7 Years with No ‘Tour De France’ Champion.

It’s been officially been announced today, Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his 7  ’Tour De France’ Wins. As well as being stripped of his titles, Armstrong now has to refund his total prize money of approximately $7 Million. But what happens now? Is there just a 7 year void of there being no champion?

One must still admire the work for Armstrong’s  charity, ‘Livestrong’, of which will still create solutions to help people suffering from Cancer. He still cares deeply for this and me personally, I am incredibly saddened by his latest turn of events. I looked up to Lance Armstrong, and I still do to some extent. He may have taken the performance enhancing drugs, but let’s not forget he still had to actually go out there and win them championships. He went out and won championships but I think everyone will agree, there’s much better ways to win and I am certainly not an advocate for ‘doping.’ I have no place for it.

Lance Armstrong at the 2004 ‘Tour De France.’ (Photo Courtesy of latimesblogs.latimes.com)

One thing from all this I do not agree with however is having a big void for 7 years, but unfortunately there’s not much choice as it’s to my understanding that some years the winner would technically now be someone 6th overall and not even on the podium. We should all register that it’s not just Armstrong who partook in ‘doping’ however he’s had the most publicity as he’s won the most titles.

I am deeply saddened by this situation, what do you think?

Barnet… For Sure?

Edgar Davis at the Barnet training ground (Above) (Photo courtesy of ‘mirror.co.uk’)

Struggling Barnet of League 2 have recently signed a big name, however it’s not a new player, he’s the new joint-head coach. But what’s made Edgar Davids make this interesting decision that’s shook the lower-league British football world?

In my mind there are two very simple reasons why he’s made this choice. The first is that he obviously wants to become a full-time coach/manager and everybody has to start at the bottom and work their way to the top… this is the case literally for Davids as Barnet are at the bottom of League 2 and subsequently the whole of the British Football League. If he wants to work his way up from the bottom, he’s got that this season.

The second reason, he lives 1 mile away from Barnet. He’s a local. Even though he’s dutch, Davids has spent a lot of his playing career in London. In the mid 2000′s he was a part of Tottenham Hotspur. His next stint in London after that was joining Championship side Crystal Palace in a 7 game stint. However his finest moment came in 1995 in the form of winning the Champions League with Ajax.

But take notice of one sentence at the top of the blog, “joint-head coach”. He has to work with former Charlton, Gillingham and Peterborough coach Mark Robson. Here’s what Davids had to say about Robson, “Mark has experience, he has a football philosophy and likes to keep the ball on the ground, On that level, we agree. We will clash. It’s not a case of if.”

One thing’s for sure this season for the ‘Bees’, it’s going to be interesting this new dynamic duo. They’re aiming for a mid-table finish in League 2, where do you think they’ll finish?

Olazabal says Ryder Cup ‘not over’… Really?

Ian Poulter celebrating at the Ryder Cup 2012. (Photo courtesy of uk.reuters.com)

If one’s going to be pedantic then technically it’s not over; but it’s some mountain to climb unfortunately for Team Europe as they now have to win 8 of the 12 Singles matches today. There’s only ever been one comeback from a 10 – 6 deficit before, and it was Team USA making the comeback at Brookline in 1999…

Yesterday however, there was a late resergence  from Europe following examples from Ian Poulter with his 5 Birdies in a row and utterly heroic putting yesterday, and remembering the late great Seve Ballesteros, possibly one of the most positive Golfers of all-time.  But as much as it pains me to say this, we need to follow the example of the 1999 USA Team, Europe need to start the final day off to an absolute flier and need to create some amazing Approach and Putting opportunites. If they can do this, USA will be shook and there will certainly be a very real chance of re- creating a Brookline-esq Ryder Cup finish.

As well as the Approach and Putting, Europe needs to make use of it’s World seeded Number 1 Rory Mcllroy, and it’s virtually un-seeded Nicolas Colsaerts. Rory obviously has a presence about him as he’s the World number 1, and he should be a real game changer for the singles matches today. Nicolas however is the surprise package. I don’t think many expected such a complete Golfer from a rookie, including me. But maybe I should’ve had more faith in Olazabal, there’s a reason he picked who he picked.

