Flying with the Wind

Day one. One thirty. The roar of the crowd. It doesn't get much better than this.

Supreme Novices 1.30

The JP McManus owned Darlan is favourite here at 5/1. There is fierce good vibes coming from the Henderson and McManus camp;fuelled by the Preview evening cicuit, where Geraghty has rated him well better than Tetlami, Frank Berry’s best idea of a JP winner and different pundits saying what price would he be had he not fallen when travelling well in the Betfair hurdle. All fair points but he is nearly priced on potential rather than what he’s done.

Steps to Freedom has winning course form and has plenty of good flat, bumper and hurdle form in the book. His layoff is a worried but by all accounts by design. I love it’s trainer Jessica Harrington and trust her to have the Statue of Liberty gelding ready to thrive. One bit of news that it hammered Oscar Wells in apiece of work last week has seen the price tumble, but if the video is true,then it had to tumble! Bear in mind though Oscar Wells is not a great workhorse at home.

The joker in the pack may be Dylan Ross trained by Noel Meade. Joker in more ways than one. 2^nd I don’t know how many times, this horse excites his trainer and especially Paul Carberry. This year he only got goodish ground once and ran a cracker 2^nd to Cash and Go (absent) at Leopardstown at Christmas. He is supposed to have had a breathing operation which may help him to finish out his races somewhat better. This horse will not love the hill! But Carberry will ride him to sleep to finish in the best possible position at the end, and therefore makes him a corking each bet at the somewhat disrespectful price of 40/1 with some firms at present. He should travel like a dream and make for a bet to lay option in running. Carberry holds him in high regards which makes me keep the faith with him tomorrow. Better ground and a big pace to run at will help greatly.With a bit of luck PC can give punters heart palpitations all over again with a Harchibald style spin. The owners from Clogherhead have a right to be full of hope heading over, what a thrill it is to have a runner in the opener.

Midnight Game, who defeated Dylan Ross in Navan would be a real contender in my opinion until the news that he has worked bad in the immediate run up to the race, hence the drift. Previously his work at home was electric (according to D Russell) who now rides safer proposition Trifolium whose recent form has worked out giving him an each way chance.

Selection  Steps to Freedom win, Dylan Ross each way.

Arkle

The mighty Sprinter Sacre is barely odds on in this hot, all be it thin renewal. He looks a machine. Could a wind operation have made him bomb proof or does it matter that he’s that good over fences anyway. The punters of Al Ferof at 5/1 each way ¼ 1,2,3 will not fret no matter what happens. He is sure to run his race, be staying on up the hill and if something gets into a battle with the gallant grey, they’ll most likely come out the worst. The key to this race is Cue Card. If he leads at a fast pace, he will run himself into the ground, slit throats with Menorah and most likely set the race up for Henderson’s hotpot. If he were to take a lead, it’s the only way I see him winning and alternatively Sprinter Sacre being beaten. As Geraghty’s mount may be free with a slow gallop or a horse upsides getting him to race early. Menorah has the raw pace for an arkle making him a win proposition but jumping puts me off. Taking the Tizzards on the word I reckon they will set it up for Sprinter Sacre putting in a big display. I’d be surprised if Cue Card and Menorah both got round but I hope I’m wrong.

 

Selection; Sprinter Sacre   (Take the industry biggest in morning as they are ferociously competing for everyones business and I can see him going off 4/6 or 8/13)

Champion Hurdle

Another Grade One, another wind op. Has Binoculars recent procedure brought him back to his best. I’m willing to think not and happy to lay him at the current prices. He however is a class jumper on his day, cat like, just like Ireland’s banker Hurricane Fly. I cannot fault this horse. His price is about right. He’s been as impressive this year as any. Ruby will ride him to perfection and he is a bit special. That said; my idea of a bet in the race is Zarkandar each way. I like his profile. Course winner, stayer, in good recent form winning despite a slow pace in Newbury when Darlan fell. Most importantly of all though is that Zarkandar, we are told by Paul Nicholls will improve bundles for that run and will improve also for a stronger pace. He is a similar type to proven course winner and stablemate Rock on Ruby. Oscar Wells is an awkard enough jumper but will also improve for quicker ground and has a big engine. His price is about right now but wouldn’t be surprised if it ran a place. Zaidpour is only running as ground will be at its softest all week than, not soft enough however for this classy type Kalann not the worst 200/1 shot that ever ran and Overturn at big prices are perfectly acceptable as the throwaway bets each way.

