Fantasy Premier League Results wk1

A wee reminder!
It's premier league season again and I've had a quick look at the table as it stands in the fantasy league.
Congrats to Paul McDonagh who started off in flying colours with 73 points, followed closely by moi with 68. Our own Gavin is currently sitting in 5th place. If you wanna join in the madness again this year the link to the website is here and the code you need to join is: 725971-165763 and off you go!
We'd love to see you and hear all your opinions...HINT HINT
We're also looking for the goal of the month each month, Gavin has already chosen his. Which one is yours so far? Who scored it, have you a youtube clip? We'd love to see if anyone out there agrees with our own Mr Grace! It would be a first if anyone did :)

Antonio Pettigrew RIP

It's emerged in the last few hours that the 1991 World 400m Champion Antonio Pettigrew has died.  Pettigrew was 42 years old, and leaves behind a wife and child.  A drugs overdose is to blame - it's not yet known if that is accidental or otherwise.

Pettigrew was a controversial sprinter, given that he admitted taking performance enhancing drugs.  He handed back the gold medals that he won in the relays at the 1997 and 1999 World Championships, and his transgressions meant the USA were stripped of their 4x400m Gold Medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

It's too early to speculate what may have happened Pettigrew - I don't intend to do that here.  What I will say however, is that his untimely and tragic death is reminiscent of those of Marco Pantani, Florence Griffith Joyner and a host of other athletes who have taken drugs to improve the careers, but ultimately lost their lives at a young age.  Performance enhancing drugs, despite distorting competition, are also extremely dangerous to one's health and deaths such as these should be a reminder, as if one were needed, that they must never be tolerated.

I've included a video of Pettigrew in action, the best I can find.  May he rest in peace.

A-Rod Reaction Reveals Baseball Ambivalence

This week, Alex Rodriguez has hit his 600th home run in Major League Baseball.  It’s a feat which puts him in 7th position in the all time home run list, and at the age of 35 he still has a good chance to surpass Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds et al and become the leading home run hitter of all time.

To understand the significance that this event would have had in years gone past, one must realise the special place held by baseball in American society.  There was a time in which it was more than a sport – it was also a pastime, as intrinsic a part of American society as apple pie and the 4th of July.  Also, more so than any sport popular in the States, baseball has historical resonance – A-Rod’s numbers are comparable to those of Babe Ruth, for example, because they played the same largely individual game, even if they did so in different eras.  Therefore milestones such as 600 home runs are moments to be celebrated, a time in which heroes are to be revered.

Normally.

The reception to this landmark, which bear in mind had been coming for some time, has at best been muted.  Fans, pundits, and even A-Rod himself have acknowledged that this moment is not as special as it once was, and perhaps should have been.  That is for one simple reason, steroids.

Like the aforementioned Barry Bonds, and along with the likes of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemons (and a heck of a lot more), Rodriguez’s career has been tarnished by his use of steroids.  He has acknowledged that he has cheated in the past, but such revelations naturally impacted on his popularity.  Once the special one, the sport’s future Golden Boy, he is now hated by some, and certainly disliked by many, yours truly included.  He is a cheat, and cheats should be castigated and excommunicated, of that there is no doubt.

But let’s look at this a different way, just for a moment.  Alex Rodriguez took steroids in a time where other players took steroids too.  Drug use, for a long period of time, was rampant.  Did he cheat?  Yes.  But did he gain an unfair advantage?  Well, probably, but he did so at a time in which several of his peers were doing the same.  Pitchers such as Clemons, who Rodriguez faced throughout his career, were also on steroids so why shouldn’t he?  It’s an argument I don’t like, but it’s a reasonably valid one regardless.

The sport itself seems to validate it by not imposing heavy suspensions on the likes of A-Rod when their transgressions emerge.  Bonds and McGwire still hold their respective home run records, with not even an asterisk alongside them in the official record books, and the same stands for Rodriguez who has taken performance enhancing drugs while soaring through the rankings.  Though they have competed in this tainted era, and though their records are tainted, the sport itself has not acknowledged this in the way that athletics would, stripping cheats of medals and records.

