A week of sport and journalism in quotes, including the Ian Bell run-out that wasn’t, Rebecca Adlington’s world title that was, Olympic countdown overkill, future coverage of Formula 1, and Edwin Moses and Seb Coe on drugs in sport
“It looked like the ball had gone for four, but just to walk off for tea was a bit stupid. According to the rules I was out, but the end decision was right for the spirit of the game and the way both teams handled the situation was fantastic” Ian Bell, England batsman, who left his crease thinking Tea had been called and was run out. India captain MS Dhoni withdrew his side’s appeal during the interval.
“When the guys came in at Tea there was a sense of awkwardness. Dhoni and the boys thought it was the right thing to do” Rahul Dravid.
“When I was England captain, in the heat of the battle, I would have appealed. I would have seen nothing wrong in running out a batsman who had left his crease. I would have told the batsman ‘You messed up. Bad luck’” Nasser Hussain, former England captain.
“It was the right decision by the umpires. They did everything spot-on. Bell had wandered off. He was out – and he should have stayed out” Ian Botham, former England captain.
“I had already started a cheese sandwich, so it was definitely Tea” Graeme Swann, England spinner, on Twitter.
“As a team we are making the right calls and we are up there with them. In qualifying they still have the edge, but in the races we can have them. We have won three of the last five races. It will be tough to fight for the championship, but we are going to fight. We are right up there with the Red Bulls. They should be worried” Jenson Button, winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix in his McLaren but 100 points behind Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
“I am such an emotional beast. Seeing dad triggered me off. All the hard work he has put in has paid off” Hannah Miley, who won world championship silver in the 400m individual medley, thanks her father and coach Patrick.
“This is why I get up at five in the morning. It makes it all worth it. I couldn’t ask for a better support team. I’m such a lucky girl” Rebecca Adlington, who added world championship 800m freestyle gold to her Olympic and Commonwealth titles.
“Given the choice, I’d have kept F1 and cut the smug Wimbledon tennis coverage by half, if only to save us from the banshee wails of interchangeable east European women” Des Kelly, in his Daily Mail column, on news that BBC has handed half their Formula One coverage to Sky in order to preserve coverage of Wimbledon tennis.
“These people need to get real. Look what happened in Norway. I won a golf tournament and people are concerned about whether or not I had one pint too many. I mean, get a life. It’s sport. There are a lot more important things to talk about” Darren Clarke on criticism of his partying since winning the Open.
“The taxis will be ready. The theatres will be ready. The hotels will be ready… in fact, we might just call a snap Olympics now and catch the rest of the world on the hop” Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, in bullish mood at the One Year to Go party in Trafalgar Square.
“Brian Sewell would love it, Brian Moore would not” James Toney, of Sportsbeat, on the divided opinion over the design of the London 2012 Olympic medals, revealed last week.
“When she lifted the lid of the box containing the new Olympic medals you might have thought she was opening a tin of pungent dog food for the corgis” Alan Hubbard describes Princess Anne’s reaction to the medal design in his Independent on Sunday column.
“The build-up looks like being a marathon event. The Beeb is obviously training hard; they used 250 staff to cover the One Year To Go event – that was about the size of the crowd anyway – while ITN sent 22 on behalf of ITV and Channel 4” Andrew Tong reviews the BBC’s Twenty Twelve-style coverage of the One Year to Go Olympic non-event in Trafalgar Square.
“All in all, the major sports find themselves in safe, and occasionally inspired, hands with Sky. But that, as we know, is beside the point. When we remove sport from the free-to-air networks, we place it in an exclusive ghetto. Entry is thrown open to the affluent and comfortable, and denied to the old and the financially insecure. Audiences are, by definition, far smaller and therefore opportunities to inspire the young are far fewer” Patrick Collins‘ analysis in the Mail on Sunday of the BBC-Sky deal to share coverage of Formula 1.
“One generally found that the more money and influence involved in an industry – football, movies, the royal family – the less inclined people were to talk” Emma Hartley, the former diary writer at The Times and Telegraph, on the state of modern journalism.
“There were times when we wondered just what you’d have to do to fail it” John Whittingdale MP, chairman of the Commons’ culture, media and sport select committee, on their view on football’s “fit and proper person” test.
“Whoa….some1 has got into my phone + taken down my pics off twitter….this is deep…is jack Bauer in Washington?!” Rio Ferdinand, Tweeting as @rioferdy5, starts a security alert after posting pictures during a Manchester United tour of the White House.
“Has Vaseline on the outside edge saved the day for Laxman???” Michael Vaughan (@VaughanCricket) starts another Twitter storm (particularly from some of his ex-fans in India) after asking whether the batsman had used a substance to defeat the technology of HotSpot.
“Physics over chemistry” Edwin Moses, 400m hurdles Olympic champion in 1976 and 1984 and a physics and engineering graduate, explains his attitude to competing against rivals using drugs.
“Let’s get real. What are the messages we are giving out here to young people? There is no ambiguity; if you want to be part of this project then don’t take drugs. Full stop. There is no place for drugs. You can’t mix the message. It is the morality of the knacker’s yard. You have to fight this, be strong about it” Lord Coe on suggestions that recreational drugs in sport should be treated with greater leniency than the performance-enhancing variety.
“The owners did not even have the backbone to tell the players about why they withdrew their application. It’s a joke. I’m out of here next year anyway, but I’m owed a lot of cash. Absolute disgrace” Mark Bryant, of Crusaders Rugby League, as the club pulls out of Super League.
UPCOMING SJA DATES
- Thu Aug 18: Lunch with Sir Clive Woodward, performance director of the BOA, on plans for the 2012 Olympics with just one year until the London Games. For booking details click here.
- Mon Sep 12: SJA Autumn Golf Day, Muswell Hill GC. Click here for more details and to book yourself in for the day.
- Wed Dec 7: SJA 2011 British Sports Awards – Booking now open. For more details, click here.
All details subject to alteration. Keep checking sportsjournalists.co.uk for updates