2013 British & Irish Lions Squad Announced!

The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour party to Australia has just been announced. As expected, Welsh Richie McCaw wannabe, Sam Warburton, has been named captain and there is no place for the etheral Jonny Wilkinson or England captain, Chris Robshaw and experienced Lions campaigner, Rory Best.

The full squad is as follows -
Backs: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Rob Kearney (Ireland), Tommy Bowe (Ireland), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Sean Maitland (Scotland), George North (Wales), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland), Jamie Roberts (Wales), Manu Tuilagi (England), Owen Farrell (England), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Conor Murray (Ireland), Mike Phillips (Wales), Ben Youngs (England).

Forwards: Dan Cole (England), Cian Healy (Ireland), Gethin Jenkins (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales), Matt Stevens (England), Mako Vunipola (England), Dylan Hartley (England), Richard Hibbard (Wales), Tom Youngs (England), Ian Evans (Wales), Richie Gray (Scotland), Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales), Paul O'Connell (Ireland), Geoff Parling (England), Tom Croft (England), Toby Faletau (Wales), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Sam Warburton (Wales, captain)

Coach: Warren Gatland

Here's to an exciting series down under and it should be a competitive one given the form of the Australians in Super Rugby this year. One interesting selection is that of Sean Maitland of course who will be the one player the Aussies would be familiar with through his time with the Crusaders.

The Final Countdown - npower Championship Final Day

It's been an engrossing season in the best second - and third and fourth, etc. - tier football competition in the world. In fact, the Football League has probably provided more excitement and drama than many of the top leagues in Europe this season.

Yes, Cardiff City may have won the Championship at a canter but the race for the other promotion spots has been very tight and exciting as has the battle at the bottom. And Leagues One and Two which concluded last week witnessed thrilling finales - those last minutes at the Brentford v Doncaster game will live long in the memory of both supporters, with Doncaster stealing victory - and the League One title - at the death after Brentford had a penalty - and their automatic promotion chances - stopped by the keeper.

The Championship concludes on Saturday with all games kicking off at lunch time. Most games have plenty writing on them but Nottingham Forest v Leicester is the one to watch with the winner quite probably going into the playoffs for a place in the Premier League. There is plenty of rivalry between both Midland clubs who have experienced the Premier League in their history and were expected to challenge for the automatic spots at the start of the season - Leicester at one stage seemed to be cruising to promotion like Cardiff on the back of Kiwi Chris Wood's goals.

Forest v Leicester will be  feisty - and possibly decisive

The Foxes and Forest will be heavily dependent on events at the Reebok Stadium and Selhurst Park - victory to the home sides, Bolton and Crystal Palace respectively will render events at the City Ground meaningless. But a slip up for one of them will open the door for the winner of the game at the City Ground.

Can Hull make a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2010?

And then there's the issue of 2nd place and automatic promotion to the Premier League with champions, Cardiff City. Hull are the current incumbents of that spot but after defeat to Barnsley last week and with a game against the champions at home, they are quite vulnerable to the advances of Gianfranco Zola's free-scoring Watford who host a Leeds side with nothing to play for. Yes, Cardiff may have nothing to play for like Leeds but the fact that they will be quite keen to finish the season on a high means that the pressure is off them in a game that will mean everything to Steve Bruce's Hull City.

Hull win and they're back in the Premier League - anything less and they must hope that events at Vicarage Road are in their favour or face the lottery that is the npower Championship playoffs - the huge gap between Hull and Watford and the likes of Brighton, Crystal Palace, Bolton, Leicester and Nottingham Forest will mean nothing - form is the key in successfully navigating the do-or-die nature of the playoffs which take on the nature of a season of its own.

Will Barnsley join Wolves in League One?

Finally, there's the battle at the bottom. Bristol City are already down but who will join them will only be decided on Saturday - it looks like Wolves will be relegated just 12 months after they were playing the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal in the Premier League, as they not only must win at high-flying Brighton but hope clubs above them must lose. A rejuvenated Barnsley who occupy the 3rd relegation spot at the moment, must go to fellow strugglers, Huddersfield Town to get a result. However, a draw at the McAlpine Stadium could be enough if Peterborough fail to beat a Crystal Palace who are looking to secure a playoff spot or Millwall fail to beat Crystal Palace and Derby in their last two games (Millwall play their final home game against Crystal Palace in midweek).