Selection:  Zarkandar ew

JLT Speciality Handicap Chase 2.40

Quantitative Easing, Baile Anrai and Fruity O’Rooney ew    Selection the latter

Glenfarclas Cross Country  4.00

This is run in the centre of the course and as they are unable to water it will be firm. Looking for good ground specialists in this it surprised me that many handle firm. Scotsirish is fav as he is classier over chase fences but that mightn’t be reason enough to make him favourite for this unique test. My only thoughts are that Uncle Junior should run a big race have taking kindly to cross country (what better prepation than Tramore!)

Otherwise I think Garde Champetre is a place lay as his best days are behind him and he’d appreciate a cut in the ground.

Selection ; Uncle Junior ew if 16 run, lay Garde Champetre place

OLBG Mares Hurdle

Quevega is miles clear once again on form book and is a very fair price at 1-2. She has taken liberty at her hurdles in the past though and news of her making a bad mistake schooling last week doesn’t inspire. Race rustyness with her jumping a slight negative. Once she doesn’t come down though she’ll still win. Backers might want to take 1/3 faller insurance if they really want to play. The scrap for places is really competitive. Baby Shine is progressive and may run well at a price. 

Selection; No Bet

Pulteney Novice Handicap Chase

Hunt Ball is really progressive and its form is working out a treat.

The selection; in a really tough handicap.

Kingbet are ¼ the odds all races at Cheltenham.

Kingbet are money back if your horse is 2^nd in the Supreme on singles to a €100 max.

Extra Placings, enhaced prices will be available in the shop from 8am each morning.

Good luck and enjoy for me the greatest week in horseracing.

Peter Kingston

Feel free to leave your thoughts and tips below in a comment!

The Poisoned Chalice

And so, the soap opera that is the English football team claims another victim. Potential England managers beware. Your every move is media fodder. Talk about your replacement is commonplace even while you're in the job. And if you do something the FA don't like, they might not stand behind you.

There is a term from employment law called constructive dismissal. It means that while your employer may not have fired you, they made it impossible for you to continue in your job, thereby achieving the same thing. This is the situation Fabio Capello found himself in last week, and that is why he had no choice but to go.

Since taking over in 2007, Capello has had the job of running a team whose egos and expectations greatly exceed their abilities. He hasn't been spectacularly good, but neither has he imploded, and in the England job, that is an achievement in itself. After beginning his career with a wrangle about whether to field David Beckham, Capello has qualified comfortably for the past few major tournaments, and pulled off a few nice results in the process, including beating world champions Spain in a friendly. Where the team's shortcomings have been exposed, most notably against Germany in 2010, they are more the result of a structural failure of English football to deliver the kind of players needed than any major tactical issues. Perhaps most importantly, Capello is the first English manager in decades with a serious managerial pedigree, having won titles with every club he ever managed, including leading AC Milan through a hugely successful spell in the early 1990s, culminating in the club winning the 1994 Champions' League.

While he has never managed to repeat that level of achievement, he has been reasonably successful since, and England's decision to hire him, rather than an Englishman, looks to have been the right one. There has been a serious paucity of decent English managers in the game in recent years, and while national pride is important, results are what count.

And yet, for all this, Capello has been consistently dogged by problems. Manufactured media scandals follow his every decision, and every peccadillo of the players. A few years ago, rumours that he was about to depart for the Roma job swirled around. More recently, he has been forced to endure endless talk about when Harry Redknapp was coming in to replace him. And now we have the whole John Terry debacle.

John Terry is not a shining example of humanity. Following the revelations of his affair with then-Chelsea and England teammate Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend, Capello was essentially forced to strip him of the England captaincy, before restoring him to the position. Last week, Capello attempted to stand firm over retaining Terry in the aftermath of racism charges being brought against him. This time he was overruled.

