Highlights of 2009: Murray Wins Under Lights at Wimbledon

The roof would ruin the atmosphere, it would change the nature of grass court tennis, it would make life difficult for the players, Andy Murray didn’t like it either. One dramatic late-evening fourth-round match later, only Murray and a few traditionalists were left grumbling, as a new Wimbledon tradition was born. Murray’s win over Stanislas Wawrinka finished at 10:38pm, with 12 million viewers on BBC television, and many more around the world.

Murray serving under the new roof on Centre Court

The new roof somehow added something to the atmosphere, building a sense of occasion, as the lights lit up the court, whilst the rest of SW19 lay in darkness. We can expect many more of these nights to come, but this will always be remembered as the start, and the All England Club deserve credit for being proactive and forward thinking, something they are not always associated with.

Highlights of the Decade: Round-up 2

The Guardian has published its complete list of the decade's highlights, sport by sport.

Highlights of 2009: Super Bowl XLIII

Super Bowl XLIII was a clash of the haves and have-nots of the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers are NFL royalty, with five previous titles illuminating a proud history as one of the most popular and best-run franchises in the sport. The Arizona Cardinals’ peripatetic history had seen them based in three different cities, and fail to win to much as a division title since 1975, testament to mismanagement on and off the field. However, the 2008 Cardinals were a different beast, and entering January 2009 and the postseason, they surprised their opponents at every turn, marching through the playoffs at the expense of more fancied opponents.

The Super Bowl itself was a classic (click here for highlights). The Steelers took a commanding first half 17-7 lead thanks in part to the longest play in Super Bowl history: a breathless, lung-bursting 100 yard interception return by the league’s defensive MVP, James Harrison, who spent much of the next half hour breathing from an oxygen mask to recover. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was also playing with assurance, his performance a long way removed from the nervy second-year player whose team won a title in spite of him three years prior.

An exhuasted James Harrison lies prostrate after his record-breaking 100 yard touchdown

The Cardinals did not look like a team who were outclassed however, and following a cagey third quarter, they came roaring back with a stunning fourth quarter fightback. Quarterback Kurt Warner, playing out another chapter in a fairytale career that took him from stocking shelves in a supermarket, to winning a Super Bowl for the St Louis Rams, then on to being an unwanted injury-prone backup, and now finally back to another Super Bowl, found Larry Fitzgerald, the breakout star of the year, who showed both sides to his scoring threat. First, Warner hit Fitzgerald for a leaping touchdown catch over the coverage, bringing the score back to 20-14.

Then, following a 2-point safety thanks to strong defense from the Cardinals, Warner picked out Fitzgerald in midfield, who showed the other side to his play, scorching away from defenders to complete a 63-yard touchdown and give his side the lead with less than three minutes remaining. Arizona were on the verge of history.

Fitzgerald celebrates his second touchdown

Pittsburgh got the ball back on their own 22-yard line with 2:37 and two timeouts left in the game. Despite at one stage facing 1st and 20, Roethlisberger did what he does best, especially behind a weak offensive line, rolling out of the pocket, extending the play, and waiting for his receivers to get open. Four times he found Santonio Holmes, as the Steelers marched downfield. With 43 seconds remaining, Roethlisberger looked to his right and fired a pinpoint pass over three defenders to a point where only Holmes could possibly reach it. Holmes leapt at full stretch, and grabbed the ball whilst managing to get his feet down and inside the end zone for the touchdown. The scoring drive had covered 78 yards in eight plays, with Holmes, the game's MVP, responsible for four of them, totalling 73 yards.

Holmes plucks Roethlisberger's pass from the air for the winning score

The Cardinals now had only 35 seconds left to find a winning score, but with eight seconds remaining, Pittsburgh’s league-leading defense came to the fore, with Lamarr Woodley sacking Warner, and team-mate Brett Keisel recovering the fumble to secure the 27-23 win for the Steelers.

