2009 Teams and Individuals

Some of the best athletes and teams of 2009, let me know your thoughts....

Top Athletes 2009

Steve Hooker the Olympic Champion arrives at the World Championships with a torn abductor muscle. Painkillers will last three hours at the most and doctors advise against him competing, STRONGLY against him competing. Two jumps later and he is not only the reigning Olympic Champion but the new World Pole Vault Champion. 

Valentino Rossi wins his 7th senior world championship and the doctor cements his place as one of the greatest exponents in the history of any motor sports.

Stephanie Gilmour wins her third World Surfing title in a row. The first male or female surfer to win three world titles in her first three years on the tour.

Usain Bolt. The fastest man in the world keeps getting faster. World records of 9.69 for the 100m and 19.30 for the 200m. How fast he will end up going is the Road Runner's guess.

Top Sporting Teams 2009

BARCELONA FC wins the treble of La Liga, Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. Under Josep 'Pep' Guardiaola Barcelona run away with their 19th League title.

Six titles

GEELONG FC wins the NAB Cup, the AFL Grand Final and Gary Ablett comprehensively wins the Brownlow Medal. They are the first team in VFL/AFL history to win 18 or more regular season games for three consecutive years.

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

They win the 2008 European Championship continue the amazing run in 2009. Undefeated in World Cup Qualifying Spain losing their only game at the 2009 Confederations Cup. 

Xmas Premier League

THE PREMIER LEAGUE won't be won or lost over the Christmas period but it sure can make a difference to both ends of the Premiership Table.

Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal will jostle for early 2010 ascendancy. Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham will be bumping shoulders for the vital Champions League spots. And at the other end of the table Pompey, West Ham and all the teams up to Wolves in 12th position will be praying at the Christmas table for extremely rare and valuable points.

By why do managers, players and fans bemoan and rejoice in the Christmas and New Year schedule? Well for one thing it is an exciting and festive period but on the other hand it is a gruelling psychological and physically demanding time. The smaller squads such as Aston Villa and Portsmouth will be stretched by the tough schedule of back to back games.

Saturday, December 26, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 26 12:45 UK	Birmingham	v	Chelsea	St Andrews Stadium
Dec 26 13:00 UK	Fulham	v	Tottenham Hotspur	Craven Cottage
Dec 26 13:00 UK	West Ham United	v	Portsmouth	Upton Park
Dec 26 14:00 UK	Burnley	v	Bolton Wanderers	Turf Moor
Dec 26 15:00 UK	Manchester City	v	Stoke City	City of Manchester Stadium
Dec 26 15:00 UK	Sunderland	v	Everton	Stadium of Light
Dec 26 15:00 UK	Wigan Athletic	v	Blackburn Rovers	DW Stadium
Dec 26 17:30 UK	Liverpool	v	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Anfield

Sunday, December 27, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 27 13:30 UK	Arsenal	v	Aston Villa	Emirates Stadium
Dec 27 16:00 UK	Hull City	v	Manchester United	Kingston Communications Stadium

Monday, December 28, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 28 12:45 UK	Tottenham Hotspur	v	West Ham United	White Hart Lane
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Blackburn Rovers	v	Sunderland	Ewood Park
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Chelsea	v	Fulham	Stamford Bridge
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Everton	v	Burnley	Goodison Park
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Stoke City	v	Birmingham	Britannia Stadium
Dec 28 19:45 UK	Wolverhampton Wanderers	v	Manchester City	Molineux Stadium

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 29 19:45 UK	Aston Villa	v	Liverpool	Villa Park
Dec 29 20:00 UK	Bolton Wanderers	v	Hull City	Reebok Stadium

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 30 19:45 UK	Portsmouth	v	Arsenal	Fratton Park
Dec 30 20:00 UK	Manchester United	v	Wigan Athletic	Old Trafford

My prediction; top seven at and around Christmas:
1. Chelsea 46-48 points
2. Man United 41-43 points
3. Arsenal 36-38 points
4. Aston Villa 33-35 points
5. Man City 32-34 points
6. Tottenham 31-33 points
7.Liverpool 28-30 points

REFERENCE 

http://www.foxsports.com.au/

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/

Have a great and safe Xmas! AND GO VILLA!

Tiger Tiger burning bright

The Tiger TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? William Blake - 1757–1827 What right do we have to judge Tiger as a person by his infidelity and indiscretions? Do we have the right to do so? Yes, we do. Because as much as Tiger and his supporters say that he is entitled to his privacy, golfing's first billionaire has not made his fortune on the golf course alone. His image has been carefully cultivated since his he first television appearance on the Mike Douglas show as a the 2 year old golfing prodigy with his father Earl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zI8smcZW4c Whether our opinions are right or wrong we are entitled to them. I just hope that his wife and daughter are kept safe by their family. http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=tigerwoods

A League of our own?

