Roar Guru
Joined August 2012
24.6k
Views
24
Published
370
Comments
Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors
Published
Comments
Even the most casual sports fan can rattle off a list of athletes who, by virtue of hard work, psychological toughness, or plain old…
Part two of this series sees us branch out into three different sports from all around the world in search of unlikely success stories.…
There is a commonly-held belief that some champion sportsmen and sportswomen are just ‘born with it', naturally gifted to the degree that they outstrip…
European football, be it the Champions League, La Liga, or the lesser-known leagues around the continent, is a very different breed to anything in…
Think back on your glory days as a sportsman. It might be 30 years ago, or it might be just last week. The glorious…
Any old Sunday league football player can score a goal, but it takes true craftsmanship to celebrate one appropriately. I've looked at plenty of the best…
Michael Ennis. Jason Akermanis. Kevin Muscat. Each inspiring on the field in his own way, but would you want to model yourself, or your…
The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) and Australian Rugby Union have confirmed the inclusion of women’s Rugby Sevens in the 2018 Commonwealth…
If you're after an in-depth analysis of the facts, figures, and history of the Bathurst 1000 and wider racing community in Australia, then look…
Whether or not technology increasing the accuracy of sporting adjudications is a good thing or not is questionable. One the one hand, it reduces…
Young Socceroos head coach Paul Okon announced his 23-man squad today for the AFC Under-19 Championship 2014, to be held in Myanmar (formerly Burma)…
The latest instalment of the iconic football video game franchise, FIFA15, is hitting the shelves in Australia, and hype is at an all-time high.…
Cyclist-designer Angie Ariza caused a riot in the cycling world this week, with her design for a Colombian women's cycling team outfit being spread…
MATCH RESULT: A injury-time penalty to Liverpool's Steven Gerrard saved Liverpool in their Champions League opener against Ludogorets. Liverpool took the lead in the…
The Auckland Nines will reappear in 2015, following the huge success of the 2014 series held earlier this year, with AUD$2.4 million on offer this…
For over ten years, Chelsea FC were my muse. My bedroom walls were hung with golden-framed images of champion squads from seasons past. Blue…
The Wanderers' fantastic Wednesday night AFC win over Chinese super club Guangzhou Evergrande was marred for by some terribly disappointing individual displays. The 17,000-strong…
On July 2, 2003, the perennial underachievers in blue from West London stepped out from under the red shadows of Manchester United and Liverpool.…
Round two of the A-League kicks off with the impressive-looking Adelaide United looking for an important three points at home against Western Sydney Wanderers,…
Melbourne will be set alight tonight when Melbourne Victory host Melbourne Heart in what shapes as another fierce derby to open the A-League season.…
Games like this one remind me that it wasn’t just Chelsea’s world-class back four that won them titles. Cech was and is, in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in the Prem. Hart/de Gea might have better reflexes, Courtois might be an acrobat with incredible judgement, but Cech in this vein of form is my pick for best GK. Then, Begovic (cue ‘u wot m8?’).
I don’t think there can be any hard-feelings with his move to Arsenal. Everybody knows that he’s been a great servant for Chelsea, and it’s just a case of not enough game time to go around for him AND Courtois, and to see Cech’s talent fade away into nothing, like it was in danger of doing last year.
You’re right to say he has five years left! Hopefully, even more. He may look like an asthmatic praying mantis but I love the guy.
Petr Cech is a helmet-headed cleansheet streetfreak
100 per cent, Ev. Toure is my pick for City’s MVP too.
What is Aguero without good midfield service? What’s Kompany without a screening midfielder to break up the play in front of him? What’s David Silva without muscle standing next to him to wrest away and hold the ball from the opposition?
I’d say what Toure brings to the park (aside from the obvious goals, key passes, and tackles stats) is confidence. Not just his on self-confidence, when as you say, he kicks into gear and saunters past defenders, but he breathes confidence into the squad. His midfield partners know where he’s going to be, trust him to do a job, and know that he’s good for an assist or goal.
That particular value can’t be overstated!
For City, Toure's absence is horrible
RIP Phil, too soon. Condolences to friends and family. Also my thoughts and prayers are with Sean Abbott and his family – can’t imagine how bad he feels now. No one blames you, mate.
Phil Hughes passes away, age 25
I think you’re right Evan – Alonso will be sorely, sorely missed. Just like he was at Liverpool. In my head, his departure was a major for the Reds’ downfall. He adds something else to a midfield – more than just his passing, touch, and occasional goal. It’s his presence: his vision and composure. I don’t think I cant remember watching a player in the EPL that more effectively ‘ran the show’.
Real Madrid mourning the loss of Alonso
In education theory, there is a concept known as the Pygmalion (or Rosenthal) Effect. It states that the more expectation placed on an individual, the better they perform.
The reverse is true also. If there’s a ‘naughty kid’ in your class, and all they’ve ever been told is that they’re naughty, or ‘the class clown’, then that’s what they feel like their lot in life is – they’ll just continue to play up, because they believe it’s expected of them. They’ve played that part for so long, it’s become part of who they are because of the continued reinforcement (positive or negative) from others.
The obvious action to take with such a ‘naughty kid’ is to place the expectation on them to behave better, and reinforce their positive changes (praise, rewards, whatever – that’s a different school of study altogether).
Maybe all Kurtley needs is a bit of positive reinforcement from the rugby community. But that’s not how things work with grown men who play professional sport. You can’t give him a ‘man of the match’ award for urinating only in the correct places, or not breaching alcohol bans. We drop them from teams, crucify them in the media, and ostracise them until they switch to Rugby League or go to French rugby.
