Winter Olympics

I know you probably all have seen the commercials when watching TV. These ads are continuously reminding us that one of the worlds greatest sports events in history is due to start in less than 4 months. This event as you can probably tell from the title is non other than the Winter Olympic games. The games are being held in Sochi, Russia and are scheduled to take place between February 7th and February 24th. As many of you know there are the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. Every two years the games switch to the other seasonal games. For the Winter Olympics there are a lot of pretty uncommon sports and I'd say the winter olympics are genuinely less common than the Summer games. Although this may be the case, it doesn't mean to say that the Winter Games are boring. They are quite the opposite in fact. I'm going to try to introduce some of the big olympic sports as well as a few of the other less known ones.

For starters we have the main sports like skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, skating, and maybe even bob sledding for you enthusiasts out there. These are all fun because they're very action packed sports, except skating, with lots of excitement that really pleases viewers. Skiing is broken into many different categories like cross country, alpine, ski jumping, free style, and even snowboarding falls in this category. Skating is also broken down into different events including figure skating, short track speed skating, and long track speed skating. These events and a few of the others listed above comprise the main events of the Winter Olympic Games. These events are the most popular by far.

Now lets move onto some of the less popular games. These are ones that maybe don't get televised as often or at the normal viewing hours, but nonetheless they still provide very good entertainment for anyone interested. A few of these smaller events are curling, luge, and biathlon. Personally I haven't seen many of these events, but the ones I have seen in my short time watching the Winter Olympics these events have been very exciting to watch. Biathlon is one example. It is a very interesting sport in the fact that it combines rifle shooting with cross country skiing. Now doesn't that sound interesting.

I hope I did well in informing on some of what the Winter Olympic games has to offer and hopefully this convinces you to watch one of the Worlds biggest sporting events!

Early Bloomers in the NBA

The NBA season has finally kicked off and every team in the league has played at least one game. There have already been some fun games to watch as well as big performances in the first games. I'm going to talk about a few of the early risers that could potentially continue there early season form.

The first player that played nicely in his first game of the new season is Tristan Thompson. The power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers scored 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in his first game. He is a avid scorer who will get significant minutes in Cleveland.

The biggest performance of the first games in the NBA has to be given to Michael Carter-Williams of the Philadelphia 76'ers. Not only did his team beat the Miami Heat, but MCW added 22 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, and 9 steals. There is no doubt that he will remain as the starting point guard in Philly. Hopefully this promising rookie can continue the amazing performance he had in game 1.

The final big performer of the first games is Alec Burks the point guard from the Utah Jazz. In the season opener he scored 24 points, had 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. He is still a relatively young player in the league and his stock will only continue to rise if he keeps putting up performances like this.

So that concludes a few of my impressive performances from a couple of early risers in the league. At the beginning of any sports season it's always very interesting to see who will be the dark horse and come out of no where to have an amazing year. Who knows maybe one of the guys I mentioned above could be the dark horse of the NBA this season. I guess only time will tell.

Southhampton Youngster

Southhampton’s reputation as an exceptionally prolific breeding ground for young British talent was accelerated last week when Jay Rodriguez and Adam Llallana earned wholly merited call-ups to join Rickie Lambert in Roy Hodgson’s latest England squad. With the starting right-back berth in the national team perhaps the one that is most up for grabs, there could yet be an opportunity for Saints’ terrific 22 year-old Nathaniel Clyne to stake his claim as a serious alternative to the defensively suspect pair of Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker. Below the main England group, Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse will continue their involvement with Gareth Southgate’s under-21 unit. Shaw’s evident ability, and incredible potential, have already lead to his name being discussed as a replacement for Ashley Cole at Chelsea or Patrice Evra at Manchester United. Furthermore, the 18 year-old is widely touted as the man who will succeed Cole in the national set-up and go on to vie with Leighton Baines for the number 3 jersey. Ward-Prowse’s name is one that is gradually making waves, but not at the rate of his more celebrated colleagues. That can, surely, only be a short-term scenario.

When, in August 2012, Southampton returned to the Premier League after a seven year absence with a fixture at then defending champions Manchester City, their manager of the day, Nigel Adkins, trusted Ward-Prose with one of the pivotal deep-lying midfield roles in his team. A fortnight later the teenager excelled in a fierce St Mary’s encounter against Manchester United. A homegrown youngster could conceivably have been disturbed by the removal of the man who had given him his first-team chance – even more so for Adkins’ January replacement being an unknown foreigner, the Argentinian, Mauricio Pochettino. At the back end of last season, with his top-flight playing opportunities coming predominantly from the bench, Ward-Prowse’s belief and ambition were exposed when it became apparent that it was not a situation with which he was content.

