Source: http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2011/9/30/2460436/spanish-la-liga-2011-schedule-preview-week-6
Friday, September 30, 2011
Rugby World Cup 2011: Scotland hope chaos theory will unsettle England | Paul Rees
Andy Robinson's men have the desperate need for a win that could add to Martin Johnson's furrows
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers are in Auckland, armed with their bagpipes, shops in the city have sold more kilts this week than they would expect to in a year, there has been a run on blue face paint and local politicians of Scottish descent have been proclaiming how Saturday will be anti-England day.
Scotland will need all the support they can get. It is not just a matter for them of defeating England but matching them for bonus points. A winning margin of eight points would do it, as long as they do not concede four tries and score fewer, but that is something they have not achieved against their oldest rivals since 1986.
Martin Johnson's eyebrows are often furrowed, but they were doing the fandango when he heard the team picked by Scotland. He had expected Andy Robinson, his erstwhile confrere, to go for size, not pace. He was still mystified a few hours later.
Robinson said his selection had nothing to do with Scotland needing more than a simple victory to make it into the quarter-finals, but as he pored over footage of England's three games
, as well as their warm-ups last month, two games may have stood out.
The first was Wales at Twickenham, a game England were comfortably in control of until the Welsh started to enjoy a spell in possession and lifted the pace of the game. They played with width and England started to concede penalties, mostly at the breakdown.
The more the game broke up and become unstructured, the less comfortable England looked. It was the same in the opening half against Georgia, opponents expected to offer only the mildest inconvenience.
The Georgians came at England who found themselves sucked into the mayhem. At one point the penalty count was 9-1 against them, and had Georgia kicked the penalties they would probably have gone into the break ahead.
Robinson looks to have opted for the chaos theory. Start with a scurry and a flurry and hurry England into making mistakes and giving away penalties. Form may be with Johnson's men but so it was with Australia in the 2007 quarter-final when the Wallabies failed to smell danger.
Scotland have to aim high while England can aim low, needing just a bonus point to top the group. That said, Scotland will have the edge of needing to win: they are the ones who will be puffed by desperation and pumped by a fear-fuelled adrenaline.
England are not the darlings of this tournament, never mind Auckland. A lack of concern for convention and rules on and off the field, flaky numbers on the backs of jerseys, ball-tampering and a willingness to give away penalties rather than risk a breach of their try-line are symptomatic of the driven singlemindedness that has taken them far in the last two World Cups. Every little edge helps.
England like to be in their comfort zone. They are highly organised, efficient rather than proficient, and revel in structure. Robinson, who knows the English psyche as well as anyone, will have been putting his nationality and background to full use.
Expect the Scots to have a few tricks in the scrums and lineouts, but it will be at the breakdown where they will look to cause maximum damage, getting there quickly and forcing England to infringe. They will revel in their status as underdogs. England have the class but will they have the composure?
The final match of the group stage is another Six Nations affair. Ireland face Italy in Dunedin and from being the underdogs against Australia, they will be fancied to win and finish at the top of their group.
If Italy lose, it will be Nick Mallett's last match in charge of the Azzurri. His players have spoken of their sadness at the decision not to renew the South African's contract and they will not mind the forward warfare that proved successful for the Irish against Australia.
It is on this match that the axis of the knockout stage will rotate. An Irish victory will leave a Tri-Nations route to the final on one side and a Six Nations trail on the other. Ireland have produced two big performances this year, against England in March and Australia a couple of weeks ago.
Otherwise they have veered between the average, as in Rome in February when they secured victory with a late kick, and the poor, as in their August defeats by France and England. Even below their best, they should have too much for an Italy side that laboured against the United States on Tuesday.
Italy were not comfortable having to take the initiative then. That will not be their problem on Sunday, and while they will front up upfront, neither their defence nor their attack out wide looks resourceful enough to tax Ireland.
Australia and New Zealand will have training runs, Argentina will know in advance what they have to do against Georgia but cannot take a try bonus point for granted, while Wales will not play with the abandon against Fiji they did in Nantes in 2007 when they lost and crashed out of the tournament at the group stage.
Then there is France. They face Tonga in Wellington on Saturday and ordinarily they should win handsomely, but Les Bleus are not a model of contentment. Word is the players have taken charge, which is why Morgan Parra is at outside-half rather than the reportedly unpopular Fran�ois Trinh-Duc.
France seem to sum up this World Cup ? unpredictable. This is, for three of the four groups, knockout rugby. It is about who keeps their nerve, who confounds the analysts, who works out the referee and who does not trust in the formbook. The minnows are on their way home and the sharks are circling.
? This is an extract from The Breakdown email, which will be launched every weekday throughout the Rugby World Cup. To subscribe for free click here.
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/30/rugby-world-cup-andy-robinson-scotland
On the Corner Podcast, no. 4: Fitzmagic and a leaky Patriots D
We wanted to go deeper into the Buffalo Bills this week, so we got a little help from Patrick Moran of Buffalo Sports Daily. We ask Patrick to name Buffalo's MVP: Fred Jackson or Ryan Fitzpatrick. We also talk about whether or not the Bills can keep winning while giving up the yardage they're giving up, if Ryan Fitzpatrick is the quarterback of today and tomorrow, and how on earth Chan Gailey, of all people, became the architect of a franchise resurrection.
From there, we go into a discussion about the rest of the AFC East, specifically the New England Patriots and their league-worst defense. Is it really the league's worst? If so, does it even matter? And what of the Jets? Are they perhaps not as good as advertised?
We also touch on the Titans impressive start, whether or not the Texans are the second-best team in the AFC, and why I'm not at all opposed to Indianapolis playing on Monday night.
These are the games we pick this week, with an update from last week:
Detroit Lions (pick) @ Dallas Cowboys
Pittsburgh Steelers +3.5 @ Houston Texans
Minnesota Vikings -3 @ Kansas City Chiefs
New York Jets +3.5 @ Baltimore Ravens
Indianapolis Colts +10 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Standings: Danks 8-7; MJD, a shameful 5-10.
