Sportz Insight

Arsene Wenger: A hard look

2011-09-05T02:32:00.003+01:00

Arsene Wenger seems to be running the wrong race! He is the best in the world at producing a profitable football club. Through a mix of smart expenditure and above average on-field results he has made Arsenal into a consistent profit maker. The unfortunate part for him is this is not something we judge football managers by- not only that, this is not even something we ought to judge football managers by. Results are what count the most.

What I care about as a die hard Arsenal fan is not value for money but about turning Arsenal into the best football team on the planet! Certainly when we were winning, it was good to point out how little we spent on our success, but without winning there is no argument. I do care that we play pretty football. I do care we have a nice stadium. I do care that we have made it to the Champions League a gazillion times in a row. But most of all I care to believe that Arsenal is capable of beating any team in the world- of at least winning a few trophies. The difference between the last 6 years (despite not winning trophies) and this year is that I don't honestly believe we can be the best in England, let alone being the best in the world. That is a step back.

Let me lay my cards on the table. I have been a great supporter of Wenger and have extolled his virtues before (here). Arsene knows, we used to say and I firmly believed it. When he was under pressure in the middle of last season, after five seasons without a trophy, he said judge me after the season is over. So I did. We were two or three players and a lot of experience short of the best.

So what happens in the transfer window? Man U spends a net £43 million, Chelsea spends net £42 million, Man City spends net £52. Arsenal, they make a net £16 million profit! Even the two teams behind Arsenal out do them, with Liverpool at £34 million and Spurs at £13.5 million. In fact no other team other than Aston Villa make a bigger profit (£20.5 million). For all the sighs of relief among the faithful after the late splurge of spending after the 8-2 thumping by Manchester United, Arsenal have in effect exchanged Fabergas for Arteta and Nasri for Benayoun- both are down grades. The jury is out on Clichy for Santos and Park for Bendtner. The only real addition being Mertesacker, who despite fitting the bill, did not appear to be even among the top three choices for that position. Arsenal are better off from before the Man U game, but they are worse off since the end of last year. The five teams around Arsenal last year, are all stronger. It is a long season but three games in the conversation has already changed from winning the league to challenging for the fourth Champions League spot. That is Wenger's failing.

I was at the Stade de France in 2006 when we were leading Barcelona 1-0 with 10 men. It never crossed my mind that we couldn't win that match and be the best in Europe (and by extension the world). Fast forward to 10 days ago when we were visiting Old Trafford and I could feel a thumping coming- and I wasn't the only one. Despite having the same average squad age, the chasm in class between United and Arsenal- and believe me it hurts to say this- was huge. And there is absolutely no amount of profitability that can compensate for that. Arsene knows, but he should know that his legacy will be measured by the number of trophies, not the numbers on the balance sheet. Time to stop burying your head!

When there is a will...

2010-08-31T00:23:00.001+01:00

We shall overcome. When there is a will, there is a way! My glass remains a quarter full.

On the face of it there is every reason to despair. It is not the first time a Pakistani cricketer has been accused of corruption. The evidence this time is overwhelming it seems, and the corruption seems to run deep through the team and its administration- deemed to be systematic. Pakistani cricketers were already on thin ice after the inability to play domestically following the Sri Lankan incident and the inability to earn like their peers after the IPL snub. Among all this, Giles Clarke (the ECB chair) had gone out on a limb to support Pakistani cricket by opening the "home of cricket" in what was dubbed "the spirit of cricket" Test series. What a slap on the face for him. Who will ever support us now?

The shame is painful for those who have to bear it. You see, supporting Pakistan cricket has always meant defending its players and their actions. No, we don't tamper the ball any more than the others. Yes, there is such a thing as reverse swing and we invented it. No, we don't have a penchant for getting in trouble with umpires. Yes, there is a language problem for our cricketers to properly explain themselves. No, the team is not full of born again Muslim fanatics. And now this! It throws a cloak of doubt over everything you ever believed in. It kills your will to argue with the English press, the Australian players and your Indian colleagues at work

Was it not already difficult to comprehend why it was so tough to raise money for the flood victims. More people affected than the Tsunami, Haiti, Katrina, Kashmir earthquake and every other recent calamity put together and the response has been more tepid than for any single one. It was making my blood boil when I read explanations like "they don't believe the money will get to the people due to the corruption". But not anymore. There is no anti-Pakistan conspiracy out to get us. We do it to ourselves- and only we are able to set it right. We cannot sit there for some benign foreign power to come and pluck us out of our misery- we have to do it ourselves. We cannot keep sweeping the muck under the carpet and expect the stench to go away. We have to deal with these problems of our own making and not expect any favours from others.

The world is full of countries and civilizations that have made a come back from far more dire situations than this: Terrorism, floods, cricket corruption. We shall do it too. There has to be due process, there has to be fairness, but there has to be total accountability and exemplary punishment for those found guilty. And this time, let a life ban mean a life ban. Cricket, floods, terrorism, we can and we will sort it- there is simply no choice. Ourselves, one step at a time. This is a time for belief, not despair. When there is a will... there is a way!

Viva la football!

2010-05-23T15:59:00.004+01:00

Those of you who have followed this blog know my liberal use of Nike advertisements. In this football commercial they have, tongue in cheek, captured the spirit of the greatest sports tournament in the world!

The sweet agony of defeat...

2010-04-11T00:50:00.001+01:00

The famous image of "agony of defeat" from Wide World of Sports

To have loved and lost, is better.. than to never have loved at all. Or better even, than to have loved and won!

A loss, if truly meaningful, teaches you a lot more than any victory ever can. A defeat gives you cause to pause and contemplate, to question, to reassess what went wrong. How can you rise from it? But most of all a defeat gives you perspective, a measure to value all your victories. I have been on the winning side more than a few times. Winning the game, winning the points, winning the girl. But in sports like in real life, winning the girl doesn't feel half as good as losing the girl feels bad...

The thrill of victory gives an adrenaline rush, sends blood coursing through the veins, leaves you with a sense of elation. But the agony of defeat hurts a lot longer. The pangs come for days and weeks and sometimes months. The heaviness of the heart feels like someone is kneeling on your chest with their knee. Those who have ever lost anything meaningful, will know what I mean.

My victories have given me hope to be better, faster, stronger. But my defeats have made me who I am!

I am an Arsenal supporter and I am on the plane back from Barcelona!

9.58 Seconds...

2009-08-17T03:15:00.008+01:00

I remember when the LA Olympics were held in 1984, the world record for the 100m stood at 9.93 seconds. Last night at the fastest 100m ever run in history at the Berlin World championships, 5 sprinters finished in a time of 9.93 seconds or better. The pick of the bunch- as predicted in the last post from 2 days ago- was Usain Bolt in an astounding time of 9.58 seconds. Not long ago bio-mechanists thought such a time was not attainable by humans.

Bolt's astonishing feat could be judged by Tyson Gay- who in coming second in a US record of 9.71 seconds became the second fastest man of all time, but still trailed Bolt by about two meters at the finish. Seven of the eight contestants ran in 10 seconds or better to make it the fastest race in history. But they were all catching Bolt's shadows, who uncharacteristically for a sprinter was dancing and blowing kisses to the camera before the race. A far cry from sprinters like Maurice Green and Carl Lewis who used to strut around and focus on their race. But it wasn't just his attitude that was radically different to the others, his time was too. It will be a long time before anyone catches up to this time... a long long time.

The World's Fastest Men!

2009-08-14T14:22:00.000+01:00

In all recorded history, a human being has run a sub 9.80 seconds time for the 100m sprint (electronically timed and not wind assisted) on only 15 occasions. The 14 fastest times of those have been recorded by three men: Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay. On August 16 of this year, the three of them are scheduled to meet in the 100m finals in Berlin and barring bad weather or wind, the world record of 9.69 seconds set in Beijing last year is surely set to fall.

All three contenders are of West African origin. Two of them have been born in the Carribean to parents of West African origin. You see where I'm going? What do Ben Johnson, Linford Christie, Donovon Bailey, Asafa Powell, Bruny Surin, Ato Bolden, Kim Collins and Usain Bolt have in common? Some of the greatest 100m sprinters in history- yes, but also all born in the Carribean. Careful not to extrapolate a different strain of Hitler's superman theory, I am never the less compelled to ask the question "is there a genetic disposition to fast running in Carribean men?"

Since the advent of electronic timing in 1976, every single 100m world record has been set by a male of West African descent, leading to un-empirical theories that suggest that Afro-Carribean runners benefit genetically from the slave trade, "with people on the western most parts of the Carribean being the progeny of only the fittest of fit slaves." While proper nutrition and state of the art coaching and facilities have their part to play in the making of world class sprinters, raw atheletic abilities are a critical ingredient.

So leaning towards the theory that it is some genetically inherited fast twitch muscles that make you move your legs faster, I researched the subject a bit and came up with the surprising result in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Research suggests that faster speeds are achieved with greater ground forces, not faster leg movements. If you compare the fastest runner against a slower runner, there is virtually no difference between them in how fast one repositions the legs for the next step.

A sprinter achieves a world record by packing more force into each stride and covering nearly twice the ground with each step, not by taking less time to swing the other leg and arm into position. This is part of the reason world class sprinters appear so elegant--the stride is fluid and casual. By hitting the ground harder they are able to increase both stride length and frequency and therefore run faster. But they don't need any more time to swing the arms and legs than we do.

So its technique after all? I'm as confused as you are but at least that explains why the taller Usain Bolt is set to run the fastest any human being has ever run over 100m in Berlin in two days. You heard it here first!

Just not Cricket: This time it is personal

2009-03-04T23:53:00.005Z

This time it is personal. Long before I realized I loved the game of cricket, I remember hiding a transistor radio under the desk mid-lesson just to hear the score of the test match. Long before IPL and Stanford and Bollywood stars and commercial contracts, I remember improvising our writing pads into bats and scotch tape around scrunched up paper for a ball. It was just what you did as a Pakistani kid. This time it is personal. When I was fifteen and learned how to drive a car, I remember racing around the same Liberty round-about the bus was attacked. When I was 26, I remember sitting in the same Gaddafi stadium watching the same Sri Lanka chase 241 runs to become world champions. Yes, this time it is personal.

It is not that blowing up school children in a bus or businessmen in a hotel was any less tragic or underlined the ruthlessness and pointlessness of these perpetrators of terror any less. But targeting guest cricketers from a friendly country just crosses the line at so many different levels in the context of Pakistani culture.

Cricket is the one thing our struggling country has been able to be good at on a global level and consequently the one thing Pakistanis have come to closely associate with their sense of self worth. Foreign commentators on the country's obsession with the sport always seem to miss this point. It is the one thing that has united a divided country, across age, across ethnicity, across political or ideological leanings. To attack cricket is to make a statement that these terrorists will pull out all the stops. They will attack children, they will attack teachers, they will attack women, they will attack indiscriminately, and yes, they will attack cricketers as well. Yes, this time it is personal.

I don't want us to just condemn anymore. I don't want us to use scape goats anymore, to point to "foreign hands", to make excuses for our own impotency and political bickering. I don't want us to justify why such a thing might have occurred or to be defensive about why it could be our own mistake and our own people who are involved in perpetrating it. I am, we all are, tired and frustrated and exhausted with this very real problem, our problem, created by us... only ever likely to be solved by us... but only if we acknowledge it and face it as our own... or we will be condemned to be what Frantz Fanon described in a different context as "the wretched of the earth". Yes, this time it is personal, very very personal.

Pick Me!!!

2009-02-04T22:29:00.005Z

American footballs' Super Bowls have become better known for half time ads and "wardrobe malfunctions" of pop stars than the game that is played. It was refreshing to see the focus back on the game this last weekend as the Cardinals and Steelers produced one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time.

In honour of that, I'm reproducing one of the best viral ads for NFL fantasy football that has been doing the Utube and Facebook rounds:

A Crying Shame- The Greatest Tennis Player-Not that One!

2009-01-30T20:17:00.042Z

Would Tiger Woods be considered the best of all time if he consistently lost to Phil Micklson, even if he inevitably overhauls Nicklaus' 18 majors? Can an athlete be considered the greatest of all time if he has an overwhelming losing record against the second best of his era?

By that token, can Federer be considered the greatest Tennis player of all time after having a losing record of 6-13 against Nadal? Federer went 0-4 the whole of 2008 and has now lost the last three grand slam finals they have contested to Nadal on clay, grass, and on a hard court. Can he really be considered the best in his sport when every time he is put under pressure by his nemisis in the fifth set, he seems to come apart at the seams?

Its a vexing question (thanks OS) to ask of Federer, who at 27 is already the most accomplished (well almost) as well as the most lyrical player anyone has ever seen. Sampras won 14 grand slams at the age of 31 having contested 52 grand slams. Federer has still only played 39. There are few detractors of Federer's claim to greatness- even Sampras and Laver have hailed him. But the question that now hangs over his legacy like a scimitar is: does he have a mental frailty dealing with Nadal?

And it is indeed a mental thing. Federer reached the Australian Open finals breezing over his opponents and serving like the champ he is. He sent down twice the number of aces as his opponent in downing Roddick- one of the most formidable servers in the game today. Yet, when it came to Playing Nadal, his first serve- a barometer of confidence- betrayed him. He only got in half of his first serves (52%). In the fifth set, when you expected Nadal to start feeling the effects of his epic semi-final with Verdasco and his body to run out of electrolytes, it was Federer that became flat.

