The Challenge of Sport.

To be the first, the fastest, the strongest, the toughest and the best. The ability to test ourselves against ourselves - and others. To feel alive; to feel good. Sport. It's for everyone! LIVEWIRE. Keep ahead of the pack with Sports news, views and advice that keeps up with you. But why not set the agenda yourself? You'll have your own opinions on the big issues of the Sporting World, the issues in your Sporting World. Drop me a line at V02Max.

It's just not cricket, old bean.

I watched a TV documentary about a cricketer called Basil D'Oliveira last night. His name will only really ring a bell if you're well over 40, or maybe a cricket buff. He's a 'coloured' guy from South Africa, born in the early 30's. He lived a normal life as a child until the introduction of Apartheid in the 50's - Aparetheid, that pernicious regime that was brought in to totally separate black and coloured from white, unless it was in the interest of the white man to have him around. His life turned from a simple one to a complicated one and his family's standard of living took a dive as they were shunned from mainstream South African life along with millions of others.

But Basil had a rare talent for cricket, a talent that was already highly developed as he entered his early 20's. Even with Apartheid, sportsmen of all colours were mainly interested in competing with each other, regardless of race. So clandestine matches between the best teams took place and they played cricket. Somewhat inevitably, the authorities found out and with the threat of jail looming over them, the matches sadly came to an end. By this time though, Basil had been noticed by the cricketing world - literally, and everyone could see his predicament. He took up correspondence with Worcestershire CC in England and before long, was offered a place with them. So, much soul-searching and paperwork later, Basil and his family took a boat to England to begin their new life.

Before long, Basil was being eyed by the England selectors and was given a try in the MCC. Basil was hugely talented, a fearsome yet elegant batsman, capable of multiple-century innings, yet also, a masterful exponent of leg-break spin bowling. In one famous Ashes series which seemed beyond reach, after rain on the final day's play, he took 6 wickets very cheaply to force a draw, thus enabling England to retain the famous Urn. A long and fruitful career was in the offing, even though by this time he was in his late 20's - no matter, in the world of Cricket, skill and experience is as important as fitness, with many great players continuing into their 40's.

Then, the inevitable - something which 'Dolly' had anticipated with relish for a long time: an MCC Tour of South Africa. A chance for him to return to his country, a country he still loved but which forced him out. A perfect platform for him to make his point, the futility and immorality of Apartheid. And his friends there, all his old friends who he had maintained contact with - looking forward to seeing their old team mate again and being able to put their plight openly on the International stage. Already though, there were rumblings - evryone knew that this would prove uncomfortable for South Africa. Infact, would they even let him in? And if they didn't want to, would he be allowed to make his point and be turned away at the airport gate at Johannesburg? Well, Prime Minister Forster decided he would be unwelcome, and he made his feelings known to Alec Douglas-Home, his British counterpart. In those days, to our shame, we did not speak out about Apartheid, it wasn't 'politically expedient'.

But the worst betrayal was yet to come - the British govt 'leaned' on the MCC selectors, very much part of the 'old school' much like the govt of the day. Infact, one of the MCC selectors had had affiliations with the Britsh Nazi party during the War. To their eternal shame, for the sake of not rocking the political boat, D'Oliveira was dropped from the squad in the late 60's and the English team played on without him. They had the gall to lie in his face and say they'd dropped him because his style of spin wouldn't go down well on South African wickets - although funnily enough, it did just fine on similar West Indian wickets the year before. And to be frank, his batting alone would have been enough to get him in the team. I don't know the result of the Series and frankly, I'm not interested.

Well, the Tour came and went and when his form was considered 'good enough' again, he was back in the England squad. What an impossible situation to put a player in - Dolly must have wanted to tell them where to stick it but such a gentleman, such a sportsman, such a professional, he came back with ne'er a cross word. The years passed and his distinguished career drew to a close, always a popular player with opponents and fans alike.

