OJ behind bars

Finally OJ Simpson ends up behind bars for up to 15 years. The former Buffalo Bills player was, with others, attempting an armed robber to take property associated with his football career. From, in his own words, “friends”.

Judge Glass refused bail; no doubt the car chase so many years ago uppermost in his mind. The man, forced to pay compensation for a double homicide he was aquited of in court, has finally had justice served as he cried for mercy while not taking responsibility for his actions.

Small beer for the Goldman and Brown family that a person’s sporting past finally leads them to a crime they can be held to account.

The ghosts of the past though may rest a little easier, 13 years to the day he walked free from their murder.

Paralympics shambles

David Wear when the Gold Medal was his

First off, I do not watch the Paralympics and was bloody annoyed that the BBC were showing it and not Andy Murray in the US Open final. Instead I had to  listen to it on Radio 5.

I still want the British Team to do well, and for the games to be conducted fairly. However, two contests that Brits won medals in have had to be rerun due to administrative errors. Weir for example won Gold, but another competitor was allocated the wrong lane and the race has to be done again.

Through no fault of your own you win Gold, and then it is taken away. I only hope he can recover to win it again.

UPDATE:

He did win it (again!). Way to go Dave!

Federer just too good for Murray in US Open Final

Federer celebrates

6-2 7-5 6-2, in just under two hours Roger Federer won his first Grand Slam of the year, and is now one away from equalling Pete Sampras’ total haul of 14. He does become the first person to have won two Grand Slams five years running. Quite simply Murray was outplayed by a contender for the best tennis player in the history of the game; though he did fight back to prevent a white wash in the third set.

“It definitely feels great,” said Federer afterwards. “This is a very special moment in my career.

“I had a couple of tough Grand Slams this year, finishing in semi-finals and two finals, one epic at Wimbledon.

“So to take this one home is incredible. It means the world to me.”

I had a great tournament but I came up against, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game today Andy Murray

He added: “I’m not going to stop at 13 – that would be terrible! I congratulate Andy – he’s done great these last two weeks. I’m sure we’re going to see a lot more of him in the future.”

Murray – the best days are yet to come.

Quotes from BBC report here.

Andy Murray – in the US Open Final

Murray roars into the final

Once again Brits perform better away from Wimbledon, as Andy Murray defeats the world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in four sets, 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 to get to the US Open Final. Greg Rusedski managed to get to the US Open Final in 1997 (yes Canadians I know we tempted him away from you to play for us) before being defeated by Pat Rafter. Murray has also equalled Tim Henman’s highest ranking of World Number 4.

The excitment though is that Murray has beaten the best player in the world in a Grand Slam – something neither of the brits before managed. However, there is the rather small matter of beating Roger Federer – who no doubt will take his last chance of winning a slam this year with all the force that the greatest player in the game entails.

Match fitness seems to have been the edge in the semis, and if Murray can use that to his advantage and not be overawed he has a chance. The rain, which has played it’s part, has meant the game being played 10pm BST today.

[EDIT: Final can be found here]

Team GB coming home

Well the highlights for me, if I am honest, were the opening and closing ceremonies (videos of can be watched here).

Chris Hoyle who won three Gold Medals

We get bragging rights because apart from the obvious top three being China, USA and Russia the Great British Team medal tally made us come in fourth – the best haul for a century.

I am sure that the Australians will not mind one bit. More on the Olympic winners for Team GB can be found here.

At-a-glance medals table

Sunday, 24 August 2008 10:17 UK

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	TOTAL
1	China	51	21	28	100
2	USA	36	38	36	110
3	Russia	23	21	28	72
4	Great Britain	19	13	15	47
5	Germany	16	10	15	41
6	Australia	14	15	17	46
7	South Korea	13	10	8	31
8	Japan	9	6	10	25
9	Italy	8	10	10	28
10	France	7	16	17	40

Aldershot Town V Bournemouth

The Shots

After a successful opening away game beating Accrington Stanley 1-0, I shall be going to the first home game of the season in my home town of Aldershot (where I grew up though I now live in the Midlands). This is Aldershot Town FC’s first season in League football, having only been formed in 1992 when Aldershot FC went bankrupt. So I can sympathise with our forthcoming opponents AFC Bournemouth who are in administration, and because of breaching the rules have been deducted 17 points.

