Sport | Blokes on the Blog

Why Inequality Ruins Everything. Spanish Football Returns

September 1, 2011 By Graham

I was reading something recently about the quantities of money that come into football in different countries through TV rights. The article talked about the comparison between Spain and England, it was in Spanish and unfortunately I have lost the original source.

However here are the stats. Last year in England Blackpool got the smallest cut from TV of all of the premier league teams, they “only” got 45 million Euros. Manchester United, the team that was televised the most got 78 million Euros. Now that is a huge difference, a couple of star players being signed of course. However what it showed is that through the range of the twenty clubs in the premier league there was a roughly equal spread of the TV income thus ensuring that the smaller clubs could compete at least in a game between the clubs. It also ensured that the smaller clubs could avoid going into administration meaning that the league remains quite solid because after all even the bigger clubs need someone to play against.

Image by cabezadeturco via Flickr

In Spain the big two are Barcelona and Madrid of course. Their income from TV dwarfed Manchester United’s with both getting 140 million Euros from TV rights. The next biggest beneficiaries were Valencia and Atletico Madrid with 45 million Euros. Notice a small difference of 95 million Euros there? There were five clubs that received 12 million Euros each, a modest difference of 128 million Euros each year.

Over the last six years in Spanish football Barcelona or Madrid have won the league and finished second every year except one when an inspired Villarreal managed to snatch second place. Everybody else is battling for third. To be third in Spain is to effectively win the league now in my opinion. However Valencia finished third last year 21 points behind madrid in second and Villareal in fourth were a very distant thirty points behind, almost a point per game!

This concentration of money and power in the top two is now having some disturbing trends which are being exaggerated more and more as the seasons go on. This year out of the top two divisions and 42 teams there are 17 who have no shirt sponsorship due to the crisis and the lack of opportunity for the brands to get exposure as all of the media concentrate on the Big Two to the detriment of all others. It looks like Valencia will actually manage to get sponsorship in the next week or so with a cruise line but for the third biggest club in Spain to be having this problem after the start of the season is extraordinary. Imagine Chelsea not being able to find a sponsor in England. Impossible! Well in Spain impossible is nothing.

Five of the teams in the top division are actually in administration to protect them from their creditors of whom one of the big ones are the players themselves who went on strike unless they were guaranteed their arrears. It has been admitted that the only reason that the league does not impose points deductions on teams going into administration is that it would leave the league tables looking like a farce.

During the Sunday football program on Sky at the weekend when talking about how good Juan Mata is Gordon Strachan said he often goes to watch Cartagena, I am going to assume he has a property in La Manga like many other footballers, and Mata is an exception. When he is at the Cartagena matches and comments about how good a young player is he is invariably told “Ah yes but he belongs to Barcelona/Madrid”. 80% of all stand out players in the lower leagues are already owned by the big two. Sid Lowe has written a great article about the “Bricking it” clause in loan contracts that is common now in Spain. You loan a player out to your rivals but he cannot play against his club meaning that you strengthen his loan club against all others and considerably weaken them against you. Real Madrid first put this clause into effect on all loans after being knocked out of the Champion’s League by Fernando Morientes while he was on loan at Marseille.

Image via Wikipedia

This year Real Madrid have outdone themselves because last year they bought the best young player in Spain, Sergio Canales, against the wishes of their manager Mourinho. As a result Canales hardly played all season stalling his progression at a critical time. Valencia now have him on loan for two years but he cannot play against Madrid! Valencia also have the option to buy him which may be the only way to get him playing against Madrid, however Valencia have the largest debt of any football club in Europe so whether they can exercise that option is another thing.

The other thing is of course that the matches between the Big Two now mean so much more because they are effectively league deciders. Twice European Trophy winners Zaragoza lost 6-0 at home to Madrid in their first match of the season at the weekend. This would have been unthinkable ten years ago and only thinkable under Franco because the refs were crooked

The only possible change on the horizon is that Malaga now have their own Sheikh like Man City. They still lost their first game of the season to Seville though after spending 58 million during the summer.