However the day goes today it’s most probably going to be a very climatic ending to, let’s be honest, a mostly one-sided Ryder Cup. That’s why if Europe make this Brookline-esq comeback, it’ll be that more heroic. Do you think Europe will retain the Cup, or will USA maintain their dominance.

UFC Needs “The Next Big Thing” Back.

Brock Lesnar celebrating a Title defence. (Photo courtesy of prowrestlingpowerhouse.com)

Last night, Jon “Bones” Jones beat Vitor Belfort by a Submission in the fourth round and retained his Light Heavyweight Championship. This was the main event for UFC 152, and in my opinion it was a great headline match for an amazing event. Even the co-headline match last night was for the UFC Flyweight Championship between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benevidez, which re-affirms UFC’s place at the top of the MMA pantheon. Every weight class in the UFC from Light Heavyweight down to Flyweight is unbelievable… but I’ve missed a weight class.

Since pugilism first hit audiences and television screens, the most hyped events were usually the Heavyweights. The reasoning was simple, Heavyweights knock each other out. This has carried through to MMA.

In January of 2007, a legend announced his return from retirement at the age of 43. In his first match back from retirement, he beat Tim Sylvia, a 6ft 8in giant, by unanimous decision. This made Randy Couture, the former Light Heavyweight Champion, a now Heavyweight Champion. Randy made the title relevant again and he defended his coveted title until 2008, what he didn’t realise was that he had to face “The Next Big Thing.”

Randy had already shown the night against Tim Sylvia wasn’t a fluke, as he also defended against a very game Gabriel Gonzaga. But this next competitor wasn’t Gabriel Gonzaga, he is simply, Brock Lesnar. Brock simply hammer-fisted Randy’s face in the Second Round of their fight to get the TKO victory.  The former WWE “Superstar” became a crossover champion and made the UFC Heavyweight Championship even more relevant than before and one of, if not possibly the most talked about Championship in the World.  Lesnar was one of the most dominant champions in UFC Heavyweight History and only solidified this when he won possibly the most hyped UFC event of all time, UFC 100. Brock won the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship, consolidating both titles and became the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion.

Brock was ‘numero uno’, and looked as if no one could stop him, until Cain Velasquez shocked the world in 2010 with a surprise victory. After the demoralising loss, Brock became ill with diverticulitis and never won a UFC match since. Brock subsequently left after his last fight with Alastair Overeem, and rejoined “Pro Wrestling.” WWE.

Ever since Brock’s departure, the Heavyweight Division has never had that same electricity and excitement. Brock isn’t just a fighter, he’s a global brand, one that in my opinion is sorely missed in the UFC. He’s got extensive experience at cutting promos, and he’s just a damn good fighter. There’s now rumblings that he may return. All I’m saying is I really hope this is true. Do you think Brock will return to the UFC?

RG3 or Luck?

(Left) Andrew Luck standing with Robert Griffin III (Right) (Photo Courtesy of siphotos.tumblr.com)

Today’s blog is as simple as this… Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III? Or should I say, out of the two who will have the better season?

If you look at the results from the 2012 NFL draft, the number 1 pick was Andrew Luck, and the number 2 pick was Robert Griffin III. Both these men are incredibly capable quarterbacks, but after seeing both their NFL débuts, they’re like chalk and cheese.

After seeing opening day, Griffin in my opinion is more of an athlete than a passer. People who I’ve asked have said after seeing his début, he reminded them of Michael Vick and even Steve Young. Personally I hope he isn’t like Michael Vick, I actually want to see Griffin play a good run of matches before he gets injured. And I don’t believe he’s like Steve Young either, Young had to succeed possibly one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time in Joe Montana and because of this, Young had a huge monkey on his back. Whereas, Griffin is probably in a win-win situation whatever he does. Luck was the number 1 pick, and therefore he probably has most of the pressure and expectation out of them both. But Griffin can play a little more freely as his ball and chain isn’t so heavy. That could be why we saw him make 41 rushing yards last week…

The Indianapolis Colts needed someone to replace Payton Manning, the man for the job is Andrew Luck. Replacing Manning in itself  is an incredibly tough task, but not only this, the Colts have recently over the past year or so imploded on themselves. They went from being AFC top contenders, to being eligible for a number 1 draft pick. But more importantly, how do you replace a legend? With a great passing game, that’s how. Nobody can argue with 188 yards against the St. Louis Rams, granted it was pre-season but still with 2 touchdowns as well, Luck is an incredibly clinical passer.

