Number 46

I'm not that a big fan of Moto GP but after watching this race I am thinking about going to Assen next month. He doesn't ever give up that Rossi.

Afdalen is gevaarlijk

Sometimes when watching the descents in the mountain stages of the Tour de France I feel like switching off and today I remembered why.

Le Tour

I was never a real follower of the Tour de France until I came to Holland. But it is such a big sport over her it is hard to miss. The Dutch, German and Belgian channels all show it live (on their equivalent of BBC1) every day till the end. So it is easy to follow and I have got into it over the years.

This year I have found it avid viewing. The races are tighter and there seems to be no obvious outright favourite anymore. It is a wide open race. Much shown by the win on stage 5 yesterday by Mark Cavendish. An English rider no less. He told his team manager to lob a cool 1,000 Euros on him before he started the stage. It has been 5 years since an Englishman won a stage (David Millar -Time Trial). And before that you can look back 33 years to Hoban in 1975.

David Millar the only other Brit in the Tour is standing at 5th overall only 47' secs behind the yellow jersey man Kim Kirchen. The mountains are about to come, and everything can change in the Alps, but could we be seeing a possible Englishman in the yellow jersey?. I doubt it.

One thing I really enjoy is the Tour de France website (http://www.letour.com/) which is one of the best ever sporting event websites I have ever come across. It is very current, well-designed and although a bit over complicated, you can quickly get bang up to date if you weren't able to watch a particular stage. No need to Sky+. Just a 2min video and you see what happened.

Saturday England Triple

It is unusual to see 3 England teams looking for success in one weekend. But this weekend it happened.

First up was the Footie.

Rooney scores the second in a 3-0 comprehensive win over Estonia.


Second up was the Rugby Union World Cup Semi-Final against France. It looked like it was seriously going wrong until 5 minutes from the end old JW does it again and finished the match off. The Final beckons against the Argies or the South Africans.



Johnny safe foot Wilkinson does it again


And Finally it was the turn of the darts England team in the Darts World Cup semi final against the USA in the team event. Martin Adams, Tony O'Shea, John Walton & Steve Farmer took on the USA in the World Cup which involved 45 countries. Tomorrow they will take on the Netherlands in the Final.



Tony O'Shea the 'Silverback'

World Darts Trophy

The Netherlands are going darts crazy again this week as the World Darts Trophy kicks off today in Utrecht. Utrecht is a city just south of Amsterdam. This will be the 6th WDT but this year it is unique in that it is between 28 PDC and 28 BDO players.


This is the 2nd time a joint tournament has been held since the breakup of darts in 1994.

The last time also happened in Holland in the International Darts League in Nijmegen in May. That time the BDO players came out on top with 3 out of 4 in the Semis and Gary Anderson picked up the title.


There is another joint tournament scheduled to be held in September in the UK the Grand Slam of Darts which will be shown on ITV. The first time they have shown darts in many years.


Previous winners of the WDT are:
Tony David, Raymond van Barneveld (2), Gary Robson and Phil Taylor. Taylor won the tournament last year when it stopped being exclusively for BDO players and 5 PDC players received wild cards.


The politics in darts seems to be hitting a new high again even though these joint tournaments are taking place. The BDO players are not happy their old exclusive tournaments are being taken over by PDC players (the WDT and the IDL).


And also the BDO has purposely moved it's BBC tournament the Masters to clash with Barry Hearn's PDC ran joint tournament (the Grand Salm of Darts) in September.


Martin Adams the current BDO World Champion refused his invite to the GSOD. Hearn went on record to say that Adams lacked ambition. To which Adams replied he is loyal to the BDO and that is a great quality and said that without him the tournament has lost it's value.


I think for 'Joe Public' having 2 live tournaments on at the same time will probably alienate people from the sport and confuse them but for the darts fans it is interesting times to watch and compare the 2 codes.


Who will come out on top at the WDT this week we can only wait and see. So far we are 3 matches in and it stands 2-1 to the BDO.



Mieke de Boer will not be taking part as there is no ladies tournament in the WDT. But she is often showed as a interested member in the audience by SBS6 TV . I wonder why?

