Thursday, April 28, 2011
52 and Counting
Read Barca vs Real report (Irish Times)
Click here to see Mourinho's post match press conference outburst (via BBC)
(for similar toy-tossing-out-of-pram performances see that time Chris de Burgh wrote a letter) (Culch.ie)
Click here for predictive info on Messi's record breaking year (Sports Haze)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sadler's Wells Calls it a Day
One of the greatest sires of thoroughbred racehorses has passed away at the age of 30. Sadler's Wells died of natural causes yesterday in Coolmore, County Tipperary; the farm which had been the place of his birth, training and retirement.
As a horse he was a superb winner for the legendary trainer Vincent O'Brien, picking up four Group 1 races (Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial, the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Eclipse Stakes and Phoenix Champion Stakes). But as a sire he excelled to become the greatest sire in the world, producing 74 individual Group/Grade 1 winners and more than 293 stakes winners.
Sired himself by Northern Dancer (the greatest sire of the 20th century), Sadler's Wells was 14 times the leading stallion in Britain and Ireland. Among his progeny are In The Wings, Salsabil, Barathea, Kayf Tara, Istabraq, Montjeu, Galileo, Imagine, Islington, High Chaparral, and Yeats.
Although Sadler's Wells has already left a legacy which has shattered record books, his sons taken on and expanded his mantle as the top European sire. Galileo for instance has twice been the leading stallion in Britain and Ireland having fathered 16 Group/Grade 1 winners including New Approach, Soldier of Fortune, Rip Van Winkle, Red Rocks, Cape Blanco, Teofilo and Lush Lashes.
Below is a selection of horses sired by Sadler's Wells which went on to win Group 1 (or in the case of National Hunt horses, Grade 1) races. Put simply this list of horses could rank as a list of the greatest horses in Europe for the past 20 years.
Man alive, talk about $ signs…
Group/Grade 1 Winners Sired by Sadler's Wells
| Foaled | Name | Major Wins |
| 1986 | In the Wings | Coronation Cup, G. P. de Saint-Cloud, Breeders' Cup Turf |
| 1986 | Old Vic | Prix du Jockey Club, Irish Derby |
| 1987 | Salsabil | 1,000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks, Irish Derby, Prix Vermeille |
| 1988 | Opera House | Coronation Cup, Eclipse, K George VI & Q Elizabeth |
| 1989 | El Prado | 1991 Irish Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, 2002 Leading sire in North America |
| 1990 | Barathea | Irish 2,000 Guineas, Breeders' Cup Mile |
| 1990 | Fort Wood | G. P. de Paris |
| 1990 | Intrepidity | Prix Saint-Alary, Epsom Oaks, Prix Vermeille |
| 1991 | Carnegie | Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, G. P. de Saint-Cloud |
| 1991 | King's Theatre | K George VI & Q Elizabeth |
| 1991 | Northern Spur | Breeders' Cup Turf |
| 1992 | Istabraq | Champion Hurdle x3 |
| 1992 | Moonshell | Epsom Oaks |
| 1994 | Ebadiyla | Irish Oaks, Prix Royal-Oak |
| 1994 | Entrepreneur | 2,000 Guineas |
| 1994 | Kayf Tara | Ascot Gold Cup x 2, Irish St. Leger x 2 |
| 1995 | Dream Well | Prix du Jockey Club, Irish Derby |
| 1995 | King of Kings | 2,000 Guineas |
| 1996 | Montjeu | Prix du Jockey Club, Irish Derby, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, G. P. de Saint-Cloud, K George VI & Q Elizabeth |
| 1997 | Beat Hollow | G. P. de Paris, Arlington Million |
| 1998 | Galileo | Epsom Derby, Irish Derby, K George VI & Q Elizabeth |
| 1998 | Imagine | Irish 1,000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks |
| 1998 | Milan | St Leger |
| 1999 | High Chaparral | Epsom Derby, Irish Derby, Irish Champion Stakes, Breeders' Cup Turf x 2 |
| 1999 | Islington | Yorkshire Oaks x 2, Nassau Stakes, Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf |
| 2000 | Brian Boru | St. Leger |
| 2000 | Powerscourt | Arlington Million |
| 2000 | Doyen | K George VI & Q Elizabeth |
| 2000 | Refuse to Bend | 2,000 Guineas, Queen Anne, Eclipse |
| 2001 | Yeats | Coronation Cup, Ascot Gold Cup x 4, Irish St. Leger |
| 2002 | Playful Act | Fillies Mile |
| 2003 | Alexandrova | Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks |
| 2003 | Ask | Coronation Cup |
For an essay on Sadler's Wells early achievements see here.
