Water Boy!

There is a famous saying "don't speak unless you can improve the silence". So I'll just shut up and let you watch the video...

Obama's Debt to Sports!

"She was there to see the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can."

So spoke Barak Obama about the 106 year old Ann Nixon Cooper last week in his acceptance speech. Yes they have come a long way and yes, there is hope now and everyone (outside the red states at least) seems to be happy. But before the halo on his head disappears, before the euphoria wanes, before it gets back to politics as usual, I want to take a moment and acknowledge Obama's debt to sports- yes you heard me right- to sports.

There was a time in America not long before Obama was born where not only life for African Americans was segregated, so were there aspirations and heroes. That seems to have changed over the last few decades and I would argue sports has had a bigger role in that transformation than almost any other single factor. Of course, the guy writing the sports blog will say that, I hear you thinking. But allow me to elaborate....

The most successful black political figure in America over the last hundred years or so has been Martin Luther King. Was he really successful in impacting the majority white view on blacks? Not really. Take sports starts on the other hand and you will see where I'm going with this argument.

Exactly 25 years before Obama's birth, the great American athlete Jesse Owens was running past white Germans to get the US national anthem played in a Berlin stadium. Hitler famously refused to shake Owens hand after his victory but then neither did FDR when Owen got back to America. This winner of four gold medals was reduced to novelty shows like racing thoroughbred horses to make a living.

Talking of beating Germans, there was the boxer Joe Louis who saved American pride again by flooring the German world champion Max Schmeling in just over two minutes in the ring. Louis later joined the army to fight for his country in World War II. The army he joined was segregated and when quizzed about it he is said to have remarked "Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain't going to fix them."

The third great black American athlete of that era was baseball player Jackie Robinson. He was reviled nearly everywhere he went but now April 15 of every year is Jackie Robinson day and all major league baseball players, black and white, wear Robinson's number 42 jersey as a sign of respect.

These three athletes took the brunt of American injustice, but came out shining due to the inherent objectivity of sports. In the process, they also softened the perceptions of African Americans for coming generations of Americans. More importantly, they provided black athletes like Muhammad Ali the pulpit to share their views and opinions. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the hall of fame basketball player, started bridging the perception gap, Michael Jordan converted it into commercial success and Tiger Woods perfected it. Swoosh was the sound of dollar bills being hoovered into their bank accounts, but it was also the sound of the colour barrier coming down.

Yes, Barak Obama stands tall, but partly because he stands on the shoulders of giants- giant athletes!

The Wizard of Ars (enal)...

"Arsene knows" goes the popular saying around Emirates stadium. You have to have been a follower of Arsenal Football Club to understand it fully. It is a testament to one of the greatest football coaches of modern times. His appointment, his playing strategy and his transfer policy have all been questioned again and again over the years. Yet, somehow, he has managed to carve out one of the most successful legacies in English football.

Wenger revived the beautiful game in English club football. Wenger brought diet control and no smoking to the players. Wenger won three Premier League titles and four FA cups while a study showed that he was the only manager to make a profit from his transfer activities among the 20 managers in the premier league. One would think- think- that would be enough to not be questioned again and again.

Not in this country. I have written previously about the fickle nature of the British press (Pressure- British Press Wags the Dog). So what do you think happened when Arsenal gave up a 4-2 lead against Tottenham one week and lost an away game to newly promoted Stoke the next? A deluge of newspaper articles appeared questioning the managers methods and wondering if his time is up (Times, Times, Telegraph, Guardian and Sun). How ridiculous!

So as the Manchester United dream team of Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez all converged at Emirates stadium, it was clear that Arsenal needed a result more than a performance. Fortunately they got both. The second goal in particular, showed the manager's stamp more than individual genius- a 59 second, 16 pass move, in which every one of the Arsenal field players except for William Gallas got to touch the ball. It ended up with a thumping shot in the back of the United net by Nasri- another player plucked by Wenger.

It does not answer all questions about Arsenal's inability to win silverware in the last three seasons. It does not take care of the inconsistency playing bottom teams like Sunderland and Stoke. It does however, answer all questions about whether Arsene Wenger still knows- he does. Let's talk at the end of the season!

Lewis Hamilton by the Skin of His Teeth

After eight months and 18 races in five continents, with 11 victories between them, as Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa crossed the finish line in the fog of battle, both their garages went up simultaneously in a cheer of celebration thinking their man had won the world championship. Indeed, when Massa finished his race in first place, Hamilton was in sixth place needing at least fifth to finish as champion. At the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season, Hamilton grabbed the fifth place necessary to win the Formula 1 world championship by a single point. It has never been closer in the 58 year history of the sport.

Lewis became the youngest world champion ever, just when luck seemed to be deserting him. Comfortably cruising in the needed fifth position with four laps to go, rain forced the first five to stop for a tyre change. Crucially, sixth placed Toyota of Timo Glock took the gamble and opted to stay out on slick tyres. Hamilton rejoined the race still in fifth but seemed in trouble when Sebastian Vettel of Torro Rosso overtook him with two laps to go. Much as he tried, Hamilton's car simply did not have the grip to reel back Vettel. But just as all hope was given up by the desperate English commentators on ITV, the forgotten Toyota of Glock came into view, struggling badly on slick tyres. In a flash, Hamilton was through and Britain had its first F1 champion in the 12 years since Damon Hill.