Sheffield Wednesday, the other side at risk of going down, host Middlesbrough but given the form of both sides, you'd think Dave Jones' side has probably done enough to stay up as have Blackburn (goal difference) and Huddersfield (at home against Barnsley) who sit on 57 points, 3 points ahead of the drop zone.

So come 12:45pm, all eyes will be on the most fascinating finish to England's second tier. For once, the Championship might be a bit more exciting than the world's most exciting league.

CPR for QPR? Can Villa Survive the Drop?

Just before 3 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, QPR and Reading's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed after a 0-0 draw at the Madejski Stadium meant that both sides were too far from safety - Aston Villa's 6-1 trouncing of Sunderland merely was the icing on the cake if you can call it that as that 17th place was definitely insurmountable for both blue and white sides with just 3 games to go in the season.

To be fair, Reading and QPR had been down for a while now. Having just been promoted last season, Reading were expected to struggle - which they did and Brian McDermott's sacking really was the flying of the white flag from the Madejski Stadium.

On the other hand, wealthy QPR with Mark Hughes at the helm had been expected to at least be a mid-table team. Alas, a dreadful start to QPR's season meant that the West London side were always up against the wall and they failed to recover from the drubbing at home at the hands of eventual high flyers Swansea City on the opening day even with Harry Redknapp called on by owner, Tony Fernandes, to perform the latest of his magic tricks.

QPR must now contemplate life in the Championship and plenty of changes will have to be made to a squad that has too many bells and whistles that  don't appear to work and will weigh down the club away from the Premier League of milk and honey. Like other clubs who have signed big like Leeds, West Ham and Newcastle and ended up being relegated, QPR must prepare itself for the fire sale of the century - something which the remaining Premier League clubs will pounce on.

Robert Green, Julio Cesar, Christopher Samba, Park Ji-Sung, Andrew Johnson, Bobby Zamora, Adel Taraabt, Esteban Granero, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Tal Ben-Haim, Junior Hoilett (second relegation in 2 seasons), Loic Remy, Jermaine Jenas, Jose Bosingwa, Arnand Traore all have question marks on them, all uncertain if they would stay at what is now a Championship club.

The quality of players listed before just shows you how massively disappointing QPR have been this season. I'm certain half of those players will be gone having been told by Arry that they don't fit in his plans for the club next season. And that is exactly what QPR need to do if they are to have any chance of a quick return from what is now a very tough league.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa's squad of skin and bones appears to have finally found some meat and substance at the right end of the season. It appears that Paul Lambert's message has finally come through to his young charges at Villa Park and the team that we had been waiting all season finally showed up in their relegation 6-pointer against Sunderland on Monday night.

Villa were fantastic throughout even if they were still naive as they have been all season - they conceded just over a minute after taking the lead, something that has been part of their downfall this season thus far. However, for the first time, rather than lie down, they responded and boy did they respond with 5 unanswered goals including 1 before half-time for the consistent Andreas Weimann and a hat-trick for dangerous talisman, Christian Benteke. It was very reminiscent of Paul Lambert's Norwich the season before - bright and enterprising - and it left Paolo di Canio scratching his head at what now for his Sunderland side, still not safe from the drop.

Is Christian Benteke now one of the Premier League's most wanted strikers?

As for Villa, their reward could possibly come at the end of the season with survival against the odds. They are now 5 points ahead of 18th placed Wigan Athletic and for a side scrapping against relegation, 5 points is quite a lot of points to get from 4 games (Wigan of course have a game in hand due to their FA Cup exploits but those exploits itself could hurt Wigan's chances of survival in the Premier League especially since two of those games are away to West Brom and Arsenal) and they also rely on Villa slipping up.

One thinks now that even if Villa can only get 2 points from their next 2 games against Norwich and Chelsea, they should be okay going into their final game against Wigan - which could still yet be a shootout for survival.

But this has been a season where mid-table teams appear to have been dragged into the whirlpool of relegation and Newcastle and Sunderland are very much in danger and with some tricky games ahead. However, Villa appear to be heading upwards at the right time - and one wonders what Villa will be like next season if they do dodge the drop against all odds.

   

What Happened to the Wolf Pack?

