The 'real deal' of competition
Few sporting moments from this weekend...
Australian Open - Gael Monfils plays Mikhail Kukushkin in the 3rd round. Monfils is down 4-5 in the fifth set, but 30-15 up serving. Misses his first serve and hits a good kicker out wide to Kukushkin backhand who returns ok cross-court. Monfils steals around his backhand to hit a big inside-out forehand to take him to 40-15 and a chance to level the match, when suddenly one of those big yellow balls is thrown onto court from the stands. Umpire calls for a let and Monfils serves again, only to double-fault. Visibly rattled, he loses next point and then double-faults away the match. He's on the next flight home.
Man City looking good at 2 nil early on in second half of game v Spurs this afternoon. A mad few minutes and Spurs are level with goals from Defoe and Bale and at 2-2 Spurs are on top. Defoe narrowly misses a great chance to get on end of a Bale cross as game draws to a close. Then a last ditch ball into the box and King fouls Balotelli to give away a penalty, which the latter calmly puts into the back of the net just before the final whistle blows. City stay 3 points clear at the top of the table whilst Spurs title challenge is thrown into doubt.
Jude James (my 7 year old) steams down the pitch from one end to another for his U8 Berkhamsted Raiders team and is blatantly fouled in the box (his description) by both goalie and defender and, no penalty given. Raiders lose 3-1. His brother Joel, meanwhile, with his U9 Team goes into overtime in a cup-game with opposition scoring the winning goal 2 minutes from the end.
This is, as a colleague of mine Paul Dent puts it, the 'real deal of competition'. My response to Jude as he complained to me later: 'If you choose to play the game, you need to understand that these types of things may happen, so that when they do, you can handle it.'
Not sure he quite understood what his Dad was getting at and a cuddle seemed a better option, but hey, I tried and the cuddle was nice!
On the court or on the pitch, the hand we are dealt is not often a fair one, but if we're smart enough with the cards we do have, we can still manage to influence results in a positive way.
Smacks as bit of life.
Murray to play Kukushkin in the next round In Australia
