My first article in university paper!

A copy of my first published article in a newspaper.

I am very grateful for the opportunity in the sports section (even it they did include a Match Results add on with the wrong result) and looking forward to next weeks piece.

Thanks to the Gaudie Newspaper.

Dismal display

Wales 2 Scotland 1

Above is the men's national football team's latest result (if you didn't already know!) What baffles me as a sportswoman is certain peoples obsession with continuing to always blame performances on the manager. If my hockey coach changed monthly there would be absolutely no consistency or belief among the squad. Levein is giving it his best but perhaps it is the players who have not performed well enough in these big games? Take one look at the standard of the SPL compared to the PL and there is no comparison. One has worldwide following, lots of money, foreign players whereas the other not so much. Perhaps, our squad is just not good enough? What do we as a nation need to do to successfully produce homegrown talent? Remember our Olympians and Paralympians? We certainly have sporting talent in our small nation and can compete on the world stage. So how can we produce this on the football pitch? How can Scotland get back up the rankings to the good old days? Maybe we need to take a look at our national health statistics and realise more sport has to be played than moaned about.

I admit this is a generalization here and that the country can produce and has produced world class footballers but frankly there are not enough. Look at the women's squad reaching the Euro playoffs against Spain for the second time running this weekend under Anna Signeul who has been in the job since 2005 - that is 7 years in the job showing a managerial post is not an overnight success!

Scotland loose to a team ranked one below them in the FIFA world rankings and again it is an outcry of "sack the manager". Wales are ranked 57 and Scotland 56 and I understand these are only numbers and we were 1-0 up and lost two goals in the final ten minutes but what continuity and confidence will be brought to the squad now if we don't at least give Levein a chance until the end of the campaign? Serbia ranked 33  in the world and we draw 0-0 and so it is "sack the manager". Macedonia 1-1 and it's all the managers fault that we cannot beat a lower ranked team.  

Now, do not get me wrong there was that dodgy tactic with no player up front in Prague but Levein has proven himself as a top class footballer on the pitch and a successful manager winning SPL manager of the month 6 times. 

There is no doubt about it, there is talent out there and it is about recognizing what needs to happen to help youngsters progress successfully through to senior level.

Remember that time we won the World Cup?

"It's not the defeat that get's every Scotland fan, it's the hope beforehand" (Bell, 2012).

I would be really interested to hear people's thoughts on football in Scotland- just comment below!

"Crouch, touch, set"

Back in June, The International Rugby Board announced a trial for new scrum calls to be introduced throughout the rugby union game next season. There had been calls from various  corners to change the call the referee makes prior to the scrum. The new call - "crouch, touch, set" will replace the old "crouch, touch, pause, engage." Many believe that a high number of resets are due to this more prolonged process leading to scrums collapsing. For example, the two syllable word "en-gage" means that these extremely strong athletes react at different times compared to the short one syllable word "set".

Hopefully this will be slightly safer for the players involved but also a better, more fluent game for the spectators to watch. It is important to rugby that the scrum is not lost as the idea of two packs of men colliding with strength, power and technique is what makes the game unique. However, we shall have to wait three years while the IRB's Steering Group complete their findings. 

Have you been watching the domestic season so far? Do you think the new calls have made an impact on the game?

RIP Nevin Spence

Speaking of the domestic rugby union season over a month has past and the RaboDirect12 and Aviva Premiership are fully underway. Northampton sitting on top down south with five wins from five and Ulster doing the late Nevin Spence proud sitting top of the celtic league. A shocker so far for Sale whom signed an array of big players including Scotland's own Richie Gray but are currently sitting bottom of the league not having won a game. At the other end of the RaboDirect 12 it is both the Italian sides Treviso and Zebre whom again have failed to make much of an impact. Although, with the European competitions starting next weekend could we see a shift in team line ups and results? Will wait and see!