18 months ago, things were looking bright for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Wolves were in the middle of their third successive campaign in England's top flight - their longest spell since the 1980s, and were embarking on a massive redevelopment project of their longtime home at Molineux Stadium.

Sadly, things had already begun to go downhill at that point. Wolves' Premier League status was quickly deconstructed like the now redeveloped Stan Cullis Stand, long time manager, Mick McCarthy was sacked late in the campaign and the Black Country side were the first side relegated from the Premier League in 2012.

Wolves were amongst the favourites for a quick return to the Premier League at the start of the season. Alas, quite the opposite is likely to happen - a second relegation in two seasons. This is a decline to ignominy many would not have believed yet after the season they've had, is probably of no surprise.

The sacking of Mick McCarthy was a big mistake right from the off - the club had thrown the white flag to their Premier League survival hopes and the club's fighting spirit which had seen them survive two seasons in a row evaporated into history and has failed to be rediscovered.

The selection of Stale Solbakken last summer was a strange and uninspiring move and despite a strong run at the start of the season, a rapid decline of Wolves' form saw the Norwegian sacked and replaced by Dean Saunders at the start of the new year; Wolves had plucked the former Welsh international from Doncaster Rovers who will probably replace Wolves in the Championship next season.

However, the turnaround for Wolves hasn't quite materialised - injuries to players like Bakary Sakho and loss of form of former Premier League calibre players like Stephen Doyle and Jamie O'Hara have meant that Wolves's first win of 2013 only came in March and placed them in a scrap for survival with the likes of Peterborough, Barnsley, Bristol City and Huddersfield Town.

A failure to keep any sort of winning run has meant that against the odds, Peterborough and Huddersfield Town - sides who only came up from League One at the same time that Wolves have been flying in the Premier League - are set to stay up ahead of the previously highly rated Wolves side.

What now for former Liverpool chairman, Morgan?

A home defeat to Burnley in their final game of the season has seen fans turn against what was once considered a model management led by former Liverpool chairman, Steve Morgan and Wolves must now travel to Premier League chasing Brighton for a win which probably still won't be enough to stave off a second successive relegation.

It just shows you that the Championship is no longer easy fodder for former Premier League sides with the competition tougher  than ever - the plight of Leicester, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United are testament to this while now Premier League incumbents, Norwich and Southampton were playing in League One only two seasons before their ascent to the top flight.

Unfortunately for Wolves, the malaise that followed them throughout their last Premier League season was never shaken off and has left them staring at a season where they will play against the likes of Milton Keynes Dons, Coventry and Stevenage rather than Manchester United and Arsenal.

Achtung! Achtung! The Germans Have Arrived

It appears that Wembley is set to host the first all-German final in Champions League history next month after Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund appeared to gain massive advantages in their semifinal ties against mighty Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.

Yes, there are 180 minutes to play yet but even with the amount of quality in the Spanish sides, it is quite a tough ask to claw back a 3-4 goal deficit, let alone in a semifinal scenario.

Real Madrid probably have some hope yet with that 1 away goal - but one would be clutching at straws to expect Real Madrid to win 3-0 at home against a Borussia Dortmund side who have visited the Bernabeu already this season and know what to expect.

I suspect that both German sides will be setting up their gameplans to score that killer away goal on the counter attack when they head to Spain next week. One reckons that if the Germans get the early away goal, Barcelona and Real Madrid will deflate quickly like a punctured balloon - they will be forced to go for all out attack and against two very efficient German sides, the result is unlikely to be 5 or 6 goals to the home team.

From the moment, the draw was announced, you had the feeling that the Germans would seize the initiative when they hosted the first leg even against two of the world's best clubs and sure enough, they did. But the clinical nature of their victories has been quite a surprise. Most pundits were tipping 2-0 victories to the Germans so for one of them to score 4 goals, let alone both, it has been quite a shock of massive proportions to the footballing world.

Or is it?

The fact is that in the last few seasons, the Bundesliga has made huge strides, knocking off the Serie A from the podium of top 3 leagues in Europe - testament to this is the Bundesliga nabbing what was Italy's 4th Champions League spot. The Bundesliga has some of the highest attendance records in world football and those numbers have continued to rise - this may attributed to the fact that the Bundesliga has a very high goals per game average.

While Bayern Munich have always been the side to beat in Germany and this season have clearly been the best side in the league, the trend in the Bundesliga in recent times has seen as many as 10 clubs in contention for the league title - Borussia Dortmund rose from a slump in the last decade to return to their place amongst Germany's elite clubs, Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, Werder Bremen, Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg and even Hertha Berlin who have been relegated twice in the last 3 years have all competed late into the season for the Bundesliga title.

One wonders, if Germany's fairly strong and stable economy has meant Bundesliga clubs are in financially stronger shape than their Italian and Spanish counterparts. However, the academy systems at club level are also amongst the world's best, built on a philosophy to play football the way it should be played.

Hence, why the dour, efficient football we have come to expect from the Germans has long been buried into the book of myths and legends and why it has actually been rather pleasing to see Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund beat the supposed artisans of world football at their own game.  Of course, it remains to be seen if the Final will be a full-blown attacking affair - the trouble when the Final is contested by two clubs from the same league is that both sides know each other so well, that in a big game situation, they tend to neutralize each other.

For German football, the future is bright and certainly for Bayern Munich who appear to have scored a coup with the signing of Pep Guardiola as manager from next season, and another in signing German starlet, Mario Gotze from their potential finalists - another ammunition to fire up the club from Germany's industrial Ruhr valley.

So El Derby it probably won't be in North London this time next month. But Nord v Sud, FC Hollywood v the coal miners from the Ruhr Valley should not be a bad substitute even if it is two Germans at the home of English football.

At least we don't need to worry about the English losing to a German side again here.

Can We Still Look Up to Sports Stars?

It has not been a good weekend for sport when it comes to its standing as a breeding ground for role models.

In New Zealand, All Black winger Julian Savea was charged with domestic assault - he was subsequently released on bail but given a restraining order by his estranged partner and child - and up and coming Blues star, Francis Sai'ili has had to appear at the Auckland District Court on drink driving charges.

Savea and Sai'ili are two of our brightest stars although Savea risks losing the reputation he built up last year as one of the All Blacks' rising stars. Some even hailed Savea as the new Lomu - he even appeared for the Wellington City Council on their anti-abuse campaigns.

Savea seems a lovely fellow and I think more than meets the eye with sports stars especially when they have families so young - Savea already has a young daughter at the tender age of 22. They are already under so much pressure from the public to perform - plus their reputations mean they are very vulnerable to any attempt by people of not so good intentions to destroy their name just for a bit of publicity, i.e. Benji Marshall's alleged incident at McDonald's in Sydney.

I think New Zealand rugby has done a tremendous job in guiding young players through all the success they achieve so young. They realise that those players will make mistakes but support them all the way not because they have the talent but because they realise they are human beings like all of us and that the mistakes they make will make them better individuals and possibly good examples for future youngsters. Yes, the process isn't perfect and will never be, but the environment that New Zealand rugby has conjured up is one of the safest for a young budding professional athlete to be in.

As for Savea, we'll have to wait and see what the Wellington District Court decides in a week's time. Savea was clearly not quite at the races on Friday night against the Force and the reason is now known to all of us, but I think he will bounce back and be an even better player than he was prior to his misdemeanour.

But the biggest bombshell of bad behaviour by a sports athlete this weekend came at Anfield on Sunday, when clear to the TV viewer, Liverpool's mercurial forward, Luis Suarez, bit Chelsea defender, Branislav Ivanovic, almost unprovoked.

This is not the first major misdemeanour of Luis Suarez's career - he was found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra last season of course and raised eyebrows when he said he purposely handled the ball for Uruguay in their World Cup quarterfinal against Ghana. In fact, Luis Suarez has been found guilty of biting a player in the past when he was playing for Ajax.

Suarez looks set for yet another lengthy ban and question marks have been raised over the player's future at Liverpool. What will be in Suarez's favour at Anfield is his talent and goal scoring record this season - he is topping the charts at the moment in the Premier League. But after two major misdemeanours at his time at Anfield, will the owners tolerate having such a controversial figure at the club?

I hope so as we all know that Suarez is a mercurial figure and he is definitely a popular person amongst his teammates. He has passion but he appears incapable of controlling his passion at stressful times.