And then, transformation and rebirth in South Africa - the tearing down of Apartheid and ultimately, the election of a democratic govt, with Nelson Mandela at the helm. Quietly, Dolly moves back to his beloved South Africa, a place he can once more feel proud of, a place he can truly call home. And all his old friends are still there to welcome him. Now he is honorary President of his old Cricket Club, overseeing and encouraging new talent, both black and white, and posing for photos with awe-struck fans.

At once, both a sad story and a happy one- sad for what might have been and happy for right winning through and being able to embrace it, without rancour or vitriol.

Sheer dominance

Manchester United are once again triumphant at the head of the Premier League. How fitting that Ryan Giggs scored after such wonderful long service at the club and Ronaldo too, after a blistering season. Chelsea can only look on sadly as they wonder what might have been, a change of manager mid-season and more recently, a defeat to Wigan, ironically, the team Man Utd beat yesterday to secure the title.

And now Manchester United play Chelsea in the European Champions' League, a chance for Chelsea to wreak some revenge for the title of best Team in Europe. But this all begs the question, a question that Kevin Keegan at Newcastle has been asking lately: Does the total domination of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal do any good for football in this country? How strange that sounds, how can success ever be a bad thing? Well it kills competition frankly - for a parallel analogy, what's the worst thing that can happen in a democracy? A political party in total dominance, to the exclusion of others. Too much power at the top will make the roots wither and die. No to mention the fact that these big 3 contain a large contingent of foreign talent, talent that means nothing when our National side plays abroad, and can't even qualify for the European Championships - somewhat ironically!

So when Kevin Keegan evokes the wrath and scorn of a large part of the football-mad public for displaying what they see as a large dose of sour grapes - when he appears at the post-match interview and openly says that if his Chairman at Newcastle United can't give him any more money, then he hasn't a cat in hell's chance of being competitive in the face of the mighty triumvirate, I'd have to say, he has a point.

One thing I will say though, is that Alex Ferguson has had a simply magnificent tenure at Old Trafford, all 22 years of it. I have to say he's not really my type of person, but his single-minded drive, enthusiasm and bloody-mindedness, along with his tactical brilliance has him up there with the greats, Shankly and Paisley. And he passes all of that on to his charges, a finer-drilled set of footballers you will not see anywhere. I think we can forget his 'Imodium moment' on the M6 all those years ago, when he was done for driving on the hard shoulder only to cite severe stomach upset and to promptly get off without a blemish on his record. Although somehow, I don't think it would work for me.

Racism in European Football

Something which used to be a very big problem in this country in the 70's and 80's, but which by and large has now been eradicated, is openly racist behaviour in our domestic football scene. Fans openly chanting racist abuse at matches, and verbal and physical abuse inside and outside the ground are simply not tolerated any more by the core of real sports fans, the vast majority of them - this has pretty well killed it.

We still see the odd outbreak in mainland Europe though, within the last couple of years some Spanish fans were guilty of totally unacceptable behaviour when they played England at home - thugs are thugs, wherever they are, and they will use any tactics to undermine and unsettle their opponents and opposing fans - what more effective way than striking at the heart of your identity than by racial hatred. You'll never totally stop such behaviour, but you can make it so socially unacceptable that you outlaw it.

Somewhere that doesn't seem to see it this way though, is Poland. It seems ironic, that we have very many Polish migrant workers here and by and large they are welcomed with open arms, as people who are here to work, do jobs that need doing and pay taxes while they're at it. They'll probably drift back again at some point, it's all part of an open Europe with free-flowing borders and a growingly common currency. So why should it be that so many of their football fans are neo-Nazis?

Poland will be hosting the 2012 European Football Championships - in the Capital, Warsaw's main team, Legia Warsaw, has an appalling racism problem. Everywhere there is grafitti professing 'White Power' and Ku Klux Klan imagery, posted up by the 'fans'. The problem is so bad that Legia Warsaw have been banned from taking part in any European matches - The President of the Club, Leszek Miklas readily admits that up to a 5th of all his club's fans are Neo-Nazis, actively racist. The sheer level of violence perpetrated by these idiots has excluded them from playing outside their own country on their home Continent. So what will happen in 2012? The Polish National Football Authrority and the Organisers of the Tournament make light of the problem, saying that these problems are at Club level, nothing to do with supporters of the National Team. This seems more than a little disingenuous, bearing in mind the problem afflicts many other minor League clubs in Poland and that they will all be out in force to cheer on their National side.

