Author: rob (Page 10 of 38)

When Serena Williams lost at the US Open, falling short of the calendar Grand Slam, I was gutted. But on reflection, it’s a good thing: it stops Serena being called the greatest of all time without question, when she clearly isn’t (see below); and it’s a great reminder that upsets are key to sport. Without them, it’s dullsville.

Which brings us to the Rugby World Cup. An All Blacks victory is obviously the smart prediction, but the 2011 edition aside, it’s been a great world cup when New Zealand don’t win.

And so to Chelsea, whose title defence is already in ruins. Nobody saw that coming. You can’t win the season after five games – but can you lose it? I suspect so.

Read / click on for the best sports pieces of the last week or so. Continue reading

Something of a summer recap, this one, after a month’s break. Happy reading. Continue reading

Reasons to be down: Athletics doping, Beijing 2022. Reasons to be cheerful: The Ashes, not much else. Reasons to laugh: Norwegian golf course dirty protests. Sport Geek’s take on the week is below. Please feel free to share and spread the word.

OLYMPICS
Beijing will be the first city to host the summer and winter Olympics. That in itself should have been a big enough clue: there’s no snow. Of course, that isn’t the real problem: it’s the cost, not the climate. Plus human rights, of course. Although China’s pretty happy.

So the IOC will simplify the bidding process to prevent all these pull-outs in future. But while they are at it, why not scrap the hosting concept all together? Or just hand it to LA every time?

Meanwhile, don’t go into the Rio waters. And don’t start humming ‘Let it go‘ in China. Continue reading

Reasons to be down: Russian racism, Test cricket dying. Reasons to be cheerful: NFL’s first female coach, Chris Froome, Reasons to laugh: Fifa, angry caddy.  Sport Geek’s take on the week is below. Please feel free to share and spread the word. Continue reading

The golf was cold, the cycling was heated, and the cricket completely different to last time. Plus, (and you don’t get to write this every week), urine and cash have both been chucked about. Sport Geek’s take on the week is below. Please feel free to share and spread the word. Continue reading

Ashes in action, Wimbledon wrapped-up, plus lots of other great stories this week. Please feel free to share and spread the word. Continue reading

The best sports writing from the past week (or so).

WIMBLEDON
No predictions, they could all be wrong by the time you read this. Instead:

Player with a problem 1) Rafael Nadal. His loss to Dustin Brown was almost predicatable. Is this career end-game? Or time to sack uncle Toni and get a new coach?

Player with a problem 2) Nick Kyrgios. You can be the next superstar, but nobody likes a tanker.

Continue reading