Liverpool could learn aplenty from the way Manchester United handled the aftermath of Eric Cantona's famous kung fu kick. I thought that was handled well and Cantona returned a better and more influential figure on United's success than ever.

So can we look up to these sports stars with all these troubles? I guess I don't really have to worry about looking up to these guys as they are my age and those days of idolizing a player  are over. However, I am thinking of the kids growing up right now and seeing  these guys play and wondering if they can look up to these guys.

The fact is no one is perfect and what really will set them out and make them true role models is the way they react after going through such tribulations. I think if I was to go for a role model, Piri Weepu would be mine - he had plenty of disciplinary troubles early on in his career and reached the low of lows of his career when he missed out on the 2007 Rugby World Cup. But he burst back better than ever and in his older days, has shown mana and strength.

Definitely not a worthy candidate for role model. Anymore. 

So there you have it, we can look up to sports stars but I'd say keep an eye out on those stars who bounce back from adversity to achieve success - legally please unlike that hero in many people's eyes, Lance Armstrong.

Can Cardiff City Survive in the Premier League?

After years of heartbreak in the playoffs, Cardiff has finally made it to the Premier League. Spurred on by the disappointment of late season collapses and despair in sudden death playoff matches, Cardiff City charged their way to the lead of the Championship in November and never looked back.

Led by inspirational former Welsh international, Craig Bellamy and manager, Malky Mackay, Cardiff's dream came true with a handful of games to spare. The Championship's best team had been heavily reformed since Malky arrived from Watford and was given plenty of Malaysian capital to spend on players.
 

Malky Mackay with Malaysian tycoon owner, Tan Seri  Dato Vincent Tan

The most obvious testament to Cardiff's latest revival is the controversial change of the club's home colours from blue to red. According to owner Tan Sri Dato Vincent Tan, it was hoped that the change to the lucky colour of Chinese would bring the team better luck on the field - citing the successes of those other red clubs, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. 

Indeed, it worked with Cardiff breaking their club record for most consecutive wins - 10 - early in the campaign. And with Premier League status secure, the change to red looks set to be made permanent and secure for a while - although not everyone is happy about that including long time former supporter, Scott Thomas: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/17/cardiff-city-promoted-died-last-summer. 

But can Wales' second only Premier League club secure its long-term place in the Premier League or will it fade away like plenty of its opponents in this season's Championship have in the past? 

Can Cardiff emulate their neighbours down the road in Swansea?

Like their rivals in Swansea, Cardiff appear financially very strong and should be able to spend well in the transfer window on players, possibly capitalizing on the plight of whoever goes down from the Premier League - or whoever fails to make it back up to the big time for that matter. 

On the other hand, as QPR have shown this season, money certainly cannot guarantee you Premier League survival. 

With manager Malky Mackay, I cannot see Cardiff going into the panic spending spree that QPR went through in the January transfer window. If Cardiff find themselves in a position where they cannot stay up, I see them consolidating for the future, possibly selling one or two good players and then prepare themselves for promotion back to the Premier League the following season. 

But I think Malky Mackay will relish his first opportunity to coach at Premier League level and he could possibly emulate the success of Paul Lambert and Brendan Rodgers in their first seasons in the top flight. Mackay did wonders helping turn Watford into the side they are today - the reason why Tan Sri Dato Vincent Tan hired him to end Cardiff's long absence from the top flight two seasons ago. 

Tactically, he is very astute and this was evident last season in the Carling Cup Final against Liverpool which they were very unlucky to lose to on penalties. And this tactical nous and his blueprint for success have been evident with Cardiff this season. I expect none of this to change next season even with better quality opposition - Norwich, Southampton and Swansea did the same and look set to extend their stay in the Premier League. 

The only downside if Mackay's Cardiff do well in their first season in the top flight is that Mackay himself could end up being a target for other Premier League clubs looking to get out of a rut. 

So I think I will stick my head out there and say that Cardiff will survive and establish themselves like Bolton, Fulham, Stoke, Wigan, Norwich and Swansea have in recent seasons. Mackay will be a revelation in the top flight and Cardiff's success could continue the Welsh football revelation and quite possibly start a bit of a revelation for Malaysian football fans - fellow Malaysian tycoon owner, Tony Fernandes' involvement with QPR has managed to get more Malaysians behind that club. 