However after the results at the weekend the English league cannot get complacent. United putting 8 past Arsenal and Man City hammering Tottenham away are signs of things to come. Now if only there were 20 Sheikhs with cash to make fabulously rich footballers even more wealthy mmmm!

Time to stop so much inequality methinks in order to save football.

Filed Under: Graham Hunt, Latest:, Sport Tagged With: football

What Do QR Codes, Beach Volleyball and Jeremy Irons Have In Common?

August 30, 2011 By Phil

Here’s a contentious post for you this week, and opinion seems divided between the sexes, so let’s see what comments we get…

The news came out recently that a new piece of real estate will be utilised for advertising in the forthcoming London Olympics. QR codes will be placed on the briefs of the female beach volleyball players. For those of you who don’t know anything about QR codes or beach volleyball, here are:

Beach Volleyball Spanish Championship 2004 in ...

Image via Wikipedia

The Facts

• QR codes are like barcodes, and are being used to send people to websites, offers, coupons etc – here is a QR code as an example – you need to scan it using a smartphone such as a BlackBerry or iPhone;

• Beach volleyball briefs for women have to be a certain size – i.e., they cannot be too big;

Oddly enough, beach volleyball has a lot of male followers…

This brings some questions to mind – not least of which is why aren’t they advertising on male athletes shorts?

Well, advertisers worth their salt know their audience – and advertisers in this case know that at least some men will be photographing women’s backsides, so they may as well take advantage of that and use it to send those people to offers.

The chances are that most women won’t be photographing male athletes’ lunchboxes, so that makes advertising on the front of sprinters shorts pointless…if you pardon the pun.

So How Does Mr Irons Fit In?

Well, recently he was quoted as saying, and I am paraphrasing here, that any woman worthy of attention ought to be able to cope with a smack on the behind – that effectively it was a form of physical communication, like a handshake.

Really Jeremy?

The consensus seems to be that he has just been disrespectful to women, and frankly made himself look a bit of a fool really.

His is clearly an extreme view, and a female acquaintance of mine did suggest that such unsolicited contact would in fact constitute assault. It does also beg the question; how far is it acceptable to exploit the female form?

Is it OK for advertisers to print advertising on female athletes backsides or not? Does this count as smart marketing or is it exploitation?

A quick canvas of women seems to suggest that it is just the targeting of an audience, although one lady did suggest that it is not all that flattering to men, as it does suggest that all men are the same and that effectively we’re all that shallow that we would spend our time studying women’s bums…

Interesting…

Further to that theory, what’s your view about lap dancing bars?

Who is exploiting who? Are the men the exploiters, looking at naked females for money, or are the in turn being exploited by the women that work there, who can persuade men to part company with money for a flash of flesh?

Again the female straw poll revealed a surprising result – a fair number thought that it was the women that were doing the exploiting, and the men were stupid enough to buy into it.

I think it is safe to say that Mr Irons probably won’t be guest of honour at the women’s beach volleyball finals however…

So what do you think? What is your view on the acceptable level of exploitation of human beings generally? Do you think there should be advertising on athletes more intimate areas?

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think…

Blogger, writer, marketer and owner of www.abcmultimedia.co.uk, and www.internetbusinessforbeginners.co.uk, home of the On-line Apprentice 2011. I am currently a full time nine to fiver, planning an escape very soon from corporate life, former mortgage broker, lover of marketing online and offline, internet business bore, cricket obsessive, frustrated marathon runner and a Manchester United Fan (fully paid up member of the prawn sandwich brigade)

Filed Under: Latest:, Phil Clark, Social Media, Sport Tagged With: Advertising, Marketing

Why Cricket Keeps Me Sane

August 14, 2011 By Phil

I was watching TV last week, and happened to chance upon a documentary about “Botham’s Ashes” a series played between England and Australia in 1981, named after Botham, as he played a huge part in turning a lost cause into a significant win again English cricket’s biggest rivals, Australia.

It was only when I got into watching it that I realised it was on as 30 years have passed since that summer…

It Was The Summer of ’73…

Image by David_Turner via Flickr

It really got me thinking how long ago it was since I started playing cricket (1973 was the answer, if you include beach cricket!) and the impact that this has had on my life.

