Football, bloody hell

I think football showed its true colours tonight. A ‘professional’ kicks a ball boy who then like his ‘role models’ feigns injury. #pathetic

— Craig Spence (@craigspence) January 23, 2013

Baby steps but still progress for netball coverage

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra is a fantastic radio station, bringing a whole range of sports to a British (and world) audience.

And it is good to see it will tonight bring the second in the three-match netball series between England and world number one Australia live to listeners.

As the excellent Sport on the Box blog reports:

BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra brings full commentary of the series to listeners, marking the first time that the sport – the world’s biggest in terms of women’s participation – has been covered live on UK radio.

The live commentary forms part of BBC Radio 5 live and sports extra’s ongoing commitment to showcase more women’s sport and minority sports.

Katharine Merry will lead the coverage from Bath and London, with Jennie Gow presenting from Birmingham, with expert input from former England International Tracey Neville for all three matches.

5 Live SX had live commentary from the first match in the series on Sunday in Bath – won by England – and will do so again this Saturday for the finale in Birmingham.

But although the games are also being shown on Sky Sports, there is still some way to go until the sport is given the same kind of coverage as in Australia and New Zealand. I was struck when I was there that sports shops stock merchandise for teams in the semi-professional ANZ Championship.

As the chief executive of Welsh netball Mike Fatkin alludes to, it’s all a little bit strange for a sport which is so popular in schools but which has struggled to gain any coverage at international, or even club, level. Is it because it is a predominantly women’s sport? Unfortunately, perhaps that’s it.

The Harbaughs: the latest great sporting siblings

The Baltimore Ravens’ upset win over the New England Patriots in Massachusetts on Sunday night not only allowed Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh to exact revenge for a painful loss there at the same stage last season.

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Photo: Flickr, Keith Allison

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. Photo: Flickr, Football Schedule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It also meant he would take his side to arguably the biggest game in sport – the Super Bowl. Their opponents? The San Francisco 49ers, coached by a certain Jim Harbaugh.

For the Harbaugh brothers’ parents (continuing the alliterative theme, their names are Jack and Jackie), this squabble, in what has already been dubbed the “HarBowl”, could be hard to contain.

But it is hardly the first time siblings have lined up against each other on the biggest stage of all:

Venus and Serena Williams

It must be hard to be upstaged by your younger sibling, but that is what Venus, herself a legend of the sport, has had to endure. Serena, younger by a year and three months, has won 15 grand slams to her sister’s seven, and has triumphed in six of their eight encounters in grand slam finals. But they get on well enough as perhaps the most successful doubles pairing of all time, adding a third Olympic gold to their collection at London 2012.

Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee

The sight of the Yorkshire brothers sharing the top step of the London 2012 triathlon podium warmed the hearts of Team GB fans, after a hard-fought triathlon in which Alistair, the elder brother, won gold, with Jonathan claiming bronze (after collapsing at the finish, much to his brother’s obvious dismay) behind Javier Gomez of Spain.

Jonny was then crowned world triathlon champion in New Zealand in October, although Ali was unable to take part.

Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko

When Wladimir, the younger by nearly five years, beat Britain’s David Haye in July 2011, it ensured the Ukrainian brothers held all four major belts – those of the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO – between them. Vitali is often regarded as a better fighter than Wladimir, but the theories will not be substantiated: the brothers have vowed never to fight one another.

Others

To be honest, these were pretty much the first three pairs of siblings who came into my head when thinking about sporting success. Since, I’ve thought of a few more who might deserve a paragraph or two of their own:

Steve and Mark Waugh

Michael and Ralf Schumacher

Peyton and Eli Manning

Bobby and Jack Charlton

Rory and Tony Underwood

Mauro and Mirco Bergamasco?

Gavin and Scott Hastings??

Leicester Tigers 9-5 Toulouse

Now the risk of hypothermia has passed, I can fully appreciate what an epic of a match it was. Not a try-fest, not filled with thrills, spills and skills, but an intriguing, old-fashioned encounter.