Who else will follow Cardiff? As it stands, Steve Bruce's Hull City looks like it is in the best position to gain automatic promotion and a return to the Premier League, with Gianfranco Zola's Watford faltering at the finish but likely to be in the playoffs as they are quite far ahead of the tight scrap between Brighton, Crystal Palace, Bolton, Leicester, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest. And as Cardiff know, those playoffs can be a bit of a lottery. 

 

April 15 - A Bad Day For Sport?

Once again, a major tragedy has struck sport on the day dated April 15.

On April 15, 1989, the sporting world was rocked to its core by the Hillsborough tragedy in Sheffield. The final death toll was 96 - all of them Liverpool fans crushed to death at a FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

14 years later, the sporting world has again been rocked to its core by bombings at the Boston Marathon. The death toll, this time is not as severe as it was in Sheffield but the effect on the nation and world has been just as profound.

It appears that April 15 is a bit of cursed date for world sport with the Grim Reaper seeming to choose that date to cause early death on that date.

And the consequences are set to be cataclysmic.

The Hillsborough tragedy saw the biggest reform of football in England of all time - the resulting Taylor Report saw the end of terraces at English football league grounds and fueled the Premier League's push. Let's be honest, football was changed forever after the tragic events of that spring Saturday in the north of England.

I imagine the Boston Marathon bombing could possibly see the biggest changes to marathon - unfortunately those changes could be more negative to spectators than those implemented as a result of the Hillsborough tragedy.

One wonders if marathons will ever be the free-for-all events they have been - and the reasons why they have been so popular. Will organizers have to implement restricted entry and ticketed seating to pay for the increased security measures for spectators and participants to prevent a repeat of today's tragedies? It is certainly one possibility that could come to fruition.

And could the Boston Marathon bombing possibly have an effect on other events around public streets and parks, i.e. Tour de France and cycling races? Will fans now be forced to go through security gates before they can take their place on the sidewalk to watch their friends, family or favourite athletes compete?

It is not apt right now to contemplate such issues while there is so much devastation around - yet it is very tempting to do so.

 

New Zealand Breakers are Three-Times Champions!

The Breakers have done it - they have achieved what they set out to do this season,  become only the second team in ANBL history to win three titles in a row.

Not only did they achieve it, they achieved it in some style, shutting out the Perth Wildcats 2-0 in the Grand Finals series, something they failed to do in their previous two series. It may not have been pretty in The Jungle but when you're playing one of the NBL's best sides on their own turf, getting a win there on a big occasion is no mean feat.

For outgoing power forward, Dillon Boucher, one of the club's foundation players, it was the most fitting way to draw the curtain on a successful career. Media commitments now beckon for the highly popular Tall Black as he leaves the club - and arguably New Zealand basketball - in the best shape of its life; a club teeming with outstanding young local talent like Josh Bloxham, Tai Webster and Reuben Te Rangi.

Even with longtime head coach Andrej Lemanis set for the high-profile role of coach of the Australian Boomers, the club is in very, very good hands and has a very strong foundation to build on - a succession plan is clearly in place at the club even with its coach - 1st assistant, Dean Vickerman is set to take over the role should Lemanis answer the call from the Basketball Australia.

It is a testament to the superb management and philosophy of owners, Paul & Liz Blackwell. The Albany Pak N Save owners applied an ethos not dissimilar to the Crusaders' or many other highly successful sporting organizations around the world like Manchester United & Barcelona. At the same time, they have shunned the limelight, letting the coach and players do the talking; here is a great article about the Blackwells from 2009 - http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/basketball/2887501/NZ-Breakers-owner-about-making-a-difference.

However, critics might highlight the fact that the ANBL appears to be a troubled league, even a league in decline - it originally had 10 clubs at inception in 1979 but that number has fluctuated with the count possibly down to 7 for 2013 if the Townsville Crocs do actually fold.

Basketball as a sport has generally struggled for respectability and attention in this part of the world especially compared to the football codes and compared to the world's other basketball leagues, Australia's definitely pales in comparison when it comes to the standard of play.

Even so, winning a title three times in any competition is a difficult task - winning three times in a row almost never happens. Very few teams win a title three years in a row - Manchester United have done it twice and Lyon and Rosenberg have gone on very long championship winning streaks in their history. In basketball, the fabled Chicago Bulls (twice) and LA Lakers sides have achieved the three-peat and long gone into NBA folklore.

