Tangerine Nightmares

In case you've been encased under a rock for the past week, you would know the Premier League season climaxed in dramatic fashion, in a day dubbed "survival Sunday". Wolves, Blackburn, Birmingham, Wigan and Blackpool were all scrapping for points in a last ditch attempt to secure thier status in the top flight of domestic football.

Twists and turns were aplenty, with all teams (bar Blackburn) all found themselves beneath the dreaded line at some point between 4pm and 5.50. In the end, Brimingham found themselves relegated, to the surprise of many, after they lifted the Carling Cup no less than 3 months earlier. Blackpool, joined the "Bluenoses" in the Championship next year, to the disappointment of many, who had all found comfortable seats aboard the "Ian Holloway bandwagon". Now, for my unpopular opinion, which has already been castigated by those blinded by their feeling for 'Ollie.  "Ian Holloway is the primary responsibility for Blackpool getting relegated"

Before the angry mob start rallying to my door, let me explain. Several times this season, the "Tangerine Army" have lost points from positions, where it's almost unfathomable to lose them from. Here are some games this season they have blown, which could of won them crucial points.

Blackpool 2-3 Manchester United

With 'Pool 2-0 up, and dominating the league leaders the half time whistle was the beginning of a spiral towards the lower reaches of the table. Blackpool were astoundingly high in the table before christmas, and the second half meltdown to United showed the mental fragility on display here foreshadowed what was coming.

Backburn 2-2 Blackpool

Blackpool were 2-0 up at Ewood Park and were in cruise control, before two late goals had the police in Blackburn for the daylight robbery of 2 points. The game was won, and again, defensive lapses cost them precious points, which in the end haunted them.

Everton 5-3 Blackpool

Another away day in Lancashire which turned sour for Blackpool late on. 3-2 with just 14 minutes remaining, Everton just ran riot on the feable defence of Blackpool. Louis Saha with 4 goals, was the icing atop the metaphorical cake.

Manchester United 4-2 Blackpool

Now, with the whole season on the line, the "tangerine dream" were 2-1 up at the champions with over an hour gone. When Manchester United equalised through, the game was a foregone conclusion. Another away day hoodoo, and ultimately condemned them to away trips to Doncaster and Brighton rather than Arsenal and Chelsea.

One thing these games all have in common. Ian Holloway's cavalier tactics, regardless of score, time or situation cost them dearly. Alot of late goals were scored against them when they had the whole midfield tracking back from the oppositions half (8 players for Man Utd equaliser at Old Trafford were trackingback when the goal went in). Holloway cost Blackpool a minumum of 10 points with these cavalier tactics, and although he may have turned a few draws into wins, their is no logic to commiting dangerous amounts of men forward, when the games is comfortably under their control.

So, although Holloway did great to get them into the Premier League, and even better to keep them in contention to survive in it, i feel Holloway needed to realise, defensively, the team was far too weak, and with the amount of goals they scored (55 - most ever by a relegated team), the team needed numbers in defence to prevent all the late slip-ups.

Unfortunately, with talisman Charlie Adam leaving, and the media coverage inevitably dwindling, we will now see Blackpool sink back into mid table anonymity in the Championship.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Play in the Dragons lair, you'll get burnt...sometimes

Since the draw for the 2012 European Championships qualification groups saw England and Wales squaring off, only one game has been on the minds of the entire nation of Wales. After a battling defeat in Montenegro was, the John Toshack era was finally put to a halt. For years, Toshack had been building the foundations for a good young team, playing players like Lewin Nyatanga, Chris Gunter and Wayne Hennessey before they'd estabilshed themselves at their respective clubs. However after two apalling qualifying campaigns (Euro 2008 & World Cup 2010), a poor result to start the third campaign was the final straw for everyone involved.

After Toshack's departure, Brian Flynn took temprary charge for the following qualifiers, which resulted in a 4-1 demoliton in Switzerland and a 1-0 humbling defeat against a weakened Bulgaria, in the first competetive international played outside the Millenium stadium in over a decade. The fall from grace Welsh football had undergone since the "Mark Hughes era" (when sellouts of 75,000 were commonplace, even against Azerbaijan). From being within one game of Euro 2004, Wales now find themselves outside the worlds top 100.

On Saturday though, form, reputation undoubtedly all go out the window when the Welsh dragon entertains the "Three Lions" in a clash of "home nations". With me supporting Wales internationally (although unlike most Wales fans, don't have the intense hatred of England, due to half my famiily being English), the week in the build-up to the game has been fuelled by KG type trash-talk and false optmism on both sides.

However, waking up yesterday, signing into facebook and seeing that my friend Jamie had posted a link on my wall which was titled "Bale out injured for the England game". The news, met with a patented facepalm, and the optmism being sucked away, flooding out early like a Wigan Warriors rugby league (only stadium with an "early exit door"). Wales beating England without Bale, isn't dissimilar to England beating Germany without Rooney (and given that they got mauled 4-1 with him), it's not surprising you can get 6/1 on a Wales win in some bookmakers.

With the Millenium finally encountering a sellout, for the first since, i think, the last England game in 2005, where a very fortunate deflection helped Joe Cole's effort find the net in a 1-0 win for the English. Since then however, undoubtedly the England team has regressed, a failure to qualify for Euro 2008 was met with Steve McLaren's sacking. Fabio Capello, or "Postman Pat" as my buddy Lewis calls him, flew in fromItaly to take the job, looking like an accomplished mafia boss, with an aura of confidence and expectation, all that went the same way as my optmism and Wigan's fans when we all realised , he couldn't speak English.

Although not a problem in qualifying knocking off Kazakhatan, Croatia amongst others, when the England players were together for an extended period, to say it was a nightmare doesn't do it justice. It made Elm Street look like a regular suburban street. The squad claimed they were bored for long periods, and lethargic performances, calamitous goalkeeping and a foul-mouthed Wayne Rooney tirade all added up to a 2nd round humiliation from the old enemy. The memorable momens of this game to me, are when Tomas Mueller made it 4-1, about 20% of the pub dispersed, then when Heskey was introduced to the game, where the team was chasing goals, anoth 30% left. Leaving a once electric pub looking like the scene from "Scrubs" after Laverne dies.

To the present day however, with the main threat of Bale gone, the midfied pairing of Joe Ledley and the new captain Aaron Ramsey will need to be main source of creativity and will need to match Scott Parker and Jack Wilshere step-for-step. Scoring goals has been Wales achilles heel for a few years now, since John Hartson left the international scene, but now, with stalwart Craig Bellamy and Millwall's rising star Steve Morison, Wales may have their best strike force since 2004.

New Wales gaffer, Gary Speed, knows that this will be the best way to announce his return to the Welsh set-up, Speed, who was capped over 80 times for Wales, took the job, leaving his post at Sheffield United. Speed, if he didn;t know already, saw the mammoth size of the task aahead when Wales were thrashed 3-0 by the Republic Of Ireland in the first game of the Carling Four nations tournament (football's wrong answer to rugby's six nations).

For Wales, a recreation of the Italy game from 2002 (yes, we are going back that far) will be needed to pull off this herculean task. When Wales beat Italy 2-1 (best Wales game i've ever been to) with a selection of Premier League players and Championship players met Champions League and Uefa Cup.

For Wales, they will always be the underdog when the "big brother comes to town", but Eli has won as many rings as Peyton, Phil has outplayed Gary (whose finally retired) since Phil moved to Everton.

The little brother has his moment... and the dragon has new fire.

Are sportsmen stupid, or just ignorant?

Gary Neville, Robbie Savage and Sol Campbell. Three players who among the widespread football community, suffer from a complete lack of popularity. Whether it be due to their style of play (Neville), the way they embrace the role of the villain, and act like the"wind-up merchant"(Savage). Or Campbell, whose acrimonious departue from Tottenham to North London neighbours Arsenal, or that leaving Arsenal to play "abroad" ended up with him playing in Portsmouth. Suing Portsmouth when they had no money to pay him his "image rights". Campbell has displayed a petulant, irresponsible attitude on several occasions in his career, the Portsmotuh fiasco, like kicking a dog when it's on down, was a real middle finger to a club that had supported him.

