The "catch 22"

With the Wales v Scotland 6 nations game tomorrow (Sunday 12th of February), I was thinking about the Bradley Davies yellow card, and his ludicrous sentencing. There are two problems with this incident. First and foremost, as one of the officials has seen the incident clearly enough to see that the offence warrants a card, than they have seen it clearly enough to know that this particular offence warrants a red card. This is for two reasons. A) the tackle itself was a stand-alone red card. B) there are two yellow cards, the dump tackle and the tackle without the ball. Combined this makes for a straight red card. Why is this a "catch 22"? The sentencing means Davies will miss the 6 Nations but will return for the Cardiff Blue's Heineken Cup quarter-final. On the one hand, no one wants to see a key figure miss any game. However, on the other, fans and players alike want to see justice served. There is no one involved in Rugby that wants to see that incident (or something similar) ever again. What kind of message does that send when concessions are being granted to players who are supposed to be punished? It is a double edged sword.

Changing tack slightly, I though I would just bring up the AMA Supercross round 6 in San Diego. The first 4 rounds saw the 4 title protagonists all claim victories, all on their respective manufactures (Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha and first time winners KTM). In the last round at Anaheim 2 Ryan Villopoto claimed his second win and became the first repeat winner this season. Is the title challenge swinging in his favour? I would say so but this season is too unpredictable.           

Was it the worst Superbowl winning touchdown ever?

1. The sight of Ahmad Bradshaw trying to stop and just falling on his derriere is going to be a sight constantly replayed for years to come. However, it won't be replayed for the same reason as David Tyree's "helmet catch" in Superbowl XLII. Sure, that play did not turn into a touchdown, but it converted a third down and was instrumental in setting the foundation for Plaxico Burress to score the Superbowl winning touchdown. The "helmet catch" has become arguably the greatest play in Superbowl history. Unfortunately that turned out to be his last NFL catch. Fast forward four years and the stage is set. No Tyree, no Burress, no Moss and no Maroney, all of the touchdown scorers of four years ago. Yet the suspense is still high. New England v New York, Belichick v Coughlan and biggest of all, Brady v Manning. History suggests the Giants should win the rematch, as only one team as exerted revenge (The Redskins 1983). If the parallels of four years were not enough, how about the 4th quarter and another dramatic late drive to win the Superbowl, again over the Patriots. If successful it would have been the eighth time this season the Giants came back to win the game in the final quarter. Three minutes left and the Giants were down 17-15. This drive should be remembered for Manningham's phenomenal catch. Instead it will be remembered for the bizarre Bradshaw touchdown. I have never seen a score in any final of any sport scored so reluctantly. Initially it was thought to be an unorthodox play to run down the clock from the Giants offence. It was also an unorthodox defensive strategy by the the ever unpredictable Belichick, a method to keep as much time on the clock as possible for Brady to go down field and win. Manning later told David Letterman that when handing Bradshaw the ball he told him not to score as he thought the defense was doing something unusual. I don't think Bradshaw could help himself. Who could? It is a chance to put your team up with less than a minute to go. It turned out to be the right call as the Giants won their 4th Superbowl and 8th NFL championship placing them 3rd in the all time NFL championship standings and Eli now has an extra ring over his more illustrious brother. I imagine, however, we will be talking about Bradshaw's touchdown for years to come.       

A tragic event during an interesting weekend

Obviously, and understandably, the events that have dominated the back pages is the sudden and unexpected death of Gary Speed. There are few superlatives to describe someone who should be a true Icon of the of not just football, but any aspiring sportsman. Someone who was not gifted with extreme natural talent, he was known to spend hours on the training pitch homing in on his skills. His career spanned an astonishing 22 years (1988-2010) where he made 677 appearances at club level. On top of that he represented his country 85 times in a period spanning 14 years, rarely missing a game through injury or suspension. His managerial career was very short, however, by the time of his death Wales were heading in the right direction with his last game of 4-1 home win against Norway. Other noticeable events during his managerial career was Aaron Ramsey becoming the youngest ever Welsh captain. It is a sad loss for the world of football. It can honestly be said that they just don't make them like Gary Speed now days. 