I have been a big admirer of Federer (Federer Made me Fail the Tebbit Test), but even I can sense that the gap between him and Nadal seems to be growing into a chasm. And the chasm is not in the quality of the game. It is entirely mental. When you see Federer play anyone else, the elegant single handed back hand cross-court is serene, the inside-out forehand is unstoppable, and the killer serves are on tap. When he plays Nadal, and especially when the stakes are high, he seems to get thrown off his game. He got crushed in the French Open, flubbed a match point in the Wimbledon epic, and could not serve to save his life when it got to set 5 of the Australian Open. You can almost read his mind in the changeovers- "can I really beat this guy?"

Federer is considered for the title of greatest of all time because he measures up to the yardstick most used for tennis (or golf)- number of grand slams won. At 13, he is one shy of the all time best. Nadal has only got to 6 majors so far, but can Nadal be measured by another yard stick? Can he be measured by by Federer? Can he be measured against the contender for the title?

The two of them have now won 18 of the last 21 grand slams between them. They also collectively possess the longest winning streaks on each of the three surfaces- Federer on grass (65) and hard courts (56), Nadal on clay (81), and it has been the other man that ended each of those streaks. Previously on this blog, Nadal did not even make the list of the top 17 greatest tennis player of all time? (See Greatest Tennis Players of All Time- A Numerical Approach). Since then, he has taken his grand slam total to six, a number surely to go up. He has put together the longest ever 81 match unbeaten streak on clay. He has also beaten Federer at the peak of his game again and again, and on different surfaces. He still has ways to go, but is he rather than Federer, shaping up to be the best tennis player of all time?

Top 10 Sporting Moments of 2008

2009-01-01T02:34:00.005Z

What a year it has been. A feast of excesses for the sporting fan. Most years we could struggle to make a top 10 list and this year events from other years' lists would struggle to get in. There were the spectacular Chinese Olympics to cap the year off but sports outside held their own, from golf and tennis to Formula 1 and cricket. Big Brown almost nipped the triple crown, IPL was born in cricket, Tampa Bay reached the world series despite never having a winning record and the US finally stormed the Ryder Cup of Golf. But none of these made the top 10. Here is the list of the top 10 moments as I saw them:

10. Greg Norman blows up at the British Open

It was reminiscent of the 1986 Masters that Nicklaus won at the age of 46. Except Norman was 53 now and led by 2 strokes going into the final round- and in true Norman fashion (1 for 7 when he led a major after 3 rounds) he blew up, opening with 3 bogies to relinquish the lead and then finishing with a round of 77 (winner Harrington scored a 69). But for three rounds he had everyone awake defying the wind and rains at Royal Birkdale. For three rounds he had everyone shaking their heads with smiles on their faces. For three rounds he had everyone loving the sport.

9. Celtics beat the Lakers

The most storied basketball rivalry in history (even with its own video game) was revived this year as the Celtics beat the Lakers 4-2 in the NBA finals. Together the two teams have won 31 out of the 62 NBA championships ever contended for but there hadn't been the same rivalry since Bird and Magic. This year they met up with more than the world championship at stake. Lakers coach Phil Jackson was going for his 10th championship, which would have overtaken the legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach on the all time list. Looks like it gave the Celtics that added incentive.

8. Defeat of Australian Cricket

Most non-Australians were looking forward to seeing the cockiness drain out of the Australian faces but when the moment came it turned out to be an anti-climax. It was always going to be difficult to replace the likes of Warne and McGrath, but within the frame of 2 series Australia lost to India away and now to South Africa at home. After a dominance of more than a decade there seems to be little the Australians can do to stem their decline.

7. Manchester United Double

This is a photo of John Terry of Chelsea taking the 10th and what was supposed to be the final penalty kick after the game was tied 1-1 after extra time. Had he scored, Chelsea would have won the Champions League- but he slipped and hit it wide while Van der Sar dived the wrong way, giving Manchester United a memorable Premier League and Champions League double.

6. Lewis Hamilton wins the F1 crown on the last lap

After 18 races the entire championship came down to a pass Hamilton made on the final bend of the final race (article) for the closest finish in the 58 year history of Formula 1. There was such confusion that both Hamilton's Mclaren and Massa's Ferrari garages rushed out in jubilation to celebrate their victories- only for the Ferrari people to realize they had been beat. Car racing mad Britain got its first F1 champion in 12 years.

5. Spain finally wins Euro 2008

Spain have always played creative and attacking football that is pleasing for the eye but had failed to win any silverware for 44 years. Boring defensive teams like Italy and Germany (not anymore) used to win but flair artists like Holland and Spain did not. Well they finally came through, with players like Torres, Alonso, Fabergas, Xavi, Villa and Casillas, beating Germany 1-0 in the final.

4. Rafa Nadal wins Wimbledon

John McEnroe called it the best Wimbledon final he has seen. Some praise since the Borg-McEnroe final is the only other one that would have been in contention. Nadal had thrashed Federer in the French Open final weeks earlier and most of us were expecting order to be restored. Instead Nadal came out all guns blazing and won the first two sets. Federer came back by winning set 3 and 4 in tie breaks (10-8 in the 4th). Nadal let 2 match points go in the fourth. Was his moment gone? In near darkness, at 9:15 at night, Nadal won the 5th set 9-7. A well deserved victory that also ended Federer's 65 match, 6 year winning streak on grass. By the end of 2008, Nadal had his fourth French Open title, a Wimbledon crown, the Olympic gold medal and the men's number 1 ranking as well.

3. Tiger gets a leg up in the US Open

He only seemed to wince when his shots went wrong. Surely, he was milking the injury, even if he had one. Showmanship notwithstanding, the caliber of the game was outstanding. First, he had to birdie the 72nd and last hole of regular play to make the 18 hole play-off with Rocco Mediate. On Monday he had to birdie the same hole again to extend his challenge to extra holes, before he won on the 91st hole. Oh, and any doubts about faking the injury were removed the next day when he announced he would have a fourth surgery on his left knee and also rehabilitate from the double stress fracture in his left tibia. Oops, guess he was in pain then.

2. Phelp's eight golds

It is easy to forget how close Phelps was to not achieving the magic 8 gold medals, not once but twice. In the 4X100m relay, Phelps team mate Jason Lezak touched the water half a second behind world record holder Alain Bernard of France and then out swam Bernard by 0.08 seconds by finishing his leg in an incredible 46.06 seconds (The world record for 100m is 47.05 and relay times don't qualify). Then in the 100m butterfly, he was trailing at the end and took an extra half stroke at the finish to pip Milorad Cavic of Serbia by 0.01 seconds. In all, he won 8 gold medals, broke 7 world records, and an Olympic record.

1. Usain Bolt's double

Running the fastest 100m by any human being ever, while slowing down in the last 20m by thumping your chest in celebration, with the left shoe laces open. If that doesn't take the crown of the best sporting achievement, what does? Well, you could double up by breaking the 12 year old 200m world record that many thought was unbreakable. And then just for good measure, win the gold in the 100m relay with a world record as well. Phelps may have the bigger achievement, but Bolt captured the biggest moment of 2008.

What it takes to be a Tiger! - the best print ad campaign

2008-12-31T19:30:00.010Z

There is nothing exciting about going through an airport security line, especially if you happen to be Pakistani like me. Except... maybe Heathrow. Over the last few years every time I line up for the security check at Heathrow I have been captivated by the Tiger Woods theme print ads by Accenture, the consulting company.

The ads compare Wood's ability on the golf course to the traits of leading businesses, from foresight and preparation to flexibility on changing circumstances. The company claims that the campaign is based on a three year research program which analyzed thousands of companies worldwide to find the traits of high-performing companies. The arresting feature of the ads however, are the powerful visuals and the matching phrases attached to them.

Here are some examples I could find:

Shattering the World Record: Bob Beamon

2008-12-15T22:25:00.008Z

World records are about fractions of a second, or inches. Sprinters yearn for a hundredth of a second and jumpers crave a quarter of an inch. But every now and then some one puts in a performance that doesn't just improve the record, it shatters it to smithereens. Recently, I read about just such an achievement in the long jump.

The inimitable Jesse Owen had owned the world long jump record of 26 feet 8 1/4 inches for 25 years until Ralph Boston topped it in 1960. Boston then went on to raise it another 5 times in the ensuing 8 years until the record stood at 27 feet and 4 3/4 inches. Would anyone ever beat that record? Would anyone ever cross 27.5 feet? What about 28 feet?

Then along came Bob Beamon. It was the 1968 Mexico Olympics and the 22 year old Beamon took 19 strides, hit the board perfectly and flew in the air like no human had flown before him. He crossed the world record, and then 27.5 feet, and then 28 feet, and then 28.5 feet... wait... there's more.. he passed 29 feet and landed at 29 feet 2 1/2 inches, nearly 2 feet beyond the world record!

That is an Olympic record that stands to this day 40 years later (although Mike Powell overhauled the world mark in 1991). His achievement inspired a new word in the English language: Beamonesque, meaning an athletic feat so dramatically superior to previous feats that it overwhelms the imagination.

The Most Dangerous Race: Isle of Man TT

2008-12-07T15:41:00.008Z

The 37.7 mile course with over 200 bends rises and falls 1300 ft from the sea and is a circuit around the Snaefell mountain- famous because you can see six kingdoms from the peak- Man, Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales and Heaven!

Heaven is where 223 people have ended (hopefully) since the world's oldest motorcycle race began here in 1907. The track was chosen on this island in the geographic center of the British Isles because of its lack of a speed limit, a quirk that persists to this day. While the average speed between hills, bends, rocks, telephone polls, houses, villages and stone walls is about 130 mph, riders get to top speeds of over 200 mph on the straights. There is nothing to keep them on the narrow twisting track other than hard concrete shoulders. In 1976 the TT lost its world championship status after 27 years because it was deemed too dangerous. But the crowds never stopped coming to the TT. The cult following increased. There is something forbiddingly alluring about a race that has claimed more lives than formula 1 has in its entire history.

There are dangerous tracks around the world. The cork screw at Laguna Secca California, Spa in Belgium, Indiannapolis' banked curve, Daytona 500, Le Manns 24hrs when its night or the Tamburello corner at Imola (where Senna died). But none approach the terror or the death toll of the Isle of Man TT. Here is a video of Milky Quayle from the centenary race to give you some idea of the terrain (he survived!):

Water Boy!

2008-11-14T01:34:00.003Z

There is a famous saying "don't speak unless you can improve the silence". So I'll just shut up and let you watch the video...

Obama's Debt to Sports!

2008-11-09T23:22:00.018Z

"She was there to see the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can."

So spoke Barak Obama about the 106 year old Ann Nixon Cooper last week in his acceptance speech. Yes they have come a long way and yes, there is hope now and everyone (outside the red states at least) seems to be happy. But before the halo on his head disappears, before the euphoria wanes, before it gets back to politics as usual, I want to take a moment and acknowledge Obama's debt to sports- yes you heard me right- to sports.

There was a time in America not long before Obama was born where not only life for African Americans was segregated, so were there aspirations and heroes. That seems to have changed over the last few decades and I would argue sports has had a bigger role in that transformation than almost any other single factor. Of course, the guy writing the sports blog will say that, I hear you thinking. But allow me to elaborate....

The most successful black political figure in America over the last hundred years or so has been Martin Luther King. Was he really successful in impacting the majority white view on blacks? Not really. Take sports starts on the other hand and you will see where I'm going with this argument.

Exactly 25 years before Obama's birth, the great American athlete Jesse Owens was running past white Germans to get the US national anthem played in a Berlin stadium. Hitler famously refused to shake Owens hand after his victory but then neither did FDR when Owen got back to America. This winner of four gold medals was reduced to novelty shows like racing thoroughbred horses to make a living.

Talking of beating Germans, there was the boxer Joe Louis who saved American pride again by flooring the German world champion Max Schmeling in just over two minutes in the ring. Louis later joined the army to fight for his country in World War II. The army he joined was segregated and when quizzed about it he is said to have remarked "Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain't going to fix them."

The third great black American athlete of that era was baseball player Jackie Robinson. He was reviled nearly everywhere he went but now April 15 of every year is Jackie Robinson day and all major league baseball players, black and white, wear Robinson's number 42 jersey as a sign of respect.

These three athletes took the brunt of American injustice, but came out shining due to the inherent objectivity of sports. In the process, they also softened the perceptions of African Americans for coming generations of Americans. More importantly, they provided black athletes like Muhammad Ali the pulpit to share their views and opinions. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the hall of fame basketball player, started bridging the perception gap, Michael Jordan converted it into commercial success and Tiger Woods perfected it. Swoosh was the sound of dollar bills being hoovered into their bank accounts, but it was also the sound of the colour barrier coming down.

Yes, Barak Obama stands tall, but partly because he stands on the shoulders of giants- giant athletes!

The Wizard of Ars (enal)...

2008-11-09T10:11:00.011Z

"Arsene knows" goes the popular saying around Emirates stadium. You have to have been a follower of Arsenal Football Club to understand it fully. It is a testament to one of the greatest football coaches of modern times. His appointment, his playing strategy and his transfer policy have all been questioned again and again over the years. Yet, somehow, he has managed to carve out one of the most successful legacies in English football.

Wenger revived the beautiful game in English club football. Wenger brought diet control and no smoking to the players. Wenger won three Premier League titles and four FA cups while a study showed that he was the only manager to make a profit from his transfer activities among the 20 managers in the premier league. One would think- think- that would be enough to not be questioned again and again.

Not in this country. I have written previously about the fickle nature of the British press (Pressure- British Press Wags the Dog). So what do you think happened when Arsenal gave up a 4-2 lead against Tottenham one week and lost an away game to newly promoted Stoke the next? A deluge of newspaper articles appeared questioning the managers methods and wondering if his time is up (Times, Times, Telegraph, Guardian and Sun). How ridiculous!

