First Non-Sports Entry!

Michael Jackson turns fifty today. Sure, this has nothing to do with sport, but any excuse to watch one of my favourite scenes in the history of cinema. Well, I say cinema... Made-for-TV counts, right?

Hitler Shuns Michael Phelps!

It's less than a week since Michael Phelps beat Mark Spitz's record and clinched his 8th Olympics Gold Medal. I've seen criticism of the US commentator, Dan Hicks, in some quarters but I don't think anything is as bad as this guy. Here's how the people of Venezuela saw the start of the 4x100m I.M Relay last weekend.

All That Glistens Need Not Be Gold

So, a mixed day for Irish boxing. I'm not going to buy into the hysteria of 'Fabulous Friday', not when two of our three boxers in action were beaten. I watched all three fights, live - I've seen every Irish Olympic medal since i was born and I wasn't going to stop today.

Kenny won. Hardly a surprise. Jeffries looked scared in an interview this week and acted like it in the ring today. Sutherland showed no grit or determination. Not happy with his performance at all. However, I want to talk about Paddy Barnes.

Paddy is 21, from Belfast, and did very well to medal in these Games. Against the two-time World Champion and home favourite Shiming Zou he was always up against it. What interested me, however, is the interview he gave after the fight. If you're in Ireland you can see it here and if not, then allow me to summise. Barnes attacked the judges for not awarding him a single point - a valid argument. But when Marty Morrissey (who looks oddly like Betty Boop) tried to cheer him up by saying that he did well, Barnes was indignant. The bronze medal is for "losers", he said, and "[the organisers] can keep it, I don't care."

I hope Paddy regrets his outburst. He has done remarkably well to get this far and could go on to greater things in London in 2012. However, that attitude is the wrong one. He's been a major part of one of our most successful teams in over 50 years. He has done his country, his club and most importantly himself proud in Beijing. He's done a lot more than some 'athletes' in this country who are revered as heroes. I hope that he becomes more positive about his achievements very soon.

Remember Paddy, bronze ain't bad.

Enjoying the Olympics??

I somehow think this girl isn't!



I'd make a 'pain in the ass' joke but I'm afraid you'd think it's crap!

Bolt From The Blue

So how have they been for you? The Almost Daily Sports Blog has been thoroughly enjoying the Games at the expense of many other aspects of my life...such as The Almost Daily Sports Blog.

Ireland are doing magnificently. Well, certainly our boxers are. Don't rule out Denis Lynch tomorrow though...nor Olive Loughnane later on tonight. Ok Olive is unlikely, but since she's from my hometown that's a real homer pick.

The Games have belonged to two people - Phelps and Bolt. So, who's the star?

Let's assess the facts. Michael Phelps has won 8 gold medals in Beijing. More than Spitz. He's won 14 overall. More than Ireland. He set seven World Records along the way, in every event bar the 100m Butterfly, which he did win despite the claims of some people.

Usain Bolt on the other hand, so far, only has two gold medals and two World Records. However, to me, he is the star of these Olympics. He is the first man in 24 years to complete the 100m/200m double. He is the first ever to win both in World Records. He also has the chance to win a third medal this weekend in the 4x100m relay with the all dominant Jamaican sprinting team.

So which tally is most impressive?? For me... it is Bolt. Just.

Phelps' records have as much to do with a technological fluke than anything else. The pool is deeper and wider than most and the new LZR suits from Speedo add an estimated 2% to an athlete's performance. Sure, everyone else has the use of the same technology, but that gives him a distinct advantage over those who went before him. As for these games, but for Jason Lezek, and the previously mentioned squeaky bum touch over Milorad Cavic, there would have been no gold rush.

Bolt, on the other hand, is in a different class. He set the 100m World Record by running only 85 of them and today, broke one of the most impressive records in the book, Michael Johnson's 19.32 in Atlanta in 1996. Both performances were phenomenal. Simply stunning. His winning margins are impressive. In events where margins are measured in the hundredths, he won by a chasm. He is brilliant.

I confess that I had my doubts about Bolt. Too often athletes have shown us flashes of brilliance, only to rob us of the joy of what we have seen. Like someone in the audience of a magic show, I wondered where the rabbit came from. However, I have been assured that he is clean. I sincerely hope he is. Track and fired needs a star. It needs an instantly recognizable face. It needs an L.T., an A-Rod, a Wayne Rooney. It needs a Michael Phelps. Usain Bolt is that man. Usain Bolt is a super-star. Usain Bolt is the greatest athlete in the Games of the 29th Olympiad.

Gremlins... And Not The Furry Kind

Apologies or the absence of this blog. Laptop issues have struck in recent weeks. Hoping to get them solved very shortly.

Me Tarzan, You Jane

Does sexism still prevail in the world of sport?

The inspiration for this topic comes from an article in this week's Sunday Independent (no, I personally didn't buy it). Written by Eamonn Sweeney, it argues that Padraig Harrington is Ireland's greatest ever sportsman. A valid argument, perhaps, and most certainly a topical one. It's even one I proposed last Monday morning in work. Yet, I was struck by one line in the article.

