Time for swimsuit companies to take lead

While the swimsuit fiasco that has ruined swimming history rages on and jockeying takes place within the FINA ranks for political clout in the fallout, there is one stakeholder that can take immediate steps to bring meaningful change.

Swimsuit manufacturers are not to blame for this debacle but they weren't innocent bystanders either and they now have the ability to begin the repair job.

Last week the FINA Congress (all the swimming nations) voted overwhelmingly to return to non-permeable, textile only suits by January 1, 2010.

It was also proposed that suits for men would be from waist to knee only and for women, shoulder to knee with an open back. While this decision was done hurriedly and without the proper consultation it is at least a step in the right direction.

Now the goons on the FINA Bureau have decided that the swimsuit manufacturers need until April or May to make enough suits for the swimming world under the new rules and specifications. Bollocks!

With less than a month's notice these companies were able to prepare enough "bubble" suits to rocket propel every swimmer at the World Championships so why on earth over the next five months wouldn't they be able to revert back to silhouettes they have used in the past and material similar or the same as they used pre-February 2008 ?

Granted the new suits will not cost as much as those produced in the last 16 months and yes that will effect profit margins but the future of swimming is on the line here.

I challenge all swimsuit manufacturers to stand up and say "we will ensure we have the 2010 version of approved suits ready on January 1". In the end they will profit anyway - swimming nude is still out of the question.

Who will be the first to truly show they care as much about the sport and those that participate, in the pool and out (their clients and future clients), and take the lead that FINA so horribly lost.

Deans has reinvigorated club rugby

Robbie Deans has done plenty already for Australian Rugby Union and its followers in the short time he has been on this side of the ditch.

He has refreshed the style of play and the shape of the Wallabies backline, he has helped our guys to a couple of great Test victories and given us all hope that Australia can again contend for the Webb Ellis Trophy.

One other thing he has done that might not quite get the same public recognition as a win over the Springboks or AB's is his decision to allow members of his Wallaby squad to play club rugby on weekends off.

For rugby fans and the game's youngest followers, the next generations of Wallabies, it is a treat and a half to be able to pay the nominal entry fee that is charged at Sydney or Brisbane club gates and stand on the fence within a Stephen Moore throw in of your favourite player.

The players love it too. You can see them relax and enjoy the opportunity to run around with old mates, while giving back to the grass roots level of the game they love. Those team mates lucky enough to play with these guys benefit too, learning more in one game than they might in a month of Saturdays.

I don't have any figures by I am sure the gate would be up at least 30% every time this happens and a team gets the injection of a Wallaby or two into their first grade team.

So next time the Wallabies have a break, whether it's later this year or next, get on down to your local ground and cheer on your team, or any team. It'll cost you about a quarter of the ticket to a Test and you can almost touch the action. All courtesy of R Deans.

Don't forget the man in the bubble

Out of all the sports I love, and there are many, swimming sits at the top of the tree.

So it is with infinite sadness I view this year's FINA World Swimming Championships that begin (or at least the pool component does) in Rome this Sunday.

It has been well documented that FINA's bludgeoning of their own sport by allowing the use of swimsuits, that can be seen as nothing short of a hydrodynamic 'bubble', means this meet will border on farce.

Records and history will be demolished like never before. Ranking rising missiles whose body shapes are fortunate enough to be aided more than their rivals by these formerly unthinkable speed suits will come from everywhere. Athletes will be beaten purely by those with better rubber technology.

No manufacturer is innocent in this debacle but the water spout of blame must rest squarely on the pampered shoulders of those at the head of the FINA decision making table. Shame, FINA, shame!

But I ask for a moment that you to take a step back and consider the athletes inside the floatation devices.

They are the innocent victims of this whole situation that has raged on for a few years now and has come to an ugly head this July. Those and their coaches, families, fans and friends. Shame, FINA, shame!

From Michael Phelps to Eric the Eel - every swimmer will be affected one way or another. The meet will be written off by the media and just about everyone else as the fiasco it is and that is somewhat unfair on the athletes.

