Did I Leave The Iron On?
Created | Updated Mar 21, 2005
No Cricket This Week, I Promise
I took a week off last week because I was sick of writing about cricket all the time. It also gave me the opportunity to avoid making a ridiculously inaccurate prediction about the USPGA. Still, we have some real sport now in the shape of the Olympics. Unfortunately, this also seems to bring with it a crowd of cynics who believe that the Olympics is nothing more than a money-making exercise and that the spirit of competition is dead. Such people, I believe, have been listening to Sir Alex Ferguson.
At the time of writing, Britain's medal tally numbered precisely one
silver1, won by Leon Taylor and Peter Waterman (didn't he used to produce records?) in the 10m synchronised diving, an event that made surprisingly good TV. This in stark comparison to the swimming events, which are as dull as ditchwater2 and the men's gymnastics, which I have just sat through three hours of without getting even vaguely excited. Thankfully, it can be said. Nevertheless, future medal hopes look high in the sailing, where - as I write - we are ahead in 4 different classes3. Presumably by the time the Post comes out on Thursday, we will have lost them all, and the equestrianism as well4.
Here we go, Here we go, Here we go (again)
Yes, the groan of disbelief emanating from Odo's armchair can only mean that another season of Premiership football is underway. Big news
of the first weekend was Chelsea beating an increasingly lacklustre Man
Utd 1-0. Bolton looked red-hot as they ran over Charlton 4-1, and I'm
tipping them for a European place if they can get their act sorted out. The transfer markets have been crowded in the past couple of weeks and the words 'Oh! I didn't know he played for them, now' were heard up and down the country. From the dugout, in the case of less organised
teams.
Bigger news still: Match Of The Day is back! The BBC have once again claimed rights to broadcast Premiership highlights. And, to combat allegations that 'The Premiership' was big-three-centric, they are promising extended highlights and discussion of all Premiership matches
every Saturday. Not just recorded highlights with some ITV bod making
up the commentary as he goes along, 3 hours later. The first show of the season was built up brilliantly by some quality BBC trailers (one of the few things the BBC does really, really well at the minute), particularly amusing when you watch the lips of the 'bleeped' chap, who is clearly referring to some testicles. The opening was a bit ropey, with Gary doing a Crimewatch-style standing-up-to-the-camera segment, but before long it was back into swing. And by God, it's good to have Alan Hansen back. If the BBC can only find a decent foil - a successor to Jimmy Hill, if you will - MOTD could be competing with Sky Sports Soccer Saturday for the title of 'Best Football Programme'.
Best news of all in the new season is that Scunthorpe United, for whom this column is named of course, have gone the first three gamers
unbeaten and now sit proudly in Division Four. Division Four, you note,
not League Two. Taking my inspiration from the Times' Martin Smueal, I
am refusing to acknowledge the pathetic new Division titles, and will be referring in this column to the Premiership (which does mean first, after all), and Divisions 2, 3 and 4.
Olympics Again
Thankfully, by the time you read this, some athletics will have started5, so I won't be stuck all day watching shooting, cycling and judo (the latter of which I have no understanding whatsoever). British medal hopes are perilously slim on the track and field this year. Paula Radcliffe should get gold, and Kelly Holmes silver or bronze, but that really does look to be about it. Steve Backley is way out of form, Denise Lewis is recovering from injury, and everyone else is just not very good. One of the men's relay teams could scrape a bronze, but that really is about it. Our big medal hopes at this Games are in sailing and equestrianism, and as they finish in the first week, we might as well ship the team home this weekend6.
From the Ed...
Fun story of the week from the Olympics...
Although Olympic Beach Volleyball may not be quite as entertaining for the men as the topless variety once aired on Channel 4 it is still causing something of a stir. Two Norwegian girls have been severely chastised by IOC officials for displaying contraceptive patches on their shoulders. This, of course, breaks the 'no advertising' rules of the competition. This, alongside the number of condoms widely reported as being supplied to the Olympic village, begs the question; 'Are these the Olympics or the Sex Olympics?' One hopes that the girls can find a more subtle place to wear their protection...
Several A/K/A Random's 'sporting blues'
Greetings, AmSports fans! It's not just another week on the sporting scene, and I haven't looked up the results of the Flugtag, jump-in-Lake-Erie, event I mentioned last week. By now, anyone who cares knows Vijay Singh won the Professional Golfers' Association championship last weekend, with this weekend's golf at nearby Akron's fabled Firestone Golf Course here in Ohio.
You've got your saturation Olympic coverage all across the media, but there's this not-so-little story happening right in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario Street. The Cleveland Indians!
After boasting one of the best franchises in the American League during the post-WWII years, winning one league title and finishing second to the Noo Yawk Yankers five-of-six years, the Cleveland franchise fell into disrepair. A series of owners, not baseball people, who allowed the team to falter in their chase of the Almighty Dollar, trading off their best talent year after year and becoming baseball's laughingstock franchise in the 70s and 80s. The Indians were finally purchased in 1986 by a real-estate development millionaire, name of Richard Jacobs from the estate of the previous ownership's estate. (True story - the Indians were owned by a dead guy, and the team on the field reflected that.)
The Jacobs fought the political fight, got a new ballyard erected, reinvested in the scouting and development of young players coming out of high school and college and began a six-year run as a legitimate playoff contender from 1995 to 2001, with two World Series appearances in that span. Baseball was suddenly reborn in Cleveland; 455 consecutive sellout crowds of at least 41,000 spanning three-plus seasons made baseball special again.
But they became too much of a good thing ; too many older players commanding mucho dinero (that's $$$) for diminishing skills, and too few youngsters coming up. In the win-it-all-now atmosphere, many of today's stars (now playing for other teams) were traded away.
This week, however, we find the Cleveland Indians as one of the stories of the '04 season, challenging defending American Central division champ Minnesota in the last six weeks of the season and advancing to the top five of the final 'wild-card' playoff berth7.
The national media are beginning to take notice; all of MLB is beginning to take notice. The once moribund franchise, which had been reborn in the 90s, is again a bunch to be wary of, despite a group of has-been, never-was and rookie relief pitchers that wasted 25-of-48 late-game leads in April, through July. Remember that 'bullpen' I talked about previously? I thought you did.
Although Tribe fans still hold their collective breath in the 8th and 9th innings, the best-scoring team in MLB began the week just two games out of the division lead and 2.5 games behind Boston's Red Sox, Texas' Rangers and Anaheim's (California) Angels for the 'wild card' playoff berth.
Suffice to close by saying there are a lot of baseball fans who have 'Indian Fever' and fans in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, the Dominican and even Asia (as well as across the US) are wearing their cartoon 'Chief Wahoo' Cleveland Indians insignia and logging on to their computers in several time zones to follow the Tribe8.
And that's your Post AmSports report - the key matchup in baseball this weekend for many will be the three-game Cleveland-at-Minnesota series that will go far in determining playoff teams for the postseason. This is Several, a/k/a Random, pushing the deadline, over and out.
WAAAHOOOO!!!
Did I Leave The Iron On? Archive
Master B
with Several a.k.a. Random