That however is nothing compared to Luton who have been deducted 30 points – ten for payments to agents and the other twenty for entering administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement. Rotherham were also deducted seventeen points for similar reasons on entering administration.

So with two clubs to be relegated at the end of the season I am very confident that the Shots will stay up, having gained promotion by winning The Championship last season.

Olympics – under Government orders

Officials relax and pose for photos

In a few hours the opening ceremony will start (if anyone else says anything about today being 08/08/08 I shall smile feebly). Amnesty International reported that some human rights improvements had occurred in the build up (for example senior rather than local courts deciding the death penalty) but there has been a deterioration – not least the forced eviction of people from their homes to make way for construction to cater for the event.

While the AI has also been pushing for less Internet censorship, it is worth noting that any WordPress bloggers going to China will not be able to blog directly – wordpress is one of many sites that are blocked. One blogger, Splendidelles, got around that by e mailing the blog she wanted to send from China to me. To console yourself you can now get access to Playboy.

Whether Chinese nationalism – that seems to be the new under pinning of state ideology rather than Marxism – will end up being a cause for concern in international relations time will tell. Meanwhile men in baseball caps roam around venues and if they spot any trouble it will be dealt with promptly. “Positive propaganda” is the order from on high to the media. Yet there are voices in authority calling for change:

After the Olympic party (a dour one if security officials do not relax), many in China are likely to wonder whether it was really all worth it. Wang Yang, a member of the ruling Politburo and one of the more outspoken leaders (a rare breed), has called for tolerance of public grievances. Attempting to suppress people’s views might create an “opinion quake lake”, he said recently, referring to the perilously unstable lakes that were formed by landslides during the Sichuan earthquake. China’s leaders would do well to take heed.

Quote from The Economist “Welcome to a (rather dour) party” July 31st 2008.

Aldershot Town FC

Last Saturday both Aldershot Town FC and Torquay won – which means with four games to play one point will mean promotion for my home town side. The last time the name of Aldershot was in Division football was 1992 when Aldershot FC went bankrupt and like a phoenix from the flames, the symbol of the side, came back reborn with a new name at the bottom rung of football.

Tonight Aldershot play my old University town Exeter – so in many ways if it happens tonight then there will be many coincidences that will make it doubly special for me.

How can I explain football? Well it is a matter of faith – but when the moment comes the joy and the ecstasy is complete.

The West Wing and some books

Having watched Bristol Rovers cause an upset by beating Southampton 1-0 in the FA Cup 5th Round, it was time to get some much needed supplies for the big game later on; Manchester United v Arsenal.

Having stepped outside my house ready to walk to the local supermarket the bus came by, running late as usual and I changed my plans and caught a ride into town. There I decided to do some quick shopping then pick up my mountain bike from work, back to supermarket then home for the game.

To that end I got 3 for 2 on these books:

Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope (an attempt to find out what he stands for)

Martin Goodman: Rome and Jerusalem – The Clash of Ancient Civilisations (the book I chose for free)

John Gribbin: The Universe A Biography (14 billion years in just over 200 pages)

I also purchased The West Wing Season 2. I am very behind on TV, and have been catching up on shows (House and The Sopranos). Anyway I was impressed especially with the writing and characterization. Martin Sheen’s performance especially and for reasons that you may guess this scene caught my eye and I managed to track it down on YouTube (Bible quotes at a homophobic radio call in presenter).

Enjoy!

 

Incidentally Man Utd thrashed Arsenal 4 – 0.

Super Bowl XLII – Preview

When the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10 in front of 80,000 people on English soil who would have thought that as wild cards they would be in the Super Bowl this Sunday? Contrast that with the New England Patriots undefeated all season.

It was 38 -35 to the Patriots, coming from behind, when they defeated the Giants in the regular season. If anyone has the game to cause an upset then the Giants have the ability to mix up the play. As always it will be down to the individual battles on the field that will turn the game for the winning side.

In the UK much is being made by the fact that the Giants have two players with British connections: Scottish-born Tynes whose late field goal in sudden death despite two missed opportunities took the Giants to the Super Bowl and Osi Umenyiora on defense who was born in London.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will provide the entertainment for the half time show. But to be honest I am a puritan when it comes to sport. Forget the music, the fireworks, the advertisements and the hype. For the real show is the talent and nerve on the field, the plays employed in four quarters.