Review of a Year in Sport 2006

What sporting moment do you remember most about the year past? Was it Zidanegate – the headbutt that shook the world? Shane Warne’s 700th wicket in Test cricket in front of his home crowd at the MCG? Maybe Monty Panesar’s defining exuberance frolicking about the pitch having just taken a wicket sticks most in the mind. Or how about the image of an imperious Roger Federer winning any one of his 12 major titles and three grand-slams in 2006? Another great year in sport was perhaps tinged with disappointment for English fans who had little to shout about or celebrate but here I run over some of the key events in the last 12 months and award a few gongs along the way.

Football

Man Utd’s Alan Smith’s shocker of an injury during a 1-0 loss to Liverpool was a rude introduction to the soccer year and many Irish fans were also rather stunned to get Steve Staunton as their new manager. Cheeky chappy Jose Mourinho’s blue machine secured back-to-back Premiership titles whilst England prepared for the World Cup tourney without Wayne Rooney who had broken a metatarsal. Liverpool lifted the FA Cup and Barcelona triumphed in the UEFA Champions League. Steve McClaren was named as the next England manager and would remain Eriksson's right-hand man in Germany where Italy claimed their fourth title, and in doing so inadvertently destroyed the image and reputation of ‘le racaille de moment’ Zinadine ‘I’m a thug’ Zidane. Juventus were relegated to Serie B for the Moggi led match-fixing scandal in Italy whilst in England the footballing community grappled with bung allegations and the results of Lord Stevens report into football's finances. November saw Fabio Cannavaro crowned European Footballer of the Year, but football lost one of its greats as Ferenc Puskas passed away.

Football Person Of The Year: Marco Materazzi (for ‘psyche’ of the year)
Runner up: Jose Mourinho (for endless entertainment)

Cricket

Australia, Australia, Australia we love you, Amen. Well, no, this blog tends more towards the hatred and envy feelings rather than love, actually, but on any fair reckoning they’re clearly the best team in the world with the best individual players. While the rest of the world scraps around for cricketing heroes (Ashley Giles, King of Spain?) the Australians can pick any from 10, which was also the number of test wins they racked up this year – out of ten matches –and they also triumphed in the ICC Champions Trophy in India. A mixed year for England as drawn series against India and Sri Lanka and a victory over Pakistan were then followed by a total mauling Down-Under.

Cricket Person Of The Year: Shane Warne (for 700 wickets and all-round cricketing ability)
Runner up: Monty Panesar (for endless entertainment)

Rugby

Oh dear, everything is going dark. All I see is blackness enveloping me. It’s a strange nightmare. Yes, folks, team of the year are the very scary All Blacks who are looking ominously powerful as the Rugby World Cup approaches in 2007. Only the Springboks bested them this year (and gave them a good kicking in the process too) and only Ireland managed to run them close. Everyone else just got blown away. It has been an unending source of mirth and glee being able to remind NZ rugby people that they haven’t been World Champions for 20 years but it looks like that run is soon to be finally over. Certainly England will not stop them. A dismal year for the reigning World Champs was finally put to sleep following Andy Robinsons resignation following defeats to…, well, just about everybody really. I think we might have beaten Italy at some point but I’m not sure. Everything is a daze. Oh, here we go again, it’s getting dark, so dark. Help me mummy, big brutes in black shirts are coming for me. Mummy, heeeeeelp.

Rugby Person Of The Year: Ronan O'Gara (for telling the truth about English rugby)
Villain of the Year: Andy Robinson (for getting it oh so wrong)