His frustration did not negatively impact upon the teenager’s performances for his club’s under-21 side.  Anybody who watched on as the Saints development team played home fixtures on a heavy, trying pitch at Eastleigh’s Silverlake Stadium saw a player with gifts beyond his years. Ward-Prowse was always available and ready to take possession, then able to dictate proceedings with his vision and range of passing. That form and confidence has carried over into this term, and proved enough to persuade Pochettino that his fledgling midfielder was worthy of a place in the Southampton eleven that opened the campaign at West Bromwich Albion. Ward-Prowse hasn’t looked back.  While the mercurial, but more prominent, Gaston Ramirez has been consigned to substitute duties, the Portsmouth born player has forced his way back into being a first-choice after a series of effective second-half cameos.

From his spot on the right of an advanced three, Ward-Prowse has been simply magnificent.  Especially impressive is his consistently outstanding right-foot delivery, either from a dead-ball or during open play.  The vicious, dipping swerving crosses, delivered on a six-pence, and reminiscent in fashion of David Beckham’s famed style of ball striking, have created a catalogue of scoring chances for his colleagues.  Moreover, they are just one facet in the armoury of an assured Englishman who is looking every inch the part in a team that is lying third in the Premier League.

Now 19, and with time on his side, Ward-Prowse might yet become the very best of this latest crop of emerging South-Coast talent.

Life After Suarez

I think it’s fair to say that all of Luis Suarez’s misdeeds over the summer have been forgiven. The Uruguayan basically sold out the fans throughout the transfer window by trying to engineer moves to Arsenal and Real Madrid. When those moves failed to materialize, he was left in a fairly uncomfortable position. He could have chosen to strike. He could have put in weak performances.

Instead, he’s gone all out to prove that he still cares about Liverpool and that he doesn’t do half measures. Every time he steps out onto the pitch, he’s fired up and he brings his ‘A game’. West Brom saw just how fearsome a sight Suarez can be when he’s playing with the handbrake off. Together with Daniel Sturridge, Suarez has converted Liverpool into a team that’s capable of challenging for the title this season. Brendan Rogers will be desperate to keep hold of him during the January transfer window.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see if Arsenal and/or Madrid test the waters with another bid. I’m sure that Rodgers would tell any interested parties that he’s ‘not for sale’, but the truth is that every man has their price. What’s important is that Liverpool have transfer targets in place that they can chase when they know Suarez is on his way out of Anfield.

At the top of any such list of players, I’d like to see AC Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy. As luck would have it, The Star claims that Liverpool are one of many clubs currently chasing after the youngster. The Italian striker/winger was Milan’s stand-out player last season. He even managed to steer home 19 goals in 46 games. That’s not a bad return for a 20-year-old. His clear ability and promise saw the Guardian list him 52nd in ‘The 100 best footballers in the world’. He’s also started to make an impact in the Italian national side (10 caps).

It’s clear that he’s set for a big future. But his career has hit a stumbling block. He’s currently behind Mario Balotelli in the pecking order at the San Siro and has only made 4 appearances this season. I can’t help but feel that he needs a change in scenery. And wouldn’t it be something is Liverpool were to offer him this? He’s one of world football’s brightest young sparks and could blossom into something very special indeed. We’re talking Luis Suarez levels of special.

If Luis Suarez moves on, Stephan El Shaarawy could go on to replace him. If he stays, then El Shaarawy could be thrust out wide. Whichever way you look at it, this looks like a smart move for Liverpool.

What’s your take? Should Brendan Rodgers join the hunt for this AC Milan star?

Look Ahead in the BPL

Attention turns to the Premier League with Saturday seeing the visit of Liverpool to The Emirates. Whilst the match comes amid a run of consecutive defeats against strong opponents, arguably it is the right time. The adage of climbing back onto your bicycle immediately after having fallen off rings true in this instance. Another tough game ought to be the inspiration the players need.

Whilst the majority of the team who started against Chelsea will not do so for Liverpool, four of them surely will as well as two of the three substitutes. That depends on injuries of course but it seems unlikely that any of those currently out will be returning at the weekend so the squad is once more pushed to the limit. Tiredness is will not help Arsenal’s cause. Individual errors which seemed to have been eradicated for the most part, have crept back in the last two games. They need to be cast away once more as those mistakes have been costly.

Arsène pointed out that the positives were how well we had restricted our opponents in terms of their goalscoring opportunities. He is being disingenuous. We might have kept them both down to three or less shots on target but both Chelsea and Dortmund scored twice. More discouragingly, both restricted Arsenal to fewer shots on target. The positive is a negative spinning on its head; when it stops an uncomfortable truth emerges. Arguably Arsenal could have – should have – ended with a draw in the Champions League encounter but tactical naïvety on the players part cost them dear. The first goal won the League Cup tie, the visitors found a car park of buses to string across the pitch following that moment.

Both were entirely different games to Saturday, a different style of football. The intensity of the European club match is somewhat neutered by the group phase but Arsenal know that defeat in Germany may leave them needing to get a positive result in Naples, a scenario they will be keen to avoid. Upcoming games are such that three draws in the next three games may not be so bad a run as is perceived without the opponents names. Draws at Old Trafford and in Dortmund are good results; at home to Liverpool, it is fast becoming the norm.

