Sporting Weekly Rundown Podcast Week 2

Hello guys, it might be 24 hours late, but here is the second Sporting Weekly Rundown podcast from ALN's Sports team, discussing the Premier League title race, a review of the Super Bowl, our picks for the 6 Nations and more.Presented by Me (@DavidVenables1) and featuring contributions for Rob Britton (@Rob_Britton_92), Randy Brenzen (@Brenzen00) and Lloyd Adams (@lloydus7).

Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/david-venables-1/sporting-weekly-rundown

Previewing Super Bowl XLVII - Let the "Har-Bowl" commence!

On Sunday, over 100 million people across the globe will be tuning into their television sets with eager anticipation of the most watched sporting event of the year: the Super Bowl, where the Baltimore Ravens take on the San Francisco 49ers for the Lombardi Trophy at New Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Though being the 47th edition of the final game of the NFL season, this has several “firsts” leading into it. It will be the first time two opposing head coaches have been brothers, with John Harbaugh leading out the Ravens, while brother Jim takes charge of the 49ers. Both franchises are also undefeated in the Super Bowl, with the Ravens winning in their only appearance in 2001, and San Francisco winning all five of their previous final game match-ups. Therefore, not only is it the first time two undefeated teams in Super Bowl history have faced each other, the team that wins this game will be the only team left with a perfect Super Bowl record after multiple appearances. So, with reputations on the line, and players hungry to etch their names into footballing folklore, let’s take a look at how the two sides stack up.

Jim and John Harbaugh - First brothers to be NFL Coaches on opposites sides in a Super Bowl.

The Baltimore Ravens had a pretty unremarkable regular season. After going 12-4 and coming within a dropped catch and missed field goal of a Super Bowl appearance in 2011, the Ravens struggled to take most of that momentum with them. Defensively, they were hit with injuries to key players such as Terrell Suggs, who won Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 before tearing his Achilles, ruling him out until week seven, and veteran linebacker Ray Lewis. Crucially, with Lewis in the team, the Ravens went 5-1. Without him, they slumped to 5-5, losing the chance at securing a home-field tie in the playoffs and instead gaining the 4th seeding with a 10-6 record. While injuries beset the defense, offensively, the Ravens were worryingly inconsistent. Fifth-year quarterback Joe Flacco threw for a career best 3,817 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. For every ounce the Ravens offense was great at home, away, they were stagnant, often dim-witted. The failings were so obvious that despite having a 9-4 record at the time, Harbaugh fired his offensive co-ordinator and one time mentor Cam Cameron, replacing him with Jim Caldwell. It was a bold move, but one that paid dividends in the playoffs, with Flacco throwing for 8 touchdowns and no interceptions.

 

For all their flaws though, the Ravens played with one thing that you couldn’t find in most teams: heart. They played for each other. John Harbaugh installed a “family” ethos into the Ravens camp since he took over as head coach in 2008, and it shone through this season more than ever. Wide receiver Torrey Smith played against the New England Patriots in week three mere hours after his brother, Tevin, died tragically in a motorcycle accident. Though Harbaugh said he could leave the team and be with his family he decided to play, saying “it was the right thing to do, for me, my family and for Tevin.” He went on to collect six receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Ravens to win by a single point. Long-time owner Art Modell also died just before the regular season started, and the team dedicated their entire season to him. These adversities made the team stronger and instilled with them a belief and confidence in each other that they could go all the way. They played with such confidence that, according to NFL correspondent for BBC Radio Lancashire Dan McDermott, during the tense overtime period away at the Denver Broncos in the divisional round playoff match, “In the offensive huddle Marshal Yanda revealed team were laughing at icicles in his beard.” This ease was again demonstrated a week later in Foxborough. While Ravens fans were nervous, desperate to see their team avenge the agonising defeat against the Patriots a year earlier, “cornerback Jimmy Smith was out on the field playing a bit of air guitar.” Some may call it arrogance, some a display of over-confidence, but whatever it is, it’s working right now. Their emotional leader, Lewis, announced he would retire after this season. This is his last shot at another ring, his team knows that, and they are fighting to help him achieve his and their collective dream.