Tennis

Roger Federer was the dominant force in men's tennis once again in 2006, winning three of the four Grand Slams, while Amelie Mauresmo captured two of the four major titles in the women's game. 2006 also saw the return to action of former women's world number one Martina Hingis after a three-year retirement. The year began with Federer's third successive Grand Slam success (following victories at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2005) while in the women's event, champion lezzer Mauresmo beat Henin-Hardenne to win her first major. Nadal beat Federer in Paris making it back-to-back French Open titles for the muscles from Majorca and destroying the Grand Slam dream of holding all 4 titles at once for Federer - shame. Henin-Hardenne beat Svetlana Kuznetsova for the women’s Roland Garros title. Federer exacted revenge for his Paris defeat by beating Nadal in the final at Wimbledon to become only the third man ever to win four consecutive titles at the All England Club, while Mauresmo beat Henin-Hardenne in the ladies final. Roddick found some mid-season form and went all the way to the US Open final before losing to Federer, who made it a hat-trick of titles at Flushing Meadows and Sharapova grunted her way to a second Grand Slam title in New York, where Henin-Hardenne completed the set of major finals for the year, but suffered her third defeat. In September, Italy won the Fed Cup final for the first time with a surprise win over Belgium. Federer wrapped up his magnificent year with a 12th title, thrashing James Blake in Shanghai to win the Tennis Masters Cup for the third time and Marat Safin led Russia to Davis Cup success clinching the deciding rubber by beating Jose Acasuco of Argentina in four sets to spark wild celebrations in Moscow.

Tennis Person Of The Year: Roger Federer (for 3 Grand Slam titles)
Runner up: Roger Federer (because he is so dominant he even wins second place)

Other Sports

In Rugby League it was business as usual - St Helens winning the engage Super League and the Powergen Challenge Cup in the UK while Australia regained the Tri-Nations Series as it was staged in the southern hemisphere for the first time. Boxers Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe both enjoyed great years, with the Welshman providing several ‘boxing lessons’ to several would be contenders. Michael Schumacher bowed out of F1 (hooray!), Jenson Button scored his first GP win (hooray!) and Benetton / Renault and Alonso won the titles (hoo.. well, er, polite applause). On two wheels beautiful pixie Valentino Rossi had to cede the Moto GP title to Nicky Hayden, but only by 2 points and in the very last race of the season. Troy Bayliss won the Superbikes whilst Jason Crump was speedway's dominant figure. In golf, Tiger Woods came back from missing his first cut in over ten years by winning two majors but could not prevent Europe's glorious and boozy weekend at the K Club in the Ryder Cup. Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy won the other two majors. Although Jamaica's Asafa Powell equalled his own world 100m record of 9.77 seconds at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead, highlights in the athletic world mainly revolved around drug testing and cheating, the curse of which also touched cycling as exemplified by Floyd Landis who got caught after ‘winning’ the Tour de France.

And finally, to the internecine world of darts where the passions ride high and the bellies even higher. BDO world champion Jelle Klaasen will not have to face his fellow countryman and biggest threat when defending his title – as Barney has moved over to the Dark Side and joined the rival PDC organisation. Their final, to be played on New Year’s day, will feature Van Barneveld versus 13-time world champion Phil Taylor. Barney’s been giving it the old Rocky treatment: "I wanted this man. I gave up everything to get to this final. It was my biggest dream. A lot of people in Holland were telling me I had won Lakeside four times and that I was the best player in the world. But there was a voice in my head saying 'no, you're not, there's one better than you'. That was in my head in January and February and so I decided I had to give up everything to come here. Now I hope I can beat him in front of everyone. The final was my biggest target - beating Phil is something else. You have to play world-class darts to beat this man. I hope we have a great final." That’s right, world class darts requires dedication, stamina and mental toughness – and the only drugs these boys consume is triple vodkas and pints of ale. What a wonderful way to start 2007. Best of order now ladies and gents. Let’s Play Darts!

Sports Quote of the Year
"All their players have tested positive for being assholes." - Lance Armstrong on the French football team after their World Cup final defeat to Italy.

They Think It's All Over - It Is Now

Bloody hell! That was quick. Only fifteen months after possibly the geatest Ashes series of them all (or maybe second greatest if, like me, you think 1981 was fun as well) the Australians reclaimed the little urn. And they did it with complete dominance winning 3 out of 3 matches by massive margins.

There can be no complaints about the results. No bad umpiring or dodgy tactics took place. We have been simply thrashed off the park.

