Mario Balotelli: Stamp or Not Stamp?

The NBA So Far: My Thoughts

The Australian Open: My Final Predictions

The Africa Cup of Nations: What Fun!

Some Changes to This Blog...

Watch the above video for details. Basically, I intend to do more videos and less articles about sports. Instead of writing about sports, I will talk about in video form. Should be fun. And of course, forgot to mention it in the video, it's in full HD. Enjoy!!

Happy Birthday The Greatest!!

The Greatest. Float like a butterfly sting like a bee. The legend. The myth. The phenomenon. That's not enough to do justice to Muhammad Ali who turns 70 today. The best sportsman ever, what a fighter he was and is still. He's not letting Parkinson's get the better of him. He's keeping on going.

Respect. That's all there is to say. And of course happy birthday!!!

Poor Robert Kubica...

About this time last year Robert Kubica was involved in a near fatal rally crash, which broke both his legs and put his F1 future in doubt. This year, after having seemingly recovered from his horrific injuries, he breaks his leg again in a rather more unusual setting: his back garden. He apparently tripped over and broke his left leg, which now again requires metal brackets to be inserted to hold it in place.

This injury further delays a possible F1 comeback, and further puts his career in doubt. Before his terrible injuries Kubica was, along with Hamilton and Alonso, the best driver in F1. He was and possibly still is a huge talent and was the reason Renault did so well.

Now Lotus (formerly Renault) are struggling and their results last season left much to be desired even if their car wasn't at all bad. If only they could combine the car they have now with a top form Robert Kubica, they would be a major challenger to Red Bull's supremacy and would easily be competing with McLaren.

The Nine Dart Finish

That is almost the ultimate achievement for any darts player. To manage a perfect nine dart fninish is something that is rare and has only been done once in the history of the BDO World Championships by American Paul Lim.

Quite a few have managed it out of competition or in smaller tournaments, but to do it in the World Championships is the ultimate prize.

Antoine Kombouare: Sacked For No Reason

Some decisions in football are really inexplicable. But Antoine Kombouare's sacking at PSG defies belief. PSG were leading the Ligue 1 by some margin and Kombouare was doing a good job, winning the vast majority of his matches. But Leonardo, the sporting director who's a total idiot, decides that Kombouare isn't good enough and hires Ancelotti.

There is a very simple reason for this: Kombouare isn't a well known manager. He's only known in France and even though he is world class, Leonardo wanted a famous name to take over. This is sort of understandable but if Ancelotti doesn't get good results (unlikely), it has got to go down as the most stupid managerial sacking ever.

I go by several mottos in life, one of which is "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Kombouare was doing very well, PSG were on course to win the Ligue 1,  but now who knows what is going to happen. Luckily, because Ancelotti is a good manager, things should continue positively, but if somebody less good had been appointed, what a travesty it would have been. Mind you, it sort of already is a travesty. Kombouare is world class, you only have to look at his managerial record to understand that.

Dwight Howard Being Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard is probably the player who is most similar to Shaquille O'Neal. Watch this video to find out why!

A New Season of IPL, and it's Not Cricket!

Football does not immediately come to mind when talking about India's sporting reputation, but that could change with the launch of a new Football Premier League in India. The first game will take place on the 25th of February, and, believe it or not, many legends of the game have signed up with teams: Fabio Cannavaro, Robert Pires, Robbie Fowler and Hernan Crespo will be participating in what should be on weird tournament.

Of course, money has played it's part in them agreeing to join: they will reportedly earn between $500000 and $1 million for a total of seven weeks of competition. Considering that only six teams take part and that a maximum of 12 games can be played, that works out at $83000 a game. Pretty much what a well paid Premier League player would be paid.

Who knows whether this new franchise will work (I doubt it), but it will definitely raise the profile of football in India, even though I think that there is more of a chance of that happening through Blackburn Rovers as they play, arguably, in the best league in the world.

Cantona for President!!!!