The 2009-10 A-League season promised so much but half way through round 17 of the fifth season of the national competition has it delivered? Not so say crowd figures!


Ten teams entered the 2009/10 season of the A-League with high expectations, including two new teams, Gold Coast United and the North Queensland Fury. A year out from the 2010 the clubs could have anticipated good crowd numbers, high level football and excitement. Whilst the level of football has been an improvement on previous years the crowds are trickling through the turnstiles except for the always well followed Melbourne Victory whose crowds still average over 20,000 at home.


Mr Palmer have you met my mate Robbie?

It has been well documented that crowd numbers are down and alarmingly so by teams such as the Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast United. This culminated in the owner of Gold Coast United, Clive Palmer pictured right, capping the crowd in the round 13 game to 5000. Any crowd under 5001 people does not pay a $3 per head state government travel tax. This infuriated both the FFA and Gold Coast fans alike and only 2616 attended the game in which ironically the League's biggest drawcard, marksman Robbie Fowler, sunk United with a brace in the second half. Yet in Round 1 all looked good for the southern Queensland rivals with a crowd of 19,902 attending the game.

Pretty Average
In season 5 the league is averaging crowds around 10,000 and whilst Melbourne is averaging 20,000 even their crowds are down by almost 7000. Only Perth Glory and Adelaide have seen an increase from previous seasons. So as the Black Eyed Peas would say, where is the love?
A season out from arguably the world's biggest sporting event the fans haven't returned, even with the return of players such as Jason Culina and the scoring power of Shane Smeltz and the ex-Liverpudlian named 'god' Robbie Fowler in the A-League midst.

Why the poor crowds?
The arguments are plenty. The season was launched weeks earlier, in the middle of highly successful AFL and NRL seasons, to accommodate for the expanded 27 round season. The economic downturn has also been suggested. Another factor that requires addressing by most clubs is their engagement with the fans. Gold Coast United have been accused of arrogance that they thought that fans would flock to the game without much effort on the part of the club. One would not even know that their is a game on if they left Robina station prior to the game. No posters adorn the station, signage is minimal and there are no club colors to be seen. Clubs such as Brisbane Roar have also alienated many fans by increasing their season prices, in some cases by as much as 40% in a time of economic downturn. Hmmm, economics major anyone?

Whilst crowds of 6-7000 were barely acceptable in the days of the NSL, they are downright alarming in the highly competitive Australian sporting market.
What can be done?

• Follow the lead of teams that engage the community such as the Central Coast Mariners.
• Provide free-to-air coverage as part of the next television agreement.
• Have television advertisements for all home games.
• Shout a friend to the game, buy them a scarf and hope for a home win!
• Cheaper walk-up tickets and affordable season ticket packages.

The football on the park is improving, let us just hope that the games off the field improve as well because at the moment the A-League is definitely scoring a D on the report sheet for crowd attendances.

World Cup Draw 2010 - lack of sleep preparation.

Whilst the World Cup won't feed the world it certainly can inspire it!

So I woke up at 3am to be inspired. Nervous with anticipation and dread of who Australia would draw. I put on my 1974 replica Johnny Warren's shirt and tuned into SBS. I will never watch a World Cup came without thinking of the legend. And he would have been proud of South Africa's presentation of the highly anticipated draw.

Over 1 and a half hours the draw could have been drawn out, but the presentation had the history of both the World Cup and African football interspersed with the teams that had qualified. Well done, professional and everything that you would expect from a FIFA organised event. And yet, I was surprised. That seems to be the feeling of this World Cup since South Africa was announced as the host nation. The presentation was excellent, better than 2005, of that there is no doubt and that was done by the Germans! Well done to Charlize Theron and Zakumi the 2010 official mascot.



The event that I dreaded, 1 and a half hours of drawn out platitudes and rhetoric to find out who would be drawn who in the 2010 FIFA World Cup was an excellent morning's viewing for millions around the world.

Who would Australia draw, what delights or moans of agony would I emit?

I hoped for South Africa as the lowest ranked team in the World Cup....that was not to be. England, purely for our sporting traditions and Italy for the diving contest. But Germany it was.
We avoided Portugal and France as teams that may have been unlucky not to be seeded. Group D is where Australia ended up being drawn alongside Ghana and Serbia. Tough group and the eventual words, "group of death" will be bandied around most media forums for the next few months up to and including the world cup. But let us be honest, the World Cup should be and is never easy. No game can be taken for granted and to qualify for the World Cup is an achievement for every nation.

In saying that both Groups D and G do seem to be the most difficult groups of the World Cup.
Group D seeing Brazil, Portugal and the Ivory Coast as extremely good teams, 3 does not go into two though. Kaka vs Ronaldo.....team mates and enemies, arguably two of the best players in the world to face off in their group match on the 25th of June.