So as the Manchester United dream team of Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez all converged at Emirates stadium, it was clear that Arsenal needed a result more than a performance. Fortunately they got both. The second goal in particular, showed the manager's stamp more than individual genius- a 59 second, 16 pass move, in which every one of the Arsenal field players except for William Gallas got to touch the ball. It ended up with a thumping shot in the back of the United net by Nasri- another player plucked by Wenger.

It does not answer all questions about Arsenal's inability to win silverware in the last three seasons. It does not take care of the inconsistency playing bottom teams like Sunderland and Stoke. It does however, answer all questions about whether Arsene Wenger still knows- he does. Let's talk at the end of the season!

Lewis Hamilton by the Skin of His Teeth

2008-11-02T23:51:00.011Z

After eight months and 18 races in five continents, with 11 victories between them, as Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa crossed the finish line in the fog of battle, both their garages went up simultaneously in a cheer of celebration thinking their man had won the world championship. Indeed, when Massa finished his race in first place, Hamilton was in sixth place needing at least fifth to finish as champion. At the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season, Hamilton grabbed the fifth place necessary to win the Formula 1 world championship by a single point. It has never been closer in the 58 year history of the sport.

Lewis became the youngest world champion ever, just when luck seemed to be deserting him. Comfortably cruising in the needed fifth position with four laps to go, rain forced the first five to stop for a tyre change. Crucially, sixth placed Toyota of Timo Glock took the gamble and opted to stay out on slick tyres. Hamilton rejoined the race still in fifth but seemed in trouble when Sebastian Vettel of Torro Rosso overtook him with two laps to go. Much as he tried, Hamilton's car simply did not have the grip to reel back Vettel. But just as all hope was given up by the desperate English commentators on ITV, the forgotten Toyota of Glock came into view, struggling badly on slick tyres. In a flash, Hamilton was through and Britain had its first F1 champion in the 12 years since Damon Hill.

Climbing K2: The Hardest Task in all Sports

2008-10-31T12:17:00.046Z

"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." Ernest Hemingway

It is easy to forget standing on top of a mountain that the job is only half done. Legendary climber Ed Viesturs famously said, "getting to the top is optional, getting back to the bottom is mandatory". Mountaineers prepare for months and wait years just to take a crack at their target. All for what? A few minutes of taking in the scenery, waving a flag, snapping a photo and hopefully living to tell the tale. On August 1 of this year a record eighteen people managed to reach the summit of K2. Within 24 hours though, 11 of the climbers were dead- not around to tell the tale! (CBS Video).

The physical aspect of these climbs is daunting enough, but that is not the half of it. At these severe altitudes there is only a third the amount of oxygen available compared to sea-level and consequently the brain functions a lot slower. It debilitates your thinking and slows your reactions to the point of making you clumsy. Reaching the summit has its own exhaustion, so descents are even more dangerous and often more deadly. No surprise then that it was on a miscalculated descent, that most of the lives were lost!

If you ask a child to draw a tall mountain, they are most likely to come up with the form of K2. A jagged rock in Northern Pakistan rising steeply from its surroundings, at 8,611 meters (28,251 ft), it is the second highest peak on this planet. Yes, Everest is 800ft higher and better known, but in climbing terms it is simply no match for what has come to be known as "the savage mountain". K2's sharp ridges and icy slopes are steeper and the physical location of the peak makes it prone to severe storms and sudden avalanches. K2 was first climbed in 1954 by an Italian team (original story) and then remained unconquered for the next 23 years. It remains one of three among the ten highest peaks that no one has managed to ascend in the winter. By now 305 climbers have made it to the summit and 77 people have died in the attempt. That's a fatality rate of 1 in 4. By contrast the more popular Everest has been climbed 3,679 times with 210 lives lost- a 5% fatality rate.

There is reason to believe however, that much like the 1996 Everest disaster, made famous in the excellent Jon Krakauer book "Into Thin Air", the recent disaster on K2 involved human error. The various routes up the K2 all converge in an aptly named alley called "the bottleneck". This is where on the night of August 1 at least five different teams merged on their way to the peak. Bad weather had held them from making a push towards the peak for several weeks and the first break saw different teams summit bound at the same time. This resulted in a high altitude traffic jam.

Other factors contributed. Shaheen Baig, the most experienced K2 Sherpa was sent back down the mountain after suffering from altitude sickness. The other Sherpas sent ahead to attach fixed lines on the treacherous part of the climb at the end of the "bottle neck", laid them down too early and ran out of rope on the technically difficult top part. Then, making his way up the ropes, Serbian climber Dren Mandic lost his grip and plunged to his death. A Pakistani porter by the name of Jehan Baig lost his life trying to recover the Serb's body. The resulting delay pushed the summit push into late afternoon, assuring a treacherous descent in the dark. The expeditions should have turned back at this point. Lacking the benefit of hindsight, as well as 66 percent of oxygen feeding their brains, the climbers chose to go on. It would prove to be a fatal mistake.

To compound matters, a serac tore loose on their way back sweeping four more climbers to their deaths and tearing the fixed lines to be used by others in their descent. This trapped 17 climbers above 26,000 ft in the "death zone", known as such because it gets exponentially difficult to survive up there beyond 24 hours. During the nocturnal descent Frenchman Hugues d'Auberede and his Pakistani porter Meherban Kerim lost their footing and both were never found again. A team of three Korean climbers got tangled up in ropes and climber after climber passed them by unable to help. The Irish climber Gerard McDonnell went back to help them and all four died in a slide of ice and snow.

The post-mortem started immediately. Survivor Wilco Van Rooijen speaking from his bed in Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi told of many different expeditions trying to summit at the same time and having difficulty coordinating with each other. He blamed the commercial aspect of climbing where adventure tourists without adequate climbing skills were showing up to take trophies back home. As a team you are as slow as your worst climber, so it took them twelve hours through the seracs whereas normally it should have taken them four or five.

Unlike the doomed Everest expedition, where the real story only emerged a year and a half later, this one was bizarrely followed in real time by thousands on the blog of American climber Nicholas Rice, who had wisely decided to retreat from the bottle-neck. Modern technology might have changed aspects of how we communicate and spectate, but as far as mountaineering is concerned, it always comes down to man versus mountain- and we know only one of them ever blinks...

One Four Seven

2008-10-29T23:49:00.004Z

It is an achievement to score the maximum possible in any sport. I have previously posted a video of the perfect "nine darter" in darts. Here is Ronnie O' Sullivan scoring the maximum of 147 in snooker.

Tottenham Coldspurs... Levy-tating in Relegation Zone

2008-10-26T00:13:00.022+01:00

Juande Ramos is dead, long live the king. The coach Tottenham poached from two time UEFA champions Sevilla is gone. Sporting director Damien Comolli is dead, long live the king. First team coaches Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez are dead, long live the king. The king here is club chairman Daniel Levy and everyone but him is dead, fired, buried.

It's easy to forget that this is the same Levy who let Dimitar Berbatov leave. The same Levy on whose watch Robby Keane and Paul Robinson and Steed Malbranque and Pascal Chimbonda and Radek Cerny left- all members of the Martin Jol "underachieving" squad. Of course Martin Jol was fired as the Tottenham coach when the team finished fifth in the premier league- their best position ever- twice in a row.

Out with the old, in with the new- Ramos and Jol

Then Levy (through Comolli) proceeded to spend liberally on players he thought would elevate the club. In came David Bentley (£15mm), Verdan Corluka (£8.5mm), Luca Modric (£16.5mm), Roman Pavlyuchenko (£14mm), Heurelho Gomes (undisc, approx £10mm) and Giovani dos Santos (£4.7mm). The result saw the Spurs off to their second worst start in history with two draws and six losses after the first eight games.

So out went everyone including the coach, the sporting director, the assistant coach and the trainer. Everyone but the one person singularly responsible for the clubs' operating model (Tottenham have a continental management structure), hiring all the people who were fired and for spending the millions of pounds on new players.

Harry "the Houdini" Redknapp has become the new coach and was celebrated onto the pitch for the first game against Bolton. Its true that there is only one way for the club to go and Harry is also very good at getting the best out of his teams- but so was Ramos before coming to Spurs. The celebrations were even wilder after Spurs won the League cup last year, but the music soon stopped. Harry can pull some magic out of the hat but I am certain he can't get them to finish fifth- where they were with Jol. It defies belief that Levy is being hailed for finding a solution (Harry) to the very problems he created.

Why Tendulkar is better than Lara

2008-10-24T01:21:00.001+01:00

Tendulkar or Lara, Lara or Tendulkar? The two highest scorers in test cricket. No doubt they are both great, but who is better?

Let me lay the cards on the table first. As an Arsenal fan I cannot bring myself to cheer Tottenham, and it follows that as a fan of the Pakistan cricket team, I find it difficult to cheer for Indian cricketers. So last week when Lara and Tendulkar were tied at the top of the table for the most career runs, and I knew I had to write this post comparing the two, I was secretly cheering for Lara. The Lara who scored a world record 375, and then when he was overtaken, came back with an unbeaten 400 a decade later. The Lara who made you sit at the edge of your seat because you never knew what was coming the next ball, a slashed four through covers or a snicked catch to gully. But, when I did the analysis, Tendulkar doesn't just beat Lara, he rules him.

There are numbers to compare them with but first there are other factors that must be mentioned. Tendulkar went out to bat each time in the suffocating glare of a billion people. The intrusions, the pressure, the expectation on him for the last 20 years has been immense. And through it all he has been unflappable. Lest we forget, Tendulkar came to public prominence as a 16yr old by putting up a world record unbroken partnership of 664 runs for his school with another 17yr old prodigy by the name of Vinod Ganpat Kambli. Anyone remember him? Kambli averaged 54.2 in 17 tests with 2 double centuries and 2 single ones and then fizzled out and retired by the age of 24. Tendulkar has gone on for another 13 years and still averages over 54.

By contrast when Lara broke the Test and first class record by scoring 375 and 501 within two months in 1994, the resulting fame turned him into a confused and contradictory figure. He fell in and out of love with cricket, fought with team mates and administrators and it didn't help that he played for a losing team. Yes, his 400 not out and 501 are the highest individual scores for Test and First Class matches, but he can statistically rival Tendulkar in little else:

Matches Runs Highest Bat Avg. 100s
Tend 151 11939 241 54.02 39
Lara 131 11953 400 52.88 34

Tendulkar has scored more runs at a higher average with the help of more centuries. That should be the end of the argument. But some Lara supporters argue that Lara played better against the best team of their day, Australia. Also that Tendulkar scored easy runs on flat sub-continental wickets. Well, wrong and wrong.

Against Australia
Matches Runs Highest Bat Avg. 100s
Tend 26 2414 241 54.86 9
Lara 31 2856 277 51 9

Away Averages
Tend 53.70
Lara 47.80

Tendulkar scored at a better average against Australia than Lara did and with the help of the same number of centuries, even though he played 5 less matches. Also, when away from home Tendulkar's average was not only better than Lara's, it fell by fewer runs than Lara's did.

A few last mistakes to set straight then. Lara helped his team win more than Tendulkar did. Well, I looked at their averages for the matches their teams won. Lara 61.02, Tendulkar 62.67. Tendulkar's performance lifted more when winning.

One last nail in the coffin. When are the conditions most hostile for a batsman? When they lose the toss and are sent in to bat. The toss winner clearly making the judgement that the conditions will suit their bowlers and prove difficult for the batsmen. The average for both batsmen when their team lost the toss and were sent in to bat: Lara 34.71, Tendulkar 53.12. Case Closed!

Pressure- British Press Wags the Dog

2008-10-15T00:29:00.001+01:00

Pressure makes diamonds. Pressure also makes sports stars. It separates the wheat from the chaff, the men from the boys, the champions from the also-rans. How many of us have made that jump shot, that putt, or bowled the yorker on middle stump when we are alone in the play ground? When we are pretending to be watched by the entire world as we shoot the buzzer beater in game 7 or win the masters or a test match against Australia, whereas its just us? Real pressure is different- "when he boasted that he could shoot the stem of a wine glass from a hundred yards, I asked him, can you shoot the stem of wine glass when the wine glass has a rifle pointed at your heart?" That's pressure.

But pressure is not always positive, even for professional athletes. Anyone who saw the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend got a glimpse of how pressure can melt prospective world champions into bumbling bafoons. Contending for their first title, Felippe Massa and Lewis Hamilton drove like teenagers on adrenalin, overshooting corners, hitting each other and other drivers, before finishing 7th and 12th respectively. So if you are cheering for Hamilton, would you construct an environment of pressure around him that would make it more difficult for him to win the championship? For that is exactly what the British press is doing.

The Sunday Times has 24 pages devoted to sports. A recent issue had 20 of those pages devoted to football. There is also a 12 page football supplement on Mondays. The Times has five dedicated sportswriters for football alone. There is also The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, Daily Express, Daily Mail, Metro, Evening Standard, Daily Mirror, The Sun, and News of the World that have their own extensive sports sections. How to feed this beast? Where to come up with stories through the news cycles to fill all these pages, to sustain all these journalists?

So when Liverpool plays Chelsea, out come stories about Steven Gerrard switching clubs and going to London. There is then a round of denials, followed by some Chelsea player saying they would love to have Gerrard. The Liverpool chairman is quoted as saying Gerrard is "not for sale at any price". Inter-Milan jumps in with their interest. Reports emerge of a threat to harm his family if he moves from Liverpool. Why he doesn't replicate club form for country starts becoming a topic again. Can he play with Lampard? Should he be center of mid-field, left of mid-field, or in a forward role behind the striker? You are starting to get the picture.

