More tears for Gazza:
Paul Gascoigne became world famous for the tears he shed when England failed to reach the 1990 World Cup final, a match that he would have missed thanks to a swinging leg and an over-acting Thomas Berthold, but this week the crying for Gazza should be less hollow than those spilled over a mere football match.
For anyone who has followed Gascoigne’s career and post-career, the sad truth is that his sectioning this week under the mental health act was inevitable. Like George Best before him he has failed to control the demons within him and locking him in an institution appears to be the only way of stopping him from harming others, as well as himself.
Even when it was at its worse, Best could never control the alcoholism that had taken grip as a nervous youngster fresh off the ship from Belfast in Manchester. Likewise Gascoigne has been unable to take hold of his addictive traits that have stained his life and those of others, notably his ex-wife, whom he beat during one of his drunken tirades.
A lot of ex-managers, teammates and sports commentators have come out and asked how did it ever reach this point? The fact that he had not controlled matters during his playing days meant that when the simple of joy of playing, of training on a day by day basis had come to and end with nothing to replace it, he became a man with too much time on his hands and for a while too much money.
There was an interesting article in a football magazine a year or so ago in which fans write in questions for someone in the game to answer. When it was Gascoigne’s turn one question asked, ‘do you fell you wasted your career?’ Rather than point at the medals he had acquired, or the awards received, he talked about money and particular how much various teams and managers had squandered on him down the years, hoping to reignite the magic that he showed at Italia 90 and again in Euro 96. That was his justification for his career, how much someone else had valued his ability at the time, rather than anything more tangible.
Sure he has the odd medal on his mantelpiece; a fourth place World Cup medal from 1990, an FA Cup winner’s medal from 1991 and a few Scottish medals of various varieties. Sadly each one comes with a caveat of its own. The World Cup one we have touched upon, the FA Cup medal was given to him in his hospital bed after he had ruptured his ligaments crunching Gary Parker and Gary Charles in the opening minutes of the match. The Scottish ones came after he left Lazio for Rangers in 1995 and whilst he should have been at the peak of his powers, he chose the easy life north of the border, rather than test himself in England or somewhere else on the continent. Or perhaps too many managers had heard stories of his drinking; of the company he kept or just that such a big personality wasn’t worth the risk.
Of course everyone has a favourite Gazza story, which was half the problem. So many of those who have come out in sympathy this week said that his personality, the ability to you feel the most special person in the world, meant that you went along with him regardless, that you forgave him things you knew you shouldn’t.
There has been the constant debate with him of how he would have turned out had he chosen Manchester United in 1989 rather than Tottenham Hotspur. In Manchester he would have come under the tutelage of the far stricter, Alec Ferguson, rather than the laissez-faire style of Terry Venables. It is an interesting thought that the Scot would have curbed his overly exuberant personality in the way he has done of late with Wayne Rooney, but it is one of life’s little debates and instead he went south and enjoyed the bright lights of London. From there in 1991 to Lazio in Rome, where he picked up the useful habit of smoking, off to Rangers in 1995, Middlesbrough in 1998 and then Everton, where his light barely flickered at all.
Since leaving the Toffeemen in 2002 he moved to Burnley and then made the bizarre decision to join Gansu Tianma in the Chinese second division. After that came an aborted spell at fourth tier Boston United as player-coach and an attempt to crack the USA with DC United, who quickly refused to sign him after he had stayed up till 3am at a post-match function getting thoroughly drunk. His last incarnation was as coach of non-league Kettering Town, who fired him after 39 days for ‘being under the influence of alcohol’ before and after matches and training. His attempts to crack the media have failed and he has been conspicuous by his absence since 2002 when, for ITV, he appeared on set clearly the worse for alcohol.
At no stage have any of these events come as any surprise, not least in 1998 when Glenn Hoddle omitted him from the World Cup squad and he reacted by smashing up his hotel room. A lot has been made of trying to help him as and when he leaves his detention, but there have been people trying to help him all the way throughout his career. Sadly the one person who could help him, himself, has been unable to. Until he does, then the worry won’t just be whether he can make anything of himself in football, a horse that has surely bolted, but whether he can survive to an age where he can draw his pension.