Until baseball does this, until it takes corrective action, until Bud Selig admits that they got it wrong and allowed this to happen and until the integrity of the game is protected, then muted receptions like the one we have seen this week will continue.  The ‘meh’ response from fans must act as a wake-up call to those in charge, though why it would happen now and not before I don’t know.

Heroes who should be heralded will be disliked, and innocent players will have unfair doubts cast upon them.  The sport as a whole will suffer, and its role as America’s past-time will be consigned to the past.

That Time again!

Well our Mr Grace is up the walls at work and I'm up the walls with study for pesky exams that start next week. But I very nicely took time outta my busy study night to do this VERY quick post.
Last year we had a wonderful Alost Daily Sports blog Fantasy Premier League and I wanna do it again this year!!
SO........
I went and set one up again! I'm sure Gav is delighted to hear it! It's very easy to join in and you have weeks to join us! All you need is to click here to be directed to the home page. Register your details.....it's very easy and then to join us in our own personal league you need to go to league on the tab to the left as you look at it and type in this code: 725971-165763 It's just that simple! Pick your team and off you go! The rules are there ready for you to read and at the end of it the season I hope to say 


HAHAHAHA I won :) Best of luck!
Looking forward to kicking some ass again this year!

Non World Cup News Round Up

If like me you're well fed up of World Cup stuff and need something different you're in the right place. Have a look below for the weird and wonderful sports round up of bits and bobs that tickled my funny bone this week!


* Boxing in Moscow last weekend saw us take a Gold and Silver medal thanks to our boys Barnes-who nicely took the gold and O Neill-the silver. A great fight from both men however O Neill's opposition out classed him on the night.

* Dong Fangxiao of China was stripped of her Oylmpic medal last week when committee officials discovered she was only 14 at the time of the 2000 Sydney Games. 


* The luck of the Irish was with our rowers last week when Queens University Belfast took the eight and quads in the men's top division at Queen's Regatta in the Castlewellan Forrest Park lake in Co Down. Galway RC won the fours, St Michaels RC from Limerick took the double scull and pair and City of Derry BC took the single sculls. UCD were placed first and third respectively in the novice eights. According to rte.ie the womens teams also did well. 


*Kerry footballer Paul Galvin has been suspended (yet again) following a clash with Cork's Eoin Cadogan. He'll be quiet for at least 4 weeks while he cools his "unnacceptable" temper. 


* Mayo's successful Ladies Football team bolted from the campionship this year due to issues between the players and the management. Since they're no longer insured to train it's unlikely they'll be able to play on June 19th against Sligo. 


* Micheal Schumacher the seven times F1 champ won't be punished after tipping Massa's car last Sunday. Massa had to stop with just 6 laps to go for a new front wing. Schumacher's team boss Ross Brawn defended his driver claiming his tyres didn't have enough grain or grip. No malice they say on Micheals behalf. 


* London Mayor Boris Johnson wants to take total control of the grounds of the 2012 Oylmpic  Games stadium in London. He's torn between letting West Ham have it for their stadium or use it as a venue for "pop concerts". I know which one I like and it's not West Ham....


* 67 caps for Ireland and Geordan Murphy has won the captain armband at long last. He'l be El Capitan against New Zealand's Maori in Rotorua International Stadium on Friday. 


* Woods claims to be almost at his best form following his intense preparations for this weeks US Open at Pebble Beach. This is Golf related right Wood?


* Barry Hearn is to take a 51% controlling share of the commercial business end of snooker. Eh I don't know if this makes any difference to a sport I don't believe to be a sport but eh......


* A magnificent century from Shahid Afridi could not prevent Sri Lanka from a 16-run win over Pakistan in the first match of the Asia Cup in Dambulla. Eh yeah what he said....


Enough rambling for now I'm off for a nice glass of wine and some Greys Anatomy...

Some World Cup Quick Hits

So with only a matter of hours left until the beginning of the World Cup, I’ve put my neck on the line and I’ve predicted the results all the way to the final on July 11th.  You can see my predictions here.

The main points in Gavin Grace’s World Cup are as follows – France miss out in the group stage, Mexico reach the Quarter Finals before losing to England, while Brazil are champions with a win over Argentina in the final.