Like many people I have been through many changes in my life and not many things have been consistent. But cricket has always been there, and has always been a great outlet for me.

It may not be the most athletic sport out there – otherwise I wouldn’t still be playing at 41 with my legendary lack of fitness – but it did get me thinking about what a sport or hobby means to people.

Escape To Nowhere

Most of all, it is an opportunity for escapism from the grind of everyday life. Whatever you do for a job, or what family pressures you may have, a hobby provides an outlet for those pressures.

There are few better things, and hardly a more complete sense of calm, than to completely absorb yourself in an activity. It almost doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you are completely involved in it, it can be wonderful therapy and a great distraction.

It doesn’t need to be a sport, although sports are good exercise and good for working out physical tension – it can just as easily be arts, music or crafts.

Its All A Bit Childish, But We Enjoy It!

For me, no matter what has happened during the week, I get the chance to stand around in a field taking the mickey out of my team mates (and occasionally it has to be said, the opposition) for six hours on a Saturday afternoon. The sense of losing yourself for the afternoon is wonderful, and even if I turn up in a foul mood, I always leave in a better frame of mind.

This is really important, as I class myself as an optimist, and therefore if I am in a bad mood, I need to find a way of getting rid of it fast!

Hobbies form an important chance for us to connect too. We can come together with people we barely know, where we are bound only by a common interest. At the end we can often end up making friends that last a lifetime, and extend well beyond just our own team or even local area.

So if you’re on a cricket field near Southend/Shoeburyness soon and you see a slightly overweight left handed batsman blowing like a steam train, whilst trying to look like Marcus Trescothick, come over and say hello.

I won’t be able to answer as I’ll be too out of breath, but at least you’ll know I am completely relaxed…!

What Can I Do?

Take action. Get involved. That’s it!

We’ve all got an interest or something we’d like to try, so don’t wait to be asked, get on-line and search for your interest. And if you think you don’t have time, reshuffle your priorities. At the end of it, I think you’ll be glad you did!

Filed Under: Latest:, Phil Clark, Sport

This gesture really was ‘cricket’

August 8, 2011 By Jeremy

Nine months ago, I wrote a blog here decrying the lack of sportsmanship in modern, professional sport. But something happened last weekend to the immense credit of the whole India Test Team and has placed the spirit of cricket back where it originally was, as a metaphor for fairness and sportsmanship.

During the Second Test Match between England (& Wales) and India at the end of July 2011, I sat listening on Test Match Special to a fascinating episode in which India, the fielding team and being dominated by England’s batting, made a decision which will echo through the annals of cricket. And beyond.

Facing the last ball of a ‘session’s’ play, Eoin Morgan had cut the ball towards the boundary. The India fielder, Kumar, made a despairing dive and prevented the ball from touching the boundary (as it turned out); despite skidding across the grass and colliding with the boundary advertisement boards himself.

The two batsmen, Morgan and Ian Bell, jogged three easy runs and, then, because the umpire handed the bowler his sweater, both batsmen grounded their bats behind the respective return creases and walked off to take the tea break, assuming that it had been a boundary four (and declared a boundary four).

Kumar got up, dusted himself down, and then, almost in slow motion, threw the ball halfway to the wicket. Captain and wicketkeeper, M S Dhoni, caught it and sent it on its way to another Indian fielder standing over the stumps. He, apologetically, dislodged a bail with the ball.

The batsmen, nearly at the pavilion, looked back at a now-confused huddle of Indian fieldsmen around the umpires and then up at the giant display screen: the verdict was ‘out’! Bell had been declared run out because he was out of his ground when the bail was dislodged. And the Indian team had appealed for a wicket!

England Captain Strauss’s face glowered. The crowd booed. The Indians looked a little shamefaced. The umpires had the grim faces of men forced into an unpalatable decision.

History will tell us that, over the tea break in the respective dressing rooms, both teams came to the same conclusion. Although Bell was, technically – through the Laws of the game – given out correctly, it was a gross injustice in terms of the spirit of the game.