Breaks on for sledging:
It was a pity to hear this week that the International Cricket Council took a sledgehammer to crack a nut with their call for umpires to take a zero-tolerance approach to sledging on the field of play. This comes in the light of the Harbhajan Singh/Andrew Symonds incident in which the Indian spinner was accused of racially abusing the Australian all-rounder. That it led to protests from the subcontinent, came down to the word of Ricky Ponting over that of Sachin Tendulkar and was then thrown out further muddied the waters.
The sad thing is that sledging in its purest form is witty, comical and well timed. What did or did not occur between Singh and Symonds was abuse, pure and simple. It goes without saying that this has no place on the field of play, should be eradicated and when it does occur, should be punished. Furthermore that some teams consciously target players before taking the field is not on either, though trying to stop abuse in its organised form will be much harder, not least because some players are always susceptible to verbal intimidation.
Cricket isn’t the only sport to suffer from any such incidents; one only has to look at boxing where this week Bernard Hopkins charmingly declared that Joe Calzaghe should be prepared to die, ahead of their 19th April fight. However, to ban any verbal exchanges will be rather like King Canute’s attempts to stop the tide. When it is done well, sledging adds a little spice to the main event and on the whole is respected by both teams. For sure if the chatter becomes abuse then the umpires should act, which until now they have seemed reluctant to do so, and the culprits punished. But that does not mean that there should be one catchall rule that makes the sport a far more sanitised spectale.
JI 25/02/08
domenica 24 febbraio 2008
domenica 3 febbraio 2008
Notes from a sporting week 04/02/08
Six off and running:
It wasn’t quite the spectacular start that had been expected, but the first weekend of the 6 Nations Championship threw up few clues as to how the rest of the tournament would progress to its finish on 15th March.
Six teams will be feeling six different emotions as they retake the training pitch on Monday ahead of next weekend’s matches. Wales will be elated after their comeback in the final 20 minutes to beat England for the first time in 20 years at Twickenham. France will have their happiness tempered by sloppiness in their otherwise encouraging 27-6 win over Scotland. Ireland have a win and that is the least they could ask for, even if it didn’t completely remove the stigma of a disastrous World Cup.
As for those that lost, Italy will be the happiest after that 16-11 loss at Croke Park and will try to get their new look halfbacks slicker before the match with England on Sunday. Scotland will be the sickest of the lot, having made far too many elementary errors in the loss to France, their performance as awful as the nearside of the Murrayfield pitch on which they played. Their must now be questions as to why coach Frank Hadden left Chris Paterson, Scotland’s best player kicking his heels on the bench for 60 minutes.
England then will be the most confused out of the bunch. How did it go so spectacularly wrong in those last 20 minutes? Take out the obvious of Jonny Wilkinson and Ian Balshaw’s dithering and look at what the Welsh did to win. It would have been interesting to listen to Shaun Edwards’ halftime team talk, which I’m sure was nothing more interesting than, “Stick to what you’re doing and the rewards will come.”
Around the 60-minute mark both teams made a change at outside centre. Tom Shanklin came on for the average Sonny Parker for Wales, whilst England’s 13, Mike Tindall was being carried off the pitch leaving the uncapped Danny Cipriani to come on in his place, a position he had yet to play in senior rugby. It meant that if Wilkinson was feeling the rush defence at flyhalf, there was no Tindall-shaped safety valve outside him. This was emphasised when he flung the ball out to Cipriani to clear, only for the 20 year-old to watch it sail over his head and add to the schmozzle that England’s performance had become.
At Twickenham it was pleasing to see Gavin Henson back to somewhere near his best. Since the glory days of the 2005 Grand Slam he has struggled with form and fitness, some of his own making, some of it out of his hands. Either way it seems that he realises that being left out of the World Cup was a kick up the arse and that if he didn’t knuckle down and get some consistency in his game then there would be the good chance that the 2011 edition would pass him by as well. The run he made in the second half, past, amongst others Wilkinson, helped give the Welsh the confidence needed to turn the result around. If he’s still doing it at the end of the tournament, then it will be a sign that progress, both physical and mental has been made on his part.
The beauty of the 6 Nations is that very rarely does the first weekend point the way for the rest of the tournament. Last year France ran Italy ragged in the opening weekend in Rome, yet the Azzurri had their best tournament ever. Nonetheless such is the importance of a strong start and the need to build momentum that a win on the opening weekend provides much needed succour for the weeks ahead.