In a decade that has seen some fantastic Super Bowls, this was one of the best. Momentum swung one way and then the other, and right up until the final seconds, no-one could be sure who would win. There were spectacular scores, fantastic defense, and great stories all over the pitch. Whilst it was sad for the Cardinals, who had instilled pride in a franchise that had been a joke for years, and for Kurt Warner, whose 377 passing yards was the second most of all time, behind his own record of 414, and ahead of himself again in third place, the Steelers fully deserved their own piece of history, becoming the first side to win six Super Bowls, and reminding fans why they are one of America’s best loved sports teams.

(For extended stylised highlights, click here, well worth 20 minutes of your time)

Highlights of 2009: Button and Brawn's Remarkable Turnaround

5 December 2008: Honda announces its withdrawal from Formula One for financial reasons, throwing the team’s future in doubt. The announcement probably comes too late for either of the team’s drivers, Rubens Barrichello or Jenson Button, to secure a competitive drive for the following season.

6 March 2009: Ross Brawn, the team’s technical director, announces that he has bought the team, renamed Brawn GP. Button and Barrichello will drive cars powered by Mercedes engines.

27 March 2009: Following complaints from other teams, the FIA investigates whether the rear diffuser used by Brawn and two other teams is illegal, and rejects the claims. The protesting teams, Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull, lodge an appeal.

28 March 2009: Brawn secure both places on the front row of the grid for the opening Grand Prix of the season in Australia, with Button, who has underachieved up to this point in his career, despite much-hype, taking his fourth ever pole, his first since 2006.
Team announces major sponsorship deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin.

Ross Brawn alongside team sponsor Richard Branson

29 March 2009: Brawn becomes the first constructor in over 50 years to secure pole position and a win in its first Grand Prix, as Button and Barrichello finish in first and second.
The team announces heavy job losses in order to cut costs, making more than a third of its staff redundant.

5 April 2009: Malaysian Grand Prix is abandoned after 31 laps with Button leading. He is awarded the win and half points, as the race did not go the full distance.

15 April 2009: FIA court rules that the controversial rear diffuser is legal. Brawn’s results stand.

19 April 2009: Barrichello starts on pole position in China, with Button second. The Englishman finishes third in the race, with his Brazilian team-mate fourth.

7 June 2009: In Turkey, Button secures his sixth win out of seven races, opening up a 16-point Drivers’ Championship lead over Barrichello.

21 June 2009: Button struggles at the British Grand Prix, finishing sixth.

18 October 2009: Button wins the Driver’s Championship, his first, by finishing fifth in Brazil, opening up an unassailable 15-point advantage over Sebastian Vettel with one race to go. Brawn secures the Constructor’s Championship, in only its first season in existence.

Button celebrates his title win in Brazil

16 November 2009: Mercedes announces that it has bought Brawn GP, which will be renamed, meaning that Brawn will be unique in winning the title in its only season, leaving with an 100% championship success rate, and a 47.05% race success rate (8 wins in 17).

18 November 2009: Jenson Button signs for McLaren, where he will race alongside 2008 world champion, Lewis Hamilton, a man to whom Button had been previously been unfavourably compared to due to years of underachievement and Hamilton’s remarkable success in his first two seasons in the sport.

Highlights of 2009: England's win at Lords

The odds were against England before the second Ashes test match at Lords. In the twentieth century, England had only beaten Australia there once, in 1934. In the twenty-first century, England had lost two out of two at Lords to Australia, even in the historic Ashes win of 2005 a win at the home of cricket proved one curse too many in a series where curses had been lifted one after the other. England had been hammered in the first test at Cardiff, their bowling appeared impotent and their batting lacked the assurance of their Australian counterparts, only hanging on for a draw by the narrowest of margins. On the eve of the test, England’s talismanic all-rounder, Andrew Flintoff announced that he would be retiring from test matches at the end of the series.

Strauss led by example on day one

Yet from the moment Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat, everything went right for him, and by the end of the match, the captain was building a reputation as a different kind of talisman to Flintoff, as he and Alistair Cook scored a record-breaking 196 runs for the first wicket. Whilst the Australians did fight back, the English bowlers followed their captain’s example, and swung their way through a batting line-up that had appeared untouchable days earlier. In the second innings, all the English batsmen pitched in, and left the visitors with an unprecedented 522-run deficit.

