Amazing Team Spirit Ryders High

If you didn't watch the golf last Sunday night, then please, please find a replay or highlights package of some description. In the sporting world, there's nothing quite like the drama produced by a stirring comeback against the odds. So, at the weekend, the culmination of a fascinating few days of gold (excuse the "typo") resulted in an entire continent uniting behind a team of twelve men showing a scarcely believable level of nerve, passion and spirit and claiming a stunning victory in the enemy's back yard.

Golf is one of the most individual sports there is, lacking even the competitive companionship produced by one-on-one clashes such as in tennis, snooker or boxing. There's no team element, no supporting your buddy and no reliance on someone else when you're struggling - it's just you, your caddy, your clubs and hours upon hours of concentration. 

The future's bright...

So you could be forgiven for imagining that the Ryder Cup would lack a real sense of spirit and togetherness, but instead it seems to inspire the very definition of a team sport, at least for 3 days every other year. A squad of footballers play and train together constantly, almost all year round. And yet there rarely, if ever, seems to be a unity that comes even close to the weekend scenes at Medinah. (Of course the best bit of a win is not the team spirit or indeed the victory itself, but the delightful bitterness of the losing team, icing on any sporting cake.)

This summer's major sporting event saw a sense of team shared by a whole nation. Of course this was greatly aided by Team GB's success but there's no doubt there was something different about how the entire country was behind every athlete representing these Isles. Even the usually lukewarm popularity of Andy Murray* was at boiling point when he was representing us all, rather than just himself. So is it a nationalistic fervour ingrained within us all that means we care that much more, or is it just because we're glory-hunters on an international scale?

But for a few months and different parental travel plans, I might have been Born in the USA (yes I love the Boss), but struggle to imagine how my banner could ever have been star-spangled. I feel thoroughly British, and evidently European enough to have been utterly supporting a German when it came to that final putt. Whatever, the reason, I'm certain that when its your country (or continent) involved, somehow it matters more.

* There is a strong chance that Andy Murray will win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, if he does, it must surely eclipse all previous ironic sporting awards.

The End of an English Era?

As Strauss makes his way out the door, we can look back at recent times. Being an English cricket fan over the last 7 or 8 years has yielded infinitely more joy and success than the 7 or 8 years before. We've seen Ashes wins galore, whitewashing India, a 9 test series undefeated run and perhaps best of all, climbing to the top of the test rankings. 

We've witnessed the emergence of world class players like Cook, Broad and Finn alongside those consistently near the top of the rankings (e.g. Anderson and Pietersen), all combining with a host of late bloomers, coming to the fore as they reach and pass 30 - Trott, Bell, Prior, Swann and Tremlett.

Ably, if never inspirationally, led and managed by the determined and intelligent pairing of Strauss and Flower, England became the best, most consistent and most dominant test team in the world. In the wake of another Pietersen shambles, and after a bizarre series in the West Indies including being dismissed for 51, Andrew & Andy rebuilt an England team and instilled a clinical professionalism and exceptional drive to win. We began to believe in our national team. We convinced that we were the greatest, and could beat anyone or get a result no matter how bad things looked. And for a while we were and we could. 

Coming off the back of demolishing the Aussies down under for the first time in 300 years (fortunately Glenn McGrath's predictive abilities aren't quite as accurate as his bowling), England were on the verge of reaching the top rung of the ranking ladder.

England needed to beat the World No. 1 team by at least two matches in order to displace them at the top. The might of India's batting in the shape of Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Dhoni came to prevent that from happening. But even when India had us on the ropes, we came out swinging (if you excuse the pun), exemplified by Broad & Bresnan in the second test. In the end, the Wall could only watch as the rest of the house came tumbling down around him, and England claimed a series whitewash and the top spot.

But as has been pointed out, it's not exactly been a dreamy year at the top. The fighting spirit and performance when up against it has been lacking in 2012. Too often we have succumbed when faced with a challenge and lacked the gusto, heart or concentration to scrap our way back in. We folded and collapsed like damp paper against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and now again against South Africa. 