The bottom line however is this, Griffin has better surrounding players with him at the Washington Redskins, they probably harbour more depth than the Colts and with this being said Luck has a hell of a lot more work to do. Griffin in my opinion will probably have the better season just purely based on the fact that he has the better roster with the Redskins. But with that being said watch out for the re-vitalised Colts this season as they’re ready to turn some heads.

Andrew Luck is the quintessential quarterback, with a strong arm and clear head he’s probably a coaches favourite. Robert Griffin III to put simply is an enigma. No play is simple and at any minute he could go for the rushing yards. Who will have the better season, Luck or Griffin?

Scaling Back But Moving Forward?

The Dew Tour is the culmination of anyone who’s anyone in Skate, BMX and Snow. For the past 3 years I’ve been an avid viewer of both the Summer and Winter Dew Tour of all of it’s venues all over the U.S.A. Now, Alli (Alliance of  Action Sports) has announced that instead of 3 venues a year for each seasonal Dew Tour, there’s now only going to be 3 venues… for both.

The 3 venues in question are a “Beach” event in Ocean City, August 16-19; a “City” event in San Francisco, October 18-21; and a “Mountain” event  in Breckenridge, December 13-16.

The point of the Dew Tour was to create a brand to give a season-long arc to action sports competition, with cumulative scores from individual events building to an overall season championship, just like in any tried and tested system such as the NFL. But now, the focus is on individual events rather than a season.

Snowboard Superpipe Underway at The Winter Dew Tour (Photo Courtesy of ‘buzz.snow.com’)

The only thing I care about from all this change, is that there’s less Action.

Personally, between the Summer and Winter tour I’ve always preferred the Winter tour, as a fan of Snowboarding, It’s even worse for me as there is only one Winter Dew Tour Venue  for the whole of next year. However on the plus side, there is now the addition of a Surf Event for the Beach venue. But in my opinion, that’s not really much of a plus side…

But unlike me however, most of the athletes actually welcome this new change. Skiers and snowboarders competing on the Winter Dew Tour, were finding themselves juggling an increasingly crowded competition schedule, with even more new events on the horizon as the new FIS Olympic qualifier system for slopestyle and halfpipe events gets under way…

Since the Dew Tour’s inception in 2005, this is the first time the tour has gone under a “de-formatting”. Unfortunately there is less action sport next year, but do you sympathise with the crowded schedule of the Winter Tour? Is making the tour more concise a good idea?

“The British Are Coming!”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson with the San Francisco 49ers Cheerleaders (Above) (Photo Courtesy of ‘mirror.co.uk)

The NFL is possibly the most lucrative sporting league in the world, it began in 1920 for it’s inaugural season and today in the U.S.A it’s possibly the most hyped league, even bigger than the NBA and MLB. But now, there’s talks of London adding a different type of Football to British screens.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have recently made London a permanent home away from home after signing a four-year deal which will see them play one game a season in our capital. But now with viewing numbers in the U.K increasing for American Football, London may have its own franchise to compete with the U.S.A, to the joy of some, and anger of others.

But the main question is, will the U.K ever move from the traditional British sports of Football (Soccer), Cricket and Rugby?

The short answer in my opinion, no. Yes viewing numbers have grown for the NFL, however the U.K will never pander away from our traditional sports, and there is always the possibility (or inevitability) that the U.K simply will be embarrassed by teams such as, The Green Bay Packers and this seasons Super Bowl winners, The New York Giants.

Even though I don’t think we will ever pander from our conventional sports, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see regular American Football in Britain. Me personally I’d love a British NFL team, because it means I could watch live football without having to travel stupid mileage to the U.S.A. It would also increase the our economy as London would be swarmed with enthusiastic fans from the U.S.A almost every week while the NFL season is active.

But perhaps an even bigger question, does anyone know anyone who plays or played American Football who’s British? I only know one… Dermot O’ Leary… Should London create an NFL Franchise?