Racism is a problem in professional football and has been for a long time. In the wake of the Terry scandal and the business about Luis Suarez, it appears a clampdown is finally happening. In this light, John Terry is exactly the wrong man to captain a mixed-race team, particularly given that one of his England teammates, Rio Ferdinand, is the brother of the player Terry abused. The problem is that none of us are in possession of the reasons Capello picks his team captain. Maybe, in a team of such competing egos, someone like John Terry is needed to keep things in check. In any case, much as outsiders may cluck and tut at Capello's support for Terry, they should remember that, as team manager, the decision is Fabio Capello's alone.

Whatever reason Capello had for retaining Terry, it appears the FA saw things differently. At this point they had two options which would have been acceptable. They could have stated, correctly, that it is not their place to interfere with the day-to-day running of the national team and the decision was Capello's. Alternatively, they could have stated that due to irreconcilable differences, Capello was being sacked.

Instead they chose to weasel their way out of things by overruling Capello. In doing this they violated a key principle, that of back them or sack them. Top end managers will inevitably insist on complete control of their team. They are, after all, the ones who will take the fall if the team does poorly, and responsibility without authority is unworkable. Whatever the suggestions that this may have been a convenient excuse for Fabio Capello to walk away from the team; the reality is that the FA behaved in a thoroughly dishonourable way. Letting Capello make his own decision might have been unpopular, but it would have been right. Firing him might have made the FA look petty, but it was the only decent alternative. Instead, Capello is the one who comes out badly, as he walked away from a team before a major tournament.

Now what? The England manager's position has always been, to put it mildly, something of a challenge. It's bad enough that the media second guess your decisions, but now the FA have set a precedent that they too might overstep their prerogatives and interfere with the team. The fact that a new manager might extract a promise from the FA not to do this is irrelevant, as no doubt Capello thought he had such a guarantee. The upshot is that the job, never overly popular in the first place, is now going to look even more toxic.

Of course, there really is only one candidate for the job. With the naked racism that the English media thinks is bluff honesty, it has been decided that only an Englishman can manage the English team properly. And, of course, that means Harry Redknapp, undoubtedly the best English manager in the game at the moment.

The problem with the "Redknapp to the rescue" is that it is long on hope and short on reality. Harry looks the part of the traditional gaffer, but beyond that, what is there to recommend him? Granted, he got Spurs to the Champions League quarter-finals, but set that against Capello's glittering resume, and it looks less of an achievement. His trophy cabinet consists of an FA Cup and an Intertoto Cup win, whereas Capello has won league titles with four different clubs and the Champions League with AC Milan. Harry's main asset, his ability to spot a bargain, will count less in the international game.

The problem is that there is now such an aura of inevitability about Redknapp's appointment that none of the parties have a choice. Harry wants the job, and even if he didn't, saying no would be very difficult indeed. Were the FA to offer anyone else the position, the media would have a field day. And, most importantly, the shabby treatment of Fabio Capello is going to deter an awful lot of candidates.

So Harry gets the job, then what? The structural problems in English football will persist. There is no great overhaul of player development on the horizon of the sorts that revolutionised German, French and Spanish national teams, so Harry is going to have exactly the same type of player as has failed to win anything in nearly fifty years. Two more trophyless tournaments and the media will be calling for his head.

The English job was always football's poisoned chalice. Thanks to Fabio Capello's resignation, it has just got a little more toxic. Without major changes at all levels of the game in England, the long spell in the wilderness shows no sign of ending. However, as long as they continue to blame the manager, England will never face up to this reality.

Citing his success at Sierra Games' little-known 1998 title Ultimate Soccer Manager 98, Greg Bowler has formally applied for the England job and expects good news very soon.

A History of Awfulness

For most people, the English Football League ends at the Premiership. Academically, they may know of the Championship, and have a dim awareness of a couple of leagues beyond, particularly around FA Cup time, when some half-forgotten name from the past is drawn against one of the giants. Few know of anything beyond the Conference, at which point the national system is discarded in favour of regional leagues. Members of the top eleven tiers (of which the Conference is fifth) are eligible to play in the FA Cup.