Our batting lacked focus and determination, only showing spirit when attacking with abandon, providing a glossy veneer to otherwise worrying displays. Our success over the last few years kept us believing right up until the moment that Prior's edge found Smith's hands, but the truth is that South Africa were by far the better team all series. Our bowling lacked invention and discipline, with the highest runs per wicket in a series since the 06/07 Ashes whitewash. It would seem a suitable time for Strauss to call it a day.

Shaun Pollock doesn't believe that SA can maintain their status and dominate - they have a few players into their 30s and some tough series coming up, but with the likes of ABDV, Steyn, Morkel, Duminy all still with plenty of years to come, they aren't exactly going to be going anywhere soon. Perhaps they will grow complacent or arrogant, as has been suggested happened with England, only time will tell.

One thing is for sure, whenever Jacque Kallis retires, the game will have lost one of the absolute greats. Few would question that Garfield Sobers was the best all-rounder cricket has ever seen, but it's hard to argue that the big man from Cape Town comes in second. He is the 4th highest test match run scorer in history and right up there with his bowling as well. A truly class act.

A different Andy Murray?

With the US Open less than a fortnight away, the question has to be whether claiming Olympic Gold is going to prove to be a turning point in the career of Andy Murray. No number of articles, blog posts or interviews could possibly enhance how aware we all are of his 'nearly man' status.

To date, twenty-seven grand slams have produced four major finals, which in turn have yielded just one set won. No-one can question his ability, speed around the court, outstanding returning and seemingly relentless defensive abilities. He has vastly improved his second serve and ability to attack rather than just waiting for opponents' mistakes, but most of all, he is mentally stronger. Only time and results will be a true measure but claiming his first genuinely significant title will surely have taught Murray like nothing else that he really is good enough to beat the best.

Only once before (2010 Toronto Masters) had he beaten two of the top 3 in consecutive matches. On six occasions he beat one before losing to the next (normally in the final). But at the Olympics, he beat both Djokovic and Federer. Of course neither were on the top of their game, Novak seeming out of sorts and almost demotivated and Roger simply shattered, but that effect was greatly exacerbated by Murray's sheer aggression and dominance all over the court.

There was something different about him, determined and proud, the crowd fully unified behind him, exuding confidence. He was by quite some distance the best player at the tournament, by a long way, and it never seemed even remotely possible that he could lose. Perhaps being part of something bigger, participating as a member of Team GB, perhaps something else, but irrespective of the reason, this was a different Andy Murray.

Heading to Flushing Meadows, he must be right up there with Djokovic and Federer as a one of, if not the clear favourite. Nadal's withdrawal doesn't change the fact that Murray will have to beat them both (upsets aside), but we now know he can and very possibly, the Scot knows it now as well. 

What I really do hope for is a high quality final. There are few better sights in tennis than a Grand Slam final, where both players are completely at the top of their games. So often it seems as though one player doesn't quite compete as we know they can, and it ends up as less of a contest than it has the potential for. The Wimbledon final was a perfect example of a high-class clash between the two best players in the tournament.

The variety and accuracy with which Federer distributed the ball around the court was utterly remarkable, and frankly without compare. Murray played as well as he could, finding a great balance with his solid defence providing an excellent foundation from which to attack. Maybe in a few weeks time we will be able to say that both played to their maximum but that Murray came out on top at last.

A Post-Apocolympic Sporting World

If you're being honest with yourself, as a British Sporting fan, did you really think we would have quite such a successful Olympics? 

Surely something is amiss when we experience this level of genuine success with no 'buts' and particularly when all the logistical side of things ran so smoothly as well. A lesson in how to defy multiple British self-perceptions in one spectacular fortnight. After years of being faithful (and perhaps ever so slightly masochistic) spectators of great anticipation preceding deflating and disappointing sporting performances something was very different this time. It is unlikely that many of us will have in our lifetime either another London Olympics or a time of such unified national fervour and support. Similarly it's pretty unlikely that any time soon Team GB or its composite nations will see a repeat of such unbridled sporting success.