From this point onwards, it became Flintoff’s test match. In the cold light of day, his career was never quite the success it might have been. For three years from 2003, he was the finest all-rounder in the world, but injuries restricted him outside of that period, and even at his peak, he never quite accumulated the runs, and particularly the wickets that one might have expected. However, given the fitness problems that would dog him for the rest of the summer, Lords would turn out to be his final moment of glory, and what a moment it was. He may not have been consistent throughout his career, but Flintoff always had a knack of coming to the fore at the crucial moment. A vicious opening spell of fast bowling took 2 for 9, removed both openers and put the visitors on the back foot. When the other bowlers could not match him, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin led an impressive Australian rearguard action that created the smallest glimmer of hope for their team, but the following morning, with history to be made one way or the other, Flintoff removed Haddin. Graeme Swann then dismissed Clarke, and Flintoff took two more wickets to secure a five-wicket haul and a place on the Lords honours board, leaving Swann to wrap up the victory.

Flintoff enjoying one final moment of history

The bare facts do not do justice to Flintoff’s effort however. He was not really fit to play by this stage, bowling through an injury that should have put him on the sidelines, and yet he was not going to let the pain deny him his moment. Pushing himself through a hostile and focused ten-over spell, he created a bittersweet spectacle for England fans: a glorious moment of sporting pleasure; but also a moment that had come too infrequently, and which would surely never be seen again. For that afternoon however, the cricket world belonged to Andrew Flintoff for one last time, and it was fitting that he used it to make his mark on history, breaking England’s curse at Lords.

Highlights of the Decade: Best of the Press

A round up of various end of the decade lists:

Deadspin's best pieces of American sports writing of the decade.

The Guardian picks its six best moments, six best footballers, six best goals and top ten rugby matches. The paper also takes a fascinating and damning look at the state of English football's finances over the last ten years.

Comedian and Cricinfo blogger, Andy Zaltzman gives part one of his cricketing highlights.

NFL Network runs down the top ten performances of the decade.

Highlights of 2009: England Qualify for the World Cup

The remarkable thing about England’s qualification for the World Cup was just how unremarkable it was. Fabio Capello sternly looked on as the side won their group with ease, only finally losing a game after qualification was wrapped up. Along the way every box was ticked. Qualification? Check. Exorcising the demons from the traumatic defeat to Croatia in 2007? Check. Come away free from major injuries, free from scandal, and with a good idea of the first choice eleven? Check. Find a way to fit Gerrard and Lampard into the same team whilst getting the best from them? Check.

Capello overseeing an England training session in July this year

The whole process was disconcertingly simple for England fans used to an emotional roller coaster ride. Even qualification specialist Sven-Göran Eriksson never made it this easy.

Of course, all of this means nothing without a strong performance in South Africa next year, and for a major footballing nation, anything less than a win will hurt. Moreover, although Capello knows most of his first choice team, he still has a couple of positions to decide on, most notably the goalkeeper. However, these are problems for 2010. In 2009, Capello and England did all that was asked of them, and did it better than anyone could have hoped for. There are sterner challenges ahead, but if nothing else, Capello with his presence and his calm command of his charges, has restored dignity to the England team, and to the post of manager, and after the debacle of the failure to qualify for Euro 2008, that is all any fan could have hoped for.

Highlights of 2009: Usain Bolt

In an era of international multi-channel TV, wall-to-wall press complete with pull-out supplements, up-to-the-minute internet news, video on demand, and all the other trappings of modern media coverage, sports events are covered in more detail than ever before. Whereas once a sporting event was a one-off, not repeated, now each event is broadcast and re-broadcast, analysed and discussed at length. When something special happens, it is seen by hundreds of millions around the world.

This means that it is now a rare sporting event that truly takes the breath away. Some are special, and live long in the memory, but few truly stun. Fans have seen seemingly unbreakable records broken, underdogs overcome the most improbable odds, and stars fall from grace and then return when all seemed lost. They know all the sporting narratives, and can see them coming a mile off.

