Browsing Category

Talking points

Zwift fix provides light relief to sporting life under lockdown

March 27, 2020

Day 11, or maybe it’s day 12, of isolation in Catalunya, and the Covid-19 figures are pretty terrifying, like a bad sci-fi movie. 

As a family, we are lucky with our set-up. It’s like we live here ready for something like this to happen. Basically the middle of nowhere, lots of outside space all within limits and no one to be seen for miles around. So, no complaining here, but there are restrictions in place so popping out for a run is off limits. So, what does a person like me, ‘mildly’ obsessed with the great outdoors and sport do? Continue Reading…

For all the science Kipchoge’s marathon put the joy of running on the record

October 24, 2019

On October 12th, I was glued to my iPad for (less than) two hours as I watched one of the most beautiful displays of sporting power as Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour marathon. Not a record, however, as it was done with pacemakers and wasn’t in a race. But still, as he ran, extremely comfortably, at just over 20kph and then in the last few minutes managed to ramp that pace up to cross the finish line in 1 hour 59 minuets and 40 seconds I had goose bumps and maybe a few tears of complete awe at human ability, speed and natural capability as I watch history being made. Continue Reading…

None of the beard stroking matters, play badly and you’ll lose

May 2, 2019

Last week we had Roy Keane and his eye-rolling-exasperation thing, this week Graeme Souness chucking his pen across the studio desk. Here is the fightback of the midfield enforcers against this age of tactics, game plans and other such precious musings. Too much beard-stroking, our hard men seem to be saying, not enough action. Continue Reading…

BBC Sports Personality is far from perfect, but that’s what makes it the best award

December 15, 2018

Awards shows are weird things. We seem to have reached an impasse of sorts, both desperately competitive and competitively desperate to see our teams, our athletes win. It is a tribalism verging on a spiteful relentlessness. Anything else is a form of failure; calls for sackings and signings, accusations of laziness and incompetence. Arguably, professional sport has never been accompanied with such vitriol in defeat and such joy in victory as now. Continue Reading…