It looks like Poland will learn the hard way - unless they take drastic steps to stamp out this appalling behaviour, they will look backward and frankly, stupid. If they want to be part of a modern Europe where their own citizens can roam freely across Europe's borders to benefit from unrestricted trade, they must learn that education of their people to be as tolerant to 'outsiders' as others are to them, is paramount. I'm not suggesting for a moment that the vast majority of Polish people aren't decent, upstanding and tolerant, but a government that sweeps it under the carpet and refuses to deal with it by education, not only exacerbates the problem, it tacitly supports it. That is totally unacceptable.

On Track For Glory!

What a memorable Cycling World Track Champs it has been so far for Britain, the home Nation. Already one of the fastest tracks in the World, Manchester Velodrome has recently been resurfaced in readiness to become the focus of the Cycling World during the competition.

These days, only the very highest performances are demanded of the GB squad - over the last few years we have become the envy of the World, with a fine management and coaching system in place, and a seemingly endless supply of fresh up and coming talent. So much so, that athletes are coming from other Sports to bask in some of the glory! No finer example of this than Rebecca Romero, previous winner of Olympic Gold in rowing, who had to give up her Sport because of a back injury. Having consigned herself to a normal life of catching up with all the things she had been missing in the 'real' world, she received a phone call from the keen-eyed coaching team at British Cycling. What a shame to see a World-class engine going to waste - would she like to give Track Cycling a try? 6 months later, she was winning a Silver Medal at last year's Championships in Majorca. This year, incredibly she has gone one better, beating last year's Champion, American Sarah Hammer. In a totally convincing technical display of smooth power delivery, starkly contrasting her rival's rough and ready style, I laughed out loud when David Harmon commentating on Eurosport described her style as looking like a bag of spanners, at exactly the same time that I was using the same words sitting at home! Equally amusing but touching too, was Romero's disbelief at what she had done, as she blurted out exactly what she had achieved over the previous 18mths to a bemused interviewer - priceless! We now await her presence at the Beijing Games with baited breath!

Another female athlete who has awesome powers is Victoria Pendleton - already she has one Gold Medal at these Championships, in the Team Sprint with her teammate Shanaze Reade. Shanaze is another great young talent, spending most of her time riding BMX, then switching disciplines with amazing ease just a few weeks before a major championship such as this, to transform herself into a fine sprinter. Her explosive opening lap had Vicky initially clutching at thin air in her wake, such was the sheer power of her opening effort. But then Vicky's staying power came into play as she could be seen literally champing at the bit for Shanaze to pull up the track to let her through for the final lap. She didn't disappoint, promptly dispatching the Chinese duo into the Silver position. Vicky is now looking forward to tonight's session where all eyes will be on her in the Ladies' Individual Sprint. Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania will be looking to give her a tough time but she has recorded a new British record in qualifying last night. She's at the peak of her powers and on this form, she must also be eyeing the Keirin with a keen eye too - yes, Ms Pendleton could be looking at THREE Golds. Bradley Wiggins, eat your heart out!

Which brings me neatly onto my next subject! Bradley has already demolished the field in the Individual Pursuit for a Gold Medal, and then promptly led the Team Pursuit squad for a Gold Medal there too, doing humongous turns on the front, just like Chris Boardman used to do when he was an unbeatable pursuiter. The style, smoothness and discipline of all our squad is a joy to behold, a testament to our amazing coaching staff. In all the pursuit events, not to mention the Team Sprint, the riding has had perfect form, not an ounce of energy wasted with any upper-body movement, not a cm wasted either, with the riders all hugging the bottom of the track. These guys are drilled! The lady Team Pursuiters are lining up tonight as well - featuring Romero again - to take on the Ukraine. At the risk of sounding monotonous, it probably comes as no surprise to hear that our girls have posted the fastest qualifying time.