With good reason, these three men are unpopular, and in the eyes of the general public, these athletes are villified more than their colleagues Steven Gerrard, and Lee Hughes, to use as examples. Gerrard, whose nightclub assault on a DJ who didn;t succumb to his request to have control on the music played was well documented. With the CCTV of the incident that was distributed and the pictures of the victm did show the severity of this mans injury. After pleading not guilty, claiming self-defence (whereas the 2 other charged pleaded guilty) the case was dropped and no charges were made. Not a story you want an MBE to be apart of. In my mind, not enough was made of the arrogance of Gerrard to react in themanner he did at being told "no", it showed the pedestal elite sportsman are placed, a bulletproof pedestal, where they cannot be touched.

Hughes, now playing for Notts County in League 1, was involved in a car accident during the 2003-04 season. Hughes, accused of "callous disregard" for other people, and allegedly fleeing the scene, which killed the driver of the other vehicle was rumoured to have been under the influence at the time of the crash. Hughes was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, which he served less than 3 years of before release. Hughes, when leaving prison, joined Oldham Athletic and resumed a once promising football career. As a supporter of everyone earning a second chance, I don't feel that this should be totally forgotten, as it seems like it has. I fail to see how somebody like this isn't criticised in the media as heavily as somebody like Robbie Savage, whose off-field record in pristine.

In Britian,  "professional footballer" is the occupation most often charged with driving offences. Not a stat ti make pleasant reading for these so called role models.

It's not just here where DUI's are an issue with athletes. Across the pond, our transatlantic cousins have their share of incidents. The main culprit of this has been Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, who the night before the Tigers one game play-off in Minnesota, was charged with a DUI, and allegedly striking his wife. With baseball mourning the passing of young Anaheim Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart just a few months earlier, who was the victm of a drunk driver. Cabrera issued his apology and after an off-season of getting "clean" he bounced back to have a "career year" this past season.

With that in mind, and Cabrera's past misdemeanours apart of the past, the news that he was stopped in Florida with an astronomical blood alcohol level sent shockwaves rippling through the U.S media. However after a few days of intense reporting, a new story emerged: Charlie Sheen.

Sheen, the latest Hollywood star to suffer, what now must be considered, the sociological cliche of the "mental breakdown". Everyones favourite "warlock" went on a critical rampage of all "them" that were against him, and expressed his anger through his UStream show "Sheen's Korner". Sheen's attitude and fall from grace was met judgemental dissections of his character and mental fragility.

The Cabrera story was then met with apathy, despite the fact that getting into a car drunk endangers all people on the roads near him, and civillians, Cabrera wasn't nearly as villified as Sheen, whose strange ranting, peculiar metaphors and recreational drug use were seen as more newsworthy. The fact that the only person Sheen is a threat to is Sheen himself shou;d've been confirmed when videos like this were made. (Let it be known, that i think Sheen is a cultural icon, and although most breakdowns are dull, this is the best since Britney)

Having Tiger Blood is now worse than having a high Blood Alcohol.

Althought DUI's are a high issue and the most serious in the contemporary sporting world, there's been someone else whose irked me, but this time with ignorant comments. Adrian Peterson.

"Does he look like a slave to you?"

Now, anyone with a working knowlede of the NFL knows of the ongoing lockout. As of now, the season isn't scheduled to start, so the players won't be getting their obscene salries whilst the lockout is in effect. Peterson, with that in mind, described being an NFL player as "modern day slavery", because a salary a clip under $11 million, before bonuses, endorsements and sponsorship deals. Not to mention the free college education when being awarded his scholarhsip. Slavery is playing the game you've loved and played since you were a young boy. 

Without turning this into a race issue, given that Peterson, an African American would make such outlandish comments considering the days of slavery, and apartheid. If he ever read about slavery, if he ever listened to Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, etc he would know what slavery was. My job, I work in a basement with dim lights, heating only comes on 2 hours into my shift and it's early starts (6am), and I find myself quite lucky to be in employment (given that by 2013 5 million Britons won't be). To put it into, perspective, it would take me about 9 years to earn what Peterson earns in a week.

Peterson said "without us (the players)- there's no football". Maybe the owners could trade some common sense and morlaity to him in exchange for Football, because it seems he;s lacking it. Given that Japan has just an earthquake that nearly hit 9 on the richter scale. That in America people still live in poverty, and have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet and put food on the table. Peterson should look in the mirror, see how blessed he is to be in his position and apologise for how ridiculous his comments were, if not for Jedward speaking on ITV2 last night, it would be the most ridiculous thing i'd heard in weeks.

If there's no football, his some off-season training for Peterson: Watch Roots. Then tell Yahoo if what you do is slavery.



The 5 highlights of my sporting calendar.

With "March Madness", baseball season just around the corner, the football season winding down and the NBA and NHL playoffs lurking, March, April and May may well be the 3 best months of sporton the calendar. With that in mind, I set my mind to listing my 5 favourite events on the sporting calendar.

5) At the foot of my list, I was debating whether the NBA playoffs or NHL were more etched in my mind. After much deliberation, the NBA Playoffs are certainly more often at the forefront of my mind come late June/July. With football season over, Baseball season still waking up, the Celtics have annually kept me tuned into basketball deep into the postseason, with fascinating 7 game series. Although their are more upsets, 7 game series and drama in the NHL playoffs, the Bruins are on the receiving end of it more than dishing it out.

"Come on Tim"

4) For 2 weeks in the summer, the sun is shining, birds are chirping and for a fortnight, Britons give Tennis more than a passing interest. That's right at four, it's Wimbledon.  The summer of my childhood consisted of staying out alot later, because it was lighter, Big Brother was on the T.V (guilty pleasure, don't judge me) and for 2 weeks, i rabidly cheered for Tim Henman to win Wimbledon. Every year we were disappointed, but every year, whether playing well, or struggling Henman without fail managed to make it into the second week, and without fail managed to inexplicably fail just when the country is in Tennis euphoria. Henman made a habit of always being the bridesmaid, never the bride, but for how he captivated the British public for a small period of time every summer, he should be held in higher esteem than he is.

3) For 3 weeks every year, the NCAA Tournament takes centre stage. The unique set-up of the tournamnet (a 68 team knock-out) is gripping and creates tension, suspense and drama all in one. With games thick and fast and cinderella stories, big teams losing to the underdog and 3 weeks of Dick Vitale on commentary. It's sporting bliss. No doubt over the next 3 weeks, we will see buzzer-beaters, tears of joy/despair. The drama, upsets and crowd make the Tournament a daily F.A Cup. However, the best part of the whole of "March Madness" is predicting and following your bracket (you'll see my dismal attempt in the near future), with prizes, money etc to be won, over a million people will submit brackets on ESPN alone over the next 3 days.

"The Vince Lombardi Trophy"

2) The greatest event on the North American sporting calendar, the Superbowl. The Superbowl as an event is usually the most wached sporting event of the year (flip-flopping with the Champions League final the last few years). The difference between the Superbowl and the World Series to me, is that since 2007, I have watched 2 World Series ('07 &10), as I had minimal interest in watching the Phillies, and even less interest in the Yankees. The two of them are like the two bullies at school fighting each other, you want both of them to get beaten up and lose, but can't resign yourself to the fact that one will win and their ego (in this case, fans ego's) skrocket to biblical heights.

Every year, the superbowl is on in my house, and every year there's an increasing number of people i know who watch and enjoy the "greatest show on earth" . Despite my 49ers being nowhere near the superbowl, every year, it seems to be 2 different teams, a different winner. The NFL's parity and salary cap make it the most balanced and arguably most entertaining league in any sport.

