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swsquires

Listed below are comments made by swsquires between Wednesday, 13th August 2008 and Tuesday, 20th October 2009.

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Priced out of Olympic sport? 4:57pm on 20 Oct 2009 The costs for a large number of sporting events in England are always too much. When my brother was in South Africa during the first World T20 cricket tournament he paid something like £1.50 to watch two matches in the latter stages. In England watching one match later in the tournament cost something like £80. I'm sure the cost of living in England isn't that much more than South Africa.

I was very keen to attend the gymnastics having never seen it in person, but the prices were just too much. Add in travel to the arena, the excessive parking charges (should you drive), food/drinks, etc. and the cost per head is huge. Let us not forget that the price per ticket isn't the only revenue source for the O2 from people going to events.

There are some decent prices around though. Next week I'll be at the World Cup Track Cycling in Manchester - a bargain at £15 per ticket.
Cricket misses the point again 12:41pm on 02 Sep 2009 If it was just a small section of ground that was muddy, could they not have just laid down some firm matting for the bowlers to run over? They would have had safe landings and the game could have happened.

Cricket is fast becoming a joke in sporting circles. Footballers/rugby players run round on wet muddy pitches, with tackles to deal with. A cricketer can't run over a soft patch of soil because the risk of injury is too great... absolute joke.

I feel sorry for the people who went to the game yesterday. I certainly wouldn't go back, but having said that, I wouldn't pay £50 to watch a T20 match anyway. Talk about overpriced.

One final point - I note that as of right now 28 overs have been bowled on the Old Trafford wicket in the game between Lancashire and Sussex. I've seen no mention of injuries, yet I doubt the problem area is much better than it was at 9pm last night. In fact, given that it is day 1 of a 4 day game it will only get worse.
England World Twenty20 player ratings 5:40pm on 16 Jun 2009 Made me laugh... Maybe Napier is proving a point in today's game for Essex against Kent (day 1 of 4). The last time I checked he was 62 not out off 64 balls (an innings that includes 2 sixes). He is also top scorer in the innings.

In comparison England boys Alistair Cook and James Foster scored 8 (off 28 balls) and 36 (off 86 balls) respectively.
England World Twenty20 player ratings 1:05pm on 16 Jun 2009 It is interesting that England apparently decided to go with so-called specialists, which is why Napier didn't get a game. Specialist bowler James Anderson averaged 26.20 with the ball, going for 7.55 per over. In comparison "all-rounder" Mascharenas averaged 22.50 with the ball, going at 6.42 runs per over. Dimi also averaged 42 with the bat, at a strike rate of 100. OK Dimi didn't do the damage expected of him with the bat, but just a comparison of the two shows he was more valuable to the team (even accounting for Anderson's excellent fielding).

If we say a par score in international T20 is 150, a strike rate of 125 is what every player should be aiming for at the very least. This was achieved by Rob Key, KP, Broad and Luke Wright. In comparison, Collingwood batted 5 times. He scored 55 runs at an average of 12.6, with a strike rate of 114.54. In the 5 innings he hit a grand total of 6 fours!

With Collingwood clearly out of form I wasn't exactly surprised to see that he isn't playing for Durham today. Even when they were playing to win the county championship he didn't bother turning up. For me he will be a liability going into the Ashes with so little form.

England played Rashid because they wanted to give him some England experience before the Ashes. Pretty typical to be honest. He could have played in some of the meaningless games of recent months against the West Indies, but instead we decide the best time is in a major tournament on home soil.

Anyone on the county circuit should be practicing their big shots ready for the resumption of county T20. Now is the time to show the selectors that you are the answer to England's batting shortfalls and if you are lucky earn yourself a good payday in the IPL next year.
England World Twenty20 player ratings 00:12am on 16 Jun 2009 I've lost count how many times over the past few years I've heard commentators say that Collingwood is dreadfully out of form. If anything, he is dreadfully out of form 80% of the time. T20 is a game for players in form as one player with a poor strike rate can lose a match for a team (as seen in the India game).

I like Luke Wright, but am really unsure about whether he has the ability to handle top-class attacks. After Bopara and KP, England had nothing with the bat.

It is a shame that Napier didn't get a single match. Given that Anderson was clearly below par I thought Napier could have been given his spot. Even if he went for two runs more an over with the ball, which is unlikely, his hard hitting with the bat could have made a huge difference. On a day like today, where is was clear that rain would affect the game, Napier's potential impact could have been even greater.
Why the Code's not it for Wada 4:27pm on 24 Feb 2009 I for one think the 7 day a week plan has to stay. An athelete could presumably select the earliest slot on day 5, then have two "non-testing" days in their diary. Take drugs immediately after the slot ends and have the best part of 3 days for them to get out of the body.