There was such a build up that frankly most of the country was pretty sick of the whole thing before it even started and yet as a nation we were won over by relentless success. Barely a day seemed to go past when we didn't win a medal in a sport that we barely knew existed, alongside overwhelming dominance in the likes Cycling and Rowing. Suddenly the whole nation, sporting-sceptics included, found itself being swept along about Canoeing, fired up about Trap Shooting and struck by Taekwondo. 

So now we find ourselves back in the regular swing of things. The football season has begun again in earnest, with the League Cup, Charity Shield and random irrelevant international friendlies. It's hard to see how anyone can stop City from dominating the Premiership this season. A slow start might put them under pressure and make the race interesting, but the strengthening done by the chasing pack doesn't seem like enough to make the difference. Chelsea and Arsenal have spent a lot and brought in some excellent players but have lost their respective talismen with Drogba departing and Van Persie making his intentions clear. It seems as though Utd have sealed the RVP deal so they could seriously threaten, as they almost always do, but the likes of Liverpool and Spurs, if anything, seem weaker than last year. That said, the new manager effect is an unpredictable enigma at the best of times. At least we don't have much time to wait to find out.

Meanwhile, the rest of the sporting world continues as though it is any old August. London 2012 and the great success of Team GB has no bearing now on the England - South Africa cricket series, the US Open tennis, the AVIVA Premiership rugby and Formula 1 returning to action from its mid-season break. Plenty to keep us interested then.

Why Aren't We That Disappointed?

And so, after two weeks of increasingly disappointing performances somehow produced an increasing level of logic-defying but futile hope, the inevitable finally came on Sunday evening. 

England were very much as England were expected to be; relatively solid and disciplined, fairly uncreative and generally hard-working. They also profited from good fortune on a number of occasions - the Swedish goalie choosing to fall over rather than save Walcott's shot, the byline referee proving himself utterly redundant in failing to achieve the specific role for which he exists against Ukraine, and Italy apparently having watched an 'Art of Finishing' video by the offspring of Emile Heskey and Andy Carroll. 

Despite the temporary and somewhat diluted joy of winning the group, the whole tournament had a decidedly resigned feel to it for an English fan. Admittedly, there will be some of you reading this who should hang their heads in shame because, despite my best warnings, you allowed yourselves to believe. One such regular reader (an assumption grounded on absolutely zero evidence), Sir Bobby Charlton, appears to have allowed the inhalation of some Olympic fumes to cloud his rational judgement.

But I trust the majority of you did not succumb so easily to such a moment of weakness, instead holding fast to a steely and negative resolve, thoroughly founded in both reality and experience. I do not pretend to be any kind of national sentiment thermometer but the pervading attitude seems to be more of melancholy acceptance rather than outrage or bitter disappointment. Of course there might be a number of reasons for us generally taking something of an 'oh well' attitude:

1) Losing to Italy saved ourselves the embarrassment of what would surely have been Bloemfontain Part 2. Personally I couldn't see Gomez, Klose et al. replicating the same profligacy as Balotelli and Cassano. 31 shots and 0 goals isn't exactly a devastating return.
2) We are truly taken in by the frankly absurd positivity coming out from both media and management, after all, we didn't even want to win, we were just there for the learning opportunities and as character building for the young players (by the way, Welbeck is the only player under 25 who started the match, and 4 players were over 30, but let's not mention that).
3) We just didn't expect that much. We recognised that the reality was that we were outplayed in 3 of the 4 games, and pretty unconvincing in the other one, so although we were miraculously unbeaten, we didn't deserve to go any further, and can just be satisfied that we had a go. But even that doesn't really hold up to scrutiny...

Heading home -
probably a good idea

As I looked at before, England were never going to win with glorious passing or attractive attacking moves, we just don't have the technical ability. What was so disappointing to watch then on Sunday was that we seemed so slow and tired as well. Where was the pace, power and stamina that the English Premiership is renowned for? Instead, the slow and not exactly attractive Italian build-up wore us down and by the end we were too weary to even chase after them having given the ball away (one thing we proved experts at).

Yes it was penalties, and yes, things could have been so different. Of course I would much rather be supporting England than Italy on Thursday night but the truth is we were pretty dismal all tournament and I think we can all agree that it's not the end of the world that it ended when it did.