If you've got suggestions for future podcasts, be they format suggestions, things you'd like us to discuss, things you'd like us to stop discussing, or questions you'd like answered -- football-related or not -- find me on Twitter @themightymjd or drop me an email.
Left-click to listen, right-click to download.
Oh, and would you like to subscribe in iTunes? Then by all means:
Mike Ditka would ?spit on? author of the Walter Payton book
Chase told us on Wednesday about a new biography on Walter Payton that's been dubbed controversial by many, based on the excerpts that have been released. Those excerpts, likely chosen because they would be dubbed controversial, tell of Payton's post-career painkiller abuse, marital infidelity and suicidal thoughts.
Count Mike Ditka as one of the displeased. Payton's former coach, who's never been called shy, told NBC Chicago that he'd like to spit on author Jeff Pearlman and that he has "no respect for him." He also called Pearlman gutless on ESPN Radio:
"If you're going to wait 12 years after somebody's passed, come on. This is the sign of a gutless individual who would do this. Totally gutless who would hide behind that, and that's what he's done."
Ditka has likely only seen the excerpts that have been released and not the entire book, which comes out Tuesday. He's not the only one with these opinions, though. Pearlman's heard a lot of them, and he addressed them in a blog post yesterday. Here's a snippet:
You are a journalist, trying to paint the full picture. The FULL picture. You have to, in the name of honesty; in the name of authenticity. Otherwise, why have biographies at all? Why look back at the lives of JFK and Ronald Reagan and MLK and Malcolm X and Jim Morrison and Marilyn Monroe and on and on and on? What's to learn ? to understand ? to appreciate if all we do is turn the deceased into unflawed icons?
What's the point of history, if history can only be approved talking points?
We all have heroes. Maybe they're athletes, maybe they're celebrities, maybe they're people you know and spend time with every day. We have ideals of them as faultless entities, beyond reproach, because that's what we're looking for. We all want something to strive for. We need to be inspired by the fact that it exists in someone else, and therefore, can exist in us.
The good qualities these people have, the ones that make them heroes to us, we hold very dear. They're important. And their qualities that are maybe less than perfect, we devalue, excuse, block out or never notice to begin with. Those, when contrasted with the good things, aren't so important.
It leaves us with an unrealistic idea, though. And that's fine, because inspiration doesn't have to pass any standard of being "the whole truth." It can come from anywhere you find it. It may not be real, but why does it have to be? Spoiler alert: Your heroes have problems, too. I don't care if it's Walter Payton, Gandhi, Ronald Reagan, Tupac or the purple Teletubby, they are not perfect.
They don't have to be. You can look up to, and draw inspiration from, imperfect people. Knowingly or not, you do it all the time.
If you loved Walter Payton and treasured his memory, there's nothing here that means you have to stop loving Walter Payton, and I say this as someone who's only read the "bad parts".
Don't see Payton as a guy who wasn't the terrific person you thought he was, because he was that guy. That's still absolutely true. He just happened to make some other decisions in his life that weren't ideal, because he's human.
He had problems and flaws. He was abused by the game of football to the point where he felt he couldn't live without painkillers, and his thought processes were clearly affected by the pain and the drugs he used to dull it.
And through all of that, still died as an extraordinarily kind and giving hero.
Ahtyba Rubin Brian Schaefering Darell Scott Malcolm Sheppard
Rugby World Cup 2011: England's game with Scotland could echo 1991 | Eddie Butler
The two sides have met at a World Cup before, when Gavin Hastings missed a penalty sitter as England prevailed 9-6
England and Scotland are hardly strangers to each other on the rugby field, their rivalry going back further than all others, to 1871, and it comes as a bit of a surprise that their meeting at the end of the Pool B schedule at Eden Park, Auckland, is the first time they will have ever met on neutral territory.
They have met once before at the World Cup, at Murrayfield in 1991, at the rarified height of the semi-final. England were called the host nation in 1991, but the second World Cup was spread all over five nations, and Scotland held the first semi-final, which turned out to be the largely forgettable one, compared with the second, between Australia and New Zealand in Dublin the next day. Australia won 16-6 and thus initiated New Zealand's years of World Cup woe. But that is a different story.
Scotland had beaten England at Murrayfield in the grand slam decider of 1990, on the day when David Sole led his team at a deliberate slow march on to the field. It was a day when the fixture, never without its fire, had the fuel of poll tax riots splashed over it. That occasion lingers in the memory ? to this day, the hackles of Brian Moore, admittedly never difficult to raise, go vertical at the merest mention of that defeat ? and was set as the backdrop to the one and only World Cup encounter of the following year.
But England had already set the record straight by the end of October, 1991, beating Scotland 21-12 at Twickenham on their way to a grand slam of their own. If there was a sense of menace in the air it surrounded the games between France and England. They had met in Paris ? England had lost to New Zealand in the opening pool game at Twickenham and, as a runner-up, had to go on their travels in the last eight.
To Paris, for a monstrous confrontation with the French. Serge Blanco was tumble-dryered out of a ruck and retaliated by clouting the England wing, Nigel Heslop. Blanco was clubbed back and it all kicked off, as they say. Eric Champ and Mickey Skinner joined in. They all joined in. Certainly Moore did. Of course, he did. But that is a different story.
Scotland had won their pool, by beating Japan, Zimbabwe and Ireland, who, incidentally, as runners-up still enjoyed a quarter-final at home against Australia. This turned into one of the outstanding games in World Cup history: the try by Gordon Hamilton to win the game in the dying minutes, surely; the winning try, instead, by Michael Lynagh moments later. What a game. But a different story.
Scotland reached the semi-final by beating Western Samoa, as Manu Samoa, now Samoa, was then known. None of the Samoas had been invited to the first World Cup in 1987 and rather made a point about exclusion and rough treatment at the hands of the rugby rulers ? still valid to this day ? by beating Wales in Cardiff. What a day that was, the arrival of Island rugby. But a different story.
