Taking sport too seriously

I hugely enjoyed putting together a list of the Greatest British Sportspeople of All Time - it was exhaustive, as well-researched as I could make it, and I was pretty happy with how it turned out. However, it was very, very time-consuming, and there were obviously a few unsatisfactory elements - comparing across sports was, in a way, the whole point, but I often realised how tricky that was. Also, more than that, there were a fair few I never actually saw in action. That was hard too. And, you know, I think a list of 200 was too many. So, in choosing my next list, I'm on much safer ground. The Premier League has run since 1992, and I've watched all of it. I know every player of which I speak. Also, comparisons are mainly like for like. Not entirely, there are keepers and defenders and midfielders and strikers, there are players for top clubs and players for lesser clubs. But it's not boxer from 1901 against jockey from 1973. 50 rather than 200 too. It's harder and h...

Sachin is currently playing his last test match, probably pound for pound the most truly beloved man in the world, so the hype is to be forgiven. He is a superstar. He does seem lovely. He has been a great batsman and has broken the records in terms of runs scored, appearances made, centuries made etc. My brother once saw him buying batting gloves in VKS in Ealing. His son plays for Ealing now, apparently. Super. He isn't, of course, the "Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan of cricket", as Brian Lara, nor is he "possibly the finest batsman/cricketer ever" as various people have foolishly said. Bradman is the finest batsman ever, by too far to even talk about. If Sachin ended with an average of 60, and Bradman of 70, then there might be scope for discussion, but just to remind you, Sachin finished with an average of 53 and a half, Bradman 99.94. Sachin is one amongst equals, amongst several great batsmen - consistency has been his great gift, as well as grace u...

I've been a little nostalgic lately. I remembered my first ever competitive game of cricket, as a little 8 year old playing for Ealing Under 11s against Turnham Green Under 11s on a leafy summer evening in Chiswick. It was another boy's first game for Ealing too, though he was 10 already. He was called Umer Rashid. Like me, he was a left-hander, and bowled left-arm medium pace. I remember I batted Number 11, naturally, and joined Umer at the crease with us needing about 3 to win. I managed to get an edge on one and he called me through for what would have been my first ever run, but Umer managed to get himself run out (I think cos he dropped his bat!). We lost the game, and I'd have to wait a little longer for my first run. Curses. Umer developed pretty rapidly through the ranks of Ealing, in particular when one of the coaches, Roger Yowart (the least said about whom, the better) changed him from a left arm seamer to a left arm spinner. It was not long before he was act...

... is what I have a tendency to do. Oh why oh why does no one listen to me, he cries. So, Steven Gerrard. I've already talked a bit about Steven Gerrard, but I'm going to do so again, but hopefully in a more interesting way, which touches on the way we think, the way I think, the fact we're all doomed. Of all the controversy caused by what appear to be a series of perfectly measured, intelligent and reasonable extracts from Sir Alex Ferguson's new book, a lot of the outrage and fury turned to something close to ridicule when Ferguson suggested that Gerrard was not a "top, top" player, not out of the very highest class. How dare he suggest that about our Captain Marvel? Especially when he tried to sign him three times? Well, the fact he tried to sign him clearly shows this was not a dismissive comment on Gerrard but an attempt at an accurate assessment. And, obviously, not everyone Ferguson signed was a "top, top" player. In fact, hardly any...

My music blog also has a little post about a recent list What does the NME say? . Thanks, respective respected publications, for giving me food for thought. The tone will be a little different. Whereas I was very appreciative of the NME's Top 500 Albums of All Time, Wisden's Greatest Ever Test XI, to mark their 150th year, represents an awful lot that is bad about cricket journalism and cricket historians. While the NME sometimes might be accused of being a little too focused on the present, some sports historians, particularly cricket and boxing, are the opposite. Their XI is Jack Hobbs WG Grace Don Bradman Sachin Tendulkar Viv Richards Gary Sobers Alan Knott Wasim Akram Shane Warne Malcolm Marshall Sydney Barnes A quick guide for those not too well-versed. There are 4 English, 3 West Indians, 2 Aussies, 1 Indian, 1 Pakistani 2 who've played in the last 10 years 3 whose era is something like 83-2003 2 who are a bit like 60-80 (ish) 3 who are 1900-1...

The weekend before last, I watched a sporting event which could have been magnificently awesome, was still a bit awesome, but also pretty awful. You may have heard of Orlando Cruz,  a talented Puerto Rican featherweight contender who is also the first professional boxer ever to officially come out during his career. Like football (see Justin Fashanu) boxing does not have good previous on accepting homosexuality. The great Emile Griffith (who never, as such, came out) was taunted for his sexuality by his rival Benny Paret. The awful result in that less regulated age - Griffith, enraged, beat Paret to death in the ring. So Orlando Cruz was going pretty boldly into an intimidating place when he came out last year. Officially, the response was excellent, warm respect etc Great stuff. And he won a couple of fights, and got a world title fight. His opponent, Orlando Salido, a card-carrying badass who has walked through some of the promising young fighters in the world, a real wor...

1. The World Cup taking place in Qatar 2. The IPL 3. Rugby taking the moral high ground over football 4. Any people from other sports taking the moral high ground over football 5. The grandiose music that they use over golf coverage, which exemplifies golf's matchless pomp and self-regard 6. Boxing having so many governing bodies 7. The underlying tacit homophobia throughout nearly all male sport. The blatant homophobia is somehow far easier to deal with 8. The idea that Tiger Woods is one of the greatest sportsmen of all time 9. America still not quite getting that football is bigger than all their sports put together 10. Institutionalised doping. Individual doping seems, again, far less of a problem. Some will try, some will fail, so be it, it's when you know a country, a squad, a team is doing it as standard and getting away with it ... 11. People disliking Andy Murray for any reason 12. Jonathan Agnew's weak facile wrong-headed opinion pieces. How can such a ...

I started putting together and writing up this list a few months ago, and the sporting world does not stand still. Several fabulous things have happened since then, which merit changes to the order. Furthermore, while making the list, I've sometimes had cause to rethink and re-assess - they're too high, they're too low etc. So, just for the record, if I was making this list today, this is how it would be. A few changes here and there, not many. I've actually pushed it up to 250, just so everyone who was on the list at any point gets a mention. I've highlighted any notable differences - big jumps, big drops, new entries etc Here we go 1 Jonny Wilkinson 2 Daley Thompson 3 Fred Perry 4 Sebastian Coe 5 Bobby Charlton 6 Bradley Wiggins 7 Sidney Barnes 8 Bobby Moore 9 Chrissy Wellington 10 Nick Faldo 11 Ian Botham 12 Ryan G...