Test Match Special

Whilst back in the North-East I went to the West Indies v England Test Match at the Durham County Cricket ground. It was a present for Fatha's 70th birthday but everyone thought it a good plan so we all went. Not a cheap affair!. 7 people @ £42 per ticket. Mother made ham sandwiches and I prepared a flask of tea to economise a bit on the day but I have to admit I was enticed by the 'dirty burger' stand with it's attractive 1/2 mile queues.

It is a boring game cricket at times and we didn't pick the best day to go, but at least we didn't pick Friday when not a single over was thrown. Anyway my sister's boyfriend came up with a good game 'Spot the celebrity'. The 'posh stand' - The 'Don Robson Pavillion' was directly on the other side of the ground so with the aide of binoculars we scanned for the stars.

After a few false alarms, Fern Britten, Jim Bowen etc. I heard on the TMS commentary that Bobby Robson was watching from the balcony so I quickly scanned the corporate boxes and found a 'silver haired' guy who I then pointed out to everyone. Later I found the real Bobby. I kept a bit quiet about it though.


Will the real Bobby please stand up

O'Shea 9 darter IDL

It has never happened before in one tournament but tonight in Nijmegen the second 9-darter was thrown by Tony O'Shea from Stockport. A man I had a nice chat with outside the MECC last year. Good on ye Tony and Happy 46th Birthday. Shame that the car was already gone.

Phil Taylor 9 dart finish Topic IDL

I was playing darts this afternoon and finished in 9 throws. Just like Phil Taylor did last night in the Topic International Darts League in Nijmegen. He won a car which he immediately gave to a Dutch couple who ferry him from Hotel to venue each day, as they had had an accident and wrote of their van.

Wheres a coppa when you need one

Markt, Maastricht, Sunday 22 2007 Amstel Gold Race

Downing 'lamps' Lampard

I saw this in the Gazette but it is quite uncanny

Did you see this man on Monday evening?

It's just not cricket

Strictly come dancing are approaching Monty for next series

I've been watching the Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series for the last month. Mainly due to my current employer's flexitime system that I can stay up late when there is naff-all on the box.

Although entertaining and in these chilly months it is nice to see all that Aussie sunshine. I just can't get my head round the tournament format.

Three teams Australia, England and New Zealand. They have to play each of the other teams 4 times. And at the end of that the two top teams in the table play each other in a final 3 times.

Seems like an excuse to just play loads of cricket games to me. Anyway it has been great to watch and finally we get to see England win a couple of matches after 2 months of being utter poo.

Tonight they will show the thriller from the 'Gabba' which England had to win to meet Australia in the final. It went right down to the last over where NZ needed 16 runs from the last 6 balls.

Highlights on BBC 11.20pm

The Lakeside

This years competition is hotting up to be a battle of the hard-core BDO players. The competition was billed as a write-off as new boys Michael van Gerwen and Jelle Klaasen to take the tournament away from the 'old guard'.

But it has proved to be the opposite. The 'old guard' have shown their experience on the big stage and that experience should never be written off.

A lot of rubbish is written about darts, and in general by people who only watch the televised competitions.

We now have three North-East players in the Quater-Finals for the first time.

Tony Eccles of South Bank, Boro
Gary Robson of Northumberland
and Phil Nixon of Durham

There was a chance of all 4 quarters featuring North East players until Davy Richardson from Gateshead lost his second round match.

Unfortunately I think that Eccles has the least chance of making the next round as he has to play the pet-lipped most unsportsmanlike King, whereas Robson and Nixon(a qualifier) have a great chance to make the last 4.

Robson has played out of his skin and looks the more likely to succeed. Let's hope that Eccles can also provide us with some hope against Mervyn King who will be definitely not having any support from the crowd as he has riled both his fellow players and the crowd with some unsporting behavour. But even though he hasn't dropped a set yet his averages would seem to say he won't have much chance against King unless he plays the darts he does on the circuit.


It would be good to see both in the semis as they do have better DWAGS. A synomyn which Tony Green seems to have introduced "Darts Wifes and Girlfirends".


Gary Robsons's wife is the spit of Anna Friel.

