Tommie Smith, Peter Norman and John Carlos on the podium at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Images via tumblr, AP Photo/Michael Probst.
In an age when offending advertisers’ sensibilities by revealing a pair of unauthorised pants is considered the one of the most provocative and controversial acts a sportsperson can undertake, the magnitude of gestures like that in this iconic photo (top) can be lost.
Continue reading “From “Black Power” To Paddy Power: Courting Controversy Through The Ages”
Image: LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages.
I was peacefully working my way through a bottle of Pimms yesterday afternoon, when a horrifying thought intruded on my enjoyment. What if the unthinkable happened and my newfound, if slightly vague, patriotism paid off? What if Andy Murray actually won Wimbledon?
Continue reading “Andy Murray: Lose? He Probably Just Saved His Career”
Image: REUTERS/Michael Buholzer.
In case anyone missed England’s games vs. Germany and Ukraine, FIFA prez and all round good egg Sepp Blatter helpfully demonstrates what it looks like when a football crosses the goal line.
Referees and their assistants continue to look on, helplessly.
Future Prime Minister? Could happen. Image: REUTERS/Toby Melville.
Have experienced the full horror of playing for the England football team, Gary Lineker really should have learned to recognise a pointless exercise when he sees one.
Of course, Lineker played at a time when football wasn’t in the public domain and therefore not subject to the opinions of people for whom football is just another entertainment format. As the figurehead of the BBC’s Euro 2012 coverage recently, one would imagine he’d at least be conversant with reality.
It may not have been earth shattering for all of us, but Gary was so incensed by Stuart Pearce’s omission of David Beckham from the GB Olympic football team that he issued a tweet of condemnation. This prompted a Twitter backlash against the decision, which then resulted in #pickbecks trending and general agreement that Pearce is a mean git.
Continue reading “Gary Lineker: And That’s Your Professional Opinion, Is It?”
The England national football team’s supporter’s band was refused entry to the their team’s opening fixture vs. France on Monday. It was presumed that an outcry from England supporters would immediately follow, leading to band becoming a cause celebre and having their status of ‘official’ reaffirmed by the FA, who would heroically force Ukranian football authorities to allow them back in for Friday’s tie vs. Sweden.
Continue reading “Quä Quäger: England Football’s Soundtrack To Success”
I’m willing to wager that I’m not the first person whose been inspired to action by this picture. Image: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/GettyImages.
While we’ve all been concentrating on the well-intentioned (but ultimately pointless) battle to keep sport out of politics, the US based Lingerie Football League have been working their lacy knickers off on an entirely different project. And to be fair to them, their campaign to introduce porn into American Football has been so successful, it seems pointless to try and stem the inevitable tide of unexpected nudity.
There must be a way to turn this to our advantage.
Continue reading “Lingerie Football League: A Revolution In Spandex”
Image via facebook.
Now FEMEN are emulating UEFA by blowing a lot of hot air around a major football tournament.
If you can’t beat em, join em!
Image: AP Photo/Fabrizio Giovannozzi.
They say there’s a fine line between genius and madness. Mario Balotelli’s off-pitch exploits imply that the Manchester City and Italy striker has one of those areas covered, but is his latest statement a hint of the other?
Jessica Ennis. Unfeasibly massive. Image: Ian Walton/Getty Images Europe.
A ‘high ranking person’ at UK Athletics has reportedly stated that heptathlete and Olympic poster girl Jessica Ennis is carrying “too much weight“.
We’ve seen this defiance in the face of logic and sense (not to mention reality bending myopia) before, people. The only conclusion one can draw is that Samantha Brick’s work as a feminist cheerleader has attracted the attention of UK Athletics and they have appointed her Olympic Fat Tsar.
They must have. No sensible person would say such a thing about a young woman who is, without doubt, one of the most positive role models this country has ever produced. That would be really, really dumb. And dangerous.
Georgia Davis – who had to be winched out of her house this week after becoming trapped in her bed – must be feeling super-inspired to crack on with her weight loss programme this morning.
Image: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/GettyImages.
Note to terrorists. If you’re trying to make a political point, don’t waste time with bombs and guns and violence.
There’s a much more effective way to threaten the very fabric of the civilisation. Get your boobs out** and run around. Even better, hurl yourself at expensive trinkets held so dear by the hierarchy. The panic on the faces of those paid to look after them hints that it might be a surprisingly rich vein.
Kelly Welles 