Yet 2009 brought at least two moments that genuinely took the breath away, that made fans all around the world turn to each other to check that their eyes did not deceive them. Both moments came within days of each other, and belonged to one man, Usain Bolt.

It did not matter that the tall Jamaican had performed this feat in Beijing twelve months before, when he joyfully shattered world records in the 100 and 200 metres on his way to seemingly effortless wins. As the final of the 100 metres at this summer's World Championships in Berlin approached, most expected Bolt to win, and a world record seemed a distinct possibility. That he achieved these was not a surprise. It was the margin of the victory and the record, the nonchalance with which Bolt seemed to do it. Eleven hundredths of a second came off a record that had itself seemed unbelievable in China the year before. His rival, Tyson Gay, ran the third fastest time in history, yet had to settle for silver, and hardly a mention in the media.

Bolt making history again in the 100 metres final

Days later, with anticipation at an even higher level after his masterclass in the 100 metres, Bolt repeated the feat in the 200 metres, again taking eleven hundredths off his own record.

Bolt's remarkable rise has inevitably, and rightly, raised doubts. In this day and age, can one man really break those records without some form of cheating, whether it be steroids, blood doping, or something else that the testers have yet to discover? So far however, Bolt appears clean, and there has been no cause for suspicion, other than his success. Time should tell however, it usually does.

It is a sign of how remarkable his achievements are however, that he has single-handedly revived interest in athletics. With viewing figures down, the sport's credibility damaged by a string of scandals, the IAAF have been plotting ways to rejuvenate the sport with shorter-format events inspired by the likes of Twenty20 cricket and other innovations. Whilst these will still go ahead, Bolt has proven that the biggest draw to any sport is drama and spectacle, and so long as he keeps winning titles in his trademark laid-back style, the fans will keep coming back, if only to see just how fast he can go.

NFL: Highlights of the Decade

NFL Total Access have been unveiling some end of the decade lists. Here are their best games and moments.

The list of games seems reasonable, but there are some oddities on the moments list, notably the Matt Stafford touchdown and the Patriots fourth down failure, but both happened this year, so benefitted from the usual prejudice towards more recent events. No question that the Favre moment at number two deserves to be there though. See what you think.

Highlights of 2009: England and Australia draw in Cardiff

With numerous end of the year and end of the decade lists floating around, it is time for Corinthian Spirit to jump on the bandwagon with its moments of 2009 and of the decade. Keep an eye out for these between now and 31 December, and to get the ball rolling, here is a highlight from 2009.

For English sports fans there was no bigger event in 2009 than the Ashes, and what a start the series got off to in the unlikely setting of Cardiff. No-one knew what to expect from the series, with an Australian team full of unfamiliar faces arriving on these shores, whilst England were still rebuilding following a winter of discontent. Predictions before the series covered all eventualities.

Both sides take the field on day one

The first four days were enjoyable, albeit unremarkable. England posted a reasonable score on a dry and dusty wicket, before Australia batted superbly to make England’s total look inferior, and their bowling impotent. Then came day five, which showed that test cricket, under attack from Twenty20, still has the power to grip like no other. England collapsed, surely spelling defeat. Then Paul Collingwood dug in, shepherding the lower middle order and the tail, all of whom made small but valuable contributions. Collingwood’s resistance typified his entire career: endeavour and fight over talent, as more gifted, but less reliable batsmen came and went.

When Collingwood was finally removed after 344 minutes, there were still over 11 overs left in the day, and only James Anderson and Monty Panesar stood between Australia and first blood in the series. Panesar, picked for his bowling on a spinner’s wicket, had been a disappointment, and had shown little aptitude with the bat throughout his career. Yet from somewhere, he and Anderson found reserves of concentration. As each ball, and then each over passed, Australian frustration grew, not helped by English time-wasting tactics. Meanwhile, England’s fans, who had earlier written their side off, were bit by bit, ball by ball, daring to hope again. As the hope rose however, so did the tension. What had seemed like a foregone conclusion was now a real contest.

