2009 - The Journey Is At An End

So, here we are at the last year of the decade we’ve come to know (and accept, rather than love), as the noughties. A year in which several big news stories from across the Atlantic dominated the headlines, reality pop continued its stranglehold in the charts; despite a short apathetic respite; and the usual mixture of surprise success and miserable failure in sport.

News

155 passengers and crew were rescued from New York’s “Hudson River” after the quick thinking actions of the pilot saved their lives, and possibly hundreds of others on the ground. The engines on board the airliner were disabled after a swarm of birds were sucked into the air intakes, and some quick thinking and cool-headed skill saw the plane glide onto the surface of the water, avoiding possible catastrophe. The following month, tragedy did strike in the commercial aviation industry, with nine passengers killed and a further 84 injured when a “Turkish Airlines” plane crashed on landing at Amsterdam Airport. The summer saw yet another catastrophic plane crash, this time involving an “Air France” craft which went off the radar over the Atlantic Ocean whilst en-route from Brazil to France. 228 people were on board, and the grim task of recovering bodies occurred the following week.

The first of the two major snowfalls of the year came in February – at the time it was the heaviest and most disruptive winter weather for almost twenty years, obviously ensuring chaos wherever you went. This was fairly insignificant, however, compared to the winter weather which returned on the 17th December. The snow fell heavily across the country, and continued to fall until well into 2010, with the first truly white Christmas for many years. The cold snap saw travel chaos (with many Christmas getaways postponed or cancelled as roads and airports closed); power supplies were cut (in one West Yorkshire conurbation, the supply of gas was cut for six days between Boxing Day and New Year) and thousands of school children enjoyed longer than anticipated Christmas holidays as their schools were unable to open. There was once again another summer washout, although not in the scale of the 2007 floods, areas such as Cumbria, in particular the market town of Cockermouth, were especially badly hit. This was particularly insulting, as from the early spring, all met-office predictions were for a glorious “barbecue summer”.

There were tragic times once again for those in the public eye. Newly wed reality tv star Jade Goody, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2008, died in February. Conservative leader, David Cameron, suffered the loss of his six year old son, Ivan, who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He passed away in a London hospital in March. There was no respite from the bad news, as actress, Natasha Richardson, was killed in a skiing accident in April, while fellow thespian, veteran actor Edward Woodward passed away at the age of 79 from pneumonia. September saw the passing of celebrity chef Keith Floyd, who suffered a heart attack; and the same day, “Dirty Dancing” star Patrick Swayze lost his two year battle with Pancreatic Cancer. There was disbelief in October as we learned of the passing of “Boyzone” singer Stephen Gately, who died of natural causes while on holiday in Majorca.

The summer months were dogged by the appalling greed of M.P.’s and their expenses claims. Representatives from all of the major parties were embarrassed by their behaviour, and Health Minister, Phil Hope, pledged to repay over £41,000 in second home allowances. Fellow M.P. Shahid Malik stood down as Justice Minister after his financial activities came to light. Tory leader, David Cameron, enforced those from within his party who had made excessive claims to repay items, such as the infamous claim for “cleaning out a moat” ! Commons Speaker Michael Martin also quit in the light of the expenses scandal, making him the first person in over 300 years to effectively be forced out of the role.

The death of Michael Jackson in June sparked worldwide mourning, and conspiracy theories and much media hysteria. Jackson, 50, died seemingly in peace at his home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Many of his albums, and the single “Man In The Mirror” sold in their thousands, and dominated the music charts worldwide for much of the summer. Jackson was laid to rest, and a memorial service held, the following month.

Political debate show “Question Time” drew its largest viewing audience for many years, as B.N.P. leader Nick Griffin appeared, to a hostile crowd both outside the studio, and on the programme itself. He later submitted an official complaint to the B.B.C. for what he described as being faced by a “lynch mob”.


Music

As ever, the Christmas number one “X-Factor” hangover continued as ever, with Alexandra Burke sitting obstinately at number one at the start of the year. It was a female soloist from the other side of the Atlantic that knocked her from the summit, the somewhat singular “Lady Gaga” taking the mantle with her debut “Just Dance”, which stayed there for the whole of January, and propelling her to instant fame and success. It was a productive month for female artists – “Girls Aloud” scored their twentieth consecutive top ten hit with “The Loving Kind”, while “The Saturdays”, comprising mainly of the female members of “S-Club Juniors” and support act to the previous years tour by the aforementioned “Girls Aloud” scored their biggest hit to date with “Issues”, which made it to number four. “Beyonce” also made her return to the top ten of the U.K. singles chart with “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”. “Lady Gaga” was finally dislodged in early February by another lady – chirpy cockney Lily Allen, with her first release from her new album “It’s Not Me, It’s You” which was the electronic influenced “The Fear”.