For the scope of their competition, this NZ Breakers side are full of rock stars and kings that deserve to be written into NBL and New Zealand sporting folklore for their achievements.

So savour the achievements now and let's aim for four-in-a-row. With most of this side intact for next season, the odds are actually rather favourable.

Champions League Semifinals

After all the drama and late, late heartbreak, we have our Champions League semifinalists, our last 4 teams battling for 2 spots in the Final at London's fine, fine Wembley Stadium.

And it's very much Germany v Spain at this point of the competition with both country's best clubs fighting for a spot in the Final - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and Real Madrid and Barcelona.

So which side is in the best form, the favourites for the title? Here are my thoughts

Bayern Munich -  if league form and recent results are anything to go by, then Bayern Munich right now are the favourites for the Champions League. The German champions - the fastest ever to be crowned Bundesliga meisters in fact - dismantled Italian champions and giants, Juventus with relative ease and with the league in the bag, should now be able to fully concentrate on winning Europe's top title for the first time since 2001. It is scary to think what Pep Guardiola could do with what is already a very good Bayern side coached by the effervescent Jupp Heyneckes. But for now, Bayern's aim must now be to overcome the choker tag that has stuck since they lost the Final last year at home to Chelsea on penalties.

Real Madrid - it hasn't been the best season for the side for the capital - they stuttered through La Liga at first but after a convincing defeat of Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, appear to have found their form at the right end of the season - even despite appearing to throw away their quarterfinal tie against Galatasaray at one stage. With the league title effectively out of their reach, Real Madrid must now win the Champions League to redeem their season and the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, and Sergio Ramos are definitely good enough and in the right form to take them there.

Borussia Dortmund - on paper, Dortmund have a young, attractive side worthy of being kings of Europe - and now it appears that they have the grit to get to that rightful throne as Malaga would testify. Dortmund have shown potential this season to beat the very best but at the business end of the season, they must now step up and match their more experienced rivals if they are to win their second Champions League title. Chances need to be put away by the likes of Mario Goetze, Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus. Their first win in 1997 was a bit of a surprise - and a win in the Final at Wembley will probably considered similarly.

Barcelona - What to make of Barca. Even when they're not at their best, they still get the result that matters to get to their goal, whether it is stretching their lead at the top of La Liga or progressing to the next round of the Champions League. However, there must be questions asked at the manner they overcame Paris St Germain including whether Barcelona have become too dependent on Lionel Messi? Barca were awful before the Argentine maestro came on, vulnerable to the counter-attack - something that was exploited earlier in the season by Real Madrid and could be exploited well if they draw Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund. Nevertheless, they remain the side to beat at this stage of the competition and still one of the favourites for a third title in 5 seasons.

POSTSCRIPT -
The UEFA Champions League semifinal draw is currently live in Nyon in Switzerland. We already have the Europa League semifinal draw as follows -

Fenerbahce v Benfica
Basel v Chelsea

After all the friendly banter between the aforementioned club's officials including some question about UEFA bias for Swiss side, Basel, now onto the real stuff..

Bayern Munich v Barcelona
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid

So we are odds on for derbies for the Final.. Dortmund will need to repeat their form in the group stages against Real Madrid if they want to make the Final but Bayern Munich face their toughest hurdle in their race to be European champions - the tie of the round in most people's eyes, against the most talented club side in the world at the moment (Barcelona).

So stay tuned on April 23/24 and April 30/May 1..

My tip? Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

Should There Be a Moment's Silence for Maggie?

On Monday, 8 April 2013, one of the modern world's most influential and important figures in its history died. Former British Prime Minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke. Britain's first and only female Prime Minister was a polarising character and it is likely that her legacy will be quite different in the eyes of many people.

For most football fans in Britain, that legacy itself will be one that they would rather forget. Thatcher's reign at 10 Downing Street between 1979 and 1990 started with glory for English clubs in Europe as Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa all won the Champions Cup as it was known at the time between 1979 and 1984.

