View From The Sideline

This is a series of articles, paying tribute to some of the biggest names in sports management; we have soccer managers, Basketball GM’s, Formula One Race directors and maybe a few other managers from different sports along the way. The reason? Well I’d like to think that in sports it does not just begin and end with the athlete, no doubt the final result does come down to the athletes’ own effort and commitment, but coaches and managers do have their role to play too, would the Bulls have emerged without Jerry Krause? Do you think Liverpool Football Club would have been an all-conquering Dynasty for 20 years if not for Bill Shankly laying the foundation for Bob Paisley, Kenny Dalglish to run? Or what About Red Auberach who oversaw 16 NBA championships for the Boston Celtics, first as coach then as GM and finally as team president, I think NOT!!

This is a series of articles, paying tribute to some of the biggest names in sports management; we have soccer managers, Basketball GM’s, Formula One Race directors and maybe a few other managers from different sports along the way. The reason? Well I’d like to think that in sports it does not just begin and end with the athlete, no doubt the final result does come down to the athletes’ own effort and commitment, but coaches and managers do have their role to play too. Would the Bulls have emerged without Jerry Krause? Do you think Liverpool Football Club would have been an all-conquering Dynasty for 20 years if not for Bill Shankly laying the foundation for Bob Paisley, Kenny Dalglish to Build Upon? Or what About Red Auberach who oversaw 16 NBA championships for the Boston Celtics (The Celtics have won 17 Championships in Total), first as coach then as GM and finally as team president, I think NOT!!

Above: Kimi Celebrating his win and the Championship Ferrari has captured both F1 crowns this season after Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to capture the Formula One title in the tightest race for the championship in 21 years. The Ferrari driver rallied from third place in the points standings for his first F1 crown, taking advantage of Lewis Hamilton's mistake on the first lap and Fernando Alonso's disappointing run. Raikkonen grabbed the lead with 17 laps to go and was followed by teammate Felipe Massa. Alonso, Hamilton's McLaren team mate, finished third. Hamilton came into the race leading the point’s standings and needed a top-two finish to become the first rookie to win the title and F1's youngest champion. He went off the track on the first lap and later had car problems to finish seventh. Alonso, second in the standings coming in, would have had to have finished second and Hamilton fifth to keep Raikkonen from winning the championship a...

Above: Scoring THAT goal against Bayern Munich Ole Who? That would be what Manchester United fans would be saying today if Alan Shearer had signed for Manchester United instead of joining Newcastle United in the Summer of ‘96. In the aftermath of Euro’96 Sir Alex (then just plain old Alex Ferguson) had set his sights on signing Alan Shearer, Shearer turned down the devils for the second time (he chose to sign for Blackburn in 1994 over the Man Utd) and instead Sir Alex singed an unknown Norwegian named Ole Gunnar Solskjær. When I saw his picture on the newspaper, part of me screamed…WHAT??? Along with Dutch Keeper Raimond van der gouw, Czech Winger Karel Poborsky, Dutch star (and son of the legendary Johann Cryuff) Jordi Cryuff and Norwegian Ronny Johnsen they were supposed to be the new generation of stars. On his debut as a Substitute, Solskjaer scored against Blackburn Rovers and in the course of the season, fit in well with the team and part...

Above: As the Champ Ever see an old lion get beaten in a duel and driven out of his own pride? The lionesses just make "adjustments" and the cubs that were sired by the old lion get killed and of course the lionesses mate with the lion. We do the same in Boxing, the old lion represents the defeated champion, and lionesses represent the fans and the cubs? Our admiration for the boxer. Evander Holyfield was in my opinion one of THE greatest boxers of his generation because of his rise from being a light heavy weight champion to becoming a world cruiserweight champion and making the last leap in to the heavyweight division and yes becoming a world champion again. The list of opponents from Michael Moorer, George Foreman to Riddick Bowe and who could forget the bouts with Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis? A Five-time world champion who beat the best and went toe to toe with some of the biggest names in boxi...