More than anything, I think Arsène will be looking for signs that the timidity of the opening spells against Chelsea and Dortmund has vanished. Arsenal were on the back foot quite quickly in both games and in ceding the initiative, left themselves exposed to technically adept opponents. Perhaps there is an insularity in Arsène outlook which manifests in these games, too much focus on our strengths without necessarily exploiting opponents weaknesses. I don’t for one minute subscribe to the view that Wenger does not watch opponents or plan for upcoming matches, simply that we do not vary our game as much as we might to suit the conditions, the opposition. Is it naïvety or rigidity?

Patrick Barclay used an interesting turn of phrase in his Evening Standard piece on Tuesday’s home defeat to Chelsea. Speaking in praise of the performance levels shown by the West London club’s second string, Barclay observed that “[Azpilicueta] was not alone among Chelsea squad members anxious to show Jose Mourinho the ferocity of competition for places“. Flamini’s absence highlights the problem, we miss his energy and That will worry the manager, the reliance upon one player has returned albeit this time not for their goals but their personality. We have a nice squad, nice people whose parents will be proud of their manners and respect. We lack a little nastiness; Jack has it but Flamini’s is different, more streetwise. His experience of three different European leagues has augmented his natural instincts on the pitch. He knows how to knock an opponent out of their stride and that is something which the squad as a whole needs to take on board. Most worryingly, we don’t have a natural replacement and this is true of several positions. Some are strongly represented when injured players return but that must be the most used phrase of the last six or so years. When injured players return, we will have a strong squad. If only injured players would return and stay fit.

As such Arsenal need to adjust to accommodate this problem but we don’t seem to have and this was an issue in the past, one that we thought had been overcome. Maybe it has and it was entirely coincidental that Flamini’s absence coincided with lacklustre performances. Maybe the lack of rotation is taking its toll on some players. We will know more on Saturday.

NBA Predictions

With the NBA regular season tip off right around the corner I thought I'd do a little preview of who some of the rising stars could be in this years league, as well as who I think the dominant teams will be.

To kick things off I'm going to give you some of my favorites for taking the NBA championship this year. Like every year the Miami Heat are the biggest contender, but Oklahoma City is right there, especially when they get Russell Westbrook healthy again. The Golden State Warriors boast a very young team that had a nice showing in the play offs last year. With the likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and David Lee, the Warriors look to improve off of last years great performance.

My second dominant team is definitely the Chicago Bulls. Not only do they have the return of Derrick Rose, by far one of the best players in the league, but they have a solid supporting cast around. With guys like Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, and Luol Deng the Bulls don't only have to rely on Derrick Rose to carry them. I think the depth of this Chicago team could carry them very far in the NBA postseason this year.

Moving away from teams and on to players. There are always quite a few players at the beginning of any season that have a lot of hype around them. Some guys live up to that hype while others do not. I'm going to introduce a one player that I think could live up to all the early season hype surrounding him.

The first player is a rookie out of Indiana. If you said Cody Zeller you're wrong. The man I'm talking about is non other than Victor Oladipo. The reason I think he could have a breakout year is because he is a all around pure athlete. He can do everything from scoring to stealing and he will only get better with experience. Watch out for him this year as he should do very big things.

Now that I've given my predictions I'm very interested to get this season started and see who proves me wrong or right. It should be a fantastic NBA season and I can't wait to watch.

Manchester United Miss

There's been a fair amount of consternation regarding Manchester United's defense this season. The club as a whole has been under-performing, and United's aging, tired defense are certainly part of the problem. There's little doubt that Rio Ferdinand is still a top defender. What's more, on his day Nemanja Vidic is still a true force of nature and one of the best defenders in the world. But both individuals have their own sets of problems. Ferdinand is now 34-years-old and has played approximately 680 games throughout his professional career. All this exertion is beginning to weigh Ferdinand down. His pace has dropped over the last season, he's often slow to react and he's just not as effective as he used to be.

Vidic is younger (he's 31-years-old), but has struggled throughout the last couple of seasons with major injury problems. In the two seasons prior to this one, he made just 33 appearances. His convalescence seems to be over now, but he's yet to re-find his pre-injury form. Hopefully this will happen, but there's a chance that he'll never truly get back to his best.

As such, Manchester United should be considering bringing in another centre-back during the next transfer window. I'm surprised that Moyes didn't go after a defender during the summer transfer window (I'm also surprised that he didn't bring in a creative midfielder). Why, for instance, did David Moyes not make a move for Benfica defender Ezequiel Garay? According to the Argentinian defender, a move to Old Trafford was on the cards, until Moyes pulled the plug and This strikes me as a missed opportunity for the club.

Whilst £18m is a lot of money to spend on a defender, there's little doubt that Ezequiel would have significantly improved this United side. He's quick along the ground, strong in the air and he distributes well from the back. At 27-years-old he's also experienced and would have had much to offer this Manchester United side.

If he was good enough for Sir Alex Ferguson, you have to wonder why he wasn't good enough for David Moyes.

Unfortunately, this will end up being yet another bizarre transfer story associated with David Moyes. Lets hope he takes more effective action during the January transfer window.