When the end came, there was relief and frustration depending on where you looked. Against the odds, a couple of English underdogs had survived, despite their team mates’ failings. Test cricket had produced another classic encounter that would live long in the memory. The fuss and speculation about the finale would run for days, and the English had scored an improbable psychological blow, as their opponents seemed confused about their inability to find a knock-out punch. It set up cricket fans around the world for another series that would fascinate, and like this match, go right to the wire.

Cricket: Shane Bond

When Shane Bond announced his retirement from test cricket this week, it brought to an end a career that despite lasting eight years, only saw him play 18 matches, and never saw him fulfil his considerable talent, arguably through no fault of his own.

After a slow start to his professional career, only emerging after a stint as a policeman, Bond burst onto the international scene against Steve Waugh’s dominant Australia side in 2001-02, and immediately showed that he had the pace and class to be a match-winner against the best batting line-up in the world, as the Kiwis shocked their hosts and the South Africans in the one-day series. It was largely the same story whenever he took the field for his country, as Bond was arguably the premier fast bowler in the world when active, in a decade when there was ultimately a distinct lack of genuine pace bowlers of real quality. Witness his 6 for 22 against the Australians in the 2003 World Cup, a tournament they otherwise dominated, or his 13 wickets in the 2007 tournament.

Bond bowling in the 2007 World Cup: an all too rare sight

Nonetheless, his chances of making a lasting impression on the game were ultimately stymied by injuries and politics. Injuries largely removed him from international cricket from 2003 to 2005, and following a successful comeback against Zimbabwe that year, taking 13 wickets at 9.23, including 10 for 99 in the second test, he was again injured for another nine months. Various other injuries restricted him until 2008 when he signed up with the rebel Indian Cricket League, recognising that his was never going to be a long career, and that he needed to gain what financial security he could from it. Pressure from the Indian board (BCCI) meant that he was excluded from appearing for New Zealand throughout this time, a ludicrous position which deprived cricket fans around the world from seeing arguably the best fast bowler of the era in his prime.

Released by the ICL, Bond returned to New Zealand colours this year, and after another match-winning appearance against Pakistan, taking 5 for 107 and 3 for 46 in a 32 run win, he broke down again, and like Andrew Flintoff, came to the realisation that his body was not up to the rigours of test cricket.

Bond celebrates a wicket against Sri Lanka

Bond will continue to play limited overs cricket for his country, and will hopefully showcase his talent on that stage for a few more years, but it is sad that the best years of his talent were lost to injury, and absurd that nearly two of them were lost in order to protect the commercial interests of the BCCI. Perhaps the saddest fact of all is that no-one appeared to be protecting the best interests of Shane Bond, the New Zealand team, or cricket fans around the world.

Rugby: Shaun Edwards on Refereeing and the Laws

Shaun Edwards' weekly column in The Guardian is always informed and interesting, and this week, he reflects on the positive outcome of a slight change of emphasis in refereeing during last weekend's Heineken Cup ties.

Wales, Wasps and Lions coach, Shaun Edwards

In the last few months, there has been a campaign in favour of changing the laws of rugby to encourage a more open game, a campaign led by many of the same people who objected to changing the laws when the ELVs were introduced last year. However, there is a strong argument that there is not that much wrong with the laws as they stand, and that apart from a little tweaking, all that is needed is a change in emphasis, and for one or two trend-setting sides to be more expansive. All sports teams copy each other to some degree, and the minute one side has some success whilst running the ball more, others will follow. For this to happen, all it will take is for the benefit of the doubt to shift to the player taking the ball into contact, and put more onus on the tackler to get away, and gradually the game will open up again.

