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