Controversy again surrounds Michael Schumacher after today’s qualifying session in Monaco. After posting the fastest time in the final round of qualifying, Schumacher ‘locked up’ his front wheels and ‘lost control’ of his car in one of the final corners on the course. This loss of control made other cars that were attempting to post a fast qualifying time to slow down when they arrived to Schumacher’s ‘immobile’ car.

You can judge for yourself

In my opinion, if it was a driver other than Michael Schumacher, you could probably believe that they did lose control of the car, but he has a history of using dirty tactics in the past. This makes it difficult to believe that he lost control of the car at that point in the session - to me, it looks like he purposefully guided the car into the spot while attempting to make it look like an accident.

8 hours after the qualifying session had ended, the stewards came to the same conclusion and relegated Schumacher to the back of the grid for the race tomorrow. Although I believe he crashed on purpose, Schumacher made it almost believable that it was an accident. Unfortunately, the race which was shaping up to be extremely close may now be anti-climactic with Fernando Alonso moving up to pole position and being heavily favoured to win the race. The good news for Australians is that because of Schumachers relegation, Mark Webber has moved up in to position 2, and if he makes it in to the first corner in first position, he may have a good chance of winning his first race.

The annual Rugby League State of Origin series between the New South Wales (NSW) Blues and the Queensland (QLD) Maroons got underway this week. The series is the highlight of the Rugby League calendar, with the 3 game series played with an intensity and competitiveness that is not matched in any other games that are played - international test matches included. Often teammates end up playing against each other with everything being left on the field at the end of the match. Some of the great hits in League occur during the State of Origin series - here is a collection of them…

I grew up on Rugby League, and it’s one of my favourite sports. I believe that the game is much more exciting to watch than Rugby Union, as it is faster and there seems to be more going on. Wednesday night’s match only confirmed my belief of this. It was a very exciting and fast-paced match, but I noticed a few things that really got on my nerves. Sean Hampstead was absolutely useless as the referee of this match - if he is the best the NRL has to offer at the moment, then the league is in bad shape. Additionally, what is the point of having scrums in rugby league anymore? I think it’s absolutely disgraceful that they even pretend to do them. Half the players aren’t engaged in the scrum like they are supposed to be, and the football gets nowhere near the hooker’s feet. I suggest that either they make the teams do scrums properly or they should just get rid of them all together.

On to the match itself. NSW got off to a great start, scoring 3 tries in the first 21 minutes - with Willy Mason’s try being the pick of the lot - running over 3 or 4 defenders and scoring next to the uprights. NSW took a 14-0 lead into halftime and looked in control of the game. However, Queensland did what has become habit for them in recent years and found a way to come back in the late stages to make a game of it, scoring three times to level the scores with 5 minutes left. With time running out and NSW in position, NSW halfback Brett Finch, who had been called up to the team 24 hours earlier and had scored the first try of the match, took the ball and attempted a 40 metre field goal to break the 16-16 deadlock and watched the ball sail perfectly through the uprights. It was a fantastic finish to the game and kept up the tradition of great Origin games.

Last night the Socceroos beat Greece 1-0 in front of a packed MCG. What a promising result with only a little over 2 weeks until the start of the World Cup. By my calculations, if Australia beat Greece (who were the champions of Europe in 2004), then that means we should play someone from South America in the finals! Of course that won’t happen, and even though Greece won Eruo 2004, they didn’t make the final 32 teams for the World Cup. Nevertheless, this result for Australia means that they can enter their first group match against Japan with a lot of confidence - especially considering that Harry Kewell and their first choice goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer, should be in the lineup.

A lot of sportswriters aren’t expecting much from the Australian side, but I think a lot of so called ‘experts’ are going to be surprised. I’m sure Australian coach, Guus Hiddink, will be loving the fact that Australia has been written off as merely making up the numbers. I know that all Australians are expecting big things from the side, and although we don’t realistically expect the Socceroos to win the competition, making it to the second round would be huge for the game back home.

Hopefully we will see a lot of this by the Aussies in the next month or so

I’m not a huge fan of Horce Racing, but what happened to Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro, in the Preakness over the weekend was horrible. Although I didn’t actually witness it live (I was enjoying a 3 day camping trip), after watching the video on youtube and reading about it through various news services, I was left with a sick feeling in my stomach that this horse, in the prime of his career, could potentially be euthanised on the track. Thankfully they were able to get him in an equine ambulance and get him treatment for his career-ending injury. Even though this injury was ‘only’ a broken bone above and below the ankle - without being able to stand, a horse can not survive.

A lot of work to save Barbaro’s life

This is an x-ray photo of Barbaro’s leg following the surgery. Although the surgery was a success, there is still a 50/50 chance that Barbaro won’t survive the procedure because any infection that reaches his leg will be potentially fatal. I’m hoping that he pulls through successfully and can still live a full life in spite of the fact that his racing career is over.

I was pointed in the direction of a list of the top 10 strange sports scandals, and I thought I would have a go at putting together a list of my personal top 5 scandals that I’m familiar with. Notice I said ‘familiar with?’ I get annoyed when the likes of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, etc. put out these lists of ‘top sporting moments ever’ and it’s all American-related with hardly anything from overseas. So I’m going to be a hypocrite right now and make a list of Top 5 scandals that I, as an Australian, am familiar with.

#5 John Hopoate Getting a Little Too Personal - Sticking your finger in your opponent’s ring-hole to put them off their game is hardly sporting - to say the least.

This shoud not be a part of any sport

#4 Phar Lap’s Death in America - Australia’s favourite racehorse ever (forget the fact that he was a New Zealand horse) ends up dead before he can race America’s finest racehorse of the time - conspiracy?

