Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Don’t write off the old continent just yet
Speaking about the Formula One calendar and the continuing expansion to east and west, the sport’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone declared this month that Europe was “finished“.
“It will be a good place for tourism but little else,” he told Spanish Sports daily Marca. “Europe is a thing of the past.”
With the financial pages full of Europe’s woes and the rise of the fast-moving BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) bloc, the 81-year-old was not just being his usual deliberately provocative self.
Formula One has always followed the money and there is still plenty of that sloshing around in the Middle East and Asia.
When it comes to the driver market, the situation is rather different. It has not been a good month for Russians, Indians or Brazilians while French fans can scarcely believe their good fortune.
Romain Grosjean will be Kimi Raikkonen’s team mate at Lotus next year, fellow Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne will be at Toro Rosso and Charles Pic makes his debut for Marussia.
Ryder Cup — LIVE
Join us at Celtic Manor for shot-by-shot coverage of Europe v the U.S. as the final extra session on Monday decides who wins the Ryder Cup.
Why the Ryder Cup is so special
My love affair with the Ryder Cup began in 1969 when my first golfing hero, Tony Jacklin, was involved in a memorable halved match with Jack Nicklaus that saw the American great sportingly concede a three-foot putt at the last hole.
The passion grew stronger and stronger until the relationship was consumated when I covered my first Ryder Cup as a journalist at the Belfry in 1985.
That experience coincided with Europe inflicting the first defeat on the Americans since Dai Rees led the old Britain and Ireland side to glory in 1957.
By 1985, Jacklin’s playing career was coming towards an end and it was his captaincy that galvanised the match and suddenly made the Europeans feel they were no longer the ‘second division’ paupers compared to the rich ‘Premier League’ Americans.
Ever since that Seve Ballesteros-inspired triumph at the Belfry, the Ryder Cup has been completely unmissable as a golfing spectacle.
Fortunes have ebbed and flowed for both teams in the last 25 years but one thing has been constant — it produces raw, head-to-head sporting combat, heart-stopping excitement and gripping drama.
The only downside is we have to wait two years for every edition.
Rest for Woods should be a worry for Europe
Tiger Woods’s failure to qualify for the Tour Championship finale in Atlanta next week could spell bad news for Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
The world number one will now have two clear weeks before the biennial team event at Celtic Manor in Wales to polish up his swing with new coach Sean Foley and reinvigorate his mind after a year of turmoil both on and off the course.
“It will be good because I can practice at home with Sean in peace and away from everybody and put some work in,” Woods told reporters after failing to make the elite 30-man field for the fourth and final event of the lucrative FedExCup series.
“I can also work on my short game and putting, things I have not been able to do of late. I was looking forward to a one-week break, I’ve got two (now) but it will be nice to concentrate on my game.”
Woods has plenty of incentive to perform at Celtic Manor where a strong performance against Colin Montgomerie’s European team will help to erase the memories of a rare trophy-less season for the 14-times major winner.
It also represents an excellent opportunity for the 34-year-old American to improve on a Ryder Cup record for which he has often received criticism.
Woods goes into the Oct. 1-3 showdown at Celtic Manor having won only 10 of his 25 previous matches in the team event.
Woods gets nod for Ryder Cup
Tiger Woods was named as one of four wildcard picks for next month’s Ryder Cup by United States captain Corey Pavin on Tuesday.
The American world number one, who failed to gain automatic selection for the biennial team competition after struggling for form for much of this year, was selected by Pavin to compete in his sixth Ryder Cup.
Holders the U.S. take on Colin Montgomerie’s European team at the Celtic Manor resort in Wales from Oct 1-3.
A bold move by Pavin or one that could easily backfire? Woods has never looked entirely comfortable at Ryder Cups but it could just be the tournament to inspire him all over again.
Here are the full teams:
Europe – Luke Donald (Britain), Ross Fisher (Britain), Peter Hanson (Sweden), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Graeme McDowell (Britain), Rory McIlroy (Britain), Edoardo Molinari (Italy), Francesco Molinari (Italy), Ian Poulter (Britain), Lee Westwood (Britain)
Europeans seek breakthrough at U.S. Open
Europe’s undistinguished record at the U.S. Open over the last 40 years has been puzzling to say the very least but several signs indicate it could change for the better at Pebble Beach this week.
Seven Europeans lie in the world’s top 14 for the year’s second major where the spectacular par-71 layout on California’s Monterey Peninsula is running fast and firm in the style of a British Open links course.
While American world number two Phil Mickelson was regarded by several leading bookmakers as the tournament favourite before struggling in the first round, third-ranked Briton Lee Westwood has attracted strong backing.
The Englishman is arguably the best player in the game from tee to green, has recorded top-three finishes in the last three majors and arrived at Pebble Beach fresh from a playoff victory at the PGA Tour’s St. Jude Classic on Sunday.
Other Europeans expected to flourish this week include British world number eight Ian Poulter, 10th-ranked Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and three-times major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland. No European has won the U.S. Open since Britain’s Tony Jacklin at Hazeltine in 1970 but Harrington regards this simply as a coincidence.