And yet the league system goes beyond this. From their lofty perch atop the Premiership, Manchester City look down on twenty-four levels, nearly five hundred divisions, around seven thousand teams and hundreds of thousands of players, staff, youths, etc. Right at the bottom of this pyramid is the Gray Hooper Holt Mid Sussex Division Eleven, the only division in Tier 24 (A true pedant with too much time on his hands, i.e. me, would point out that technically, it is in Tier 23, but as the winners of the Gray Hooper Holt Mid Sussex Premier League, which is technically at Tier 11, get promoted to another Tier 11 division, in practice all the divisions are a tier lower than their nominal position). Right at the bottom of this division, at time of writing, are a team called Scaynes Hill III. Scaynes III are, as a result, the worst team in the English League by league position. In the unlikely event of a Russian oligarch or Arab princeling deciding to purchase the club and invest millions into it, he had better be in it for the long haul, as even with steady promotion, it would take decades for the club to reach the Premiership.

Statistics and information on the Mid Sussex eleventh division are understandably thin on the ground. The current leaders are Ridgewood, though it would appear that AFC Haywards are on a run of form, winning most of their matches by double figures, including a 20-0 drubbing. On the off chance one finds a bookmakers willing to take a bet on such matters, a punt on AFC Haywards to win promotion to the Mid Sussex tenth division might be a good move. The likelihood, of course, is that at these depths, putting eleven men on a pitch is an achievement in itself, and crazy results are as much a product of a difference in quantity of players rather than quality.

The above was illustrated in a tragicomic incident in the now defunct Mining League Division One in 2010. In the hierarchy of leagues, the Mining League Division One was a Tier 13 division based in Cornwall. Newly promoted Madron faced a mass exodus, as any team who punches above their weight has to deal with. In addition, the manager left during the summer, throwing the team into chaos. This led to an unfortunate run of form that saw them concede 227 goals in eleven games and score only twice, culminating in a 55-0 defeat to Illogan RBL Reserves. Only seven Madron players bothered to show up, and the team found themselves without a goalkeeper. Of course, these results are only possible where there is a huge disparity between teams, something that league tier systems are designed to reduce. No such limits apply in international tournaments.

In 2001, Australia faced up against Tonga and American Samoa in qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup. On April 9th, the Aussies demolished Tonga 22-0, setting a record for an international match. Two days later came the turn of American Samoa. In an area replete with minnows, the Samoans were the most minute of all, placing bottom in FIFA's ranking system. In addition, much of their team was blocked from travelling to Australia because of passport problems, though Australia left many of their senior team out. Everyone knew it was going to be a rout, but the scale was astonishing. In the 90 minutes between kickoff and when referee Ronan Leaustic put the Samoans out of their misery, Australia managed to put 31 goals past them without reply. One player, Archie Thompson, scored 13 goals, setting an individual record in an international game. Within the space of three days, Australia had twice broken the world scoring record for international matches. The disparity between Australia and New Zealand on one hand, and the Pacific Islands on the other, was a major factor in the Aussies' decision to join the Asian Confederation in 2006.

Prior to the introduction of preliminary rounds into Cup games, such results were also possible in domestic games. On 12 September 1885 in Dundee, Dundee Harp were playing in the first round of the Scottish Cup against Aberdeen Rovers. The evident disparity between the teams meant that the Dundonians flattened their opposition 35-0, the highest senior result recorded up till that point. So high was the scoreline that the referee was unable to keep track, and reckoned the score at 37-0. However, a tally by Dundee players of their individual goals put it at a more modest 35-0, which they insisted be recognised as the score, a decision they would soon regret.

