Scarborough rue their golden chance to equalise against Chelsea
As a friend and me sat in the pub ahead of the Liverpool - Man City 2nd Leg last night, we started chatting about when we used to go and watch Scarborough FC as younger lads. It was a complete contrast to the occasion we were about to witness, with 45,000 inside Anfield, for a place at Wembley in the Carling Cup final, and the match finely balance on a 1 goal lead courtesy of a Steven Gerrard penalty two weeks earlier. The feeling and occasion was something mostly alien to my time following Scarborough from the age of 6. It was then ironic yet unsurprising to see the Scarborough Evening News article on the front of the paper today.
We talked about things we remembered when paying our £2 to get in on the Seamer Road turnstile (occasionally knowing someone who knew someone who could get you a complementary ticket!). I'll never forget the guy standing just inside the gates yelling "golden gamble" week in and out. My mate knew what I was going to say, before I said it, something that has obviously stayed with him too. Another friend of mine used to sell the pies out of the little hut in the Shed, and you'd see the similar faces at all the games. 'Patto' appeared with his drum at the back of the East Stand and occasionally his trumpet! Doing the double over local rivals York on Boxing Day (5-1) and then at the KitKat Cresent (2-0) were also great memories as we supped our pints.
The current site where the Athletic Ground used to stand
The lasting memory for many people in Scarborough of my era, and many others too, will be the visit of Chelsea for the 5th round FA Cup tie. Seeing those Premier League stars playing on the same pitch as the players you watched week upon week was something special. All the hype around the game, the papers featuring SFC on the back pages, seeing Sky Sports News interviewing people you knew in the town centre and the whole Chelski, experience made the club a 'Premiership' club for the day, and about the closest our seaside side got to the tie I was about to experience at Anfield.
For those not of my generation there was everything that went before that too, including the promotion to the Football League under Neil Warnock, the first game of that Football League season, trips to Wembley for the FA Trophy, beating Chelsea over two legs in the League Cup and I'm sure much, much more.
I don't want to go into why Scarborough FC went to the wall, leaving us without a 'proper' football side in the town. Many will have their views and opinions on who was to blame, but having read the paper today, when people like that were in charge of the club, it comes as no surprise that it did eventually go under. It's a very sad fact and seeing the turnstiles in tatters when you drive past is simply gutting. Even more disappointing is that nobody will ever be held to blame for one of the biggest crimes ever seen in Scarborough.
It was an unlikely character who gave England's winter tour of Pakistan in the UAE the kick start it was badly needing after a lackluster and plane-rusty batting performance on the 1st day in Dubai. Jonathan Trott nipped one back to Younis Khan mid way through the afternoon session, and the fall of the former Yorkshire man sparked a revival of sorts when Pakistan had threatened to take the game away from the visitors.
Ajmal takes a wicket in England in 2010.
Day 1 of the 1st Test, can often set the tone for the series they say and when England were bundled out for 192, many were probably thinking the worst. England lacked fight, character and application, three of the key ingredients of their rise to World Number 1, as Saeed Ajmal took a career-best 7-55 and left England in turmoil at the end of day 1. Pakistan had reached 42 without loss to compound England's poor batting performance. It was simple as to why England performed below-par. Both openers Strauss and Cook, then Morgan and Broad tried playing cross batted shots that left the odds against them, on a pitch that just required a straight bat, something Prior and laterly Mohammed Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar showed with relative ease. I imagine Sir Geoffery wasn't too happy in the TMS box. It's a pitch made for someone like Boycott, the need to graft, work hard for your runs, and simply play straight. Hopefully something England will remember 2nd time around.
If Brezzy was fit, it'd solve the problem...