Granted, what was once a world record, a top ten all-time swim or a PB is in nigh all cases now no longer relevant but these athletes have still trained and prepared to be at their best for this eight-day period. They will still stand on the blocks and give their all for themselves and their countries, knowing a world title is on the line. The times they swim will mean jack, the effort they put in will not.

Think of those whose dreams will be shattered and those who will achieve something previously unthinkable. And hope too that the latter achievers know in their heart of hearts how they improved so much so quickly.

Think of the athlete fortunate enough to be paid by a manufacturer (and again, while not the cause of this mess, no manufacturer is free of all guilt here) as an ambassador who is forced to make a decision on which suit to wear based on a fear of having no chance of winning because they believe loyalty, a contract and no doubt the associated sponsorship dollars means something. While these athletes may have benefited more than others in the past, none deserve to be put in this position by the boffins running their sport.

Think of those whose achievements will forever be looked upon, a little unfairly, in a category not that far from those that used induced performance enhancers.

Shame, FINA, shame!

Vick has served his time

Former NFL quarterback stud Michael Vick this week finished his 23-month jail sentence for bankrolling an horrific and illegal dog fighting operation.

Vick has indicated his desire to play top level football again but he is currently under an indefinite suspension handed down before his custodial sentencing by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

His release from prison (and home detention) means Vick is now free to settle back into society and with that process should come the right to re-renter the workforce which for him would mean coming back to the NFL.

In a nutshell, Vick has served his time for this abhorrent crime and deserves a second chance. Goodell should reinstate the ex-Atlanta Falcons and Va-Tech star poste-haste and give each of the 32 clubs in the NFL the opportunity to decide if they wish to employ someone with Vick's character.

Personally if I was the GM of one of these multi-million dollar franchises I would be very hesitant to have Vick on my books (even though he was my favourite player for many years) because I believe he is too high a risk to run foul of the law again. Just my opinion. But I think each of the 32 clubs, and Vick himself, deserve the right to make that decision independently of the NFL.

If nobody picks him up, fine. But at least give him the chance. He's done his time.

Hooray for HorHay

Everywhere we look in sport we see hundreds, even thousands of athletes frivolously labelled 'a champion' or 'a legend' or 'one of the greats'.

Whether it's at an international standard or the grass roots level, commentators, team mates, parents and just about everyone else with an opinion has at some stage dedicated the above terms to a favourite player, a loved one or even a rival.

In truth, when emotion is minimised, more often than not those titles are used far too liberally.

Sometimes, however, they are warranted and one such player any of those three terms applies to is George Smith.

George, Jorge or Horhay as he is known throughout world rugby will this week play his 100th Test when the Wallabies clash with the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland.

He is the first breakaway to do so and now sits 10th on the all-time list for most Tests played internationally behind another famous Australian George - Gregan, who currently leads the pack with 139 matches.

At the ripe old age of 29 (it was his birthday earlier this week) and with Smith signed to the ARU for another two years, that record may not be safe!

And speaking of records - in the 99 Tests Smith has played in his career so far he has started 85, the Wallabies have won 62 and you can almost guarantee that the flying flanker from Manly was one of Australia's best players each and every time. Probably better in the 36 losses and one draw too.

You see Smith is a man who gives his all every time he takes the field. A no-nonsense backrower with the sublime skills of a mid field player. The sort of guy other teams game plan for but can rarely stop. A shy bloke by nature who's become a leader now too, Smith is someone for all to look up to.

Quite simply, anyone who plays 100 rugby Tests can be at times termed a 'a champion' or 'a legend' or 'one of the greats'.

George Smith is all three, all the time.

Alternative Origins

The State of Origin series winds up for another year this week and one question keeps popping up.

And no it's not 'will Queensland win for the next 1035 years?' The question revolves around scheduling - is the current format, that witnesses games played on a Wednesday night at three week intervals, the best one?

Players selected miss playing for their clubs, the people who pay their salary, the weekend before the game each time and must pull up injury free to turn out for their clubs the following weekend. Usually the bye saves each club once from the pain of taking the field without their best but that's it.

While I admit Wednesday nights have been successful and are now a huge part of Australia's annual sporting calendar, being forced to play without your team's stars when you are battling to make the Top 8 is tough on players, coaches and fans alike.

Surely there is a better solution.