The recent Barbarians match showed that attacking rugby is still possible

What the ELVs proved was that by the time a problem in the laws has been identified and a solution devised, trialled and introduced, the game will probably have moved on again anyway. The ELVs were designed to reflect perceived flaws in the game around the time of the 2003 World Cup, but by the time they came in, tactics had evolved, and they already seemed dated (although they were flawed anyway). Far better to give the game a chance to sort itself out, and only change the laws if the situation is not improving. It is only a small improvement, but if Edwards is right, and last weekend did see a shift in attitudes, then hopefully by this time next year, we will no longer debating whether rugby is boring or not.

Great Sporting Nicknames: Crazylegs Hirsch

The first subject in a possible series of posts on great sporting nicknames, Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch was a Hall of Fame NFL star of the 1940s and 50s. So named because of his unique running style (you can see a couple of short clips of him here), which first garnered attention whilst he was a star of the equally fantastically named Wisconsin Badgers, Hirsch has recently been back in the news thanks to current Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who has tied his record for eight scoring catches of 50-plus yards in a season.

DeSean Jackson

I can't think of too many nicknames that are going to be better than 'Crazylegs'. Five's NFL pundit, Mike Carlson, never misses a chance to bring him up in conversation, and you can understand why.

The Top Earners in Sport

Sport Magazine, a free publication distributed around London (and possibly beyond) recently ran a list of the top-earning sportsmen (and they are all men), based on annual earnings, and it made for interesting reading.

1 Tiger Woods - £59.3m
2 Phil Mickelson - £31.6m
3 David Beckham – £26.9m
4 LeBron James - £ 25.3m
5 Kimi Raikkonen - £23.9m
6 Manny Pacquiao - £23.8m
7 Lionel Messi - £23.7m
8 Alex Rodriguez - £23.3m
9 Valentino Rossi - £20.9m
9 Fernando Alonso - £20.9m
9 Shaquille O’Neal - £20.9m
12 Kevin Garnett - £20.7m
13 Yao Ming - £19.7m
14 Lewis Hamilton – £19.6m
15 Kobe Bryant - £18.6m
16 Roger Federer - £17.6m
17 Allen Iverson - £17.3m
18 Vijay Singh – 17.1m
19 Derek Jeter - £16.9m
20 Ronaldinho - £16.3m

Although you would expect many of those sportsmen to be on the list (compiled from Sports Illustrated’s figures), it did hold a couple of surprises, the main one being the dominance of basketball, with six representatives. Kevin Garnett, a difference-making player in the NBA, but not that well-known outside of the sport, and left out of the most recent US Olympic team, ranks above a global superstar in Roger Federer. Given that the NBA has a salary cap, whereas European football does not, it is surprising that there are not more footballers on the list, especially given their international appeal, and one would expect the likes of Ronaldo and Kaka to figure in future lists. Basketball however, is a truly international sport these days, with a strong following in Europe and South America, whilst the NBA is increasingly multinational in its make-up. Indeed, perhaps one would have expected Yao Ming to be higher on the list, given his international profile, and marketability in China and Asia. Nonetheless, the level of basketball’s dominance is startling.

Kevin Garnett of the NBA's Boston Celtics

That Federer is the only tennis player is also surprising, one would expect the list to be dominated by individual, rather than team sports, although injuries to Rafael Nadal presumably prevented him earning more this year. It is also perhaps surprising that the Williams sisters were not a factor. One might also have expected more golfers to figure, but the dominance of Woods and Mickelson makes it hard for others to build up consistent wins, and both also dominate the market in terms of endorsements. It remains to be seen whether Woods’ personal problems affect his ranking next year, although that would involve Mickelson making up a £28m deficit in one year. Finally, whilst it is not surprising to see the top Formula 1 drivers on the list, it is perhaps a little unexpected to see Valentino Rossi figure so highly, despite the fact that he is perhaps the only figure who currently transcends motorcycle racing into the wider consciousness. Indeed, his endorsements more than double his salary of £9.5m per year.

Tiger Woods, believed to be sport's first billionaire

In coming years, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Jenson Button, Nadal and the aforementioned footballers might expect to break into the top 20, assuming no hiccups along the way. Other one-off events, notably a much-anticipated fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather might also change the makeup of the list. With Woods’ marketability taking a hit recently, there may be a few more opportunities for other sportsmen with international appeal to maximise their earnings.