1) The perfect sporting event requires a monumental helping of tension, pressure and a reward at the end worth winning. The perfect sporting event needs to have you feeling like you're in the middle of two people having a huge row in a public place, where you fell all the tension in the room, where you are glued to the situation, and can't turn away. The perfect sporting event, is the Football League/Conference Playoffs. The drama of the two-legged semi finals is unrivalled in sport, the rewards so high, losing meaning the end of the season. Whether observing as a neutral or if your team is a part of it, the playoffs are something to be  apart of every year. 4 years ago i witnessed my team, Oxford United lose to Exeter City on penalties after a two-legged semi-final. A feeling of bitterness to the opponent, anger towards...well everything, and a feeling of emptiness.

After that description, whats to love. Well last summer, I was on the other side of the playoff coin, witnessing Oxford defeat Rushden 2-0 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, to secure a trip to the (new) home of English football, Wembley. At Wembley, nerves unrivalled, unmatched and unbeleivable, I saw my team beat York City and return to the Football League. A feeling every football fan should feel is the pain of relegation, the despair of missing out on promotion, but every fan like me, Blackpool, Millwall and Dagenham fans all did last year.



That's why for me, the playoffs are the greatest moment on the sporting calendar, every year.

The Big Green Machine mid-term report



"The Garnett D-Face"



With last season well and truly in the books, the Lakers raising another banner with their 4th quarter comeback in game 7 against the Celtics. A heartbreaking, painful loss for the Celtics led to the off-season months become a summer of lamenting various aspects of the 7th game of the NBA finals. Pau Gasol had 12 offensive rebounds, a stat which could’ve been avoided if Kendrick Perkins hadn’t torn his ACL in game 6.

With that firmly stacked in the minds of all Celtics players and coaches, the season started with only one thing on the mind of everyone. “Win the NBA championship”. Since the 1980’s, the NBA has undergone a paradigm shift in regards from the once dominant Celtics taking a backseat to the dynasties seen from the Bulls, Lakers and San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics finally put themselves back on the map in 2008 however when with the additions of Kevin Garnett, an intense, defensive leader and 3 point marksman Ray Allen. With the 2 new Celtics joining stalwart Paul Pierce forming the “Big 3”.

After injuries disrupted the team in 2009 and a terrible second half to the regular season (27-27 after a 23-5 start) the Celtics hit a purple patch and went on an unexpected and spirited run to the finals, before succumbing to the Lakers who avenged their 2008 finals loss. The run to the finals, reminiscent of a Rocky type revival after being beaten for 14 rounds, the playoffs were the Celtics 15th round, only with a Rocky 1 ending.

Moving on swiftly to this season, and the media crowning the newly formed “Big 3” at the Miami Heat champions before they even set foot on the court. No point guard and no centre, but comparisons to the ’96 Bulls were rife. With the Celtics and Heat meeting on opening night, it was the C’s first chance to show that they were still the team to beat in the East. Celtics won the game, limiting the Heat to 9 first quarter points before storming to comfortable win to kick the season off.

Since opening night, the Celtics have performed at a consistently high level, with ESPN columnists saying “right now, nobody could take more than 1 game of the Celtics in a 7 game series". With a 40-14 record heading into the All-Star break, tied with the Heat for the best record in the East, there are some defining reasons why the Celtics should be considered favourites to win the NBA championship this season.


• Rajon Rondo is playing with John Stockton like vision. His stat line reads 11 PPG and 12.4 APG. The elevation of Rondo’s game to an elite level has made him the focal point of the Celtics. He’s sitting atop the tree with Derrick Rose, Chris Paul and Deron Williams as the premier point guard in the game. He also has a FG% above 50, showing his critics that all facets of his game are constantly improving.

• Kevin Garnett is playing with similar defensive intensity as seen in the 2008 title run. “The Garnett D-face” is frequenting the basketball court more often, and his leadership has the Celtics as the best defensive team in the league.

• The deeper rotation at Centre no longer holds the Celtics susceptible to 1 injury giving them such an aerial disadvantage on the glass. With Kendrick Perkins now back playing, Jermaine O’Neal expected back later in the season, “The Big Shamrock” Shaquille O’Neal rolling back the years with his performances this year. If 3 deep wasn’t enough, the rookie, Semih Erden out of Turkey has filled in with important minutes when needed. The formidable rotation means their bigs can match up with most teams, if not all.


• The play of “Big Baby” Glen Davis has him firmly in the running for “Sixth man of the year”. The 3 year Davis is averaging a tick under 11 points off the bench, with 5 rebounds. His ability to take charging fouls has been a constant source of momentum for the Celtics on defence. With the abilty to play at the 3,4 or Center when the Celtics play small, his versatility is proving invaluable and will be valuable downs the stretch and in the postseason.

The most encouraging stat of all as a Celtics fan for me, is their record against the other teams considered to be contenders.


Against the other top seeds in the East, the Celtics hold a 7-3 advantage. A 3-0 head-to-head record against the Miami Heat, a 2-2 record with the Bulls and a 2-1 record over the Orlando Magic has displayed the Celtics superiority over all the East’s contenders. A 6-0 home record over the 3 aforementioned team increases the necessity to secure home court advantage in the playoffs.


With the Lakers struggling mightily (losing to the lowly Cavs last night), the home advantage over other contenders and unrivalled team spirit. The concept of the “Big Green Machine” winning and raising their 18th banner is a concept to start believing in.



* The Celtics are also a part of an ESPN series throughout the duration of the season called “The Association”. A 6 part series, the first two can be viewed here.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4678578/the-association-episode-1

The 5 greatest sporting "chokejobs"

A “sporting choke” is when an individual/team taste certain victory before inexpliciably falling victm to the pressure and intensity of the situation around, which in turn finds them with an all expenses paid ticket into sporting infamy. Below are some of the criteria I looked at when selecting 5 of the best examples of sporting collapses.

Blame for the team relinquishing the lead must be level with the team performing the comeback.



The game must have important consequences, if Thurrock come from 3-0 down against Scunthorpe in a pre-season friendly, it doesn’t qualify.

It must be vividly remembered by both sets of supporters and neutrals, and be a landmark in their respective sports.



1) Newcastle United 4-4 Arsenal – Premier Division. February 5th 2011

Number 1 on our list is one of the most recent additions to the pantheon of sporting howlers. Just 9 days ago (5th February) Arsenal raced into a 3-0 lead at St. James Park leaving the “Toon Army” bemused, confused, and not that amused as the Gunners sliced them open like a hot knife through butter in the early proceedings. Dutch striker Robin Van Persie made it 4-0 after just 26 minutes, and with Arsenal looking in irresistible form, Geordies began spraying through the exits and back to the comfy surroundings of their sofas.

Arsenal were deservedly reduced to 10 men shortly after the break, but even with that less man, still held what would seem to be an unassailable lead.. The game looked like petering out into a less than entertaining second half until Joey Barton converted from the spot with 22 minutes remaining. With Newcastle selling Andy Carrol earlier in the week, Shola Ameobi being injured and them being down to the proverbial bare bones in the striking department, thoughts of a comeback seemed redundant.

Leon Best, by name, probably not by nature doubled Newcastle’s tally, reduced the deficit to 2, which in light of day, was a similar deficit to that of the American economy in the grand scheme of things. However when Barton slotted home his second penalty of the game with 7 minutes remaining, the Geordie faithful that had stayed to the end, were revelling in what to many seemed to be some sort of unfathomable twilight zone.

Shock and Euphoria arrived when Check Tiote sent Wosjech Szczeney sprawling across his line, beating him all ends up with a delightful 25 yard volley with still 3 minutes of regulation to be played. St James Park turned into a euphoric arena of jubilant barcodes all suffering from a concoction of shock and adrenaline. Arsene Wenger on the other hand didn’t see the red card incident, just for good measure.

2) Greg Norman 1996 Masters.

To many, Jean Van de Velde was the worst golfing collapse. The Frenchman needed only to card a double bogey 6 on the 18th green at Carnoustie to land the ’99 British Open. Van de Velde remarkably putted, eventually with a triple bogey, before losing to Paul Lawrie in 4 hole playoff. Although an unbelievable piece of gagging from Van de Velde, it was only one hole he managed to lose the plot on.