 Ray Lewis - Baltimore Ravens' emotional leader announced his retirement at the end of the 2012 season.

The 49ers had a far smoother route to the Super Bowl, but it didn’t stop them from making just as many bold decisions as the Ravens camp. Starting quarterback Alex Smith, a 2005 first round draft pick who led them to the NFC championship game in 2011, was replaced by second year talent Colin Kaepernick after Smith suffered a concussion mid-season. Despite being third in overall passer rating and with Kaepernick being untested, Jim Harbaugh decided to stick with the more versatile QB in Kaepernick, leaving Smith benched after he had recovered. Harbaugh’s bold move paid off, with Kaepernick leading the 49ers to an 11-4-1 record, the second best in the NFC behind the Atlanta Falcons. Kaepernick demonstrated all the traits of the “new style” of quarterback, where legwork often had to match arm strength, ushered in with the 2012 rookies of Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, and veterans such as Michael Vick. This “new style” was never more evident than when Kaepernick ran for 181 yards, a single game NFL rushing record by a QB, in the divisional round vs the Green Bay Packers. Kaepernick then again proved his mettle by steering the 49ers past the highly fancied Falcons after turning around a 17-0 deficit, the biggest comeback in NFC championship history.

It’s not just offensively that the 49ers got it right this year. Defensively, they have been outstanding. They ranked 2nd overall for fewest points allowed per game, and all four of their linebackers, Aldon Smith, NaVorro Bowman, Patrick Willis and Ahmad Brooks, made the 2012 All-Pro team. Smith also set a franchise record with 19.5 sacks, while Pro-Bowl selection Justin Smith led the line with 66 tackles and 3 sacks. Special Teams though is where the 49ers have struggled. Veteran kicker David Akers converted only 69% of his attempted field goals, including missing a simple 38-yard kick against the Falcons weeks ago. Though beating out Billy Cundiff, the man who missed a similar, game tying, field goal in the championship game in 2011 for the Ravens, during the playoffs, questions still remain over his reliability to kick crucial points for the 49ers.

Colin Kaepernick - Replaced Alex Smith as 49ers starting QB mid-season.

Either team will obviously have to be on top form to stand a chance of winning on Sunday. For the Ravens, they have to do a better job at stopping a versatile QB. They lost to both RGIII’s Redskins and Vick’s Eagles in the regular season, struggling to contain the read option playbooks employed by both. Kaepernick and 49ers running back Frank Gore will look to exploit the weak run defense of the Ravens once more. However, neither RGIII or Vick made it out of those respective games healthy, and if Kaepernick does leave the safety of his pocket, he better be aware of the fury contained in the Ravens defense, or he could end up being carted out of the Superdome, potentially along with the 49ers’ Super Bowl dreams.  While keeping Kaepernick healthy, the 49ers need to be aware of the dangers possessed by Flacco. With new co-ordinator Caldwell, Flacco has extended his range of passing to encompass the deeps balls to Smith, plus shorter route passes to tight end Dennis Pitta or receiver Anquan Boldin. Not only this, but the no-huddle offense now incorporates running back Ray Rice to a degree where the 49ers will have to be wary of any gaps in the line.

So the stage is set, the “Har-Bowl”, as it has come to be known, is almost upon us. It is very striking that both teams can be so similar, not only by having the same blood on opposing side-lines, but also in their play. Both teams benefitted from bold mid-season calls. Both teams have physical defenses that are dominant in the red zone. Both teams have quarterbacks that can get the job done in big game situations. Both teams have stars in every position that could potentially be difference makers. These factors are all why this game is so hard to call. The form-book tells you the 49ers should win, the fairy-tale tells you the Ravens have to win. Knowing which team’s dreams will play out is the question that awaits to be answered very soon indeed.

Sporting Weekly Rundown Podcast - Week 1

Hello everyone, and happy new year!

