November 2006 Edition

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A new role may loom for the very charismatic former Argentine soccer captain, Diego Maradonna.  He is in talks with the Honduras Football Federation.  In the role of national team coach he would be spearheading the team's path to the 2010 World Cup; and for those of you who don't remember, Honduras reached the World Cup finals in Spain in 1982. 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis continues to protest his innocence by releasing a detailed online presentation as to why he is not guilty of taking the banned sex hormone drug testosterone.  He is scheduled to present his case to an arbitration panel in the next few months and in the meantime he has not been sanctioned.  If he is found guilty he will be the first winner to lose his yellow jersey for a doping offence. The very well-paid top players at Chelsea Football Club have set a cap for their Christmas gifts to each other.  What can you get for the men who have everything for less than US$10?  As a warm-up for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, (see quiz to right of page) 'red' China has decorated the capital in red and rolled out the red carpet for the China-African summit designed to boost trade links between the two countries.... and a taster of things to come! Formula One returns to Belgium in 2007 after the country lost its slot last season when former promoter DDF1 went bankrupt.  New promoter Spa Grand Prix plan a US$40 million approx. upgrade to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. And finally the sports world mourned the premature death of three times Masters Champion, 27 year-old snooker hero Paul Hunter.  Diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in March 2005, he died just five days before his 28th birthday and is survived by his wife Lindsay and 10 month old daughter, Evie Rose.

spotlight on: timing is everything

The US broadcasters have successfully negotiated a change in the time of the swimming finals at the Beijing Olympics.  As one of the most popular events in the US, swimming will now be aired live during US peak-time, which means that the event will be held in the morning in Beijing.
Despite the uproar from other countries it is difficult to imagine why this will be such a problem for the athletes who are used to traveling around the world and swimming in conditions in both outdoor and indoor venues in different time zones and at different times of the day.  
However, research indicates that an athlete is not as flexible in the morning; and if this proves the case, comparing like with like, it is 'unlikely' that Olympic and World records will be broken.  Training in the right time zones will be of increasing importance to the non-Asian/Australasian/East Russian-based competitors who will benefit from acclimatizing to the change well in advance of the Games.
In response to this decision, the Seven Hills International competition in Rome next summer will stage the swimming finals in the morning as a way of rehearsing for the Beijing coverage.  This will give the National Swimming Federations an opportunity to 'put a toe in the water' and measure the impact of morning finals on their teams' performance.



hot spot:   London 2012 Stadium Conundrum

hot shot: the shape of things to come

Without going into the complexity - or simplicity depending on how you view it - of the latest golf championship, it is the season-long performance that counts in the case of The 2007 FedExCup. 
It all kicks off with the Mercedes-Benz Championship January 1-7 and ends nine months later with the Tour Championship (September 10-16, 2007) presented by Coca-Cola.
The FedExCup follows the PGA Tour players and calculates their performance over the season, leading to the seeding for the final play-off.  Confused?  You should be as there are bonus points for the majors and and half the number of bonus points for the WGCs; and then points are "re-set"  for the Championship Series to tighten the field.  What this all means is hard to decipher, but the bottom line is that there is a prize pool for the FedExCup of US$35 million, with the Champion claiming a cool US$10 million.
As the 10th place player can take away half a million USD, it might be worth studying up on PGA tour tactics - although whether anyone will understand them is in question.   And if players do get to grip with this event, will there be any penalties for using one of the newly designed, state-of-the-art, square-head drivers?
By combining the lightness of metal woods with a greater strength - which requires less twisting at impact and a larger sweet spot - will these new 'weapons of the game' have a similar impact to the larger face tennis racquet when it was introduced around twenty years ago.  The Fusion FT-1, with its legally sized square head is one example of how technology can create the effect of hitting with a bigger club, but without increasing the actual size.

