Why current players dont make great pundits

Anyone listening to the inquest on Test Match Special will have heard the problem of current players acting as pundits on sporting events. Taking away the fact that Geoffrey Boycott’s rant at Broad was a little ludicrous, it did display that current players will not be able to offer their own real views on what has happened, but will churn out the party line. Broad spoke of taking positives from the game and looking to build momentum, which Boycott described as rubbish. Indeed, Boycott described everything about England’s performance as poor or rubbish, without offering a great amount of further insight, no doubt to the delight of TMS listeners who play Boycott Bingo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/testmatchspecial/4910566798/). Yet, current players are never going to be able to offer their own personal opinion if it could affect their relationship with the team, Broad would never single players out for criticism, these players are going to be team-mates for many years and indeed many will be his friends. Broad would not risk upsetting the England team and management for the sake of a few sound bites on the radio. The same situation is often seen on Sky and on Match of the Day 2, where current pros are in the studio. In these cases, they are never going to risk upsetting current players for fear of getting a bad reputation in the industry.

Understanding my blog stats

So I had a look at my recent stats for blog visitors and saw the following countries had visited the page, which included visitors from Iraq, Singapore, the US, Australia and Japan amongst others. This surprised me somewhat, given the nature of my articles, however the multi-talented writer Munaza Kulsoom has provided me with some reasons as to why this is the case!


Singpore: a bored business man, who was bullied by daddy into finance when all he wanted to do was play darts.
US: ex -pats starving for something that isn't about obama being muslim.
Japan: they love british sport and more ex-pats.
India: yorkshire backpackers who hate cricket.

I'd particularly like the Singapore reasoning to be true! Although I shall be writing about cricket soon so my Yorkshire backpacking friends will be disappointed!

Munaza's blog can be found at
http://postcodedabsurdity.blogspot.com/2010/12/more-personal-signs-of-winter.html

please go and visit it, as she is ace!

Sports Personality of the Year – Time for Taylor?

The line up for the 2010 Sports Personality of the Year has been announced and the name of Phil Taylor has been included on the list of candidates, which also features sporting luminaries as David Haye, Jessica Ennis and Graeme Swann. Taylor’s inclusion is based at long last on the recognition that he is simply the greatest player to play the sport of darts. For years Taylor has been at the top of his game, without as much as a nod from the BBC. So what has changed amongst the powers that be, which allows Taylor to take his place on 2010’s list?

1. The image of darts
The old argument, ‘darts isn’t a sport, it’s a pub game’ etc. Certainly there is no doubt in the feeling that bosses at the beeb and many newspaper editors have viewed darts with a certain amount of snobbery over the years, particularly throughout the 80s and 90s. Indeed, the absence from Taylor on many shortlists from national papers demonstrates this attitude. However, the PDC has taken the sport of darts to a level whereby the amount of money on offer to darts players means that a career as a professional player is eminently achievable. Furthermore, new young players in the scene such as Jelle Klaasen and James Wade are a world away from the image of overweight lads drinking and smoking on stage in between throws. As a result, players are now fitter than ever, as on stage conditions can be merciless for overweight players, as was sadly seen with Andy Fordham in his clash with Taylor in 2004. Taylor himself has acknowledged the need to go to a gym and get himself in better state for tournaments.

Moreover, as a consequence of the rising profile of the PDC, the crowd figures for events such as the Premier League are increasing year on year. Darts players are now becoming well known in households across the country and events on TV attract some of the best viewing figures at Sky. Phil Taylor will now be known to the millions of people, and guest appearances on programmes such as Coronation Street will only enhance his profile.

2. The achievements of Taylor himself

In 2007, Taylor lost in the first round of the Las Vegas Desert Classic and World Grand Prix to Mark Dudbridge and Adrian Gray respectively, prompting suggestions that his reign as the king of darts was coming to an end. Yet Taylor re-designed his darts with his manufacturers Unicorn, and came back stronger than ever, winning the 2009 World Championships with a record average and dominating the major tournaments. The highlight of this resurgence came in the final of the Premier League in May 2010, when Taylor hit two nine-dart finishes on his way to regaining the trophy. Such a feat had never before been witnessed and was testament to the hours of dedicated practice that Taylor puts in between each tournament. Such commitment and domination deserves to be rewarded given that Taylor continues to overcome challenges to his no.1 spot from players such as Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade. Indeed the manner in which Taylor has dominated van Barneveld has seen the Dutchman’s form drop considerably due to an acknowledgment that he couldn’t live with Taylor in big matches.

