Rob Minto

Sport, data, ideas

Month: December 2015

Sport Geek #28: Blatini, frisbee, Chelsea

It’s a busy time of year. Let’s crack on, shall we?

FOOTBALL
Mourinho’s gone. Here’s the inside story of how it all unfolded. It all started with Eden Hazard’s injury at Swansea. So who’s to blame? It’s not just Jose, surely. Have the club made an error by sacking him? And can Hiddink (if it is to be him) turn it around?

2015 should be Arsenal’s year to win the title. The other usual suspects won’t all be as weak in the future.  Here’s a look at how topsy-turvy the season has been so far. Much will depend on Ozil and Giroud.

This changed things forever: Bosman, 20 years on.

RIP Jimmy Hill.

Abby Wambach is one of the greatest female football players ever. She’s retiring. Have you heard of her? No, well, she wants you to forget her, anyway.

Heard of Football Leaks? Dutch side F.C. Twente certainly have.

2015 LOL.

FIFA
Blatini banned. But they aren’t sorry. No siree. Not. At. All. But Tim Roth is, at least.  Continue reading

Sport Geek #27: a betrayal worthy of playing sub-standard football

Jose Mourinho feels betrayed by his players at Chelsea. He did all the hard work, you see, when they won the title, conveniently forgetting the running-about-and-kicking-the-ball-and-scoring-the-goals bit done by those blokes on the pitch. And now they are playing badly, it’s their fault, not his. Credit where it’s due. He can’t be blamed for the biggest reversal of fortune since Max Zuckerberg was born.

So how would you feel right now as a Chelsea player? Motivated to prove him wrong, play your best and move out of the relegation zone? Or poke him in the eye, play like it’s a testimonial, and move out of London? If Mourinho thinks that rubbishing his players will somehow work, it’s a huge gamble. That, or he’s given up too, and might as well take everyone down with him. Brilliant.

And so to the best articles of the week. Continue reading

Sport Geek #26: Tyson Furore, 140+7, and stop the toss

Glory fades. Just ask Tiger Woods, who is still week after week the subject of speculative articles about his future. Just look at Tyson Fury, who wins those heavyweight titles from Wladimir Klitschko and promptly gets (rightly) pilloried for his sexist and homophobic comments.

The sports person who seems most in tune with the fleeting nature of glory at the moment is Andy Murray. After a huge effort to win the Davis Cup, he put the boot into the LTA and British tennis. That’s good. Right time, right moment to get maximum impact for an important message about your sport. Forget personal glory. It doesn’t last, anyway.

And so to the pick of the week… (in alphabetical order this week) Continue reading

Sport Geek #25: sleeves, pink balls, and vanishing spray

Just for a change, let’s start with US sports.

BASKETBALL
Just guessing, but I assume Drew Magary isn’t on Kobe Bryant‘s Christmas card list.

What’s with the sleeves? Continue reading

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