Rush Not Wanted

I see that Rush Limbaugh is part of a group that is currently in talks to buy the NFL's St. Louis Rams.

For those of you unaware of Rush...I envy you.  At best he's a conservative talk radio host who is viewed by some as the voice of the Republican Party while to some he's an eveil right-wing rascist who uses said radio show to spout ills and evils to a worryingly large audience.  I'll let you decide which is most correct.

One thing that Rush has been accused of is being a rascist, particularly after one incident during his short but unforgettable tenure as an analyst on ESPN's NFL Countdown show in 2003.  I can't find a video of the incident but here is what he said of Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback, Donovan McNabb.

"Sorry to say this, I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

He promptly resigned three days later, and rightly so.  McNabb isn't one of the game's greats but at that point he had led the Eagles to an NFC Championship Game and was one of the gane's better signal callers.


I don't know for sure whether the NFL has a fit-and-proper test for perspective owners but it wouldn't surprise me if they do.  I know, for example, that the Premier League does.  If they do, then I hope that these comments are levied at him and used to keep him out of the League.  American football is a fine sport and the NFL is the best spors league on the planet.  Neither needs Limbaugh or his ilk.

Richard Dunne Good

I’m not going to blog about Brett Favre today, despite his heroics against the Packers last night. Sure, Brett played very well but he played quite well with the Jets last year. I still expect him to flop before the end of the season, as he also did with the Jets last year. Many may have Favre fever but not this hack. Not yet.

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Instead I’m going to compliment Richard Dunne for his modesty in Aston Villa’s clash with Manchester City last night. The Irishman opened the scoring in the sides’ 1-1 draw with a juicy header. Why juicy? Well, it was against his old club in his first clash against them since he was unceremoniously booted out at the end of the last transfer window. It was also juicy because he out-jumped Gareth Barry, who himself was playing his first game at Villa Park since he left for the Middle Eastlands. It was the stuff that only fate itself could give us.

Despite the poetic irony of the moment, Dunne handled himself with grace and class that I know many wouldn’t have. Look at his reaction to the goal below. His decorum and decency are not unexpected, but nonetheless they do deserve to be commended.

Aston Villa v Manchester City
by foyerdee

Audley Is No Prizefighter

When Audley Harrison won his gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, it seemed that glory and fame were within his reach. He was physically impressive, strong, had the necessary skills and he was loved by the British public. He signed a £2m pound TV deal with the BBC and it seemed that he was set to box his way to a world title in front of the nation. His mantra was clear and was often repeated for anyone who would listen: “I will be world champion.”

What happened next, as they say, is history but unfortunately for Fr-Audley it wasn’t the type of history that he had hoped to make. He won his first 19 fights, none of them impressively, before Danny Williams handed him his first defeat in a drab encounter. The British public rejoiced. Audley had fallen from grace, in a big way. I can’t find video to show it, but the way in which promoter Frank Warren celebrated Williams’ knockdown of Harrison in the 10th round was a metaphor for the nation. Boy, were they delighted to see him on his ass.

Since then Audley has lost three more times – to the average Dominick Guinn, to Michael Sprott and to Belfast taxi driver Martin Rogan. Rogan got the fight with Audley on the back of his win in the original Prizefighter tournament and now, after winning another version of it last night, Audley will be hoping that Prizefighter can do the same for him.



For those of you who don’t know, Prizefighter is one of the ways in which boxing is supposedly fighting back against the threat of the UFC and the rest of the mixed-martial arts scene. I don’t really like it, much as I did enjoy last night’s event. In short, it’s an eight-man knockout tournament which requires the champion to win three fights in the one night. It works, sure, but it’s boxing for people with A.D.D. The longer forms of the sport will always be better in my eyes.

Audley really shouldn’t be fighting in something like this. He should be better than it. Yet his career is now at the point where he had no option but to. To give him credit, he took his chance and was crowned the winner last night. He then repeated the mantra we’d heard so many times: “there's still hope for me and hope for Britain to have a world champion.” I doubt it. Audley beat Coleman Barrett, Danny Hughes and Scott Belshaw last night, a series of moderate fighters but no more. To think that a win over a Galwegian who is considerably lighter and has less experience would put him in the frame for a world title shot is ludicrous.

The old boxing adage goes “you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate” and this is Harrison’s best hope. He needs another TV deal, and he needs to engage with the British public in a way he’s not done since he was basking in the glow of his Sydney triumph. That, however, seems unlikely.

Celtic Magner's League Weekend

Munster versus Leinster teams named.

There are some very interesting match ups going to take place in this one.

I've been tied up all this week which is why I have not blogged about this derby.
Also, I have not yet perfected the skill of remaining unbiased for such matches, but I will comment on what will hopefully be a great game, next week.

In my absence, may I turn your attention to a Liam Toland piece in today's Irish Times. Again he has shown his detailed knowledge of the game of rugby and applied it sensibly to big match between the Irish provinces.

Quick NFL Hit

Up until this Sunday, the Detroit Lions endured a really, really long losing streak.  They last won in December 2007, and last season they became the first team in the NFL's history to lose all of their games in a 16 game season.