Exciting times have happened over the past few weeks, and as a result, the Sporting Weekly Rundown will now be available as a podcast for you all to devour over the next seven or so weeks.

So without further ado, here's the first edition, where I, along with Arts London News' Sports Team of Rob Britton, Danny Butterwick and Nathan Evans, tackle the FA Cup weekend, the Australian Open finals, the final cricket ODI between England and India, plus preview the 6 Nations and the Superbowl.

I hope you all enjoy, and stay tuned next week for another Sporting Weekly Rundown podcast.

Sporting Weekly Rundown Podcast Week 1

Success or bust? The return of Michael Schumacher

When Michael Schumacher announced he would be returning to Formula One in December 2009, the motor-racing community didn’t react with quite the enthrallment that would be expected of the sport’s statistically most successful racer coming back for a final hurrah. After all, sport has seen many comebacks fail to live up to the hype. The iconic swimmer Ian Thorpe’s attempts to qualify for London 2012 spring to mind, as well as tennis legend Bjorn Borg failing to win any of his 12 matches in his 1991 comeback. Some have been more successful, like Michael Jordan returning in 1995 from an ill-fated spell in Minor League Baseball to lead the Chicago Bulls to three championships from 1996-98, and George Foreman returning after a ten-year absence from boxing to become the oldest World Heavyweight Champion in history at the tender age of 45, but what would a return hold for “Schumi”? Now that he has once again announced he will retire after the Brazilian Grand Prix in a week’s time, it seems appropriate to try and answer that very question.

Michael Schumacher is waving good-bye to Formula One once again at the end of the season

The 2010 season saw Schumacher mired in mediocrity, struggling to out-perform his team-mate Nico Rosberg. It was also the first season ever in which he had failed to finish on the podium, with a race victory, a pole position or fastest lap. Though continuing his working relationship with Ross Brawn, the technical mastermind behind his five successive titles at Ferrari from 2000-2005, the Mercedes he was in never seemed to suit his racing style. Though both cars were designed for different racers (Schumacher’s was designed initially for Jenson Button before he left for McLaren, and Rosberg’s for Rubens Barrichello who moved to Williams), Rosberg seemed to cope better with the Mercedes’ set-up, and as a result led to Schumacher finishing in 9th position in the drivers’ standings, two places behind Rosberg. His failings that year brought the first murmurs from people that he was “past it”, though former-world champion and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso did state “he will always be super-class. If the car is right, he will be a contender that we will fear the most.”

2011 was marginally more successful for Schumacher, with strong performances including a 4th place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix and two 5th place finishes in Belgium and Italy. Also at the Japanese Grand Prix, he become the oldest driver since Jack Brabham in 1970 to lead a race, the first time he had led a lap since the same race in 2006. He ended up finishing the season in 8th place, a one place improvement on the previous year. Nevertheless, he still finished the season behind Rosberg, and there were signs that Schumacher was becoming more and more disgruntled in the sport The revelation from Brawn that there was a “break-clause” in Schumacher’s contract allowing him to walk away at the end of 2011, a year shy of the three year contract agreed, plus rumours of Mercedes trying to negotiate a contract with Red Bull Racing’s reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel for a 2012 drive, added fuel to the fire of Schumacher’s imminent departure. This never materialised though, and Schumacher added himself at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix “I have always said it’s a three-year programme, and that’s what it is”.