3. Thirdly, the list of competitors Taylor faces in the 2010 SPOTY is not strong. Some candidates such as Jessica Ennis are more likely to win the event in 2012, whereas David Haye has probably lost support given the nature of his win of Audley Harrison last month.

It would appear that Taylor’s main rivals will be the golfer Graeme McDowell, who has enjoyed a successful year and possibly Graeme Swann, who may have spun England to regaining the Ashes by the time of the announcement of the results in December. Certainly, it would seem that 2010 would be an appropriate time to acknowledge the achievement of a true British champion.

Revealed! Those World Cup hosts

2018 - Russia
2022 - Qatar
2026 - The Falklands Islands
2030 - Papua New Guinea
2034 - Isle of Man
2038 - Sepp Blatter's back garden

Super League, a few thoughts

Having read an excellent blog post by Tony Hannan, (@tonehannan on twitter) regarding the structure of rugby league and a possible American football style East and West Championship, I thought I would add my thoughts on the current set-up.

The issue for me regards the structure of the Championship. At the moment I feel that this division is mix of teams with serious Super League aspirations, and teams who are content to stay as a semi-pro team.

The current franchising criteria appears to be set up against the smaller clubs. It is always going to be hard work to get regular attendances of over 2.500 in a division which offers no incentive of promotion. Non rugby-league fans struggle to grasp why I would watch my own team, Sheffield, when I know we have no chance of Super League rugby. With this the case, how are teams across the Championship going to attract new supporters to allow them to reach the goal of 2,500 fans, when teams in Super League struggle to meet this at times.

However, despite this I understand the need for clubs to reach certain criteria to participate in Super League. Nowadays, the gap is between professional and semi-professional is as wide as ever. This is not necessarily in terms of the playing squads, as Barrow’s win at Castleford and performances by Halifax and Sheffield in the Challenge Cup in recent years have proven, but in the infrastructure of the clubs right down to youth and academy levels.

Therefore, I would propose a set-up in which Super League is cut to 10 teams, with a Super League 2nd division incorporating 10 teams who have Super League aspirations. Clubs in the Super League 2nd division would have to make a commitment that Super League is their target, through the establishment of academy and reserve teams, and display that the have a financial ability to fund a Super League team, it is merely not enough to look upon stadia and number of spectators as the key to Super League survival.

An example of this could be:

Super League

Wigan
Leeds
Huddersfield
Hull
Hull KR
Catalans
Bradford
Saints
Castleford
Warrington

Super League 2

Salford
Wakefield
Harlequins
Crusaders
Featherstone
Widnes
Sheffield
Toulouse
Leigh
Halifax

Promotion and relegation would be in place in this structure. Promotion to the Super League would be through a play-off and Grand final system. The thought behind such a league would be that the teams in Super League 2 would already be meeting certain guidelines set out by the RFL, so that a subsequent promotion to the Super League would not have such a dramatic effect on the clubs finances and infrastructure. Additionally, clubs who do not make the Super League 2, should have an opportunity to join this set up.

There are flaws in this set-up I am sure. However I believe that the key to a healthy Super League is a competition for places, with a more professionalised structure throughout the leagues. Certainly, there is a feeling amongst Championship clubs that they are the poor relations in comparison to their Super League rivals.

Mystic Ricardo

Mystic Ricardo

Taurus

The bull is raging this month as the moon is full. Remember to stay calm, try and avoid supermarkets and elderly people to do this


Pisces

The fish, mm fish and chips, this horoscope writing makes me hungry…anyway this month will be a lucky month for all Pisces out there, remember to buy lottery tickets this month, it could be you (Copyright Camelot).

Leo

Raaargh! Im a lion!! Yet its time to show your softer side to friends and work colleagues, maybe arrange a lovely picnic in the park, or perhaps just get a round in at the pub, yes this is an excuse for all Leos to go to the pub.

Gemini

The band Gemini once got ‘nul points’ in Eurovision. Avoid this in your life by working hard, particularly in the library. That’s not an excuse to sit on facebook.