Ronnie Delany's Olympic gold medal over 1,500m in 1956 marks him down as one of our very greatest as does John Tracey's silver medal in the 1984 marathon in a time which would have won any Olympics before or since. Eamonn Coghlan and Sonia O' Sullivan were world champions in their day and world class for many years....

Three of the athletes in this sentence have won Olympic Medals - only two of them are mentioned. Why did Mr. Sweeney omit O' Sullivan's silver medal in the 5000m in Sydney? He goes on

Harrington's current number three position (in the World Golf Rankings) is...uniquely impressive in Irish sport.

Yet this is not unique. In 1995, O' Sullivan was named Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Year and as recently as May of this year, Jessica Kuerten was also ranked Number 2 in the world in show jumping. (She may have been higher at one point but I can't prove this, yet I think she was. She is Number 7 for the month of July.)

Now, I'm not accusing Mister Sweeney of sexism here. I read his articles every week. Opinion pieces on sport are designed to provoke discussion and that is all that I am doing here, albeit not on the topic he proposed. However, I do wonder whether there is sexism in the coverage of sports and if this is justified?





Studies show that men's sport gets the lion's share of coverage. This is a broad statement but is generally true for almost all sports and almost all countries. A quick trip to an academic library will show bias both in the amount of coverage, and in the way women athletes are personified. Galleries such as this one are often devoted to women athletes, but rarely to men (not that I'd be looking!). This is an issue which has been discussed in other blogs by people far more qualified than I.

Yet, I regard this as fair. I recently discussed this with a friend of mine where I (successfully... I think) argued that men are superior to women. I don't mean better, but I mean of higher rank or importance. It's a controversial argument, and I'm not saying that men are better than the fairer sex. However, I do argue that due to historic and social reasons, men are the prevailing sex in society.

The same is true in sport. Women's sport has always been second best. It was 1984 before women were deemed capable of running an Olympic marathon. While men's finals in football, rugby, GAA and basketball were given prominent TV coverage in markets across the world for years, only recently have women's finals come close to this. Even then, viewing figures and attendances are rarely comparable.

This does not mean that the accomplishments of female athletes should be devalued. O' Sullivans medal should be mentioned and journalists in particular should ensure that they are not discriminatory. My mum was angered by this article. She emailed Eamonn Sweeney who kindly replied admitting his mistake. A small victory for feminism!

So what do you think? I'm quite happy with the status quo, because I think it reflects what audiences want. Journalism should not be sexist, but the coverage of sports should reflect the wants of it's audience. However, I am a man, and would love to know if any of the gals out there disagree and think they're under-represented. Leave me a comment.

Swinging For The Olympics

Not long left now. Only 12 days until the Opening Ceremony of the greatest show on earth. As a forewarning, this could be an exclusively Olympic zone for two-three weeks in August. I enjoy them a lot, and intend to live on Chinese time throughout.

The TV companies are ramping up their coverage of the Games already. Here in Ireland RTE are running an excellent documentary series on our athlete heading over there - well worth checking out. Across the pond, the BBC will have their usual excellent coverage, the ad for which was released this week. Take a look.

The ad is based on the 70's TV show, Monkey. It in turn, though Japanese, was the story of a Chinese folk tale from the 16th Century, hence the Beijing link. Now, I never got into it when it was on Saturday mornings so I may be biased, but I don't get the Monkey/Olympics link.

As a piece of animation it's lovely. Don't get me wrong. Technically the piece is flawless. However, while I may be in the minority, I do not understand the thinking behind using this TV show to advertise the games.

There are celeb links to the piece. The score for it is composed by Damon Albarn from Blur and Gorillaz. Now, he's also the brains of a stage version of the show which would no doubt see increased business as a result of the Monkey nostalgia, though I'd never be one to suggest that the BBC are getting a famous name to promote the Olympics in return for some fringe benefits for him...

I'd love someone to explain the thinking behind this to me. Why is Monkey a better choice than, say, athletes running over the Great Wall Of China or RTE's more traditional offering. (Can't find a link to that, but I like this news story about Olympic preparations on rte.ie)

So, if anyone out there can convince me I'm wrong about the Monkey link I'd love to hear from you. I hope that this is the only fault I have with this year's Olympics, but if I do have an issue, then I shall air my grievences here. Let the (monkey) Games begin...

Looking Back On Liston

Sonny Liston is still the heavyweight king. God save the king. God save boxing.


That was the opening of the Sports Illustrated report on Sonny Liston's win over Floyd Patterson which took place 45 years ago today. To call it a fight would be an insult - Liston knocked Patterson out in just over 2 minutes and had him on the deck three times. It was to be the only successful defence of his short reign s World Heavyweight Champion. In February 1964, Liston met a young fighter named Cassius Clay and the rest, as they say, is the greatest story in the history of sport.

