A couple of black eyes and a broken nose won't stop Stuart
The revival of English cricket after a heroically poor winter, and a record-breaking defeat to Sri Lanka, has been nothing short of inspired.
I have my suspicions that the fact I am no longer
live-blogging any of their matches is playing its part, as I have regularly
proven myself a curse.
My own input aside, the senior players have stepped up, and
with conditions in their favour, the bowlers in particular have shone.
Nobody embodies the spirit that has been at the heart of the
turn around more than Stuart Broad. When England bowl badly he generally bowls
particularly badly, he’s a tone setter, and a streaky player.
So when he’s bowling well and taking wickets, he tends to
take a hatful.
This week he is playing at the Oval despite a long-standing
knee injury, that will require surgery soon, and the two black eyes and broken
nose that come from a ball making its way between helmet and visor.
He looks like a panda, but he has been anything but as
cumbersome.
As well as the continuation of the cricket season, football
has also returned this week, and as a Man Utd fan, I’ve already remembered why
I hate it already.
In the week leading up to the Premier League season I was
asked to write a short preview for each of the 20 teams, (10 of which can be found
here, and the other 10 here) I wrote them and promptly watched the predictions become out of date
before they even went live.
Having said that Shane Long would be key for Hull and that
Crystal Palace would thrive under Tony Pulis, both men left their respective
clubs and made my predictions look as relevant and on trend as the mullet.
The sport on my television at the moment has been
transmitted from Switzerland as well as other parts of the UK.
The European Athletics Championship has been great watching
for British fans, with our sprinters dominating and medals coming from
everywhere.
Aside from British success, and the pole-vaulting Cooly theCow, one particular incident has caught the attention of many.
French steeple-chaser Mahiedine
Mekhissi-Benabbad won the gold medal with a dominant run on Thursday.
So dominant was his performance that he felt he had enough
time to remove his vest and celebrate with it above his head and in his mouth
as he ran down the home straight towards the finishing line.
Immediately after the race, officials issued him with a
yellow card, a warning about this particular conduct, and he continued to
celebrate his victory.
Shortly after this, unhappy about the decision not to
disqualify him, the Spanish team, whose athlete finished fourth, protested and
Mekhissi-Benabbad’s medal was taken away from him.
This really doesn’t sit right with me.
Firstly the officials decided on the spot to give him a
yellow card, so a sanction was decided upon and handed out, before an appeal
overturned this.
Why was this decision overturned?
The reality is that there was no new evidence to overturn
this decision, just a Spanish team upset at coming fourth, and trying their
luck.
Secondly the reason given for disqualification changed
within hours of the decision, the officials weren’t even sure which rule they
were accusing him of breaking which smacks of a poor decision.
Thirdly, and crucially, his actions didn’t affect the result
of the race, or the ability of officials to deem the result of the race. Vest
or no vest, he won.
I feel sorry for the disqualified athlete, the person
wrongly awarded a gold, the Spaniard wrongly awarded a medal, and the Spanish
team for feeling the need to deprive a man of a hard-earned gold medal.
Mekhissi-Benabbad already has
a reputation for courting controversy, and it is fine to punish him for
breaching rules or unbecoming sporting conduct, but the punishment should be
proportionate to the crime.
He didn’t cheat. He just
acted like a prat.
A good week for pandas, cows, Chris Waddle and fourth placed
Spaniards, not so sure about the rest of us…