In the aftermath of the match an Irish player, Tom O'Kane, treated his teammates to a meal and drinking session in the Dundee Arms hotel. Like many teams of the time, Dundee Harp had been formed as a club for Irishmen, and O'Kane had moved there during the summer from nearby Arbroath. Legend has it that, in the spirit of mischief, O'Kane persuaded his club to send a telegram to Arbroath boasting of Harp's record-shattering achievement. If true, this backfired badly, for, on the same day, eighteen miles away, Arbroath had gone one better against Bon Accord in another Scottish Cup first round game.

By rights, Bon Accord should never have been in the Cup. The club's real name was Orion, and due to a mix-up, they had been invited to compete. Unfortunately, the invite, which was meant for Orion Football Club, was instead sent to Orion Cricket club. At the time, anyone could enter a team into the Scottish Cup, and the cricketers, whether out of stubbornness or a belief that seeing as both sports involved a ball and eleven players it couldn't be too hard, gamely decided to compete. The name Bon Accord was adopted after a Scottish phrase from the storming of Aberdeen Castle in the fourteenth century. Forty-five minutes and fifteen goals later, several players reconsidered, possibly after realising that this was not in fact a cricket game. Only seven players returned to the field for the second half. By the time the final whistle blew Arbroath had won 36-0. Only the heroic efforts of referee Dave Stormont, who made extremely creative efforts to disallow several additional Arbroath goals in order to mitigate the humiliation visited upon Bon Accord, prevented the margin of victory going into the forties. Diehard Arbroath fans would suggest that the team were hampered by the lack of goal nets, which both made goals harder to verify and made recovery of the ball a longer process. The ball went between Bon Accord's goals at least forty-one times, but 36-0 is the accepted result.

In a club that hasn't exactly set the world alight before or since, Arbroath's margin of victory has been a major point of pride. The record stood for over a century. It survived a narrow scare in 2001 following a 41-0 victory in Romania, but the Guinness Book of Records held that seeing as said match was not in a professional league, it could not be counted, which was fortunate as Arbroath had just begun a major attempt to cash in on their piece of sporting history. However, all records eventually fall, and so it was that, on 31st October 2002, Arbroath's record was shattered in spectacular style in the most unlikely of places.

Stade Olypique de L'Emyrne Antananarivo (SOE) were, at the time, Madagascar's reigning champions. However, due to a disputed penalty decision in the previous match, they were going to lose that particular crown to arch-rivals AS Adema, the team they would face on that fateful day. As can be imagined, SOE were out to make a statement, which they duly did over the course of ninety of the most amazing minutes the sport has ever known. Calmly, methodically, and precisely, SOE sent 149 goals between their own posts by way of protest. As possession returns to the team who conceded the goal, regardless of whether or not it was an own goal, after each kickoff SOE simply ran the ball back to their own goal and over the line, meaning they finished the match with nearly 100% possession and the biggest margin of defeat in history. As can be imagined, a riot very nearly broke out among disbelieving fans.

Historical it may have been, but the Madagascan Football Federation did not see it that way. SOE's manager, Zaka Be, received a four year suspension for bringing the game into disrepute, and a number of players received varying suspensions too. Still, it speaks volumes about the discipline of the team that they could commit collective sporting suicide in such a manner.

And so, should you be unfortunate enough to find yourself on the wrong end of a football score that looks more like a cricketing one, take comfort from the fact that you are a long way from a new record.

Greg Bowler once tried and failed to sign up for Bon Accord. He is currently applying for citizenship of American Samoa

Time for a Kidney transplant

Sunday past saw Ireland lose to a pretty good Welsh side in their first game of this year’s Six Nations tournament. The score line of 21 -23 suggests that this was a close match in which two teams that were almost evenly matched went hammer and nails at each other with one piece of brilliance or one decision deciding who emerged as victors. To believe that is a fallacy.

