That Friday Feeling Pt 3 - F1, FA and Michael Owen



We've had plenty of interest and hits on the blog this last couple of weeks, which has been great to see and bodes well for the future, as we want to continue to grow and share with you the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of sport. Remember you can get involved any time of day @TheSportingHack on Twitter. Jump in!




I'm so glad we're sponsored by Rexona
The Sporting Hack was at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit for the Formula One season opener on Sunday, which was won by Lotus’ Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen. The sport is so dangerous and loud that it should contain a health warning, and that’s just for the spectators. Most fans have to wear ear plugs to make it bearable. All this results in a great big ‘thumbs up’ from us on our first ever appearance at a Grand Prix. We had the benefit of two qualifying sessions also being ran on race day due to Saturday’s weather and it was a privilege to feel the ground shake as thousands of horsepower and millions of pounds worth of cars and drivers thundered past at break neck speed only 15 metres away. Roll on Malaysia! 



Sorry Darren, which one's the physio again?
Michael Owen’s career has come to a gradual stop as he announced his retirement from football this week. It’s a case of ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ in terms of the ex-Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke forward’s career. He could have scored more goals, he would have won more trophies, and he should have been England’s all time leading scorer. We all know that injuries have dogged him countless times, so much so that it was a case of when, rather than if, he would break down again. His slide in to the pundits chair looks an unnatural finish to one of the most natural finishers of a generation.



CRUNCH and the knee is gone. McManaman innocent though
The Football Association really are an oxymoron when they are so disorganised, but they’ve stepped up their incompetence levels (there, have another oxymoron for good measure) this week with just about anything they come in to contact with. Wigan’s Callum McManaman nearly ended Newcastle’s Massadio Haidara’s career with a gruesome knee-high tackle that was every bit as ugly as it sounded, and though his boss Roberto Martinez shrugged it off as ‘enthusiasm’, the powers that be should be equally keen to ensure McManaman is out of the game for as long as Haidara. Needless to say the FA ‘fudged it’ and did nothing. The Rio Ferdinand story has also gone on painfully too long. Roy Hodgson’s indecisiveness over the defender’s selection would get him the sack in most areas of work, but he should be safe in the FA’s ponderous world.

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