What are the best sports websites?

If I could only live with one source of news - it would obviously be the BBC. They are independently funded and are much more neutral. As the BBC is British though they tend mainly to talk about things that Britain is involved in. But to their credit, things are from a neutral background.

As a fan of Manchester United, I do love a read of manutd.com, however their coverage is so one sided. How is it possible to wax lyrical over the team after they have just managed a tedious 0-0 draw? Somehow they find they way to do that. So if for example one wants to hear great things about the St Louis Cardinals; go to cardinals.mlb.com as they are trying to sell them tickets. It is enjoyable to hear things from your clubs perspective to ease the pain.

I do have to say that I think that the espn website is pretty good. It is not that they have any storied that others dont have. It is just that they have well written blogs from people that have attended the events.

In the UK I know of this one writer called 'Simon Barnes', and he writes for the Times and also his own books. His style of writing is very poetical and constantly draws metaphors to real life from what he has learned from sporting encounters. His prose are so lyrical and smooth that one is almost astonished to find these pieces in the sports section at all. This is a trend that I have found that is growing thoughout sports journalism for some reason. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/simon_barnes/article6143189.ece this is an example that i have not even bothered to read.

My last mention will be to goal.com. This is a great website as my love for soccer is so extreme. But it is a good example of a niche website. It only deals in football and covers every single possible story that there is out there. They can take one players interview and turn it into 3 different stories. Their writers are probably turning out over 50 stories a day but at least nothing gets missed. I am sure that they have these websites in some capacity for most sports.

The real answer as with everything is that balance is the answer. It is nice to have a broad section of sources to draw upon. I feel that even roryssports is important so as that nothing of importance can ever get missed.

xxx

Rory

What is Manchester United's best team to play Porto?

Whatever happened in Manchester for the first leg must be forgotten. It was a poor result and an even poorer performance. Whatever happens, Manchester know that they can still qualify. Such is the number of quality players in the squad that it is hard to know who is the best, what one does know though is that players of late have not been performing. I do not want to point fingers but some players have not been performing such as Paul Scholes, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher.

Of course one has to go for Van Der Sar, Vidic and Ferdinand to form the defense. Although I am completely sold on Jonny Evans - one cannot go against these three who between them have been more responsible for United's recent success then anyone else. Oh how Manchester miss Wes Brown, but I would just about put Rafael in there at right back to give the enthusiasm of youth. On the left, hopefully Evra can rediscover his form although I am at a loss as to why Fabio is not ever given a chance, he has done nothing wrong and has been scoring goals for fun in the reserves - something that isnt in Evra's repetoire.

Left wing - I shall say Park for his experience although I am tempted to say Anderson to ad bite. Carrick obviously is automatic as he is responsible for making the team tick. Along side him - Giggsy has it all. He is creative, fast, holds possesion and is very experienced to put it mildly. Obviously world player of the year Ronaldo,, who was specifically rested on the weekend, will play on the right.

Up front - why not try Macheda? At least he has been scoring. Perhaps the place will go to Berbatov but I would be tempted to give the lad a go. I cant understand why Macheda has jumped above Welbeck in the pecking order, I find it a little unfair as its not like he has done anything but play amazingly, it is not his fault that the press hasn't latched onto him because he wasn't plucked somewhat unfairly from Lazio youth. Of course Rooney has to play as he is the Talisman, and forms the dynamic duo with Ronaldo.

Whatever happens, the team is good enough to win, even though it may be in Portugal. If Manchester do not win then I am sure that Arsenal will beat Porto in the semi finals.

Van Der Sar

Rafael Ferdinand Vidic Evra

Ronaldo Carrick Giggs Park

Berbatov Rooney

Is golf a sport?

I mean how many people move into retirement and then start playing rugby? The answer is not many, if any. We all know that to the average person, golf starts seeming like a pretty good fun when you are nearing 80. There are many notable examples of this - with the late John D Rockefeller pioneering this trend after he had finished with his standard oil developments.

So what one is saying is that golf does not require the level of athleticism that other sports do. I am not saying that it is not utterly exhausting to play a round of golf- but one could just about get away with chain smoking cigarettes and still make it round.

But it does require athleticism - indeed - when one is too old one cannot compete with the younger players. This is why they have set up the senior tour for the older players. It is no coincidence that Tiger Woods can hit the ball further than everyone and is the best in the world.

The other thing about golf is that one is really competeing against the elements and oneself. The person who may be ones closest rival in a tournament may be half a mile away all week. This does seem to suggest that golf is more of an individual pursuit than a sport.

Also I have heard people argue that there is no real danger in golf. This is not 100% true though for people are always getting injured, and of course the first thing that one learns on a golf course is the meaning of 'FORE'.

Either way it seems clear that golf is here to stay as people seem to be absolutely obsessed with it for better or worse. People who argue that competitive golf is not a sport dont really frequent the course.

I personally love a good round now and again but as Mark Twain one stated "golf is a good way to ruin a walk", it is clear that not everyone feels the same way.

xx

Do other animals play sports?

I was having a dinner conversation with a far more literate person than I last night, she was saying how humans are the only animals that play games. I pursued this argument with much fervour. It is true that humans are the only ones that actually write out the rules of games - but humans are the only animals that can write.

Perhaps humans have more complex games based on strategy and deception, in games such as poker. Animals use deception in nature all of the time, with devices such as camoflage. It is true that this has an evolutionary purpose, but it shows how deception is rife within nature.

Anyone who has dogs soon realises, once you teach the game of 'fetch' to your animal - it is hard to get them to want to stop. Dolphins seem to spend most of their time playing below the waves. All animals seem to have a need to play, even if the animals are unaware consciously of the games that they are playing. Horses would not jump large obstacles unless they wanted to. Once an animal is aware of the game he is more than willing to play and learn.

So I propose that if animals could understand - then they would be filling up the stadiums also. Our enjoyment of sports is related to our love of play and perhaps that is something instinctive. It must be as sports have been around since man has been around, in every culture and every walk of life.

xx

Where is the love?

My sincerest appologies to all of the people who have been checking 'Rory's Sports'. For many reasons it has not been updated at all recently. The main problem is that there have been so many amazing sports to follow that I have been selfish and have been just keeping them all to myself.

I mean the world of sports is a non-stop rollercoaster, it just keeps on going. If the rollercoaster never stopped then where would be the time to reflect and write my blog. For example - my main passion is soccer, and one only gets 2 months off a year over the summer! But whats more is that there is often a summer competition (such as the world cup), there is preseason, and other countries all over the world have their own soccer leagues playing in the summer (such as the USA). So when one understands that every sport is being played at all hours of everyday- then where does one get a break.

I can assure you though that I will be reflecting on some of the things that I have been following shortly, as the absence has not been due to lack of love for the blog, it has been for love of the sports.

xx