What this series has done, however, is throw into relief the reasons for England's success back in 2005. Firstly, the captain and engine is Vaughan and without him we're underpowered. No Vaughan and no Tresco at the top of the innings leaves us very brittle. Secondly, Jones the Quick is vital. He gets just enough movement off the pitch to make his undoubted speed seriously dangerous - and he's so boneheaded he's not the sort to get troubled by Ozzie sledging. He probably doesn't even understand what they're saying. And thirdly, even when firing on all cylinders, we still needed a slice of luck. Because, let's face it, to beat this frankly awesome Australian team requires everything to go your way.

Still, it's not all doom and gloom (no, actually it is all doom and gloom, I'm just plucking at straws here) and there is hope for the future. Cook is good, and may become great, but he's still finding his way. Monty is a genuine international spin bowler. Vaughan has some good years left in him. Simon Jones may yet get fixed-up (we can rebuild him). And apparently there are some dynamite young 'uns coming through the junior ranks. So, chin up chaps. The Ozzie Bosch haven't done for us yet. In the meantime just grit your teeth, strap that smile to your face and congratulate those whiney, chippy, semi-educated, half-baked abo convicts for playing so well. There, that wasn't so hard was it?

Well Goodbye Mr Robinson

You know, life used to be so much simpler and days more carefree. Once upon a time, the England rugby team would turn up at Twickenham in nice clean white shirts, run out on the pitch, catch the ball, stick it up their jumpers and roll remorselessly towards the opposition try line. We in the crowd would shout 'Heave!', Brian Moore would punch a Frenchman when the line-judge was unsighted, and two hours later we'd be in the car-park quaffing champers and munching on mum's mini-sausage rolls discussing yet another victory.

This tactic was so successful that with a few modifications (adding kicking machine Jonny Wilkinson and getting someone else to do the punching of the Frenchman bit) it eventually led to a World Cup.

However, this wasn't good enough for new broom Andy Robinson, a man who I'd amired on the pitch but could never get my head round accepting as England manager. Apparently, winning games of rugby was no longer the point. No, what we had to do was play the super expansive southern hemisphere type game, with lots of running about, girlie backs crashing into each other somewhere in midlfield, rugby league type scrums and cricket results for final scores. It seems that this is what 'new' rugby union was all about. Each game should feature at least twelve tries, each one accompanied with a burst of 'rock' music from the tannoy, fifty substitutions, cheerleaders with pom poms and 'zonal' defensive systems. Now this is fine for NZ or Ozzie types I'm sure, but this is not the English way. For generations we have played rugby a certain way - fat boys hog the ball and bully their way forward, very occasionally allowing the fly-half to kick for position and maybe three times a match spreading the ball wide to a suitably lank winger who would make a spirited dash for the corner. It was simple, it was effective, and above all, it was fun. We, the English crowd, enjoyed it. Even when England lost at least we knew that the opposition had had to pay some blood for their triumph. And make no mistake, triumph it was because England used to be the one match they all wanted to win the most.

There can be as much, if not more, enjoyment taken from an 8-4 scoreline as a 43-24 try-fest. A more 'rugby-sophisticate' eye can see the battle of players as the core of the watching experience rather than just watching the tally. Indeed, at 8-4 a match can still go either way with just a few minutes left on the clock, whereas the high-scoring games are usually all but over by half-time. There is as much art and invention in a good rolling-maul that takes two minutes to move ten yards as there is in a bunch of crash-ball touchdowns. It's bitter vs lager, John Rutter vs Backstreet Boys, Jordan vs Britney Spears, err no, scrap that last one. Anyway, you get the drift.

But Andy didn't get the drift and got re-drafted. England have now lost something like 8 out of 9 games but it could be more - I lost tally. Several of these were at HQ. One of them was to Argentina. It's been a long and desolate road to this expansive rugby heaven and frankly I want to go back to mortal earth where England is the one match they all want to win again. Because right now, I don't think that's the case.