Before long he feels the pressure. Every time he steps on the pitch he feels the pressure. Every time he has a bad day at the office, the pressure multiplies. One of the greatest mid-field players in the world is questioned again and again until perhaps he himself starts believing the press and becomes a shadow of the player he can be whenever he dons the national colours. Tim Henman probably felt the same pressure every time he stepped onto the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon. It's probably not a coincidence Colin Montgomery won eight European Orders of Merit and still kept striking out every time he was in contention for a major.

In Italy there is a newspaper dedicated to sports called "gazetta dello sport", but the broad sheets like La Repubblica or Corriere della Sera devote no more than 4 to 6 pages to sports. Le Monde in France usually gives 2 pages to sports. Will British athletes start performing better if there is less attention from the press? Interesting question, but I don't think we'll ever find out.

England Plays Football Inspired by Borat

2008-10-12T00:41:00.010+01:00

The score line will show England 5, Kazakhstan 1, but this was no victory to be proud of. Hold the champagne, Kazakhstan is ranked 131st in the world by FIFA and any championship team, let alone a premiership team, should have dispatched them off with ease. Instead, the all-star England team pottered around for almost an hour before opening their scoring account and even then gave off the impression of a lack of confidence.

England Fans expect their team not to just qualify for the World Cup but to win it. This was not a performance to base much hope on though. The attack was toothless for the first hour but even the defense was shaky and to allow Kazakhstan not only to score but to take as many shots on goal as they did was not promising. Brazil or Portugal or Holland would have carved up the England defense with ease today.

But Capello is a competent manager and will surely look to remedy the situation. This was an important game in terms of qualification but sometimes it is hard to gee yourselves up before weak opponents. We'll give them the benefit of doubt but there continue to be persistent problems that need to be addressed: playing Gerrard and Lampard together, finding a stable strike partner for Rooney, and (as mentioned before) keeping the well paid stars focused on their jobs.

Glass Chin- the Uncurable Problem

2008-10-09T21:02:00.010+01:00

A "glass chin" simply refers to a boxer's inability to tolerate physical trauma to the face without getting knocked out. While there are various theories about why a boxer has a glass chin (weak neck, questionable mind-frame, slight legs), there has been virtual unanimity about the lack of its cure. "You can't train a chin", says Angelo Dundee, famed trainer of Muhammad Ali. You can pump iron, run marathons, spar with many partners, but you can't improve your chin- you are born with it.

Some great boxers like Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko were reputed to have glass chins and the reputation stayed with them. Others like heavy weight Oliver McCall became famous for taking punishment but never falling. So the biggest mystery in boxing has been, can you ever improve a glass chin?

Well, we are about to find out the answer. British hope Amir Khan, carefully stringing together an 18-0 record for an assault on the light weight title, recently confirmed fears about his "glass chin" when he was knocked out in 54 seconds by Colombian Breidis Prescott (video). At risk are the millions he and his promoters were set to earn from his success. So his new trainer, in a controversial move, is taking him to Los Angeles to put him through "martial arts techniques" that will "deaden the nerves on the jaw". Good luck! There are martial arts techniques using blows to shins and feet and to the body to toughen them up. Are they going to beat his chin with a stick?

It might be more useful to work on Khan's defense techniques, make him more conservative in his style so he's not exposing and leaving himself vulnerable to sucker punches. It is the sudden acceleration and rotation of the head that causes a disconnect in the brain, according to research I've done on the internet in the last 30 minutes. The ability to absorb that is neurological and seems something you are born with, or without. Maybe Khan's trainers need to spend time researching on the world wide web, instead of in a gym in Los Angeles.

Celebrating 1000

2008-10-08T21:47:00.009+01:00

I am celebrating one thousand unique visitors to Sportz Insight today, within one month of starting this blog. I truly thought it would just be a place to share some private thoughts with some close friends. Now I do wish the comments section was used more so this blog became more interactive. It does encourage the writer to keep going.

The surprise for me has been that often the story written looks nothing like the one started. Interestingly, that especially seems to be the case for the five most popular stories so far (measured by hits, ratings and links). Here are links to the most popular stories for those who just discovered this blog:

1. Nawakille: A Squash Town You've Never Heard Of
I wanted to write about Jahangir Khan, and in the process discovered that Jansher Khan was from the same village...

2. The Haka
The consummate Kiwi Patrick Mullins urged me to write on Rugby, and I know absolutely nothing about Rugby, so after three discarded drafts, this was the best I could do...

3. Money Can't Buy You Love- But Gold Medals is Another Matter
I wanted to write about foreign players in the premiership, and then got diverted in my research...

4. Fiercest Rivalries in Sport
Spurs vs. Arsenal was the topic when I started. Two days later, the rivalry didn't even make the cut...

5. The 5 Most Memorable Ads on TV
The Nike cricket Ad never made the cut...

5. Why Athletes Find it Difficult to Stay Retired
I wanted to bemoan Lance Armstrong's return, and then figured he's not that different to other greats...

Thanks for reading.
Faisal

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

2008-10-07T23:11:00.018+01:00

Sampras and Agassi, Palmer and Nicklaus, its always easy to compare rivals when there are two of them. Cricket in the 1980s was blessed with four swash buckling all rounders who could all lay claim to being the greatest of all time- Garry Sobers excluded, because he really has a better record than all. Ian Botham (102 tests), Kapil Dev (131 tests), Richard Hadlee (86 tests) and Imran Khan (88 tests) formed the quartet of outstanding all rounders. So impressive were their contributions that they have generated a vociferous fan base and any discussion comparing their achievements is almost always shadowed by emotion.

So in typical fashion, I thought of settling the argument by statistics so I borrowed some figures from cricinfo and from the statistical blog It Figures. Here are the results:

The first cut is to look simply at the difference between the batting averages and the bowling averages. Imran's relatively high batting average helps him out here.

No. Player Ctry BatAvg BowlAvg Diff
3 Imran Khan Pak 37.69 22.81 14.88
8 Botham I.T Eng 33.55 28.40 5.15
9 Hadlee R.J Nzl 27.17 22.30 4.87
12 Kapil Dev Ind 31.05 29.65 1.41

The second cut was a longevity based measure, which equates each wicket to 20 runs scored and sums up total runs in their careers. Kapil and Botham are helped here with their longer careers.

No. Player Ctry Runs Wkts Allruns
2 Kapil Dev Ind 5248 434 13928
3 Botham I.T Eng 5200 383 12860
6 Hadlee R.J Nzl 3124 431 11744
8 Imran Khan Pak 3807 362 11047

Another valid measure should be outstanding individual match performances with bat and bowl. On the batting front it seems like Botham comes out ahead while on the bowling side Hadlee has the edge.

No. Player Ctry75+run/4wkt 100s Bowl SR
2 Botham I.T Eng 11 14 56.9
8 Imran Khan Pak 5 6 53.7
12 Kapil Dev Ind 4 8 63.9
18 Hadlee R.J Nzl 7 2 50.8

The conclusion?
Batting: Botham and Imran seem strongest in batting (former having bigger scores, latter with higher average).
Bowling: Hadlee seems to be the best bowler, with Imran a close second (average and strike rate)
Longevity: Kapil survived the longest and outscores them all in total runs and wickets.
The answer to this one, we'll leave everyone to form their own conclusions and share with us in the comments.

The Greatest!

2008-10-07T00:30:00.007+01:00

"I know where I'm going and I know the truth and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want." Muhammad Ali

"What's my name?"

When something has been done once, its never the same to do it again. After you have seen an Andy Warhol, making art out of soup cans is not impressive. After you have run the four minute mile, no one can break that barrier again. Who knows the name of the second person on the moon, the second to summit Everest, the second to fly an airplane? There is a different, untrodden path that pioneers take and there in lies their greatness. That is what makes Ali the most inspirational sports star of all time. He did things that no one else had done, and he did it in a manner no one else had even thought of. He invented come backs before Michael Jordan. He invented rap before Run- DMC. He invented self-promotion before Donald Trump. And he questioned the war before there was an anti-war movement.

Along the way, he won the Heavy Weight Championship of the world an unprecedented three times while being banned from boxing for three and a half years at the peak of his career (before beating Frazier and Foreman and Spinks). He also changed the nature of the sport. Boxing before Ali was a slug fest, where energy was conserved and big hits won fights. Along came Ali, with dancing feet, glancing hands and a mouth that simply could not be shut. He won fights by getting in the minds of his opponents before the first punch was thrown. And then for good measure, he got in the ring and dazzled them with his movement, with his ability to absorb punishment, and if all else failed by opening a can of whupass on his opponents. He was a thinking fighter, before thinking in the ring was fashionable.

Those of us who have seen Ali fight might remember him by his fights with Larry Holmes or Trevor Berbick (his last two), but Ali as a fighter should not be judged by those. I have written about how nearly all great athletes find it difficult to retire, and Ali, financially bled by a posse of hanger-ons was no exception. But this was the same champion who initially won the heavy weight title of the World as a 7 to 1 underdog to Sonny Liston. He was then known as the "Louisville Lip" for his brash predictions that he will "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee", a phrase still known the world over 43 years later. The title picture above, Ali's most famous, is paradoxically from the rematch with Liston where Ali was booed. Liston had refused to acknowledge him as Ali and kept calling him by his old name of Cassius Clay. Ali is infamously asking Liston "what's my name?".

A few victories later Ali got prosecuted by the government for refusing to fight in Vietnam and lost his boxing license for three and a half years. He famously explained, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong... They never called me nigger." He was reinstated in 1974 and lost the "fight of the century" to Joe Frazier. He then spent another three years trying to get a shot back at the Heavy Weight crown. Along the way he beat Frazier and split two fights with Ken Norton. Then at the age of 32, he got his chance against the hard hitting George Foreman in the famous "rumble in the jungle" in Zaire. Foreman had knocked out both Frazier and Norton in two rounds each, while Ali had not been able to knock either boxer out in over 50 rounds. Ali went in as a big underdog but pulled the rope-a-dope on Foreman and won the Heavy Weight crown for the second time.

After a few title defenses, Ali then had his decisive third fight with Frazier, known as the "Thrilla in Manilla". This was perhaps his greatest fight yet (and his fiercest rivalry). Ali won but fittingly fainted on the canvas afterwards. Perhaps he should have retired by now but he defended his title another six times before losing it to Leon Spinks in 1978. Then he famously won it back to become the first Heavy Weight Champion ever to win the title three times. His fight with Larry Holmes in 1980 should not ever have happened on medical grounds. A complete medical at the Mayo clinic revealed he had difficulty with muscles involved in speech, early signs of Parkinsons. But commercial interests prevailed and the rest is history.

It is not possible to understand his legacy without knowing how unpopular Ali was in his early fighting days, for joining the black Muslims, for oppossing the war, for being anti-establishment. Before his very first shot at the title with Liston, fight promoter Bill McDonald threatened to cancel the bout if Ali did not denounce the black Muslims. After fighting his whole life to get a crack at the title, Ali did not even flinch. He had no intention of renouncing his new religion. It got worse. When he fought the deeply Catholic Floyd Patterson, it became a religious war and the brash Ali prevailed and was widely reviled. It got worse. Ali refused to join the army. The Chicago Tribune ran eleven anti-Ali draft stories in a single issue. There were all kinds of stories of the army trying to cut a deal with him in exchange for induction; to let him defend his title and put on exhibition fights. But Ali did not budge. He lost everything, including three and a half years of his fighting prime, just to stand up something he believed in. Not many people did that.

In his journey he became perhaps the most known face on earth. He had a following from Asian dictators to African village children to the biggest statesmen in the world. As an aged dethroned champion, when he couldn't light up the ring anymore, when Parkinson's didn't leave him even with control of his own faculties, it would have been all too easy to spend his time at home in Louisville. But he used his popularity and became a UN messenger for peace. He traveled all over the world, lending his name to hunger and poverty relief, supporting education and promoting adoption. Even the last few years, severely restrained by Parkinson's, Ali has still traveled for these worthy causes an average of 200 days a year.

Sure, there can be an argument between Ali and Joe Louis as the Greatest Heavy Weight Champion of all time, but there can be never be an argument, that as a sports star, who is "the Greatest".

Do Humans have Limits?

2008-10-04T00:14:00.008+01:00

Can human's improve for ever? Can we keep running faster, jumping higher, throwing farther? Or is there a limit to our improvement? I saw this interesting chart in the Economist a few weeks ago that showed that while the men's 100m sprint time has improved by 9% in the last 100 years, the swimming 100m time has improved by 28%. Given human limits, we would expect the record curves to start flattening out as time goes (asymptotic for you math geeks), but it appears the running times will stop improving long before the swimming times. Why is that?

Lets first try to get a grip on why running times have improved so far. Apart from more scientific training, commercial and sponsorship opportunities have afforded athletes to become dedicated professionals. They can hire mental and physical coaches, physiotherapists, form trainers and depend on video analysis. Also, athletes can relax about their economic well being and focus on their "job", while even previous greats like Jesse Owens had to resort to racing horses to make money.

So while improvement in running appears primarily due to physical conditioning, plummeting swimming records seem to owe much more to vastly better understanding of bio-mechanics and human hydrodynamics. Swimmers are now coached to take longer strokes and to stay under water longer after turns. Technological progress like the new LZR Speedo suit seems to have contributed its share too. The answer to why we can improve more in swimming than running might just be the product of our evolution. We simply have more to learn about how to swim than about how to run.

"The Dirtiest Race in History"

2008-10-02T20:26:00.011+01:00

The image is burned in the mind of everyone who saw it. It was the 100m final at the Seoul Olympics and a muscular Ben Johnson impetuously raised his right arm and powered ahead of the greatest 100m field ever assembled (video). We looked astonishingly at the stopped timer on the bottom right of the screen showing 9.79 seconds- a new world record. For the first time in history, four runners in the same race had run under 10 seconds.