This season though has been somewhat of an unmitigated disaster for Schumacher. With one race left, he is lying 15th in the drivers’ standings, a whopping 50 points and seven places behind Rosberg, and over 200 points behind leader Vettel. Though this is quite clearly dreadful, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Schumacher has actually put in some of the best races of his return this year, but the luck has not fallen his way, with numerous mechanical failures and accidents leading to him retiring from seven races this season. In the first race in Australia, he was running third until a gear-box failure retired his car. The following race in Malaysia he qualified third but finished 10th after being hit from behind by Renault’s Romain Grosjean on the first lap. In China, he locked out the front-row with Rosberg, starting second, but had to retire after a mechanic failed to secure a wheel properly in the pits. Rosberg went onto win his first ever Grand Prix and Mercedes’ first since 1955. He then qualified on Pole for the first time in his comeback at Monaco, only for a gearbox change from the previous outing in Bahrain leading to a five-place grid penalty, eventually starting him sixth. Finally though he had some reward, after a chaotic European Grand Prix, a collision between Pastor Maldonado’s Williams and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton a lap from the end meant that he overtook both, finishing in 3rd. This led to him becoming the oldest driver since Brabham to achieve a podium placed finish. That was where Schumacher’s luck deserted him completely though, and it was announced in September that he would be replaced by Hamilton, leading to him announcing his retirement in October, stating “There were times in the past few months in which I didn’t want to deal with Formula One or prepare for the next Grand Prix”.

Schumacher standing on the podium in Valencia this year. The only time he achieved a podium-place in his comeback

So what went wrong? Well at the initial age of 41, many, including motorsport legends Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart, claimed that Schumacher wasn’t going to be at peak physical condition for a return to a sport that places the human body under enormous strain. This was summed up before he’d even stepped foot into a Formula One car again, as his return was actually delayed. He had initially signed up to replace a severely injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari for part of the 2009 season, but failed fitness tests due to a neck injury. Though the neck issue was resolved well enough for him to return to compete full time for Mercedes, concerns that he was just simply too old to recapture his old form of seven world title wins never went away.

The team he joined also was a shadow of its former self. The previous year they had won the driver and constructor championships, under the guise of Brawn GP, with Button and Barrichello at the wheels. But behind the scenes, the team was still reeling from parent owners Honda pulling out of the sport, leading to major cut-backs and redundancies. As a result, never, apart from at China this season, has Mercedes ever looked like challenging the front-runners (Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari), and has often spent most of its time fighting in the midfield.

So is this a real fall from grace? Andrew Benson, the BBC’s chief Formula One correspondent believes this isn’t the case. “Schumacher was one of the very greatest (drivers) there has ever been. And nothing that has happened in the past 3 years can take that away”. Though it has not been the glittering ending to the career the Schumacher envisaged, or had when he initially stepped away, his achievements on the race-track are still unparalleled. The sport will miss Schumi, but maybe this time, the feelings won’t be quite as mutual.

The Expansion of Sport

We’re fresh off the back of another successful regular season NFL game being played in London, this time with the New England Patriots pummelling the St Louis Rams 45-7 in a one-sided contest. But, with this being the sixth time since 2007 that the NFL has staged a game on our shores, what is the obsession with the expansion of national sports?

This year saw record breaking numbers attend Wembley to watch the Patriots and Rams do battle. Though featuring a franchise that is broadly known in this country (the Patriots, mainly thanks to superstar quarterback Tom Brady, and the fact that they are the most successful franchise of the 21st century), obviously helps boost the popularity of the match, it isn't the first time they have played here. In 2009, they entertained the Malcolm Glazer owned Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a similarly uneven contest. Therefore, the high turnout this year has re-affirmed the belief of many of the suits in the NFL that England just simply can’t get enough of the game, despite it apparently being only the joint seventh most popular sport here, on a par with darts. The belief is so sure that there are two games pencilled in for next year, with the Minnesota Vikings clashing with the Pittsburgh Steelers before the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have signed a contract to play one game at Wembley until 2016, take on the San Francisco 49ers. This will be a real test of whether or not the game has “taken off” over here, but with three of the four teams new to London, it will give a chance to fans of those franchises to come down and experience a game first hand. Gaining a wider fan base is one reason for the NFL’s expansion, but another is money. Currently, the NFL is a $9 billion business, with revenue coming purely from the States. However, to turn it into a $20 billion business, then global expansion, and revenue, is necessary. Just like all businesses, the NFL is always going to be looking at ways to increase their revenue, and by taking the sport to England, it is the most logical way of them doing just that.