On to more gloomy news (if your are an English rugby fan).There is seen as divide between the Northern and Southern hemisphere and England and France have traditionally provided the strongest opposition to the Tri-nation teams. However, under Martin Johnson's reign, England's only wins against the Tri-nation teams was twice (both against Australia) out of 10. Many have said that this is the lowest point in English rugby for a long time, if not ever. They should not be in this state. There are some brilliant rising stars coming through the ranks. James Gaskell, Luke Wallace, Christian Wade and Charlie Sharples to name a few. The controversy is over the management of RFU and they are possibly facing their biggest decision ever. The main contender and bookies favorite is Jim Mallinder. Yet he has said it would have to be a very tempting offer to get him away from Saints. Nick Mallet has ruled himself back into contention, but only after the 6 Nations. My two choices would have to be either Eddie Jones or Dean Richards. Eddie Jones would have to be my first choice. He led the Brumbies to their first Super  Rugby win and led Australia to their second Tri-nations win as well as taking them to a world cup final. He was part of the South African world cup coaching staff in 2007. There have been reports that he is interested in the role. Dean Richards is only an option if England are prepared to take a risky move and have a caretaker coach. He has better club honours than Mallinder but is still serving his ban. Someone who will not serve his ban is Mike Tindall who has been reinstated as an England player. Nice to see the RFU have a backbone.

That is my views for now. there will be more soon.             

New Blog, New Opinions

Well, a week has past since New Zealand conquered the world in most successful sport. Many have said their victory has conformed the dominance of the southern hemisphere nations. But has it? It is true that the only nations to win two world cups are the Tri Nation teams, in fact 6 out of 7 world cups have been won by them. However, were the southern hemisphere teams really that dominant? Wales lost to South Africa by a point, Ireland beat one of the tournament favorites Australia and Argentina couldn't replicate their form of 2007. Even New Zealand were not immune. After playing an unpredictable tram in France in the final, and a team they beat comfortably in the group stage, were for most parts the second best team in the game. It was better for the game that New Zealand won the world cup after their glorious campaign, home tournament and the like of Graham Henry, Brad Thorn, Keven Mealamu and the centurions Mils Muliaina and Richie McCaw who are all playing, or likely to play in their last world cup. However when you are second best yet still come out on top, often it is because lady luck is on your side. This was most definitely the case in the Final  where Craig Joubert gave the All Blacks the benefit of the doubt on most dubious decisions. He also missed an obvious high tackle on Francois Tran-Duc just before Donald slotted the decisive penalty. I don't want to put a black cloud over the World Cup, but international refs need to be disciplined, and the room for interpretation reduced. Bryce Lawrence's performance in the quarter-final also an example of why this issue needs to be reduced.


It is a big weekend for motor racing this weekend. After Dan Wheldon was tragically killed in Indy Car followed two weeks later by the young hot-shot Marco Simoncelli.  Marco's death was a horrible crash, the likes of which are part of racing motorbikes. When you crash in the middle of the track their is not much you, and other riders can do. However, Wheldon's death is quite the contrast. Indy Car has come under huge criticism for the bonus of $5 million if you came from the back to win. It has been argued that it placed drivers in unnecessary danger. Luckily Formula One doesn't hold the dangers of Indy Car. In F1 you have one optimum line and huge variations of speed in different parts of the track. In Indy Car you can be doing 200+ MPH, inches away from another driver. It must be stressed how safe motor racing has now become with advancements in technology. Drivers as well, know that every time they put on their helmet they could pay the ultimate price. At least they will all ways be remembered for racing.


This is my first post and hope you enjoyed reading it. In future posts a wider range of sports will be covered.