“The great white shark” Greg Norman, leading by 6 shots heading into the final round at Augusta in ’96 with a six shot lead, looking to just consolidate with a solid round then try on his new green jacket. As the old saying goes, “easier said than done”. For 8 holes, he was sailing along, with a victory almost seeming a formality. Then through holes 9-12, Norman dropped 5 shots (bogey, bogey, bogey, double bogey), to become a member of the pantheon of sporting collapses.

On hole 16, Norman’s tee shot found water, eliminating any chance of Norman winning the aforementioned jacket.

3) San Francisco 49ers 39-38 New York Giants – NFC Divisional Playoff 2002 season

To many, this is the second greatest comeback in the Nfl, behind the Oilers-Bills game in 1992. However with the lack of time left when the comeback began, I personally feel that this comeback showed the frailties in the Giants defence, and orchestrated a “choke” worthy of gracing any list like this.

The Giants, behind Quarterback Kerry Collins, were dissecting the 49er defence. Collins threw for 4 touchdowns in the first half alone, and amasses nearly 350 yards in the aerial domination they were experiencing in the early goings. At the half, the Giants led 28-14. 10 points unanswered to start the 3rd quarter had the Giants in an enviable position, roasting the 49ers in front of their home crowd.

With 3 minutes of the third (quarter) remaining, Jeff Garcia hit Terrell Owens with a 26 yard pass to make the score 38-22 (2point conversion) heading into the final quarter. The final quarter, Jeff Garcia demonstrated Montana-esque poise and presence, whether he was passing in the pocket or on the move. He even ran in for a 14 yard score before hitting Owens again (this is when he was actually good without being a d*ck). 38-30. Jeff Chandler hit a 25 yard chip shot to make it 33-38 with time rapidly running down.

With an Elway like 2 minute drill, 9 plays, 68 yards, Garcia had the Giants defence chasing shadows as he sprayed the ball around, before the drive ended with former 1st round draft choice Tai Streets catching a 13 yard pass. The 2pt attempt failed, leaving the score 39-38.

When I watched this game live on my T.V, staying up until past midnight like a rebellious pre-teen, I remember the Giants final drive being somewhat of a blur. All I remember is the Giants having a field goal attempt, it missing, and me feeling the relief , like when your playstation crashes, but recovers, that relief.

The 49ers rallied off 25 unanswered points to win, landing the Giants defence a spot in “choking” folklore.

4) Tottenham Hotspur 3-4 Manchester City – FA Cup 4th round 2004

This is my favourite ever football match as a neutral, to clear that up early. At half time I was tempted to switch channels and watch some generic cartoon on Nickelodeon. However, not doing that, to this day, remains near the tope of great decisions I’ve made.

Two minutes in, Ledley King (pre-knee troubles) opened the scoring. Just before the 20 minute mark Robbie Keane doubled the lead and put Spurs well and truly in the drivers seat. Just before half-time, Christian Ziege scored a truly wonderful free-kick to all intents and purposes, kill the game off. The first half had been a total mismatch, and too make matter worse, on the stroke of half-time, Joey Barton was dismissed for dissent.

Three minutes after the restart, Sylvain Distin gave City a glimmer of hope. For 20 minutes the game seems to have fallen into a lull. Paul Bosvelt then kep people tuning in to the telecast as his shot took a wicked deflection to make the game 302 with just over 20 minutes to go.

With 10 minutes to go Shaun Wright-Phillips scored a magical goal to level the scores and force White Hart Lane into stunned silence, a kind of silence at a aprty when someone tells an distasteful joke and everyone reacts with shock and are clueless how to respond.

The final nail in the coffin for Spurs was deep into stoppage time when Jonathan Macken, who usually was as useful as Ledley King’s knees propped up to a header away before wheeling off in ecstasy and securing Man City’s path to the next round fo the cup and making them comeback kings at the same time.

5) Boston Red Sox 4-3 New York Yankees – 2004 ALCS Best of 7 series

Take into account he contrasting fortunes of these two hated rivals. The Yankees have 27 championships, the Red Sox hadn’t won one for 86 years. The Yankees spent tens of millions more than any other franchise. The Yankees beat the Red Sox at the same point of the season 1 year previous.

With all that said, across a 7 game series, there are only so many times you can watch Aaron Boone’s grand slam before wanting him to get hurt. Only so many times you can listen to Joe Buck form a love-in for Derek Jeter. Watching A-Rod cheat in various ways, on and off the field. Eventually fortunes had to change.

The first two games of the series were what Yankees called the usual. Build a lead, inning wind down. Rivera gets a save. Game three was 19-8 to the Yankees. ‘Nuff said. 3-0 down to the Yankees, no way back , right? Bob Ryan thought so.

“They are down, 3–0, after last night's 19–8 rout, and, in this sport, that is an official death sentence. Soon it will be over, and we will spend another dreary winter lamenting this and lamenting that”

To quote the monstrosity that is the Farrelly brother “fever pitch”. This is the story of what happened next as the Yankees tried to close game 4 and the series, through until the end.

“Rivera walks Millar.. Roberts pinch runs and steals second..Mueller drives him in. Ortiz in extra Innings. Ortiz in extra innings the next night. Schilling’s bloody sock in New York…Lowe and Pedro find their form..Damon grand slammy in game 7..bye bye Bambino”

To be 3-0 up in games, and then reel off 4 sub-par performances, and losing 2 at home to end it undoubtedly is the worst choke job of all time. It was such a bad gag that if it had to be given a face, it would be Luca Brasi in his death scene in “The Godfather” (see picture)

Those are the five sporting collapses I see as the most iconic/embarassing/noteworthy.

Over a course of a season however, Newcastle blowing their 10 point lead in the Premier League would be considered to be entered instead, and Keegan would “love it, love it”

Transfer Window in review.

On the timeline, annually wedged between Katie Price’s latest divorce and the Superbowl, is the Transfer deadline day. Twice a season (end of August and end of January), teams attempt to beat the deadline to seal the signature of their desired players. Often when we get closer and closer to the deadline, clubs begin to panic and anyone with a notepad is considered a noteworthy source. Rumours become rife, fans become nervous, and Sky Sports News become the reincarnation of Mecca just for one day.

This year was no different to the norm, for the first four weeks of the “window”, high profile transfers were seldom, until Darren Bent joined Aston Villa for a fee of around £18Million. Little did we know, that less than 2 weeks later, 18 million would look like one of the bargains of the month. For the first 30 days, fans fed purely of speculation, before deadline day really gave them a meal to chew on.

The day itself is almost like a national holiday, if you are unfortunate enough to be at work, BBC sport becomes the office’s most sought after website, trying to get glimpse of the latest rumblings like boisterous teenagers bustling for autographs. For those not at work, you, at some point will start watching a T.V, and then be set for the rest of the afternoon/evening. The three rumours carrying weight as the day progressed were Fernando Torres, Andy Caroll and Charlie Adam, the latter linked with pretty much every club between here and Saudi Arabia.

I, spent the day at the pub, where the contrasting of emotions was really a sight to behold. On one side we had my friend Ben, who was bouncing around like a Jack in the Box on speed, bellowing “Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s Number 9” and my buddy Dan, a Newcastle fan, who became more and sarcastic and downbeat, lamenting every waking moment as time progressed and learning that Andy Carroll was finalizing a move to Liverpool. For him, it was the trademark “five stages of grief”, only when acceptance was finally reached, the latest murmurings were Newcastle looking to replace Carroll with Carlton Cole. I think that sent him back to stage 2 (anger) with a flourish, much to my amusement.

In the end both transfers, were completed, with a combined amount of 85million being spent on them. Charlie Adam somehow stayed at Blackpool, with the Tangerine Dream fighting off interest from Liverpool, Villa, Man United and Spurs.


3 Teams who benefitted from the window.

Aston Villa – Signing a player with 82 goals in 5 years, only trailing Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney, whilst a player who has played just 20 Premier League games signs elsewhere for nearly double the price, the Darren Bent deal is looking like some shrewd business. Add the loan signing on Michael Bradley to the equation, and Villa are more than equipped to survive and probably finish a lot higher than anticipated.