Ireland were, in effect, blown off the park by a Welsh side that showed more dynamism, more heart, more guts and much more of tactical nous. The media and public at large have been crying about the injustice of the decisions made by referee Wayne Barnes, most obviously when he showed a yellow card to Stephen Ferris and Bradley Davies for what commentators have taken to calling a “Tip” tackle, despite both incidents being radically different in both their severity and malice. Let’s just get this out of the way, Davies should have been sent off and Ferris shouldn’t have been even penalised. But referees rule on what they see, not what the public want to see, and when a referee is so badly advised as Barnes was at the weekend by touchjudge Dave Pearson then there will always be an outcry. Barnes ruled on what he saw of Ferris’s tackle, ruled it illegal and dished out the mandatory yellow for that type of offence. I am 100% certain had Barnes seen the Davies tackle then the Cardiff Blues man would have seen red. But these issues mask the real problem for Ireland and that is under Declan Kidney this team is grossly underperforming on the Test stage.

Ireland’s record since winning the Grand Slam is appalling, pure and simple. The record reads – played: 31, Won: 16, Lost: 15 Drawn: 1,so a record that is slightly better than 50% isn’t great but it’s not too bad, but if you then strip out the games against tier two countries like Samoa, Fiji, Italy, Canada and the United States the record is worse. Against the top nations since that famous day in Cardiff in 2009 Ireland have played 21 games and won just 6. That is a truly shocking return for what many people would say is the most talented and best prepared team we’ve ever had. It’s plain and simple; this Ireland team is no longer a top class international test rugby side. The reason for this in my opinion lies squarely at the feet of Declan Kidney.

Kidney has many virtues as a coach, he is renowned for his man management and motivational skills, he also has the wisdom to surround himself with top class coaches and back up personnel. What he lacks though, is an appreciation for the tactical side of the game. On Sunday it was baffling how many times Irish players kicked the ball, the most obvious being when Conor Murray kicked out on the full after the forwards had won a turnover and should have been looking to run or pass the ball and catch the Welsh defence cold. It was a stunning mistake to make, but one which typifies how this Ireland side plays. They are conservative, cautious and unadventurous. What Murray did though, was in my mind, exactly what the coach would have wanted – he kicked, that it went out on the full was unfortunate and costly.  Tactically Kidney got it atrociously wrong at the weekend. The gameplan was the exact same as the one which had failed miserably at the World Cup against the same opposition except with a different out half. Any fool could see that Wales couldn’t believe their luck when Ireland perpetually and aimlessly kicked the ball back to them. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. There is a real issue here and that is that Ireland are tactically ill advised by their head coach. What’s worse is that Kidney has proved that he is incapable of watching a game unfold, incapable of reading how it is going and incapable of making changes. Compare this to Leinster coach Joe Schmidt, if Leinster aren’t going well as has been the case in many games, Schmidt gets them into the dressing room at half time, knows exactly the changes that need making, personnel, tactical or otherwise and more often than not the team will emerge from the break a different beast. Witness the Heineken Cup Final 2011, he hauled of Kevin McLaughlin and brought on Shane Jennings which had the result of Northampton no longer ruling at the breakdown, that is the most obvious case but there are numerous other instances I could list where the coach has analysed trends and patters in a game and then made the necessary changes in order to change the flow of a game. Kidney’s plan B is to merely change his fly half with the instruction to do the same as the other lad but better.

Another area where Kidney has continually failed is to get the best out of a very talented backline. Since he took over in 2008 we have been subjected to turgid and feeble back play from players who when with their provinces regularly create and score tries in abundance. Alan Gaffney, the former backline coach, is now gone but he’s not been replaced. Les Kiss, the defensive coach, had now taken over offensive duties in addition to his primary role. But the suspicion is that no matter how talented a coach takes over as backs coach the Kidney philosophy of conservatism would win out. Compare the Irish backs to their welsh counterparts at the weekend, man for man we should have been at least on par, yet we made the welsh look like the Harlem Globetrotters

So here we are, we play World Cup finalists and Six Nations favourites France on Saturday in Paris. Our record there is abysmal. We have a team which seems to have no plan but to kick the ball back to the opposition, a team whose backs are now firmly against the wall and I fully expect them to come out fighting in another grand heroic failure that Irish sport does so well. Ireland will lose and the only good thing to come from it will be that we should be one step closer to getting a new head coach. Sad, but that’s where we are.

