Sport
Ben Cousins was chaired off infront of 37,000 Richmond fans, who have forever been in search for a hero. In the last two years, 'Cuz' has been that hero for many suffering Tiger fans. At the end of 2007, he left West Coast with his reputation, career and life in shatters. At the end of 2010, he leaves the Richmond Football Club and the game with admiration and respect from the wider football community and in particular, the Tiger faithful who embraced him at his lowest ebb.
The controversial football champ's retirement gave us all a timely and nostalgic reminder of 'what could have been'. Where would Ben be today without a second chance? Where will 'Cuz' be in the future? Both questions will be answered in time, but what Cuz demonstrated today at his media conference was a strong sense of humility and appreciation for the second chance given to him by the Richmond Football Club.
The AFL has been forced to defend the size of lucrative contracts offered to NRL’s code-hopping stars Israel Folau and Karmichael Hunt. The deals allegedly worth close to $1 million a year have produced divided opinions from key figures within the game. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou recently said the signing of Folau to the fledgling Greater Western Sydney club had already provided a return.
I couldn't find any actual footage of the USA's Clint Dempsey's goal against English goalkeeper Robert Green from this morning's USA-England match, but this re-enactment should suffice.
While getting on with my pre-match rituals- listening to BBC radio, I realised, there are some things that never change, England’s hype of winning the world cup will never change no matter what, never has it stopped since 1966. Just a few examples of what people were texting to the BBC in the build up to the game:
“I am a taxi driver in London and as I look into my dashboard, it reads 66000 miles.”
“As I walked out of the pub in Liverpool last nigh, I found a 50p on the ground, taking a closer at the date, 1966.”
War, famine and the desperation of poverty - some of the words frequently associated with Africa. With the football World Cup just days away, the continent now has the opportunity to put its best foot forward.
Much has been written questioning Africa’s ability to host an event of such magnitude, but, to be fair, there have been few opportunities to prove otherwise. South Africa now has a four-week window to counter the prejudices.
Golf enthusiast Henry Peters dissects the events which unfolded at the 2010 U.S Masters
Every April, golf fans flock to Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia for the most anticipated golf event of the year – the U.S Masters.
Football fan or not, if you still haven’t heard of Gary Ablett Jnr, you must be living under one colossal rock. The media saturation regarding the Gold Coast’s desire to recruit the Geelong superstar for its inaugural AFL season in 2011 has arguably been unparalleled in recent times (although an ex-Swan’s big bad bustling return to footy may have come close).
In a game of tennis, there are a number of potential turning points when the tide of a match can flow in the other direction. One recalls John McEnroe’s stunning meltdown in the fourth set of the 1980 Wimbledon final against Björn Borg, a game-changing moment which upturned his momentum and virtually handed victory to his Swedish opponent in the final set, or Rafael Nadal’s final set resurgence against Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final.
For Patrick Rafter, his turning point came in 1997.
Ben Pollard investigates the demise of One Day International cricket.
As another summer of Australian cricket has meandered to a close, it was announced recently that our former PM and ‘cricket tragic’ John Howard will step into the role of International Cricket Council president in 2012, following a two-year stint from Indian representative Sharad Pawar. Both these men will inherit several dicey issues that have potentially raking consequences for the game as we know it – the foremost issue involving whether one-day international cricket has a future. Well Mr.