Gary's GoogleEarth Game

Sports Personality of the Year

This year I think the best choice is not to vote. I know it's supposed to be about personality, but as ever the 'powers that be' have gone with what they think are the best achievers in sport this year.

the candidates :

1: Jenson Button


113 attempts before achieveing a grand prix win in Hungary this year

2: Joe Calzaghe


A boxer


3: Darren Clarke


One of the favourites unfortunately due to the loss of his wife Heather. The News of the World (scum) printed a story this morning about Darrens new partner insinuating it might be too soon to have another relationship following the death of his wife. Nice timing!


4: Nicole Cooke


For me Nicole deserves to win, Before Cooke, no man or woman from Britain had even made the top 20 of the world road race rankings, but she topped them. A sport we have never been much cop at and now the world no.1. But have you ever heard of her.?


5: Ricky Hatton


Another Boxer

6: Andy Murray


He cuts his own hair you know!. Deserves to win by defeating Roger Federer alone.


7: Monty Panesar


The turbanator, who has not even started in an ashes test as yet.


8: Zara Phillips


Royal horse totty, who will be the best dressed tonight. "Mummy won it in '71 so why shouldn't one prevail"


9: Phil Taylor


Probably the best darts player in the world. And owner of the worst tattoe in the world.
13 times World Champion and on the board of directors at Sky TV.


10: Beth Tweddle


Also another deserved winner in that she has succeeded at a sport we are pants at. It takes 3 shire horses to pull Beth's hair into position before a competition. She will be trying to outshine Zara Phillips tonight with a black number, and loose hair as the horses were not allowed to attend

The bookies have it at:

Darren Clarke 1/9
Zara Phillips 6/1
Joe Calzaghe 14/1
Monty Panesar 40/1
Andy Murray 40/1
Phil Taylor 80/1
Jenson Buttom 100/1
Beth Tweddle 100/1
Ricky Hatton 100/1
Nicole Cooke 100/1

Coupe Aeronautiqe Gordon Bennett

The 'Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennet' is a balloon race. Well it's not really a race more a competition as the winner is the hot air balloon that travels the furthest.

First run in 1906 from Paris, the event was organised by Gordon Bennet, an eccentric millionaire newspaper man from New York. 200,000 people turned up to watch the start in Paris. Most teams dared not cross the English channel but the team that did won the event landing in Scarborough on the North East coast.

This year the event is running for the 50th time and starting in Antwerp in Belgium. Rather like the Eurovision Song Contest the winner of the 'coupe' has the honour of hosting the following years event.

At present (10.09.06 12:24 UTC) the 16 competitors are winging their way accross the North Sea heading towards Norway. You can follow their progress live by GPS co-ordinates at the competition website.

Belgium 2 looks like it is going to pass over Middlesbrough. What a treat for the crew. Currrent position is (Team Name: Belgium 2Van Geyte, Luc / Paenen, RudyLast Update (UTC): 2006-09-10 12:03:12Position: N53°59'38" W001°32'47"Flown Distance (km): 495.09) . Putting that into Streetmap.co.uk they are currently passing over Harrogate. The Royal Pump Room Museum to be exact.











Museum in Harrogate used by Royalty though the ages for relief from flatulence
















Germany 3 (Columus V) narrowly misses Middlesbrough instead passing over Skinningrove's Cliffs

A day at the races

Last week i spent a day at Redcar Racecourse (locally known as Radkah Races) watching the gee-gees.

Now a day at the races is always meant to be fun, but made more memorable if you leave the course with a pocket full of cash and not empty handed. So we approached the day with a professional punter's manner. We studied the form, the tipster's comments, we selected the best odds from each bookmaker, we went to the parade paddock to see how the horses looked.

But the first 4 races not a sniff of success. And there was 7 of us there!!!. I think the odds of us all not winning a penny on 5 races (all betting on different horses must have been 1,000,000-1). And was it not for me spoiling the run on the last race we would have gladly placed a bet.

The last race i gave up on any methods and said " I'm gonna toss this pound coin 10 times and the number of heads i get is the number of the horse i will take". I got 5. the favourite was number 5 at 8/11 odds. So i splapped my last £10 on it.

And it romped home. Making me a awe-inspiring £7.27 profit.

The great 'Lester Piggot' who was guest for the day presented the prizes to River Kirov's owner and jockey. He probably would have told me not to declare my winnings to the taxman but considering on how much we lost that day I don't think i will bother anyway.














