Tiger Down Under

Tiger came, he saw and he most definitely conquered. His trip to Australia was a success in every which way. It was as good a public relations as exercise as you could hope for. Everyone loved him, everyone behaved themselves and he won the tournament. Most importantly was that Tiger had a good time. It was his first trip back to Australia in 10 years and it was well worth the wait.

It was also a huge shot in the arm for Australian golf. In the 1970s the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player would go down under to play but in recent years not only have the international stars been avoiding going to Australia but many of the big name Australians haven’t been playing. This has meant that golf in Australia was suffering.

Australia loves its sports and loves to prove itself on the global stage. It hosted the 2000 Olympics which are one of the best games of the modern era. Brilliantly organized, they were basically flawless.

In addition to that, Australia hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup and the 2006 Commonwealth Games which took place in Melbourne. Australia is also looking to host the World Cup. Soccer betting isn’t sure what to make of Australia’s chances but the biggest sporting tournament of them all has never been to Australia and it deserves to.

Australia would make a great fist of it as it does with most sporting events that it hosts. The spotlight is going to be South Africa to see how it fares with the 2010 World Cup and Rio with the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.

Before then, Vancouver has the 2010 Winter Olympics and London the 2012 Summer Olympics. Both of these games should be enjoyable as both of these cities seem to be well ahead in terms of planning.

The truth of the matter is that it is becoming harder and harder to host a huge international sporting event. Not only do you have to be able to host all of the athletes, but the spectators and media. You need the stadia to be big enough and you need transportation to carry the spectators to and from the sport. The days of Helsinki and St Louis hosting the Olympics seem to be well and truly over. Likewise you won’t think that Chile, Sweden and Switzerland won’t be hosting another World Cup, at least not by themselves.

David Wiseman writes for this blog. He also writes about harness betting.

November Reign

The year might be winding down but still there is plenty of top quality sport to be played. The big news at the moment is the World Series. The Yankees just clinched their 27th World Series title. They defeated the Phillies to break their nine year droughts

Elsewhere, the final phase of World Cup qualifying resumes after a bit of a break. There are playoffs in Europe to decide who the final four representatives will be. None of these playoffs are going to easy nor will the other ones which include New Zealand taking on Bahrain and Costa Rica playing Uruguay.
The final round of qualifying in Africa will decide their five representatives.

Rugby league may be finished in Australia, but the Australian side is in England taking on New Zealand, England and France. There may be no NRL until March but that hasn’t stopped the Melbourne Storm from being the favourite in NRL betting.

The Australian rugby union side is also in England. They are on their northern tour as are New Zealand and South Africa.

A new NBA season has just begun. The big question will be if Shaquille O’Neal can combine with LeBron James to bring a title to success-starved Cleveland. Will it be the LA Lakers again or will the San Antonio Spurs be up there? The season is very early but already the Celtics, Nuggets and Suns look the goods. Meanwhile the Nets and Pacers are struggling.
The NFL season is nearly halfway over. The Pats, Colts and Broncos look the teams to beat in the AFC. In the NFC the Vikings and Saints are the front runners. As always it will be an exciting finale to the season.

Tennis is winding down but there is still the Davis Cup final where Spain will host the Czech Republic. Apart from that there is the Paris Masters and the ATP finals to take place in London.

In cricket, everyone is heading to the southern hemisphere. England will be in South Africa while both Pakistan and West Indies will be going to Australia. As always it will be an interesting season in Australia. They are still nursing their wounds after the Ashes and will be keen to bounce back. They are still looking for a spinner as well as someone to replace Andrew Symonds. It remains to be seen what kind of opposition the two teams will pose for Australia.

David Wiseman writes about sport for this blog. When he isn't doing that he can be found greyhound betting.