The poor batting performance, somehow crazily fueled talk of England picking the wrong team. Opting for Prior at 7, and 4 bowlers, 3 seam options in Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett with Swanny the sole spinner. It proved to be a necessary move as England could have found themselves falling further foul of the 192 they made, without the extra batsman. Many have wanted to see Monty Panesar in the attack, which would mean losing either a batsman or a seamer. Going by day's one and two, the use of an extra spinner wouldn't have added anything to the threat, which had been very limited as it was. If anything, the extra spinner could have provided a release for the Pakistani's which are well accustomed to spin bowling on the sub continent. England finally started to take wickets after they reduced the run rate, by putting the ball in the right areas consistently on a second day which was vastly different from the first. They regained the fight, character and application absent on the first day. On a pitch offering very little, they sat in, made suitable variations to keep the batsmen on their toes and were patient, typified by Trott's short spell. This argument would be null and void had Tim Bresnan been fit, able to suitably apply himself to both facets of the game and the team wouldn't have been a talking point. It should be less so of a talking point now, as England showed how they can retain that number 1 spot with a bit of fighting spirit and a good performance on day 2, regardless of the XI.
England are well and truly in this game, providing they wrap up Pakistan tomorrow and then bat sensibly, for a long time in their 2nd innings and learn from the mistakes first time around. Ajmal will become more of a threat as the pitch turns more on days 3 and 4, something it showed signs of late on day two, but England have more than enough to take advantage of the other bowlers. It's not the first time England have been faced with a 2nd innings deficit, anyone remember Brisbane?
Where to start with Mario Balotelli? I'm once again reading something on Twitter saying that Balotelli has been throwing the money around to the delight of people in Manchester and thinking to myself, surely all these rumours can't be true?! Since his £24m move from Inter Milan to Man City in 2010, he has been shrowded in rumour, tantrums and run ins with the Police. I suppose we won't ever know which rumours are true, and which are tabloid talk, although if you take the Guardian quiz they try to outline some of the adventures of Mario Balotelli.
Reports recently have suggested that Balotelli has paid the bill for a whole Nando's restaurant he was in, filled up his car and paid for everyone in the petrol station too, driven around Manchester handing out £20 notes while dressed as Father Christmas, given a £1000 to a tramp outside a casino after winning £25,000, sorted out a row between a bully and a kid within a school and had a tour of an Italian city from a mafia gang! That's just some of the rumours. But my personal favourite has to be his encounter with the Police after he crashed his car just months into his City career. When asked why he had so much cash on him, he simply replied with "because I'm rich!". Simple enough answer, and undoubtedly very true.
Because it's you Mario!
Football currently lacks many characters with most trotting out the same PR inspired talk that they're told to say. Seeing Thierry Henry's interview last night when he confessed to "finally knowing what it's like to score for a club you support, like the lads at Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea" was a brief break in the wooden men in football kits you often see in front of the cameras. Balotelli though, is certainly a character. He is obviously very cocky and confident, and I'd imagine most 21 year old lads, earning as much money as he does would have a bit of swagger about them, you only have to look at the goal he shouldered in to see that he does.
Strip back the aura of confidence and he seems like a genuinely decent guy. I can't recall any players making gestures like he does, if they're actually true. I hope they are. Plenty of players make somewhere near what he makes, and even the ones who don't could afford to pay for a restaurant full of people. I don't imagine they do pay for them though. If they do, we don't hear about it. What difference does £1,000 make to a professional footballer? It's like me or you giving 50p away. He's either got a really good PR agent, who knows how to whip up a frenzy about someone, or he just keeps entertaining people with his money!
Everything Balotelli does seems to attract attention, and it slightly distracts you from the fact he isn't a bad footballer either! He's big and strong, has good feet and knows where the back of the net is! I'd much rather he wasn't in the Man City side when they take on Liverpool tomorrow and in the return game. After having so much admiration for him, you'd hope that he could curb his antics to the point where his isn't being disciplined by Man City. Although I say I'd rather he wasn't playing against Liverpool, most people want to see him playing, and to miss out because of ill discipline seems silly. There's nothing to stop him going out, being generous and having a good time, but so long as it doesn't affect his profession.