Then, came the Heysel tragedy in 1985, when 39 fans died when a stampede by Liverpool fans caused a wall to collapse on Juventus fans. The initial report found the Liverpool fans culpable for the tragedy with 14 fans charged with manslaughter. Thatcher pressured the FA to withdraw English clubs from all UEFA competitions and within days, UEFA issued an indefinite ban on all English clubs in their competitions.

Thatcher further recommended an ID card scheme for fans to stop hooliganism and violence at crowded dilapidated stadia throughout the country. This scheme never came to past - it was considered akin to using a sledgehammer to break open a peanut.

The last years of the 1980s were a dark time for English football climaxing in the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989 where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at an FA Cup semifinal. Without looking at the full evidence at the time, Thatcher actually laid blame for the tragedy on the Liverpool fans - a fact that will forever rankle with the families of those who died and Liverpool fans as long as the club is existent.

Add the fact that Thatcher was heavily involved in the closure of mines, docks and factories in England's former industrial heart of the northwest and you can say that Thatcher is not the most popular person in the Manchester and Liverpool area. Once could say that the only thing Manchester United and Liverpool can agree on is their hatred of the Iron Lady.

Thus, it is not surprising that on Monday night, there was no moment of silence prior to kickoff of the much hotly anticipated Manchester derby, and it is not surprising that the Premier League and FA has not obligated clubs to observe Lady Thatcher's death with a moment of silence prior to kickoff of games this coming weekend - the ECB has also done the same with counties starting the domestic cricket season on Wednesday.

However, this is quite a contrast to recent times when sport in Britain acknowledged the passing of the likes of Princess Diana and the Queen Mother by observing a moment's silence before kickoff or even postponing games like they did after Diana's death in 1997.

On the other hand, Margaret Thatcher is not a member of royalty even if her manner exuded regality towards the 1990s. At the end of the day, she was a politician - a damn good one I might add. Politicians are a bit like referees - it's very rare to find one who is cheered and applauded to the skies and Thatcher certainly does not fit that mould.

Thatcher almost destroyed English football, fueled by tragedies at the time like the Valley Parade fire, Hillsborough and Heysel along with hooligan fights between rival supporters. English football fans were treated like cage animals and were it not the national game, the game would have died off at the time. However, it didn't and was only merely left on its knees, naked, bloodied by the bludgeoning of Thatcher's policies at the time.

On its knees, football was forced to reform - the Taylor Report and Premier League are legacies of that reform. And football in England has never had it better.

In a way, Thatcher indirectly brought this recent age of prosperity in English football but she shouldn't really get any credit for it given that she tried to destroy the sport.

Thus, a moment's silence for Maggie this Saturday at 3pm may not be the right move in the eyes of football officials and fans. Maggie wouldn't have cared either way.

Mark Paston Announced As New Phoenix Coach

The Wellington Phoenix have announced that retiring goalkeeper, Mark Paston is to become their new head coach for next season with current caretaker coach, Chris Greenacre, set to return to his role as assistant coach. Despite his lack of experience in football management, Paston said that as a goalkeeper, he had spent as much time watching the game from the back as former manager, Ricki Herbert and that he had plenty of ideas on how to shore up the Phoenix's porous backline and midfield from where he once stood in goal.

Mark Paston along with Ryan Nelsen are a new breed of coaches who have been hired by their clubs despite no prior coaching experience or badges.











Ok, so Mark Paston being head coach may not be true but his retirement certainly is. A late bloomer, Mark Paston has enjoyed a fine finish to his career having been plucked from virtual obscurity to play not just for New Zealand's only professional football clubs and also being first choice in goal for the national team at  the World Cup in South Africa.

For me, my favourite memory of Mark Paston will always be that penalty save that helped the All Whites qualify for the World Cup. Even if it wasn't the best penalty ever taken, Paston read it superbly and that moment was definitely a clutch moment for the All Whites who went on to win their home tie in front of a packed crowd at Westpac Stadium in Wellington - myself included - and book their place in the group stages of the World Cup.

Just as he did in the club season for the Phoenix, Paston was in superb form for country in South Africa and his saves were important in ensuring the All Whites were the only unbeaten side at the World Cup in 2010.

Pasto, you will be hugely missed. All the best on the rest of your life and glad that you now get to spend more time with the kids and missus - and maybe even find a job that will get you that Ferrari I once saw you gawking at outside the Hotel Intercontinental!