If sportspeople have the ability to text changes (and via the internet too?) I don't see a problem. I must admit that I would go for 24 hour testing windows, as many would probably just select times in the night, knowing they are going to be asleep in a particular location. As for sportspeople who may drop out of tournaments, tough. If all the people you are playing against are on drugs you will do badly, so the testing is benefitting you.

Like it or not, people will cheat. Testing has to be done and the most important form of testing is out of competition. Some sports (like cycling) are clearly ahead of the game in terms of what they are doing, with things like the biological passport in place. Others like football seem to be ignoring it. I believe they said they didn't want blood testing at a recent major tournament as it was too expensive... for the richest sport in the world.
Dreamy darts at the Lakeside 4:41pm on 12 Jan 2009 It makes me laugh when I read all the comments about BDO crowds being made up of "real darts fans" only and the PDC attracting football type fans.

The reality is that no sport will prosper if it only attracts hardcore fans. It has to attract the masses, to generate revenues, attract sponsors, etc. The hardcores won't ever like it, but its the reality of life and the world we live in.

Not so long ago I was at a UFC event. The people behind me clearly had no clue what was going on but had bought into the hype. The sport cannot regularly sell out 10,000 seater arenas if it only attracts hardcore fans. The UFC gets that, and clearly the PDC gets it too. Cricket still doesn't fully get it, and that is why it barely registers interest other than during the Ashes and the odd 20's match. The BDO either doesn't get it, or doesn't want to.
Which sports are on the move for London 2012? 2:09pm on 23 Oct 2008 The Olympics will cost however many billion. However, that money will go to local businesses (such as builders and supply companies), providing jobs at a time when the economy is struggling. Those people will then pay tax and spend the rest. Thus eventually a large percentage of that money ends up back in state coffers. Once you add in the revenues from business profits (hotels, restaurants, etc), which will again be taxed and the numerous other revenue streams (people travelling down on trains into London, driving down and buying heavily taxed petrol, etc) I have a feeling the government may well be the winners at the end of the day.

Will people in London even see benefits from the Olympics? Those for example living south of the Thames will probably see/use the new facilities about as often as someone living in the north of England. We can argue about money being spent elsewhere, but as far as I'm concerned more than enough money is already being spent elsewhere, just inefficently. For example, putting one child through state school costs more per year than educating them privately.
Britain's cycling success - is it cricket? 04:30am on 19 Aug 2008 I found a comment earlier about British Cycling visiting schools to look for potential future stars very interesting. Lets face it, we have lots of potential in this country. The problem is that most schools play football an not much else. At my school we played football, the odd bit of cricket and rugby in our first year only. In my 5 years I threw a javelin twice, a shot putt once, a discus once.

Schools have an important role. The "fat" kid in the class will gain nothing from running 100 metres races, but could be perfectly suited to discus for example. The tall kid might have the perfect frame for swimming. The skinny small kid won't ever be a professional footballer or 100 metre runner, but could be a long distance runner, or be destroying other cyclists in the Tour de France mountain stages in a few years time.

Will dominance from Great Britain in cycling affect interest? Did Lance Armstrong winning 7 Tours de France negatively affect the popularity of cycling around the world? No. When someone or a team/country is dominant other people watch hoping to see them beaten. The old story of the unbeatable champion and the underdog.

Seeing how amazing the lottery money has been for cycling and what it could do for other sports in England with the right model I'm actually tempted to buy the odd lottery ticket now.....
What makes Phelps so special? 2:41pm on 13 Aug 2008 One also has to remember when talking about the number of events in so few days that swimming is a non-impact sport and thus has a very different effect on your muscles and joints than something like running.

What I do find interesting though is that in pretty much any other sport where records are being broken left, right and centre people would be getting suspicious and suggesting that illegal substances are playing a part. As someone who doesn't follow swimming regularly I don't know whether this sport has such problems, whether the new swim suits they are wearing are making a huge difference, or something else...?

I do agree though with others about the whole greatest Olympian ever rubbish. In a sport where you can compete in multiple events is is just silly to compare it to others. Yes, what he is doing is amazing, but then others in Olympic history have virtually come off the street from a country with minimal facilites and got medals. To me they are every bit as amazing as an American who has the correct physiology and fantastic facilites at his disposal.

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