We could start by making all players available for their clubs the week before a dead rubber, as is the case this week with QLD already up 2-0.

I would go even further and make radical changes. Under my rule the series would be played on three consecutive Saturday nights. Players would turn out for their clubs the week before the series starts and have a normal week to recover at the end of the series before they don club colours again. While the series is on there will only be one round of club footy the entire time - the first two weeks could have a game on Friday night, Sunday afternoon and Monday night, before a Friday night, Sunday afternoon weekend the final week.

That way, at most teams only miss their players once. Each team would still get two byes, albeit they would be closer together.

The elite that are fortunate enough to play Origin would not have to back up and play twice in a weekend either, they would simply miss their allocated byes or weeks off. Sure it's hard but that's why they get paid the big bucks!

Some will say that these guys need longer together to form combinations and so on but I don't buy it. Most have played together at some stage of their careers or will be together for a while to come. They have the ability to follow a game plan well and mesh with teammates with ease - that's why they are the best in the game.

All sounds good to me in theory but there is one HUGE problem. Television!! The television rights holders, Channel 9 and Fox, want the game on the box as often as possible so just two or three games a week is not going to cut the mustard for them or their advertisers who obviously help them recoup the millions they have paid the NRL for the broadcast rights.

I would imagine hell would freeze over before the networks agree to a schedule like mine but that brings us to another big question in the game - who is running the show - the media and television networks or the people who should, the fans?

I think we all know the answer to that one.

Where's The Consistency

At times there is nothing more entertaining than hearing a fired up talk back radio shock jock go to town on a back peddling politician or sports administrator, as was the case last week when the airwaves' hardest working man Ray Hadley pushed NRL boss David Gallop into a corner.

They were talking about the incident involving young Roosters players Jake 'if i keep carrying on like this i'll have no' Friend and Sandor 'i have the best name in footy' Earl.

Hadley raised a point that i am sure many NRL fans are currently wondering - why were these two players allowed to play on without suspension, especially after they'd been charged by police?

Simple Gallop said. There was an ongoing police investigation.

What happened, Hadley asked, in the 2006 case of Tevita Latu when the Sharks player was de-registered despite an on-going investigation for punching a woman in the nose? It was an open and shut case of Latu admitting his guilt Gallop said. Friend and Earl were disputing the facts he said.

Well please explain then Mr Gallop the suspension earlier this season of Brett Stewart. You said it had nothing to do with the ongoing police investigation that Stewart was facing and disputing. You said it was for "not conducting himself at all times in public in a sober, courteous and professional manner".

Were Sandor and Earl conducting themselves in a 'sober, courteous and professional manner' when they got in a fight? Was Anthony Watmough at the Manly season launch? I think not. Were they suspended? No.

Now the point i am trying to make here is not that Stewart shouldn't have been given an enforced holiday on the sidelines (because i believe he should have for acting like an idiot) or that Watmough and the two Roosters should have.

I am merely trying to show the inconsistencies in these examples. Was Stewart really suspended for being drunk and unprofessional or was it because of the police allegations? If it was the former, why have Friend and Earl been allowed to play on?

Gallop has spent plenty of time in recent years in the sort of corners that Hadley had him in last week (and I'll blog about that in coming weeks). It's high time he punched his way out and showed some leadership by ruling consistently across the board.

The Real TdF Leaders

With the rise of cable television, a raft of new digital offerings and even the internet providing us with access to almost every sporting event conceivable, we are fortunate in this day and age to be able to watch endless hours of sport from all over the globe.

Part of that coverage includes the many voices that bring us commentary on every punch, stroke, kick, shot and step.

We all have our favourites - Bob Costas for the NBA, Ray 'Rabs' Warren in the NRL, Bill McLaren for Test rugby, Henry Blofeld for cricket and the great Bruce McAvaney (for whatever he wants) to name a just a few.

But despite the obvious dulcet tones of all of those above, few can rival the dynamic two wheeled machine that is Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen at Tour de France time.

Never before has sticking matchsticks in your eye sockets to stay awake until 2am twenty nights in a row been so pleasurable than it is to hear Liggett and Sherwen wax lyrical about the goings on in the peloton.