PS. When will RTE ever grow up and stop focusing the camera on Ronan O’Gara if Johnny Sexton misses a kick or vice versa. It’s a crass, unfair and childish way for a national broadcaster to behave. It does a disservice to two great Irish players, serves no one good and someone needs to tell them that these two guys are actually teammates.

Ross McGuinness

You can follow Ross on twitter @rossmcguinness

A tale of two kickers - The bedtime story that keeps me awake at night

Two Sundays ago (I'm very late on this blog!!) both Billy Cundiff and Lawrence Tynes woke up in hotel rooms in strange cities. They, unlike 99% of the population, would have been excited about working on a Sunday. Especially a Sunday this late into the winter. It's not hard to assume that both men would have had similar first thoughts when they rolled out of bed on Championship Sunday - Please God give me the opportunity to kick a field goal that catapults my team to a Superbowl. By days end, both men would reflect on their day's work with startlingly different views.

Bearing in on the end of the fourth quarter, in an enthralling AFC Championship game, Billy Cundiff was the first to have his prayers answered. His Balitmore Ravens side had managed to claw their way back into the game and to be within three points with 11seconds remaining on the clock. The ball stood on the 25 yard line and after three failed scoring attempts, Cundiff was called into action. A field goal ties things up and brings the game to overtime. A familiar scenario no doubt but with one peculiar twist - minutes earlier John Harbaugh had turned down giving Cundiff the shot at glory by not sending him to attempt a 50 yard field goal. While this distance is to the extremity of Cundiffs distance, it is by no stretch a long shot. Harbaughs' lack of confidence in Cundiff undoubtedly put extra pressure on his kicker. By the time Cundiff steps forward not only is he trying to fire his team into overtime but he's also trying to prove his coach wrong for not having faith in him.

Over in San Francisco, coaches and players underwear weren't much cleaner. Like their AFC counterparts, the NFC championship game was turning into a cracker and had in fact reached overtime. Lawrence Tynes had seen it all before. Back in early 2008 his Giants team had traveled to Lambeau Field to take on the heavily fancied Green Bay Packers in the Championship game. With the game in overtime and the ball on the 40 yard line Tynes stroked over a field goal to take the Giants to the Superbowl. History has a funny way of repeating itself and so it came to pass that Tynes had another chance to kick the Giants into the Superbowl. I wonder had word of Cundiff made way to the Giants sideline because back in New England the kicking fraternity was about to collectively put their head in their hands.

After you strike a field goal - much like a soccer penalty, or golf shot - you know without looking up whether it was successful. However when it is not, you generally won’t give up hope until that ball drops left, right or short. As much as Billy Cundiff willed that ball he knew he'd hooked the ball left. With 0.04 left on the clock Cundiff had seen fate present itself in front of him, only for an over extension of his right boot to snatch victory away. As the Patriots celebrated, Cundiff was swarped by the media. Credit to him that later in the day he fronted up to the media and took the blame (consquently letting Lee Evens off the hook for dropping the game winning catch minutes earlier).

For Tynes, there were no such worries. Field goal kicking is no different to other aspects in American Football, in that it’s a team effort to get the ball over the bar. There is a kicking team made up of snapper, holder and kicker. If any one of that clog breaks down, the ball doesn't end up going through the sticks although its generally the kicker who ends up with egg on his face. The holders' role is crucial as the snap is very often not straight to his hands. At the Spartans I'm blessed to have one of the best, Touchy, holding for me. We struck up an instant comradery and I know when I start my run up he'll have the ball on the spot. Having this amount of confidence in your holder is key. Tynes clearly has this confidence in Steve Weatherford, his holder. The snap to Weatherford was manky at best but he managed to control it and place it perfectly for Tynes to kick them to the Superbowl. Nobody gave Weatheford any credit for this but to a kickers eye, he made that play not Tynes.

Two weekends ago highlighted how pivitol a kicker can be and how slim his margins are between being praised and being picked on. While I'm playing with smaller stakes, my efficency is still going to be judged by 45 team mates and a coaching staff and front office team. Let's hope I'm more Tynes than Cundiff.

