Archive: 29 June – 5 July 2009
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Sunday 5 July 2009
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Richard Jago: Only Andy Roddick could bring a smile to Pete Sampras's face as Roger Federer broke his grand slam record Continue reading...
Federer kisses his trophy after beating Andy Roddick. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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Morne Steyn's fateful kick in Pretoria. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/AP
Robert Kitson: From Jean de Villiers's first-Test tackle on Ugo Monye to the best tour story, these are my memories of an enthralling trip to South Africa
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Brian O'Driscoll: I'm already dreaming about the next Lions tour Continue reading...
Brian O'Driscoll, right, ends the Lions tour disappointed but eager to renew the challenge. Photograph: Kim Ludbrook/EPA
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Will Buckley: The final may have been an anti-climax but the Williams sisters have produced the greatest sporting achievement of this millennium Continue reading...
For the 13th time this decade the Williams name has adorned the Wimbledon Final scoreboard. Photograph: Tom Jenkins
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Eddie Butler: Springbok power and a spate of injuries to key Lions players decided a series of the highest quality Continue reading...
Simon Shaw, one of the successes of the British Lions tour, battles for the ball with South Africa's Johann Muller, left, in the third Test. Photograph: Kim Ludbrook/EPA
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Will Buckley: Why retired sports stars struggle to realise that winning isn't everything when they are on reality TV Continue reading...
Masterchef makes Olympic runner Iwan Thomas sweat more than other competition. Photograph: Getty Images/Getty Images Sport
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Andrew Flintoff's performances in 2005 mean he is still revered by Australia despite his lack of form and fitness since. Photograph: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Paul Hayward: Despite his fitness problems and boozy indiscretions, Andrew Flintoff is still England's most important player
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Saturday 4 July 2009
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Robert Kitson: Winning at Ellis Park by a record-equalling margin underlined the Lions' abilities and gave Ian McGeechan something to smile about at last Continue reading...
Shane Williams is congratulated by team-mates Riki Flutey and Ugo Monye after scoring his second try. Photograph: David Davies/PA
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England will need a 'thing' if they are to emulate their Ashes victory of 2005. Photograph: Tom Shaw/Getty Images
Barney Ronay: It turns out England's cricketers will be 'reconnecting' with their natural game in order to win The Ashes
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Simon Burnton: Expect Barcelona to arm their bench with yoghurt now we know what it does to the world's most expensive footballer Continue reading...
Ronaldo, presumably, is envious of a yoghurt's more cultured existence. Photograph: Tom Jenkins
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Friday 3 July 2009
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Kevin McCarra: Manchester United scored a relatively paltry 68 goals last season. Owen's unerring finishing could help them find their rhythm Continue reading...
Michael Owen is proven in front of goal and Manchester United have lacked a poacher recently. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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Kevin Mitchell: Andy Murray was far too inconsistent to outgun the battling Andy Roddick in another epic encounter Continue reading...
Andy Roddick's power was too much for Andy Murray to handle in their semi-final. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images
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Paul Doyle: If he signs, Owen will come off the bench when United are failing to convert chances - like Kris Boyd at Rangers, only less so Continue reading...