Libra

So when it comes to sun and fun and goodness in the jungle, they all
prefer the sunny funny one they call Um Bongo! Probably best to avoid soft drinks this month Librans, stick to tap water.

Scorpio

You will be full of strength and power this month, just like the ex-Gladiator of the same name. Use this power to good use such as carrying friends home after a night out.


Cancer

Rhythm is a dancer, it’s a source of cancer sang Snap, and wise words they were too. Try and dance as much as possible this month, especially in lectures.


Virgo

John Virgo was known for his dulcet tones and trick shots, but don’t be tricked this month by and friends or colleagues, stay alert, and you can pocket a fortune.


Aquarius

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius sang the famous song, but not this month. The crossing of Mars and the Moon means its best to stay in and watch Homes under the Hammer for a bit, that work can wait.


Capricorn

Plan ahead Capricorners and Capriconesses, I assume this is the term for you I don’t really know about star signs. Christmas is just around the corner so get into those pound shops and get buying presents!





Sagittarius

The positioning of the moon in the sky means it will be dark in the evening. Don’t be alarmed by the darkness, bring light into your life by putting on that lamp next to your sofa.


Aries

Knock knock, Who’s there? Aries, Aries who? Aries a reason I talk like this! Avoid bad jokes this month


Remember, if you wish to know more about your star sign this this month, ring my hotline on 08918343838 calls are charged at £85 per minute

RATZILLA IS AMONGST YOU!

RAZTILLA COMES TO BRADFORD

It was the summer when the national media were to descend on Bradford, reporting of fear on the streets, with residents scared to leave their houses No I’m not writing about the English Defence League’s tedious little strop around the city centre at he beginning of the month, but the shocking story of rodents of a different variety-the super-rats which were allegedly plaguing the Ravenscliffe Estate, or to give them their official tabloid name…RATZILLAS!!

Yes on what must have been a quiet news day at the Sun, the paper led with a story of how MONSTER 2 ½ FEET RATS (the Sun sure like putting words into capitals FOR NO REASON!) were roaming around the Ravenscliffe, even appearing in the houses of locals. Indeed, some residents had claimed to have seen a giant rat in their lounge, though allegations Piers Morgan was on the TV at the time could not be confirmed.

According to the Sun, these super rats were said to have come from South America, disappointing England manager Fabio Capello, who had hoped to call up the rats to replace Frank Lampard.

The article explained how local resident Brandon Goddard and his friends shot one of the super rats after arming themselves with a shotgun and baseball bats and going ratting, proof that they are one neighbourhood watch group you wouldn’t like to get into an argument with! As proof of the capture of the RATZILLA, a blurry photo was provided which in truth could have easily been a cat! However, the Sun accompanied this picture with the caption ‘rat in me kitchen’, showing that in 2010 it’s never too late for a UB40 related pun, despite the fortunate disappearance of Ali Campbell and co from our airwaves about 15 years ago.

Yet before you decide to pack your bags and head away from the city of Bradford, for fear of having your late night kebab stolen by a 6ft monster rat, doubts were soon to be cast on the validity of these super rats. Indeed Dennis Shipway, head of pest control at Bradford Council was extremely sceptical, suggesting that no reports of any larger than normal rodents had been made to the council, followed by a number of denials from local residents about ever seeing a giant rat. This appeared to suggest that the Sun’s exclusive should perhaps not be taken so much with a pinch of salt but more with a whole salt mine! The best quote was from a local resident who said that the Sun must have got mixed up between Ravenscliffe and nearby Ravensthorpe-suggesting that if in doubt, blame it on Dewsbury!

BBC and ITV apologise

The BBC and ITV have today apologised to viewers after a technical glitch meant that viewers were subjected to watching all of England's games at the World Cup. Spokesmen for both channels have vowed to ensure that this will not be allowed to happen again.

World Cup Prediction Time

With the World Cup a day away, its time to make my predictions for the tournament

Winners- Brazil In addition to the natural style of the team, they now look more solid at the back than most teams competing.

Dark horses- Chile. 3 up front, wing backs bombing forward, they could be entertaining to watch and once in the knockout stage could be dangerous.