So, Scotland met England at Murrayfield in the semi-final of 1991. It was almost respectful in its unfolding, with certainly none of the lunacy that covered the France-England matches of that time. It was still hostile enough, with the rucks still a place for studs and speed and none of this stooping and scraping by hand of the modern age.
Of course, there were no tries, which sort of contradicts any notion that rucking by boot opened the door to open rugby. It did and it didn't. The ball was recycled much more rapidly in the old days, but on such a day as a World Cup semi at Murrayfield it was never going to be used expansively. Might we ever see a return to breakdowns without hands? No. Too litigious.
The story ends with a pair of penalties apiece, a drop goal by Rob Andrew and a missed penalty, a sitter, by Gavin Hastings. 9-6 to England, not bad for a nerve-jangler, but not one to be cherished in the archive. England went on to lose to Australia in the final, Scotland to New Zealand in the bronze play-off.
Might Saturday, when England and Scotland meet at the World Cup for only the second time, be a repeat, all tension and try-less? You bet.
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/sep/30/rugby-world-cup-2011-england-scotland1
Javarris James Rashad Jennings Chris Johnson Gartrell Johnson
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Antonio Garay: The nose tackle who drives a Hello Kitty smart car
It took a while for San Diego Chargers nose tackle Antonio Garay to make an impact in the NFL ? when he replaced Jamal Williams at the position in 2010 and put up an impressive 5.5 sacks, those became the first 5.5 sacks of his five-year NFL career. Garay already has one more sack this season, and things are looking bright for the Boston College alum.
However, that's not why we're featuring Antonio Garay in Shutdown Corner today. The reason we're featuring Antonio Garay in Shutdown Corner today is that we are reasonably sure in guaranteeing that this is the only time you will see a 6-foot-4, 320-pound NFL defender driving a tiny convertible smart car ? with the Hello Kitty logo on it.
As Garay tweeted about the car, "Yo @TakeoSpikes51 I wish I had 4 hands 2 give the Hello Kitty drop top Smart car 4 thumbs UP but 2 will do."
Four thumbs up would be most appropriate.
Lest you think that that photo was some sort of prop, and the car isn't really his, there's further photographic evidence here and here (there are many more on his YFrog account). The second photo has teammate Cam Thomas in the car as well, which, as Garay points out, puts about 665 pounds of football player in a car that looks like it won't stand that for too long.
"Not only is this dog cruisin around in a Hello Kitty drop top Im rockn my 3D shades cus its so real," Garay tweeted.
Now, who can argue with that? Garay is a man who knows how to accessorize; he also spray-paints designs into his sculpted hair (we love the look on Tim Tebow's face in the middle picture above) and recently lost a very spiffy iPhone case we would certainly miss if we lost it.
Style, thy name is Antonio Garay, and we are duly impressed.
The heady days when Shamrock Rovers dreamed of European glory | Paul Doyle
Thirty years ago Shamrock Rovers, managed by John Giles, had grand designs with their brand of stylish, adventurous football
The Shamrock Rovers players who walk out at White Hart Lane on Thursday night will be attempting to fulfil an ambition that first animated the club just over 30 years ago. Back then the Dublin side's dream of becoming a European force fuelled an enterprise that briefly promised to radically alter Anglo-Irish footballing relations, but ultimately led to a chaotic demise from which the club is only now emerging.
In 1977, the former Leeds United midfielder John Giles stunned many by resigning as player-manager of West Bromwich Albion, turning his back on the English game and returning to Ireland, to try to transform Rovers into a European power. Rovers were owned by Giles's father-in-law, Louis Kilcoyne, who several years earlier had bought the club from the Cunningham family that had presided over its golden age in the 1950s and 60s. That was before the introduction of television convinced most Irish football fans to watch British football rather than the domestic game, their interest stoked by the sights of the European Cup being won by Celtic and a George Best-inspired Manchester United. Attendances at Irish club matches plummeted. The Giles-Kilcoyne project at Rovers attempted to reverse the trend.
Rovers reasoned that stemming the flow of fans to Britain meant stemming the flow of Irish players to Britain. So they invested heavily in keeping the best Irish young players at home and also persuaded experienced Irish internationals such as Eamon Dunphy, Paddy Mulligan and Ray Treacy to return from English clubs.
"It was an exciting time," recalls Jim Beglin, the former Rovers left-back who now commentates for ITV. "The plan was first to become regulars in European competition and then push on to the next level. Giles was obviously a superstar in Ireland and was still a fine player even then ? and I was to find that he was also a top-class coach and a very demanding taskmaster."
Giles sought to cultivate a stylish brand of adventurous, passing football. Rovers won the FAI Cup in Giles's first season and became regulars in Europe. Their 7-0 aggregate thrashing of Fram Reykjavik in the first round of the 1982-83 Uefa Cup is the record European victory for a League of Ireland club.
"I remember after that all the lads waiting for word of the draw and hoping that we'd be pitted against Tottenham," recalls Beglin. "We didn't necessarily think we were going to beat them but we wanted the chance to show ourselves on that stage, to test how far we'd come. But instead we were drawn against the Romanian side University Craiova, and in those days trips to Eastern European teams were quite an ordeal."
Rovers lost 5-0 on aggregate.
Giles left soon after, complaining that the Irish football establishment resented Rovers' attempt to progress and rival clubs, like crabs in a bucket, conspired to keep everyone down. A particular complaint made by Rovers at the time regarded opponents' persistence with atrocious playing surfaces, partially to sabotage Rovers' passing aspirations. Rovers' record on the road contrasted with their dominant home form.
"Maybe tricks were tried but I think we also lacked a bit of nous," says Beglin. "We played some lovely stuff but other teams with more League of Ireland experience would just edge us out in the end."
It is testament to the calibre of Giles's schooling, however, that several of the young players he coached went on to play for clubs who prized tidy football: the midfielders Liam Buckley and Alan Campbell were snapped up by Racing Santander and Beglin became Bob Paisley's last signing for Liverpool, whom he helped to the Double in 1986.