The winner of the first series of reality series “American Idol”, Kelly Clarkson scored her first U.K. number one in March with the squawking “My Life Would Suck Without You”, taken from her fourth studio album. The same month, for the first time in fourteen years, the official “Comic Relief” single failed to get to number one; the dubious honour belonging to “The Saturdays” with a cover of “Depeche Mode’s” “Just Can’t Get Enough”, although, like in a number of other occasions, the unofficial release did make the top spot, this year being “Barry Islands In The Stream”. In a month of movers and shakers, “Lady Gaga” proved she was no one hit wonder, with her second number one, the aptly named “Poker Face”. While there was also a high energy number two debut from “The Noissettes” with “Don’t Upset The Rhythm”. They also had a brace of top forty hits later in the year with “Never Forget You” and “Wild Young Hearts”; coming from their album with the same name as the latter. Another great debut album came from “La Roux” whose self titled album spawned several hit singles – “In For The Kill”; “Bulletproof” (number one a week in June) and “I’m Not Your Toy”.

“Dizzee Rascal” had one of the most memorable stomping anthems of the summer with the massive number one smash hit “Bonkers”, which displaced comeback band “Black Eyed Peas” with “Boom Boom Pow”, although the latter did return to the top in June; largely thanks to being used by “Britain’s Got Talent” winners, “Diversity” in their dance routine.

The death of Michael Jackson in June saw both the album and singles charts dominated by his back catalogue in July. On 5th July, 37 of the top 100 singles were Michael Jackson hits, the highest of which was “Man In The Mirror” which peaked at number two, fended off at the top by “Evacuate The Dancefloor” from European dance outfit “Cascada”. Newcomers, "JLS" also enjoyed a stint at number one in July with “Beat Again”, but by the start of August, it was again the turn of “Black Eyed Peas” to take centre stage. Despite “I Gotta Feeling” hanging about in the top ten for seven weeks previous, it finally reached the top spot on the first weekend of August.

September saw more debut artists, and established acts vying for the ultimate accolade in the singles chart. “Pixie Lott” scored her second number one of the year (her first being debut “Mama Do” in June) with “Boys And Girls”. This saw a record climb of 72 places in one week to land the top slot. This was a week of fierce competition and big sales figures, as “Mika” made his chart return after an eighteen month absence with “We Are Golden”, and dance act “Mini Viva” landed huge download sales with their maiden track “Left My Heart In Tokyo”.

The big talking point in music came in the battle for the Christmas number one. The dominance and slightly stale lack of surprise brought about by the last few years of reality pop acts (especially the “X-Factor” winner) monopolising the top of the charts at the festive period saw a campaign to break with tradition. A “Facebook” group, made up of approximately 1,000,000 members lobbied for the public to download 1992 “Rage Against The Machine” track “Killing In The Name Of”. Although sales were neck and neck in the race for the top spot, it was a victory against Simon Cowell’s license to print money, as “X-Factor” winner Joe McElderry was forced to play second fiddle with a cover of Miley Cirus’ “The Climb” which charted at number two. The victory was bittersweet, though, as McElderry did indeed climb to number one to be at the top in time for the new decade; perhaps fitting though in a year of big hitting debuts that a new act should be at number one.


Sport

The England national team were in dominant form, in their march towards World Cup 2010 qualification, beating all who stood in their way, averaging over 3.5 goals a game in their competitive matches played during the 2008/09 season. While the likes of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerard were banging them in, some of the “fringe” squad members also came to the fore; with standout performances from Jermaine Defoe, Joe Cole and a fine hat-trick in the match against Croatia from Theo Walcott saw him finally live up to the hype which had surrounded him since his shock inclusion in the World Cup 2006 finals squad.

In the Premier League, Manchester United successfully defended the title, their winning margin four points over runners up, Liverpool, who had a run of impressive results at the business end of the season, but it was a case of too little too late. Chelsea were a further three points behind Liverpool, with Arsenal a distant eleven points off the West London club in fourth. The dominance of the “Big Four” had looked set to be broken at last, after Aston Villa had occupied a “Champions League” qualifying slot for much of the season, until they stumbled at the end of the year, winning only twice in their last thirteen league games, and slid down the table to sixth, a point behind Everton.