Here are the fixtures for both leagues this weekend;

Friday, 5 October 2012

Sale v Leicester, 20:00

Zebre v Ospreys, 18:05

Scarlets v Newport-Gwent D'gons, 19:05

Ulster v Connacht, 19:05

Edinburgh v Treviso, 19:30

Saturday, 6 October 2012

Gloucester v Bath, 14:15

Exeter v Harlequins, 15:00

London Irish v Northampton, 15:00

Cardiff Blues v Glasgow, 18:30

Leinster v Munster, 18:30

Sunday, 7 October 2012

London Welsh v Saracens, 14:15

Wasps v Worcester, 15:00

Miracle of Medinah

What makes the Ryder Cup so unique is that it's the rare occasion where Europe agree and come together in sport as one against the Yanks. There was the home pressure on US shoulders coupled with the hope for the long awaited return of the Ryder Cup versus the pressure on certain European players to perform and the emotion's flowing through Olazabel as captain, a close friend of the late Seve Ballesteros. Who was going to buckle and who was going to claim the 39th Ryder Cup?

Day one and first blood drawn to the US finishing the day 5-3 up. Colsaerts player of the day with 8 birdies and an eagle!

Day two and another morning of foursomes and afternoon of fourballs whereby it was looking extremely challenging for Europe finishing 10-6 down. Ian Poulter shining some light!

Day three and the final day. All the US team needed were 4 and a half more points to win whereas the Europeans had an enormous challenge to even get on par. Sunday's singles started bizarrely for "Snory" Rory McIllroy pitching up in a police car ten minutes before his tee off time. Apart from that, straight talking Donald opened with a winning scorecard for the Europeans allowing his fellow Englishmen to follow suit through Poulter and Rose. Lawrie who had been under par so far, showed his experience and class winning comfortably from Snedeker. Decibels started to escape the Chicago crowds "U-S-A" chants and everything got a little bit more tense. Was it time to believe? Could this be happening? The match had reached 10 a piece. Solid scoring from the Johnson's and Dufner tipped the balance back over but sassy Sergio had nicked it off trusty Furyk on the last! All hope lay with Kaymer. Could the not in form German hold his nerve and sink his second putt on the 18th and of course, he nailed it! Europe had retained the Ryder Cup. At this point they had thought it was all over but it wasn't quite yet the final singles finishing all square and Europe had WON THE RYDER CUP!

Watson v Donald 2&1
Simpson v Poulter 2UP
Bradley v McIlroy 2&1
Mickelson v Rose 1UP
Snedeker v Lawrie 5&3
3&2 D Johnson v Colsaerts
2&1 Z Johnson v McDowell
Furyk v Garcia 1UP
2UP Dufner v Hanson
Kuchar v Westwood 3&2
Stricker v Kaymer 1UP
Woods A/S Molinari

Final score = Europe 14 and a half vs. USA 13 and a half.

Unbelievable comeback from Europe and a devastating loss for Davis Love III and his men! A golf encounter full of beers, cheers and plenty of tears! Roll on Gleneagles 2014 and may the Seve spirit live on!

Ola Ola Ola Olaaaa!

Success stateside



Smiling at last!



With Federer crashing out in the quarters and  Nadal still out with injury, there appeared to potentially be only one man in the way of Andy Murray winning an elusive Grand Slam - the joker Djoko. Progressing to a two sets to love lead all the Scot had to do was win one more set and his dreams would be realised but who are we kidding?!  The Serb and world number one was not going anywhere taking the following two sets in 2 and 3. I have to admit at this point approaching 1.30am I decided to bail and drive home. Immediately I turned on 5Live in the car and Muzz had broken in the first game of the decider and the dream was still alive!! Listening to the whispering excitable commentators curled up in bed, it had finally happened 76 years since Fred Perry at the US Open, Murray had struck gold!! Finally he could  put all his doubters to rest as he elevated into a whole new world of tennis stardom- could this be the start of a British male dominating in tennis?
Murray is now defending his Japanese Open title and has continued his impressive run form by seeing off his Slovakian opponent in just 57 minutes in the first round. He is also featuring in the doubles with his older brother Jamie whom have now reached the quarter finals- good luck boys!



"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard"

Surprised medal didn't melt!