Tonight I want to talk about Liston. The Big Bear is, for me, the most fascinating character ever to grace the ring. No other fighter has drawn the scorn given to him. In life, and in death, he is an enigmatic man who deserves more than the footnote currently given to him in the annals of boxing history.

I'm not defending Sonny Liston. His links to the mob are undeniable and the fifth round against Ali in Miami in February 1964 was not the only time that he used a dirty trick in the ring. However, I am saying that boxing should remember Liston, and realise that we should remember him as much more than a brutish thug.

The rematch in Knoxville, Kentucky is a case in point. The common consensus is that Liston threw the fight, taking a dive in the first round after Ali threw the so-called 'phantom' punch. However, let's suppose for a moment that the punch caught Liston off balance and knocked him to the canvas. Would you get up if this was the scene waiting for you?? Liston did, after Ali was sent to a neutral corner (a rule which is staandard today but was new at the time) before he got up and fought on for 20 seconds. At that point journalist Nat Fleischer told referee Jersey Joe Walcott that Liston had been off his feet for more than ten seconds, prompting Walcott to end the fight there and then. Liston may have taken a dive, but if he did not, then he was robbed in this fight.

His death was also strange. He died in suspicious circumstances Las Vegas in December 1970, as a pauper. Once feared (rather then revered), he was buried in a pauper's funeral in the town where only years earlier, millions had been bet on his fights. However, as a boxer, his professional career got an even less respectful passing that night in Lewiston. Sure, he fought on for five more years, but for all intents and purposes Liston was never to be the same fighter again.

I've always wanted to make/see a film about Liston's life. It would be a fascinating story, one that could put a human face on the man who has been characterized as a villian. It could tell us of a man who wanted to be accepted, who cried when he was neither applauded nor even respected as the Heavyweight Champion of the World. We could learn of a boxer who never could shake off the 'born on the wrong side of the tracks' tag, not even in death.

Liston once said that "Some day they're gonna write a Blues for fighters. It'll just be for slow guitar, soft trumpet and a bell." Mark Knopfler has already written one for Sonny alone.

The writers didn't like him

The fight game jocks

With his lowlife backers

And his hands like rocks

They didn't want to have A bogey man

They didn't like him

And he didn't like them

Tough Times For Le Tour

Just noticed this article on Sports Illustrated. RIDER IN DRUG TEST SHOCK. It seems that they now regard it as news for a cyclist to be tested for drugs. How sad. I love the Tour De France. Genuinely. For drama there is little to equal it. By that I only refer to what happens on the roads. The drugs lark afterwards merely saddens me.

I'm also deeply annoyed by the coverage of the Tour, particularly by the American media. They're not interested that Frank Schleck is in yellow, more that he is being tested. They're not looking to talk about the race but in the race to catch the next cheat (with the notable exception of former rider Bobby Julich on ESPN).

This does not help cycling. As a sport, it is ridding itself of the scurge of drugs. It could ignore the problem of steroids like the NFL and MLB have done, but instead cheats are outed, champions are stripped of their crowns and teams who have transgressed the rules are no longer welcome back.

What always got to me was the coverage of Lance Armstrong. Europeans are cheats but he is a legend. The cancer survivor could do no wrong in the eyes of some. Nike ordained him a hero, his autobiography was lapped up by his fans and for a time, cycling was the sport to follow for three weeks every July. The smell of EPO may have tainted his wins in Europe, but on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Lance could do no wrong.

I'm not saying that Lance Armstrong took performance enhancing drugs. Let me make that clear...if only for legal reasons! I'm sure there are plenty of legitimate reasons for the sudden improvement in form that he expeienced post-cancer. I like this one, taken from his Wikipedia.

A recent article claims that the American legend's testicular cancer actually helped him during the Tour de France.[8] The article outlines that surgical removal of testicles (even one) re-positions the body's hormonal system, playing with the feedback system of normal testosterone production. Consequently, a cascade of events which allegedly favour or enhance endurance performance is proposed by the authors.

I'm sure.

Armstrong has never tested positive for drugs and is, officially, clean. That must be made clear. However, one other thing should also be pointed out. Last week, Manuel Beltran tested positive for EPO. This is the same Manuel Beltran who spent three years as a team-mate to Armstrong at U.S Postal/Discovery Channel, during the last three years of Lance's domination of Le Tour. Lance was also, at one stage or another, helped to his titles by Ivan Basso, Tyler Hamilton, Roberto Heras, Floyd Landis and Gianpaolo Mondini who have all tested positive or admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. This is not proof of systematic doping at the team, but if it were the team of a leading French/Italian/German/Spaniard as opposed to an American, then the US press would certainly take a different tone.

So please, continue to follow the tour. If you are not a fan of cycling then at least watch Wednesday's stage, finishing at the summit of the fearsome Alpe D'Huez. However, be mindful of coverage which is filtered through Lance-tinted glasses.