"I owe an awful lot to Rovers," says Beglin. "I was there from 16 to 19 and they gave me a brilliant grounding. When I came to Liverpool I found that they were doing pretty much the same thing that Giles had been doing in Dublin."
Rovers found success after the departure of Giles, but the full-time structure was gradually wound down and the finesse phased out. A new manager, the savvy veteran Jim McLaughlin, hired a squad of local stalwarts who won four league titles in a row.
"They had the experience that we lacked and probably played in a less elaborate way but that was what it took to win in the League of Ireland," says Beglin. It was not attractive enough to wean the Irish public off British football and attendances stayed low. In 1987, Kilcoyne tore the heart out of the club's hard core of supporters by selling the stadium, Glenmalure Park, to property developers, who knocked it down and built apartments. Rovers were homeless.
For much of the next two decades the most decorated club in Ireland club played in temporary accommodation or shared grounds with Dublin rivals. Through mismanagement and legal wrangles over a proposed new stadium, the club accumulated debts that pushed it to the brink of oblivion. In 2005 it had to go to court to argue against the imposition of a winding up order, its debts having reached ?2.4m. The club was allowed to stay afloat but was forcibly relegated to the second tier. In a surprise decision, the court handed the running of the club to a group of fans who had been raising funds to keep it alive. Those fans guided the club to promotion and financial health and still run the club now.
Financial health is not, of course, the same thing as wealth. Here is a stark indication of the disparity of resources between Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur: if the Irish champions were to beat Spurs in the Europa League, a tournament of which Harry Redknapp is openly disdainful, the ?140,000 prize money they would pocket would be ?40,000 more than they will get if they win the League of Ireland for a second year in a row. So while Redknapp is likely to rest his best players so they can concentrate on trying to qualify for the Champions League, his Rovers counterpart, Michael O'Neill, most certainly will not, even though his team are locked in an intense struggle for the domestic title with Sligo Rovers, with whom they are level on points at the top of the table with six matches to go.
"The financial rewards we get for doing well in Europe far outweigh anything we can get domestically so that's one of the reasons it is very difficult to prioritise one over the other," says O'Neill. "Our annual budget for the entire club is around ?600,000: I imagine each individual Tottenham player is on multiples of that."
The Rovers players, all semi-professionals on 42-week contracts, are not motivated merely by money, of course: the sporting thrill of toppling players presumed to be far better than them would last much longer than any win bonus.
"A lot of our squad had trials or short contracts with English clubs when they were younger and it didn't happen for them so they came home to rebuild their careers," O'Neill says. "They'll want to show that it was a mistake to let them go."
The Rovers squad does not only feature Irish players: goalkeeper Ryan Thompson hopes his performance will bring him to the attention of Jamaica and top scorer Gary Twigg is a 27-year-old Glaswegian who counts Derby County, Airdrie United and Bristol Rovers among past employers. New recruit Rohan Ricketts was once of Tottenham.
The brightest prospect, though, is probably Enda Stevens, who has agreed to join Aston Villa once Rovers's European adventure concludes. The 21-year-old is a classy left-back with wonderful crossing ability. If he makes as big an impact in England as Beglin did, you'll be hearing plenty more about him. Possibly also from him, alongside Clive Tyldesley.
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/sep/28/shamrock-rovers-europa-league
Now the best horsemanship gets a fairer crack of the whip | Lydia Hislop
This is not the first time the BHA has rewritten its whip regulations. Its authors must fervently hope, tweaks aside, that it will be the last
If it is possible to draw a lasting line in the sand, this was achieved on Tuesday. It now falls to party members not to engage self-destruct by stamping all over painstaking work. "These are not the old whip rules," racing declared. Unlike Ed Miliband, it had impact.
From Monday week, the number of times the whip can be used by a jockey in a race will be roughly halved. From start to finish, regardless of the distance, a Flat rider can take his or her hand off the reins and make a stroke seven times. For a jump jockey, it will be eight.
The penalties for breaking these rules are much harsher, with a five?day minimum suspension replacing a caution for some infringements to ? moving up the scale ? the loss of a jockey's prize money and riding fee, bans to be counted in months rather than days for multiple offences and the annual relicensing of riders to depend on their disciplinary record.
There are many unalloyed positives about the new rule book, and potentially some drawbacks. The removal of the deferral clause for suspensions, which allowed jockeys to serve penalties on days that did not clash with important rides, is welcome. It is predicated on the severity of the offence rather than implicitly evaluating welfare according to a jockey's status.
The British Horseracing Authority's renewed focus on education, remedial training and the constructive targeting of repeat offenders, rather than relying overtly on punishment, is long overdue ? as is their inclination to take a lead.
Having commissioned public opinion research, the BHA now also realises the imperative of better communication. There was an attempt by their man on BBC Breakfast to explain key differences between the traditional whip and the air-cushioned ones mandatory in racing, although not nearly as effectively as might have been. On the downside, putting a figure on the number of hits that trigger a breach has run racing into trouble before ? although the definition of what constitutes a "hit" and enduring emphasis on excessive force (rather than just frequency) will help.
The hefty penalties for those who may seek to compensate jockeys punished for a win-at-all-costs ride sound more idealistic than enforceable. Introducing the new rules only five days before the inaugural British Champions' Day, when the plain cost of not winning will be higher than ever before in the UK, is a risk ? we hope a calculated one.
But all this is beside the point. This new incarnation of rules needs to work for the simple reason that even the most entrenched of racing people ? almost a tautology ? must understand which way the wind is blowing. It is in the direction that, back on the Breakfast couch, quite naturally led the presenter Bill Turnbull to link the whip discussion with whether jump racing should exist.
This is not the first time the BHA has entirely rewritten its whip regulations. Its authors must fervently hope, tweaks aside, that it will be the last. There is little scope left for greater restrictions. Indeed, this review turned to address the elephant, asking the fundamental question of whether a whip is needed at all. Most pertinently, given all but the most deluded abolitionists allow that it must be carried for steering purposes to ensure the safety of horse, rider and others around them, the review examined whether the whip is a valid tool "for encouragement". After taking varying evidence from within racing and from animal welfare organisations and crunching some numbers, the BHA concluded that it was.