“That’s all it is,” the Irishman said before Thursday’s opening round. “There’s nothing more to it. The U.S. Open is no more tougher a major to win.
“If Europeans had won the last 39 U.S. Opens, would it be that Europeans are going to win this week? No. It doesn’t. It’s the best player going out this week, regardless of where he’s from.”
Six of the best for Europe as Ryder Cup approaches
Could the balance of power in world golf be shifting from the U.S. to Europe at the start of Ryder Cup year? Americans have traditionally dominated the upper echelons of the rankings but German Martin Kaymer and Briton Ian Poulter’s one-two finish in the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday lifted the pair into the world’s top-10 for the first time.
With Kaymer (sixth) and Poulter (10th) joining Lee Westwood (fourth), Padraig Harrington (seventh), Henrik Stenson (eighth) and Paul Casey (ninth), Europe now have a record-equalling six players among the leading 10.
With another heavyweight field assembling for this week’s European Tour event in Qatar, British pair Rory McIlroy (11th) and Ross Fisher (18th) and Spain’s Sergio Garcia (14th) will also be trying to bulldoze their way into world golf’s elite.
Because of the strength of the respective fields, more ranking points are up for grabs in the Middle East than at this week’s U.S. PGA Tour event, the Farmers Insurance Open in California.
Americans Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk may occupy four of the top five places in the rankings but it seems as though it is the European team rather than the U.S. holders who are landing the early psychological blows ahead of the Ryder Cup in Wales in October.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Why Norway look doomed in World Cup playoff race
Europe's 53 national teams have been split into nine groups with the winners of each qualifying directly for South Africa. The best eight runners-up will play off among themselves over two legs next month for the remaining four slots. The runner-up with the worst record will miss out on a playoff berth entirely.
Usually, deciding the worst runners-up would be a simple case of comparing the respective team records. But there is one small snag -- namely Group Nine, which has only five teams while all the others have six sides.
Somebody in FIFA then had a brainwave: in the groups with six teams, the results against the last-placed team will not count when it comes to deciding the eight best runners-up.
This little gem means we have to wait to find out who is going to finish bottom of Groups One to Eight before we can even think about who might be the worst runner up. It also means that losing a match to the bottom team could ultimately benefit a side finishing in second place, as they would not have so many points lopped off their final tally.
Group Nine, which is the group of five, has already finished with Norway taking second spot with only 10 points. For what it is worth, we at the Reuters Soccer Blog believe they could be the unlucky ones. It looks as if, whoever finishes second in the other groups, all will have at least 11 points, regardless of who finishes bottom. Here's why:
Group One: Second-placed Sweden already have 15 points (they will lose six from their two wins over Malta, who are almost certain to finish bottom) and should pick up three more at home to Albania in their last game. Leaders Denmark have 18 points. (Portugal or Hungary could also reach 19 points in this group).
Group Two: Greece, currently second with 14 points, should reach 17 points by beating Luxemburg at home. Even if they lose six points, that will mean they will still be better off than Norway (as will any team who overtakes them).
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Americans fall for soccer but can MLS cash in?
The US national team beat European champions Spain in the Confederations Cup and give Brazil a scare in the final. In the NFL heartland of Baltimore, 71,000 turn out to watch Chelsea v AC Milan.
In Pasadena, Chelsea v Inter Milan pulls in 81,000.
David Beckham gets booed and jeered on his return for L.A Galaxy and the American sporting public laps it up – top sports talk shows, which usually ignore soccer other than to mock the game occasionally, lead their bulletins on the issue.
Giants Stadium in New York sells out with 79,000 for USA v Mexico in the Gold Cup final – even though both teams field reserve sides.
There is more to come -- Real Madrid and Barcelona are about to start mini-tours of the U.S. that will bring in similar huge crowds.
In Major League Soccer, the Seattle Sounders average 30,000 for home games in their first season. Philadelphia and Vancouver sign up to became the next teams to join the league.
the world football challenge was an amazing success, and a couple of american footballers are making a name for themselves abroad.
the MLS has improved, in terms of quality and followship but its miles behind the likes of the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
angel is right in saying the media needs to take a part in it, and seattle is a great example of that.
New Olympic rights deal is not all that bad
It’s official. The International Olympic Committee has broken with a 52-year-old tradition and sold the European broadcasting rights for the 2014 Winter Games and the 2016 Summer Olympics to sports agency SPORTFIVE.
It had earlier rejected a European Broadcasting Union umbrella offer, ending a long partnership with Europe’s state broadcasters.
The decision has been widely criticised but is it really such a bad idea?
The IOC picked the highest bidder as it looks to bolster its finances during troubled economic times and target about $1 billion in revenues from the European continent alone for the rights to the two Games.
The SPORTFIVE deal is worth a rumoured $300 million and major territories such as Germany, France, Spain and Great Britain are not even part of it.
Opponents have said the IOC has sold out and worry that the Olympics, the world’s biggest sporting event, will now disappear from free-to-air channels and be shown on private networks.
