From one golden boy to another, Jonny Wilkinson and David Beckham will both surely question their international sporting futures for different reasons. Many contrasts and comparisons have been drawn between the two, one likes to hide away from any attention whilst the other craves it for his very existence, but one thing is for sure, neither of them will retire easily. Jonny will never cease to commit to the cause and an Achilles tendon is unlikely to stop David Beckham being a more proficient passer of a football than Theo Walcott or any other English footballer come to think of it.
In other sporting highlights the ever clichéd battle between David and Goliath ensued. A small football team that resides next to the Thames in South-West London, trounced upon European “giants” Juventus in the Europa League, whilst nearest neighbours Chelsea, resources aplenty, were embarrassed by an old friend, which begs the question how many more managers will Abramovich go through before he has a go himself? Another underdog, this time in the form of Imperial Commander defied the odds to come home as champion of Friday’s Cheltenham Gold Cup striding past joint favourites Denman and the fallen Kauto Star much to the delight of the few lucky punters and the ever celebrating bookmakers.
On the topic of bookmakers few would have predicted The Times to rate Fabio Capello as the most powerful man in British sport, with Wayne Rooney coming in at number five. Admittedly they have the capabilities to inspire a nation but the ironic absence of Rupert Murdoch and the presence of BSkyB’s chief executive at a lowly number four is an outcry to say the least. These are the men that affect the very sport we watch on television, which is where we usually do watch sport these days, the fat controllers if you like Thomas the tank engine analogies. They control when and what we see and the only thing that is not unpredictable in sport is that their control will continue to spiral to ever increasing levels.
The ECB announced last week that without Sky’s TV money, four county cricket teams would cease to exist, forgive me if I’m mistaken but does old Fabio have the power to stop the very existence of some of the country’s oldest sporting institutions? Who cares when we can watch the IPL or MRF or whatever it’s called.............on TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvKUtHlDK8
(TV's more positive contribution)