Even more stunning news came two days later when Ben Johnson was unceremoniously stripped of his gold medal and the world record. He instantly became the black hole of all criticism, becoming the poster child of everything wrong with world athletics. Only now, we know that 5 of the 8 finalists failed a drug test and Carl "zero tolerance" Lewis himself should have been banned for two years for testing positive for stimulants at the US Olympic trials two months earlier. Linford Christie tested positive along with Dennis Mitchel and Desai Williams.

It appears however, that the US Olympic Committee did not apply the same standards it expected of the rest of the world. It appears the only reason US athletes did not get caught back then was because the USOC covered up for them. And the only reason we know this is that the former head of US anti-doping programme became a whistle blower and chose to release 30,000 pages of documents a few years ago.

It is in this light that Carl Lewis' latest rant casting aspersions on Usain Bolt are especially bothersome. After questioning Bolt's improvement, he went on to proclaim, “I’m proud of America right now because we have the best random and most comprehensive drug-testing programme. Countries like Jamaica do not have a random programme, so they can go months without being tested. No one is accusing Bolt, but don’t live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect. How dare anybody feel that there shouldn’t be scrutiny, especially in our sport?”

Where was Carl Lewis when all the Americans were winning the sprints? Where was Carl Lewis when Americans (including himself) were testing positive and the USOC was shielding them? Where was Carl Lewis when the Balco scandal broke? When Justin Gatlin and then Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones returned their three Olympic golds for testing positive. Was that in Jamaica? Where has Carl Lewis been?

The Fiercest Rivalries in Sport

2008-09-28T15:13:00.032+01:00

Borg vs McEnroe, Spurs vs Arsenal, Palmer vs Nicklaus, Federer vs Nadal, Michigan vs Ohio State, Lakers vs Celtics, the list of great rivalries is endless. Few things fascinate and engage the followers of sport as much as a great rivalry. It is often the yardstick by which greatness is measured. Six time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Sergei Bubka broke the world record 35 times and was the greatest pole vaulter of all time, but he never captured the popular imagination because no one came close to challenging him. There is some base human desire that gets enthralled by duels, whether lion vs slave at the Colosseum, or Federer vs Nadal at Wimbledon.

So the natural curiosity, given my predilection for lists and rankings, was to figure out the fiercest rivalries in sport. As subjective as which cheese tastes the best, but an interesting exercise nevertheless. To have some quantum of objectiveness, its divided into three un-mixable sections; individual rivalry, club rivalry and national rivalry. Here are the top 3 in each category:

Individual Rivalries
Number 3 for Individuals- Navratilova vs Evert

Rivalries last a few matches or a few years but very few individual rivalries last 14 years at the top level (from Evert's win in Italian Open final in May 1974 to Navratilova's win in Virginia slims final in Nov 1988 they faced off in 60 finals). The life time record of the two was 43-37 in favour of Navratilova, but most of Evert's losses came towards the end of her career. The dominance of the two was such that between 1982 and 1986, the pair won 18 out of 19 grand slams between them. Evert won 90% of all her matches. Navratilova had the longest winning streak of 74 consecutive matches. Evert has 157 singles titles, Navratilova has 167. Evert has 18 single major titles, Navratilova has 18 as well (best male tennis player of all time has 14). Despite the rivalry they grew close and Navratilova even introduced Evert to her second husband Andy Mills. Fittingly, when Evert hosted Saturday Night Live in 1989, in the kick-off skit a Navratilova character showed up everywhere Evert was and outdid her at whatever she was doing. Their rivalry was intense, but always remained civil.

Number 2 for Individuals- Prost vs Senna
There are fierce rivalries and there are bitter rivalries but this one was fiercely bitter. Formula 1 racing is one of the most dangerous sports to start with but you know its getting personal when drivers start banging their cars into each other just to take their opponent out. This was the duel between the fire of Senna and the ice of Prost. In 1989 in the second to last race of the season in Suzuka, Prost drove into his team mate Senna, taking them both out of the race and in the process winning the drivers' championship. The next year Senna got even by driving into Prost at 190 mph on the very first turn of the same track and winning the championship. Honours even but the rivalry had turned bitter forever. When Prost Joined the Williams team in 1993, he had a clause inserted in his contract that prevented Senna from being his team mate that year. Later at the Interlagos circuit, Prost had to have a police escort, he was so reviled in Brazil. When he couldn't prevent Senna from joining Williams the following year, he chose to retire rather than be his team mate. By the end, Senna won 41 races with 65 pole positions and 3 championships while Prost won 51 races with 33 pole positions and 4 championships. Both have a legitimate claim to be the all time great of their sport. Unfortunately Senna died in a car crash at the Imola circuit in 1994. He had told a friend he realized after Prost's retirement how much of his motivation had come from competing against Prost. One million people showed up to Senna's funeral in Sao Paolo. Alain Prost was one of the pall bearers.

Number 1 for Individuals- Ali vs Frazier
"It's gonna be a chilla, and a killa, and a thrilla, when I get the gorilla in Manilla". While Muhammad Ali entertained the world with his psuedo-rap, smacking a rubber gorilla in his hands, such words really got under Frazier's skin. He never forgave Ali for calling him "uncle tom" and the "white man's champion" prior to their first fight. What is not widely known is that Frazier had helped Ali through his boxing ban for refusing to serve in Vietnam by showing up at tribunal hearings in support and had even given Ali hundreds of dollars in cash to support him. Ali maintained that he said all these things to promote the fight but Frazier did not buy that and felt deeply betrayed. Their rivalry would become one of the most storied of all time and they would fight each other three times over their careers. Known as "the fight of the century", the first fight took place at Madison square Garden in 1971. Frazier had a 26-0 record with 23 KO's. Ali had a 31-0 record with 25 KO's. The fight also came to symbolize the anti-establishment camp in Ali and the pro-War movement in Frazier. Frazier won by unanimous decision after 15 rounds, but Ali gained respect for recovering from a 15th round knock down to finish a fight he had no chance of winning. Both fighters spent time in the hospital after the fight. Ali-Frazier II was also at Madison Square Garden in 1974. By this time Frazier had been demolished by Foreman so it was no longer a title contest, but the hostility between the two was still palpable. Promoting the fight on TV, both were reviewing their first fight when an argument led to a fist fight on the set and a fine for both boxers. In the ring later, Ali came away the winner by unanimous decision after twelve rounds. In October of 1975, the last and perhaps the best fight between the two took place, popularly known as "the thrilla in Manilla". Ali had beaten Foreman, Norton and Wepner since his last fight with Frazier and was riding high in confidence. He prepared lightly and was distracted by his torrid affair with Veronica Porche. Frazier on the other hand was seething with revenge and always managed to save his best for Ali. In the fight, Ali started strong but faded in the middle rounds and Frazier started punishing him. Legend has it that around the 6th round Ali whispered in Frazier's ear: "Joe, they told me you was all washed up" and Frazier barked back, "they lied" and followed it with a left upper cut. However, Frazier grew tired by the 10th and Ali managed to get enough jabs in that both Frazier's eyes swelled up. We would later find out that Frazier had a cataract in his left eye so was fighting almost blind for the last three rounds. Ali made it a one sided fight in the 14th round and Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch stopped the fight after the round, despite much protesting from his fighter. Author David Halberstam summed it up best: "the only way we know of Ali's greatness is because of Frazier's equivalent greatness, that in the end there was no real difference between the two of them as fighters."

Did not make the top 3: Borg vs McEnroe, Sampras vs Agassi, Federer vs Nadal, Palmer vs Nicklaus, Alydar vs Affirmed, Ted Williams vs Joe DiMaggio, Magic vs Bird, Jahangir vs Jansher, Imran vs Hadlee, Tendulkar vs Lara, Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Jeff Gordon vs Dale Earnhardt, Wilt Chamberlin vs Bill Russell, Hagler vs Hearns, Duran vs Leonard and Gretzky vs Lemieux.

Club Rivalries
Number 3 for Club Sports- Boston Redsox vs NY Yankees
The Redsox and Yankees have an embittered and fierce rivalry of over 100 years that is often referred to in America as "the greatest rivalry in sports". After Babe Ruth was traded to the Yankees in 1919, the Bosox were said to suffer from "the curse of the Bambino"- they failed to win a world series for the next 86 years, while the Yankees gathered 26 of them. It all changed in 2004 when Boston finally overcame NY and went on to win the world series- and then won it again in 2007. The Yankees haven't won since 2000.

Number 2 for Club Sports- Boca Juniors vs River Plate

Both teams are from Buenos Aires and matches between them are known as the "superclasico". Boca has a more working class following while River Plate has a more affluent fan base. One of Boca's stands is entirely of stacked boxes (called La "bonbonera" or chocolate box) while River Plate followers are called "Los Millionarios". The match thus adds an element of the class divide as well. There is huge following of the two clubs in the whole of Latin America and when the Observer newspaper made a list of "50 sporting things you must do before you die", watching a "superclasico" in Buenos Aires was top of the list.

Number 1 for Club Sports- Celtic vs Rangers

There are 12 clubs that play football in the Scottish Premier League but only two that have ever won it. The Celtic-Rangers rivalry goes back to 1888 and the two teams are such a world apart, they even have a special name of their own: "the old firm". Religion, politics and social attitudes are all involved in old firm derbies, where the mostly Irish and Catholic supporters of Celtic are pitted against protestant republican followers of Rangers. There has been unfortunate instances of sectarian violence ensuing after games between the clubs. The rivalry is so fierce that only five players have ever moved between the two clubs in almost a hundred years. A study said admissions to hospital emergency rooms increases nine-fold over normal days on old firm match day weekends. It easily makes Celtic vs Rangers the most fiercely contested rivalry in all club sports.

Did not make the top 3: Redskins vs Cowboys, Ohio State vs Michigan, Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce, Inter Milan vs AC Milan, Real Madrid vs Barcelona, Arsenal vs Spurs, ManU vs Liverpool, Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos, Oxford vs Cambridge Crew, Boston Celtics vs Lakers, Notre Dame vs USC, Ferrari vs McLaren, Dinamo Zagreb vs Red Star Belgrade, Maple Leafs vs Canadiens.

Country Rivalries
Number 3 for National teams- America vs Europe in Golf's Ryder Cup
This rivalry has a relatively short history but the passion involved, including bitterness at fans behaviour towards players, is intense. The gamesmanship, the patriotism it espouses, the drama, the ridiculous outfits of the spouses, and some exceptional golf has made this biennial event one of the most anticipated sports event watched across the world. The score line is 8-7 in favour of the Europeans since it became Europe vs USA in 1979 and the intensity can be judged by the fact that there is always some bitterness voiced by the losing team. From walking across putting lines to prank calls in the middle of the night for opponents, its all been done in the Ryder Cup.

Number 2 for National teams- Brazil vs Argentina in football
Some of the best footballers in the world are from the the two countries. Between them they have won the world cup seven times. Brazil have won the World Cup 5 times and the Copa America 8 times, while Argentina have won the World Cup 2 times and the Copa America 14 times. Their close rivalry is reflected in their 35-34 record in favour of Brazil since their first match in 1914. Another dimension to the rivalry is often lent by the two players mentioned most for the title of greatest player of all time- Pele and Maradonna. In 1946 there were instances of broken legs during two consecutive games, which resulted in an abandoned game and fighting on the pitch with police. In the 1990 World Cup, Brazilians accused the Argentinian coaches of giving one of them water laced with tranquilizers (known as the "holy water scandal"). The amount of football passion involved makes any international meet between the two countries an all consuming affair for the fans.

Number 1 for National teams- India vs Pakistan in Cricket
Three wars in 60 years coupled with the religious fervour of cricket in the national psyche, provides for combustible ingredients for a passionate rivalry. Very few places in the world does sport, politics and religion mix in such a portent way. Traffic vanishes from the roads in the two countries of over a billion people when India play Pakistan. In a previous trip to Pakistan during the World Cup, all TV sets and electricity generators were sold out in the market in anticipation of the cricket match. While the rivalry is statistically tilted in Pakistan's favour (leading Tests 12-9 and ODI's 68-45), India have managed to win all the World Cup encounters so far and also won the inaugural Twenty20 tournament by narrowly beating none other than Pakistan in the final. In 1986, Javed Miandad hit a last ball six for an improbable come from behind victory that lead to souring of cricket relations for a decade. The 1991 Pakistan tour of India had to be canceled because youths from the local extremist party Shiv Sena party dug up the pitch at Bombay's Wankhade stadium. In 1999, with Pakistan ready to tour India for the first time in 12 years, Shiv Senna dug up the pitch at Delhi again but it was repaired in time. The Asian Test Championship match against India had to be finished in the eerie silence of an empty stadium after the 90,000 crowd at Eden Gardens Calcutta invaded the pitch as India inched towards certain defeat. And for all the mighty victories, Pakistan has never been able to top India when it's mattered most, in a World Cup. After one defeat to India in a World Cup, the Pakistani players had to go in hiding and father of ace bowler Wasim Akram was kidnapped by enraged fans. It often doesn't take much for this sibling rivalry to rise to the level of sheer lunacy.

Did not make the top 3: England vs Australia Ashes, USA vs USSR Ice Hockey, England vs Germany football, Australia vs USA swimming.