Frankly, I think Kurtley Beale (as with so many other professional footballers) grew up in the limelight, being told how good he is from such a young age, and therefore struggles to comprehend the consequences of his actions; he’s so highly paid and probably won’t struggle for employment with other teams regardless of his off-field indiscretions.
I think a suitable punishment would be to sit Kurtley Beale and Todd Carney in a corner, and make them think about what they’ve done.
Kurtley's 'indiscretions' a self-fulfilling prophesy
this may be the funniest comment I’ve read on The Roar. You, sir, have a gift.
No 'probably' about it: Savea is better than Lomu
Hi Evan, thanks for weighing in. Golf is a sport in every possible sense of the word, as are archery, curling and lawn bowls.
Interesting stat re: champion golfer’s ages. However, my 81-old grandpa can still smoke me on the golf course, despite only being able to hit the ball around 130-140m!
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
Mate I think you should have written this piece, not me!
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
I think you’ve got way off of your original topic there, TM.
We weren’t talking about top-level sport, we were talking about “Any sport”, and whether or not to be called a sport, in your words, the player of that sport was of prime age, of peak physical condition, and had an expiry date. I.e., in order to be called a sport, the person playing it had to be able to described as an ‘athlete’.
If you don’t want to call eGaming a sport, that’s fine. Understandable, even. But your claims as outlined above make much less sense that describing FIFA15 as a sport.
Maybe you should write a piece on ‘what sports need to accomplish in order to be called a sport.’
I’d definitely read it. Probably wouldn’t agree with it though.
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
You don’t have to be an athlete to play a sport, haha. ‘Athlete’ has connotations of high levels of physical fitness and performance, but you don’t need to have either of those to play a sport.
Think Fat Dave down at the local tennis comp. Not a fit specimen, is over 50, but are you telling me that because he’s not an ‘athlete’, he’s not playing a sport?
Also, what do you define as fitness? The ability to underhand-roll a bowl onto a bowling green requires your arm, hand and wrist be fit enough to hold and roll a ball, and for your heart not to burst while doing it.
I may seem a bit pedantic by picking on your arguments here mate but I really don’t think they stand up.
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
I think you’d have a pretty tough time convincing anyone that “Any “sport” where the “athelete” doesn’t have a shelf life and where 60 year olds can compete with 20 year olds are not sports anymore but games and leisure activities.”
What do you base that on? Surely if there is an element of using your body (or a part of it), an element of competition, and rules to the game, then that makes it a sport.
I think you are commenting on ‘competitive sport’, rather than just ‘sport’.
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
Nice article there mate! Is Quade Cooper’s ‘social media abuse’ attribute real? I really want it to be, that’s hilarious.
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
The old 45′ and 90′ goals are a source of constant outrage in my household – they happen unbelievably frequently!
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
Yeah I remember seeing an NHL 2011 or 2012 gamer score from the face-off (or shortly thereafter) ridiculously consistently, by drifting a player with the puck across the centre circle and shooting when the player’s stick reached a certain mark on said circle.
I’m hearing you about the champion players beating the system by finding out the cheap goals. You could argue though that Real Madrid having Ronaldo shoot on the edge of the box with his right foot is finding a cheap goal too though.
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
interesting points, but If you’d seen my mid-teens FIFA marathons, you wouldn’t be bringing up the endurance argument. Thanks for responding!
Gamers or athletes? FIFA15 as an eSport
Evan, love your work. Keep pumping out this gold mate!
Five things we learnt from the Premier League weekend
Well written again Evan! I like reading your pieces.
I happily agree with you on every point. Chelsea has no soul, but man, do they have style.
In Costa, Mourinho has found his foil
Yeah I’d love to see Horwill starting. Questions regarding his form are always circulating; form is temporary, class is permanent
2014 Rugby Championship: Wallabies squad announcement for Argentina Test
I know. Yikes.
2014 Rugby Championship: Wallabies squad announcement for Argentina Test
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: FWDS – Slipper, Polota-Nau, Kepu, Carter, Simmons, Fardy, Hooper (c), McCalman
BACKS: Phipps, Foley, Horne, Toomua, Kuridrani, Betham, Folau
BENCH: Hanson, Cowan, Alexander, Horwill, Higginbotham, Hodgson, White, Beale
2014 Rugby Championship: Wallabies squad announcement for Argentina Test
No AAC = blessing and a curse. Will be good to see either Tomane or Betham on the wing. Looking forward to seeing Speight next week (hopefully)!
2014 Rugby Championship: Wallabies squad announcement for Argentina Test
He’s a very gifted centre back, that’s for sure. Not sure if it was down to lack of game time or some other factor, but I remember the few times I’ve watched him in recent seasons, partnered with Skrtl, Johnson, Enrique etc, he didn’t impress me as much as the circa 2008 performances did. Maybe its down to injuries, or a psychological factor we don’t know, but I can understand his desire to leave Liverpool and bash it out in Denmark.
I’m happy for the guy – best of luck to him.
The curious case of Daniel Agger
Jeez, 2016 is shaping up to be ‘the year of being offended by something’ isn’t it. More pissed off children in this crowd than a Wiggles concert where Jeff won’t wake up. You’d think Ben ran over your dog, the way you’re all firing up.
Classic read, Ben. Keep it up. It’s the perfect union of content and clickbait. If the readers want an unquestioning song of praise about the virtues of Rugby League then a subscription to the Daily Telegraph might be in order.
Proof positive: Rugby league is the best