A couple of points about it:

• Firstly... ya it’s not the most exciting of predictions.  England/Argentina/Spain/Brazil in the semi-finals is far from a shock.  However years of filling out similar brackets for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament have taught me that going chalk is the way to go!

• France’s early exit is only partly based on my dislike of the French football team.  They are a team in decline, and are most people’s selections for a flop in the next two weeks.  Reports of revolt in the camp don’t bode well, and I’m not inspired by anything I’ve seen from them in recent times, especially in last week’s loss to China.  You’ll also notice that I’ve predicted that South Africa will emerge from Group A.  They’re not the strongest team, but the Bafana Bafana are unbeaten in their last 11 matches, and no home team has ever failed to reach the second round of the World Cup.  I think they’ll maintain that streak, albeit finishing behind Mexico, but it could be one of the tightest groups of them all.

• Some of the groups are pretty easy to pick the top two out of:  Group C (England/USA), Group F (Italy/Paraguay) and Group H (Spain/Chile).  Others weren’t so easy however, even if the winners are most obvious.  Portugal should finish ahead of Ivory Coast in Group H, while I’ve picked Greece to beat Nigeria to second in Group B – I’m not too confident about that, to be frank.  I like some of what I saw of Nigeria in the African Nations Cup, but the Greek’s defence is why I went for them.  South Korea could cause an upset there too.  Germany’s group is also a corker.  I’ve gone for the Germans to top it ahead of Australia (in part because of the fact that I think the Aussies will go far-ish).  Serbia’s loss to New Zealand was enough for me to write them off, while Michael Essien’s absence means I’m not backing Ghana to do much.

• In the knockout stages, there’s some games that I feel could go either way:  I went for Brazil over Holland, but the Netherlands can attack, of that there’s no doubt.  Germany v USA is a potential upset – the Americans are good, and the Germans are lacking experience.  Meanwhile Mexico just might, maybe, perhaps be capable of knocking England out.  

• How easy is Italy’s run to the Quarter-Finals?  Paraguay/New Zealand/Slovakia should pose little threat, and provided Holland win their group then Cameroon/Japan/Denmark should provide fairly easy fodder.  

• I worry about the impact that the long seasons for players in England and Spain could have, and in part that’s why I have both nations falling short of the final.  Mind you, when I’m doing that then I readily admit that I should also perhaps degrade Argentina’s chances as well, given their dependence on Messi and Aguerro.

• I’m looking forward to seeing some teams playing, even some that I say won’t exit the group stage.  I’ve had a grá for Honduras for several years, and their games against Spain and Chile in particular will be interesting.  Nigera can play, and if Drogba can return to fitness then they could trouble anyone in Group H.  And speaking of Group H, I honestly fancy North Korea to get a draw with Brazil.

• For top scorer, since i have them going to the final, I’m going to go with Luis Fabiano but my outside bet is Lucas Barrios of Paraguay, given their fairly easy group.  

They’re no Olympics, but I do love the World Cup.  Heroes and villains will be made in the next month, and no matter predicitions from both experts and people like me, things will happen over the next month that none of us can foresee.  We will enjoy it, we will love it, and I hope that we also get some phenomenal moments that I’ve been revelling in while watching classic matches in recent weeks.
 
Let the games begin.

Ten Days To Go....

June has arrived.  More importantly, June 2010 has arrived.  It is the month in which most of the World Cup will unfold before us, and come July 1st only 8 of the 32 teams who have qualified for South Africa will be in with a shout.

Therefore, I reckon it’s high time that we start to get excited for all things football here on the Almost Daily Sports Blog, and that’s the plan for next few days.  Between now and Friday week I’m going to post a preview of one of the tournament’s pools, A-H as FIFA dictates, followed by a prediction of how the knockout stages will unfold on June 10th, the night before the opening game.  More blogging will then be done throughout the tournament, where I hope to bring you some unusual/interesting pictures and videos and more than just simple match analysis.

Speaking of interesting videos, and to get you somewhat into the mood, ESPN have created some short video pieces which you can see here.  It’s some of the finest work the station has ever done in my opinion, and contains interviews with several players who have scored goals in World Cup Finals, including Ireland Assistant Manager, Marco Tardelli.  It’s wonderfully shot, and well worth checking out.  Enjoy it, and come back here soon for our World Cup coverage.