Politicians generally fit a stereotype: they say how everything is going to change during their electoral campaign but the moment they actually gain power they don't do much. But here's one thing I can guarantee: Eric Cantona would not fit that mould.

The legend has announced that he intends to run for president of France, and to be considered he needs the signatures of 500 mayors from across France. That may sound like a lot, but there are lots of small towns, so it is possible.

Cantona becoming President would be the best thing that could possibly happen to France. It would be brilliant to see how he dealt with the Eurozone debt crisis and foreign relations. Every press conference he would come out with some great statement like the seagulls and the trawler.

I reckon he could be pretty popular. After all, he is not a man. He is Cantona.

Wayne Rooney On the Move?

The Independent released a story stating that Wayne Rooney was going to be sold in January. Predictably Man Utd quickly denied the allegations, and Rooney himself on Twitter said the story was rubbish. But I have my doubts.

Man Utd have lost their touch in the past month or so, they got hammered at Newcastle in their last game, and Rooney has reasons to doubt. I reckon if another team put a 40 or 50 million offer on the table, Man Utd would gibe it some serious thought. Wayne Rooney is a phenomenal player, you can't deny it, even though he does go through bad patches at times.

That is why this is the best moment for another team to make an offer. It's the start of the transfer window, Man Utd are playing badly, Rooney is a bit unsettled, and so if I were a team with loads of money I would make a cheeky 45 million bid.

The worst that can happen is that it gets rejected. It really is worth a shot and as I said, I reckon Man Utd would seriously consider it. If you throw in a playmaker, that should complete the deal. Sneijder and 10 million for Rooney could be a good deal for Inter, especially as Forlan (or Rooney) can drop deeper into the playmaker role.

Tim Howard's Freak Goal

I love it when goalies score. It was Tim Howard's turn against Bolton. If you haven't already seen it it's worth a look! You've got to feel sorry for the Bolton keeper Adam Bogdan though. It was the wind's fault!

BDO Darts World Championships: My Predictions

It's that time of year again: the darts world championships. We've had the PDC this past week, and on the 7th of January it will be time for the BDO. Martin Adams, the reigning champ and my favourite darts player will be hoping for a third successive win, which would be quite a feat. He would also only be one away from Eric Bristow's record of 5 wins.

Can Martin Adams win? Certainly. Will he? Not so sure. Adams now has a place on the board of the BDO, and so he is involved on both the admin and playing side, something which is very rare in all sports. Imagine Wayne Rooney being on the Premier League board.

The usual contenders will all be there (Hankey, Waites, Winstanley) and they are also all very capable of winning. However having said that, Adams does seem to get better with age, so he remains my favourite.

It's a shame Dave Chisnall has joined the PDC. He is another top darts player, and he proved it by beating the G.O.A.T Phil Taylor.

Transfer Window Madness

It's started. One month where the teams can splash the cash as much as they want or just decide to not spend at all. This is probably one of my favourite moments in the footballing calendar, especially deadline day, where everything goes crazy.

Among the main rumors this year is Carlos Tevez heading to Milan. I would be overjoyed if this were to take place. As an AC Milan fan, Pato is a top player, but over the past few years he has been an ambulance on legs. So many injuries, and if he could be sold to PSG with Tevez being brought in as a replacement, it would be the best thing AC Milan could do.

Also in the rumour mill is Gary Cahill. Chelsea have had an offer accepted and are discussing personal terms, but the discussions are proving pretty complicated as they are in the words of AVB "miles apart". I would expect Chelsea to sign him eventually, but Liverpool are also keeping a close eye on him.

Then of course you have all the outcasts that have no place at their current club which I think would be really worth looking at: Wayne Bridge, Tomasz Kuszczak, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Esteban Granero for example. I rate Kuszczak highly and I reckon it could be a good deal if somebody were to sign him for next to nothing.

Not to mention the return of the King, Thierry Henry, which I am really relishing.