Driven By Emotion

By Shane Thomas

High-profile sport may not have been at the forefront of George Orwell's mind when he wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four, but there's no doubt that his concept of 'Big Brother' is an aspect of the sports-industrial complex - some may say a positive one.

The Perfect Storm

By Shane Thomas

For regular football viewers, the hard-sell we have to endure from television companies borders on the maddening side of tedious. The amount of times we hear the word "best" misused in the name of trying to convince the public that the next match of football is "must-see", and the "greatest ever" is an affront to all intelligent people and the English language. David Mitchell once summed it up beautifully, thus.

Djokovic & Murray Serve Up Drama Worthy Of The Gods

By Shane Thomas


Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5 to reach the 2012 Australian Open Final.

It's been about 24 hours since the epic confrontation between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. I trust you've got your breath back. I sure hope the players have. No-one would begrudge either man a lie-in after yesterday's exertions.

With Rafael Nadal waiting in tomorrow's final, Djokovic went into the match looking to maintain his position at the top of the tennis mountain, Murray arrived looking to prove to his doubters that he belongs near the summit of said mountain. In the end, they were both successful.

Episode 48 - 2011 in Review (Part 4) w/Emma Hyam

Emma Hyam helps us bring our 2011 retrospective to a close as we dissect the last 12 months in Motorsport, Gymnastics, Snooker, Boxing & Athletics. Added to this we close with a brief look at the inherent sexism in the world of sport, and conclude with our sporting heroes & villains for the year.

Sporting Hero (Domestic):

Jonathan - Mark Cavendish
Shane - Mark Cavendish
Emma - Sarah Stevenson

Sporting Hero (Foreign):

Jonathan - Aaron Rodgers
Shane - Lionel Messi

Sporting Villian:

Jonathan - Carlos Tevez
Shane - Pennsylvania State University
Emma - Sepp Blatter

The Greatest Events In Sporting History' is available from http://www.simplysyndicated.com/shows/sportinghistory/

Vettel's Red Bull Wings Him To The Verge Of Championship Glory

By Shane Thomas

Last year, Formula 1 started their season with what looked to be the most open championship race in history. With as many as six men being tipped for the title, anticipation for the sport was at its height. And it proved to be a thrilling title chase, with three men in with a chance to be World Champion in the season's final race. In the end it was Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel who grasped his opportunity to become Formula 1's youngest ever World Champion.

The 2011 season however, has been more of a closed shop. With Vettel being the shop's sole proprietor. For most of the first half of this season, Vettel has made the most of a car that is even better than last year's model to open up an almost unassailable lead at the top of the drivers championship. The inconsistent displays of his teammate, Mark Webber have mattered little as Vettel's dominance means that Red Bull already have one hand on the constructors championship for another season. Team principal Christian Horner runs a tight ship, and has his mechanics motivated to get the very best out of Vettel's car. And in Adrian Newey, Horner probably has the most accomplished technician in the pit lane right now.

However, Vettel has shown signs of vulnerability in recent races. The plan for this season has been to get the German on pole position, and then ensure he gets off the starting line quickly, giving Red Bull total leverage to control the outcome of the race. But there has been a steady improvement from the McLarens of Jenson Button & Lewis Hamilton. And the closing stages of the British Grand Prix showed that Webber refuses to play lackey to Vettel, regardless of what Horner says. If he can get his act together after the mid-season break, he could make things awkward for his teammate.

Sadly, for neutrals, making things awkward for the current World Champion is the best that can be hoped for. Hamilton & Button have pulled up tress over the past month, doing their best to disrupt the Red Bull procession to the title. They have shown great opportunism in unfavourable weather conditions to give Vettel a bloody nose in the past couple of Grand Prix's.

This season Vettel has proved that there is no better front-runner in Formula 1 right now. But when he has to scrap & scramble his way to victory he can be found wanting, and his inability to dominate when the rain falls is worrying for a guy who's ostensibly the best in the business. All the sport's great names tend to shine when the track gets damp, but the opposite seems to be the case with Vettel.

However, his points lead is so gargantuan that it would take one of sport's greatest acts of choking for him to fail to retain his world title. However, just as Formula 1 was looking to have as much unpredictability as a Kate Hudson comedy (the term "Kate Hudson comedy" may be an oxymoron), the likes of Button, Hamilton, Webber & Fernando Alonso have shown that they intend to make the German's path to the championship as arduous as possible. It looks as if Formula 1 may be worth watching again when it returns from its break in 3 weeks.


Don't forget to download 'The Greatest Events in Sporting History' from www.simplysyndicated.com/shows/sportinghistory/, e-mail us at sportshistoryshow@googlemail.com and you can follow us on Twitter @TGEISH

Red Mist Set To Descend On Ferrari As They Fix German Grand Prix For The Favoured Son

By Shane Thomas

Anyone who has an elder sibling has probably had to go through the experience of feeling marginalised. Whether it's when receiving the cheaper presents on Christmas Day, having to wear their 'hand-me downs' at the end of August - just in time for the new school year - or getting less pocket money at the end of the week (do parents even bother with pocket money these days and if so, is 'pocket money' even the correct term? Christ I'm old) it's easy to feel like your parents have earmarked their affections for the child who came first. It's not that they don't love you as well but the elder sibling was always part of the plan. You were more of a alcohol-fuelled afterthought.

Guest Post by Elton McManus - The British Grand Prix

By Elton McManus


British Grand Prix, Silverstone 11th July 2010

Well, an epic weekend was had at the British GP, Silverstone.The weekend started off slow for McLaren, struggling with their new blown diffuser. Once it was decided that it wouldn’t be used because it was causing parts of the body work to overheat & proved difficult to drive with, Garry Paffet (test driver) spent most of the night on the companies simulator trying to find a good set up, or base line, for Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton to use in Saturday practice.

The Summer of Sport - And Not A World Cup In Sight

By Shane Thomas

This blog's been a bit football heavy recently hasn't it? Well let's move the spotlight away from South Africa for a moment. As we've had quite a lot of sport going on elsewhere this summer. And sport of a very high standard. It's just a pity that it has been put into the shade by the looming shadow cast by the World Cup. Well... cricket, tennis & Formula 1, come out of the corner for a second and bask in the spotlight. You've earned it.