Its finally happened, Kevin Garnett one of the best players (if not the best) in the NBA has finally moved on to Greener pastures (did I mention that the Boston Celtics wear Green as thier home color). I am NOT a Celtics fan nor am I a Timberwolves fan but I have to say I’ll be keeping one eye firmly fixed on Boston. The Celtics hold the record of most championships won by a single Franchise and have been represented by many great players, however since the late 80’s they have slipped into obscurity. The Past few weeks however Danny Ainge (the GM of the Celtics and a former great himself) traded for Sharpshooter Ray Allen and the Colossal Garnett, and with veteran captain Paul Pierce Already On Board Boston Now boasts of Three All-Star Superstars, I can't remember the last time i saw a team with three All-Star Superstars in their peak . This Move has obviously changed the Eastern Conference by adding a new powerhouse, although now they have to shore up the Bench...

When a sports team regardless of the sport gets blown out, there tends to be a sort of revenge mission in the next match at the very least an improved perfomance the Malaysian National soccer team lost 5-1 to China at home and followed it up by losing 5-0 to Uzbekistan at home again!!!. Never have i seen such pathetic displays its very rare that you see a team conceeding five goals back to back at home in a Continental Competition!!! Malaysia has a come a long way from dominating Asian Soccer in the 70's to not being able to compete within South East Asia. Malaysia Used to dominate Asia along with South Korea, the latter has gone on to feature in the Semifinals of the World Cup whereas Malaysia has never made it past the prelimanary rounds. What is wrong with the game today? Personally i feel that the state of the game detiorated when big money came into the sport, favoristism , lack of oppurtunites for all Malaysians regardless of race to play the game even at club level. The S...

The Bulls after thier fifth title in 1997 Bill Russell(NO.6) Leading the celebrations after another title So the San Antonio spurs have won their 4 th NBA title in 9 seasons, and now an interesting debate is taking place, Are the Spurs a dynasty?… PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any Self respecting NBA fan needs to take a hard look in the mirror if they say that the spurs a dynasty, now don’t get me wrong, they are a good team with a great player in Tim Duncan, who is thought of as one of the greatest Power Forwards of all time for his all round game and consistency and they have good payers in French point Guard Tony Parker, Argentinean Shooting Guard Manu Ginobli with effective Role players such a Rob Horry (who by the way has earned his SEVENTH Championship ring, the most by a non Celtics player , and yes he has surpassed legends such as Kareem, Michael Jordan , Magic Johnson). Michael Finley , Brent Barry , Bruce bowen and Fabricio Oberto. In My opinion a dynasty has three key componen...

Mike Tyson (r) enroute to knocking out Frank Bruno (l) Lewis with his Four Belts Most heavyweight boxing fans will readily agree with my statement when I say that the heavyweight division lacks a true star, a Marketable Superstar that can carry the division on his shoulder. The heavyweight division always had a dominant superstar throughout from John L Sullivan to Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis who held the title over 11 years and made a record 25 successful heavyweight title defenses, the only undefeated heavyweight He held the title over 11 years and made a record 25 successful heavyweight title defenses, Rocky Marciano, with forty-three knockouts to his credit (an 88% knockout rate), remains the only champion in boxing history to retire without a defeat or a draw in his professional career, Three time world champion Muhammad Ali, Joe Fraizer , Larry Holmes, The Oldest heavyweight champion ever at the age of 45, George Foreman. Who could ...

YES!!!! First of all it would make the league more exciting, there would be two new clubs to challenge the Big Four (Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea), Celtic have shown they can hold their own against some of the biggest names in European Football, Rangers have the Squad and the team to challenge for honours . No doubt it would damage the Scottish league since they would be losing their biggest Clubs, but it would make the league more "British”, Welsh clubs (Cardiff City, Wrexham) do play in the English league so why not a Scottish one? Obviously it would hit the smaller clubs as they would almost certainly be relegated and clubs from the championship will have to fight that much harder to stay in the premier league. The Big Four would also have a tougher time securing their Champions League Berths ...But heck Increased Competion can only good for the league in general, it would make the league more interesting. An Interesting point the bigger clubs would lo...