#3 The Super League War - Rupert Murdoch divides Australian Rugby League into two competitions with players choosing sides between the established Australian Rugby League and the new Super League competition. Players signed huge playing and loyalty contracts, which had never been seen before in the sport. The competition only lasted one season before both factions rejoined to create the National Rugby League - winning fan support back.

#2 Trevor Chappell’s Underarm Delivery - Australia’s least memorable sporting moment. With the New Zealand cricket team needing 6 runs to win, Australian Captain, Greg Chappell, orders his little brother, Trevor Chappell, to roll the ball along the wicket, essentially denying New Zealand the chance to win and triggering trans-tasman hostilities that still exist to this day. The New Zealand Prime Minister at the time remarked “It was an act of cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow.”

Notice Rod Marsh shaking his head - even Australian’s weren’t happy.

#1 Bodyline - Given the fact that it is in an Australian’s genetic make-up to hate the English, if there is one single incident that can be pointed to for a reason why, it would be Bodyline. They devised a gameplan to deter Sir Donald Bradman’s ability to score runs by bowling shoulder high deliveries every ball and placing fielders in the appropriate positions to take catches.

A typical field setting for Bodyline bowling

This led to a lot of bad blood between the Australian and English teams, with several Australian players being struck by the cricket ball - one player was left unconcious after being struck in the temple. An excellent write up on Bodyline can be found here.

While doing the morning rounds of the sports sites that I visit regularly, I came across a two-part article (part 1 & part 2) that details an interview with Joey Harrington following his departure from the Detroit Lions.

Now while it has been said that I have biased feelings towards Harrington (I drafted him in my previous two fantasy league teams), it was good to finally hear how he felt about the way he was treated while in Detroit. He admits that he played poorly, but he also points out (correctly) that he was not the only player that played poorly and that he was unfairly made the scapegoat for the organization. When asked about his thoughts on when ex-coach Steve Mariucci had lost confidence in him, he offerred this:

There was an incident. It was about halfway through my third season. I went into his office to talk with him. I said, “Coach, I need you to give me permission to throw the ball downfield. To take some shots downfield. I feel like I can’t.” He said, “I don’t know where you’re getting that idea.” I said, “You tell me every day if there’s any chance of a mistake, pull it back, check down. I feel roped in. Let me take some chances.” He stood up, went to his sink and started brushing his teeth. He said, “I’ve got to go do some interviews. If you want to talk about this, come back later.”

I look back on that now and it seems like such a defining moment. But at the time, I was so focused on making him happy, on getting in his good graces, I just let it go.

I hardly feel that this is the right way for a coach to treat his quarterback - a quarterback that had no offensive line, no running game, and no support from anyone in the organisation. He was brought in to help turn the franchise around but was unsuccessful in doing so. He did, however, handle himself with poise and professionalism while under fire from the fans, the media, and his teammates. It was good to finally hear how he really felt about his treatment in Detroit - I hope Harrington finds the success he deserves while he is in Miami.

Some of Australia’s key World Cup players were in action during the week playing for Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup Final against Sevilla. Let’s just say what happened can’t really be considered promising for Australia’s hopes at the World Cup - Middlesbrough were thumped 4-0.

Australia’s goal keeper for the World Cup, Mark Schwarzer, made 2 fantastic saves, but his defence were nowhere to be found to help clear the ball; as a result, Sevilla were able to follow up and find the net on both occassions. Australian Striker, Mark Viduka, had the best opportunities for Middlesbrough to score, but he couldn’t finish effectively.

Schwarzer’s face mask after sufferring a fractured cheekbone

These two players are going to be integral to Australia’s chances at the World Cup. Obviously, you need the goal keeper to stop goals and the striker to score goals. I’m hoping that they can both put this match behind them and get ready for Australia’s preparation leading up to the World Cup.

Highlights of the match can be found in the video provided (6 minutes in length):

Please make sure you watch the video in part 1 before watching the video in this post.

Now it’s time for the Australian Haka (thanks Graeme!)

Take that New Zealand!

(sorry for the two seperate posts, but it wouldn’t let me have both videos in one post)

The Haka is a Maori war dance that I got to know by watching sporting events between New Zealand and Australia while I was growing up. It was mainly used to psych the other team out - an example is below (keep the sound on for both videos).

I have been issued a challenge to define what makes a sport a sport. According to dictionary.com, a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively. Although Wikipedia lists bowling as a sport, under the definition provided, I don’t believe that activities such as bowling, darts, and even juggling could fall under the label of a sport since they all require a skill and have rules and involve competition, but they require little or no physical exertion.

The argument could be made that golf is not a sport because it requires no physical exertion, but I would argue that combining walking 6 or 7 kilometres over an 18 hole course and maintaining the skill of hitting the golf ball does constitute physical exertion. Golf carts are not permitted in professional competition.

I would add that my personal definition of a sport would require the paricipants to possess some level of athletic ability. Can anyone else actually say that from the photographic evidence provided below that either of them would have any athletic ability?

Athlete #1?

Athlete #2?

Especially compared to these two?

Real Athlete #1

Real Athlete #2

Although some definitions may state that bowling and darts, for example, can be considered sports, I believe that different people can have different opinions on what constitutes a sport. My personal belief is that for any activity to be considered a sport, there has to be some level of athletic ability involved (combined with the competition, skill etc.). I don’t believe that the 3-5 metres you walk before you release the bowling ball constitutes athletic activity, nor do I believe that standing in a stationary position before throwing a dart constitutes athletic ability either. People may disagree with what I’m saying, but that’s my take on it and you’re all welcome to your beliefs on the matter.