of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup is an intriguing contest between Germany - the dominant world power of recent years, who have now added a stubborn defence to an impressive list of attributes - and Brazil - the 16-1 pre-tournament outsiders who have thrilled spectators and 91Èȱ¬ viewers alike during the past three weeks with skill, flair and stunning goals.
For me, the BUPA Great North Run is one of the greatest days of the sporting year. The sight of fifty thousand runners heading across the iconic , as they make their way from Newcastle to South Shields, is both inspirational and emotional.
Everyone on the 91Èȱ¬ team is moved by the endeavours of those taking part and moved by the stories which are uncovered. The world's biggest half marathon is so much more than just a 13.1 mile journey; not only a time for marvelling at the excellence of the elite runners but also celebrating the achievements of thousands of unsung heroes raising millions of pounds for charity. We can also admire the many famous names taking part who are putting their reputations on the line.
However, there is one famous name who stands out this year. She'll be that Pied Piper leading the masses down the course, focusing absolutely on the task at hand. Yes for and for the first time since she gave birth to baby daughter Isla.
With her sights set on the Olympic marathon in next summer, Paula Radcliffe begins her comeback on a course she knows well. She's won the race twice before - in 2000 and 2003 setting a course record of 65 minutes 40 seconds in the process - she is a great favourite on Tyneside. "I love the Great North, have many happy memories and always get such great support there".
Thanks for all your comments.
There was one person unhappy about , feeling the 91Èȱ¬ was wrong to highlight the drugs issue, whilst not covering cycling all that often.
I would point out that the 91Èȱ¬ did have some of the rights. It is also hard to think the drugs issue wasn't a worthy one to do on Inside Sport when the Tour de France had experienced a drugs problem for the second year running.
I hope the piece illustrated not only the problem - for example the difference in views about punishment for dopers was neatly illustrated by Millar and Wiggins and reflected again this week, as the Italians and Spanish refused to do Pat McQuaid's bidding on the doping issue - but also showed what some teams are trying to do to combat doping.
| 19:05 UK time, Tuesday, 25 September 2007
What with , , , , , , and - it's not been a bad week for sporting headlines.
But I think I can, perhaps uniquely, claim to have witnessed the two most dramatic sporting events of even this weekend of weekends.
The first was on Friday night at Odsal in the Super League play-offs when Wigan Warriors came from 30-6 down with 25 minutes to play to shock the Bradford Bulls and the home fans with an .
Twenty four matches down, eight to go in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and England are still there!
I wrote last week of the effect qualifying from the World Cup group stage could mean for women's football in this country and Hope Powell's side got there in style on Monday with a comfortable 6-1 victory over Argentina to set up a quarter-final clash against the pre-tournament favourites USA in Tianjin tomorrow (kick off 1300 BST - live on 91Èȱ¬ One).
| 13:16 UK time, Friday, 21 September 2007
Mourinho leaving Chelsea… the biggest sports story of the year? Almost certainly, for many of the reasons my colleague Richard has explained in his blog.
So did you feel the 91Èȱ¬ did it justice?
Around two years ago, I went for lunch with .
Ok, it wasn't just me - had invited sports editors from across the national media for an informal and off-the-record chat with their charismatic, and occasionally combustible, manager.
Mourinho held court for around two hours - he was captivating company...
Our interactive TV offerings have increased dramatically since I first started working in this area in 2001.
Back then we had just two events to work on - Tennis and . Now there is rarely a day in the week when we don't have something to show via the red button.
This goes a long way in explaining my rapid hair-loss, but our increased output has also caused us a headache for the platform. Monday mornings now regularly bring a host of e-mails from unhappy Freeview viewers who had expected to see their favoured sport via the red button, only to find that someone else's favoured sport is there instead.
As you’re reading a sports blog there’s a fair chance you might just be a sports fan and, as such, over recent weeks you’ve been spoilt with a cascade of output featuring , and .