Best game - Slovakia v New Zealand, forget the big matches, its these smaller games which always turn out to be the gems of the tournament. 10 years ago I gave A-Level History revision a break to watch Spain v Yugoslavia, a cracking 4-3 match. Therefore expect a festival of football when these two meet.

As for England, its hard to look past a penalty shoot-out misery again, the team is good enough for at least a semi-final spot-in Emile we trust!

Player of the tournament-forget your Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi, expect someone unknown to emerge as the player all clubs want to sign, this doesnt necessarily mean he's any good- this is known as the El Hadji Diouf case. Therefore, look out for Luis Suarez of Uruguay,great player, perhaps destined for failure at Manchester City.

Englands World Cup Team

So we are all waiting for the England team to be revealed, apparently its taking a long time to announce it due to Capello making concessions to the Lib Dems, Vince Cable is expected to travel as Goalkeeping understudy

Revealed The New Con-Lib Cabinet!

Prime Minister Dave Cameron
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
Chancellor George Osborne
Foreign Secretary Gillian Duffy
Education Secretary Floella Benjamin
Home Secretary Michael Caine
Health Secretary Andy the Viking Fordham
Transport Secretary Richard Hammond
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Peter Risdale
Secretary of State for Defence Titus Bramble
Secretary of State for Scotland Mel Gibson

First post the post system-the question no-one has asked

If we get rid of the First past the post system in Britain, what will happen to horse racing?

The 2010 General Election and The BNP- all just a bit of history repeating?

Following the increasing profile of BNP in local and European elections, the general of election of 2010 was the first real test of support for the Party. The success of the Party in the 2009 European election saw 2 elected MEP’S in Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons receiving an increase in funding, subsequently allowing for a the potential for a more sophisticated political campaign with increased resources and arguably the first opportunity for the BNP to win a seat at Westminster.

Indeed, the campaigning was dominated by negative publicity and perhaps more importantly elements of factions within the Party which saw Nick Griffin accusing members of his Party of a plot to kill him, which saw publicity director Mark Collett arrested. Moreover, the BNP website, considered by the Party to be a key element in their campaigning was closed by website manager Simon Bennett, accusing Griffin of being “pathetic, desperate and incompetent” (Telegraph 2007). A subsequently message from Griffin was put on the website, but with nothing else to show for the site. The Party’s cause was further hindered by footage of Bob Bailey, candidate for Romford brawling with Asian youths whilst out canvassing , which featured across the national media.

The Party have subsequently won 522, 977 votes, at 1.9% of the vote nationally, an increase of 1.2% on 2005. It is to be expected that the Party will point to this as the best result by any far right organisation in Britain. However despite breaking through the 1% barrier for the first time at an election, the election can be regarded somewhat as a failure for the BNP and indeed brings into question the future of Griffin.

In Barking, where the BNP polled 16.4%, hopes were high amongst BNP members of producing a serious challenge to Margaret Hodge, the incumbent Labour MP. The potential support for the Party in the area was seen in recent council elections which had seen the BNP becoming the official opposition on Barking and Dagenham council. Yet despite this, Griffin only polled 6620 votes and was beaten into 3rd place by Conservative candidate Simon Marcus. Further disappointment was to come in Stoke, where again BNP expectations had been high of a strong support, notably due to the decision by the Labour hierarchy to parachute in academic Tristram Hunt, much to the chagrin of local Labour supporters, thus raising the possibility of voters turning to the BNP as a protest against Hunt. Additionally, local council results had previously produced strong support for the BNP. Again, despite these hopes, BNP candidate Simon Darby polled 2502 votes, coming in 4th behind Hunt and the Lib Dem and Conservative candidates. Similar stories were witnessed across other areas which had witnessed strong BNP support in previous elections such as Burnley, Dewsbury and Keighley. To compound this disappointment, as local election results come in, it is said that the Party are not performing strongly, notably losing their representation in cities such as Leeds.

So where does this leave the BNP? Whilst Griffin has categorically ruled out any possibility of him leaving his post as Party Chairman, discontent amongst Party members is growing with calls for his resignation getting louder. It remains unclear as to whether Griffin could carry on with what has always been historically a fractious group of members. It would be naive to suggest that the BNP’s support has peaked and is on the way down, as events in France at the beginning of the decade have proven that the far right will almost certainly have periods of support, and decline, yet whether the Party can achieve any breakthrough under Griffin’s leadership is certainly more doubtful, much to the relief of the mainstream parties.

