Where is Rebecca finding all of these classics

Q: Why did Frosty go and live in the middle
of the ocean?

A: Because snowman is an island!

Whats been happening?

The yankees won the world series. I was at the playoffs and it was pretty exciting. Maybe not quite the world cup final but the atmosphere was fun. I jumped up from my seat at one point and told some guy to shove it. He was chugging beer - the crowd was chanting 'chug, chug, chug, chug' and then the people would down an entire beer, to the chanting spectators. After this one guy did it, he ran and got another beer. His eagerness, combined with his his over playing to the situation, combined with the crowd mentality and short attention span resulted in him being booed wildly.

After the Yankees won the world series - New York New York was played at the bar that I was at. It felt amazing with all of those people. Then we went to to Union Square and stopped taxis in the middle of the streets, banged on the doors of passing cars, and some people even jumped on trucks. It wasnt as exciting as when the Giants won the superbowl as the world series is a much more drawn out affair. It is just interesting the way that the crowd rules. One policeman stopped the whole crowd though - I guess he did have a gun though.

At the yankees victory parade, the team went through the streets on buses, it was a tickertape parade - which by the way is incredible - especially in NY with the high buildings. Thank god I didn't have to clean up though. But the crowd was being stopped by the cops and barriers. At one point we did just break down the fences and run for it.

If you are interested in the crowd mentality I would recommend that you should definitely read the book 'Among the Thugs' by Bill Buford.

Contributor Rebecca Guinness reflects on the great horse 'Sea the Stars'

I witnessed the crowning of a great champion last Sunday on a small screen in a field in Westmeath, Ireland. The runners for the next race at the Point to Point circled the paddock unnoticed as all of Ireland (and most of England I should think) stopped dead to watch The Prix De L'Arc De Triomphe in Longchamp and Sea the Stars do what no other horse has ever done - win a sweep of 6 Group 1 races including the Derby, the 2000 Guineas as well as the great French race. For the owner Christopher Tsui who had been given the horse by his parents to encourage his enthusiasm for racing it must have been like writing his masterpiece with his first breath. His father, Hong Kong based businessman David Tsui had tasted the same glory with his dam Urban Sea in 1993 who was also the mother of the great 2001 Derby winner Galileo.



Anyone who watched the race must have felt their pulse quicken as they watched Sea the Stars seemingly trapped behind the pacemakers as they entered the final straight with the filly Stacelita making a break for the lead but suddenly his 50 year old jockey Mick Kinane, who by his own admission wouldn't still be riding had this horse not come along, saw the gap he was looking for and strode forward showing an incredible change in pace. As his trainer John Oxx commented "Mick would not panic because this horse has the gears”. After the race it was interesting to note that the owner’s nationality was overlooked and it was the Irish National Anthem that was played – fitting I suppose since it was after all a very Irish victory with the horse, trainer and jockey all hailing from the emerald isle.



The next decision for the team is whether they will take him to California in November for the Breeder’s Cup. To prove himself against the best that the US has to offer would surely make him the horse of the century and reinvigorate the enthusiasm of race goers all around the world. I for one would be on the stands of Santa Anita cheering on this “perfection in equine form”.

Has Federer lost his edge?

So the man from Switzerland as won two grand slams this year and been to the final of the other two. Not bad for any player to be able to do that.

But in Federer's loss to Del Potro - he had chances to finish it off in the fourth set, which he failed to do. I am sure the Federer of old wouldn't have allowed that. Instead he let the hungrier Del Potro win through his sheer force of will and size of shot.

After the match, Federer seemed almost happy, and almost happy for Del Potro. He was seen saying that Del Potro 'deserved it'. Strange for a man who is desperate to cement his legacy as the 'best of all time'.

It is also in stark contrast to the end of the Australian open where he cried after losing, and that was less than 12 months ago. There could be reasons for that; such as Federer's frustration is his rivalry with Nadal.

But Federer's recently aqquired status as a father seems to have made him mellow. He seems more at peace with the world. This isn't good I say, we can't be made to sit through see our sports players with no fight in them.

People only ever get to the top through immense dedication and desire. It seems a shame to see Roger resigned to not winning them all.

Exciting sporting moments this week.

Serena Williams went absolutely mental and threatened to shove a ball down the throat of a small female Asian line judge with her racket, after having been given a foot against her. Unbelieveably this happened on match point so she lost the game after a penalty point, unfortunate for the defending champion.

here is some of the action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bPstWxGZU0&feature=related

Also - Manchester city football player Adebbayor also went a little crazy this week. He was playing against arsenal - his old football team, and he tried to stamp on some of his former team mates. After scoring the winning goal, instead of not celebrating (a custom normally adhered to by players when scoring in their former employees), Adebayor runs the entire length of the pitch to celebrate infront of the Arsenal fans. This caused a semi riot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChiYOnxz0qc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHwXBRNGdGs

Hardly sports - but Kanye's outburst for the Beyonce video also lacked some class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfIw0GJEC4Y

Hello sports fans.

