All sports are equal but some sports are more equal than others

Have you ever seen the movie ‘The Tourists?’ No me neither, but it's an important starting point on our voyage into the murky waters of gender equality in sport. In the "flop" (it still grossed $280million) Angeline Jolie does something then Johnny Depp does something else. Initially they hate each other before, after two hours of neither wearing much clothing, they fall in love. Or presumably that is what happens. Anyway, both Depp and Jolie were leading lights in the film, yet Depp was reportedly paid $20million for this movie whilst Jolie only a paltry $10 million. Someone get the ombudsman on the phone because we have here a clear case of gender discrimination.

During the Wimbledon Ladies’ final last week, NBC reminded viewers that it was Billie Jean King’s birthday. They went on to remember the great lengths to which she went for women's tennis and aired a snapshot of modern superstars paying tribute to this great lady. Leaving aside her obvious phenomenal talent, she is best remembered for playing Bobby Riggs in a match dubbed the "Battle of the Sexes". While history glosses over the point that he was 26 years her senior, King’s victory is said to symbolise that women's tennis was just as good as men’s and as such should have equal pay. This debate rumbled on with the Williams sisters maintaining they could beat any man ranked over 200th in the world. (The fact that when challenged and subsequently beaten by 203rd ranked Karsetn Braasch is neither here nor there!)

Enthralled by the Tour de France and one Tour de Force

Horseracing I may be half qualified to write about having followed it since I was four or five. Cycling however I know nothing about. My first memory of seeing the Tour de France (TdF) was in a guesthouse in Killarney, killing time before going to the races with my parents as a kid. The Killarney racing festival always coincided with the Tour. Eurosport was always one of the few stations you’d get in a B&B or hotel. It did strike me then as it does now what awesome athletes these men are. I think I was taken by the camera work, scenery, fanfare at the roadside. Especially the people and props acting as a giant bike or words of encouragement cut into the tall crops along the route. Lance Armstrong was recognisable, as too was the unmistakeable voice of Sean Kelly. I dipped in and out. Since then I have completely lost touch with the sport. I’ve read the odd doping scandal and watched sports news cover the record breaking period of Armstrong and the equally consistent cheating stories which have tarnished the sport.

A quiet day in work on Wednesday allowed me to delve into the sport once again. Stage 5 across Brittany. One of the shortest stages the brilliant James Richardson informed me. Only 164km! I give out about it in the car. It’s Dublin to Belfast to give it some context. There are plenty of climbs but none stiff enough to deter the specialist sprinters, whom the panel predict will hang on during the stage and be the main protagonists at the end. They were proved right. The stage though did not go completely to script. For one, there were more crashes than the Greek stock exchange. That included Contador (Champion and favourite),Olympian Bradley Wiggins, a cyclist taking down by a motorcyclist (since sacked) and several more which added up to about ten incidents in one short stage. The pace was cruel, the wind blew a gale and sprinters were certainly being tested to the limit.

You just can’t bottle it

 This article is a summary of and an extension to a recent conversation had with a friend about a long held belief.  Sports players and teams can only really be great if they win major competitions and that one major title is more significant than infinite lesser crowns.

The prime example of this is Paul Lawrie, who despite a forgettable career won the British Open in 1999. Therefore while the man was never one of the golfing greats of our generation, his one major victory makes him a more successful golfer than Colin Montgomery, whose endless tour titles, money list winnings and Ryder Cup god-like status only highlight what a failure his career was.

A Tale of Two Tournaments

The World Cup and the Olympic Games are undeniably the biggest sporting events on the planet. Both draw millions of spectators to the host country/city, both are big money spinners for their respective organisations, and both generate massive amounts of media coverage.

However, in recent years the two competitions have followed divergent paths. Whereas even twenty years ago, the Olympics would have been the bigger event, since then the World Cup has surpassed it. This is in no small part due to the relentlessly commercial path pursued by Sepp Blatter and his predecessor at FIFA, Joao Havelange, as well as extreme canniness when it came to selecting hosts (USA in 1994, Japan/South Korea in 2002, South Africa 2010, Russia 2018, with the obvious exception of Qatar 2022, which can only be attributed to an attack of madness brought on by large amounts of money). This gave football a major march on its rivals, particularly in Asia, where much of the growth of the future is likely to come. In addition, the Olympics can't just plug one sport, as it oversees a whole range of events.

A second factor lies in the growth of sporting events as a whole. When the Olympics was founded in 1896, sport was a tiny business. There was a clear logic to having all sports in one conglomeration, so as to get whatever publicity was available. Since then, however, almost all sports now have their own tournaments, and the bigger sports tend to have massive ones (Witness the Ryder Cup, Rugby World Cup, etc) As a result, the Olympics tends to be thought about more as an athletic event, and while sports like football are still played, the winning teams are largely ignored. 

The old King is dead, long live the King?