The "acceptable use of the whip" is now defined. It is to "focus and concentrate a horse so that it performs at its best". Its use must be justified within the context of a race. The horse must be in contention, able to respond and given time to do so. This is where the breakthrough can be made. Crucially, this report links overreliance on the whip with inferior riding, most likely to result in an inferior performance from the horse. Only four of the 30 Flat jockeys with the most wins rate above the national average for whip offences. The message is clear: if you break the whip rules, you're probably bad at your job.
This is no surprise. Anyone who watches a lot of racing sees, daily, horses underachieving because their riders have not exhausted their portfolio of physical communications with their horse before reaching for their whip. This review ends that culture.
Now everyone ? jockeys, trainers, owners, punters and the media ? knows what is good riding and what is not. The erroneous link between using the whip again and necessarily getting the best from a horse is broken. The connection between achievement and riding within the rules is enforced. These rules say that getting a whip ban carries the stigma it always should have.
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/sep/28/whip-use-racing-animal-welfare
Former NFL referee: Vick should not be receiving calls
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. ? Former NFL referee Jim Tunney whistled down any notion that Michael Vick isn't being protected like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Tunney, who officiated in the league for 31 years and can claim three Super Bowl appearances, spoke to Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday about the Eagles quarterback's comments following a 29-16 loss to the Giants.
Vick was sacked six times in the Week 3 loss and expressed his frustration at not getting what he perceived to be any calls from the referees.
"Every time I throw the ball, in all my highlights and just watching film in general, every time I throw the ball, I'm on the ground, getting hit in the head and I don't know why I don't get the 15-yard flags like everyone else does," Vick said.
But in the eyes of Tunney, there is and should be no difference between Vick and the likes of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who are more traditional pocket passers. His 676 yards rushing accounts to a style which likes to get out of the pocket and make plays with his feet, making him one of the most exciting players in the league. It also means that once he's in the open field, he's no longer a quarterback.
In fact, the sights are trained squarely on him.
"The difference between Brady and Manning and then Michael Vick, is that he doesn't stay in the pocket. Once he gets out there, out of the pocket, he's a runner, not a quarterback," Tunney told Yahoo! Sports. "And in today's NFL, what happens is that you end up getting hit ? you're not just getting tackled you're going to get hit and gang-tackled. Michael Vick is subject to what's going on in the NFL today. He's a target."
The idea that Vick isn't receiving calls from the referees is nothing new to Tunney, who has seen and heard this same line in his three decades of blowing the whistle, which ended in 1991 with his retirement from the NFL. To Tunney ? "This has been going on for years before Michael Vick, and it won't stop with him" ? it is part and parcel for a quarterback to feel he's not getting calls. There is an acknowledgement on the part of Tunney that the league has created rules to protect the "franchise player" and make sure that quarterbacks don't take unnecessary hits and risk injury.
And just because Vick's style is to move around and create with his feet rather than staying in the pocket doesn't mean he will get any more or any less protection than what is afforded to him according to the rules. Tunney said there is an "awareness" of his playing style among referees, but it won't lead to a change in interpreting the rules.
All of which leads to a certain "risk-reward" for Vick, who can generate big plays with his athleticism and willingness to leave the pocket but also leaves himself exposed to big hits and the protection afforded him once he takes off running.
"As a referee, I'd protect Michael Vick just the same as Joe Montana, Dan Marino or any other quarterback out there. In college, Reggie Bush or Michael Vick could use their speed to get away and make plays, but you can't do that in the NFL. Here, a defensive coordinator will tell you it's about pressure, pressure, pressure. It's the style of play," Tunney said. "You don't change the rules for the player. Just because Tom Brady is back there passing doesn't mean you watch out especially for knees. You need to be aware of things, but you can't change the way you call the game just because of one player or the way he plays. And the same is true for Michael Vick."
Kristian R. Dyer covers the NFL and can be followed at twitter.com/KristianRDyer
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Manchester City must back Roberto Mancini over Carlos Tevez affair | Daniel Taylor
The Argentina striker may well be shown the door by Manchester City after this display of staggering ego and outrageous disrespect at Bayern Munich
It was getting on for 1am when they started to board flight BD1858 at Munich airport. Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott played Scrabble on an iPad. For Gareth Barry and James Milner, the game of choice was Yahtzee. Most of the players, though, sat in silence, contemplating what had just happened and what it meant. In his usual position ? front row, window seat ? Roberto Mancini's face said one thing: "Leave well alone."
As the journalists filed past, Carlos Tevez probably didn't pick the wisest moment to be sharing a joke with Pablo Zabaleta, tipping back his head with laughter, animated, seemingly without a care in the world.
Did he care? It is difficult to know the answer to that, but it says something about the problems Tevez has caused behind the scenes at Manchester City that there are senior people at the club who have suspected for a while something was brewing, and have not completely ruled out the idea that what happened in the Allianz Arena was premeditated.
The truth is City accepted a long time ago that what Tevez brings ? the baggage, the bullshit, the occasional moments of brilliance ? will always remind us of the gap between someone who is a great football player and a great football man. Until now, though, the good has always outweighed the bad. Sure, it has been a close-run thing at times, but Tevez was always worth the hassle. He could pinch you a goal, earn his team-mates a win bonus, send the crowd home happy, keep the manager in his job.
What happened against Bayern Munich was something else entirely. Roberto Mancini was actually trembling with anger in his press conference. His eyes burned with fury. Mancini has built his persona on being detached and tough. Here, he looked far more emotional than any other time we have seen him in almost two years at the club. It was true, he said, that Tevez had refused to come on as a second-half substitute and, as far as he was concerned, that was it.
"For me, if a player earns a lot of money playing for Manchester City, in the Champions League, and he behaves like this ? no, he cannot play for us again. Never. He has wanted to leave for the last two years. For two years I have helped him, and now he has refused to play. Never again. Finished."
