The Real deal: Is Gareth Bale worth $120m?
Just wait a minute. Am I the only one who is outraged by the amount of money Real Madrid are willing to spend on Gareth Bale?
The latest reports suggest the Spanish giants are ready to splash a world record $120 million on the Welsh winger.
Surely this is too much cash for a player who has yet to win a single trophy and has only truly enjoyed one world class season with Tottenham? FULL POST
Analysis: Martino who? Is 'El Tata' the man for Barcelona?
Martino who? That’s what most football fans were thinking when Gerardo “El Tata” Martino was announced as FC Barcelona’s new manager.
The truth is the 50 year-old Argentine is practically unknown outside of South America, given he has only ever managed in his home continent.
So how did he get the job? Well, in my opinion, there were three factors which led the reigning Spanish Champions to appoint Martino: the influence of Leo Messi, the coach’s football philosophy, and the lack of other alternatives. FULL POST
Double vision: Bryan brothers deserve wider TV audience
Heading into the 2013 U.S. Open, 35-year-old American twins Bob and Mike Bryan stand on the verge of a feat rarer than any other in tennis, as they attempt to complete the first ever men’s doubles calendar grand slam in the Open era.
Since grand slam tennis went professional in 1968, calendar grand slams - winning the Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles in a single year - have been achieved in men’s singles, women’s singles, and women’s doubles, but never in men’s doubles.
You have to go back all the way to 1951 when Australians Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman ran the table at the majors for the one and only time this feat was accomplished.
Sixty-two years later, the Bryan brothers head into the U.S. Open with an opportunity to make history, having already claimed the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon championships.
And yet, during this remarkable run, which also includes the 2012 U.S. Open and Olympic games, barely more than a match or two has been broadcast on television.
More often than not, television coverage will jump into a Bryan brothers match at match point, and to that extent, on a time delay to ensure that the point in question was indeed the final point of the contest.
Sadly, this doesn’t flow against the tide of tradition when it comes to doubles on television. Simply put, doubles just doesn't get the attention or TV coverage it deserves. FULL POST
British Open 2013: And the winner is......
If anyone tells you they know who's going to win this year's British Open Championship, and proffers betting advice, walk away. For they are both foolish and dangerous. That's not to say there are no educated guesses, but there lies no certainty here at Muirfield.
This is a course that, ever since the last decade of the 19th Century, has pretty much outlined the best player of the era. From Harry Vardon and James Braid to Walter Hagen and Henry Cotton. Not forgetting Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson as well as Nick Faldo (twice) and Ernie Els. So history suggests a class player.
However history here also suggests that Muirfield can sometimes be the first to identify that class.
Vardon won the first of his six Opens here, Player's first major of nine came on these links, Nicklaus's debut Open Championship too. More recently, Faldo's 1987 Muirfield Open was the first of his six career majors. FULL POST
Are lifelong bans the only way to deter dopers?
I hate to break it to you, but sport will never be completely clean.
It's the law of the big red button. Do not push. At any cost. And it just makes you want to do it more, especially if you can get away with it.
Even more so if there's the added bonus of success, fame and fortune.
Two year bans certainly haven't cut the mustard in terms of beating the cheats. FULL POST
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Can Real Madrid reign in Spain?
The dust may still be settling at the Santiago Bernabeu following Jose Mourinho’s turbulent reign at Real Madrid, but a new era is already dawning at the most successful club in European football.
Real officially kick off the new season on Monday with Carlo Ancelotti taking the reins and we can be sure about one thing: there will be less acrimony with the experienced Italian manager in the dugout.
That is one of the few certainties surrounding Real right now because there are many questions which hang over the squad as the players get back to work. FULL POST
Curse or destiny? Murray grasps opportunity to make history
Since Fred Perry defeated the German Gottfried von Cramm in a one-sided 6-1 6-1 6-0 final to claim his third successive men’s Wimbledon singles title 77 years ago, Britain has pinned its hopes on a procession of native challengers, each of whom have come and gone without success.
Andy Murray finally ended that interminable wait by beating Novak Djokovic on Sunday, but the wait has been so long there has been talk of curses and jinxes.
But was there ever really a curse?
In truth, in the seven decades since Fred Perry’s three-peat as Wimbledon champion, Britain has never produced a legitimate Wimbledon contender - with the exception of 1939 runner-up Bunny Austin. FULL POST
Et tu Brutus? Football’s loyal lieutenants
“We are a family, and the loyalty of the family must come before anything and everyone else. For if we honor that commitment, we will never be vanquished, but if we falter in that loyalty we will all be condemned," wrote Mario Puzo, the author of the GodFather.
Like night follows day, whenever a football manager joins a new club, their loyal lieutenants inevitably follow.
After all, when you are a footballing Caesar the last thing you want is a Brutus knifing you in the back.
So after Carlo Ancelotti moved from Saint-Germain to Real Madrid his long-time assistant Paul Clement was by his side. A wise move given the huge pressure the Italian will be under managing the Spanish club.
Over in Bavaria, when Pep Guardiola recently started work at Bayern Munich he brought with him not one, not two, not three, but four members of his support staff from old club Barcelona - Manuel Estiarte, assistant coach Domenec Torrent, scout and video analyst Carles Planchart and fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura. FULL POST
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'Tough times don’t last, tough people do' - Floyd Mayweather Jr.
When Floyd Mayweather Jr. stepped into the ring against Robert Guerrero this year, he didn’t just win his 44th professional fight, he added another $34 million to his personal fortune.
Forbes.com calculated that he earned almost $175,000s per punch or - the way I saw it - he could have paid off my 30-year mortgage in the time it took to scratch his nose.
Never has a nickname been more appropriate. They call him “Money”.
Later this year, Mayweather will become even richer when he takes on Mexico’s unbeaten light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Las Vegas.
It is hard to avoid the topic of money when interviewing Mayweather. The words “Money, Power, Respect” were plastered across both his cap and his t-shirt and it didn’t take long for the subject to crop up, though he brought it up first. FULL POST
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