   

                                             The top two in the world fought it out in the open air stadium but it wasn’t a classic. Perhaps it never would be with the title holder carrying an injury; however we can take nothing away from the new world number one, Djokovic fully deserving his maiden Wimbledon. A world championship boxing match took place on Saturday night last weekend also but it certainly won’t live long in the memory. Wladimir Klitschko systematically took apart David Haye in Hamburg and won a unanimous points decision. Haye can have few complaints and although carrying (not literally) a broken toe into the ring, the Ukranian was far the classier pugilist and utilised his jab with monotonous regularity, wearing Haye down without even having to unleash the right. Obviously all athletes want to perform at 100% and Haye has made much of the fact that his broken toe didn’t allow him to throw his ‘Hayemaker’ with as much ferocity as he would have wished. If he truly believes that a broken toe weakened his punching power to the extent that he was unable to land any telling blows on Klitschko, then he is very much mistaken. The reason he didn’t land any blows was because ‘Dr Steelhammer’ never let him get inside and when Klitschko feared that Haye was getting too close he used his ring nous and pushed him away. The Londoner made the most of this ‘leaning in’ and the referee did take a point away from Klitschko in the seventh because of this. This didn’t affect Wladimir’s confidence whatsoever and Haye knew by the eleventh that it was all over barring a knockout on his part. The really surprising thing was that Haye didn’t really come out swinging in the final round. He knew that he was behind yet didn’t throw wild swings with reckless abandonment. In this blogger’s opinion, if you want to be regarded as the world’s best, then you have to be willing to show blatant disregard for your own well-being when the time is right. Just ask the likes of Brian O’Driscoll and Ray Lewis (Ravens linebacker). Haye seemed intent on leaving the ring with only his ego bruised and was ready with his broken toe excuse the moment the decision was read out. On reflection, he will admit that he was outclassed and outfought and while he will be remembered as a great Cruiserweight, a great heavyweight he will not. “It is what it is”, as Haye would say.

We all like winners - just not when they win all the time

Being currently based on a couch in Yonkers, New York,  has given me ample time to watch SportsCenter on ESPN. For readers not familiar with this show, its essentially round the clock sports news, summed up best by this clip from Will Ferrell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhcnngr0Dbo

Even for as ardent a sportsfan as myself, it's nauseating.

The latest news story that the station has got into a tizzy over is the NBA and NHL drafts. Simplistically under a draft system the club who finished last the previous season, has first choice of a player pool. This pool generally consists of young players never exposed to professional sports, mixed with players recently released by their clubs. Having personally guided players through the AFL draft, I doubt if there is a more nerve-wrecking experience for the young hopefuls, as they wait for their names to be called out. The purpose of this blog is not to discuss why I think this system is infinitely unfair on players but on the lengths sports go to, to maintain "competitive balance".

The notion put forward by most sports governing bodies is for their sport to strive, an even playing field must be maintained. To roll this even playing field, they use techniques like a draft system, a salary cap or a handicap system. As the gap between the rich and the poor in English Football gets to American society levels pundits continue to clamor to regain some form of competition. Since the arrival of the Premier League only 4 teams have lofted the trophy. In that time only 7 teams have won the FA Cup. Stepping it up a level and only 2 English teams have won a Champions League. It doesn't take a genius to work out that there are a lot more fans not celebrating then celebrating come late May. Oh how the Newcastle fans among us dream of throwing away 12 point leads again. This doesn't even begin to look at the impending financial armagedon facing clubs. My esteemed colleague, Greg, covered that on Wednesday (http://kingbetireland.blogspot.com/2011/06/putting-lid-on-it-case-for-wage-caps.html). 

Talk Is Cheap

Nobody can deny it, David Haye talks a good game. But the time for talking is nearly over. Tomorrow night at the Imtech Arena in Hamburg, Haye (25-1, 23ko's) faces Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 ko's) in the hugely anticipated heavyweight title clash. Haye puts his WBA World Heavyweight title on the line against Klitschko's IBF, IBO and WBO belts in a mouth watering unification fight that has finally got people excited about a heavyweight bout. Boxing's heavyweight division has gone through a considerable lull over the past decade or so and this fight seems to have got the public's attention with this being billed as the most tantalising heavyweight tussle since Lennox Lewis stepped into the ring against Mike Tyson in 2002.

Much of the credit for this must go to Haye. His constant insults and jibes have fueled the interest levels of the ordinary boxing fan and got people talking. He more than anyone else has sold this fight. He has adopted many derisory tactics in the lead up to the fight including wearing a t-shirt of the severed heads of Wladimir and his brother Vitali. Some have questioned these tactics but Haye seems to be happy with the path he has chosen. He's obviously trying to get under the skin of the giant Ukranian and feels that by angering him, he may take him out of his comfort zone, making him take a more aggressive approach and in doing so, leaving him open to be hit when they finally step in the ring. While I think some of Haye's antics have been well below the belt, I don't think it has been enough to overly affect Wladimir's preparation. Klitschko is the consummate professional and it seems almost impossible to ruffle him. He has come across really well in the build up and seems to be single minded in his quest to make Haye his 50th knock out victim.