Click here for the Coolmore statement on it's most prized animal.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The 5 best cricket catches ever
Andy Bichel (AUS)
Adam Voges (AUS)
Justin Kemp (SA)
Dwayne Leverock (Bermuda)
(The flying fridge/gazelle/policeman who lives above a curry shop. Better known as Sluggo...)
The chicken/ferret dance (IRL)
Adam Voges (AUS)
Justin Kemp (SA)
Dwayne Leverock (Bermuda)
(The flying fridge/gazelle/policeman who lives above a curry shop. Better known as Sluggo...)
The chicken/ferret dance (IRL)
Monday, April 18, 2011
Ireland are going to win the Rugby World Cup
You heard it here first.
At 25/1 to win the thing Ireland are the bet of the year. You can even get them at 30s and 40s... *blushes*
Make it so Number 1 - d'eye mean - BOD.
At 25/1 to win the thing Ireland are the bet of the year. You can even get them at 30s and 40s... *blushes*
Make it so Number 1 - d'eye mean - BOD.
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| Willie Anderson accepts the challenge of the haka (1989) |
 |
| Munster haka vs the All Blacks (2008) |
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Tom Humphries and 50m EUR footballers
Earlier this season Fernando Torres was sold from Liverpool to Chelsea for (a reported) 50 million EUR. Two seasons ago Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid for 90 million EUR. Rumours of clubs splashing out 30 million EUR+ for a teenager are commonplace. Even though the financial crisis has obliterated my understanding of monetary value I can still grasp the fact that these are ludicrous figures.
I read something yesterday (via the Mirror) which made me a little sick:
Futebol Finance's highest paid players in world football in 2010
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, £11.3million)
2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona, £10.4million)
3 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, £9.1million)
4 Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale, £9.1million)
5 Kaka (Real Madrid, £8.7million)
I suppose (at the end of the day) (as I say) football - like everything - is a business.
Maybe I'm nostalgic and a bit of a sap but isn't football kind of all about the local kid, kicking a ball against his garden wall in the shadow of his home team's ground? Pelé grew up in the slums of São Paulo; Maradona learned to play with oranges because he couldn't afford to buy a football. Sepp Blatter, the current President of FIFA, is adamant that the professional game and the game at the lowest levels must essentially be played in the same way, with the same ethos and with the same ethics (hence no video technology at the World Cup, but that's for another day).
But what are the chances of a young chap in London breaking a top team in one of the top footballing leagues (England/Spain) where clubs, under pressure for instant success, simply splash a load of cash on already established names. With all the money floating around it's hard to see how a local kid could make it on talent and pluckiness alone.
I was getting thoroughly depressed with all this buzzing in my head until I remembered a superb article on this very subject written last year by my favourite sports journalist (he is also IMHO the best sports journalist of them all).
Tom Humphries' journalism during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa read more like a travel blog than a back page sports column. After a month of Humphries' recounting South Africa's rich cuisine, its (ahem) "interesting" social hierarchy and apparently bewildering traffic laws, I had the impression Humphries enjoyed the travel side of the World Cup much more than the football itself (which let's be honest was enormously disappointing). Yet in spite of the oftentimes tenuous link to the football, Humphries' writing always had an edge which left you thinking.
In the particular article which I recalled yesterday, Humphries discusses the reckless abandon with which the World's biggest football clubs spend their money on foreign players. Home grown talent, most especially in England, is overlooked in (oftentimes vain) attempts to contract the next wonder player from Italy, Brazil or the Far East. Just think of Ryan Giggs vs Juan Seb Veron; or Frank Lampard vs Lucas Levia; I mean who would you rather...
The detailed research carried out by Humphries backed itself up in the World Cup itself with Germany (consisting of young players, all of whom were given the chance to play at the top level in Germany) progressing all the way to the semi finals before losing out to eventual winners Spain.