West Ham – Not only have the Hammers bolstered the strength of there starting 11, there squad and there chances of survival, they did it predominantly on loan deals. The highlight of their signings was forward Robbie Keane, Ireland’s all-time record goalscorer, once a 20 million pound player, but found himself collecting dust like an old Donny Osmond record at Tottenham since returning to the club from Liverpool. Add to Keane an accomplished left back in Wayne Bridge and Middlesbrough midfielder Gary O’Neill and West Ham had one of the best months of anybody.

Liverpool – Fernando Torres is Liverpool’s most dangerous striker since Michael Owen was bursting onto the scene. Torres since he joined Liverpool was a goal threat with every game. He scored against Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal. When the big games came about, Torres raised his game to another level, a Michael Jordan-esque type of ability.

However, over the least year, fitness, attitude and form have all eluded Torres, who has now had a bust up with three managers in that span (Benitez, Hodgson, Del Bosque). So when a Premier League record bid appeared through the fax machine, it’s no surprise Kenny Dalglish and owner John W.Henry approved of the deal. An acrimonious departure for Torres, who spent a few good years at Anfield, but like David Brent in “The Office”, his ego just go to much to handle.

Replacing Torres, and taking his number 9 shirt is Andy Carroll, a big, physical target man, who can also play with the ball at his feet. A goalscoring threat with 11 already this season, and joining with a hefty price tag, will be looking for an instantaneous impact when Liverpool play Chelsea on Sunday.

One criticism of Liverpool of nearly 2 years is that they only had one proven striker at the club, and with Torres gone and Carrol in, Dalglish was not about to fall victim to that trap again, as he signed Uruguayan striker, and part time goalkeeper Luis Suarez to a 23 million pound deal. Suarez, who put up video game type stats in the Dutch Eredivisie comes to England with Liverpool fans hoping his impact is more on par with Ruud Van Nistelrooy than Afonso Alves.

3 teams who suffered from the window.

Wigan Athletic – You have to ask the question, what were Wigan thinking? They loan out 6 million pound striker Mauro Boselli, who granted has been the worst signing in the premier league this season, but alas, is still a striker. Then replacing him with nobody. If you had a Ferrari and a Metro on your drive and sold the Ferrari, who would drive the metro? You would buy a new car. Of course, for one second I’m not insinuating Mauro Boselli is the football equivalent to a Ferrari. He’s more of an overpriced Ford with a broken engine. Wigan look doomed for the drop now, and only have themselves to blame.

Arsenal – Don’t get me wrong, Arsenal are having a fantastic season, performing admirably in all competitions. They are on the cusp of their first bit of silverware (Emirates cup does not, will not and never will count) in 5 years, are 2nd in the premiership, and finely poised in the Fa Cup. So why didn’t they strengthen when they had the chance. With Thomas Vermaelen out of action for maybe 2 more months yet, Andrey Arshavin’s form plummeting lower than the underground and Robin Van Persie always one challenge away from 5 months out, it seemed logical to at least bring in cover. Arsenal this season have their best chance of landing the title since Eduardo broke his ankle at St Andrews and Arsene Wenger decided to focus on teams tackling too hard for the next 2 years, despite Arsenal having more sendgins off than any other team since he joined in 1996, and him once having a midfield consisting of Vieira and Petit, but I digress.

This Window should of seen Arsenal showing a statement of intent, perhaps signing Bolton’s young centre back Gary Cahill to name a name. I feel Arsenal May have missed the boat now in this window to really pursue the title, and have left it firmly within Alex Fergusons grasp.

Newcastle – As much as I think it was the right decision to sell Andy Caroll, especially at the heavily inflated price they did, the barcodes have now left themselves short of options up front, and may be forced into starting Shola Ameobi in a lot more games than expected for the rest of the season. Although they have had a good, solid start to the season, the lack of firepower Newcastle now have, and the reliance on Kevin Nolan to become their Steven Gerrard could see Newcastle slip back into a dogfight, and not a Michael Vick type dogfight. If Newcastle survive, then selling Carrol was the right thing to do.

Mid season awards.

MVP/Player of the Year – Dimitar Berbatov – Wayne Rooney has spent this season in Brothels, America and anonymous, having been a total non-entity for United, they have been reliant on the resurgence of the Bulgarian Berbatov. Known for his lazy play, Berbatov seems to be playing with an extra spring in his step, reminiscent of his Tottenham days. He also has bagged 4 hat tricks, which definitely swayed it into his
Favour.

Honourable mentions – Joe Hart, Samir Nasri and Luka Modric.

Manager of the year – Ian Holloway – Look at the league table. Then look at his squad of players. Then look at the league table again. Tell me how he has managed that. He also has shown he won’t shy away from his attacking style and is always reliable for a witty press conference.

Signing of the season – Peter Odemwingie – Coming over to West Brom from Lokomotiv Moscow, Odemwingie has scored goals and terrorised full backs for the early part of the campaign. His from has been stagnant of late, but was a major contributor to the Baggies strong start.

Worst signing – Mauro Boselli - £6million for 1 goal in the league cup.

Predictions.

Top 4

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City

Europa League

Tottenham and Liverpool

Relegation

Wolves, West Brom and Wigan

Championship promotion

Queens Park Rangers, Nottingham Forest and Swansea City.

*Prediction guaranteed to be right. (until May)

The 4 types of drug cheats.

One of the biggest sporting controversies, especially in the last decade, is the use of performance enhancing drugs. A variety of sports have been affected by drug cheats, and identifying the athletes that were apart of the small selection that did dope, and reprimanding them. The punishments for substance abuse differs tremendously across different sports. Whether it is the 2 year ban in Athletics, or facing federal charges for perjury. Identifying drug cheats has become a game of guess who, and I’m going to identify the different groups of these athletes.

1) The “you cheated, we know you cheated, you know you cheated, can you just admit it please”.

This group, to give it a shorter term, will now be branded “The Bonds/Clemens paradigm”. This group of athletes are the ones who have yet to be indicted of taking PED’s, but the majority of people have used common sense to realise that athletes, like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, cheated to place themselves in the sporting pantheon.

These athletes have abused the trust in the people who support them, the people who trusted them, they acted like the cheating girlfriend, betraying the trust of the people who cared of there endeavours.

More often than not, as people, they’re absolute sh*ts.

2) “You admitted it, and your working on regaining our trust, fair play to you”

Group 2, or “The Andy Pettite experiment” is the drug cheats who admit it whilst still in the duration of their playing career. Most will admit to it in a tear-filled press conference, where 3 point will be made:

a) “I was naïve, and regretted it immensely”
b) "I was unaware at the time what I was taking"
c) "I’m sorry, and will work to regain the trust people thrusted upon me, time to grow up and make amends."

No problem with the apology, in fact if you had to be in one group, this may be the best to be in, the groups namesake Andy Pettite is regarded as some sort of drug taking Jesus after admitting his HGH use and promising to make amends. Right thing to do, but I always feel people that admit taking PED’s are given an easier ride than they deserve, at the end of the day, they still cheated on all of us.

3) “Oh, too busy for a drug test, hiding something Rio?”

“The Rio Ferdinand paradox” is when you inexplicably fail to attend a standard drug test. Character traits you need to slot into this bracket, is unquestioned arrogance, a lack of common sense, and to be a prima donna, The namesake, Rio Ferdinand, showed all these “qualities” when he received an 8 month ban for his failure to attend a drug test. Although, as he was English, the media rallied around him, gave him a shoulder to moan on and protested he hadn’t done anything wrong. The question needed to be asked. Why? Why couldn’t he turn up to the test? Why not reschedule? Why not tell the tester you wouldn’t be able to make it?

