Welcome to the new style GJ Sports Blog were I will be
doing a twice weekly look at the main stories in the sports world. I
will still be looking to write longer blogs on occasion but this
feature will be used mainly as a home for opinions on subjects that I
don't want to write a full blog on but that I want to say more about
than just random Twitter rants. If you have any subjects you would like
to discuss feel free to contact me on Twitter, @gjsportsblog.
SOCCER
Luis Suarez
Much has been said on the subject and if I'm honest I don't
agree with what seems to have become the common attitude, that he is
being harshly treated. My own opinion is that ten games is about right
for the offence.
When I was finished replaying the incident multiple times on Sunday evening my thoughts began to turn to an appropriate punishment. I knew he had been punished for a similar offence in his time in Holland but couldn't remember exactly how long his ban had been. A quick Google search showed that he was banned for seven games on that occasion and using that as a precedent and taking into consideration that this was his second offence, I felt a ten game ban would be fair enough although if I'm honest I didn't think the FA would have the balls to give him such a long ban.
Many Liverpool fans have argued that the ban is too long
when compared to some of the bad tackles that have been made this
season. My argument to this is bad tackles are a part of football.
It's very easy for someone to commit themselves to a challenge and with
the speed that the top players are playing at in the modern game these
challenges can often be mistimed and players can suddenly become public
enemy number one simply because an attacker was too quick for them. I'm
not saying that every bad tackle is accidental but I would say that
quite a few of them are and it's an impossible task to expect a
disciplinary committee to get inside a players mind to be able to judge a
players intent when making a challenge.
The Suarez case is completely different and you don't just
bite someone by accident. For me the two lowest places a man can go are
if he bites or spits on another man. Both are absolutely disgusting
and both are extremely cowardly. Had Suarez stood up to Ivanovic like a
man and punched him he would have no doubt got a ban but deep down he
would have earned a small bit of respect as he took issue with a bigger
man and had the guts to stand up to him. As it was though Suarez sunk
to lowlife, corner boy tactics and as good as he is on the field any bit
of respect he was still owed after his other misdemeanour's has been
lost.
Many argue that Suarez is being punished because of who he
is and not what he done but why is that wrong? In any other circumstance he would be judged on his past character whether that be in
a court of law or an employment related disciplinary hearing. When
making a judgement people will want to know are the actions out of
character for the person and on this occasion they certainly were not.
Suarez now misses the remainder of this season and roughly
the first month or so of next season and that will be a big loss for
Liverpool. What would be an even bigger loss to Liverpool would be if
he decides to leave the Premier League due to the "harsh treatment" he
receives. Luis Suarez, the footballer is an asset to Liverpool and the
Premier League and it would be bad for everyone if he were to leave.
English football has lost a lot of it's star players in the last few
years and the league would be worse off without him but the time is long
overdue for Suarez to realise that he isn't being victimised and that
his situation is 100% his own making.
Champions League Shocks
When the draw was made for the Champions League semi finals
many fans were licking their lips at the prospect of an El Classico at
Wembley to decide who were the best team in Europe. After the first
legs though it's looking highly unlikely. Barcelona went to Munich to
play FC Bayern and got absolutely spanked 4-0. In the second semi final
it was Real Madrid's turn to go to Germany and they too were on the
wrong end of a beating, losing 4-1 to FC Bayern.
The Bayern v Barca game was something that will live long
in the memory. Barcelona have been the best team in Europe for the past
few seasons and when Messi, Xavi and Iniesta click they are simply unstoppable. Many teams have tried to find the formula to stop
Barcelona but nobody had really managed it until now. Not only did
Bayern find a way to stop Barca but they also managed to find their weak
spots in defence and in the end were fully deserving winners.
That result was surprising enough but many fans were even
more surprised when Dortmund handed out a similar beating to Jose
Mourinho's, Real Madrid. Most fans expected Madrid to have too much
strength for the German's but if I'm honest I was less surprised at this
result than I was at the Barcelona one.
I think I'm blinded with Barca bias but I have bought into
the notion of Barcelona's invincibility and always believe that they
can overcome any team in the world. In the other tie, Dortmund had
already got the better of Real in the group stages. A 2-1 win in
Germany and a 2-2 draw in Spain thanks to a late Mesut Ozil equaliser
were enough to see Dortmund finish top of Group D with an unbeaten
record. They have managed to maintain that unbeaten record and with
Real Madrid's up and down season I always believed they would have a
chance.
As it was Robert Lewandowski produced a master class,
scoring four goals to give Dortmund a huge lead and one they are more
than capable of defending in the Bernabeu.
With the second legs to look forward to all signs are
pointing towards an all German Final but I have watched enough European
football over the years to know that it's not quite that straight
forward. At least one of the two are going to get a very tough time of
it. Barcelona and Real Madrid are top class sides and they will throw
everything they have at the German sides. If one of them could get an
early lead to get the crowd fired up it could suddenly become a lot
harder than it should be to protect three and four goal leads.
BASKETBALL
NBA Playoffs
The NBA Playoffs got under way this week and so far they've
went pretty much as expected. The vast majority of games look like
going with the higher seeded team with only the Chicago Bulls and the
Golden State Warriors looking like causing an upset.
The Bulls lead 2-1 over the Brooklyn Nets at present with
Game 4 due to take place in Chicago tomorrow. Golden State are
currently tied at 1-1 with the Denver Nuggets after splitting the first
two games in Denver. There's still a long way to go but the Warriors
have given themselves a chance of progressing by taking home court
advantage from the Nuggets.
At this stage in the NBA playoffs it's mostly about
gathering momentum. With over half the teams in the league qualifying
for the post season there's a lot of teams in there who have no real
chance of winning a title and it'll be another round before things start
to heat up.
In terms of teams that can win the Championship, it's
impossible to look past the Miami Heat. They won it last year and they
look even better this year. LeBron James is unplayable at times and in
the unlikely event that one of their opponents find a way to stop him
they can fall back on Dwayne Wade who is also capable of winning games
on his own. To win the title the Heat will most likely have to get past
Chicago, New York and Oklahoma City. Those three are all capable of
beating Miami but not in a seven game series.
ICE HOCKEY
NHL
With the Stanley Cup playoffs just around the corner we are
reaching a very exciting time in the NHL. In the Eastern Conference
there is little to play for with the eight teams already decided but
things are a little more exciting in the West.
Two of the Detroit Red Wings, the Minnesota Wild and the
Nashville Predators will be in the playoffs. With places in the
playoffs up for grabs, the stakes are high enough but for me it's much
more than that. I'm a Detroit Red Wings fan and for me it's not about
reaching the 2013 playoffs, it's all about keeping "the streak" alive.
The Red Wings have reached the playoffs in twenty one seasons
in a row which is a remarkable record but there's still room for
improvement. The Red Wings hold the current record for longest active
streak by quite some distance but they still have a long way to go to
match the Boston Bruins record of twenty nine consecutive playoff
appearances throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
The Red Wings have given themselves a fighting chance of
reaching the playoffs and a win in their final game of the season
against the Dallas Stars would see them into the post season. If they
can pass that test then you just don't know how they might do. Last
year the Los Angeles Kings were playing desperation hockey in their last
few games which led to them coming into the playoffs with a lot of
momentum. Could the same thing happen to this years Red Wings? In
hockey, you just don't know.
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