Tevez is Tevez and, by now, we all know controversy sticks to him like a tick on a dog, but his record of previous offences does not make the events in Germany any less shocking or dispiriting. And there must be sadness, too, that it has come to this. Tevez should be cherished in City's history as the man who lifted the FA Cup, popular enough at the time that the supporters, for the most part, were willing to forgive him when it turned out he didn't want to take part in the open-top bus parade. The club had to persuade Tevez, with the threat of a fine, to cancel a flight he had booked to Argentina.
Four months on, we now have the faintly ludicrous situation whereby City felt it necessary to call in extra security to meet the squad at Manchester airport in the early hours of Wednesday because of the possibility that supporters would turn up to confront him. Tevez, through a cocktail of staggering ego and self-absorption, has somehow manoeuvred himself into a position whereby, in May, he was lifting the club's first piece of silverware for 35 years and, by September, he needed a police escort to make his way through a largely deserted Terminal 3.
City have to back Mancini now. If they didn't, it would undermine the manager to the point where the Italian might feasibly consider his own position unworkable under this regime. Mancini, undoubtedly, was speaking in the heat of the moment on Tuesday, but his mood had not changed by the time the flight landed back in Manchester, and nor will it.
Mancini will jeopardise his own authority if he should relax his position now. But there's no getting way from the fact it's a gamble. Tevez scored or set up almost half of City's league goals last season. There aren't many footballers who get the ball and go straight for goal like he does. Tevez gets the ball and drives forward. He makes things happen, scores from every angle, every distance. Motivated, he is a great footballer.
Without him, City have only three recognised forwards ? Sergio Ag�ero, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli ? and you wonder whether there may be unease in Abu Dhabi about what would happen if, say, Ag�ero picked up an injury that ruled him out for a couple of months.
But Mancini has come to the conclusion that the situation is only going to deteriorate. Tevez has handed in transfer requests, he has fluttered his eyelashes at potential suitors and he has turned his phone off when the manager of the club currently paying him �250,000 a week wanted a couple of minutes over the summer.
This is a man who craves recognition as the biggest fish in his pond. And this season, at City, he has merely been part of the shoal. Vincent Kompany is the captain these days. Ag�ero has taken over as first-choice striker. The club's best player? That's David Silva, by a country mile. The player whose name is sung the loudest? Dzeko. Or, at least, it was until the 2-0 defeat to Bayern, when the Bosnian's reaction to being substituted was poor in the extreme and will mean he is dropped for Saturday's game at Blackburn Rovers.
A few weeks ago the Guardian highlighted Gary Neville's comments, from his autobiography, about Tevez from two years together at Manchester United. Neville remembers someone who, in his final year, "started to toss it off a bit in training ? was constantly saying his back was sore ? He'd become very fond of a massage."
His conclusion from two years together at Old Trafford is that Tevez's ego never recovered from the signing of Dimitar Berbatov. "He's a brilliant striker, as he has proved at City. But I can judge only on what he did in that second season and, to all of us at United, it seemed his heart wasn't in it. He was in and out of the team and he became insecure. He'd been upset by the signing of Berba, and Carlos needs to feel the love. He's not someone who can play one game in three and be happy."
Except there is not much love for Carlos in Manchester any more. Mancini is no longer willing to spoil him and, if the manager gets his way, the authority will come from Abu Dhabi to send the offending player into isolation, without a care for what it would do to his career. A buyer may come forward in January but, then again, they may not. There are not too many clubs out there with the money to sign a player with Tevez's financial requirements, particularly one with his history of moving on every couple of years and, in the process, leaving behind such a stink that when it happens at Eastlands they will need to fumigate the corridors.
At City there has been a tendency in the past to blame his adviser, the ubiquitous Kia Joorabchian, but there comes a time when Tevez, at 27, needs to take responsibility for his own actions. Except, of course, he doesn't seem to think he has done anything wrong. When Tevez was informed that Mancini had said he would never play for City again, his response summed it up. "I was top goalscorer here last season, I always act professionally so it is up to him."
Later, on the plane, Tevez broke off from chatting to Zabaleta to have a go at an unsuspecting member of City's office staff. Tevez could be seen jabbing out his finger, berating him in broken English. The word "respect" could be heard. A couple of times, in fact.
Tuesday began for City with a delegation from the club, led by the life-president, Bernard Halford, the assistant manager, Brian Kidd, and the former captain and manager Tony Book, laying a wreath in the Manchesterplatz to commemorate the Munich air disaster. The following day began with Tevez grinning when he saw the police escort waiting for him at Manchester airport. As one colleague put it (expletives removed): "He doesn't care less."
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/sep/28/manchester-city-roberto-mancini-carlos-tevez
The Raiders defense has gone X-rated
The Raiders have reason to feel pretty good about themselves, sitting at 2-1 and having just beaten the Jets. Richard Seymour's feeling pretty about the defense, too, particularly its physical nature.
If you've seen Seymour throwing up the crossed arms like he's doing in the picture to your right, it has a meaning. I'll let Seymour and Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee explain:
Richard Seymour didn't wait until the late-night hour to get "X-rated."
The Raiders defensive tackle was in that mood around 1 p.m. on Sunday when he saluted fans during pregame introductions by crossing his forearms about his head.
"When I throw up the 'X,' that means it's time to put the kids to bed," Seymour said. "It's X-rated out there. That means if you're 13 and under, don't watch this."
The X-rated defense. I like it. It's intimidating. It sounds cool. It comes with a handy gesture.
I guess we'll worry later about the fact that the Raiders are 28th in the league in scoring defense, and that they're also 28th in the league in yards allowed per game. And worst in the league in rushing defense, allowing 185 ground yards per game. And that they give up 5.5 a carry. These are worries for another day.
I think "The X-rated defense" could stick, provided it becomes as good as the Killer B's, Orange Crush, No Name Defense, or Monsters of the Midway. That may or may not happen.