There’s no reason to believe Rio Ferdinand is an innocent man in all of this, and the icing atop the metaphorical cake, is upon returning from the 8 month ban, he held the biggest club in the world hostage over a new contract. That’s like borrowing your friends CD, losing it, then going back an asking to borrow a DVD, it’s obnoxious, rude and arrogance all down to a fine art.

4) “The Lance Armstrong experience”.

This one is different to the rest on two counts.

a) it’s all about one man
b) The public vehemently deny the accusations, more with their heart than head.

Armstrong’s story isn’t a secret, a cyclist diagnosed with testicular cancer, given a very unfavourable recovery rate, overcome adversity, got back on the bike, and annually won cycling biggest prize, the “tour de France” Winning the race 7 times, Armstrong has had to overcome the next challenge, the critics.


Throughout his career, as much as the general public have revelled and been inspired by the tale of courage and commitment, the cynics and sceptics have accused Armstrong’s success being the benefit of PED abuse. Despite testing negative in every test (bar 1 in 1999, which was cleared as a result of a skin cream containing “corticoids”), and retiring for over a year, Armstrong still has to endure constant scrutiny from various governing bodies.

The general consensus is that, there’s a fear he may have taken something during his career, something which is as common as a hot dinner in cycling, with Alberto Contador, a 3 time “tour de France” winner being the latest to test positive, and reports suggesting a lengthy ban will follow.

If Armstrong is to be found to be a drugs cheat, the ripples felt around the world will be similar to when Michael begins to take over the Corleone business in “The Godfather”. It will catch us by surprise, and will strongly change the opinion of his character.

If this were to happen, his record as a cyclist would be in question, but he will still be a cancer survivor, and a inspirational story, but will also be a name etched onto the wall of shame, alongside Marion Jones, Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez.

A stream of consciousness

Before the Patriots-Jets game (which after this season, we will never speak of again), I had an idea of recording my thoughts and immediate reactions to all the major aspects of the game, and the coverage of it. Below is my ride of passage from optmism to despair.

21.18 - "Ok Sky, this game is over, 35-17! It's been over for 3 quarters, it's like languishing in an aiport terminal waiting for a delayed flight now, everyone who doesn't support the Bears just want to get to Foxborough, on with it."

21.26 - "Game Over. Bears go to face Sinclair's Packers in the title game. He might stay awake for this one. Anyway, Sky are in the studio now before the Pats game. For all us at home, this can only mean one thing, some "Cadle Magic". I see Bradlee Van Pelt is the guest tonight, have to say, despite looking like a hastily put together James Bond for a halloween party, he's probably one of the better analysts they've got."

21.45 - "Jets punt on their opening drive. Brady enters the field like the sultan of smooth. He ranks up there with Michael Corleone and The Fonz in terms of just being "cool". Pressure is a myth to him."

21.47 - "Welker not starting. Ryan didn't bench Braylon Edwards for a DUI, yet Bellichick will bench one of his star receivers for trash talk. He's like an overprotective dad who doesn't let his daughter go to boy-girl parties. It's why he wins!"

21.52 - "BREAKING NEWS, turns out Tom Brady may actually be human, throws a pick and Gillette stadium goes into complete stunned silence. The silence is reminiscent of when Chris died in "Skins" in terms of initial shock value. Alge Crumpler showed great feet to hustle back and stop it being a "pick six"

21.55 - "The F******g Jets miss the field goal. Nick Folk, you're Folkin useless"

21.58 - "Alge Crumpler is no "spring chicken" says the less than animated Kevin Cadle in his latest comical quip. "Back to the comms"

22.01 - "Welker shows great feet to make his first catch, hauls it in at the sideline, was all about the footwork."

22.06 - "Shayne Graham knocks one over, 3-0 Patriots. Nick Folk, get your notebook out, that's how it's done."

22.19 - "E-mail just read on sky, "Can BenJarvus Green-Ellis become an all time great?" Right, ok, i love "The Lawfirm", but really? All time great, really? He was 4th string last year, this is like asking if Danny Dyer can get his own star in Hollywood. No wonder Americans don't want us to have the regular season game. News just in, there's such thing as a silly question."

22.27 - "Touchdown Jets"

22.47 - "Hawaii Five-O trailer. Wayne Mardles darts theme, that tune is more synonymous with that nowadays. He could make an entrance. Him Undertaker in WWE and Jonathan Papelbon entering the game to close the 9th at Fenway. They're the benchmark of "awesome".

22.54 - "Ummm... that's either a crap trick play or an even worse snap,Jets now have great field position with 1.14 left in the half. Good time to botch a punt."

22.57 - "Touchdown Jets."

23.03 - "Half time. Patriots are like a Star Wars prequel the last few years (since '07), the previous successes are their for all to see, and there are still glimpses of that old magic, but in the grand scheme of things, they peaked, and the new films won't be as good, or as successful."

23.15 - (Nick) "Halling referring to Rex Ryan's gameplan as "doing the bizzo". "Bizzo", the level of the crings of a 40 year old man trying to talk "street" or some variation of street is similar to that of a member of a boyband or a former boyband memeber (looking at you here Robbie Williams) attempt to rap."

23.35 - "Do you remember when you anticipated something you really wanted to have/watch, then it all goes wrong? The Pats are like that today, the Pats are like "Modern Warfare 2".

23.44 - "GRONK GRONK GRONK GRONK GRONK !!! 37 yard pickup. This comeback needs to start, pronto!"

23.51 - "Alge Crumpler! TOUCHDOWN PAAAAAAAAAAATRIOTS! ...Now just need the 2pt conversion to make it a field goal game"...

23.52 - "Sammy Morris is in! 11-14. Myself, twitter and Gillette stadium have all simultaneously become reinvigorated back into life."

00.00 - "Msn, talking to my friend Fraser, "i reckon the momentums shifted the Patriots way now". Within seconds Jets get a touchdown 21-11. Keep your outlandish statements to yourself Fraser. "

00.16 - "Turnover on downs. Jets defence is like the annoying guy whose talking on his phone whilst your sitting near him on the bus. Loud, infuriating, but not going anywhere, tonight the Pats haven't found a way to sound the man out."

00.21 - "Is this sports purgatory? This feels like sports purgatory."

00.26 - "Lets join the comms" A Cadleism. I can;t decide who I would prefer to narrate my life. Kevin Cadle with the sultry summer sun that is his voice. Or Chris "Boomer" Berman, imagine for a second "Ba-Baa-Bac -Back into the living room to watch T.V". That's what I want in a narrator."

00.33 - "Failed onside kick. I'm now suffering from morbid melancholy."

00.35 - "Touchdown Jets"

00.36 - "Prefer baseball anyway"...*facepalm*

00.38 - "If it's raining, i'm going to walk to work, will create a better metaphor."

00.42 - "Touchdown Pats. A going away present for Deion Branch. Unless he stays, then it's just another consolation, either way, Jets are still winning."

00.44 - "Jets win 28-21, if i didn't have to go to work in less than 5 hours, this game may have driven me to hard liquor and a bunch of curse words. Ok, the curse words came anyway. Dropped several F-bombs tonight/this morning."

00.47 - "Jets are celebrating..*sigh*...*a 2nd sigh*... *a final sigh*. Where did i leave the bleach?"

Talking's one thing...

Have you ever been woken up by a monotone, incessant ringing in your ear? This ring is consistently annoying, happens oh so often, and nothing you do can affect it, nothing. Non-stop crap over and over, it’s almost unfathomable.

This NFL season, the human version of this said noise has made itself accustomed to anyone and everyone, from trash-talk, to impersonations to anything for 5 more minutes on the T.V or to be on the back of the papers one more day. I’m looking at you, Rex Ryan.

