As far as horrendously overused clichés go, “a week is a long time in the world of sport,” is on a par with a hooker who’s been on the game for the best part of 30 years, if you catch my drift. This week promised much from the outset and to use a favourite chat up line of mine; sport’s like a postman…it always delivers. Well then that’s enough with the cheese-fest and onto the important stuff.
Last night’s football, first off, and they say the Carling Cup has been devalued in recent seasons. Think of it akin to an old toy; you’re bored of it, but on a purely nostalgic basis you keep it, gathering dust on that shelf. This, however, couldn’t be any further from the truth. Chelsea, the side who look like they’ve actually come from another galaxy this season, minus Mesut Ozil (need to keep it believable now don’t they), finally lost a game! I know, bloody cheek isn’t it? You work all year, find what you believe is a season when Chelsea could go completely unbeaten, put some money on a double involving this happening and Carlo Ancelotti’s eyebrow becoming permanently stuck where it becomes lodged in interviews, and they bloody blow it.
Not to worry though, I’ve got that accumulator with Man City and Liverpool in it that’ll see me through. Liverpool are playing at home, yes HOME, to League Two side Northampton Town, whereas City are visiting newly promoted to the Premier League, West Bromwich Albion – infinitely tougher than the Liverpool game, but given the hundreds of millions they spent in the summer you’d expect the blue side of Manchester to come through it. Liverpool lost on penalties. Now all I can deduce from this is that it’s true that they really are nothing without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, or Roy Hodgson was too busy looking at the intricacies between hard boiled and soft Werthers Originals to give two shits about it. Don’t even get me started on City. Can Khaldoon Al-Mubarek just repay the money I laid on the Abu Dhabi owned team.
Then there was the crown jewel of all this week’s sport as the England vs Pakistan tour came to a close last night at the Rose Bowl, Hampshire. Earlier in the week chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt, saw fit to even up the sideswiping being given out by the English tabloids, accusing the hosts of fixing the third ODI. England reacted angrily, and attempted to show that a boxing match on HBO Pay Per View might be the best way to solve everything, Jonathan Trott mistaking the nets for a UFC Octagon, trying to knock out Wahab Riaz and win the fight purse.
As a series itself England won the final match, as Pakistan received the most money from the illegal bookmakers to lose the match, winning the series 3-2. Furthermore the Commonwealth seem to have taken talks to diversify into different sports rather too literally, dogs being found in the athletes village as they prepare to take part in dog racing’s bow in the athletic arena. They’d certainly provide a rival to Usain Bolt’s 100m record.