It provides no guarantees though. In 2007 that same French team that started so well was torn apart when they went to Twickenham and needed a last minute try in their final match to secure the championship. For now it is all smiles across the River Severn, but by no means does that mean you should put your house on this staying that way until the ides of March.
Super-prices for Super Bowl:
Whether it was the New York Giants or the New England Patriots who won the Superbowl in the early hours of Monday morning, there is one group of people who are the real victors on the night; the black marketers, the ticket touts and scalpers.
For both teams the Vince Lombardi Trophy is what they are after, but for the fans getting a ticket for America’s biggest sports event evokes much the same feeling. Every year there are pictures of fans carrying placards asking for spare tickets and offering exorbitant sums of money for even the worst seat in the house. This year’s match at Phoenix University Stadium, Glendale, Arizona will be no exception.
This year a basic ticket has been available on the internet for $19,446, a pair on ebay were yours for a mere $77,000, whilst if you wanted to push the boat out and entertain some friends and clients, you could snap up a luxury suite for $224,825. Estimates put the minimum price of a ticket at around $3,000, which makes complaints about black market tickets for the football and rugby World Cup look like loose change by comparison.
Of course this year is something of an exception. The Patriots were aiming to finish the season with a 19-0 win-loss ratio, the first time that would ever have happened. On top of which winning the title would mean the trophy went to Boston for the fourth time in seven seasons. For New Yorkers it is their first final since 2001 and extends the Boston-New York sports rivalry, allowing the underdogs from the big apple the chance to upset the favourites from their rival city up the coast.
What then can be done to keep the tickets at slightly saner prices? Well for a start the distribution of the tickets should be looked at. 17.5 per cent go to each of the competing teams, 5 to the host team (in this case the Arizona Cardinals), 34 per cent to the other 29 NFL teams and 25.2 per cent to media, sponsors and fans. No prizes for guessing which lot are most responsible for ending up on the black market.
Of course there are always people out there who are happy to pay over the odds for sports tickets, if there moment seems historical enough. On top of which it is hard, in a country the size of the USA, to talk about average fans. After all it’s not like you can catch a five hour bus from New York to Arizona, as would be the case if Newcastle, for instance, were to reach a cup final at Wembley. With flights and hotels to be paid for it already means a certain economic band is priced out of the equation and that either the particularly wealthy or high saving can afford the cost.
That said part of any big sports event is hearing stories of how much was spent and how far people went to get their hands on a ticket for the big event. But sadly that is the problem with big sports occasions. They are no longer the preserve of fans of the teams, now there are people who go for the occasion, regardless of whether their team is there. Moreover, it seems particularly sad that in a sport that created the concept of equal footing and opportunities for every team, that capitalism has been allowed to run amuck on a ridiculous scale, on the most important day in its calendar.
JI 04/02/08
It wasn’t quite the spectacular start that had been expected, but the first weekend of the 6 Nations Championship threw up few clues as to how the rest of the tournament would progress to its finish on 15th March.
Six teams will be feeling six different emotions as they retake the training pitch on Monday ahead of next weekend’s matches. Wales will be elated after their comeback in the final 20 minutes to beat England for the first time in 20 years at Twickenham. France will have their happiness tempered by sloppiness in their otherwise encouraging 27-6 win over Scotland. Ireland have a win and that is the least they could ask for, even if it didn’t completely remove the stigma of a disastrous World Cup.
As for those that lost, Italy will be the happiest after that 16-11 loss at Croke Park and will try to get their new look halfbacks slicker before the match with England on Sunday. Scotland will be the sickest of the lot, having made far too many elementary errors in the loss to France, their performance as awful as the nearside of the Murrayfield pitch on which they played. Their must now be questions as to why coach Frank Hadden left Chris Paterson, Scotland’s best player kicking his heels on the bench for 60 minutes.
England then will be the most confused out of the bunch. How did it go so spectacularly wrong in those last 20 minutes? Take out the obvious of Jonny Wilkinson and Ian Balshaw’s dithering and look at what the Welsh did to win. It would have been interesting to listen to Shaun Edwards’ halftime team talk, which I’m sure was nothing more interesting than, “Stick to what you’re doing and the rewards will come.”