Sports Personality of the Year

The BBC awards the Sports Personality of the Year award tonight, an award which weighs up a year’s sporting achievements, and judges one of them the greatest of the lot. As a result, it is probably best viewed as due recognition to whoever wins it, but not a rejection on those who don’t. Far too much is achieved by too many sportspeople in a year to say that one is necessarily greater, and there is a natural bias towards participants in individual sports, as they are not reliant on a teammate. However, so long as one does not take the outcome too seriously, it is a good conversation point, and a welcome celebration of British sport.

2007 winner, Joe Calzaghe

What has slightly detracted from the evening for me in recent years is that the award used to be the climax of a programme entitled “The Sports Review of the Year”, which did exactly what the title suggested, reviewing the year’s events and handing out the award at the end. In the last ten years though, the entire programme has been focused on the award, and has been renamed “Sport Personality of the Year”. In the age of celebrity, it is clearly not enough that the award is the climax of the evening, and the one point guaranteed to be discussed the next day, it now has to have top billing as well, just in case the public forgets. The award has over 50 years of prestige, and has been won by some of the biggest names in sport, and this not so subtle shift in focus seems a little tacky, a little desperate. Perhaps that’s just my reaction, but let me know what you think.

2008 winner Chris Hoy, and runner-up Lewis Hamilton

On the plus side, the innovation in recent years of allowing the public in, and taking the show on the road has been a great idea, and has done far more to engage the public than any amount of rebranding.

Ultimately, this is still a prestigious award, and one of the more distinctive and iconic trophies in sport, and as I mentioned previously, how nice to see something that celebrates the positives in British sport, amongst all the hysteria and sniping that goes on the rest of the year.

Football: Ireland and Henry's Handball

The saga of Thierry Henry’s crucial handball in the World Cup playoff against Ireland has taken increasingly bizarre turns, as the FAI and the media have kept the pressure on FIFA to find a solution to a particularly high profile injustice.

Henry and John O'Shea in the first leg of the playoff tie

The Irish team is popular worldwide, fuelled by goodwill towards its enthusiastic and well-behaved fans, and the team’s performances as underdogs at the 1990, 1994 and 2002 World Cups. They have also benefited from the drama-free English qualification for the World Cup, and the straightforward failure of the other Celtic teams, which meant that they had the British media’s full attention for their playoff with France. Ireland have therefore received a lot of sympathy for their misfortune, but this has not translated into any tangible benefit.

Whilst the Irish cannot be blamed for exhausting every remote possibility for claiming a place at the tournament, they never stood a chance of forcing either a replay or a spot as a 33rd team in South Africa, and FIFA, although appearing incompetent on many levels, have called this issue correctly. There is no guarantee that the Irish would have won the tie anyway, and allowing a replay or admitting an extra team would set the precedent that every mistake made by an official should result in a replay or consolation place. This would create a whole new set of problems: which offences would be worthy, and which would not? How would the flood of extra games be scheduled? Would, for example, Ireland first have to replay their qualifier with Georgia, in which they benefited from an undeserved penalty?

Adding an extra team would have meant changing the balanced 32 team format, adjusting the schedule and logistics, and lumbering four unlucky teams with an extra group game. This was clearly never an option.

The Irish anger at these rejections, and the accusations of bias favouring the top countries has therefore been misplaced, because FIFA could not grant concessions to anyone, and have not stepped in to help countries such as England or The Netherlands in the past, or Russia this year, when they have failed to qualify.

What the debates over the handball, replay and 33rd place have overshadowed is the real injustice of the seeding system, which does genuinely reek of bias. Seeding teams so that the strongest nations avoid each other is not uncommon in sport, nor in itself unfair, but what rankled was that the decision was only made in September, instead of at the start of the qualification tournament. Effectively, the goalposts were moved when the competition was already nearly over.