Jason Taylor: Chad Henne is more talented than Mark Sanchez
I don't know if any player is ever going to be as firmly entrenched in a rivalry as Jason Taylor is in the Jets/Dolphins rivalry. He's been on both sides of it. After an eternity on one side, he switched sides. Then he switched back. Everyone in Miami and New York has both cheered for him and loathed him.
In a rivalry that's never short on words, Taylor, unsolicited, offered a comparison between Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne and Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. From NBC Miami:
"We need to grow and we need to continue to change, and I think Chad [Henne] has grown immensely since I left here a year ago. I saw a kid in New York, Mark Sanchez, that is young, I don't think he's as talented as Chad Henne."
Chad Henne? In the same elite class as Mark Sanchez? I gasp.
I guess it depends on how you define "talented." If Taylor is talking about the raw physical skills required to play the game, I don't have a problem buying that Henne's better than Sanchez. As far as mobility goes, they're probably pretty close -- both in that unspectacular but adequate range. Henne's a little bigger and a little stronger. He's probably got better arm strength.
How much that matters in determining which guy is a better quarterback is up for debate, though. For that, you'd have to judge both guys on what's going on between the ears. Not intelligence, mind you, but recognizing coverages, poise (advantage, Sanchez), confidence, decision-making, reactions, etc. Then there are other things like the support they get from teammates, scheme, what they're expected to do in their respective offenses, etc. All that makes it a pretty difficult race to call.
Taylor, having played with both of them, would know better than most. I don't expect that that means Jets fans will agree with him. Sanchez has that top-five draft pick pedigree and is something of a media darling, while Henne was taken 57th overall and his short career's always had kind of a "placeholder while waiting for something better to come along" feel.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Raw Phil Jones still has much to learn about the art of defending | Paul Hayward
The versatile newcomer's pairing with Rio Ferdinand was a union of strangers and the younger stopper was sometimes too clever for his own good
Manchester United fans may not like this but Phil Jones shares with another Prestonian a sweet marauding talent that sweeps him out of defence and up the pitch. Liverpool's Mark Lawrenson was similarly blessed with ball-carrying attributes. In the end, though, Jones, 19, is there to stop, not start, the fun.
The comparison United's supporters prefer is with Duncan Edwards, a pure thoroughbred who would glide upfield with colossal intent before the Munich air disaster claimed his life. We all know this is premature but there is no harm in evoking the ghost of Edwards if it helps keep his memory alive. The point is that Jones combines the qualities of a born defender with a midfielder destined to take the game to the opposition with elegant runs.
In this chaotic 3-3 draw with Basel he found the limits of ambition. Some nights you just have to get the ugly stuff right. The Jones-Rio Ferdinand centre-back pairing was a union of strangers and the younger stopper was sometimes too clever for his own good. The pass inside his own penalty box that led to Basel's third goal (from the spot) would have gone unnoticed had Antonio Valencia controlled it. Instead it was held against Jones as an example of naivety.
Negation is so elemental that managers prefer their centre-backs to concentrate on tackling, blocking, heading and stopping runs, not starting them. For a long time Ferdinand was auditioned for the part of England's Franz Beckenbauer but then tactical reality intervened.
Jones is a footballer of boundless promise. No teenage Englishman (not even Jack Wilshere) has been spoken of in such eulogistic terms by Fabio Capello. Here at Old Trafford he has offered an instant solution to the physical decline of Ferdinand, who was slow in thought and deed in United's second Group C draw.
With his �16.5m move from Blackburn Rovers in the summer Jones said: "Defending isn't just about tackling and heading, it's also about getting the ball down and playing. Starting the attack from the back." This is the kind of music United need to hear as they seek to edge closer in Europe to Barcelona, whose orchestral attacking style starts from the rear, via the goalkeeper and main ball-playing centre-back (Gerard Piqu�).
By this measure Jones is already ideal for Champions League action. The move that led to Danny Welbeck's first against the Swiss started with Jones collecting the ball on the halfway line and galloping into an attacking position, which drew Basel defenders with him. To call him self-possessed would under-sell it. He is audacious ? imperious ? in his belief that he belongs at this level and with this calibre of colleague.
But the caveat is there. As Basel shocked United with two quick goals Jones and Ferdinand were detached and out of sync. For the equaliser Jones was stranded 30 yards from goal while Ferdinand watched the cross sail over his head.
These delightful early days will lead Jones to more searching tests, in Champions League knock-out games, where the world's best strikers will look to exploit his enthusiasm, catch him out of position when his thoughts are trained downfield. Jones is so positive in his movements around the field that he often finds himself having to make retrieving runs.
Nor is he faultless yet in anticipating balls into his own penalty box. How could he be, at 19? Sir Alex Ferguson's method with a teenager this good is to grant him a starting shirt and trust him to learn. The training ground is the lecture hall and the game itself the arena where individual intelligence turns promise into greatness. Jones looks the type to learn.
Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were the last hall-of-fame central defensive partnership in these parts and now we see Jones moving the story on, through his own talent and Ferdinand's fragility. Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling are the other candidates in the centre, though Smalling has found another outlet at right-back ? a position Jones can also fill with ease.
In his BBC North-West interview this week Ferguson acknowledged his luck in having Smalling (who was absent here) and Jones emerge together as England U-21s. This enhanced their friendship and understanding, he said. The temptation is to imagine Jones as a box-to-box midfielder but his defensive capabilities are too good to lose. There is little point in moving him to a defensive midfield role where his running would be shackled and tenacity inside his own penalty box largely given up.
So United and England are entitled to hope they have unearthed a luxury centre-back from the continental school. We already know his surges are devastating to lesser opposition. Less clear is how they will be received by a Barcelona or Milan if United lack the added security of a specialist holding player. Vidic, not Ferdinand, looks the best mentor to teach him when he can go and when to stay.