It’s not just American football that is trying to expand from a national to international scale. European Rugby Union is also trying to do the same thing. Recently, London-based club Saracens took on Parisian side Racing Metro in a Heineken Cup match at King Baudouin Stadium in the Belgian capital of Brussels. It was the first time that a top-level rugby match had ever been played in Brussels, and was seen as a “stepping-stone” to the continued usage of a developing country’s stadium as a ground in a Heineken Cup tie. With many European countries slowly taking up the sport more, including Belgium, Spain and Portugal to name but a few, the idea is to have these countries host top-level matches as a way to increasing the games popularity there. Expansion of the game is not stopping at Europe though, with the Rugby Union World Cup taking place in Japan in 2019, and with Russia and even Jamaica both registering interest in hosting the event in the future, rugby looks set to truly go global in the next decade or so.

Naturally, there are those that disagree with the degree of expansion being seen at the moment. When the infamous “Game 39” of the English Premier League was first mentioned, fans were quick to slate the idea, mortified with the thought of their favourite teams playing a supposed “home” match in a foreign country. Even though football is a truly global game, Premier League chiefs were very hot on taking a game overseas. Nevertheless, due to fan discontent the idea was never really allowed to get going, and after many years of it being dug up from the ground for month or two each year, it seems to be dead in the water for now at least. In fact, if it’s revenue that drives the need for expansion, it is often the fans that are the people who fight against it. The NFL are highly unlikely to give the “home” game to a team with a strong following or good record back in the States, such as the Green Bay Packers or the Baltimore Ravens. Before the Jaguars’ tenure at Wembley started, the NFL used to pick teams who were struggling for home attendances to give up the “home” game, due to the understanding that the fans and franchises alike would be upset if they were a successful home team having to give up that game. Even the perennially travelling Saracens team’s fans were sceptical about the game in Brussels, saying that due to them constantly moving (while they await the completion of the new Allianz Park in Barnet) and having such a small fan-base anyway, it just didn't make sense for them to be hosting games abroad. It really is turning into a tug of war between the owners of clubs who need to keep the money rolling in to stay competitive and the fans who desperately want to stop losing any chances to keep the team their own. The difference is that the fans now understand that expansion really is the main way of staying competitive, and have to let go the chance to see their beloved teams play as often in order to ensure that they keep winning trophies and having renewed success on the pitch.

With the great successes of the NFL’s invasion of the UK and of rugby’s progress across the globe, it appears that expansion of national sport is not only going to be around for the foreseeable future, but also that it is largely a success for those that persist. It’s the age where the club is no longer just that, instead, it is a corporate entity. Money is driving the success of many clubs, particularly in football with Manchester City and Chelsea, and in rugby with Toulon. The NFL has this slightly under more control with the draft system enabling less successful teams to remain competitive, but franchises still strive for that little bit more to help give them an advantage their rivals. Expansion provides the foundation on which money can be bought in easily and quickly. Those that succeed will have the edge in this day and age. One certainty is then that while the potential for expansion is there, it will be exploited by those who can.

Media Overload

You may have noticed that things have been a bit "quiet on the western front" as far as my blog is concerned. Never fear, here comes not one BUT two posts wrapped into one lovely thread. This won't take much explaining, and the sharp-eyed among you may have noticed the title of the blog. We are interactive today!

First, we have a podcast asking the question, are we as a nation "in it when we win it"? My team of reporters, Samuel Rowntree and Danny Butterwick, set about putting that question to some people in the know, and the whole thing is tied together by the dulcet tones of Rob Britton. The producer, ah well that is a rather dashing chap - me!

Second, we have a video package detailing whether or not American Football has finally "taken off" in the UK, in response to the regular season NFL game taking place at Wembley last Sunday. All those curious people out there will finally get to see me in the flesh, though not too much fortunately, as I am the chief reporter. My team of camera and sound men were Danny, Travis Sumner, and George Preece, and the whole package was wonderfully produced and edited by Samuel and Rob.

I hope you enjoy both these new bits of media, and let me know what you think!