10 Famous Sports Celebrations

2008-09-28T03:11:00.026+01:00

Long before the TV is turned on and the spectacle of sport is broadcast around the world, long before the ball boys show up, the grass is cut, the lines drawn or the referees show up, there is sheer hard work by the athletes. Miles are run, hills are climbed, weights are lifted, balls are hit and putts are practiced over and over and over again. Almost all the great athletes we cheer for these days have done little else for every single day of their adult lives except for practice their sport. The days of being a carpenter for your day job and hitting boundaries at the weekend at Lords are long gone. When such hard work results in success on the playing field, sometimes the celebration is spontaneous and ecstatic. Yet at other times, celebration has become tradition and as much a part of winning as playing the game. Here are a few of my favourite and while photographs might not do them justice, it was not possible to source videos for all of them.

"Rock the baby" celebration. Introduced in the 1992 Football world cup by Babeto of Brazil, the original celebration was probably meant to celebrate his impending child. It has since become mandatory for any expecting father scoring a goal.

"The Dunk" was first performed as a revenge act by NY Giants defensemen to legendary coach Bill Parcels in the 1980s, for the previous weeks training woes. It has become the ultimate end of game celebration in American Football- from the pro game to children's leagues, whether a scorching match in the heat of Florida or a -30 degress bone chilling duel on the frozen plains of Minnesota. Here in the picture is Patriots super-bowl winning coach Bill Billicheck getting dunked.

Shirt over face- Some feats are too good to be believed and in football you find goals a plenty scored from some unbelievable positions. When the adrenalin is high, you see some players do the shirt over face blindfold and run like crazy. Here, we see Fabrizio Ravanelli in mid-celebration.

Biting the trophy- Done in the old days to check coins for authenticity, Rafa has without fail bit every single award he has won. The move seemed to be gaining popularity as medal winners in other sports at the Beijing Olympics were seen doing the same.

Hats on ice- When a player scores a hat trick in ice-hockey, it is the custom for the crowd to throw their head gear onto the playing surface in respect. It still happens and is one of the moving sights in sports if you ever witness one live.

Boxing with the flag. Tim Cahill of Everton and Australia started the tradition of running over to the corner flag and boxing with it after scoring a goal. When asked why he did it, he's supposed to have answered "well the flag started it".

The chest bump- originally started in basketball, the jumping and thumping celebration has spread to all American sports. Its the adrenalin filled version of a high five.

The fist pump- Perhaps an old fashioned simple way of channeling a testosterone surge after a moment of achievement, it has been trade marked by Tiger Woods after sinking long unbelievable putts.

Doing the Airplane- Shoaib Akhtar has arguably done more than his share of celebration but when he's at his deadly best, he never lets a wicket go uncelebrated without doing the airplane.

The Ssshhh- Here we see Thiery Henry silencing the opposition through one of his trademark goals. Very popular with footballers when scoring on away games in front of boisterous audiences.

Rossi vs Gibernau- Best of Moto GP

2008-09-25T23:18:00.010+01:00

In my previous post I mentioned how Formula 1 was losing its excitement, especially when compared to a sport like Moto GP. Well, Valentino Rossi is the greatest known purveyor of the sport and while I promise to honour him in an individual writeup later, here is a taster of his skills. This is the last lap duel between the famous number 46 and Sete Gerbernau during the Spanish Moto GP of 2005. Don't miss the last minute of the race, there are more lead changes than an entire Formula 1 Grand Prix.

200mph at Night- Without Headlights!

2008-09-25T20:56:00.018+01:00

Singapore will become the first country in the 58 year history of the Formula 1 to have a Grand Prix after dark. Yes, 20 F1 drivers will hurtle under flood lights from one concrete banking to another at close to 200 mph. Initially designed to please European TV audiences by holding a night time race, the gimmick has turned into the greatest leap forward for the flagging sport. But will it revive interest in a sport declining in popularity?

Formula 1 has been bogged down in technicalities that are difficult for novice audiences to follow. Who cares if its a 2.4 litre naturally aspirated engine with V8 configuration or a 3.0 litre V10? A ban on variable intake trumpets or bargeboards, sidepods or rare diffusers. I subscribe to two car magzines and even I can't keep up with the rules, or care to.

What I do care about is that there is lots of overtaking (like Moto GP), which there isn't currently. I do care that Formula 1 cars are capable of going from zero to 100mph and back to zero in under 5 seconds. That under deceleration drivers can experience forces of up to 5.5 g. It does impress me that the down force generated by the cars at 150mph can make them drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel without falling. With so much capabilities at their disposal, its a pity those running the sport don't get on with the business of racing instead of getting obsessed by tyre changes or switching around qualifying rules.

Its not looking any better either. With its cutting edge image and a global TV audience of 300m, it seems every emerging market wants a part of the action. This means money will keep getting pumped into the sport and those who run the sport will feel no pressure to improve the spectacle of the sport. In recent years Bahrain, Shanghai, Istanbul and Singapore have moved onto the race calender and Abu Dhabi and Delhi are next.

The Courage of Derek Redmond

2008-09-24T19:37:00.004+01:00

Sport is inspirational because it brings out the best in us. The best speed, measured in seconds. The most force, measured in pounds lifted. And the most power, measured in meters thrown. But how do we measure the most courage? What about heart and grit and determination?

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics is associated in a lot of minds with Linford Christie's gold in the 100m sprint. It was memorable for me because the friend I ran around with in school, Arif Hussain, ran heat number 3 of round 1 in a valiant 10.83 seconds, finishing only four places behind Christie (10.48 secs). But the real inspiring story of the track took place away from the 100m, in the 400m semi-finals. It involved British medal hopeful Derek Redmond.

Derek was a medal favourite when he arrived in Barcelona, having previously withdrawn form the Seoul Olympics 400m only 10 minutes before the start of the race due to an Achilles tendon injury. This was the athlete who had shattered the British 400m record at the age of 19. He had five surgeries in the following year and after a long rehabilitation process slowly worked his way to becoming one of the favourites for the 1992 Olympics. The night before the race he strategized for the race with his dad, who was very close to him, and they decided that even if the race didn't go according to plan he would finish it at all costs.

What happened in the race is in the video below. As the commentator says, "he got the cheer of the olympics." Of course, visa made it into an ad immediately (attached below the video as well).

The Rich Four, not the Big Four

2008-09-23T21:46:00.016+01:00

Money may not win titles in the English Premier League, but lack of money precludes titles. Yes, all rich teams do not win the title, but all the teams that win titles are rich. The "big four" of English football have the highest wage bills by far. Last available figures from the 2006/2007 season show that the top wage payers were Chelsea (£132.8m), Man U (£92.3m), Arsenal (£89.7m) and Liverpool (£77.6m). Surprising? Not.

If that is not enough of a correlation, then take a look at the next four (bar one) highest paying clubs: West Ham, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton. All those fighting for UEFA Cup places or dreaming of challenging the top four. In fact, the only team paying more than the next four and not getting similar results is Newcastle United, the perennial under-performer of the league. Manchester City, newly acquired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, is widely expected to challenge for a top four spot. While they appear to have little chance of doing so this year, they might after a summer of transfer activity next year. But I'm willing to wager a few quid that when they do, their wage bill will look more like Chelsea than Blackburn. English fans who live on dreams of some genius manager making shrewd acquisitions or harvesting their clubs' youth academy can wake up and smell their credit cards.

Nawakille: A Squash Town You've Never Heard Of

2008-09-22T23:45:00.016+01:00

The small village of Nawakille (pop. few thousand) outside the frontier city of Peshawar in Pakistan boasts something that no other in the world can. Over the last half century, the village that does not have a single squash court, has produced six world number ones in the sport. In fact, since 1950 the six between them have won 29 British Opens (the Wimbledon of squash) and 14 World Opens (which started only in 1975).

This is an incredible story that just happens to be a sport story. If the sport of squash had a bigger profile in world sport, there would have been movies made on this subject. For now, a writeup in this blog will have to suffice. While the British whiled away their time guarding the Khyber pass, they decided to relieve their boredom by building a few outdoors roofless squash courts. In the heat and direct sunlight, it was difficult to play a game with one of the highest cardiovascular work rates. But try telling that to the Pathan warriors.

Hashim Khan, the first of the lot, become a ball-boy at the Peshawar British Army Officers club and practiced with the broken balls tossed out by the officers. When the officers would retreat indoors in the 100 degrees heat and the squash court was empty, it would be "Hashim vs Hashim" in the court according to his biography. He got good enough to be the Pakistan champion by 1949 and somehow got enough sponsorship to get to the British Open in 1951. He was 34 years old at the time (Borg retired from Tennis at 26). In the warm up tournament he beat the four time British Open champion Mahmoud El Karim conceding just six points. The British press called it a "flash in the pan", expecting for order to be restored, but Hashim went on to beat Mahmoud in the Open final 9-5, 9-0, 9-0, and then continued to win the tournament six out of the next seven years.

Roshan Khan was a cousin of Hashim and beat him in the 1957 British Open.

Azam Khan was Hashim's younger brother and practice partner. Sparring with his brother, Azam got good enough to win the British Open 4 times. One of his victories was over Roshan Khan with a dominating 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 scoreline that forced the Squash Rackets Association to introduce a playoff for third place to make it worthwhile for the audience to buy tickets.

Mohibullah Khan was the fourth of the group from Nawakille and won the British Open in 1963 in dramatic fashion, recovering from 8-1 down in the fourth game and saving multiple match points before winning in the fifth.

Then came a fallow period of two decades where Pakistan produced five world number 2's but no world number won as Jonah Barrington of Great Britain and Geoff Hunt of Australia dominated the game. Maybe it was because Aftab Javed, Gogi Alauddin, Mohammed Yasin and Qamar Zaman were not from Nawakille. But Mohibullah Jr was from the village (Jansher's elder brother), and he was the closest of all to get to world number 1, but unfortunately got incarcerated for carrying drugs to Britain. That will ruin anyone's career.

The domination started again in 1979 by perhaps the greatest of all, Jahangir Khan (literally "world conqueror"). He beat the legendary Australian Geoff Hunt in the British Open Final and started surely the longest unbeaten streak in any individual sport. He went 5 years and 8 months or 555 matches without getting beat. Over his career, Jahangir accumulated 10 British Open titles and 6 World Opens.

The last of the line was Jansher Khan who won 8 World Opens and 6 British Opens. The Jahangir-Jansher rivalry over the next few years took on the nature of Sampras-Agassi or Palmer-Nicklaus, elevating the sport to a new level but leaving each wondering how much more successful he would have been without the other. Their rivalry was announced to the world in the 1988 World Open in Amsterdam by "the rally". The first point of the match consisted of 247 strokes and lasted 6 minutes 16 seconds and ended in a let. Jahangir went on to win what would be his last World Open.

No one has ever been able to uncover the secret of Nawakille. Why did a small village produce so many world beaters without the existence of a single squash court. It is easy to come up with explanations of why Kenyans are excellent long distance runners, why Austrians produce world class skiers. But squash and Nawakille? I'm stumped.

US Win the Ryder Cup- No Tiger Required

2008-09-21T21:02:00.013+01:00

The US defeated Europe in the most closely contested Ryder cup since Brookline in 1999. The overall quality of the golf was exceptional and one is tempted to think that if Soren Hansen had defeated the 400 yards driving JB Holmes (they were all square after 15) the result would be different. But the crowd did its part as the 13th man and a well deserved victory to the US.

While the British press will be skewering Nick Faldo over the result, vicariously getting even for his career long non-cooperation with them, there wasn't much the captain could do different. Faldo's picks of Casey and Poulter worked out nicely and his decision to rest Garcia the second day did not hurt the team given his subsequent tepid performance. Its a shame that Europe's leading Ryder cup player of all time will have a losing record as the captain.

In an earlier post I had written about Anthony Kim's promise and Sergio Garcia's importance to the Europeans. The two happened to come across each other in the first match of the day and Sergio got absolutely annihilated by the American 5 & 4. Kim was on fire and finished 8 under for 14 holes. With Karlsson making short work of Justin Leonard 5&3 in match 3, it came down to the wonderful battle between Hunter Mahan and Paul Casey in match 2 to set the tone. The match fittingly finished all square on the 18th. Then the Americans produced some critical victories in the middle of the pack with Kenny Perry, Boo Weekly, JB Holmes and Jim Furyk. If one of those results had turned in favour of the Europeans, you can't help but feel the European tail of Poulter, Westwood and Harrington could have brought it home.

The US rookies, untainted by the negativity of past defeats, played remarkably and brought a lot of points home. An American victory has been a while coming and you have to tip your hats to them this time around for some great play. On to Wales for 2010!

Ryder Cup Day 2- Down but a far way from out

2008-09-20T23:51:00.006+01:00

Europe mounted a mini come back on the second day as the group matches stage of the Ryder cup ended with a 9-7 lead for the US team (6-2 after the first day). Traditionally the strength of the European sides, this will be the first time in at least the last 4 Ryder cup matches that the Europeans will not be leading going into the singles matches.

There are 12 singles matches on Sunday and the math is pretty simple. The Europeans have to get the equivalent of 7 victories (2 draws are equal to 1 victory in points) out of 12 matches on Sunday to retain the cup, since a 14-14 tie will favour the holders. Sunday is a day of momentum and it will be important to see who leads off in the first few matches. Once the results starts going up on scoreboards it usually puts a lot of pressure on the players of the team chasing. That is why in the last two cups Europe ran away with a record margin of victory (18.5 to 9.5). The US players were chasing and that's never easy to do surrounded by forty thousand supporters and with the hopes of an entire continent riding on you . Nothing beats points on the board and if I were either captain I would load my best players upfront.

The standard of golf over the two days we have seen at Valhalla has been especially good with some great individual performances. The pick of the players for the Europeans so far has been Ian Poulter, fully justifying captain Nick Faldo's controversial choice of him ahead of sentimental favourite Darren Clarke. Poulter won both his matches today for 2 valuable European points. Leading from the front for the US team has been world number 2 Phil Mickelson. He has played some amazing rescue shorts and throughout the two days has steadied his rookie partners.