So far then, GB are heading the Medal Table with 4 Golds, with the nearest rivals all on one Gold. Realistically we have a chance for another three Gold Medals at least as well. Flying so high, what could possibly go wrong? Well, there is possibly an old familiar Demon waiting in the wings: Rob Hayles, one of our finest and most consistent performers over the last decade, who was to be part of the team Pursuit squad, was looking at a possible Medal in the Individual Pursuit, and was to pair with Mark Cavendish in the Madison, has failed a blood test, receiving a 2 week ban. Eh, 'what's that?' I hear you say, how can you fail a blood test and only get a 2 week ban? Let me explain: Rob has been found to have a high haemocrit level. For the uninitiated, haemocrit is the stuff in your blood which carries oxygen to the muscles. All other physical parameters considered, increasing your haemocrit level will increase your performance, as you might imagine. In recent times, possibly the most pernicious performance enhancing drug ever to rear its ugly head has been EPO, a synthetic hormone which increases red blood cell production. Only relatively recently has a test been found for it. But you can increase your training benefits by using it and then stop taking it 4 days before competition and it will be undetectable. Another way of increasing your haemocrit level is to transfuse, either someone else's blood, or your own blood - another way is to train at altitude - this is legal for obvious reasons. The whole thing is an absolute minefield, your haemocrit can even go up as a result of mild dehydration too, as you might imagine (although this obviously wouldn't improve your performance!) Rob's haemocrit was found to be a miniscule 0.2% over the limit of 50%. NO DRUGS were found in his blood and indeed, Rob has a naturally high haemocrit level, althougn apparently not high enough for him to have a special dispensation from the UCI, like Britain's Charly Wegelius has. So he has been suspended for 2 weeks on health grounds, when he will be rechecked and only allowed to compete again if his level has reduced to below 50%. Make no mistake though, this is very embarrassing for British Cycling. There will be a very thorough investigation carried out and his blood will be tested in every way imaginable - as far as I know, all British Cycling athletes have their blood taken and tested regularly. It's far too complicated for me to undertsand fully, but basically, there are several indicators and 'signals' in the blood, which will tell them whether his blood has been manipulated in any way. It should be possible to either exonerate him, ot to cast severe doubt on whether he has behaved correctly. If he has transfused his own blood (illegal) that wouldn't show up in its own right of course, it's his own blood! But the patterns of various hormones and other parameters in his blood will basically give the game away. If someone else's blood is in there, that'll be obvious. If he has taken EPO, the EPO itself won't show up, but various 'flags' will give the game away. One thing that has to be said is that everyone who knows Rob - and he has been around for many years - says there is no way he would have done something stupid. He's too experienced to think he could get away with anything, with the stringent controls that British Cycling have in place. They also say that basically, he wouldn't cheat, he's not that kind of guy. I tend to believe them, and not just because he's British either. One thing I do know though, is that if there is any doubt at all, Rob will be ejected from Cycling in this country in disgrace. I don't think that will happen, indeed I pray that won't happen. Rob, I think you are innocent, I hope the Scientists back you up.

The answer my friend, is peeing in the wind...

The Olympics is very much in our minds at the moment here in the UK, we are hosting the 2012 Games in London of course and this is Olympics year, in Beijing, China. Politics and Sport have always been uneasy bedfellows. If you're a Politician who wants to make a serious point to another country, you don't want your athletes going there as if nothing were wrong. And if you're an athlete, your whole ethos is to compete and pit yourself against the opposition, in the biggest and most important Sporting Arena there is, and why should some stupid Politician mess it up for you? What have you done wrong, that 4 years of training should go down the pan?

