Ben Jacobs' Blog
Pears'd off...
Wednesday 10th September 2008
When Nigel Pearson - the chubby Buzz Lightyear of football - took over, I thought (my team) Leicester were 'taking the Pears'. And, despite an unbeaten start, it still wouldn't surprise me if our Championship push goes Pear-shaped.
Milan Mandarich promised a "world class" manager to replace Ollie the Wally (or Ian Holloway as I'm told he prefers to be called). He then had the commendable audacity to approach Paul Ince.
...a week later and Nigel Pearson arrives (sighs)... the one manager who, bar Leicester's own Basil Fawlty incompetence, combined with a drab final-day stalemate at Stoke and Southampton's own scrappy 3-2 win over Sheffield United, would have taken another ex-Premier League giant down.
Pearson's appointment was no Cilla Black surprise. It came just days after ex-Saints' Chief Executive, Lee Hoos, arrived at The Walkers. Hoos reminds me of the Roman Emperor, Caligula. No... he's not an imperious mastermind. Caligula, like Hoos, took charge and promptly appointed his best friend as lead consul. The only problem - his top chum Incitatus was ...a horse.
So far, Pearson is proving me wrong, but, by May, I predict Milan might have sent him to pasture.
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Time to go, Joe...
Saturday 15th November 2008
Boxing rarely provides fairytale endings, so it's time for the undefeated Joe Calzaghe to quit. He's beaten two legends: Bernard Hopkins in Vegas & Roy Jones Jr at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jones Jr was demolished & The Welsh Dragon didn't even need Kryptonite gloves to beat the self-appointed "Superman".
True, the fight went the distance, but don't let that fool you. Calzaghe reduced Jones Jr to a Cyclops: for half the bout the American's eye was locked-shut, spewing more blood than The Godfather. The fight should have been stopped, but liberal referee, Billy Connelly, turned a blind eye to, well...Jones Jr's blind eye, perhaps because Calzaghe consciously eased-off (he was "enjoying it too much to finish it").
So Jones, spared the embarrassment of a knock-out, gingerly laboured to the final bell.
Five years ago, Calzaghe-Jones Jr would have been the fight of the year, but, here, both men were clearly past their best. No, Calzaghe isn't at his peak - that came against Mikkel Kessler last November. There has been a subtle decline since then. The worrying first-round knock-downs to both Hopkins & Jones are testament to this. The once fastest hands in boxing are discernibly slower. To crawl-up off the deck and win both fights is impressive, but the victories shouldn't masque the message - hang-up your gloves Joe.
Joe's dad and trainer, Enzo says a "big-money" offer or "sheer boredom" may stop his son retiring. Nonsense. Joe won't quit. The post-fight twitter is just a ploy to publicise a real finale at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Calzaghe wants £15 million for this, but I fear greed could dish him a first defeat, unless he picks a Micky Mouse opponent. "The Executioner" Hopkins wants a re-match. The pair appear to despise each other and it could almost be a street-fight which Calzaghe would struggle to win.
The point is, Calzaghe either takes on a viable opponent and runs the risk of retiring in defeat, or fights another Jones Jr has-been and bows-out rich, but on an anti-climax.
Joe should stop. He still has his looks and senses and, in the ring, very little to prove.
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