To start the year, the brash, cocky, charismatic Jets, whilst still annoying, were heading into the season on the back of an appearance in the AFC title game. Their roster were another year older, more experienced, and had a coach that they knew would be behind them all the way. From contractual difficulties on “Revis Island” (before Randy Moss abruptly invaded and dismantled everything inside it), to the media hype, to Ryan signing the NFL tour bus “soon to be champs”. “SOON TO BE CHAMPS”, really? A franchise whose last superbowl win was in 1969. A team whose most recognisable players is more famous for being drunk on T.V than playing football. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQqIQyT-RuM – Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa)

The Jets as a franchise, are sort of like Ben Affleck, they did some good things once, but they were so long ago the majority forget they ever happened. This season though, an solid 11-5 record and clinching the final playoff place in the AFC, Ryan’s incessant drone found its way back into all our ears again. He started before their game at the Colts by taking a shot at Patriots QB Tom Brady, claiming Peyton Manning was the better of the two. Then after defeating Manning’s Colts, Rex said of Brady sunbbing the game to see a broadway show “Peyton Manning would have been watching”. ( Although with a 70 million dollar contract, I’m betting Brady can afford the U.S equivalent of Sky +) Without wanting to fuel another mind-numbingly dull Manning vs Brady debate. Here’s some stats.

Career winning %

Brady .776 (125-36) 1st all time.
Manning .664 (150-76) 4th all time.

Brady vs Manning

Brady 8-4 Manning (2-1 in postseason play)

Superbowl rings

Brady 3-1 Manning (Manning’s career postseason record reads 9-10).

You do the math.

More frustrating, if Rex is Willy Wonka, then one of his oompa-loompa’s decided to get in on the “Let’s bash Brady” game. With Antonio Cromartie quoted as saying “He’s (Brady) an a*****e, f**k him” when asked of his thoughts of Brady celebrating every touchdown in the Pats 45-3 demolition of the Jets earlier in the season.

Even Reggie Jackson, a New York sports legend told Cromartie and Ryan to “Shut up, play football, what are you doing, your not affecting Brady, your wasting time”. Throughout the years, Brady and Bellichick have overcome the majority of obstacles facing them, a double digit underdog in superbowl 36, they won. Back to back superbowls (38 and 39) they won. An undefeated regular season with Brady breaking the record for Touchdown passes. Check!.

The 45-3 drubbing last month wasn’t a true reflection on how this season has gone, the defence has been a lot better than it showed that night. There defence is seen as one of the best in the league. The offence on the other hand is a walking disaster, running back LaDainian Tomlinson has cooled off since the start of the season, the receiving corp have Mark Sanchez throwing the ball to them. Imagine George Lucas directed the “Shawshank Redemption”, think of the disappointment and that’s probably the emotion the Jets receivers silently feel. Although the New York media can’t decide whether he’s Joe Namath or Joey Harrington, here’s some worrying stats to Jet fans.

Passer rating – 75.8 (27th in NFL)
Completion % - 54.8% (29th in NFL)

In games @New England.

25-54 (46%) 300 yards, 1TD 7Int’s.

Sanchez is in the Jets family what Fredo is to the Corleone’s, on the surface he looks like a liability, and for long periods is. Sanchez is 3-1 in the playoffs though, all of which being road games, showing life of having postseason potential, Sunday will be his biggest test yet. Difference being, beating the Patriots will be a lot more difficult than keeping Mo Green sweet like Fredo had to.

Predictions for this weeks games.

Last week I had Saints, Ravens, Packers and Colts. So at this point, I’m 2-2.

Seahawks @Bears

It’s got to end now, hasn’t it? The Seahawks won 7 games this season, the Seahawks, since they made the superbowl a few years back are like Lindsay Lohan, they’ve progressively gone down a bad road, and keeps getting worse, now them winning this game and making the title game will be truly stunning. Imagine 2011 being another drug fuelled year for Lohan, but ending with a box office blockbuster to end the year. Unlikely? My point exactly. Bears win
Bears 31-14 Seahawks

Packers @ Falcons

I have few friends that follow the NFL, but 2 of which that do, one is a Falcons fan, the other a Packer, so rivalry will be a plenty this weekend. The war of words started with some pretty appalling trash talk, the lowlight being “beat one set of birds, now to beat another”. The game itself, Matt Ryan is 20-2 at the dome, have dual-threat running game, and a solid defence. The Packers however, have an elite defence, which over the past 2 game have held the Eagles and Bears to a collective 19 points. They defensive player of the year front runner Clay Matthews stuffing the run and the pass. Then Aaron Rodgers has the ability to dissect any defence, and a new found running will be integral to the Pack scoring a minor upset.

Packers 20-16 Falcons

Ravens @ Steelers.

Two teams that just plain don’t like each other. Two mean defences, two teams with good running games, and two teams with signal callers who can control the game. Joe Flacco is proven on the road in playoff time winning in New England last year and Kansas City already this year. Roethlisberger however has 2 rings. Each team have playmakers everywhere. It’s like choosing between “The Godfather” and “The Godfather part 2”. It’s almost impossible, but as I have to, I reckon it comes down to coaching, so I’m taking the Ravens.

Ravens 24-23 Steelers.

Jets @Patriots

The talking has to stop, for the Jets this isn’t a good thing, last time they talked, and talked and talked, and in the end, it turned out the went the same way as Audley Harrison, all talk, but no substance, and were duly humiliated. It won’t be a 42 point game again, I see it being a close, tense affair especially for the first half, with Brady and the Pats pulling away slightly in the 2nd half and going after Antonio Cromartie as an added bonus.

Patriots 27-17 Jets

Why sports can take you the brink... and bring you back again.

“Football isn’t a matter of life and death…it’s much more important than that”. – Bill Shankly

To many, this quote typifies the passion and the extremes we, as a nation go through on a weekly basis to root for our respective teams. The quote captures the emotions that football fans feel ever Saturday at 5. Between the months of August and May, we live on every game, we discuss the ins and outs of the team, the manager, the ownership, everything. In this country, football is the be all and end all.

My buddy Mark however, an avid football fan himself says the quote exaggerates the countries passion for the sport, and although the sport is a big deal, to take it to the level of “life and death” creates the wrong impression to people that football is more an obsession than a hobby.

In all honesty, he’s right to some degree, especially nowadays where newspapers, websites, radio are all pumped by constant steroidal sports hyperbole. Every little detail of every game is scrutinised, and that’s not just football, it’s across sports. It’s how I imagine being in “Big Brother” must of felt like, knowing nothing you do will go unnoticed, that cameras are everywhere, there are radio stations fully dedicated to sport, it’s a multi-billion pound industry. The biggest thing on the planet. and Football’s the king of it.

The age of 5 is when the gates first opened for me, when I first jumped on the emotional rollercoaster that is Oxford United. Over the ensuing years, the ups and downs of following a team didn’t seem to have a lot of up’s. The team went down like a slalom and kept falling and falling and falling (you get the point).

Like an alcoholic, or drug addict, there’s always a moment where you hit rock-bottom. A moment where it can’t get any worse, where it’s got so bad, the only way is up. For Oxford that came on May 6th 2006, or as it will be known “the day I had my sports epiphany”. On this day, a home game to Leyton Orient. The situation was clear.

Win – Stay in the football League.

Lose – Off the coupon, off the radar, into the doldrums.

Like every “make or break” game, it flowed like a film. The early start where we’re all happy and optimistic (taking a 1-0 lead) yet still shaking like Amy Winehouse in need of a quick fix. The fear was justified as Oxford went on to lose the game.

Have you ever experienced a moment where you and everyone around you falls silent? Where you go from being stricken with nerves to completely numb and ill of feeling? Momentarily you think you are stood by yourself, and it all hits you? This could be the worst moment of your life so far. Every fan of a lower league football teams worst fear is falling out the football league, so when it happens, how do you react? I felt like Stanley did in “Holes” when he first gets to the camp, alone, and in a state of disbelief, pondering how, just how it happened. You start thinking if. “If we won this game”, “if we didn’t concede that late goal”. To this day, my buddy Lewis still feels the need to remind me of Jon Ashton conceding a late penalty at Stockport, subsequently losing the game and Stockport surviving at our expense. That moment was the dagger in our coffin. Ashton, would’ve been expected to receive Bill Buckner treatment, but no, what’s the point? He didn’t give the penalty away on purpose, he was a clumsy player, a solid player who had an innate condition to have moments of completely erratic defending.