At the height of the Cold War, the Western World closest to the US refused to attend the 1980 Moscow Olympics - The USSR (as was) had invaded neighbouring Afghanistan, worried about the rise of the Taliban (sound familiar?!) 4 years later, the Soviet Bloc responded in kind, something akin to kicking your playmate's bricks over after he trod in your sandpit. I guess it's about that pathetic, isn't it? And what difference did decades of exclusion of South African athletes from the Olympics, and preventing British Sportspeople from competing there do? Diddly squat, really! Steven Spielberg was employed by the Chinese to create the mother of all opening ceremonies. In a blaze of publicity and press conferences, he loudly announced that he was pulling out of the deal, because of Human Rights violations and the treatment of Tibet by their Chinese Overlords. China is anything but an open society, any TV or Radio coverage of Civil unrest there for example, is quickly extinguished by constantly-watching eyes that jam the signal immediately, resuming normal service as if some freak of atmospherics plucked it out of thin air. And you only have to look at what Google have done, coming to an 'arrangement' with the Chinese authorities to block searches containing the word 'democracy' and no doubt any reference to their occupation and control over Tibet.

As far as I can see though, it's all just peeing in the wind, trying to stop the thrust of differing opinions and truth from getting through in this day and age. The Tibetans are very aware of how important this year is for the Chinese, China has been a major Political power for many decades now, with the Atom bomb, nuclear power and an enormous resource that no other country, continent almost, can boast - a population entering the billions. But what they crave now more than ever, is acceptance by the rest of the World - not only for its own sake of course, but so they can be seen as a reasonable political power and a mighty trading Nation - and that big intangible, respect. They know the eyes of the World are on them, the Chinese are trying to stamp on any dissent but now, more than ever, they cannot be seen to crush them mercilessly while at the same time they release thousands of doves over the Olympic stadium - they probably weren't going to anyway, but you get my drift.

So what do I make of it all? For my part, just go there, take part to the best of your ability and do your thing. If you feel you want to say something going beyond Sport at the press conference after your event, do it, the World is hanging on your every word! If you want to just compete and not get involved in all that stuff, just do that. As each year passes, it becomes harder and harder to keep a lid on things. I suppose in a way, it's almost like embracing the enemy, kissing them on both cheeks, it'll make them feel pretty uneasy - or maybe like a Trojan Horse. They invited you in, what on Earth can they do to stop you once you're there? I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's not about whether you think Sport and Politics should or shouldn't mix. It's about what everyone of us feels as a World Citizen. If where you come from, one of the greatest gifts is free speech - take it with you in your suitcase and give it a suntan when you get there!

Management, Diet and Attacking!

How good it was to see Spurs lift the Carling League Cup on Sunday after a historic win against Chelsea. After seemingly drifting along, a happy but underachieving bunch of (largely English, unusually) players finally realised some of their potential. Previous Manager Martin Jol had scratched the surface but not really got Spurs out of their rut, a rut which saw flashes of brilliance one moment, then relegation struggle the next.

Enter Spaniard Juando Ramos, formerly of Seville. With his rigorous Training and Dietary regime and cool manner, Spurs are seemingly reborn. Or should that be revealed? A talented bunch of players undoubtedly, but never showing their full potential. Several kgs of weight loss and many double training sessions later, a re-energised squad of players strode proudly onto the Wembley turf and outplayed Chelsea, who were seldom allowed to play their game. A toughly fought 90mins saw the spectre of another 30mins of extra time looming but the Spurs fitness levels ensured that their attacking style endured, and even the notoriously shaky Spurs defence.

How important good Management is then, whether it be the government of a Country or a Football Team. How to get the best out of everyone, keep them healthy, engender self-respect, instil discipline but keep everyone on the ship happy. We don't always see it, do we, but when we do, we clearly see the results. And a big part of self-respect is looking after yourself, working hard and eating well, rewarding yourself when you deserve it, not for the sake of it.

But none of this would mean a lot without an attacking attitude, taking the game to your opponent, playing the game your way. Self belief and persistence, determination that when things go wrong, your head doesn't drop, you keep at it. We saw all these things on Sunday and they apply to any Sport. The raw materials are often there, they just need to be developed, nurtured, looked after, valued.