| Martin Kelner: Stories of North v South hit target BBC4 identified a definite North-South divide in sport with their series based around the year 1960, and it is still very relevant todayThis week, sport in the Third World: Iraq, Kosovo and the North of England. Obviously, I'm joking about the North of England – at least until the government's spending review kicks in – but BBC4 identified a definite North-South divide in sport, action being markedly feistier north of the Trent.Admittedly that was in 1960, when David Storey's This Sporting Life was published. The novel featured heavily in the BBC4 programme 1960 – Year of the North, which stressed Storey's "impeccable northern pedigree".The writer was born in Wakefield, the son of a miner, and played rugby league for Leeds. In an archive interview, he recalled how his epoch-making novel was born when a ball landed at his feet during a game at Leeds and he realised that if he picked it up he would get his teeth knocked in. Frankly you cannot get more impeccably northern than that.Even that, though, was not enough for northerners sporting chips on both shoulders in the traditional fashion. Storey gave an interview at the time in which he claimed to live in "working-class Hampstead", which had folk up here spluttering into their pints of mild and cocking quizzical snooks at their whippets, believing "working-class Hampstead" to be a myth, like Narnia or the Widnes stockbroker belt. All Storey meant, I suspect, was that he was more Gospel Oakish than up by the Heath.The programme reclaimed Storey for the North and illustrated the difference between the sporting North and South of 1960 with contemporary newsreels, showing hats at Royal Ascot followed by rugby league at Wigan. I have to confess to being a sucker for this kind of stuff, and when it is accompanied by a soundtrack featuring atmospheric pre-Beatles pop, including Billy Fury's Wondrous Place, a captive audience is assured round my gaff.A couple of telling scenes from the film of This Sporting Life, of which regular readers will know I am an admirer, were shown. Despite Richard Harris's accent, which settles uncomfortably somewhere between Caerphilly and Cleckheaton, the scene in which his character, Frank Machin, signs as a professional for £1,000, a substantial sum at the time, is beautifully done and still relevant today. As Stuart Maconie, an expert witness on the show, sagely observed, Machin is a man in a donkey jacket surrounded by men in suits."This pre-dates today's footballers," said Maconie. "Just like Machin, young people usually from humble origins suddenly have to deal with riches being heaped upon them." When Machin is shown blustering aggressively in an upmarket restaurant, bolstered by his new fortune, it is not a million miles away from the popular urban myth of the Premier League footballer – choose your name – setting fire to fifty-pound notes in a nightclub.Adrian Chiles, hosting Arsenal's Champions League match on ITV, pointed out that no London team has ever won Europe's top prize, whereas the names of Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Celtic are on the trophy, some more than once. The pundit Andy Townsend reckoned that while Arsenal might play pretty football in the early stages, they never seem to have the grit and determination to go all the way. It is probably too simplistic to put it down to a lack of the right sort of pies.In some countries, mind you, merely competing in international competition shows you are made of the right stuff. Transworld Sport on Sky told the story of the 21-year-old Kosovan weightlifter Orges Tafilaj, who receives no funding, is his own coach and appears to train by running round and round a small garrett and looking for weightlifting tips on the internet.Now he is proud to be blazing a trail for the young country, taking part in a competition in Turkey that he has no chance of winning.I do love these features on Transworld Sport, underlining not just the redemptive power of sport but the fact that whatever problems we face in the UK they are, to quote Tom Courtenay as Billy Liar in Year of the North, neither mickling nor muckling.• This article was amended on 20 September 2010. The original said that Iraq played West Germany in football's 1974 World Cup. This has been corrected.Rugby leagueMartin Kelnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Va. Tech blanks BC 19-0 to rebound from bad start By JIMMY GOLEN 2010-09-25T19:56:31ZBOSTON (AP) -- Virginia Tech cornerback Jayron Hosley intercepted Dave Shinskie in the end zone, and linebacker Davon Morgan stopped the Boston College quarterback at the goal line as time ran out in the first half to help the Hokies shut out the Eagles 19-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams on Saturday.... hosted.ap.org |
NHL teams get the superhero treatment from master Stan Lee Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee and the NHL are collaborating on The Guardian Project, creating a superhero for each of the league's 30 teams ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Downtown ballpark could cost $48M Birmingham city council members will vote Tuesday on a lodging tax extension and increase to fund a Westin hotel and baseball park after the city’s budget and finance committee unanimously recommended the plan Wednesday. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Hull City 1-2 Portsmouth | Championship match report When the Portsmouth manager, Steve Cotterill, came off the pitch after watching his side win, he still could not say if his club would be in existence. Cotterill praised his players who had survived not 24 hours of uncertainty – he said – but "four months" worth, describing how the newer players had been the most unsettled going into the game, while the older, more jaded, players were, "a bit battle-hardened to it"."We said today for the sake of football we were going to turn out here and play the game," he said. "Because there would have been an expectation … All the other politics, it was easy to screw that up and lob it in the bin."Portsmouth's latest twist in the tale is one of a duo of jaw-dropping Championship narratives. Hull and Portsmouth, relegated from the Premier League last season, had hoped to make announcements securing their future last Friday – Hull expecting that local businessman Assem Allam would negotiate a deal with the current owner, Russell Bartlett, injecting much-needed finance into £30m of debt, while Portsmouth had promised an end to administration – but both were left in limbo, with Portsmouth apparently contemplating their very existence."Broke in the morning, we're going broke in the morning" sang the Portsmouth fans who had made the long journey. At least a third win in a row, taking Portsmouth to 12th in the table, gave them something to celebrate.Hull's supporters had begun the afternoon with a display of solidarity, applauding the visitors as the stadium announcer wished them an escape from the brink but, after a second successive defeat left Nigel Pearson's side two points above the drop zone, the cheers turned to boos.David Nugent, in fine form, opened the scoring after 45 minutes, prompting screams for offside after picking up a long ball from John Utaka and striking home.Pompey were two up minutes into the second half when a foul on David Kitson gave away a free kick on the edge of the area and Greg Halford scored a debut goal for his loan side.Nick Barmby pulled one back for Hull, the 36-year-old heading home at the near post, but the defeat left Pearson inconsolable, Hull's manager snapping his way through the press conference. "I am very concerned," he said, angrily sipping water. "The job's a little bit bigger than first anticipated in terms of things that need to be corrected."A rant against referees followed, before Pearson hit burning point as one journalist asked whether Jimmy Bullard was any closer to returning from injury. "You got a fixation with him or something? You ask the same thing every week," he said, before banging down his glass and storming out.At least he did not have to face questions about a possible dissolution of the club. Certainly, Portsmouth's fans have lived through enough ups and downs to ride that storm. Up and down the platform of Hull's main train station there were shouts of "Enjoy it boys, this could be the end". The statement on Portsmouth's website that claimed the club will be "closed down and liquidated" was met with gallows humour.But there was anger too, several hundred fans railing against those in charge of such a colossal mess. The millionaire former owners, above all, drew derision, transient figures who have haunted the club even after making their exit. Sulaiman al-Fahim popped along for a day out to watch Portsmouth's victory against Millwall, while Balram Chainrai's many months of failed promises has failed to bring stability to the club.Most recently, Sacha Gaydamak has sent things into panic mode as he allegedly demanded a lump sum of £2.5m at the eleventh hour. Gaydamak has his own version of events, but whatever the truth, supporters are angry at being caught up in a power struggle. Some consider staging a protest at Fratton Park tomorrow afternoon. Cotterill would probably approve. "This is a proper football club," he said. "We don't have plastic fans."They won't stand for a plastic solution either.Hull CityPortsmouthAnna Kesselguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |