You can never please the public.

Dai Greene won the gold medal at the Athletics World Championships yesterday in the 400m hurdles.

Now I commented to a colleague what a fine achievement this was and he agreed.

When I looked on a BBC blog about Greene's win this morning a numebr of commentators were dismissive.

It was a flash in the pan. It was the slowest time ever to win the event. etc etc

Flash in the pan? Well Greene was a definite medal contender so hardly a flash in the pan. As to the time? Fair enough but at least 6 in the event had previously broken 48 seconds. Times have generally been slow at Daegu and anyway you can only beat what's put in front of you.

True Greene is no Ed Moses but he deserves credit for delivering when it matters. Nice one Dai.

Are we Sports fans?

Its less than a year to go to the Olympics and a quick straw poll of the office found a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

A few colleagues have applied for and got tickets but most are uninterested.

General comment are "we'll make a hash of it" "waste of money" the usual I suppose.

I suspect that if it was the Football World Cup there would be considerable support. We often say we are sports fans? The question is are we ? Or are we Football fans?

Curiously I'd rather we were successful at Cricket than Football.

Mixed feelings over the blade runner

Yes its been a while......

I note that the South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius has smashed his personal best with a time of 45.07 seconds for the 400mm.

Pistorius' dream is to run at the 2012 Olympics. Pistorius, who runs using two "blades" to replace his amputated lower legs, has been cleared to use his blades in competition against able bodied atheletes.

This decision didn't attract much controversy when Pistorius' best time was 45.6 but now he'll be going to the world championships the first amputee to do so.

The question is is Pistorius gain an advantage using his blades? It has been shown that technological advances can have significant impacts on sport. The move from wooden rackets in tennis, the improvements in distance in golf. In Athletics track technologies can impact times.

I have sympathy for Pistorius and I'm sure we all admire his triumph over adversity but if this time next year he shaves another half a second using new blades we'll wonder how much is him and much the blades.

Dispiriting

Boxing is in an odd state. It is possible that Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield will get back in the ring again, 10 years ago this was an exciting fight but now? Its a circus show.

Floyd Mayweather is considered the best pound for pound boxer on the planet. He has won world titles at five different weights he has beaten some big names and he recently ended the unbeaten record of Ricky Hatton.

It is a bit dispiriting for boxing and its fans that Mayweather's next encounter in a ring will be against WWE Wrestler The Big Show. You may ask what on earth Mayweather is thinking about but he is being paid $20 million to feature in this entertainment.

There are a number of good domestic boxing matches screaming out to be made but most will not get a sniff. Calzaghe v Woods. Calzaghe v Froch, Hatton v Witter v Rees (2 light welterweight champions and one ex). Amir Khan v Jon Thaxton.

So all credit to Enzo Machrinelli and David Haye two British Cruiserweight Champions who are meeting on March 9th. Both could have taken easy fights to boost the bank balance. It should be exciting, good luck to both of them.

Going Overseas

Its been a while!

Perhaps the biggest story for UK sport has been the plans by the premiership to play an extra game overseas.

Let me first say that I think this is fundamentaly wrong but inevitable.

Why wrong? Well the current league is based on each team playing each other twice home and away. A 39th game makes a mockery of that especially as the top 5 would be seeded. Can you imagine the outrage if Wigan were relegated by a point whne their extra game was Man united and Birmingham survived and their extra game was Derby?

Why wrong? Historically clubs have been strongly linked with their local area. With the exception of the MK Dons/Wimbledon fiasco we have yet to see a move (well not in my life time). Football is not like American sports where teams are franchises.

But I think its inevitable. Lets ignore Sepp Blater (even though for once he's right) it will happen. Why? The premiership has marketed itself all over the world. So people in the middle east, Japan, Korea etc watch the premiership and support British teams. Are they true supporters? Well how many of us "support" a team but never go to a game.

The premiership can see the vast sums of money available and they want their share.

Fans need to understand that it is no longer really their club, the fans no longer pay the wages of the players. Since the advent of Sky clubs are becoming richer and richer paying higher transfer fees and wages, this has attracted foreign owners who don't have the same emotional tie in.

I think with the rise of countrys like China and India it is inevitable that games will be played overseas. The reason? Money mate, money.

I often read that the premiership is the best league in the world. Well is it in when was the last time that someone other than Man U, Arsenal or Chelsea one it? Or one of 4 clubs finished in the top 3. The FA Cup has not been won by anyone other than the "big four" for years.

When I was a lad the cup was magical, Wimbledon could slay mighty Liverpool, Sunderland could humiliate Leeds etc. The likes of Derby and Nottingham Forest could win the league. Today money talks.

Running the Game

The differences in the way American Football and Association Football (soccer) are run never ceases to amaze me.

One shares its resources out reasonably equally amongst all the clubs and does its best to try and create a league where all teams are competitive. The other is a financial free for all where the amount of money you have is the predominating factor in success.

What always surprises me is that the American version adopts, what is to me, the "fairest" system and the best for the public.

Under the American system a rich owner and a big fashionable team will not guarantee you success. For instance away teams get 34% of all gate revenue from away games. The team finishing bottom in a season gets the first choice of the new college talent the next season. The NFL insists that the TV rights go to where everyone can see the games. As one NFL owner put it if the kids can't see their heroes play they won't be inspired to play ( I wonder if the ECB paid attention to this? of course not). This means that, in theory, all clubs are in with a chance with success.

In "our" game your chances of success are determined by one factor, money. If you don't have a good youth policy that's ok get your cheque book out. Team struggling? wave your cheque book. Wages alone can amount to 70% of revenue. We sell TV rights to the highest bidder and it doesn't matter who can or cannot watch.

All players, coaches and Managers MUST make themselves available. No hissy fits allowed here.

To my mind the Americans have got it right.

Mr Beckham Again

I see the England Football Manager has recalled David Beckham to save us. I know this because every clip Radio 5 plays seems to feature him.

Now its not Beckham's fault and he played ok on Saturday. Much as he always did really, good dead ball delivery but not beating anyone. I don't really see the point of recalling someone who is going to playing in a minor league like the one in North America whilst ignoring a talented young player like Bentley.

McClaren played the same midfield that singularly failed in the World Cup so why does he think its going to work this time? When did Lampard and Gerrard combine well?

There is talk that Kieron Dyer will play at Full Back, not long ago he was playing off a forward. You have to cry don't you.

Oh he played Shorey of Reading which was nice to see but we desperately need a left footed midfielder.