Ryder Cup Day 1- A Zinger for Faldo

2008-09-19T20:52:00.019+01:00

I hate to say I told you so. (Ryder Cup- A Contrarian View). The British press' coronation of the European team not withstanding, the US team took a formidable 6-2 lead after the first day of of the 37th Ryder Cup. Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim came through their 2 matches with 1.5 points despite Kim looking nervous early on. The surprise performance (and there is always one) was by Hunter Mahan and Justin Leonard who brought in 2 points and looked untouchable. I had said the player to beat for the Americans would be Sergio Garcia, and he came home with half a point out of his two matches.

It's still early but the Europeans need a dramatic reversal of fortune tomorrow. The foursomes and the fourball format is supposed to be a European strength. They needed a lead going into the twelve single matches on Sunday but now would do well just to be close. Faldo will be going to sleep a worried man tonight. He better be praying that Garcia and Harrington start to produce, and Mickelson (out of his shell in Tiger's absence) stops.

Twenty 20 has to kill Test Cricket

2008-09-18T23:21:00.015+01:00

Australian cricketers are causing a stir by snubbing an earlier tour of Pakistan on security grounds, yet agreeing to go ahead with the Indian tour inspite of the recent bombings in Delhi. Cricket Australia went to great lengths to express "concern" at the security situation in India but there was no mention of any commercial considerations. Andrew Miller was more perceptive in a cricinfo article: "India, once tolerated at best by visiting nations, is now fawned upon shamelessly by savvy superstars who recognize the brevity of their athletic prime and the value of being seen to be seen in such a red-hot marketplace. Pakistan, by contrast, is regarded as India without the assets. A hot, dusty, foreign hellhole where you can't even get a drink, for God's sake - let alone a billion-rupee contract."

Under current ICC rules teams refusing to tour under its Future Tours Programme (FTP) are liable for hefty fines. But amid the IPL and Stanford millions, players have got more power and can exercise more choice. The boards seem to have little choice but to heed the players less dependent on international cricket (A billion dollars between lunch and tea). Miller narrows in on this: "Like the competitively honed creatures that they are, the players sensed a weakness, and they went for it mercilessly. They wanted a break in their never-ending calendar, and quite rightly so, but not one that would jeopardise their unparalleled earning powers. They saw in a little-loved tournament in a little-loved country the perfect combination to bend and abuse. The tournament never stood a chance, and nor does it have any hope of a revival in 2009."

As Cricket Australia and Ricky Ponting, the captain, kept insisting there was no double standard and everything was done on security considerations, former Australian cricketer Dean Jones threw a spanner in the works. Jones implied it was all done not to take on the economically powerful Indian Cricket Board (BCCI): "There is reason to be concerned about security there, particularly in Delhi, where the latest bomb went off. Through my role as an executive director of the Indian Cricket League, I know we have major headaches with security there."

Pakistan cricket is no doubt a loser. The country has yet not had a test match in 2008. But in this incident is reflected the greater malaise of international cricket. The bigger picture is that there are nine test playing countries left since Zimbabwe got ejected. Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka are smaller markets and West Indies has already seen the erosion of its powers. Once Pakistan is sidelined as well it leaves the quartet of India, South Africa, England, Australia. While other sports expand their markets and enroll more audience participation, international cricket seems to be headed in the opposite direction.

Some may see this cherry picking behavior on the part of cricketers as a cause of decline for Test and One Day cricket, I just see it as an inevitable consequence of the ascendancy of Twenty 20 cricket. Money is not simply a sign of greed in today's marketplace as the cynics keep pointing out. In this free wheeling commercial era, money is also a scorecard of success. Twenty 20 cricket 1, Test cricket 0.

Ryder Cup- A Contrarian View

2008-09-18T00:56:00.009+01:00

The US goes into the Ryder Cup as underdogs for the first time in years and the British papers have been doing their part in getting ahead of themselves calculating the margin of victory. The champagne is on ice, waiting for the Sunday coronation. Even the betting markets reflect the Europeans' overwhelming status. The three players odds on to be top point winners are all Europeans- Garcia, Harrington and Westwood.

The sentiment is understandable as the Europeans took the last two Ryder cups with record margins of 18.5 to 9.5 points each and have won eight of the last eleven cups. There is a lack of desire and camaraderie among the US players. Tiger is out injured. The in form player is European double major winner Harrington. There are too many rookies in the US team. Retrospective explanations as above will be endless if the US loses, but a closer look now shows few of these to have weight.

The US has home advantage and expect the Kentucky course to be set up with light rough and fairways that widen at 300 yards to accommodate their long drivers. Tiger should not be missed, with only a 10-12-2 record so far and intimidating his own team as much as opponents. Look for one of the US rookies, particularly Anthony Kim (23 year old with third best PGA scoring average) to make an impact. The Hot Harrington had a 0-4-1 record in the last Ryder cup in Ireland. Experience is over-rated as rookies have previously had some of the best performances.

The biggest problem for the US will be countering Sergio Garcia who has a formidable record of 14-3-3. If the US can find an answer to him, expect this Ryder cup to be very finely balanced. A lot is dependent on how teams respond to pressure and for the first time in a while, the US does not have the pressure of expectations. Symbolically, the match is being held in Muhammad Ali's home town of Louisville, Kentucky. So don't be too surprised if it turns out to be a "thrilla".

The Haka

2008-09-17T01:31:00.002+01:00

Different sports have their own peculiarities and rituals. American football players douse their coach with a cooler full of Gatorade. Ice hockey fans throw their head gear onto the ice when a home player scores a hat trick. New Zealand international rugby teams popularly known as "All Blacks" perform the Haka, a form of Maori traditional dance to gee themselves up and to intimidate opponents before the start of a game. All this 10 feet from the opponents faces, who are expected to watch the ritual.

While I have never been able to get into rugby (and I used to watch Bass fishing on ESPN in college), the Haka has always fascinated me. There have been instances where the opposing teams have tried to ignore the Haka and the All Blacks have gone on to beat them by a higher than expected score. So ignore the Haka (in the following Addidas Ad) at your own peril:

Darts- The All Time Greatest

2008-09-15T21:06:00.005+01:00

As a sports fan I'm always fascinated by sporting excellence (Federer winning the US Open) and sporting genius (Greatest Sport Stars of All Time), not least when the two come together. It is in this spirit that I want to introduce my majority non-British readership to the greatest darts player that ever lived, Phil "The Power" Taylor. He is the 13 time world champion from England.

Here is a video of Phil scoring one of his six live "nine darters" (the only player ever to have scored more than one on TV). For the uninitiated, a nine darter is the perfect score in darts, much like a 300 point game in bowling, a 147 break in snooker or hitting six sixes in an over in cricket. It is the absolute best a player can do, score 501 in 9 darts. Enjoy!

(oh, if you don't understand the commentators' Scottish accents, its probably because they are speaking Dutch!).

Money Can't Buy You Love- But Gold Medals is Another Matter

2008-09-14T17:20:00.016+01:00

"Sports do not build character, they reveal it". When John Wooden said those famous words he had those in mind who play sports. It turns out it reveals quite a bit about those who buy into sports as well.

Sporting success inspires people, provides a sense of accomplishment and pride, besides being a welcome diversion from bad news. I witnessed first hand this summer, the emotional uplift of a billion Indians when Abhinav Bindra won the first individual Olympic gold in his country's history. I remember from childhood, whenever things got tense under General Zia's martial law in Pakistan, we'd be treated to a rerun of some famous cricketing victory on state television. Who wants to protest when you can see Miandad bat instead?

Thinking about it, the surprise is that it took so long for nations to start throwing money at buying sporting success given all the positive externalities. China wanted to match its burgeoning economic might with gold medals and spent hundreds of millions of dollars through its state run sports system. And while the accompanying photograph of Chinese children gymnasts makes for more compelling newsprint, the British success was also criticized locally for diverting lottery money from community schemes to sports. Britain trebled its Olympic funding for Beijing to £235 million, funneling funding from other areas.

Then there is gas rich Qatar that has already taken the next logical step with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. In 2004, Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen broke the 3000 meter steeple chase world record. This would have been admirable for a country with a population of less than a million people except that until the year before, Shaheen was actually Stephen Chorono of Kenya and changed his nationality (and name for some reason) in return for $1,000 a month for life. There was an uproar in Kenya, but the undaunted Qataris continued their shopping spree by snapping up the Kenyan 5000m specialist Albert Chepkurui (now fittingly Ahmad Hassan Abdullah) next. These moves were probably inspired by the earlier wholesale purchase of eight Bulgarian weight-lifters for an alleged $1 million. In case you can't tell the Bulgarian silver medalist Alan Tsagaev from Qatari bronze medalist 'Said Assad' in the photo from Sydney Olympics below, here's a hint: Qatari flag (and track suit) has red in it.

Is there anything wrong with what Qatar has done? "I can't define it but I know it when I see it" was my first reaction. But a deeper look changed my mind. Is it ok for the rich countries to attract bankers and lawyers and doctors for financial reward, but not athletes? Is it the exclusive preserve of Ivy League educated professionals to sell out to the highest bidder? Surely, whats good for the goose is good for the gander.

Federer Made Me Fail the Tebbit Test

2008-09-12T22:42:00.018+01:00

I admit it. I failed the "Tebbit Test". For those who need a refresher, Baron Norman Tebbit of Chingford famously devised this test a decade or two ago during an England-Pakistan cricket match. The honorable Baron was rather disturbed by the behavior of British Pakistanis betraying Queen and country and cheering for the men in green instead. He suggested that if there was a 'cricket test' to see which side you cheer for, a large portion of the British Asian population would fail it. The tabloids loved the idea and ran with it and it was 'christened' (no pun) the "Tebbit Test". A concept the honorable Barron returned to after the 7/7 London train bombings, making us feel like the enemy for cheering for the wrong cricket team, but I digress.

So a few years ago when I pledged allegiance to the Queen and got a purple passport (to prevent latex glove checks at airports, but I digress again), it felt like converting to a religion without really believing in it. Will I cheer for England cricket when they play Pakistan? Not if hell freezes over! But I was a bit surprised when I found myself gradually cheering British. First it was at the Ashes, but then I told myself who doesn't like rooting against the Aussie plonks. Next I found myself deflated when the England Football team got the two failures under Ericcson and I cheered hard for Britain at the Olympics. So like a Jew who eats pork, I allowed myself this one excess in my "Britishness". Other than when they play Pakistan at cricket, I cheer for all teams British.

It was in the same spirit that I found myself yelling my lungs out in support of Murray when he played Nadal in the semi-final of the US Open. Here was a chance (for us British-yeah!) to make up for the years of under-achievement by Henman. And what a victory it was. Murray out-muscled the muscular Nadal and won a beautiful game through powerful serves and relentless returns. He was even un-Murray like gracious in victory. So on Monday I put the kids to sleep early and settled in for a rooting session for a first British grand slam victory since Fred Perry in 1936.

Federer was in no mood to be denied though for he was on his own quest. If this was a "coming of age" match for Murray, it was a "mid-life crisis" for Federer. This year he lost his Wimbledon crown, his top world ranking and failed to get the Olympic gold. He knew he'd be written off by pundits if he lost this too and perhaps he was equally fighting his inner demons after so many defeats. The way he answered those doubts left me shaking my head in disbelief and appreciation and left little room for melancholy at the downing of my boy Murray. Federer's flowing ground strokes were back and the nimble touch was present as ever. It was poetry in motion and as a sports fan you knew it was time to enjoy an all time great back to his best. Grand slam number 13 leaves him one short of all time leader Sampras (see previous post) and with the young and hungry Nadal, Djokovic and Murray closing in, there can't be many more left in the tank. So with apologies to Baron Tebbit, cheering Murray will have to wait and I think I'll enjoy the Federer phenomenon while it lasts...

A Billion Dollars between Lunch and Tea? That's just not Cricket

2008-09-12T10:38:00.010+01:00

ESPN Star Sports, the Asian broadcaster part owned by Rupert Murdoch, will pay $975 million for the 10yr exclusive rights for the Twenty20 Champions League, a tournament where the first ball has not yet been bowled. The Indian Premier League (IPL) had earlier bagged a $1.03 billion 10 year deal for 60 games a year, but the Champions League will only have 22 to 25 games a year. In response to the IPL riches, the Texas billionaire Alan Stanford has already announced a $20 million match in November between England and a West Indies all star team. Each member of the winning team will win $1 million, an amount equal to the total prize money available for the 12 teams that participated in the 1999 cricket world cup in England.

Reminds me of the famous Churchill phrase, "never was so much owed by so many to so few". In this case the "so few" not the valiant fighters of the RAF, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Representative for the largest share of cricket watchers in the world, they have been quick to pounce on the commercial opportunities and bounty is now being shared by cricket players all over the world. Not long ago the man of the match award at International cricket matches would get a $500 prize. Winning members of the Stanford match will earn that amount every 5 seconds of being on the field. Cricket has been late in claiming its commercial place among world sports, but you know a sport has arrived when Nike turns it into an advert.

The 5 Most Memorable Sports Ads on TV

2008-09-11T11:34:00.019+01:00

Advertisements have been inspired by sports performances or sports stars for a long time. At least over a hundred years since we can see W.G.Grace in a Colman's Mustard print Ad in this photo. While commercial opportunities have done their part in making sports bigger and better, there have also been occasions when the ads themselves have inspired people to talk about sport or even take up sport.