The England management approached the Indians’ dressing room with the intention of querying the episode just as Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came out to announce that they were withdrawing their ‘appeal’ and Bell was free to continue his innings. Considering Bell had just been putting the Indian bowlers to the metaphorical sword, this was a courageous and honorable gesture.

The spirit of cricket triumphed and rose above the pavilion like a rising sun banishing the fog of cynicism and win-at-all-costs.

This was a lesson for us all. In life, in business, in sport, our integrity and the way we play the game are as important as any result. The phrase “it’s not cricket’ has been imbued with a resurrected meaning.

And the Indian Test Team, win or lose this Test Series, has cemented a place in sporting history not only as gifted cricketers but also as players with dignity and integrity.

Filed Under: Jeremy Dent, Latest:, Sport Tagged With: Cricket

How I became a golf blogger or How to turn rejection into money

July 12, 2011 By editor

Let’s start with a bit of time travel. About 2 years ago my fledgling digital marketing agency was eagerly chasing every opportunity that moved. As a consequence we found ourselves bidding for three similar projects at the same time, for different companies in different parts of Europe. We lost all three bids.

When I followed up with our contacts, the feedback was the same. “You have great ideas, but you don’t have the experience of having done it before.”

Well, excuse me, at that time, you could count the number of brand related SM and UGC aggregation sites on the thumbs of one hand!

So, I got mad, and decided to build one such site to prove a point. And thus CelebrityTweeter.com was born. We killed the site after 6 months because as a proof point it had taken a life of its own that we could not sustain (perhaps the subject of another blog post? (yes please, Ed)). But what it did for us was to demonstrate that we could help our clients exploit social media very effectively and thus a new and profitable business stream was born.

Last year I decided to repeat the exercise (the proof point and not the rejections!) but the focus was on golf. Why? Because apart from my family I live to play, talk and watch golf. I loved it from the day my mate Andy and I ‘borrowed’ his dads clubs and hacked about the school playing field. And my first job was in a pro shop and I could have been a contender (who I am kidding, I was good but never good enough to make it on tour).

So, Digital-Golfer.com was born. The premise was to build a site that tracked all the pro golfers on tour who use Twitter. The site now tracks over 150 pro’s from the mens and ladies tours, provides updates from each weeks tournaments and even shares content from fans as they post tweets and pics from tour events.

But the CelebrityTweeter.com model wasn’t working. We get lots of traffic, but they don’t hang around. Of course, golf fans are different to celebrity watchers. So, how could we deliver this content in a more meaningful way and is it wanted?

Ah ha! Let’s create an App, something that brings this all together, wherever you are. That makes it easy to keep up with all the news from inside the ropes on the course. All from the comfort of your shiny Smartphone.

To test the idea I decided to use an App self-publishing tool rather than develop a native App. It has its limits, but it meant we created the App very quickly and we can easily revise and test the format every week. Its hit the mark with nearly 300 downloads just by promoting to our Twitter followers in the last month or so.

You can download the Digital-Golfer app for free from the WidgetBox marketplace. Just scan the QR code into your Smartphone and off you go.

Apart from the fact that I now have my own golf app, what’s the payoff? Well, we are now developing native apps for two clients (non-golf), we are talking to a golf course operator about some exciting new ideas, and we are working on another golf app using augmented reality.

So, an initial rejection can turn into something quite extraordinary. As we celebrate our 3rd birthday as a digital marketing agency I’m more excited than ever as we now explore this niche market, and it helps that it’s one that I love.

David

About the author

David Long is the co-founder of mktgDIGITAL, a digital marketing agency, with offices in Farnborough and Paris, that focuses on channel marketing systems and services for the technology sector.

Filed Under: Business, Gadgets and Geekery, Guest Post, Latest:, Social Media, Sport Tagged With: apps, golf

Is Pay TV Killing Amateur Sport?

July 2, 2011 By Phil

As many of you will have noticed this week, the Wimbledon Championships have been in full swing with the finals this weekend. You can always tell when it is Wimbledon fortnight for several reasons:

Rain;
Talk of the first British winner since Fred Perry;
All the British women going out by round two;
Trying to pretend Andy Murray doesn’t really hate the English;
More rain.

WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 18: A woman walks i...

Oh, and also being thankful that the Wimbledon organisers spent all that money ensuring that play can continue on Centre Court and we don’t have to listen to Cliff Richard singing…

Wimbledon is also a bit different in that it is still shown on terrestrial TV – the BBC in this case. Over the last few years, everything from darts to snooker, cricket, rugby and of course most famously football, have transferred across to Sky TV.

Football is probably the most controversial, as the pay TV contracts have injected such enormous amounts of money into the game that that there are now several premiership footballers earning in excess of £200,000 per week (or around £10,000,000 per year)

So Is All This Money Good For The Game?

Since the sports transferred, there have been two arguments running, and the example I will use is cricket (partly because I am a huge cricket fan!)

International cricket went to Sky full time from the start of the 2006 English season. Sky’s package now includes all international cricket all year round, including the Ashes in England and Australia every four years, and all domestic cricket, including domestic cricket’s prime product, Twenty20.

There is little doubt that Sky’s coverage of cricket is superb, as it tends to be with most sports.

However the arguments still rage around access to TV coverage versus money.

Image via Wikipedia

There is the argument that by restricting access to coverage to only those who can afford Sky (at around £50 per month) you are penalising people, particularly youngsters of parents who can’t afford it. Those youngsters are then less likely to take the game up, as they can’t see and emulate the professionals so easily. Also as the game (and sports in general) are taught in less and less schools, children everywhere have less and less access to sport than ever before.

Is That Fair?

Sky, in response, would probably point to the amount of money poured into the game at domestic county level, in a game struggling to survive at that level and also the money spent on coaching programmes throughout the UK – significant investment has been made in those areas, at a time when it is really needed.

So What’s The Answer?

The ideal answer is to strike a balance between investment in sport at grass roots level (which every sport needs) and access to coverage of the sport itself, whether that is live or on TV.

However in the modern world, sporting authorities are likely to keep on taking the TV money wherever they can – that is just the reality of the situation. After all, Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament on free to air TV in the UK – the rest are all on Sky.

So it falls upon local sports clubs, councils and schools to provide youth coaching and engagement to make sure that youngsters get into a sport at any early age and keep that interest up, so that it can turn into a lifetime’s passion for whatever game they choose – enabling them to give back to the generation that follows behind.

Phil

Filed Under: Latest:, Phil Clark, Sport Tagged With: amateur sport, Sky TV, tennis

Rory Mcilroy: An example in self-belief

June 22, 2011 By editor

This weekend we saw Rory Mcilroy win the US Open, and along the way he broke many records. If you look at Mcilroy’s meteoric rise, wining his major was only a matter of time. However this win is even more remarkable if you look at what happened to him in the past few months.

BETHESDA, MD - JUNE 19: 1964 US Open winner K...

In any sport, especially at the elite level, it is all about performing in the moment. This is the difference between being very good and being world class, the cream of the cream.

For those of you that aren’t aware, Rory Mcilroy was leading in Augusta before collapsing on the final day with a round of 80. This spectacular fall from grace on the final, drew many comments about whether he could handle the pressure when it matters. Everybody sympathised with Mcilroy’s situation, feeling for him, and secretly glad it wasn’t them.

Mcilroy was devastated after the tournament. He said all the right things after the loss, “I’ll be disappointed for the next few days but I’ll get over it and I’ll have plenty more chances. Hopefully it will build a bit of character in me.”

So what did Mcilroy do after the loss? Go on the practice green and do hours and hours of work. Look at the DVD of his performance to see where he went wrong?

Image via Wikipedia

No he went to Haiti. Not to play golf, but to act as an ambassador for UNICEF to view the damage of the January earthquake and the construction that is taking place now.

This escape from his golf enabled Mcilroy to do two things, first, to get his mind completely away from golf and out life in perspective. Yes he lost a major golf tournament and at the time would have felt like the end of the world, but seeing the devastation that the Haiti people have to deal with puts his loss in perspective, The second thing, is that as soon as he did get back on the green, his mind was clear and he was able to trust his instincts and play as naturally as possible without the residual negativity of the masters hanging over him.