sidelines or on the frontline

fashion icon...... the America's Cup

home and away  what your newspaper has on offer

If you find yourself staying in a hotel in Monte Carlo or somewhere similar in Europe and you want to keep up-to-date with the sports news, pick a copy of the International Edition of the Herald Tribune.  Unlike its competitor The Financial Times, the US paper does include daily sport features, and more to the point, it forms quite a substantial section of the paper.
For example: the October 16, 2006 edition reviewed the performance of a number of the European Soccer teams which included a long piece on the injuries sustained by two of Chelsea FC's top goal keepers in the same match at different times during the game against Reading FC. Results information across ten sports included the Japanese Baseball Leagues and the pro-cycling tour competition in Italy.
Two days later, the Trib carried featured stories on tennis, soccer, cricket, baseball and the NFL; with a 'scoreboard' section covering eight major sports including Basketball, Ice Hockey and Golf.
For as long as the British based FT fails to compete on a level playing field with its major competitor by not providing sports coverage in the main section, the publication may be missing an opportunity.

sport culture: charity begins at home

Alan Shearer - former Newcastle and England soccer player who retired six months ago raised over US$3  million for charity during his final season. Yet another example of the commitment by top athletes to raise money for good causes.  Former US Open Champion, LPGA star Laura Davies walked 'the extra 56 miles' (this time along the gruelling Great Wall of China) in aid of the famous London based children's hospital, Great Ormond Street.  India and Pakistan plan two one-day matches in England next year with part of the proceeds going to charity - in this case The Prince's Trust, which is overseen by The Prince of Wales

starting blocks all boxed out?

Despite the fact that former World Champion, Mike Tyson was turned down when he challenged Ann Wolfe - a professional women's boxer from Waco, Texas - to a fight, Tyson - the man who is his heyday took a bite out of Evander Holyfield's ear during a boxing match - is back.  This time, the forty year old is on a world tour with a series of four round contests taking on amateurs (apparently of either sex, as and where available) in the US, China, Russia, Croatia and South Africa.  Billed as exhibition fights, it is difficult to predict how seriously Tyson will take his competition, but no-one should forget the Tyson legacy which included his win over former World Boxing heavyweight champion, Trevor Berbick in 1986. 
Berbick - who never recovered from the loss of his title died recently at the age of 52 years.  Police found the sometime preacher dead in a Jamaican churchyard with a gaping wound to the head from a machete.   His death is a sad loss but nevertheless a predictable end to a turbulent life.  It represents yet another sad legacy for the many boxers who have suffered after the end of their professional careers.

life after..... winning

Vancouver 2010 may be one of the first cities to deliver on time.  And there is a good reason for this.  The city, Mayor and residents have decided to 'cut their cloth' in the context of their fairly modest ambitions.  For example: the strategy does not include the construction of a new and expensive iconic stadium; but a CAN$4 million upgrade/dressing of the rather tired looking B.C. Place Stadium which will host the opening and closing ceremonies.  The latest addition to the budget which still brings the total VANOC expenditure to a fairly modest CAN$580 million, is a new venue to accommodate the curling.   The Hillcrest development is being designed for the future with the complex incorporating a swimming pool/library legacy which will service the local community.  
As for Whistler - which is hosting a number of the mountain-side events, the plan is equally on schedule. 
With ambitions to win as many medals as possible (not an unusual objective for the host city) there is little doubt that most of the 'facilities' will be 'ready' a full two seasons in advance of the Games: and with plenty of time in hand, Canada may be on schedule to do well, as their athletes will be allowed a LOT of practice time.
The city/province-financed infrastructure projects include new access from the airport to Vancouver city center and a widening of the road from Vancouver to the Whistler Ski resort.
If Vancouver achieves their target of ensuring all the venues are completed two years in advance of the staging of the Olympics and Paralympics and the investment in the city is in direct proportion to the Games themselves, then this may prove to be a model for others to aspire to - even if the Vancouver city skyline cannot boast an iconic new structure as part of its host city legacy.