That ended this weekend with a 19-14 win over the hapless Washington Redskins.  It merited the floowing headline, recently tweeted by Adam Schefter (I belive it initially came from the Washington Post).

Washington Bails out Detroit Again

With Obama's Help, Olympics Seem Chicago Bound

When London was chosen as the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games in Singapore four years ago, one man who emerged with a great deal of credit was Tony Blair. The then-Prime Minister travelled there to lobby for votes from IOC delegates and though he left before the winner was announced, the mere fact that he'd put in the effort on a week in which he hosted a G8 summit is one of the key reasons that the eyes of the sporting world will be on the English capital in three years time.

Today it's been confirmed that Barack Obama will follow Blair's lead and travel to this week's IOC conference in Copenhagen. Obama won't be the only world leader in Denmark - the leaders of Brazil, Japan and Spain will all be there to lend their support to Rio, Tokyo and Madrid. However, as the leader of the United States, Obama's attendance will contain a certain cache of influence not held by the others.

The truth is, Chicago probably deserves the Games. America has not hosted them since 1996. Indeed, the Americas have not hosted them since the Atlanta Olympiad while the world’s greatest sporting event has been to Australasia and Europe. It could be argued that a twenty-year break is short for some countries (London, for instance, hasn’t hosted an Olympics in 1948), this isn’t the case for the land which gives such a massive percentage of the TV rights pie.

Plus, Chicago is the site that makes sense. Rio is looking to host the Games only two years after the World Cup. Madrid has been shunned on a couple of occasions and they are looking for a second-successive European Olympics, and a third in four. Too much. Tokyo is an intriguing candidate, but not an attractive one to many of the major television networks worldwide. The Windy City is home to the Bears and the Cubs and the Bulls – it’s one of America’s premier sporting cities. Now, with the help of the President with the Midas touch, they should get to show that on the widest possible scale.

The Morning(ish) After The Night Before

Time for a post-mortem.

The last post prior to the fight was titled 'Bernard Abú' which is ironic, because last night about 9,000 souls in the O2 Arena were saying 'Bernard..Ah...Boo' or something like that. It was a disappointing fight.

I'm sure you saw it - it seemed to us that Bernard controlled, if not dominated, the opening two rounds but when he was drawn into a fight in the third, he was outclassed by Poonsawat who simply had too much power. Bernard was caught with a strong left hook - and don't underestimate the effect of the punch that cut and hurt his ear while on the way down - and he never truly recovered. He should have tied up, he should have spoiled and fouled, but he didn't. The second knockdown was brutal - there was never going to be a repeat of Cordoba Round 5.

Sometimes, when our sports stars lose, we feel cheated but not last night. All indications were that Bernard's training camp went well and he made no excuses on that front in his post-fight interview. There's also no doubt that he gave anything other than 100%. He was just beaten by a better man on the night.

Sport sucks sometimes.

At this point, I don't know if Bernard Dunne's career has been one in which he under- or over-achieved. That's because I don't want it to be over. I don't say that as a selfish fan but as someone who's genuinely trying to think of his best interests. Dunne has been beaten twice, sure, both knockouts, but he hasn't taken a large amount of beatings in recent years (Cordoba aside). He's not like, say Ricky Hatton, who looks punch drunk and should hang up the gloves. Bernard has a lot left to give inside the boxing ring, the only question is where and how.

For me, I'd be happy to see him fight Rendall Munroe for the European Super Bantamweight Title. Munroe would be a 'name' and the fight would also make cash common sense. His only other option, in my opinion, would be to move up to featherweight. At 5'7", Dunne is big at the 122lb limit and the extra bulk in his body could help him. That plan was indicated as most likely by Brian Peters last night, and both he and Bernard say that the Dubliner will fight on. Good. He needs to recover from last night, mentally more than anything else.

The good thing, though, is he will be back.

***

The rest of the card, Dunne aside, was quite good. Stephen Haughian was lucky to get a draw, and Tyson Fury wasn't that impressive - an injury to his right-hand may have something to do with that. The Jamie Power-Michael Sweeney fight on the other hand was a cracker. Like Dunne-Poonsawat, it only went three rounds but there wasn't a dull moment and it was a great win for Sweeney, the Ros Muc based Mayo native. I'd love to see the two of them go at it again. Brian Peters, or whoever, should get them to fight in a small-hall show in Power's native Limerick because that's a fight I'm more than willing to watch a lot more of. Should it happen, then I'll see you there.

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A big thanks to all of you who checked out the live blog last night. There were hiccups, and there were issues but it was fun to share our thoughts with you in such an instant way. It's something you'll definitely see more of here at The Almost Daily Sports Blog.

Bernard Abú!!

So D-Day has arrived for Bernard Dunne. There’s not long now until his battle with Poonsawat, and the nerves are high. Both boxers weighed in successfully yesterday (though there was a slight scare as the Thai had to climb the scales three times to come in under the 122lb limit).

We here at The Almost Daily Sports Blog are providing coverage all day, as you can see, and we want you to take part. There’s a few ways that you can do that. Any tweets with the hashtag dunnelive (i.e. #dunnelive) should appear in the console automatically, while you’re also welcome to leave comments at the bottom of this page.