Michel Platini of UEFA and Sepp Blatter

This incident has raised a couple of key issues for FIFA to tackle. Instead, the governing body has been casting around in search of a way of dealing with the bad publicity, without tackling the problems themselves. The suggestion that Ireland might be awarded some sort of fair play award is patronising and insulting, as Richard Dunne has pointed out. It also ignores the fact that the Irish have not done anything to deserve an award, other than be wronged. FIFA are obviously looking at the precedent of Vanderlei de Lima, awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal at the Athens Olympics after an attack by a spectator arguably deprived him of a gold medal in the marathon. However, what seemed genuine and spontaneous in that event, awarded on the same day as the incident by Jacques Rogge, seems calculated when mooted weeks after the event by Sepp Blatter. Moreover, whilst the IOC had no alternatives, other than improving security for future events, FIFA could instead spend their time more productively by ensuring no repeat of the seeding fiasco, and taking seriously the controversies created by ever-improving television technology.

The latest development is the threat of a ban for Henry himself, which is inconsistent again. If, as FIFA insists, the referee’s decision is final and video evidence should not be used, why retrospectively ban the player, especially for what would only have been a yellow card? There is no precedent for using this approach for anything less than a red card offence. Many worse crimes will have escaped punishment during the qualifiers, but none will be punished now. This does not absolve Henry, but again FIFA have ducked the real questions by trying to appear proactive, when they are in fact taking minor steps only.

There appears to be little will for real active leadership at FIFA, and sadly for the Irish, with the World Cup draw now dominating the headlines, the Champions’ League groups stage reaching its climax, and the busy Christmas and New Year period approaching, their plight is already yesterday’s news.

Rugby: London Wasps 24 - 22 Leicester Tigers

A late Jordan Crane try earned Leicester Tigers a losing bonus point, but it was too little, too late for the result of an engrossing match in which they dominated territory and possession, but were unable to turn their dominance into points thanks to the home side’s impressive defence.

These two sides have won ten of the twelve Premiership titles in the professional era, and their clashes are always enthralling, with the clubs having met in three major finals in the last five years. The opening minutes were a microcosm of the game itself, as Leicester swiftly moved into Wasps’ half, and retained possession there, before Paul Sackey counter-attacked and won a penalty 30 metres out. The lively Joe Simpson took a quick tap before offloading to Sackey, whose pace and strength was too much for a string of tacklers, as he touched down on the right. This set the tone for a first 40 minutes in which Wasps scored on all bar one of their visits to the Leicester half. Toby Flood kicked four penalties as good defence from the home side prevented any real try-scoring opportunities, but undermined their efforts somewhat with a string of infringements. Dave Walder replied with a kick of his own, but his best moment came late in the half. The fly-half, often under rated for his attacking skills, drew two defenders and offloaded out of the tackle to Steve Kefu, the Australian scoring under the posts. Another Walder penalty sent Wasps in at half time leading 18-12. Leicester had dominated the scrum, earning yards and penalties from a seemingly outclassed Wasps front row, but they had not been able to turn this into tries, and lacked the home side’s efficiency in attack.

In the second half, the game tightened up, as Wasps’ front five put in a much improved scrummaging performance, neutralising the Tigers’ biggest weapon. The home side were unable to find any clear cut scoring opportunities of their own however, and two more penalties from Walder, against one from Flood, who also missed a simple chance from the edge of the 22, were all either side could produce going into the closing minutes. As Leicester began to show more ambition, the game opened up, and a string of Wasps errors gave the visitors one last chance, with Crane scoring his try from a five metre scrum, despite it seeming to have gone round much more than 90 degrees. However, Aaron Mauger’s rushed conversion was the last act of the game, and time ran out for the Tigers.

With all the recent criticism of the quality of professional rugby in England, it was refreshing to see such a compelling match, with Wasps showing ambition in attack, and although there was plenty of kicking from both sides, it was more purposeful than that seen in the autumn internationals. Coach Shaun Edwards will be pleased with his side’s defensive performance, one or two lapses aside, and the performances of the likes of Simon Shaw in defence are encouraging. Leicester will be disappointed with their inability to turn territory and possession into tries, and their lack of invention.