+++

PS Thanks for your votes in the quandry I posted recently.  I’m taking your advice on board and some changes will likely be implemented, albeit not until after the World Cup at the earliest. 

€400,000 Picture?

So says the age old adage a picture says a thousand words. The logo committee for the London 2012 Oylmpics are trying to tell us now that this picture tells us 400,000 words. I tend to disagree.
Look at it!! It's essentially a collection of shapes with badly drawn angles in a bad mix of two tone colours. What were they thinking? Now I'm no graphic designer nor am I a world famous artist BUT I know that a junior infant could have drawn this one! It's quite frankly rather rank. It's horrid and thankfully I'm not the only one to think so. The bad taste logo came under fire today from so many sources it's hard to know where to start. But I will say one thing....it's not by any means worth the €400,000 spent on it. In all fairness the senior infants I worked with last week could have designed a better logo than this one and I'd have gladly given it to the Logo Committee for a pair of tickets (admittedly to see one hell of a lot of events) for the art work. It would have been more cost effective and certainly would'a been a lot prettier and not quite as insulting to so many people.

A Penny For 'Em...

I know that this blog isn't as going as well as it once was.  I relaunched it last year with the hope that it would be bigger than Elvis, and more important too.  And while I am proud of it, and while I think that some of the content on here is very, very good (not all of that written by me), I do realise that perhaps this never quite went as well as I'd hoped.

I still love it however.  This, in a way, is my sanctuary, my online speaking post.  I can come here to show you a video, or to rant, or to express an argument.  This blog gives me the outlet to do all of that and while I may not do it as often as I should, and while I would love for it to be read by more people, for that reason alone it is here to stay.

Not so long ago there was a prolonged silence here, and things haven't got back up and running properly since.  I have a new job, I'm far busier now than I was, but another reason for this is that I started to run out of motivation.  My love of sport didn't go, I just found it hard sometimes to write articles that I knew wouldn't get as large an audience as I would have liked, sometimes on topics I'd already covered.  I made a promise that I would blog all the time, but I couldn't even keep that.

On a number of occasions recently, I've had some interesting thoughts, some clever ones too, on topics not linked with sport.  I'm talking television, movies, politics, music.  However I've not been able to express them in a drawn out, calculated and erudite fashion because this is a sports only speaking post.  I don't want to start another blog - I barely write enough to maintain this one - but I am conscious of the fact that when a site says Almost Daily Sports Blog above it's online door, then you come to expect sport inside.

Once I've blogged about something that wasn't sport, and even then it was to show a picture, so my question to you now is this.  Would it matter if there were discussions here on topics other than sport?  Would you read my views on other issues?

I can just stick them in here as it is, or I could slightly re-model the site to indicate what it entails.  Rest assured, the likelihood is that the site would be primarily a sports based one - it will always be my passion.  But would you have any problem if Michael Schumacher was joined by, say, Michael Jackson, if fights in the boxing ring mixed with bouts in the Dáil but if it was all commented on with the same humour and questionable insight.

Let me know.  Comment below, vote in the poll.

What do you think of the proposed changes to the Almost Daily Sports Blog?

Go for it. I can't wait.Do it, but re-jig things a little bit to reflect the change.No way. I want sport, and only sport.

pollcode.com free polls

World Cup Hype - TV Advert Style

Not long now until football's greatest showpiece so Nike have released their ad to tie in with events in South Africa.  It's epic, even more epic then their Take It To The Next Level ads in 2008, directed by Guy Ritchie.  Showing that the World Cup is a truly global event, this ad not only ropes in Nike's plethora of soccer superstars but also the likes of Kobe Bryant, Gael Garcia Bunuel and even Homer Simpson.

I don't like using this blog as an advertising space - Nike won't pay me for the privelege - but it's a cracking ad and you may as well see it here first, before it premieres during coverage of the Champions League final this Saturday.  I will make two points about it however.

The use of Ronaldinho was at best unfortunate, given his own omission from the Brazil squad for the tournament and secondly, if there's one footballer in the world that imagines a massive statue of himself being built then it has to be Cristiano Ronaldo!