As if three World Cups were not enough for you, this week will be bringing you two other outstanding sporting events as in the crucial World Group play-off tie at Wimbledon and Europe’s best golfers battle it out over for the British Masters title, top-class tennis and golf from two of the most famous sporting venues in the world.
Advance notice of a schedule change on 91Èȱ¬ Television this weekend.
After the success of England's women footballers in getting through the group stage of the in China, we'll be showing their quarter-final match live on 91Èȱ¬ ONE on Saturday. The kick-off's at 1300 BST.
So, England stand poised to clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the - can our nerves stand it?
means that a two-goal win over Argentina - who are and out of the competition - in Chengdu on Monday will earn Hope Powell's side a place in the last eight, and the likelihood of a meeting with the tournament favourites, USA, in Tianjin next Saturday.
which produced 11 goals with no reply, but , so it's hard to predict how they will perform against England.
What is for sure is that Argentina have now played two goalkeepers in this tournament and both have made crucial mistakes. Should England create anywhere near the 19 chances they did against Japan, then surely they should be OK.
Apologies to any Irish readers who probably haven't enjoyed this footballing week too much, but the rest of us return to following our clubs this weekend buoyed by some fine international results.
Wales won't qualify for , but a suggested better times ahead. England performed well twice at Wembley and may just have hit upon a winning formula through injury and suspension. Those of us old enough to remember the , and the enforced changes which eventually produced a balanced side, have been busy drawing parallels. Some older hands have even been suggesting that Wayne Rooney may be the Jimmy Greaves of 2008 - any opportunity to drag '66 into everything it seems! And, in any case, qualifying is still going to be difficult enough without debating team selection for next summer just yet.
| 12:02 UK time, Friday, 14 September 2007
It was kind of inevitable following the excitement of the that 2007 might not live up to the same billing. Nobody, however, expected to display such total dominance this year and stand on the brink of his first world title with five races still to go.
Without doubt the have played their part but the teams have also struggled to compete with the outstanding Ducati package. Honda failed to mount a defence of Nicky Hayden’s title and he needed to keep up with Casey.
It could all be decided on Sunday but the Ducati rider still needs Rossi to finish 15 points behind him and I’m not sure the season is over yet.
We're announcing today that the is coming to 91Èȱ¬ Television and this . As one of the world's greatest sporting events, we've covered it on Radio 5 live for some years; but now we've agreed with the that it will be live on 91Èȱ¬ TWO from next February.
Along with live transmission of the Super Bowl, the 91Èȱ¬ has acquired highlights to the NFL game at . Whatever your level of knowledge of American football, this will be quite an occasion: the first regular season NFL match outside the Americas, thousands of travelling supporters from the US and even more British fans getting a chance to see the sport touch down at Wembley.
It was a different kind of edition of this week. We had filmed an interesting interview with before he flew off to South Africa to the but we also secured an interview with a couple of days before the programme.
So we had two big interviews not just one. It's interesting to read some of the - there were some who thought Christine came across very well but thought she should have simply had the drug testers into the family home and not worried about the disruption to her family if that's what it took to guarantee being there for the tests.
Another super busy sporting weekend and plenty of interesting feedback from you.
The Rugby World Cup kicked into gear on Saturday and Sunday with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales picking up wins. For those disappointed that the tournament is not on 91Èȱ¬ TV, rest assured we are disappointed too, but bidding for sporting rights is a complex and competitive process and ITV remains the UK broadcaster of this event for the time being.
To compensate, we have really ramped up our radio and online coverage. As well as the extensive match coverage, many of you are enjoying the fans-eye view of our roving bloggers Tom and Ben, 5live are producing a regular podcast and then there's Dropclick, our interactive rugby knowledge game.
Match of the Day is one of the longest running TV shows on the 91Èȱ¬, its familar theme tune enough to get the heartbeat racing of football fans everywhere.
So when I, a humble Sunday league hacker, was asked on the off chance, would I "mind" helping out by appearing in a new set of opening titles being filmed for the Women's World Cup, I leapt at the chance like Maradona on banned substances.