Not that one nervy night should get in the way of enjoying his versatility, self-assurance, athleticism and big-stage aura. Basel's fightback reminded him that defence will always be his primary responsibility. The elaboration comes on top.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/sep/28/phil-jones-defending-paul-hayward
Brady throws four interceptions, matching last season?s total
Tom Brady had a bad day in Buffalo, throwing as many interceptions in one game as he did over the entire 2010 season. Brady was picked off four times, with one interception returned for a TD.
The first interception came late in the second quarter to Bryan Scott which led to a field goal. Next, Leodis McKelvin's pick resulted in a Bills score. George Wilson's set up another Buffalo score, and then Drayton Florence returned one for a touchdown.
Brady was able to shake off the horrendous game late in the fourth quarter. With New England down one touchdown, Brady hit Wes Welker for a six-yard score on fourth down to tie the game. Buffalo kicked a field goal to win in overtime. Without Brady's gaffes, it's unlikely that the Pats would have dropped this game.
Justin Tuck wrote a kids? book about growing up with five sisters
When he's not chasing down Michael Vick or getting beers thrown at him by eight-year-olds, New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck moonlights as a children's book author.
The All-Pro released his first book, "Home-Field Advantage," this summer and has been sharing it with schoolchildren across New York. The book is based on Tuck's own childhood in Alabama, where he grew up with five older sisters who "bossed him around."
On Tuesday, the Giants star discussed the book on�The Dan Patrick Show.
"Growing up in rural Alabama I got a lot of stories that I felt would be both funny and in some ways educational to the demographic that I love the most, kids. Me and my wide and very passionate and kids and education. The book was a way of hopefully getting kids excited about reading. I love reading it to my son. Hopefully a lot of other parents out there will appreciate it and the kids will enjoy it and get a laugh out of it. Hopefully it's a turn on to get the kids starting reading."
Tuck has read the book for schoolchildren as part of his R.U.S.H. For Literacy foundation. He and his wife, Lauran, founded the charity in 2008 to "read, understand, succeed and hope." They are committed to raising funds for books and other reading materials to support children in the New York City and Central Alabama communities.
That's something you can root for no matter which football team you support.
Hillis, Vilma, Foster lead list of early inactives
The three marquee injuries for the 10:00 a.m. PT/1:00 p.m. ET games are Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis, who's been sent home with strep throws. If you have Montario Hardesty on your fantasy team, now's the time to roll. Similarly in Houston, you'll want to go with running back Ben Tate over Arian Foster, who will be off the field with that balky hamstring. Adding to Tate's possible effectiveness is the fact that middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma is out (knee), and cornerback Tracy Porter is out as well. The Saints will want to get Jabari Greer all over Andre Johnson, because Patrick Robinson is still learning on the go, and it's very obvious.
Here are all the early inactives; as always, a huge hat tip to our good buddy Brian McIntyre at�Mac's Football Blog.
New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills
New England: WR Taylor Price, TE Aaron Hernandez, T Sebastian Vollmer, DT Albert Haynesworth, DE Mike Wright, CB Ras-I Dowling, S Patrick Chung
Buffalo: TE Lee Smith, T Sam Young, G Kraig Urbik, NT Torell Troup, LB Kirk Morrison, CB Terrence McGee, DB Justin Rogers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Carolina Panthers
Jacksonville: WR Kassim Osgood, OL Cameron Bradfield, C Jason Spitz, DE Aaron Kampman, DE Matt Roth, DT C.J. Mosley, CB Rod Issac
Carolina: QB Jimmy Clausen, WR Kealoha Pilares, TE Ben Hartsock, OT Lee Ziemba, DT Frank Kearse, LB Jason Phillips, S Charles Godfrey
San Francisco 49ers at Cincinnati Bengals
San Francisco: QB Scott Tolzien, FB Moran Norris, WR Braylon Edwards, OL Daniel Kilgore, OL Michael Person, DL DeMarcus Dobbs, NT Ian Williams
Cincinnati: WR Andrew Hawkins, TE Colin Cochart, G Otis Hudson, DE Robert Geathers, LB Dontay Moch, S Taylor Mays, S Robert Sands
Miami Dolphins at Cleveland Browns
Miami: WR Roberto Wallace, TE Will Yeatman, OL Ryan Cook, DE Tony McDaniel, DE Phillip Merling, LB Ikaika Alama-Francis, CB Vontae Davis
Cleveland: QB Thaddeus Lewis, RB Peyton Hillis, TE Jordan Cameron, OT Tony Pashos, C/G Steve Vallos, LB Titus Brown, S Eric Hagg
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
Detroit: QB Drew Stanton, WR Rashied Davis, T Jason Fox, G Jacques McClendon, DT Nick Fairley, LB Doug Hogue, CB Alphonso Smith
Minnesota: WR Greg Camarillo, T DeMarcus Love, C Brandon Fusco, DE D'Aundre Reed, LB Xavier Adibi, CB Brandon Burton, S Mistral Raymond
Houston Texans at New Orleans Saints
Houston: QB T.J. Yates, RB Derrick Ward, RB Arian Foster, WR David Anderson, T Andrew Gardner, G Thomas Austin, CB Sherrick McManis
New Orleans: WR Marques Colston, C Matt Tennant, DT Tom Johnson, DE Jeff Charleston, LB Jonathan Vilma, CB Tracy Porter, K Garrett Hartley
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
NY Giants: RB Da'Rel Scott, WR Mario Manningham, WR Michael Clayton, OL James Brewer, OL Mitch Petrus, DE Osi Umenyiora, CB Prince Amukamara
Philadelphia: OT Winston Justice, G Daniel Watkins, G Julian Vandevelde, DE Juqua Parker, DE Darryl Tapp, CB Curtis Marsh, S Jaiquawn Jarrett
Denver Broncos at Tennessee Titans
Denver: WR Eddie Royal, WR Demaryius Thomas, TE Julius Thomas, T Tony Hills, DE Elvis Dumervil, DT Marcus Thomas, CB Champ Bailey
Tennessee: QB Rusty Smith, T Byron Stingily, C Kevin Matthews, DT Malcolm Sheppard, DT Zach Clayton, CB Chris Hawkins, S Chris Hope
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