I once read a book (very recently) called 'letters to a young poet' which was sent to me by a very kind and thoughtful friend in Los Angeles. The book was a series of letters (you would never believe) to a young poet on how to fulfill his artistic potential as a writer. Enjoyable and elegant as the letters were, I wouldn't help but notice how half of the letters were devoted to the subject of elegantly phrasing excuses for not having written sooner. This is not the style that I wish to use while writing my sports blog so I from now on will not apologize for my far too infrequent updates of this blog.

What a summer it has been though and I hope that you too have been keeping tabs on what has been happening. From an unknown Korean upsetting the great Tiger Woods at the US open, to England winning the ashes, Usain Bolt running faster than the scientists could predict to the 16-14 final set at the wimbledon final.

As I was writing this blog I was not sure as to what the subject was to be but I see it all to clearly now. It is the unknown.

Sports is truly the ultimate unwritten theatre. Even as a small boy I was always obsessed with stadia, and it is only in my later life that I have begun to understand why that is. Despite the fact that on every corner there is a famous relic, no buildings capture the imagination more in Rome than the coliseum and the circus maximus. There were no amphitheatres built in that great empire to show theatrical productions that could compare with the size of these buildings. Why is this we ask?

If not one person was to attend a film that was showing in a theatre - it would always be the same. If the actors in a play were in very different moods from night to night - the plot would never change. But thousand of people turn up to watch sporting event (many thousands more than would fit in a the worlds largest theatre) to see what will happen.

Sports are unwritten scripts that unfold before the eyes of the public. The reason that the bookies make so much money is that noone knows the outcome and people love to visualise, but the reality is always so much stranger. Even the most celebrated gladiator dies, the greatest team sometimes looses, golf balls hit in an identical fashion lie many yards apart.

The unknown draws people in, and spits people out and leaves the back pages of the mornings newspapers to recollect the action.

Without sports my life would be far easier - I would no longer have to worry that my beloved Manchester United would perhaps lose. But where would be the fun if we all know what was going to happen.

Thank you all for reading,

Love always

Rory

Twitter-mania

So despite the fact that Manchester United lost in the champions league final - it still seems that people still love them. In Korea so many people are trying to get near the players that the fans are charged just to watch them train. The striker Berbatov likened playing for Manchester United to being in the Beatles. It seems that no longer are football players the working mans heroes but they are athletes who are hidden behind closed doors and protected for their own protection.

What do they do? Who are they? Well I have read a few of their autobiographies and it seems as though the modern day footballer just relaxes at home and in the words of Wayne Rooney 'watches DVD's'. This is of course when they are not on official functions, but when they are it is not really possible for the fan to get close to their heroes, other then perhaps the odd autograph.

But what is it that Wayne Rooney is really thinking? What does he think about Cristiano Ronaldo going to Madrid. Well I know. And I know because of Twitter. With twitter one can follow people, for example millions of people follow Ashton Kutcher and his life with Demi Moore. They say that Twitter helped Barack Obama get elected through simply updating what people are doing when they want to.

My twitter account is a homage to sportsmen of all walks of life. Whenever Gerrard, Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Andy Murray, Ronaldo want to share something that they are feeling - I am there to get the message. I know that Wayne Rooney has been in contact with Ronaldo since, and that he has faith in Sir Alex, and he's enjoying training etc etc etc.

I also followed Andy Murray during Wimbledon and he was talking of his preparations and how he was going to go to sleep and what he was eating, when he was going on jogs, even when he was pranking around. Sadly he didn't get to the final and his 'tweets' were significantly reduced by his dissapointment, but in some ways it was interesting to hear what someone who seemingly has zero personality gets up to.

Perhaps this is useless information, but twitter also gives you a chance to message these people. Its not like Steven Gerrard gives out his email address to people, not even those kids whose bedrooms are a shrine to Liverpool (god forgive their souls). But the kids can have a chance to email them with Twitter. There is even a chance that the athletes will email them back, especially if they email them enough.

I was desperate that Andy Murray should drink coconut water, I twittered him throughout Wimbledon, sadly I don't think that he got the message and he couldn't deal with Roddick either.

Infact I think that there is going to be a rorys sports twitter.

Love you all

Rory