From the Rugby World Cup Semi Final, England v France, last Saturday, after 77 minutes:
"Wilkinson seems to be lining up the drop goal.
But now he's going away.
Maybe it's to give the angle? It is!
Wilkinson,
Jonny Wilkinson!
Go on! GO ON!"
Here's to some more of that happening tonight.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
Tim Henman: Legend
A little over a fortnight ago, Tim Henman played his final tennis match as part of Britain's Davis Cup victory over Croatia. He'll go down in history as Britain's best tennis player for a long, long time (although surely Andy Murray will soon alter that). Despite this, many people have slated Henman during the latter part of his career (mainly in frustration at the fact that he has failed to win Wimbledon or any other grand slam) and branded him an under-achieving, mediocre player whose career is unworthy of acknowledging or celebrating. I beg to differ.
I disagree with claims that Henman has underachieved. I think he's a brilliant case of someone maximising their potential. Henman is not as tall or strong as many other current men's players, and as a consquence few of his shots are as powerful as most of the other current top players. He was a serve-volleyer in what was increasingly becoming a baseliner's world (or so I'm told - I'm no tennis coach!). His natural game was primarily effective on grass, but he vastly improved his game on other surfaces as his career progressed. He surprised many by reaching the French Open semis in 2004, with one journalist noting that Henman on clay had formerly been "about as good as Bambi on ice". He was generally exemplary in the way that he conducted himself both on and off the court too, as Roger Federer pointed out in his recent tribute to Henman. As a youngster Henman suffered injury problems and, due to his then relatively modest ability level, rumour has it that some people were advising him to give up the game or focus on doubles, but Henman did not. He persevered, as he did time and time again in his career.
It's a sad time: to acknowledge that Henmania is over, that Tiger Tim will grace Wimbledon's centre court no more and that those on Henman Hill will never watch their hero again. In different circumstances Henman may have prospered even more. He was unfortunate to have 2 all-time greats (Pete Sampras and Roger Federer) continually blocking his path to the Wimbledon crown. And on the one ocassion that neither stood in his way, he fell to Ivanisevic in the semi-final in a match I believe he would have won, were it not for an ill-timed rain delay. Had he done so, would he have beaten Pat Rafter in the final? We will never know. I can't deny the fact that it's a disappointment that Tim never won Wimbledon - it is, and I'm sure it is for him too. To place the blame at Henman's door, however, and to imply that he could somehow have achieved more by trying harder couldn't be further from the truth (this was a man who gave his all). He maximised his potential and maybe even surpassed it (if such a thing is possible). All in all, surely his career is one worth celebrating, rather than grumbling about. Although he's not one of the all-time greats of tennis, he was without doubt a very good player. In the words of Jonathan Overend of the BBC: "Tim Henman, failure? Get a life."
(Other articles on Henman that I like:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A26241211
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article2517935.ece)
I disagree with claims that Henman has underachieved. I think he's a brilliant case of someone maximising their potential. Henman is not as tall or strong as many other current men's players, and as a consquence few of his shots are as powerful as most of the other current top players. He was a serve-volleyer in what was increasingly becoming a baseliner's world (or so I'm told - I'm no tennis coach!). His natural game was primarily effective on grass, but he vastly improved his game on other surfaces as his career progressed. He surprised many by reaching the French Open semis in 2004, with one journalist noting that Henman on clay had formerly been "about as good as Bambi on ice". He was generally exemplary in the way that he conducted himself both on and off the court too, as Roger Federer pointed out in his recent tribute to Henman. As a youngster Henman suffered injury problems and, due to his then relatively modest ability level, rumour has it that some people were advising him to give up the game or focus on doubles, but Henman did not. He persevered, as he did time and time again in his career.
It's a sad time: to acknowledge that Henmania is over, that Tiger Tim will grace Wimbledon's centre court no more and that those on Henman Hill will never watch their hero again. In different circumstances Henman may have prospered even more. He was unfortunate to have 2 all-time greats (Pete Sampras and Roger Federer) continually blocking his path to the Wimbledon crown. And on the one ocassion that neither stood in his way, he fell to Ivanisevic in the semi-final in a match I believe he would have won, were it not for an ill-timed rain delay. Had he done so, would he have beaten Pat Rafter in the final? We will never know. I can't deny the fact that it's a disappointment that Tim never won Wimbledon - it is, and I'm sure it is for him too. To place the blame at Henman's door, however, and to imply that he could somehow have achieved more by trying harder couldn't be further from the truth (this was a man who gave his all). He maximised his potential and maybe even surpassed it (if such a thing is possible). All in all, surely his career is one worth celebrating, rather than grumbling about. Although he's not one of the all-time greats of tennis, he was without doubt a very good player. In the words of Jonathan Overend of the BBC: "Tim Henman, failure? Get a life."
(Other articles on Henman that I like:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A26241211
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article2517935.ece)
Monday, October 01, 2007
Vacation's Over
October. But the weather has changed so sharply that it almost feels like December. Time to end my blogging draught and write some more I think. 21st May was the last time I posted on here - that's a long time ago - around 130 days ago (not that I counted!). During the summer, it could be said, life took over and writing was put on the back burner, but now I feel the urge to write once more. So this post is just to say "hello, I'm back". And this time I'm going to export my writings to facebook as well (with the loose aims of increasing my readership [from zero this shouldn't be hard!] and generating more discussion, although this may mean that I have to think about what I write more carefully ... hmm). Where to start? Well, I thought I'd start with a couple of sports-related posts. Watch this space ...
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