I certainly welcome his presence in the Premier League and wish more players had a bit more personality in the game. He's off the wall, he's different and good on him. Whether he will stay in Manchester is debatable, but it boils down to him being a great player, and we want the best players playing in the worlds best league, the Premier League, even if they can't put a training bib on!
It was a crazy night at the Alexandra Palace on Sunday night, and not in the usual darting sense, where the tomfoolery occurs away from the oche. The usual happenings of plenty of beer and songs creating a fantastic atmosphere, with the players all part of the exciting package, is what has propelled darts from a pub sport to one that is watched keenly across the UK and packs arenas all over Britain during the Premier League Darts competition. However, that wasn't the off stage antics that caused a big stir in this year's PDC World Championships. The semi-final tie between James Wade and Adrian Lewis, the 2011 and now 2012 champion was stopped due to a breeze coming across the stage and effecting the flight of the darts. It was an interesting lesson in how to handle something well from the organisers point of view, the players gamesmanship and sportsmanship, and created an argument about whether they should have just carried on. The video below shows some of what went on:
As you can see from the video, Wade held a 2-0 lead over Lewis as the match was delayed. He had just won the 3rd leg to go 2-0 up, and break up, after Lewis had complained of the draft coming across the stage. What you don't see is the crowd were really starting to get on the back of Adrian Lewis after Lewis had tried to wind them up, which resulted in a negative reaction, and a clear effect on Lewis' darts. His opponent, James Wade had played the crowd to perfection. When they went off the stage due to the breeze, Wade stayed out on the oche, threw some darts, joked with the crowd and got them on his side. It seemed to have paid off as he took a 5-1 lead, only to collapse himself and allow Lewis to comeback and take the game, and the place in the final. Wade then taught Lewis a lesson in sportsmanship too, instead of refusing to go off and carry on playing, something which would have surely seen him wrap up the game comfortably, he agreed to go off and find a resolution to the problem, and a credit to him. Lewis however, continued to whine and moan like a disgruntled teenager, who couldn't get his own way. Maybe the wind had blown the toys out of his pram, but something was up, and he didn't act with much dignity.
Lewis makes it two: 2011 & 2012 World Darts Champion
As the Sky pundits tried to become experts on air con systems and air flow movements, and blag their way through a break they hadn't expected, a fairly valid argument emerged. The breeze was clearly shown by the Sky cameras as the paper attached to a camera fluttered, but should that really stop a game with 4,000 paying fans inside the 'Ally Pally' screaming for action? Cricketers now play on with the drizzle coming down and golfers play in high winds, and only come off the course during flooding or lightening. All in the interest of entertainment, and giving the paying crowd something to watch. Imagine if the game couldn't have continued and had to be delayed until the next day, the crowd would have been furious. Luckily, that didn't happen and the game was finished that night, despite it running into the next day, and concluding at 00.45am!
Wade maybe licking his fingers to test that breeze?
The counter-punch (which Lewis eventually landed after the break) would be that in such a high pressure situation, the game being a World Championship Semi Final, and the precision in which darts is played, meant that such a condition that would seem minute, can effect the game in a huge manner. The darts are light, and the breeze was clearly causing enough problems for both players to agree to go off. Although Wade was 2-0 up, he seemed to be quite prepared to walk off the stage, probably showing he didn't feel he could control the game enough to stay on and win the match. I can see both sides of the argument, and would have understood whichever way the players and organisers went with their decision, however what they did do well was communicate to the paying public and audience at home what was happening and where everyone stood.
Some other sports may want to take a note on how to handle an unexpected situation, something the PDC did well, by using Sky Sports. Within minutes the tournament organiser Tommy Cox was interviewed on Sky explaining what had happened, what the players felt, and how they were trying to resolve the draft issue. That was followed by an interview with the PDC Chief Executive who assured everyone the game would continue and all had been done to rectify the breeze as much as possible. A successful PR exercise by using the obvious tool of Sky Sports. It capped a great, and eventful day of darts, and something strange always makes it interesting. It keeps the game of darts going forward and the interest is clearly there for it to continue growing.
