Racism in Sport

Racism is currently a debatable topic within sport thanks to the controversy surrounding John Terry and Luis Saurez and the comments made by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.  Firstly let me point out that I, like most people, am completely against racism or any other form of discrimination in sport such as bullying or sectarianism.

The first well known case of racism in sport was back in the 1936 Berlin Olympics where Jesse Owens caused an uproar by winning four gold medals and in doing so eliminated Hitler's idea of "White Supremacy".  



Jesse Owens on the podium

Owens did not get the recognition he deserved for his great achievement as worried about how conservatives would vote President Roosevalt refused to invited Jesse to the White House - had he done so the racial barriers may have been broken a lot sooner and this may not even be a topic today.

There are many recent examples of racism both at a group and one to one level.  The recent incidents between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand (below) and Luis Saurez and Patrice Evra are perfect examples of one to one racism. 

Group racism was exemplified by the Indian cricket crowd making racist chants to Australian Andrew Symonds and also at a international friendly between Spain and England where some players such as Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Philips were barraged with monkey chants from the crowd when they touched the ball.  No racism is tolerant but group racism like these examples are a bad reflection on an area or country. 

One to one racism can sometimes be heat of the moment.  I am still not defending it but sometimes in the heat of battle players will say things that they really don't mean and may not even remember saying.  However in the world we live in today a bit of sportsmanship like this should be outdated and eradicated from every one's minds.  This is why Seep Blatter's comments were disgraceful and for me he should have stepped down after making them.

The sporting world is making massive steps against racism with campaigns such as "One Game, One Community" in football, "Everyrace" in F1 and "One Game" in Cricket.  The South African Rugby Team is a perfect example of how far the world and in particular that country has progressed in its racism fight.  In this years world cup South Africa had a black coach/manager and numerous black players which is far from the days of it being a white dominated sport.  Even the countries most ardent fans - in the heart of Afrikaner country - don't seem to mind anymore. 



South African Ruby World Cup 2011 Squad

In our own country the IFA and GAA united against racism and sectarianism last year at a weekend of games by playing a unite against hate anthem and distributing wristbands. 

I believe these campaigns raise awareness of the issues they are aiming to eradicate but unfortunately I do not see them completely eradicating issues such as racism, sectarianism or bullying.  I think there will always be certain individuals who will use comments about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, political status, beliefs or physical appearance to abuse an opposing team or individual.  In society we are very judgemental and although we probably don't like to admit this we judge people on what we see initially.  With this I think until we change the way our whole society thinks we will not eradicate these issues fully from sport. 

Hopefully one day I am proved wrong! 

Boxing greats never die

With the sad news that Smoking Joe Frazier had passed away this week I thought it would be fitting to do a blog on boxing greats as Smoking Joe was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.  Firstly though to pay my respects to a true great both inside and outside the ring - RIP Smokin' Joe Frazier, you gave us some great memories. 

Ironic as this sounds boxing is one of the most disciplined sports around and the phrase blood, sweat and tears fits no sport better than boxing.  It is one of the most gruelling sports in terms of training and requires the up most courage, discipline bravery and a little showmanship making boxing so special and therefore the greats even greater. 

When you discuss boxing the first name that comes to mind is Muhammed Ali.  The man who called himself the greatest and to this day many would not disagree.  Ali had it all; speed, power, flair and a showmanship that is still unrivalled in the sport to this day. 

One of the most infamous pictures in sport not just boxing is the one above of Ali standing over Sonny Liston in their second fight.  Ali went on to have titanic tussles with George Foreman and Joe Frazier that to this day are still talked about as if they happened yesterday.  These are the notorious "Thrilla in Manilla" and "Rumble in the Jungle". 

These fights were so great because they involved all time greats.  Both Foreman and Frazier are legends in the Hall of Fame along with Ali.  The "Thrilla in Manila" is considered by many to be the greatest fight of all time and who can argue.  Both men gave everything and Ali admitted after that he was close to giving up before Fraziers trainer called it a day while he was on his stool.  Frazier was not impressed with the decision and this fight and his character to continue alone with basically one eye proved how much of a great he was. 

The "Rumble in the Jungle" is most famous for the "Rope a Dope" below which Ali performed to a tee. 

Boxing is full of era's and in these days this was a special era which will never be forgotten.  These fights will always be discussed and that is why despite Frazier's passing his name will always live on in the memory as will Ali, Foreman and other great heavyweights such as Liston, Holyfield, Tyson, Lewis and the Klitschko's today.

A fact that proves this is that when discussing the greatest boxer ever Ali doesn't actually pick himself but the first true great amongst most people: Sugar Ray Robinson.  He put boxing on the map with seamless displays of flair, speed, power and fast feet.  He was also a showman and to this day is considered the greatest ever boxer thanks to his infamous bouts with Jake LaMotta who is also a name that continues to be synonymous with the sport also. 

One of the greatest era's of the sport was the Fab Four era.  This included Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran.  Leonard has the best versus record amongst the four but all four boxers have been in boxing folklore for years and will continue to do so as they will be remembered even when they have passed.

Nowadays there are some boxing greats who are still fighting but will also be added to this list when they retire.  The most notable 2 being Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather.  Despite them not fighting one another yet to decide who is the best pound for pound fighter at the minute they will go down as 2 of the best boxers in history and will always be discussed with the other greats.  Other fighters such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez and our own Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton will be the same but maybe to a lesser extent. 

Boxing is a sport full of personal opinions as to who is the greatest of all time.  Everyone will have justifiably reasons for the person they pick and because of the constant debating and the Hall of Fame where many of them end up boxing greats may pass on but they never truly die in the boxing or for that matter sporting world.