessary, if they don’t take drugs for performance now they are not cheaters are they? They have been subjected to the past tense and are no longer cheaters but people who cheated. There’s a very big difference between those two tenses, one is present and one is past. What if someone constantly highlighted you cheated in a test to get a job, although now you take the test and still pass? You wouldn’t want them to hold it to you because people make mistakes in life.
I believe in punishment for change and I believe punishment is a deterrent, however a lifetime ban is a bit steep in my opinion. That being said, the new two year ban is a bit short in my opinion too. Perhaps a four year ban, or a ban that ensures you miss the subsequent Olympics. I find a real big problem in people casting judgement who do not experience the pressures of the situation. For example, most judges sending people to prison haven’t experienced the lifestyle. Most politicians haven’t experienced the lifestyle of the majority of people in their respective constituents. Most of this people in authoritative bodies have not experienced the same scenario or are just too far away due to time.
We all deserve more than one chance, God showed/shows us this regularly.
The Franchise Model
I just want to take a short time to discuss a new proposition which may be implemented in the future. There has been a few weeks to let the dust clear now, in relation to the idea that is ever-present with many premier league owners. This idea is said to be one encouraged by owners who are overseas investors, and the idea is to eradicate the relegation and promotion model from the league. This kind of franchise model actually took me by storm, as I thought, even those owners from abroad still respect the game of football, and the Cinderella-like journey some teams make to England’s highest level. If teams were not allowed to earn promotion, we would not be seeing teams like Manchester City so successful. We only have to look back ten years or so, to when Manchester City regained premier league status.
You would think owners would remain faithful to the traditions, however, at the end of the day it is about money and a business investment for most. Realistically owners owe supporters small, if any obligation. We can see this in action currently with the name of Newcastle’s home ground “St James’ Park” has been changed to The Sport Direct Arena.
The franchise model is something common in America, and soon it may be on our doorsteps. When i think on this model, several questions arise in my thoughts…What teams deserve this privilege? Why should one business (team) be allowed this opportunity, due to the chance of being in the league now? Do we pick the best clubs or the best run financially?
I think vast thought should be taken before any such change is orchestrated. Are we really ready to let go of pictures like this?
As always let me know your thoughts.
