The Sporting Hack

Belt up Froch! That Friday Feeling is no more. Regrettably the name has been scrapped in an effort to make the weekly bite-sized chunks of sporting news sound a bit more meaty. TSH thinks that the Friday Feeling may be one of putting your feet up and unwinding with a glass of something strong. Perhaps it is, all we can say is we hope some views sober you up. Enjoy. #TSHontheattack Carl Froch retained his IBF super-middleweight world title crown with a unanimous points decision win over Dane Mikkel Kessler at a packed out O2 arena in London last week. For the 35 year old, nicknamed ‘The Cobra’, it exorcised the demons of three years ago when he lost in Denmark to the same opponent. The Nottingham-born fighter is enjoying an Indian summer to his career and perhaps all that is left to achieve is to avenge his ‘super-six’ final defeat against America’s Andre Ward. Froch has already called Ward out in attempt to bait the 29 year old in to fighting in the UK, whilst also claimi...

What do non-league football side Hyde FC have in common with the New York Yankees?  On the face of it, you’d think very little. The former plays in the fifth tier of the English football pyramid, the latter are the New York Yankees, a baseball franchise with no need for introduction. Both entities though, play a role as part of Manchester City FC’s empire building project.  City’s rescue mission of neighbours Hyde, who were close to bankruptcy just a few years ago, involved paying off the club’s debts, a rebrand of their humble stadium Ewen Fields, a change of kit colours and, naturally, dropping the ‘United’ moniker  which had been in existence for 91 years. City’s youngsters and reserves also use Hyde’s facilities from time to time, but all this pales in to relative insignificance when compared with a recent announcement which sees the English Premier League club link up with the Yankees to create New York City Football Club, a franchise worth aroun...

Poor old Wigan Athletic. Having won the FA Cup for the first time in their history, they were then unceremoniously relegated from the Premier League a few days later. Goalscorer Watson with manager Martinez But, you do wonder, what matters more; silverware or Premier League survival? Ask the fans of Arsenal or megabucks Manchester City, whom the Latics defeated at Wembley courtesy of Ben Watson’s last gasp winner. While they may not sacrifice their Premier League status for an FA Cup, they went trophy-less nonetheless. It’s refreshing to see an FA Cup win valued more than a fourth placed finish, or even at the expense of playing at football’s elitist top table. As thousands of fans packed in to Wigan high street to witness their FA Cup being paraded from a double decker bus with its roof ripped off, you couldn’t help but admire the fervour on show. In a strange way, the club has been liberated from the exclusive clutches of the Premier League.  T...

Steve Matai (4) gets to grips with Storm's Kevin Proctor Melbourne Storm 10-10 Manly Sea Eagles (After Golden Point Period) NRL Premiership Round 10 AAMI Park Attendance: 12,921 There are occasions in sport where fairness prevails.  Tonight at AAMI Park was one example as neither Melbourne Storm nor Manly Sea Eagles deserved to lose this fraught and frenetic contest. With the snarling, fierce rivals unable to be separated by 80 minutes of a see-saw encounter, the game went to a ten minute ‘golden point’ period, yet even this couldn’t yield what would have been an undeserving winner in such a competitive encounter. Both sides, as a result of the first draw in the competition this year, move north on the ladder but there are two ways in which the respective camps will review the affair. For the hosts, they have ended their two-match losing streak which was so nearly extended to three games, but for the boot of Cameron Smith, which rescued them in the ...

Billy Slater: "Up for it" Melbourne Storm welcome Manly Sea Eagles to AAMI Park on Monday night in the pick of Premiership’s round 10 games. The likelihood of the hosts rolling out the red carpet to their bitter rivals remains low though. Craig Bellamy’s Storm will look to avoid a hat-trick of losses, after surprise defeats at the hands of Canberra and Penrith saw them slip to 3 rd in the ladder. The visiting Sea Eagles are hot on their tail too, despite coming off the back of a defeat against the highly-rated Roosters. Since 2006, at least one of the clubs has made the grand final in every year bar 2010, and they have clashed literally and metaphorically in a couple with Manly avenging their 34-8 loss of 2007 a year later with a 40-0 humbling of the Victorians. Bellamy’s men will need to come out ‘all-guns-blazing’ after their recent disappointments, and it was a point reiterated by marvel full-back Billy Slater, “We’ve been a little bit flat ...