But as the days passed, positivity trickled its way back into the fray. The sun still raised and the sun still set. This is when I began thinking “something good will happen one day, we’re are just dealing with the suffering now, and eventually the tables will turn”.

If that’s the death, the life for me happened May 16th of 2010, after being in the said “doldrums” for 4 years, choking in the playoffs once, being thwarted by a points deduction and a year of being a certifiable joke, we finally (and I emphasise finally) had a 1 game playoff to get back to where needed to be. Financially we needed the added revenue from playing the better supported teams in the league above. Our pride needed to get back, no more did we want the snide remarks from Swindon fans, knowing they have ability to throw the “non-league” card in at any point, and their being no response.

Rivalry’s are the pinnacle of sports, but when you’re the least successful side in the rivalry they become less enjoyable, clutching to a good result in the past, which we will do. Resorting to a more glamorous past, which we will. But the embers of a rivalry will burn out if you can’t keep within touching distance of your rival.

Back to the final mission, this to Oxford, was like Rocky’s revenge at Clubber Lang, or Rocky’s revenge at Ivan Drago or Rocky’s revenge at Apollo Creed. It was the final chapter like all of them respective films, the future remains bleak if they lost the game, but the avenues of possibility and ambition open with a win.

Oxford won the game 3-1, THREE FUCKING ONE, two early goals sent me and 10’s of thousands around me into euphoria, like I just slipped into the twilight (not the shit vampire film) zone. Obviously it wasn't over yet. It wouldn’t be sport if it was easy. It your head isn’t filled with doubt and scepticism, you won’t feel the full effect of relief and bliss when you reach your “Everest”. In this instance, we managed to succumb to our disequilibrium by conceding a gal on the stroke of half time. You know the sound when someone tells an offensive joke that isn’t well received or when a young child falls down. That sound, “huuuuuuuuuh” that gasp, the instantaneous response when something shocking happens.

The third Oxford goal, “the clincher” as it will be known will live long in my memory, I can recall the commentary like it was a parable from the Bible. Here it is :

“Potter…to Deering……….back to Potter…(ball goes in the net)..OXFORD UNITED ARE BACK IN THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE”.

That right there, created goossebumps on my goosebumps goosebumps. There are few moments in life that you could describe as priceless, this was one. All season you felt something special was happening, but you don’t want to believe in case they let us down again. You keep your spirits down, until that moment when it you finally can go crazy. Like that scene in Scrubs when Carla finally accepts Turk’s proposal, this had the same emotion, that relief, that joy, we know it was always a possibility, but until it was official there was still doubt creeping in our minds.

When that third goal went in, the emotion, the atmosphere... you know what, see it for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fvMtHhhr5I&feature=related ( I now think I’ve watched this goal about 347,000 times)

That reaction, that celebration. That’s what a concoction of joy and relief is. That is what it looks like when you finally escape. It’s how Andy Dusfresne felt when he got out of jail in the “Shawshank Redemption” It’s how I felt at that moment.

It’s how a lot of people felt, the next few weeks every time I saw one of my friends, they would say, let’s watch “the Wembley goals”. My Dad was always re-watching them as well, and when I pointed out how many times he’s watched them over about 2 weeks later, his reply summarised the whole point of this article. “There timeless” Moments like that are timeless, moments like that are what you will talk about in the pub in 30 years. Moments like that are why we devote our time to our teams, why we pay hard earned money, because every now and then, they make it worth our while, and give us our fix we wanted, a fix that keeps us addicted and coming back for more.

5 reasons I hate the Premier League

The turkey’s been eaten, the presents opened and the New Year has brought in. In football, this means one thing, “silly season” has begun. It’s January, therefore the chequebooks are out, teams begin to panic and valuations of players are rising quicker than VAT.

The January transfer window always renews my growing dislike of the Premier league, and I feel like venting my issues with the “best league in the world”.

Here’s 5 things I hate about the Premier League :

1) Delusional clubs.

The last few days, the transfer story grabbing the attention and the headlines of the press hounds has been Ronaldinho’s proposed deal with Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn Rovers new owners have displayed there intent in trying to sign a former “Ballon D’Or” winner, but realistically the chances of a world renowned Brazilian superstar settling in the freezing cold of Lancashire seem highly unlikely.

Ronaldinho playing for Blackburn would be the equivalent of Adrian Chiles pulling Cheryl Cole with his charismatic personality. It’s a good thought, but the chances are slim to non-existent, and in the end it would only end in heartbreak.

Man City – Robinho
Newcastle –Patrick Kluivert
Middlesbrough – Michael Reiziger, Alen Boksic

These should be the only warnings Blackburn need not to sign the buck tooth starlet.

2) The financial aspect

When Arsenal play the tougher team on there schedule (Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs) the average ticket price at the Emirates inflates by over 120% from £38 to £90. For a team that has seemed reluctant to flex their muscles in the transfer market, to price out a huge portion of there support with there commitment to exploiting the fans that can afford the extravagant prices seems somewhat a proverbial middle finger to the “gooner faithful”.

3) Atmosphere…or the lack of it

Carrying on from the previous point of fans being priced out of games, attendances dropping like the last season of “Scrubs” viewing figures and stadiums quieter than a tense poker game. Newcastle United, a club of proud heritage, pride themselves on their consistently loyal support and there levels of passion for their club. Newcastle have seen drops in there attendance with some games failing to attract 40,000 barcodes at St.James’ Park.
Not only are the stadiums full of more empty seats than a theatre when Tim Minchin’s performing, but there soulless and lifeless. Gone are the days of stadiums like Highbury and the classic European nights at Anfield, stadiums with character and quirks, or an old fashioned raucous atmosphere. Highbury, although never known for it’s atmosphere, is like “Saved By The Bell”. It’s a classic which couldn’t be saved with renovations or spin-off shows, but you never realise how much you liked it until you saw the modern day alternative.

4) Officials/Favouritism

Which two teams have been awarded the most penalties over the last 3 years? And which two teams have garnered the most points in the same time? That’s right, Manchester United and Chelsea. Although it could be consumed as a coincidence. It’s not! The pressure referees are placed under by Alex Ferguson, and Rio Ferdinand and John Terry et al is insurmountable. The fear of being lambasted in the awaiting press conferences and the scrutiny placed over them for future reference. The Premier league and the F.A bowing to the aforementioned wishes. It’s a hard job being a referee.

It also doesn’t help that the head of referees and the man whose example the officals are meant to follow was Keith Hackett. This is similar to making Charlie Sheen the head of the Catholic church.

The bigwigs at the F.A are at fault for a lot of this, their negligence against the bullying the games bigger names place on the referees just even more disparity in an already unfair league.

5) David Beckham

Premier league teams are queuing round the block to talk to David Beckham about coming and playing for there respective team briefly before the MLS season takes shape.

Don’t get me wrong, from the late 90’s to the mid 00’s David Beckham was a magnificent player, his crossing was as precise as any player I can remember. He thoroughly deserved his big money move to Madrid. It’s since leaving Madrid Beckham started becoming an issue to me, lingering onto the limelight like a bad smell. These are my problems with Beckham.

a) He belongs to L.A Galaxy, they signed him, he’s under contract there, yet he assumes every year it’s his divine right to go out on loan to whoever he chooses, risking injury (i.e at Milan last season) and play the whole year round.
b) His sole reason for trying to manipulate a move to the Premier League is so he can keep stealing England caps with 10 minutes performances at the end of games. Beckham has been through a lot with the national team, but him breaking Bobby Moore’s record would be the biggest travesty in British football since England appointing Graham Taylor as manager.
c) He’s basically become the English answer to Brett Favre, he’s been such a great player that you can’t force him out, but deep don we all know he isn’t good enough now he’s older and the whole media circus is becoming a bore.
So, if Spurs, Sunderland and Blackburn have any sense they’ll avoid a 2 month rental of Beckham, stick with the players they have already, and let Beckham ride off into the sunset like a golden silhouette, like a clichéd ending to a western film.