The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Sporting comebacks

For many great sportsmen and women the biggest and most crucial point in their career comes when they feel it is time to retire. However, the passion and lust for the sport they have dedicated their life to can often be too much, leading to a comeback. Unfortunately, comebacks can go one of two ways: Either they continue to shine and leave their reputation untarnished, or they’ll crash and burn taking their legacy with them. Here are a few world superstars who made the decision to come out of retirement with different consequences.

Michael Schumacher, seven times Formula One World Champion, decided to come out of retirement to drive for Mercedes in 2010, three seasons after his retirement at the end of 2006. Joining Mercedes under the leadership of his former boss and friend Ross Brawn seemed to be a strong move, and many F1 fans relished the chance to see him race once again. A season and a half later has seen ‘Schumi’ with no podiums, many crashes and a battered reputation, summed up by his near incident with former teammate Rubens Barrichello at Hungary in 2010. Schumacher looks likely to be racing for at least another year next in hope of reproducing the success he once had.

Quite simply the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, cut short his brief stint as an unsuccessful baseball player to return to the Chicago Bull. He inspired his side, who he had spent nine years with, to another NBA championship in 1996 and claimed his fourth Finals MVP crown, beating the previous record of three.

France’s poor showing in the Euro 2004 quarter final against Greece forced Zinedine Zidane into international retirement. The midfielder took two years out before coming back into the side as captain for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He led his side to the final, picking up the Golden Ball for being the best player of the tournament in the process, where he scored a penalty to put France ahead. Everything turned sour in extra time, as Zidane head butted Marco Matterazzi in the chest resulting in a straight red card. France lost the final on penalties, acting as an everlasting blemish on Zidane’s previously sparkling career.

With records to be broken, Brett Favre returned to the NFL, not once but twice, first with the New York Jets, but more successfully with the Minnesota Vikings. His second comeback resulted in the breaking of several records: Most consecutive starts at one position (291), became the first quarterback to defeat every one of the league’s 32 franchises since the NFL expansion in 2002 and broke Dan Marino’s record for the number of four-touchdown games. He made his 500^th touchdown 70,000^th yard in 2010, before retiring at the end of the season.

Muhammad Ali was another ‘all-time great’ to make his way out of retirement for one last go. However, the once imperious boxer nicknamed ‘The Greatest’ was beaten in the 11^th round by heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, his only loss by anything other than a ‘decision’. In his final fight Ali lost once more – a sorry ending to the career of a man named ‘Sportsman of the Century’.

Having retired from tennis in 2007, Kim Clijsters returned to the sport following the birth of her child. Clijsters beat several of the world’s top 20 players in her first two tournaments as a wildcard, but stunned everyone with her unbelievable US Open win, defeating both Serena and Venus Williams along the way.



One of the most iconic sporting pictures of the 21st century

The NFL lockout

Summer usually marks the build up to a new season of the NFL with teams starting training camp and preparing for pre-season. However, following the lockout earlier this year it is looking increasingly likely that the upcoming season will be shortened, or even worse, cancelled.

The subject of the dispute between players and owners is called the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which, in 2008, owners voted to discontinue after the end of the 2010 season. The CBA gave the players 57 percent of the league’s $9 billion revenue whilst the owners took $1 billion for growth and development of the league.

Effectively, the players and owners have reached a stalemate, with the players refusing pay cuts and rejecting proposals by the owners of an extended season and new health and safety proposals.

The last lockout in American sport came in 2004 when a similar situation within the NHL caused the season to be cancelled. The NBA is also in lockout over the exact same issues, marking its fourth lockout since the league began in 1946.

Realistically, I believe we’ll see the whole of the 2011 NFL season wiped out, with neither the players nor the owners wanting to back down and come to an agreement. Unfortunately, professional sport is no longer just entertainment, it is now a business, especially when it comes to American sport.

For all NFL and NBA fans I hope that an agreement can be made, but it is looking less likely as the days go on. I know one thing for sure, my Sunday nights won’t be the same without the drama of the NFL.

The first major NFL crisis since the '82 strikes

A step in the right direction

Alastair Cook’s appointment as England’s One Day International captain raised a few eyebrows this summer with many doubting his credentials as an ODI player. However, with two superb knocks in back-to-back matches against Sri Lanka, Cook has gone someway to proving his critics wrong.

A drastic change in leadership, as has happened within the England cricket team this summer, can go one of two ways. It can spark a team into life with fresh ideas and new found motivation, but it can also backfire. What a change in leadership will do is test the character and nerve of the new man in charge. Cook is still young and has many years ahead of him, giving him plenty of time to cement his place as captain, something every team looks for. Some may argue that an experienced player is more equipped to lead the team, someone like previous captain Paul Collingwood, but short stints of captaincy at the back end of players’ careers will not benefit the team in the long run.

Questions over Cook’s ability to score at a suitable rate in one day cricket have almost immediately been answered with some aggressive innings’ in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. There is no doubting Cook’s current form – the left hander has scored 579 runs in his 5 Test innings in 2011, as well as 267 ODI runs in 4 innings. What will be the important factor will be Cook’s consistency.

Ultimately, I believe that Cook will be judged on his ability to lead the side at the World Cup. England have not made the semi finals since 1992, when they finished runners up to Imran Khan’s Pakistan side. It won’t be easy, but Cook has all the attributes to potentially be England’s first World Cup winning captain.