Tigers officials clear snow from the Welford Road pitch before Leicester’s 9-5 Heineken Cup pool 2 win over Toulouse on Sunday, January 20, 2013

You couldn’t ask for any more: a clash between two of club rugby’s biggest names – the two sides have won the Heineken Cup six times between them (out of 18) – with a place in the quarter-finals at stake. A game which was in the balance until the very last play. A sell-out crowd at Welford Road.

And more than a dusting of snow, which meant the game was littered with mistakes.

In all honesty, Toulouse, who scored the game’s only try through Yoann Huget, should have won. They would have done so easily if Lionel Beauxis and Luke McAllister hadn’t conspired to miss all five of their side’s efforts at goal. By contrast, Toby Flood converted three of his four place kicks.

But Leicester’s defensive effort meant there could be no complaints at the home win, which was met with delirium at the final whistle – although that might have been mainly because it meant the crowd could, at last, find shelter from the snow.

Nigel Adkins sacking: laughable

So Nigel Adkins (incidentally always a manager who comes over as a good guy) has been sacked as Southampton manager, after leading the Saints to two successive promotions; from near the bottom of League One to 15th place in the Premier League.

Point proved.

My only explanation for it is that he walked into St Mary’s this morning and his superiors thought he was Lawrie Sanchez, and let him go on the grounds they hadn’t realised they’d employed him. (I might be the only person who can see this.)

Nigel Adkins: sacked by Southampton

Lawrie Sanchez: not sacked by Southampton

 

Nigel Adkins has every reason to be thoroughly disillusioned with football today. Southampton improving – not sure what owners expected.

— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) January 18, 2013

Disgraceful sacking of Nigel Adkins , game gas gone !

— Robbie Savage (@RobbieSavage8) January 18, 2013

So disappointed about Adkins. 22nd in LG1 to 15th in PL in 2.5 yrs, lost 2 of last 12, fans support, improving team. That’s not enough? #SMH

— Bianca Westwood (@beewestwood) January 18, 2013

Sorry to see Adkins get the bullet, especially as his team have shown they have what it takes to fight their way out! #panicstrickenchairman

— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) January 18, 2013

Anyone who saw Southampton’s superb fightback against Chelsea on Wednesday night wouldn’t have sacked the manager two days later (Adkins).

— Paul Hayward (@_PaulHayward) January 18, 2013

Nigel Adkins sacking seems harsh to me. This is unfortunately modern day football. #darwinism

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) January 18, 2013

What is football coming to?

It’s not as if I am the first person to ask this, but what is happening to football? Why does it insist on shooting itself in the foot every week?

John Brooks, the linesman who told Manchester City players to go and applaud fans who had forked out the preposterous sum of £62 for a single ticket to the Emirates Stadium as City visited Arsenal on Sunday, was dropped from yesterday’s FA Cup replay he had been due to officiate in.

The incident has highlighted football’s abysmal efforts at public relations. It is a sport still reeling from a whole series of unsavoury episodes which have put a whole host of fans off it (well, me, at least).

It has also brought the issue of ticket prices to further prominence. Is there a football league ground which an adult can attend for less than £20? Not that it’s just football. Try and get tickets for the Millennium Stadium or Twickenham if you’re not made of money. Even my ticket for the terraces at Welford Road to watch the Leicester Tigers take on Toulouse in the Heineken Cup costs £22.

I’m planning two trips abroad to watch sport in the coming months. One is to the Stade de France in Paris for Wales’s Six Nations game. The face value of my ticket is £30 – not dirt cheap, but much less than the equivalent over here.

The Stade de France’s ticket prices are much cheaper than the Millennium Stadium or Twickenham

The other trip is to this summer’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. For a weekend pass, prices start at 450 rubles (£9.27).

Bayern Munich, and the Bundesliga more generally, is often held up as an example of what English football should strive to be like. FC Bayern has sold out all home tickets until mid-March, and even with authorised ticket re-sellers – whose prices are almost always inflated – prices start at just £12.