RIP Alex Higgins

One-of-a-kind, snooker player Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins has died, aged 61, from throat cancer. He was literally a shadow of his former self when he died, weighing just 6 stone and having lost most of his teeth. A sad end to an extraordinary (in the true sense of the word) sportsman - he was truly out of the ordinary. He made me laugh (and gasp) at some of his outrageous, seemingly illconsidered snooker shots, reminding me of my own approach to the game: 'have a go and see what happens'!

Former world champion Stephen Hendry said about Higgins: “He wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea but he was a great player and he’ll be sadly missed. When I was just starting out as a professional it was always exciting when you played him – you never knew what to expect."

A maverick, Higgins was from an earlier era of snooker, when it was more of a novelty on television and the likes of Ray Reardon, Doug Mountjoy, Terry Griffiths, Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor (he of the upside-down glasses) kept us up watching late into the night at the end of knife-edge competitions. Alex was world champion in 1972 and 1982.

BBC: Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins - A Life in Pictures

Daily Telegraph: '...snooker's first great anti-hero...'

Amazon.co.uk link:

Kayak snowcross

Gold medal for Amy Williams

Amy Williams slid to an Olympic gold for Great Britain in Whistler, Canada, smashing the women's Olympic skeleton track record for the second time in as many days as she obliterated her rivals to triumph by a huge 0.56-second advantage.

Story from the News of the World

The Passenger - animation short

http://chrisj.com.au/thepassenger/

and here's another Passenger:

It's Samba time in Rio

It's Samba time for the Rio Cariocas, as they win the race to host the 2016 Olympics. Mr & Mrs Obama sure ain't happy...

Chicago lose race for 2016 Olympics

Barrack Hussein Obama II - not a man who likes to lose (or waste a transatlantic trip to Copenhagen).

View partial source: Times Online story & Google blog.

US Open: Federer toppled by del Potro

Juan Martin del Potro wins the US Open, stopping Federer dead in his tracks after he had already won the first two sets. So, the road to glory for Andy Murray is not as straight as he might have thought. There is a new contender to Federer's crown - and he's already wearing it.

Partial source: Times Online

Nice one, cobber: fair play

Sometimes it is about grander

things than winning

from Times Online, 31 Jul 2009 by Matthew Syed

Is it just me or do you have a warm and tingly feeling? England v Australia, mortal enemies battling it out for the ultimate urn in Test cricket, and yet a sense of fair play has descended upon Edgbaston.

Justice, humanity and chivalry are in the air: things that many of us feared had departed cricket, what with the sledging, baiting and all-round nastiness that so often disfigure the global game.

Andrew Strauss did not have to allow the Aussies to replace their stricken wicketkeeper when he injured himself during the warm-up. Australia had already announced their line-up, signed on the dotted line and made the whole thing public. It was irrevocable, on a point of law.

Straussy could have said: “Sorry, mate, would love to help and all that, but rules is rules.” But he didn’t. He thought about it for a couple of minutes, discussed it with the team manager, waved his moral compass about and decided that he couldn’t, in all conscience, force Australia to play without a specialist keeper.

He took a moral view. Not a win-at-all-costs view. Not the kind of view that you might imagine emerging from an England cricket captain — or his counterpart, come to that.

It is sometimes thought that sport is red in tooth and claw, no better than the bear pit, a moral-free vacuum for unconscionable sorts to give each other a really hard time. An arena for cheats and bullies to try to get away with as much as possible while the ref is looking the other way.

And, truth be told, it sometimes seems that way to me, too.

But on occasions it is possible to glimpse something different, something grander: individuals who would rather lose than breach, not just the rules, but the spirit of the game; individuals who never lose sight of the wider dimension. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Adam Gilchrist: all men who made it to the pinnacle without compromising their values.

These are people who understand that there are things in life, things in sport, that elevate the whole damn thing beyond the merry-go-round of victory and defeat; things that make the thing worth caring about.

Strauss, with his decision, in the midst of the most important series of his career, proved that he understands that too.

* Spoof Strauss v Ponting blog

Tom Daley dives into record books

15-year-old Brit, Tom Daley, became Britain’s first diving world champion when he beat his Olympic rivals in the final round of the Swimming World Championships held in Rome. Something to celebrate (because Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the three remaining Ashes tests).

Bookie has a heart

Bookmakers Paddy Power refunded all losing bets on the Cardiff Blues v Leicester Heineken Cup rugby semi-final after it ended in a five-kicker penalty shoot-out that split opinion. Cardiff came back from 26-12 down after 74 minutes to end 26-26 the main game, but then went on to lose the shoot-out 7-6 to Leicester. 44,212 people enjoyed the first-time spectacle in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. A golden try in sudden-death extra time or even the toss of a coin might be better than this debacle?

The Bees win League Two title

I wouldn't call myself a football fan in any true sense of the word, but I have 'supported' our local team, Brentford, since 1966. So, I take great satisfaction in seeing The Bees heading back to League One football next season, after being in the doldrums of the relegation zone of the Coca-Cola Football League Two last season. Brentford manager, Andy Scott, earned his 5-year contract by putting Brentford at the top since mid-February and keeping The Bees well and truly humming. The team are off to Las Vegas to celebrate a job well done.

* The BBC Sport site tells the story here.

Brentford - top of League 2

As good as it gets?