The real proof of the quality of the article was the effect it had on the RTE footballing panel. It provoked praise, admiration and even *shock horror* admissions of actually-I-think-I-might-have-got-it-wrong-in-my-past-analysis-there-Bill from rather bemused Johnny, Liam and Eamon.
Now if that doesn't win you a Pulitzer I don't know what will.
Click here to read the Tom Humphries article "Fewer chances for younger talent in a culture of fear" (Irish Times).
I read something yesterday (via the Mirror) which made me a little sick:
Futebol Finance's highest paid players in world football in 2010
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, £11.3million)
2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona, £10.4million)
3 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, £9.1million)
4 Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale, £9.1million)
5 Kaka (Real Madrid, £8.7million)
I suppose (at the end of the day) (as I say) football - like everything - is a business.
Maybe I'm nostalgic and a bit of a sap but isn't football kind of all about the local kid, kicking a ball against his garden wall in the shadow of his home team's ground? Pelé grew up in the slums of São Paulo; Maradona learned to play with oranges because he couldn't afford to buy a football. Sepp Blatter, the current President of FIFA, is adamant that the professional game and the game at the lowest levels must essentially be played in the same way, with the same ethos and with the same ethics (hence no video technology at the World Cup, but that's for another day).
But what are the chances of a young chap in London breaking a top team in one of the top footballing leagues (England/Spain) where clubs, under pressure for instant success, simply splash a load of cash on already established names. With all the money floating around it's hard to see how a local kid could make it on talent and pluckiness alone.
I was getting thoroughly depressed with all this buzzing in my head until I remembered a superb article on this very subject written last year by my favourite sports journalist (he is also IMHO the best sports journalist of them all).
Tom Humphries' journalism during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa read more like a travel blog than a back page sports column. After a month of Humphries' recounting South Africa's rich cuisine, its (ahem) "interesting" social hierarchy and apparently bewildering traffic laws, I had the impression Humphries enjoyed the travel side of the World Cup much more than the football itself (which let's be honest was enormously disappointing). Yet in spite of the oftentimes tenuous link to the football, Humphries' writing always had an edge which left you thinking.
In the particular article which I recalled yesterday, Humphries discusses the reckless abandon with which the World's biggest football clubs spend their money on foreign players. Home grown talent, most especially in England, is overlooked in (oftentimes vain) attempts to contract the next wonder player from Italy, Brazil or the Far East. Just think of Ryan Giggs vs Juan Seb Veron; or Frank Lampard vs Lucas Levia; I mean who would you rather...
The detailed research carried out by Humphries backed itself up in the World Cup itself with Germany (consisting of young players, all of whom were given the chance to play at the top level in Germany) progressing all the way to the semi finals before losing out to eventual winners Spain.
The real proof of the quality of the article was the effect it had on the RTE footballing panel. It provoked praise, admiration and even *shock horror* admissions of actually-I-think-I-might-have-got-it-wrong-in-my-past-analysis-there-Bill from rather bemused Johnny, Liam and Eamon.
Now if that doesn't win you a Pulitzer I don't know what will.
Click here to read the Tom Humphries article "Fewer chances for younger talent in a culture of fear" (Irish Times).
Thursday, April 14, 2011
No answer blowing in the Windies
Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sulieman Benn.
Each one a cricketing star.
Not one of these players will be playing for the West Indies in their latest One Day Internationals vs Bangladesh/Pakistan. Most have been axed from the squad (although Bravo is injured and Pollard has prefered to play a bit of IPL).
I'm sure they'd find a home if they wanted to pull on a green jersey and wack a few sixies in Clontarf or Stormont.
Via cricinfo
Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sulieman Benn.
Each one a cricketing star.
Not one of these players will be playing for the West Indies in their latest One Day Internationals vs Bangladesh/Pakistan. Most have been axed from the squad (although Bravo is injured and Pollard has prefered to play a bit of IPL).
I'm sure they'd find a home if they wanted to pull on a green jersey and wack a few sixies in Clontarf or Stormont.
 |
| In the world of international cricket, these days it seems everything's up in the air |
Via cricinfo
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Messi or not, here he comes
Lionel Messi just scored his 48th goal of the season.
Yeah - his 48th. *bows down in praise*
Spanish record that (in case you were wondering)...
Quick recap
Messi has won the Spanish League four times, the Spanish cup four times, and the Champions League on two occasions.
He has won the Ballon d'Or (world footballer of the year) in 2009 and 2010.
He has also been the top goal scorer in the Champions League for the last two seasons and excelled as the de facto talisman of the UEFA Team of the Year three years running.
All this and he's still only 23 years old.
Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy!!
I'm still hopeful Andy Carroll will do the business up front with that Uruguayan goalkeeper Kenny has signed as a strike partner...
Happy song to celebrate Messi's awesomeness
(and to remind us that our existences matter too)
(and to remind us that our existences matter too)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Grand National 2011
This year there are 40 runners and riders in the Grand National. Last year AP McCoy the greatest jockey of all time broke his National duck and won in fine style.
Here's an example of what we might expect to see tomorrow (just remember that the fences are even higher...!)
Hold on to your hats 'cos here is the full card for the 2011 Grand National. The twelve Irish trained horses have ickle shamrocks beside them for ease of reference. Almost all jockeys and horses are Irish too :)
via Racing UK
Best of luck to all!
Here's an example of what we might expect to see tomorrow (just remember that the fences are even higher...!)
Hold on to your hats 'cos here is the full card for the 2011 Grand National. The twelve Irish trained horses have ickle shamrocks beside them for ease of reference. Almost all jockeys and horses are Irish too :)
via Racing UK
Best of luck to all!
Irish man wins top cricketing award
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| Yes him |
I wonder if this is embassassing for the International Cricket Council (ICC) who are having an excruciating time at the moment after deciding this week to exclude Ireland from playing in the 2015 World Cup.
What disappoints me the most is the seeming acceptability of devaluing cricket in Ireland. It seems acceptable to afford Ireland no possibility of playing Test cricket. It seems to be acceptable for the ICC to provide them with a tiny amount of funding (a lower per centage per player than any Test nation). It seems acceptable to "develop" Irish cricketers by letting them declare for England. Well I'll tell you it's bloody well not acceptable.
The status quo of cricket must change. I say fair play to Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan for lining out for England and facing the best players in the world - but both of them would surely prefer to represent their our colours on the world stage.
Perhaps the greatest shame of all for cricket this year is the fact that Wisden's five Cricketer's of the Year are - for the first time since 1926 - in fact only four. Mohammad Amir, Pakistan's 18 year old lightening fast bowler, had been nominated for the award but could not be selected by Wisden in the light of a five year ban he received after a spot fixing scandal last year.
What would we do if Sachin wasn't around to pick up our spirits?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
World Cup implodes and Chris Martin vs Sachin Tendulkar
So I was just looking at the official ICC Batting Rankings there. They make for interesting reading.
Ireland's Kevin O'Brien is currently ranked ahead of M. Yousuf, Kevin Pietersen, Kamran Akmal, Younus Khan, Ian Bell, S.T. Jayasuriya, O.A. Shah, Ravi Bopara, Mark Boucher, K.A. Pollard, D. Bravo, David Hussey... Funnily enough Ireland's opening batsman Paul Stirling is ranked ahead of nearly all of these top international batsmen as well. Shame 2011 is the last time O'Brien and Stirling represent Ireland in a World Cup although there's a half chance they'll be playing in the 2015 World Cup under different colours.
On a cheerier note ICC's website allows for player comparisons. Que the Sachin Tendulkar-Chris Martin Test batting comparison (Sachin is literally off the charts....)
Via ICC
Ireland's Kevin O'Brien is currently ranked ahead of M. Yousuf, Kevin Pietersen, Kamran Akmal, Younus Khan, Ian Bell, S.T. Jayasuriya, O.A. Shah, Ravi Bopara, Mark Boucher, K.A. Pollard, D. Bravo, David Hussey... Funnily enough Ireland's opening batsman Paul Stirling is ranked ahead of nearly all of these top international batsmen as well. Shame 2011 is the last time O'Brien and Stirling represent Ireland in a World Cup although there's a half chance they'll be playing in the 2015 World Cup under different colours.
On a cheerier note ICC's website allows for player comparisons. Que the Sachin Tendulkar-Chris Martin Test batting comparison (Sachin is literally off the charts....)
Via ICC
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