Mcilroy said: “The chance that these children are getting to be kids and enjoy themselves is so important for their well-being. Being here at this child-friendly space gives them the chance to play with their friends and enjoy themselves – helping them escape for a little while every day from the difficult situations they are growing up in.”

This demonstrates that Mcilroy has a sense of perspective and when he does play golf he does so as if it doesn’t matter, which gives he the best chance of winning.

Rory Mcilroy’s complete self-belief in his own abilities not only won him his first major, but at the first opportunity squashed any talk that he couldn’t deliver when it matters.

What can we learn from this in our own lives?

Learn from the past, but don’t dwell on it
Trust your instincts
Put life in perspective

Congratulations to Rory Mcilroy, the first major, many more to come.

Baiju

Performance Coach
and Southend Business Awards Winner: Business Man of the Year 2010

Filed Under: Baiju Solanki, Latest:, Life, Sport Tagged With: Achievement

Who Inspired You To Be Who You Are Today?

June 6, 2011 By Phil

As we mourn the recent passing of Seve Ballesteros, golfing legend and the man who launched a thousand amateur and professional golfers on their way to success and frustration in equal measures, I saw a number of my friends on Facebook talking about how much he had inspired them, either literally in a golfing sense, or metaphorically due to his work ethic, commitment and passion for the game.

Image via Wikipedia

Seve was one of those individuals who broke the mould – there was no-one quite like him before, and there has been no-one quite like him since. He was, as they like to say in America, a game changer.

Who Inspired Me?

A very good question.

Seve’s death got me thinking about who had inspired me, and who continues to inspire me today. For most people, and I am no exception, life is a continuing process, an incomplete journey, where you are always working towards the next goal, striving to achieve something else. I guess there will come a time when I reach those goals, where I say “that’s enough” but at 40 I can certainly say I haven’t reached that stage yet!

And The Oscar Goes To…

There have been a great number of people who inspired me, and at the risk of sounding like I am writing an Oscar acceptance speech here, I wanted to list a few quickly.

My parents were an early inspiration – they taught me manners, a work ethic and the value of money, amongst a lot of other things.

From a sporting perspective, David Gower – he was a left handed batsman (like me) who played cricket (like me) and who just oozed style and class when he played (that’s where the paths separate, sadly). When he captained England, I wanted to be him. Now he works for Sky, and is paid to go to cricket matches and effectively chat about cricket with his mates, I still want to be him.

From a work and business perspective, again my parents were my first influence, due to the work ethic and because initially I followed my Dad into the insurance industry. After that it became people like Richard Branson, for their love of risk and not taking themselves too seriously.

That has fed itself into my approach to a number of business ventures – I think the ability to be open, honest and not to take yourself too seriously is key for me in attracting clients and making them happy.

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

Not a fireman or an astronaut any more, but a successful writer, marketer and generally someone who is regarded as one who helps others get more of they want, specifically more customers for their business. That’s one of the reasons for wanting to set up ABC Multimedia – which you can check here

Who Inspires You?

Have a think about that – it is a really interesting exercise! When you start to think about who inspired you, it can spark some different emotions. For me, it created reminiscence about my childhood, gratitude for the people that have helped (and there have been lots who I didn’t mention above) and a fresh optimism and determination for the future.

Maybe it is the thought, when someone dies, of our own mortatility that make us think of these things, but whatever triggers the thought, it definitely creates some interesting results!

Leave a comment below and tell me who inspired you – musician, sports star, relative – I’d love to hear your story!

Phil

Filed Under: Business, Latest:, Life, Phil Clark, Sport

How Can International Rugby League Be More Competitive?

April 5, 2011 By editor

Each and every year after a fantastic ending to the regular season, which culminates in the showpiece Grand Final event, we head off to the 4 Four Nations or World Cup full of optimism and hope that THIS YEAR will be the one where we finally conquer the Australians and Kiwis. Yet each year we come home after limping to 3rd place because once again we weren’t good enough. Each year there is an inquest into the failings, but how can things really be improved?

