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...