Thursday, July 06, 2006
Sports Update
Well, at last that boring World Cup thing is over because personally I'm not watching any more of it. Its flawed, cheap and a complete waste of time and so predictable. Everybody plays the same boring way passing the ball sideways and backwards making sure they retain possession because they haven't got a clue how to create a goal. Remember the way we used to castigate Ray Wilkins for doing exactly that? And where are the stars; don't bother asking 'cause there aren't any. You don't need stars to pass the ball backwards and keep possession of the ball for as long as possible.
And the same teams - Brazil or Germany - well, or France or Italy - always win it. OK, we did win it once ourselves, back when Bobby Charlton was the best in the world but that was a long time ago. And another thing, the referees are appalling and obviously not the best in the world and to compound the problem are forced to employ a system of instant judgement when everybody else in the world, sat at their TV's, can see several replays from every angle and know that a mistake has been made and bye-bye the loser. Its obviously flawed.
But the worst thing of all is the blatant cheating by the players, to which it appears no-body is now exempt. It seems that in every case the end seems to justify the means. Just brush someone's face with your fingers and he goes down like a sack of potatoes clutching his face as if he's been attacked by some psychopath. And its not enough to even touch them sometimes, even dear old Henry (or is it Henri, as he's not in our team, I really can't remember) just needs a push in the chest to hold his face and collapse. And then there's the pathetic tactic of players waving their imaginary card in the air to encourage the referee to issue a real card.
At least now we can sit down and enjoy a real sport with no handbags in sight. Le Tour de France. Real men cycling 200 km every day for 3 solid weeks, up hill and down dale and with some picturesque alpine peaks thrown in. Its a travel program on the sights of France with beautiful tree-lined B-roads and miles, sorry kilometres, of wonderful scenery.
Its also a daily lesson on how to progress in life. Every day one or more riders with get fed-up with travelling with the crowd and will head out into the unknown and attempt to get to the finish line first. And every time the teams in the peloton will work together to quicken the pace and time it exactly right in its determination to punish anyone that dares to mess with the natural law and for what? To ensure that their team leaders/sprinters will benefit at the end of the race but idling up on the inside. Isn't that just how it is in life?
But there are rules for these cycling heroes that are straight out of the 20's . The leader unavoidably falls off his bike and modern thinking tells you that the others will push the peddle to the floor to make headway and make the most of this advantage, but no, they all turn round to see where he is and even stop to wait for him. After the phony world of football its pure Magic.
Ah, but what's this I read just as the race is about to start - blood samples in fridges and strange boxes of pills in the wifes' luggage. People being refused entry on suspicion of drug-taking. Out go the big-stars - Urrich, Basso, the spaniards Sevilla and Manchevo and that russian with the strange name, Vinakarov or something. S0 it seems that nothing is sacred anymore.
In desperation we realise its June and switch on the tennis. Its Wimbledon again and time to get out that faded Henman t-shirt. Oh dear, not much joy there either, seems Henman's out already and Murray's gone as well. But at least in this sport we all know that we can't win and we can just enjoy the foreigners, they're better than we are and we know it.
So there's no need to fool ourselves with flags and war-paint like the footballers which is OK in its place but it makes it all nationalistic and means that its not sport anymore. Which is exactly why I'm finished watching the World Cup!
And the same teams - Brazil or Germany - well, or France or Italy - always win it. OK, we did win it once ourselves, back when Bobby Charlton was the best in the world but that was a long time ago. And another thing, the referees are appalling and obviously not the best in the world and to compound the problem are forced to employ a system of instant judgement when everybody else in the world, sat at their TV's, can see several replays from every angle and know that a mistake has been made and bye-bye the loser. Its obviously flawed.
But the worst thing of all is the blatant cheating by the players, to which it appears no-body is now exempt. It seems that in every case the end seems to justify the means. Just brush someone's face with your fingers and he goes down like a sack of potatoes clutching his face as if he's been attacked by some psychopath. And its not enough to even touch them sometimes, even dear old Henry (or is it Henri, as he's not in our team, I really can't remember) just needs a push in the chest to hold his face and collapse. And then there's the pathetic tactic of players waving their imaginary card in the air to encourage the referee to issue a real card.
At least now we can sit down and enjoy a real sport with no handbags in sight. Le Tour de France. Real men cycling 200 km every day for 3 solid weeks, up hill and down dale and with some picturesque alpine peaks thrown in. Its a travel program on the sights of France with beautiful tree-lined B-roads and miles, sorry kilometres, of wonderful scenery.
Its also a daily lesson on how to progress in life. Every day one or more riders with get fed-up with travelling with the crowd and will head out into the unknown and attempt to get to the finish line first. And every time the teams in the peloton will work together to quicken the pace and time it exactly right in its determination to punish anyone that dares to mess with the natural law and for what? To ensure that their team leaders/sprinters will benefit at the end of the race but idling up on the inside. Isn't that just how it is in life?
But there are rules for these cycling heroes that are straight out of the 20's . The leader unavoidably falls off his bike and modern thinking tells you that the others will push the peddle to the floor to make headway and make the most of this advantage, but no, they all turn round to see where he is and even stop to wait for him. After the phony world of football its pure Magic.
Ah, but what's this I read just as the race is about to start - blood samples in fridges and strange boxes of pills in the wifes' luggage. People being refused entry on suspicion of drug-taking. Out go the big-stars - Urrich, Basso, the spaniards Sevilla and Manchevo and that russian with the strange name, Vinakarov or something. S0 it seems that nothing is sacred anymore.
In desperation we realise its June and switch on the tennis. Its Wimbledon again and time to get out that faded Henman t-shirt. Oh dear, not much joy there either, seems Henman's out already and Murray's gone as well. But at least in this sport we all know that we can't win and we can just enjoy the foreigners, they're better than we are and we know it.
So there's no need to fool ourselves with flags and war-paint like the footballers which is OK in its place but it makes it all nationalistic and means that its not sport anymore. Which is exactly why I'm finished watching the World Cup!
// posted by daniel @ 9:29 am 