Around the 60-minute mark both teams made a change at outside centre. Tom Shanklin came on for the average Sonny Parker for Wales, whilst England’s 13, Mike Tindall was being carried off the pitch leaving the uncapped Danny Cipriani to come on in his place, a position he had yet to play in senior rugby. It meant that if Wilkinson was feeling the rush defence at flyhalf, there was no Tindall-shaped safety valve outside him. This was emphasised when he flung the ball out to Cipriani to clear, only for the 20 year-old to watch it sail over his head and add to the schmozzle that England’s performance had become.
At Twickenham it was pleasing to see Gavin Henson back to somewhere near his best. Since the glory days of the 2005 Grand Slam he has struggled with form and fitness, some of his own making, some of it out of his hands. Either way it seems that he realises that being left out of the World Cup was a kick up the arse and that if he didn’t knuckle down and get some consistency in his game then there would be the good chance that the 2011 edition would pass him by as well. The run he made in the second half, past, amongst others Wilkinson, helped give the Welsh the confidence needed to turn the result around. If he’s still doing it at the end of the tournament, then it will be a sign that progress, both physical and mental has been made on his part.
The beauty of the 6 Nations is that very rarely does the first weekend point the way for the rest of the tournament. Last year France ran Italy ragged in the opening weekend in Rome, yet the Azzurri had their best tournament ever. Nonetheless such is the importance of a strong start and the need to build momentum that a win on the opening weekend provides much needed succour for the weeks ahead.
It provides no guarantees though. In 2007 that same French team that started so well was torn apart when they went to Twickenham and needed a last minute try in their final match to secure the championship. For now it is all smiles across the River Severn, but by no means does that mean you should put your house on this staying that way until the ides of March.
Super-prices for Super Bowl:
Whether it was the New York Giants or the New England Patriots who won the Superbowl in the early hours of Monday morning, there is one group of people who are the real victors on the night; the black marketers, the ticket touts and scalpers.
For both teams the Vince Lombardi Trophy is what they are after, but for the fans getting a ticket for America’s biggest sports event evokes much the same feeling. Every year there are pictures of fans carrying placards asking for spare tickets and offering exorbitant sums of money for even the worst seat in the house. This year’s match at Phoenix University Stadium, Glendale, Arizona will be no exception.
This year a basic ticket has been available on the internet for $19,446, a pair on ebay were yours for a mere $77,000, whilst if you wanted to push the boat out and entertain some friends and clients, you could snap up a luxury suite for $224,825. Estimates put the minimum price of a ticket at around $3,000, which makes complaints about black market tickets for the football and rugby World Cup look like loose change by comparison.
Of course this year is something of an exception. The Patriots were aiming to finish the season with a 19-0 win-loss ratio, the first time that would ever have happened. On top of which winning the title would mean the trophy went to Boston for the fourth time in seven seasons. For New Yorkers it is their first final since 2001 and extends the Boston-New York sports rivalry, allowing the underdogs from the big apple the chance to upset the favourites from their rival city up the coast.
What then can be done to keep the tickets at slightly saner prices? Well for a start the distribution of the tickets should be looked at. 17.5 per cent go to each of the competing teams, 5 to the host team (in this case the Arizona Cardinals), 34 per cent to the other 29 NFL teams and 25.2 per cent to media, sponsors and fans. No prizes for guessing which lot are most responsible for ending up on the black market.
Of course there are always people out there who are happy to pay over the odds for sports tickets, if there moment seems historical enough. On top of which it is hard, in a country the size of the USA, to talk about average fans. After all it’s not like you can catch a five hour bus from New York to Arizona, as would be the case if Newcastle, for instance, were to reach a cup final at Wembley. With flights and hotels to be paid for it already means a certain economic band is priced out of the equation and that either the particularly wealthy or high saving can afford the cost.
That said part of any big sports event is hearing stories of how much was spent and how far people went to get their hands on a ticket for the big event. But sadly that is the problem with big sports occasions. They are no longer the preserve of fans of the teams, now there are people who go for the occasion, regardless of whether their team is there. Moreover, it seems particularly sad that in a sport that created the concept of equal footing and opportunities for every team, that capitalism has been allowed to run amuck on a ridiculous scale, on the most important day in its calendar.
JI 04/02/08
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