Are we as a nation 'in it when we win it'? Golf and Tennis podcast by SSRsportJournalist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WefSUt6RVLE

Cheats and Injuries

So this post is going to be a little different. Due to me being out of town this weekend, I basically caught next to no sport, though I did get through all the results. So, instead of doing my "weekly rundown", I am going to go through the biggest story of the week: The findings of the Lance Armstrong case. On top of that, I will also be assessing how the Baltimore Ravens can cope with the season-long loss of two key defensive players. Hope you enjoy!

Armstrong - Now I just want to put out there that for me, the focal point of my youth while watching the Tour de France was Armstrong. Regardless of the allegations bought against him, I will always accredit him with keeping me hooked into the sport, as will many other people of my generation. I think it is also important to separate the doping allegations from his work that he's done for cancer awareness and prevention. This week I have seen numerous "hashtags" on Twitter and words in the press from journalists I respect playing on the name of his foundation: Livestrong. These include "LieStrong" "LiveWrong" etc. The man may be a cheat/liar whatever, but to tar his foundation which has actually helped to save people's lives with the same brush is nonsensical and unjust.

Back to the story at hand then. For Armstrong to say that he wasn't going to contend the charges was an admission of guilt in it's own right. Though he never failed a drugs test (without being able to back it up with a doctor's prescription) during his career, doping allegations followed Armstrong around like a bad smell. So when the USADA (the US anti-doping agency) bought the charges against him earlier this year, it seemed that they'd finally "got their man". But I think this is the whole problem with the case.

I'm not going to use this forum to say that I don't think Armstrong is guilty or use it to throw out a wanton or controversial opinion. But I do think, and will say, that the way the USADA went about their findings into Armstrong are backhanded and unjustifiable. Much like the US Postal Team that they dubbed "ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program sport has seen", they have come undone by their own flaws. 

First of all, I want to take this away from cycling, and bring it to athletics. Justin Gatlin, American 100m sprinter, and bronze medal winner at the London 2012 Olympic games, has failed not one, but two drugs tests during his lengthy career, and as a result been banned twice. First in 2001 for two years for testing positive for amphetamines. Secondly in 2006 due to a positive test for "testosterone or its precursor". After both cases, he point blank denied the allegations, and looked for ways to blame anyone but himself. Instead of receiving a life-time ban for his second doping offence, he initially was served an eight year ban, which eventually was halved in 2007 to just four years. A small price to pay if you ask me for a man that knows the rules, yet broke them multiple times and then looked for scapegoats when he was caught ashen-faced and red-handed. The amount of leniency the USADA showed to Gatlin was remarkable and incredulous. It's no wonder that to this day, many American athletes are still knowingly pumping themselves full of illegal drugs to enhance their abilities. Some of you reading this might go now then "Ah, but Armstrong has received a life-time ban, surely that's the USADA learning from their mistakes and making their punishments more severe". Yes, Armstrong has been banned for life. But let's look at the other dopers mentioned in the case that all come under the USADA's jurisdiction:

Floyd Landis - Winner of the Tour de France in 2006, subsequently stripped of title after posting an "abnormally high rate of testosterone" in a urine sample after Stage 17 of that Tour. Banned for two years from 2007, but denied all charges until 2010, when he admitted to cheating, and stated that other members of USPS, including Armstrong, continually doped. No further action has been bought against Landis to date.

Tom Danielson, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Christian Vandevelde and David Zabriskie- All banned for 6 months from September 2012 for admitting to doping while on the USPS team, again saying that Armstrong doped while there. 

So the differences are then that if you dope, but tell on someone else for doing the exact same thing as you, you will receive a far less severe punishment, even if you tried to feebly maintain your innocence for years before hand, then suddenly had a change of heart... Makes perfect sense right? Phil Liggett, ITV's long-term Tour commentator, though daft is his fierce maintenance that Armstrong didn't dope, has somewhat of a point when he accused the USADA of putting Armstrong on a "pedestal high above all the other riders". Not only this, but again it shows that the USADA is far too lenient when it comes to handing out suspensions for doping. It should be black and white, so much so that I'm going to give what I'm about to say a whole line to itself:

If you dope, regardless of the circumstances, and you get caught, you should be banned from your profession for life.