Over two months ago, I wrote my second post stating that I had entered the Great Scottish Run half marathon for my second year running. In the summer months I began to start taking my training seriously again with the help of an amazing friend and her personal training expertise. After listening to her advice I decided to switch from the half marathon to a 10k as it would be more achievable for me to train for a shorter distance while not disrupting my weekly training.

After receiving an email from my sister asking if I would like to enter the Clapham Common 10k my competitiveness took over and I couldn't say no. Unfortunately for me, Sunday 19th August turned out to be one of the hottest days on record! Waking up to 30 degrees heat was not ideal and I was nervous to say the least. Fair haired, peely wally and as many know I like to get my "sweat on" I was not looking forward to the challenge ahead. Aiming for under 50 minutes I finished the race in 52mins 42secs. I was disappointed although at the same time was happy to have not passed out from heat exhaustion! The course was full of turns and bends, different terrain and so it was not a straight forward road race but enjoyable to run in a well known area of London.

 Finish line!

My attention then turned to the Great Scottish Run 10k today and wanting to better my time and reach my goal. Setting off from George Square up St Vincent Street, I tried to ease myself into a good tempo in the first ten minutes. To be honest I wasn't feeling particularly great but I hit the half way mark in just under 25 minutes so I was on track for running under 50 minutes. Lots of different thoughts flash through my head while running but I thought this is my opportunity to  prove to myself that I can do it. Each kilometre from then on I was tracking my time and passing each marker in under 5 minutes. The final kilometre was a battle to the finish line in which I crossed in 48 minutes!

Tomorrow I will be able to find out my official time in the Sun newspaper but nonetheless this is the fastest time I have completed a 10k race. It has proven to me that my hard work over the summer in the gym, out in the field and on the road has paid off so far. It has only encouraged me even more to keep improving and pursue my dreams.
Let me know if you joined in the Great Scottish Run today or yesterday or have participated in a race recently? Feel free to comment below!!




Glasgow Green

 

Kick off.

This year the Premier League celebrates its second decade and there was certainly cause for celebration after some big scoring opening encounters. Memories flooded back to Manchester City's nail biting historic victory at the end of last season after witnessing their thrilling win over newly promoted side Southampton.

However not all the "bigger" clubs got off to winning ways with Sir Alex's team not out the starting blocks, newly appointed Rodgers off to a horrible start at Anfield and Reading causing Champion League winners Chelsea a mild mid-week scare. With just under a week to go until the summer transfer window closes it will be interesting to see what new signings are quick off the mark and perhaps the most anticipated action of all coming from the beast himself, Andy Carroll.

So here are the fixtures as they stand for the weekend along with my predictions:

Saturday 25th

Swansea vs. West Ham: A definite feel good factor around East London at the moment but Welsh side on a high from first game thrashing. 2-0 Swansea.

Aston Villa vs. Everton: Two Scottish managers go head to head (not rare for the PL I may add)! Most played fixture with Villa edging by two wins. 2-1 Everton.

Man Utd vs. Fulham: Possible debut back to back wins on the cards for Fulham in top flight but RVP set to start for the Reds. 3-2 Man U.

Norwich vs. QPR: Humping for Hughes side in opener and funnily enough a 5-0 defeat for the Canaries too- whose going to come out on top? 1-0 QPR.

Southampton vs. Wigan Both tough games so far for clubs, needed points on the board for both sides. 1-1.

Sunderland vs. Reading Biggest transfer from yesterday for Steven Fletcher so lets see if striker can deliver. This is a tough call. 3-1 Sunderland.

Tottenham vs. West Brom Great win for WBA but narrow defeat for Villa Boas side. 2-1 Spurs.

Chelsea vs. Newcastle Terry most likely out with neck injury but team sitting top of table. 2-0 Chelsea.

Sunday 26th

Stoke vs. Arsenal Must win for Gunners 2-2.

Liverpool vs. Man City Crucial for Liverpool to build on last weekend performance and last time Balotelli played at Anflied was sent off after 18 minutes yikes! 2-1 Man City.