Post by Seamus McDaid
Post by @fbspecial 

Six Nations 2012 Preview

And so it is here it is, the lines have been drawn, the tickets have been sold, the teams have been announced and now, we wait, the quiet before the storm if you like. The Six Nations is upon us and this year’s renewal is being keenly anticipated throughout the contesting nations and the wider, global rugby audience. This tournament, certainly in rugby terms, has no equal. The southern hemisphere can bleat on about their Tri Nations (soon to be, god help us, the Rugby Championship when Argentina join this year) being a superior competition in playing terms, which it may well be, but for shear excitement, passion, history and atmosphere the Six Nations is like no other. The competition’s structure whereby teams play against the opposition at home on alternate years adds a unique dimension because if a defeat is dished out at home you must wait two years for a shot at redemption.

So how are the teams shaping up for this year’s competition?

Pretty well in fact, there seems to be no concensus amongst the mainstream media about who is actually the best team and which team is the most likely victor. Even the bookies can’t seem to decide, okay France are short odds at 5/4 but for me that doesn’t reflect the real situation, Wales are second favourites at 10/3 with Ireland and England at 4 and 5 to 1 respectively. For me, and yes I am biased, Ireland represent great value at that price. If Ireland put in a good performance and get a win this Sunday against the Welsh they will be well set up for a tilt at the title.

Wales and France will pose serious threats, the French in particular as they have the strength in depth to allow them to withstand all bar the most serious of injury crises. Any side which can start with a back three of Maxime Medard, Vincent Clerc and Julien Malzieu with Maxime Mermoz in reserve has to be taken seriously. This attacking threat is allied with a pack which, on it’s day, rivals the world best. Journalists have been raving about the Irish backrow but for me the French one is the best in the championship. The trio of Louis Picamoles, Julien Bonnaire and Thierry Dusautoir appears more balanced and sure if there’s a problem they only have Imanol Hari’flippin’nordoquy on the bench! Whatever way you look at it France will be in the shakeup come the business end of the championship.

The Welsh have the look of a side that is about to really gel, they had a relatively good World Cup where they played with a vigour and joie de vivre that the Wales sides of old would have been proud of. The influx of young players into the side has paid massive dividends. George North, Rhys Priestland, Toby Faletau, Dan Lydiate and Sam Warburton have grabbed their Test careers by the scruff of the neck and look set to be fixtures in the side for the next decade. In the recent past Welsh teams have arrived into the championship under clouds and then sprung into life after a good first result and have gone on to with Grand Slams, the expectation is completely different for this side. There is an expectancy now which this team won’t have had to deal with before and how they cope will decide if they can win the title or fall flat on their faces. If they win in Dublin this weekend then the rest of the team’s best be on their guard.

Ireland come into the championship in optimistic mood, even in the absence of the great one Mr. O’Driscoll. The provinces have been flying and confidence is high. However this is Ireland and this is Declan Kidney. Kidney has been living off the 2009 Grand Slam win, yes there were some good perfomances in the World Cup but last year’s six nations was a disaster. The win against the old enemy, England, at Lansdowne put a gloss on events which masks the true events. Make no mistake, if Ireland do not get at least four wins out of five then the knives will be out for the head coach. On a positive note, guys like Cian Healy, Paul O’Connell, Stephen Ferris and Andrew Trimble have been in great form and if the team get a good start against this weekend they can challenge for the title which really should be the very minimum this group of players deliver.

As for the other sides, England are going through a period of transition and much will depend on how well interim coach Stuart Lancaster can get his young and inexperienced players to adjust to the rigours of Test rugby. The tournament represents a real step up in class for a lot this England team, the Premiership lags behind the quality of the other club competitions in Europe, as evidenced by the poor showing of the main English clubs in the Heineken Cup, and it will be interesting to see if Lancaster can get these players to rise to the occasion of Test rugby. The Scots and Italians will spring a surprise or two and push the top teams all the way but in reality they will dog it out to see who gets the dreaded Wooden Spoon.

So all in all it promises to be a great few weeks of competition, sit tight!

Post by Ross McGuinness
Follow me on twitter @rossmcguinness