England's ODI future: Can Cook win the World Cup?



My 'Childhood XI'

Most football fans begin their love for the ‘beautiful game’ at an early age. Whether it was Pele, Maradona and Lineker or Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi, every fan had their childhood favourites. I first began playing football when I was six years old in 1998, which just so happened to be a World Cup year. From that year onwards my love for football began to grow and to that I owe the players who caught my eye the most. From the thousands of players that have graced the professional game I have selected my very own ‘Childhood XI’.

Starting off at the back, I have picked the most prolific goal scoring keeper I have ever seen. José Luis Chilavert scored an incredible 62 goals in his career as he cemented himself as one of the best penalty and free kick takers of all time. He could also pull off the odd stunning save too.

Moving onto the ‘hard men’ in football, the centre backs. First up is Sami Hyppiä a Finnish international who made his career at my favourite Premiership club, Liverpool. Solid as a rock at the back and unstoppable in the air, Hyypiä played a huge part in Liverpool’s cup wins in the early to mid 2000’s. My second centre back is Alessandro Nesta who is largely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. His trophy list supports that claim having won the World Cup, the Champions League (2), Serie A (3), Coppa Italia (3) and several others, including the U21 Euro Championship. Nesta stood out in an era of great defenders, and that’s exactly why he is in my ‘Childhood XI’.

John Arne Riise was my favourite footballer of the early 2000’s, just because of the sheer power of his left foot. He could score from anywhere on the pitch and, in my opinion, his abilities to this day are underrated. I eventually came to the conclusion that Lilian Thuram would be my right back. He is the highest capped Frenchman of all time and among the world’s top 20 capped internationals, which is no mean feat.

Onto the midfield, of which I have gone for three central midfielders, the first of whom is Luis Figo. When I was a kid I only wore football shirts, and guess who was on the back of my Portugal top? That’s right, Figo. A mastermind in midfield, Figo dominated European football as I was growing up. My second will probably come as a surprise to many but Hidetoshi Nakata features in my eleven. Alongside Junichi Inamoto, Nakata helped Japan reach the knockout phase of the 2002 World Cup, really helping to promote Asian football to the rest of the world. The final centre midfielder is the unmistakable Gianfranco Zola. Zola had the football equivalent creativity of Picasso mixed in with the intelligence of Stephen Hawking and scored my favourite ever goal, his near post flick against Norwich City in 2002.

Saving my best for last I shall reveal Gabriel Batistuta as my first of three strikers. Possibly the only Argentinean I liked at the time, there was something about watching Batistuta that made me marvel at his ability. He did score over 300 club goals and 56 international goals after all. Dwight Yorke is the second of my top three, with his flicked up collar and laid back attitude. Possibly the greatest player to come out of the Caribbean, Yorke had a prolific scoring record at Manchester United and was also a big fan of cricket.

I have saved the best for last. He was nicknamed ‘God’, once snorted the line markings during a celebration and had a knack for breaking his nose. If you haven’t guessed by now (then you’re not a true football fan) it’s Robbie Fowler. He had a goal-to-game ratio of better than one goal every two games at Liverpool and never failed to entertain the crowd. There is no doubt in my mind that he should have played more for England.

There we have it, my ‘Childhood XI’. Have a think back to your childhood and see if you can come up with a team.



Robbie Fowler's infamous celebration



Is Andy Murray just the next Tim Henman?

For two weeks of the summer the whole of the British population focuses on one tournament in particular – Wimbledon. Every year hope is high that for the first time since 1936 the men’s single title will be won by a Brit, and every year hope disappears as quickly as it arrived.

Andy Murray is the current world number four and Britain’s best chance of winning a Grand Slam title. However, Murray has failed to break through the last three Wimbledon semi-finals and has also reached three Grand Slam finals in the past four years, only to be beaten in straight sets on all three occasions. The question has to be asked, does he have the bottle to win a Grand Slam, let alone Wimbledon?

There is no doubting his ability - he wouldn’t have reached three Grand Slam finals if he wasn’t capable of winning - but his problem stems from two major factors: Quality of competition and expectation.

It could be argued that there have never been a better top four ranked players in the world as there is at the current point in time. Roger Federer is without a doubt one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Rafael Nadal has won ten Grand Slam titles and Novak Djokovic is the new world number one and Wimbledon champion – all three stand in the way of Murray’s ambitions of winning a Grand Slam title.

Expectation has contributed to the downfall of many top British sportsmen, no more so than former British number one, Tim Henman, who failed to win a single Grand Slam title in his 16 year long career. Some players thrive under pressure, but it must be difficult knowing that your fans will only be satisfied once you have won at Wimbledon.

What Murray does have on his side is time. He is only 24 and will certainly be around for a long time. However, Nadal and Djokovic are also young and will be around for as long, if not longer, than Murray.

I believe Murray will win a Grand Slam title, but it’s far more likely that it’ll be in Australia or the US rather than at Wimbledon. Personally, I’m rooting for Britain’s next generation of tennis players in Oliver Golding and George Morgan, both of whom made the Boys’ Doubles final at Wimbledon, and Liam Broady, who made the Boys’ Singles final.

Britain’s wait for a Wimbledon winner continues...



Murray still awaits his first Grand Slam victory