You can also comment in the CoveritLive console itself – for most of you these comments require moderation and this will be provided at various points from this evening, hopefully, and certainly during the fight itself.

So start off NOW by taking the poll, and let us know who you think will win. Feel free to tweet/comment with your predictions for the fight or anything else you want to say. Hopefully you’ll enjoy what we have to offer here later today.

One final thing, to get you in the mood, here’s Newstalk’s commentary from the final round of Dunne v Cordoba in March. If this doesn’t get your pulse racing, nothing will.



C'mon Bernard!!

Some rugby....

Just to break the boxing trend for a quick post.

Gerry Thornley reports today in the Irish Times of changes to the qualification process for the Heineken Cup.

It's a tad verbose, but effectively if Munster and Leinster are to continue their success in the competition it will automatically qualify Connacht a place.
This is great news - I am sure some die-hard fans would prefer to see the West province qualify by finishing ahead of Ulster in the Magner's but had you offered an automatic place to Connacht players for the 2007 season after Munster won their first title, I dare you to find me someone who would have turned it down.

This is indeed intriguing news, and no more so then the day it has appeared in print.

Tonight Connacht face Ulster in the first Irish derby of the Magner's league season.
Both teams are dealing with losses to key players, but to me it makes it an even more interesting game.
Can Connacht repeat last years feat and turn over the home teams in Galway?
Will the 8 o'clock kick off provide enough time for any rugby fan in the West to pack the Sportsground.
I hope so, personally I'm hoping to get home in time to catch it on tv. There is enough riding on the game for both teams for it to be a spirited affair.
Here's to the health of Irish rugby for the season - and a possible 4 Irish Teams in the Heineken Cup for the 2010-11 season!

Edit: Link to Liam Toland's piece in today's Irish Times about Connacht.
For me Toland is one of the best analysts of the game both in paper and on TV. If Conor O'Shea was ever to leave RTE's rugby coverage they should immediately snap this man up from Setanta. Objective, concise and informative.

T'Other Fella

As promised, here's a profile of Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, Bernard Dunne's opponent this Saturday.

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Let's be honest, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym isn't the sort of name that rolls off the tongue. Yet, difficult as it is to pronounce, the Thai's name is on the lips of all Irish boxing fans ahead of Saturday's bout with Bernard Dunne.

The main question, to be honest, is 'Who is Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym?'

Well, that's not an easy question to answer but I'm going to try. Make no mistake, this won't be an easy fight for Dunne. Like Bernard, Poonsawat has only one defeat in his pro career. Boxrec ranks him fifth (three places ahead of the Dubliner) while the WBA have installed him as their mandatory challenger for Bernard's WBA Super Bantamweight belt.

A quick look at his record reveals a lot of truths. Very few of his wins have been against 'name' fighters, while two of his last five fights have been against men with losing records. There are impressive names on his list though. Poonsawat has a win over Somsak Sithchatchawal, a former holder of Dunne's WBA Super Bantamweight crown. That was an eleventh round knockout in March of last year, and it was this win that gave Poonsawat the right to fight for the belt on Saturday. He's also beaten four-weight World Champion Leo Gamez (indeed, Poonsawat finished the Venezuelan's career) while there is one name that Irish fans will recognise - Poonsawat handed Ricardo Cordoba his first pro defeat with a split decision win in 2005.

As I said, he also has one defeat, and that was in his only fight that hasn't taken place in Thailand. Poonsawat travelled to Germany to take on Wladimir Sidorenko in 2006 and was beaten, in a unanimous decision, by the Ukrainian (who himself has a pair of draws with Cordoba).  That defeat seems to have been a key point in Poonsawat's career. Up until then, he was pushed, and he was going for big things. The above wins, the key ones, all came before then (with the exception of the Sithchatchawal fight) and since then, most of his fights have been against fighters with less than stellar records. The bout with Dunne is his toughest since then.

This analysis leads me to make these two points about Poonsawat ahead of Saturday's fight:

1. He's a tough cookie, there's no doubt about it. He's beaten big names, and his record of 27 knockouts from 38 wins shows that he has power to boot.  He's ranked higher than Dunne and this very well may be Dunne's sternest test to boot, Cordoba included.


2. Poonsawat is a fighter looking for a second coming.  His career has stalled (bar one win) for over three years and Saturday is a must-win for him, if he is to get it back on track.  He lost his one fight away from home, against Sidorenko, in Germany and he's already making pre-emptive excuses ahead of his trip to Dublin.

Yes, those are two contradictory points, but when we know so little about Poonsawat, we don't know which is the truth.  He could be a desperate fighter who Dunne is taking on at the right time, or he could break Irish hearts this weekend.  His record shows that he is more than capable of both, but we have no way of knowing which is the truth.  Dunne's camp should be confident that the second point is what will materialise, while at the same time fearing the first.  I certainly am not be confident enough to predict this fight, either way.

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Don't forget our LIVE blog this Saturday.  You can sign up for an email reminder for it below.  It will kick off during the day on Saturday and we'll be blogging from inside the O2 Arena, giving you a flavour of the atmosphere direct from Dublin.