To relieve the monotony of reading words, I thought I'd list my 5 favorite TV Ads. The first two are simply inspiring in a warm and fuzzy way, the third stands out for the artistic genius skills, and the last two are inspiring because they are humorous. Unfortunately, most of these ads are Nike ads as other companies tend to focus on their products, while Nike tends to glorify the sport or the star.

1. Nike- Earl Woods Speakover

Tiger Wood's father Earl Woods speaks in the background (posthomously) and tells us about how he "instilled" the game into Tiger as a kid, got him immune to distractions and focused on the task at hand- hitting the golf shot. Especially powerful since the media initially berated Earl Woods for his grand visions of his son and the messiah like impact he felt his son will have on the sport and beyond. Turns out papa Woods wasn't that far off. And after the poor guy passed away, every one came around to see it his way. The last line is particularly powerful and hangs in the air because if you've seen Tiger play, you know it's so true: "I told him Tiger, I promise you that you'll never meet another person as mentally tough as you in your entire life; and he hasn't, and he never will."

2. Addidas- Laila Ali vs Muhammad Ali

"Impossible isn't a fact, it's an opinion" starts the ad in Laila Ali's voice while her father enters the ring and shadow boxes and does his patented cross-over dance. The other boxer is Laila herself. "So when my father looks impossible in the eye and defeats it- again and again, what do you think I'm gonna do when they say women shouldn't box?" and with that she socks one to her father almost sending him tumbling.. "rumble young girl, rumble"... sends chills down your spine.

3. Nike- bouncing golf ball

This commercial was shot in one go without any edits and became the subject of a lawsuit between Acushnet (parent company of Titliest) and Nike for who held commercial rights of Tiger woods. Meanwhile golf fans from Japan to the US shook their heads in disbelief at the skill level and started practicing bouncing golf balls on their wedges instead of practicing their golf shots.

4. Nike- Is it the shoes?

Any list of great ads cannot ignore this Spike Lee/Michael Jordan number. This is the original ad that got Nike on the map and catapulted Jordan from being a sports star to a star period. Need I say more?

5. Nike- Roger Federer

Roger Federer and his make belief coach. Pretty funny.

Monkey off England's Back

2008-09-10T21:51:00.006+01:00

Revenge is a dish best served cold. In one of the most anticipated England matches in recent years, England demolished Croatia 4-1 in Zagreb in a World Cup qualifier to avenge the defeats in the Euro qualifiers. Mondial 2010 Afrique du Sud, here comes England!

It was the coming out party of Arsenal prodigy Theo Walcott who scored a hat trick, while Fabio Capello also proved himself by out manoeuvring Slaven Bilic's Croatia. The same pundits who were starting to question Capello's class are now heaping praise on him on TV minutes after the game. Until the next set back....

I mentioned in my previous post that the England coach is of proven pedigree and if any questions need to be asked it is of the England stars who turn out for their clubs but not for their country, at least in spirit. Croatia had an off game today and it helped that they played with ten men for the last 35 minutes or so. England were well organized for a change but playing as underdogs to a team that beat you twice in the last year is one thing, reproducing that form game in game out in front of 90,000 impatient Wembley fans is another. England needs to keep the focus. Well begun is only half done.

Why Athletes Find it Difficult to Stay Retired

2008-09-10T10:34:00.013+01:00

Its official. Lance Armstrong is coming out of retirement to go for an unprecedented 8th Tour de France win. In a Vanity Fair article he announced his decision to compete again in the premier race of the most physically grueling sports at the not so tender age of 37. Just to be clear, we are not talking about picking up a cricket bat again and stroking the ball around like Jayasuriya or even playing football where you can manage your pace of play or be used as an impact substitute for part of the game ala' Dennis Bergkamp. This is a 2200 mile muscle cell depolarizing, electrolyte depleting, flesh dehydrating, non-stop race through mountains and valleys at about 100 miles a day for three weeks. It's not tiring. Have you ever sat through a 2200 mile car journey? That's tiring. This is exhausting beyond recognition.

Why would Lance do it? Here is a man who is easily worth $300-$400 million. Lets cross out money from the list. He has won the Tour de France a record seven times, and that too consecutively. Cross out achievment. He has also gone on to raise $265 million for cancer research, not least through those oh so popular yellow "livestrong" wrist bands. Cross out altruism. And before winning these 7 yellow jerseys Armstrong got diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer and according to the VF article "had two surgeries: one to remove a cancerous testicle, another to remove two cancerous lesions on the brain. An additional 8 to 10 golf-ball-size tumors were found in his lungs. He’d been a dead man walking..... He was only 25 years old and had been given less than a 40 percent chance of survival." Cross out courage!

So why "un-retire"? Despite Armstrong's explanations that this time its "to raise awareness of the global cancer burden", I have my doubts. There is no reason to doubt his noble feelings for cancer research but I feel that is the crutch he is using for a come back. The history of sport is replete with examples of "all time greats" calling it a day and then coming back for one more try. Unfortunately, very few of these turn into happy endings and even if the initial foray is successful, they keep coming back until their legacy is somewhat tarnished.

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, came back from his Whitesox baseball jolly to the Chicago Bulls successfully for a "three-peat" of championships. But that wasn't enough. After another 2 years of retirement he came back with the Washington Wizards for 2 unsuccessful seasons where they failed to even make the play-offs and Jordan also suffered a torn knee cartilage. The Ice Hockey great Mario Lemieux came out of retirement until he admitted to not being able to keep up with the increased speed of the game and suffered a heart condition. Tennis legend Bjorn Borg tried a comeback a decade after calling it a day, wooden rackets and all, but couldn't manage a single win. Baseball ace Roger Clemens came back to the Yankees last year and struggled with a 6-6 record, abysmal by his standards. The list goes on and on; Martina Navratilova, Brett Favre, Evander Holyfield, Martina Hingis, Sugar Ray Leonard- and then the most tragic of all and the most famous, Muhammad Ali. By all accounts Ali should have hung up the gloves after the "Thrilla in Manilla", but he would go on to fight another ten times including punishing losses to Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Forget tarnishing his legacy, the searing question is, would Ali be different today if he hadn't taken such powerful blows to the head that late in life?

What causes world beaters to come back again and again? Why can't they leave brilliant enough alone? I suggest the answer might be addiction- to achieving, to being the center of attention, to feeling like you are on top of the world. Sort of the same addiction that makes dictators stay too long. While most corporate chieftains retire in their sixties and sometimes well in their seventies when their testosterone levels are falling and their physical powers are over the hill, professional athletes call it a day in their thirties. What is a man (or woman) suppossed to do? You think Michael Jordan watched the newly minted 18 year old millionaires with attitudes come into the Wizards on the back of money he attracted to the game and didn't think "I can still take you to school"? I'm sure Lance Armstrong enjoys his time with his children and keeps busy with his foundation, but do you for a moment think he watched Carlos Sastre win the race this year and didn't think "I can still beat him". All his power, his importance, comes from what he achieved on his bike. Is there a paucity of crusaders for cancer research? People listen to Lance Armstrong because he is the seven time winner of the Tour de France, not because he had testicular cancer. And I suspect he knows that all too well.

England Football: Less Than the Sum of its Parts

2008-09-09T13:27:00.020+01:00

When I moved to London almost 10 years ago I was stumped by the football coverage in the sports section of the newspapers. Routinely about eighty percent of space was given to football, not leaving a lot of room for other British passions like cricket, rugby, horse racing, tennis and darts! I was a little disappointed as a follower of American sports such as basketball and American Football, as well as other "minor" sports like cricket and golf. But over time, as I got to know the country better, the pub culture, the fanatic club support, the fathers taking their sons to weekend football academies, I started to understand the obsession better. Soon, as I followed the travails of my favorite Arsenal Football Club, I even became a part of it (when my son gets upset with me, his greatest threat: "then I will not cheer for Arsenal").

In the time I've been in this country England have won the rugby world cup, the cricket ashes, and finished an unexpectedly high of fourth in the Olympic medal count, but nothing has come close to the footballing glory of 1966. In fact, there was further ignominy when under the uninspiring leadership of the "wally with a brolly", the country managed to not qualify for the 2008 European Championships.

So out they went and hired the best in Italian coach Fabio Capello for £6m a year. Capello has won silverware with Real Madrid, AC Milan, Roma and Juventus so it is fair to say that his coaching skills are proven. But even under Capello so far the England performances have been fairly tepid in the shape of a desperate 2-2 draw with Hungary and a 2-0 win over minnows Andora. To put it in perspective, if the entire population of Andorra was let into Wembley stadium, there would still be 18,178 empty seats!

There have been various explanations for these stuttering performances. The most accepted go something like this: In England physical fitness, power and stamina are viewed as more important than technique and tactical astuteness. Players are taught from very early on to chase every ball, to win every tackle and to never stop running. In Europe the emphasis is on passing, first touch and off the ball awareness. While we love the English style of play, it is not the winning style of play. Hogwash! The premiership plays in the English style and the recent success of English teams discards that theory. And most of these English teams have English cores.... Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Ferdinand, Rooney, Cole.

There is another less obvious reason for these performances. In Capello's Italy, the national team comes first where as in England the Clubs come first. The clubs own you, they pay you and that is what the players focus on. Liverpool's Jamie Carragher recently wrote in his biography that when he lost with England he justified it by saying "at least it wasn't at Liverpool". His England and Liverpool compatriot Steven Gerrard chose the international break to have surgery so he would lose the minimum amount of playing time for his club. They practice with the clubs and show up for a few days of national service and train half heartedly, most of them assured of their spots.

It is time the English press stopped piling the pressure on the coach. If the same players who produce for clubs don't produce for the national team, drop them. No one should be untouchable. Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdiand, Terry, Rooney, Owen or Cole. Unfortunately, there isn't much time to experiment. England play Croatia in a world cup qualifier on Wednesday. In Slaven Bilic Croatia has an excellent coach and even without their Arsenal ace Eduardo DaSilva, they have a tight knit team with the dangerous midfield combination of Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar to coordinate an attack through Ivica Olic. Every follower of the English team remembers the 3-2 defeat to Croatia earlier this year at Wembley that kept England from Euro '08s. In case English fans were not paying attention since then, Croatia is now number 5 in the world according to FIFA rankings. If England end up losing, it should not be a total surprise.

The Perfect Golf Swing

2008-09-09T00:57:00.005+01:00

To any of you who have ever tried to swing a golf stick at a ball I don't need to explain how difficult it is to get the perfect swing. Well I found one on youtube... and guess who is doing the swinging?

Greatest Tennis Players of all time- A Numerical Approach

2008-09-08T23:15:00.020+01:00

Watching Federer get to grand slam number 13 was inspiring enough to wonder about the greatest tennis players of all time. By popular consensus, the "grand slams" (a term borrowed from bridge) have come to signify the greatest achievement in tennis (and also golf). I can feel the pain, being one short of the grand slam (Australian) of attending the mens semi-finals myself.

So lacking the confidence needed to compare tennis players across time (Laver to Sampras), let alone across surfaces (Nadal to Federer), I resorted to simply rank the players in terms of majors won (win-loss record shown). The result is surprisingly close to the actual list I would have made, at least since the advent of the open era (1968):

1. Pete Sampras 14-4

2. Roger Federer 13-4

3. Roy Emerson 12-3 (career slam)

4. Rod Laver 11-6 (single season slam x2)

5. Bjorn Borg 11-5

6. Ken Rosewall 10-5

7. Bill Tilden 10-5

8. Ivan Lendl 8-11

9. Andre Agassi 8-7 (career slam)

10. Jimmy Connors 8-7

11. Fred Perry 8-2

12. John McEnroe 7-4

13. Matts Wilander 7-4

14. John Newcombe 7-3

15. Steffan Edberg 6-5

16. Boris Becker 6-4

17. Don Budge 6-1 (single season slam)

Greatest Sports Stars of All Time

2008-09-07T22:46:00.017+01:00

Given the sporting nature of this blog, and my perennial fascination with lists, it is fitting to start with a post ranking the greatest Sports Stars of all time. I deliberately use "sports stars" rather than "athletes", for the focus is not on athletic ability but achievement in the sport. The best in track and field (Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Usain Bolt) are always likely to be better athletes than the best cricketers (Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Don Bradman?), but I am interested in the combination of impact and achievement on their sport- in the Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods mold.

It is important to lay out some criterea for my choice. Opposition and Occasion are two key parameters in my analysis. In the 1988 Olympics, now nine time gold medalist Carl Lewis ran the 100m in what turned out to be a world record 9.92 seconds after Ben Johnson was DQ'd (for 9.79 in that race and 9.83 for the previous WR). Does that make Lewis a bigger start than Jesse Owens for winning the 1936 Berlin Olympics 100m in 10.31 seconds? While the athletic achievment is clearly superior, the occasion clearly catapulted Owens into a bigger star. In fact, the 1988 race is now called the "dirtiest in history" as four of the top five (Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis, Linford Christie and Dennis Mitchell) tested positive for banned substances at some point of their careers (bronze medalist Calvin Smith being the exception). By the same token, Asafa Powell has now run a personal best of 9.72 secs but cannot be considered a bigger star than Carl Lewis because whenever there is a big ocassion, Powell fails to produce. That will be his legacy. Another Jamaican Usain Bolt has not only run the fastest (9.69 secs) but has produced on the big ocassions (2008 Beijing Olympics) and against top class opposition (Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell- the only two other than Bolt himself and Maurice Greene to have legally run faster than 9.80 secs- Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery don't count).

1. Muhammad A li

2. Tiger Woods

3. Michael Jordan

4. Michael Phelps

5. Pele

6. Usain Bolt

7. Valentino Rossi

8. Babe Ruth

9. Don Bradman

10. Lance Armstrong