Welcome back ladies and gentlemen! I am not sure if you have noticed but I have not written a word on this blog for a while, since the 27th of June 2010 in fact. I have titled my return in honour of Danny Boyle’s movie starring James Franco. I wish I could say there were similar reasons for my absence but you will be disappointed to hear that I was not stuck in a deserted canyon for three quarters of a year although I have moved to Manchester which some might think is just as much of a test! (Joking Manchester, I love you.)
A lot has happened in the intervening period – I have obviously moved oop north, my brother got engaged and is due to get married to the lovely Jenna next weekend and Chelsea have gone from a world class outfit to a side who couldn’t unlock a door let alone a PL defence.
The world of sport continues to throw up drama and scandal at every opportunity whilst entertaining us royally. This time of year is so rich in sporting spectacles that I am thinking about buying another sky plus package as I am not sure there is enough space on my current planner to house the epic contests on the horizon.
The Six Nations is building towards the potential grand-slam decider between England v France at HQ on Saturday. I don’t think there is anybody who is not looking forward to that.
Chris Ashton is getting praise from every corner in a similar manner to the way another Rugby League convert did a decade ago. Jason Robinson went on to win the game’s greatest prize, the Webb Ellis Trophy (World Cup in layman’s terms). Will the Northampton flyer do the same? Saturday’s game will be a big stepping-stone if Johnno’s men can defeat the defending champions.
Check out this article if you need any pumping up for this tussle – it is probably the best blog you will read all year, apart from this one of course! http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tomfordyce/2011/02/inside_the_heart_of_a_rugby_in.html
The Premiership continues to astonish with Blackpool beating Spurs this week to keep Chelsea in touching distance of fourth. God bless you Ian Holloway. I have said all year that United won’t win it because they are simply not good enough. I am slowly starting to regret these comments although there is a long way to go with some big games left to play.
This has been a topsy-turvy year for many and it would not shock me one bit if there was at least one more twist in the title race. If the pride of west London are not going to win it (and I don’t mean Fulham before anyone cracks that one…) then I would love it to be a team other than United. Living in Manchester may have got me doing some things differently, such as slating the south’s ability to make a good cup of tea, but it has not endeared me to United – thank the Lord!
The Champions League returned and blew us all away over the past couple of weeks. The AC-Spurs and Arsenal-Barca ties were what knockout football is all about – high quality football drenched in late drama.
Gennarro Gattuso was everything that is good and frankly embarrassing about football. He was very much part of the reason that it was such an intensely fought match but he also reminded us all what a pathetic group footballers are on the whole.
I will be honest, I have slightly fallen out of love with the beautiful game recently. (Chelsea’s horror run had nothing to do with it I might add!) The extraordinary behaviour of players on the pitch is frustrating and bad for the game (diving, challenging the ref etc) but it is players’ immoral conduct off the pitch that leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Carlos Tevez is a case in point. For some reason he is revered as a great player. He may have scored a few goals since he arrived in England but he has also fallen out with every teammate and manager he has worked alongside which a friend took great pride in listing to me last week. I am pretty sure he doesn’t mean it to be but his famous celebration of putting a dummy in his mouth after scoring sums up his character quite nicely – petulant and childish, not to mention greedy.
Anyway, rant over!
The third of the many great sporting occasions coming up in the very near future is what is known as ‘the greatest show on turf’. It is of course the Cheltenham Festival. Every year the best horses from Britain, Ireland and France lock horns in four days of Championship racing.
I wrote about this last year and will be doing so again in more detail but please do access the Racing Post’s Cheltenham Festival site on my blogroll for everything you need to know about this year’s Festival.
For all your betting needs please do hold fire as I will be posting my tips on the Festival on March 7th. In the meantime soak up as much form as you can from the Racing Post and together perhaps we can take the bookies to the cleaners!
Thanks for reading guys. It is good to be back in the blogging game. Keep checking your emails as I will let you know whenever I post a new article. Also, please do subscribe to this blog (scroll down to the email subscription link on the right hand side) and let your friends, family and colleagues know about it.
Boom.
Jack Travers' Blog 