Mr Piggott presents the trophy to the owner of River Kirov
















The start of the 4.55 at Redcar

Amstel Gold 41st Birthday

I came home a bit late last night from a darts sesh in the Bensons, thinking hey I'm gonna follow the Amstel Gold Race tomorrow. As the start is at 10 on the Markt I set my alarm for 9. Woke up at 11. And set off to Cadier en Keer bout 2 mins from my house for 12.15 the first time of passing. Very Poor!

Anyway i then had the plan to go to Vaals to see how it was progressing but missed it. And took me almost 2 hours to get back to Cadier en Keer stuck in cycling/Easter traffic for 5 kms. But arrived in Cadier en Keer to see the 2nd passing. 3 riders had broke away from the peleton and after that I popped home to watch the finish from the sofa. I've been doing this for about 8 years now and i still haven't learnt. You should either sit in Valkenburg on a terrace, or stay at home with the TV.

Anyway it was a pretty good race and the usual switching of leaders to peleton went on. And of all the 200 odd competitors the only Luxembourger in the field won the race. Frank Schleck.
Funnily enough i was having a conversation 2 days ago at work with a Luxembourgish colleague at how rubbish they are at Football and sport in general. So Frank has saved the day. Now they will not only be known for errmmm, what are they famous for?. Oh yeah having shitloads of cash.

Boogerd came 3rd, always the bridesmaid!



After finding a very quiet spot in Cadier en Keer, the whole Lotto team decides to park right in front of me to take photos of the support team with their vehicles. Tossers!



Cadier en Keer (2nd time) the three breakaway leaders, 1 Michael Albasini, SUI (Iquigas ITA);
246 Erwin Thijs, BEL (Unibet.com BEL); 146 Bram Schmitz, NED (T-Mobile Team GER).


And here is a nice video of how scary it is to be at the side of the road....http://www.atc-network.com/site/movie.wmv . Watch the cocky guy showing off to his son when the peleton comes past and a support car near runs over his feet and his expletives thereafter.

If you're going to gamble why pick the hardest race

It is said that millions of Brits don't bet on the horses, except for once a year they make an exception to place a small 'wager' on the Grand National.

It is a habit hard to drop and when i first came over to Holland as betting shops were not allowed I used to make a 1/2 hour journey across the border to a place called Visé where they had a laddies (ladbrokes).

The locals used to snigger and mock me each year in french

"Silly englishman, why doez you bet on ze race with ze forty hosses. you have no chance to win!"
Probably true but thats the fun of it. Knowing your chances of picking the winner in the National are so slim that when that year comes round when you do pick a winner you won't forget it.

Last time i backed the winner was 1992 'Party Politics'. I was a poor student in Manchester and i had no money, well 4 quid. I could either go out ahave a cheap saturday night out or risk it all on the National and then have to probably stay in. But my horse won and I went out and got hammered! As my 4 pund had just become 36 pund.

I backed a few each way winners since and tried every year but never picked the winner. This year is going to be my year. I can feel it and just to make sure I'll back 30 out of 40 horses!

In the office sweepstake I got Heros Collonges. Never back a horse that you can't pronounce.

Anyway just so you can't say i fixed it here are me bets this year.

4. Therealbandit 40-1 £2 e/w



20. Joe's Edge 25-1 £2 e/w



25. Garvivonnian 25-1 £2 e/w

Man City v Boro

Manchester City 20/1 v Middlesbrough 7/1

Ok What are these odds for....?
Todays match or.......
Answers on a postcard

Swiss Cheese

I thought that was all they we're famous for.!!!!
Not for silky moves and swift forward passes.
But no they have to upset our move on the UEFA cup.
Well let me tell you Basel , or Baaahthelll however you pronounce it
we will give you a game at the Riverside, even if you do kick our asses over the 2 legs.

Anyway bring it on. What can we lose.

I arrive at the pub 30 mins late and within 10 mins we are 2-0 behind.
Why did i go i out?

Probably to show my allegiance to the Boro. And we didn't do that bad, but it was annoying to watch. The Swiss were way too good. I hope with a less slidy pitch our boys can show some form next time. 1 week to wait and three goals at least to score. Not easy but hey It's the Boro and this season we have surprised the best teams so I'm not giving up yet.