Armstrong deserves his suspension, and all the abuse that he is getting from all corners of the world for lying and deceiving his way to multiple Tour wins. But so do the rest of the riders who dope/have doped. One man that is not a rider, but deserves all the fury that is directed his way is the recently departed Team RadioShack-Nissan boss Johan Bruyneel, who cowardly didn't show up at the 2012 Tour due to the forthcoming allegations. He was the mastermind behind the doping program at not only USPS, but later the Discovery Channel team. If Bruyneel is not convicted for his involvement, then the sport will be in an even greater state of disarray than it is now. 

So to sum up then. Armstrong is a cheat, yes. The lifetime ban imposed on him as well the stripping of all his race results is a just punishment for his years of deceit. But the USADA have let slip a chance to really solve the doping cloud that hangs over cycling by not taking harsher action on those riders who have not only been caught cheating, but also admitting their guilt. The fact that the report also called those riders "courageous" is an insult to all the riders who are clean, and have never needed EPO to make it to the top of their profession. Lets just hope they don't put their feet in it even more by giving Armstrong's wins away to other riders who have been caught cheating as well (Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich etc). This was a chance for a real corner to be turned in the history of pro-cycling. However, I fear that incompetence by the anti-doping bodies has ruined the real chance for all sports, not just cycling, to be drug-free.

Baltimore Ravens defensive woes continue - So this was the big news for me of the weekend. Though the Ravens are 5-1, and top of their division, the performances of late have left a lot of people, me included, cause for concern. Now the latest turn of events could really determine what kind of team the Ravens are. Coming off the back of a lucky (according to Joe Flacco) win against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday was the news that the main man in the middle of defense Ray Lewis is out for the season with a torn tricep. On top of this was the almost as bad news that in the same game, starting cornerback Ladarius Webb is also out for the season with a torn ACL. 

Now in terms of form, Webb's injury on paper looks to be the biggest concern for the Ravens. Already this year, he had achieved one forced-fumble, one interception and 25 tackles. With questions raised over second stater Cary Williams and whether or not he would be replaced by first-round pick from 2011 Jimmy Smith, suddenly they're both going have to step up their game. Williams responded after a mauling against the New England Patriots with a pick-six against the the Cleveland Browns, but he will have to improve his consistency with Webb now gone. Smith on the other hand has not quite seen his draft potential flourish yet, having seen the third-round pick from 2009 Webb keep him out. This is his chance though to stake a starter spot in the future with the Ravens still seemingly headed for the play-offs at least. Third choice now is going to be Corey Graham, who was signed from the Chicago Bears in March after a Pro-Bowl season last year. This again provides him with an ample opportunity to see more defensive game time, as well as trying to push for a regular starting spot next year. 

As well all know, games aren't played on paper, and for me, the biggest concern is seeing THE best middle linebacker in the history of the game Ray Lewis gone. After 17 years, you have to wonder if this could have been his swan-song, and whether or not he will return. When he was drafted in 1996, he didn't just become a member of the Ravens, he became the Ravens. He embodies everything that the team try and fight for, and is the emotional leader on defense. Though this year it seemed that father-time might have been catching up with the veteran, having seen him lose weight over the off-season and in turn not having the same devastating power he has had, it is still no question that his loss is about as bad as it could have got for the Ravens. Dannell Ellerbe and Brendon Ayenbadejo will now fight it out between them to fill Lewis' big boots, but it might be a job that both of them combined won't be able to do. Though there is no doubt that Lewis will be there pumping up the team for game-day, his presence on the field will be sorely missed. One has to wonder if it is the end of an era for the Ravens, but as the great man himself will tell you, he'll never say never.

Next week should bring about the return of the more normal format of my blog, so until then, I hope you all enjoyed reading, and thanks for your continued support.