Should his transfer go through, Michael Owen may find himself starting most games on the bench. Photograph: Ian Horrocks/Newcastle Utd via Getty Images
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The Centre Court roof at the All England Tennis Club in its closed position Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA
Tom Farrell: Our Big Blogger 2008 winner rails against the decision to build a roof for Centre Court
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Henrik Larsson powers a header past Bulgaria's goalkeeper at Euro 2004. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
Paul Doyle: From Jared Borgetti's turn and swivel to poor old Chris Brass, here's half a dozen spectacular headers
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Chris Cook and Tony Paley: The best bets and the latest racing news plus our weekly tipping competition
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India's Sourav Ganguly, left, and Inzamam-ul Haq shake hands before the third Test in April 2004. India and Pakistan haven't played a five-Test series since 1987. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty
Dileep Premachandran: Politics, terrorism and Twenty20 have left Test cricket on the back foot in India and Pakistan but there is still an appetite for long form of the game
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Amir Khan will have more than just a WBA belt at stake when he fights Andreas Kotelnik on 18 July. Photograph: Tony O'Brien/Action Images
Kevin Mitchell: Racism is the only explanation for the continued abuse of an able and intelligent fighter
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Andy Murray is the favourite to win his Wimbledon semi-final against Andy Roddick. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Paul Hayward: Wimbledon's second Friday was a logic-defying dance with fantasy for Tim Henman. Now reason is pushing Murray towards the final
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Peter de Villiers, the South Africa coach, suggested critics of his side's physical approach should "go to the nearest ballet shop and get some nice tutus". Photograph: Gallo Images/Getty Images
Harry Pearson: Springboks coach Peter de Villiers might fancy himself as an old-school hard man, but that's because he did not have to deal with Dame Margot Fonteyn
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Ugo Monye, left, and Andrew Sheridan will both start Saturday's final Test against South Africa. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Shaun Edwards: Anyone who considers gouging to be part of the game, as Peter de Villiers does, deserves every bit of criticism they get
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Mike Selvey: The cricketing landscape may have changed, but the emotions evoked by an Ashes series remain as powerful as ever Continue reading...
The Ashes urn Photograph: Jason O'Brien/Action Images
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Michael Vaughan and team-mates celebrate with the Ashes. Photograph: Tom Jenkins
Duncan Fletcher: From Simon Jones' trip to India to plotting the perfect tactics for Ponting – the secrets behind England's Ashes success in 2005
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Michael Owen endured an unhappy, turbulent four-year spell on Tyneside but could rejuvenate his career at Old Trafford. Photograph: Alex Morton/Action Images
Louise Taylor: Lost in Madrid and pilloried on Tyneside, the striker can again prove critics wrong
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Thursday 2 July 2009
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Phil Vickery returns to the Lions side after his first Test nightmare. Photograph: David Davies/PA
Eddie Butler: Both sides have rung the changes meaning patterns and rhythms may be hard to establish in the final game of the tour
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Tony Paley and Chris Cook: the latest racing news and best bets plus our weekly tipping competition
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Andy Wilson: Dave Halley's decision to ditch Wales for England is the final straw – the RFL needs to end the free-for-all and bring back the GB team Continue reading...
Brian Carney, an Irishman who played in Tests for Great Britain but would never play for England. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA
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Classic YouTube: Milan players getting speed-gunned, Lance Armstong v Marco Pantani and how to spoil a religious goal celebration also feature
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Carlos Tevez was a second-half substitute in Rome. Photograph: Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport
Lawrence Donegan: Carlos Tevez's argument that Manchester United would have won the European Cup had he started the final is fantasy
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Venus Williams does not have time to post on Twitter but many other players can't get enough of it. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Marina Hyde: Venus Williams is said to be too high-brow for Twitter but the other players are keeping their fans on message
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Ricky Ponting poses with a replica Ashes urn on the pitch of the WACA as Australia celebrate regaining the Ashes in December 2006. They went on to complete a 5-0 whitewash of England. Photograph: Hamish Blair/Getty Images
Emma John: England's 5-0 whitewash in the last Ashes series has been glossed over but taking revenge should be this squad's main motivation
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Wednesday 1 July 2009
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Today's report by the Financial Action Task Force raises the spectre, in calm, plain language, that football is vulnerable to criminals, who might take over beloved local clubs or use the transfer system to launder dirty money or evade tax. Some of it is not mightily surprising, but still, there is something startling about reading these warnings, set out calmly in an official report by an inter-governmental body whose job is "to protect the global financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing."
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Tony Paley: The best bets and the latest racing news plus our weekly tipping competition
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The Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is keen to sell the club at a loss. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Louise Taylor: Life at St James' Park is stuck, stubbornly, in limbo ahead of the new Championship season
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Jonathan Wilson: Allegations of match-fixing are not exactly a new thing in Russia, but the latest claims have provoked a reaction like nothing before Continue reading...
Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's president and also the chairman of Terek Grozny, has denied any allegations of match-fixing. Photograph: Musa Sadulayev/AP
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Steve Bierley: Andy Murray's progress has been mental as well as physical but he remains susceptible to letting outside factors upset his equilibrium Continue reading...
Andy Murray celebrates victory against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka. Photograph: Empics Sport
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David Conn: There is no hint of recession at SW19 where debentures are snapped up and record crowds queue and spend Continue reading...
Record crowds have been attending Wimbledon this year. Photograph: Pool/Getty Images
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'As commanding and handsome as we'd all imagined, Keith Miller turned up to crack a few token fours.' Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images Sport
David Foot: For two days the 1948 Australians masterfully lit up Taunton with unceremonious brilliance
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Tuesday 30 June 2009
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Kevin Mitchell: The Williams sisters give no hint of letting up after easy passages to the semi-finals Continue reading...
Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-3. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
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Goran Ivanisevic made a ritual of watching the Teletubbies every day on his way to the Wimbledon title in 2001. Photograph: Tom Jenkins
Marina Hyde: Most players have a superstition or behavioural tic to rely on – and now the fans are at it
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Greg Wood and Tony Paley: the best bets and the latest racing news plus our weekly tipping competition
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Owen Gibson: Hot, humid and hyperbolic – Wimbledon's first match under the lights was a landmark moment in its long history Continue reading...
Closing the Centre Court roof for Andy Murray's win over Stanislas Wawrinka created a whole new ball game. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
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There will be no mention of Andy Murray in this report. Apart from in the intro. And the caption for this picture of Venus Williams
Scott Murray followed ladies quarter-finals day from his SW19 concrete bunker
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The Spin: Ahead of the first Test between England and Australia, Lawrence Booth steps outside the accepted narrative to Tell It Like It Is Continue reading...
Ravi Bopara: can he be got at? Photograph: Julian Herbert/Getty Images
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Greg Wood: The News of the World's piece about a punter who made easy money on internet betting exchanges is drivel from top to bottom Continue reading...
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Richard Williams: It is clear from Lions tours that the difference between a well-drilled international XV and a squad thrown together with little preparation is too great to bridge Continue reading...
The well-honed skills of Springboks such as Victor Matfield, Francois Steyn and Bakkies Botha proved too much for the Lions to overcome. Photograph: Lee Warren/Getty Images
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Andy Murray celebrates victory against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka to advance to the quarter-finals. Photograph: Empics Sport
Paul Hayward: The late evening Andy Murray-Stanislas Wawrinka TV schedule-buster is a sign of things to come
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Monday 29 June 2009
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Eddie Butler: Eye-gouging appears to be the new weapon of choice despite the stiff suspensions being handed out Continue reading...
Schalk Burger, left, received a yellow card on Saturday and an eight-week ban on Sunday for gouging Luke Fitzgerald. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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Jonathan Wilson: Although dismissed by many, the tournament offered a few clues ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa Continue reading...
Brazil's players celebrate winning the Confederations Cup final against USA. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
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Manchester United fans in China; Roman Abramovich and Peter Kenyon; Kia Joorabchian; and Liverpool fans hold up cards spelling out 'the truth'. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images, Reuters and AP
Welcome to my new blog, which the Guardian has given me to investigate, expose and generally pontificate on the burning issues, stories, characters and questions swirling around the usually overblown, frequently overheating, yet always fundamentally gripping world of 21st century sport.
This is a momentous time for sport, as it claims ever greater chunks of public fame and attention, yet grinds up against the same challenges, invariably centred around money. I have spent many years investigating English football's transformation since the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, and although 20 years on the game is glitteringly, unbelievably successful, it is not, as I have tried to document, quite the happy clappy, Football's Coming Home, unabashed marvel which Sky would have you consume. Many of the top clubs are sunk in debts or financially reliant on an international buffet of owners. Some still desperately seek a billionaire; lower division clubs from Southampton to Stockport are in administration and the FA has cried to the Government for help in governing the game. Where on earth would football be if this wasn't its greatest ever boom?
Football lords it over the other sports for money, popularity and coverage, but the same fundamental issues strain at the fabric of cricket, rugby union and league, tennis, athletics – the same tension, between the thrill, human pleasure and values all sports seek to embody, and the calculating, sometimes corrupting, business of money. This blog will seek to investigate, expose, comment on it all, and - here is the ambitious, pompous-if-you're-not-careful bit - be a place to expose and discuss sport's place in modern life.
The Olympics is coming to London in 2012, costing what once seemed an unjustifiable £9.3bn until the economic crisis poured unfathomably larger sums into bailing out banks, and suddenly the east London site looks a solid way of keeping construction workers in jobs. English cricket is struggling to recover its dignity after that now priceless spectacle of Sir Allen Stanford landing at Lord's in his helicopter, joined by legends of the game, to stare wonderingly at his perspex box of fake dollars. Rugby union has its share of colourful owners, the club versus country tangle and the lure of money from France. League is the working class game with a salary cap which needs policing. Tennis lays on the creamy, licence-to-print-money feast of Wimbledon for a fortnight a year, yet on the public parks ordinary kids struggle for a decent court on which they can play.
A blog about all this can happen only with the help and involvement of readers, so here is a polite, restrained appeal: please, please, please get in touch. Post thoughts, comments, stories, snippets; on the money, madness, mayhem or anything to do with the sport you play, watch or love, and I will try to look into all of them.
The blog will celebrate the joy of sport, too, where things have gone wonderfully right, clubs triumphantly well run, supporters nurtured, money gone to the grass roots. The wondrous history and heritage of sport will be acknowledged, so post on that too; all quirky slices of sporting history will be hungrily received.
It is also vital never to forget that sport, in its essence, is for all of us to do, to enrich our lives and be healthy, not just to watch. Sport is central to British life, yet too often that means watching other people running around on TV. A staggering 80% of British people do not even manage moderate exercise (sadly, that includes walking) for half an hour three times a week. While elite sport swims in money and dices with the danger of drowning in it, heartbreakingly little emphasis is placed on helping ordinary people to take part, and creating decent facilities in which they can do it.
That challenge, of enabling more people to be involved in sport, not just to watch the soap opera of superstars at the top, will be meat and drink – if that is not completely the wrong phrase – to this blog.
So feel free, even ridiculously eager, to post your comments below, and I will join the debate below the line, as I believe smart, technically gifted young people call a blog-posting discussion, whenever I can. If you have stories or thoughts which you would prefer to send to me personally, please email me directly to david.conn@guardian.co.uk. I will respond.
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Chris Cook: Latest news and best bets, plus our daily tipping competition Continue reading...
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England's Under-18 team celebrate after beating Turkey in 1993 European Championships final. Photograph: Rui Vieira/EMPICS Sport
Rob Smyth: On a big day for the Under-21 side, we recall the last time England's kids won a Uefa tournament
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Kevin Mitchell: Ricky Hatton should listen to the people who care about him and have a long think about considering a return as a welterweight Continue reading...
Ricky Hatton lies on the canvas after being knocked out by Filipino Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images
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A picture of Ana Ivanovic for no good reason. Apart from the obvious one, of course. Photograph: Anja Niedringhaus/AP
Join Barney Ronay with all the latest updates, gossip, news and results from SW19
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Duncan Fletcher: Michael Vaughan had the rare ability to both win matches and save them as England captain Continue reading...
Former captain Michael Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher built a productive partnership at the head of the England team. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images
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Schalk Burger of South Africa should have been red carded in Saturday's Lions match. Photograph: Duif du Toit/Getty Images
Shaun Edwards: The practice should result in an instant red card regardless of how it changes the game
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Roger Federer, the King of Tennis. Photograph: Srdjan Suki/EPA
Martin Kelner: The BBC were mob-handed at both Wimbledon and Glastonbury, providing numerous opportunities for the irony of 'live coverage' of Michael Jackson's death
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