If only because I felt I could at least try to prevent the kind of dodgy pretend women's football performed by the likes of Dee Hepburn in .
My job, and that of a team-mate from my club (), was to act the opposition to England stars Kelly Smith, Rachel Yankey and Faye White. You will see the results of our efforts when Match of the Day kicks of at 1250 BST today (on the red button and online) for the Germany v Argentina game (highlights on 91Èȱ¬ TWO at 2350 BST) - that is unless I'm left on the cutting room floor...
This coming Monday, 10 September sees the start of the in China - are there and hopes are high of a successful tournament for Hope Powell's side.
It is the first time in 12 years that England have reached the World Cup finals. Back then, in , England got to the last eight where they fell 3-0 to eventual finalists Germany.
This time around, Germany are placed alongside England, Argentina and Japan in Group A. The Germans remain a major power in women's football, and her side are reigning World Cup and European champions and start this tournament second-favourites behind the USA.
I don’t know if you can hear that distant rumbling but that’s the sound of a British team gathering momentum and starting to become a force on the world stage ahead of .
For years, gymnastics was a sport everyone would watch with awe at the Olympics, watch other countries take home the medals and then watch it disappear over the horizon for another four years.
But then along came and with every final she made and every medal she won, our expectations grew and grew, culminating in that .
I’m lucky enough to have a job that takes me to some of the greatest sporting events that the calendar throws up. Watching that 90-second routine on the uneven bars from the commentary box in Aarhus will always be imprinted in my mind as one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever seen. She became Britain’s first gymnastics world champion with a display of the utmost talent, poise and sheer force of will.
There’s been a lot of talk about role models recently – and sport can play its part too.
Boxer Amir Khan has been doing his bit, launching the for 2007.
The Olympic silver medallist is one of 15 ambassadors helping to promote the search for volunteers who make a real difference to sport in your region.
Sporting greats Matthew Pinsent, Colin Jackson and Dame Mary Peters are among other regional ambassadors.
| 15:20 UK time, Thursday, 6 September 2007
It was very sad to hear of the news of the death of .
He will, for many, be most associated with his wonderful rendition of the aria "", which was used famously as the theme tune for the 91Èȱ¬'s 1990 World Cup coverage.
Watch the 91Èȱ¬'s Italia 90 titles
Since the announcement of his death, we have had quite a few queries as to how this piece of music came to be chosen for that event.
Hello again!
Thanks, as ever, for all your comments after the first show of our new series of . I'll be blogging again soon to let you know what to look forward to over the series, but for now I want to reply to the points you made, both on my last post and our page.
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Yes we will be covering the - we have a piece from Jacqui Oatley coming probably for September 24th and of course Gabby will be presenting .
Arguably the best European Championship finals of all time were won by a Michel Platini-inspired host nation, . It's unthinkable now, but British television only showed two games live during the whole tournament: the final and a group game between West Germany and Spain.
This happened even though the 91Èȱ¬ and ITV had the rights to show as much as they wanted to of the tournament. That incredible - 3-2 after extra-time with John Motson's finest ever commentary on Platini's late winner - was only transmitted as late-night highlights.
How will people rate ? Not highly if you consider no world records were broken or you judge them by the size of the crowds which were on the whole disappointing. Nevertheless, and produced many .
Who were your athletes of the Games?
I suppose , including the 100/200 double, put him in pole position. Indeed the American team did very well with the likes of and reaffirming their undoubted talent. Female athlete of the Games? Well must have a good claim but impressed too.
If England don't qualify for , who will you blame?
The simple answer is that most people will probably point the finger at manager Steve McClaren. He will be the obvious - and perhaps easy - scapegoat for the side's failure.
But surely the truth is that England's problems go much deeper than one man.
- as featured on Inside Sport - highlights the challenges facing McClaren and as they look to build a national senior side which not only qualifies for major tournaments but occasionally wins them too.
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