Image via Wikipedia

Cut down on the number of teams in Super League and cut down on the number of matches?
In theory this would mean that we should have higher quality games each week and the players are not ‘burnt out’ at the end of the season. But from a fans point of view, we already pay hundreds of pounds for a season ticket, playing less games would leave me feeling short changed

Increase the salary cap?
Doing this would help League retain our star players and stop the lure of Rugby Union. The salary cap has been fixed for the last few years, but the costs of everything around it have increased, this needs to be addressed ASAP. Rugby players only have a short career and you cannot blame them for looking to be paid more.

More International Matches?
It would be nice to see more international matches played, but if they are of the same standard of recent England-Wales and England-France matches, what is the point? I like the idea this season of the Exiles game, but the best Australian players will be playing in Australia, not in the UK.

Better PR?
One thing that our sport lacks is coverage in the mainstream media. When the champions are crowned the only coverage it will get on the BBC news is a ‘Oh and Wigan won the Super League’, whereas even a friendly Rugby Union international gets more coverage. We will never attract new fans and players to the game if people don’t know about its existence. The first game I attended was a Great Britain –v- Australia match at Wembley in 1990. It was a full house with 80,000 fans, now we struggle to fill a 25,000 seat stadium for these matches.

Cut down on foreign players
This is the main way that we can improve the standard of English/British players. There are far too many overseas players in the Super League and these are stopping the development of young English players. They make it through the academies, but all too often find their paths blocked by an overseas player and they end up dropping down to the lower divisions. If an overseas player will add something to the team in the way of coaching and development of young players, then there may be an argument for them to be over here. But the simple fact is that the best Australian players want to play for their country and have to play in Australia to be considered for the national side, so we are never going to have the best Aussies coming to play over here in their prime.

These are just a few ways that I think our game can be improved, how do you think it could be made even better?

Rob Scott

Filed Under: Guest Post, Latest:, Sport Tagged With: Super League

Howzat! Well done cricket for having the balls to have a referral service

December 21, 2010 By russ king

With two young children I don’t have much time to watch sport. I watch international rugby occasionally but I really can’t be bothered with football. Whenever I watch a footie match it always seems to hinge around some cheating or a referee’s decision. Plus watching England play is rarely a pleasant experience.

I hate the way the players shout and swear at the ref, linesmen, or generally anyone who tells these spoilt brats that they can’t have everything their way. In rugby, a much tougher contact sport, any argument with the ref results in the opposition moving forward 10 metres and I can’t believe this has not been used in the ‘beautiful game’. Perhaps they were too busy taking notes from the Eurovision song contest on how best to vote against England?

Cricket however, is a sport I’ve played a lot and love to watch, especially test cricket – even if I only get to watch an hour of highlights, two days after it actually happened.

: Image via Wikipedia

In cricket the umpire’s word was final and they are ridiculously accurate. I can’t believe how they make so few mistakes, especially as the TV pundits have all the technology to check up on every decision. There are times when the batsmen knew they were not out and or when the bowling team are sure they’ve got a wicket but they accepted each decision. Of course that didn’t stop them appealing vehemently if they thought they might be awarded a wicket.

Now we have the referral system where each team gets to challenge two umpire decisions each innings. This stoke of genius has brought an interesting change in the behaviour of the fielding side.

They think they have a wicket, they all make a confident appeal but the umpire says ‘not out’!

They then look at each other a bit sheepishly to see if anyone is sure enough to want it referred. Most of the time they don’t and make various gestures to each saying it was too high, hit the bat first etc.

The clever part of the system is that they get unlimited chances to appeal a decision as long as they are correct each time, but two incorrect challenges mean they have to accept the umpire’s decisions for the rest of the innings.

If you haven’t already guessed, far from breaking up the match or being tedious these referrals are entertaining interludes with some frisson as we await the verdict. Also the commentators get put on the spot as everyone sees the replay with the added technology at the same time.

So we have better decisions, no dissent and extra entertainment. FIFA are you watching or are you too busy speculating in the oil industry?

Russ

Filed Under: Latest:, Russ King, Sport Tagged With: Cricket, FIFA, referral

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