Witness the worst ever refereeing performance here

Lights, Camera, Action!! (and public spending cuts)

This month has seen the news that the three main party leaders, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg will be appearing in three separate debates, to be broadcast live on Sky, ITV and the BBC, a first for a British General Election campaign. However far from it being an anything goes debate, an agreement has been signed with more clauses than a Father Christmas convention-76 in total which dictates on everything from handshakes between the leaders to the length of time of answers and closing statements, through to the make up of the audience, which apparently is to be carefully selected, but not known to the leaders. Indeed, the audience will not be allowed to applaud or jeer throughout the broadcasts, although knowing how much the British public love a good pantomime this clause may be hard to adhere to.

So who are the winners in all this? Certainly not the smaller political parties, with the SNP and Plaid Cymru leading the outcry. Their major complaint focuses on the “unfair treatment of Welsh and Scottish license fee payers who are being denied the opportunity by the public broadcaster to hear from their respective national parties in these set-piece leaders’ debates.” Additionally, it could be argued that the prospect of a hung parliament could see their views more important than ever if they were to from a government. However, whether the average voter in Cleckheaton would really be interested in the views of the SNP is another matter. The BBC have promised to allow the smaller parties to have the right to respond to the debates, which would again raise the possibility of Nick Griffin being back on the BBC, although this is a debate for another time.

Moreover it would appear that the big winner in all this is Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, a man who would seemingly struggle for recognition in his own house, indeed a recent politics class I taught at Craven College saw a group of 20 students collectively fail to recognise Clegg, with the majority of the students indentifying him as Seb Coe. Still at least it wasn’t Steve Cram, the one time athlete now turned BBC Sport presenter, with presenting skills more wooden than the Black Forest. Yet if Clegg can perform as well as Coe did in his Olympic hey-days, then the Liberal Democrats could benefit from these debates.

Furthermore Gordon Brown, fresh from his interview with Piers Morgan could also benefit from the chance of a debate with his fellow party leaders. Recent opinion polls have shown the Conservative lead to be dropping to around 5%, and a strong showing from Brown could tilt the balance in his party’s favour. The Morgan interview was perhaps a new strategy by the Labour party to put the PM on shows alongside people even more loathed by the British public, therefore making him more likeable - expect appearances on TV with Michael Winner, Anthony Worrall-Thompson and John Terry anytime soon. However, if Brown were to have a repeat of this supposed sensitive caring side, then the Labour Party could be laughing all the way to a fourth term in power.

And what of the Conservatives, a few months ago a Tory victory seemed as certain as Portsmouth’s chances of relegation, yet now it appears uncertainty is creeping into the Conservative campaign, with insiders worrying about whether they have their strategy spot on. Cameron has so far avoided wearing a baseball cap with his name on it, or embarking on a one man super-hero mission to save the pound (see Hague, William), but there are worries over Cameron’s air brushed billboard posters and rumours of disagreements between Cameron and Shadow Chancellor George Osborne over spending cuts. However, the TV debate could consolidate the lead of the Conservatives. Indeed Cameron’s performance against David Davies in the televised debate for the Conservative leadership was said to have played a great role in his success. Certainly Cameron would appear to be the most natural in dealing with the TV environment than possibly Clegg or Brown.

The big question in all this is whether the public will actually care, as mentioned earlier, Sky, the BBC and ITV all get the chance to broadcast a debate, and my general feeling is that the public may be bored of it all by the time of the third debate. Is this then the beginning of a new era for politics, indeed why stop at TV debates? Maybe now is the time to introduce reality TV to the election, what better way to decide our next Prime Minister than an X-factor final with Nick Clegg sweeping to power on the back of a powerful rendition of R Kelly’s ‘I believe I can fly’. Or maybe even Ant and Dec live from the jungle in Australia hosting ‘I’m a politician get me out of here’! Personally I would love to see them go head to head in a Celebrity Masterchef final for the right to be PM. I could think of no better judges to choose our next Prime Minister than “ingredients expert” (greengrocer) Gregg Wallace and Chef John Torode. I could just see Gordon Brown storming back into number 10 on the back of a mean Chocolate soufflé!