The Australian coach Pim Verbeek was interviewed by SBS's Les Murray immediately after the draw and stated what you would expect from a keen tactician. "The draw is good, but tough, we will be ready." As will we, the supporters, preparing as we did this morning for a lack of sleep. I cannot wait for the sleepless nights of June 2010!

Group A

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
1	11 June	Johannesburg	South Africa	Mexico	00:00
2	11 June	Cape Town	Uruguay	France	04:30
17	16 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	South Africa	Uruguay	04:30
18	17 June	Polokwane	France	Mexico	21:30
33	22 June	Rustenburg	Mexico	Uruguay	00:00
34	22 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	France	South Africa	00:00

Group B

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
3	12 June	Johannesburg	Argentina	Nigeria	21:30
4	12 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Korea Republic	Greece	00:00
19	17 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Greece	Nigeria	00:00
20	17 June	Johannesburg	Argentina	Korea Republic	04:30
35	22 June	Durban	Nigeria	Korea Republic	04:30
36	22 June	Polokwane	Greece	Argentina	04:30

Group C

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
5	12 June	Rustenburg	England	USA	04:30
6	13 June	Polokwane	Algeria	Slovenia	21:30
22	18 June	Johannesburg	Slovenia	USA	00:00
23	18 June	Cape Town	England	Algeria	04:30
37	23 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Slovenia	England	00:00
38	23 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	USA	Algeria	00:00

Group D

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
7	13 June	Durban	Germany	Australia	00:00
8	13 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	Serbia	Ghana	04:30
21	18 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Germany	Serbia	21:30
24	19 June	Rustenburg	Ghana	Australia	21:30
39	23 June	Johannesburg	Ghana	Germany	04:30
40	23 June	Nelspruit	Australia	Serbia	04:30

Group E

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
9	14 June	Johannesburg	Netherlands	Denmark	21:30
10	14 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Japan	Cameroon	00:00
25	19 June	Durban	Netherlands	Japan	00:00
26	19 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	Cameroon	Denmark	04:30
43	24 June	Rustenburg	Denmark	Japan	04:30
44	24 June	Cape Town	Cameroon	Netherlands	04:30

Group F

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
11	14 June	Cape Town	Italy	Paraguay	04:30
12	15 June	Rustenburg	New Zealand	Slovakia	21:30
27	20 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Slovakia	Paraguay	00:00
28	20 June	Nelspruit	Italy	New Zealand	21:30
41	24 June	Johannesburg	Slovakia	Italy	00:00
42	24 June	Polokwane	Paraguay	New Zealand	00:00

Group G

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
13	15 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Ivory Coast	Portugal	00:00
14	15 June	Johannesburg	Brazil	North Korea	04:30
29	20 June	Johannesburg	Brazil	Ivory Coast	04:30
30	21 June	Cape Town	Portugal	North Korea	21:30
45	25 June	Durban	Portugal	Brazil	00:00
46	25 June	Nelspruit	North Korea	Ivory Coast	00:00

Group H

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
15	16 June	Nelspruit	Honduras	Chile	21:30
16	16 June	Durban	Spain	Switzerland	00:00
31	21 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Chile	Switzerland	04:30
32	21 June	Johannesburg	Spain	Honduras	00:00
47	25 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	Chile	Spain	04:30
48	25 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Switzerland	Honduras	04:30

Most Tournament Wins
5 Brazil

Most Tournament Appearances
18 Brazil (only team to play in every FIFA World Cup finals)

Most Final Appearances
7 Brazil, Germany (including West Germany) 6 Italy 4 Argentina

Most Semi-Finals Appearances
11 Germany (including West Germany) 10 Brazil 8 Italy 4 Argentina, Uruguay, France, Sweden

Most Wins
64 Brazil 56 Germany (including West Germany) 45 Italy 33 Argentina

Most Draws
19 Germany (including West Germany), Italy 14 Brazil 13 Sweden

Most Losses
22 Mexico 20 Argentina 18 Germany (including West Germany) 17 Belgium, France, Sweden

Most Goals Scored
201 Brazil 190 Germany (including West Germany) 122 Italy 113 Argentina

Most Goals Conceded
112 Germany (including West Germany) 84 Brazil, Mexico 74 Argentina

Biggest Winning Margin
9 Hungary, 9-0 v Korea Republic, 1954; Yugoslavia, 9-0 v Zaire, 1974; Hungary, 10-1 El Salvador 1982

Most Goals Scored In A Match By One Team
10 Hungary, 10-1 v El Salvador, 1982

Most Goals Scored In A Match
12 Austria 7-5 Switzerland, 1954

Most Goals Scored In A Single Tournament
27 Hungary, 1954

Most Goals Conceded In A Single Tournament
16 Korea Republic, 1954

Midnight, Monday June 14 v Germany (Durban), 9.30pm, Thursday June 19 v Ghana (Rustenburg) and 4.30am, Saturday June 24 v Serbia (Nelspruit).