Funny old games

Yesterday successfully managed to highlight one of the oddities that comes with that most fickle of past-times, being an England sporting supporter.� First there was the cricket team… since riding high on their glories of last summer when the Ashes were regained for the first time in 18 years, most would have been forgiven for thinking that a golden age of cricketing accomplishment was dawning for this England team.� However, while the five-day version of the game remains fairly healthy despite the below par tours of the subcontinent in the winter and a string of injuries, the one-day version is atrocious.� England have lost 8 of their 9 ODI’s this summer, and the one, non-defeat was the abandoned match on Saturday.� Ashes heroes Trescothic, Strauss and Pietersen studiously (and incomprehensibly) fail to deliver in the limited over format.

Meanwhile, at Old Trafford (the footballing version), their national footballing counterparts have been going through something of a resurgence in fortune.� The Ericsson/Beckham era is almost forgotten as McClaren’s men have an enviable “Played 2, Won 2, Goals For 9, Goals Against 0” record.� Perhaps the most striking sign of the changing times is the number 7 shirt, which has been passed from Beckham to the previously derided Owen Hargreaves, who has excelled with one Man-Of-The-Match performance after another.� But the cricket has tought us one thing, don’t let short term success lull you to a false sense of security.� With further European qualifiers coming and Ashes round the corner it’s going to be an interesting time for the fans.

Tags: BBC1, England, ODI, Owen-Hargreaves, Pakistan, SkySports, Sport, Steve-McClaren, Sven, Test-Match, The-Ashes

Not impressed, Gary?

The new football season is upon us once more. After the dissapointment of the World Cup from an English perspective, the domestic Premiership season has started once more. To prove it we’ve had shock defeats, horror tackles, poor refereeing, transfer shenanigans, whining managers, new managers, sky rocketing wage packets and a healthy spot of our new, favourite past-time… Sven-bashing. Match Of The Day, great drama from the BBC. All this and we’re only two weeks in. Thankfully, it seems the one thing we have been spared so far is insight into the vices and seedy private lives of the players themselves, although the inevitability of this may have escaped my notice as I don’t tend to dwell too heavily on the content of the redtops. Ironically, the one saving grace is that it’s not quite as controversial as the cricket! After the pre-season dismantling of Greece, it’s back to the competetive internationals this weekend as England take on the might of Andorra.

Tags: BBC1, England, Football, Gary-Lineker, Match-Of-The-Day, Premiership, Sport, Sven

Don’t Lose Your Head

There we have it…. 32 teams, 64 games, 147 goals and 28 red cards. A moment of outrageous indiscipline from the star player followed by ignaminious defeat in that cruelest fashion, the penalty shoot-out. Oddly, not England this time but our close neighbours France. What a game Marco Materazzi had though: he gave away the penalty to gift France the lead, leapt salmon-like in the box to head home the equalizer, stroked in one of the quintet of perfect Italian spot-kicks and (most memorably now) was on the receiving end of the Zidane head-butt. The feeling here is that this World Cup, though always the greatest of sporting spectacles, seemed to fizzle out a touch after the great start we had in the group stages. The only exception being the brilliance of the Italy v Germany semi-final, after which I guess it was only right for the Italians to win it in the end (it is the Chinese Year of the Dog after all, and only Brazil or Italy are allowed to win, if you put faith in such quirks). It was a good tournament though and as always, I left with a feeling that they should do that every year.

Tags: BBC1, Football, France, Italy, Penalty-Shoot-Out, Sport, Sven, World-Cup, World-Cup-Final, Zidane

“In Euro 96, I wasn’t allowed to stay up late and watch the football.”

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you won’t have failed to notice that World Cup fever has begun in earnest. Cars and houses are adorned with St George Crosses, as the nation collectively braces itself for our two-yearly dose of heart-breaking discussions of what-might-have-been. This afternoon we saw the final warm-up game in anticipation of the main event of the summer… England 6-0 Jamaica may have flattered the hosts but it will be in good heart that “our boys” head over to Frankfurt. One month, 32 teams, 64 matches, and no hiding place for those who don’t appreciate the beautiful game. The talk so far has been of Rooney’s foot, Owen’s match fitness, Theo Walcott’s age and dancing like a robot, so who knows what we’ll be talking about by July 9th. Even my natural pessimism started to be swept along by yet more tales of ‘66 that seem to pop up on almost every channel from day-to-day, and there’s a prize for anyone who spots an advert that doesn’t have a football theme to it. The BBC are almost certain to win the ratings war, and the confident presentation skills of Linekar et al will win the hearts and minds of housewives and fans alike. Just when the weather seems to be getting better, we can all stay indoors and watch the telly. Let the drama commence.

Tags: England, Gary-Lineker, Match-Of-The-Day, Michael-Owen, Sport, Sven, Theo-Walcott, Wayne-Rooney, World-Cup