Newly promoted Stoke City, who had been tipped widely as favourites for the drop, had a memorable season, finishing comfortably mid table, largely thanks to their stout defending, and the long throw heroics of Rory Delap. The same could not be said for fellow newly promoted club, West Brom, who propped up the table for most of the season. Joining them in “The Championship” the following season were to be two north east clubs – Newcastle United and Middlesbrough. Despite taking just one win from their last 22 league games, a brilliant start to the season (largely thanks to star player, Geovanni), saw top flight virgins Hull City survive by a single point. After an absence of five years from the Premiership, “Championship” winners, Wolverhampton Wanderers were able to prepare for their return in 2009/10, as could Birmingham City. The play off final was taken 1-0 by Burnley, beating third placed Sheffield United in the one off farce. At the bottom, three former top flight clubs – Charlton, Southampton and Norwich continued their descent, going down to “League One”.

Chelsea won the F.A. Cup, beating Everton 2-1 in the final, but it wasn’t all plain sailing. In their two league encounters, both matches had ended goalless, but in the Cup final, Everton took less than a minute to break the deadlock, with Louis Saha scoring after only 25 seconds, which went down as the fastest goal in F.A. Cup Final history. Chelsea showed their class though, with Didier Drogba equalising after 21 minutes, and with eighteen minutes remaining, midfielder Frank Lampard scored the winner. Chelsea felt they should have been awarded a third after Florent Malouda’s shot cannoned off the underside of the bar and allegedly over the line, but their shouts fell on the deaf ears of the officials. The “Carling Cup” was a rather dull affair, with 120 minutes with neither side scoring, Manchester United finally seeing off the challenge of a determined Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on penalty kicks.

Football stars and fans were also in the news columns for a number of reasons other than for the game itself. Christiano Ronaldo crashed his Ferrari close to Manchester Airport, but walked away unscathed; whilst the car was a right off. Former Celtic and Arsenal striker, John Hartson endured a tough year, battling cancer and undergoing brain surgery. Steven Gerard appeared in court charged with affray after a row with a d.j. over the music being played in a Stockport bar. A man was stabbed in the chest as ugly scenes occurred at Millwall-West Ham cup tie, a dreadful reminder of scenes we thought had been left back in the early 80’s, along with “Doc Martens”; the “Rubiks Cube” and “Nik Kershaw” !

All of the English teams involved in the “Champions League” got through the group stages without too many issues, and indeed, the first knockout round (although Arsenal had to overcome the lottery of a penalty shootout to see off Roma). At the quarter final stage, Chelsea were once again drawn against their old European adversaries, Liverpool; and in two high scoring legs, the Londoners triumphed 7-5 on aggregate. In their quarter final matches, Arsenal and Manchester United beat Villareal and Porto respectively, to set up a mouth watering semi final tie, which United won 4-1 overall, sending them to their second final in as many years. However, it was not to be a repeat of the previous year’s line up, as Spanish giants Barcelona saw off Chelsea on the away goals ruling, after a goalless encounter at the “Nou Camp”, then followed up with a 1-1 draw at “Stamford Bridge”. In the final, Barcelona became the first Spanish team to win a treble, in a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. Manchester United’s appearance in the final meant that at least one English team had appeared in the Champions League final for five successive years – a strong case for describing the Premiership as being the best (or at least, strongest), league in the world.

Once again, the Scottish Premier League was decided on the last day of the season; regardless of other results, all Rangers needed was a win against Dundee United at Tannadice. There was no drama, and this was comfortably achieved in a 3-0 victory with goals from Pedro Mendes, Kris Boyd and Kyle Lafferty. Celtic finished four points off the top, with their season ending with a stuttering goalless draw to Hearts on the final day. Hearts were third, almost thirty points off the pace, while Inverness Caledonian Thistle went down to the First Division, despite being level on points with Falkirk, their insuperior goal difference sealed their fate, having spent five seasons in the top flight. Their replacements the following season were to be Perth-based club St. Johnstone, who won the First Division with ease. Rangers narrowly won the Scottish Cup, 1-0 against Falkirk, the latter qualifying for the 2009/10 U.E.F.A. Cup, as Rangers were already assured a European place from league qualification. Celtic beat their “Old Firm” rivals 2-0 in the League Cup final, both goals coming in extra time. It was not a particularly good season in Europe for Scottish clubs – Rangers failed to get through the qualifying rounds for the group stages of the Champions League, losing out to the little known FBK Kaunas. Celtic did make it to the group stages, but had a torrid time, finishing bottom of their group, with one win and one draw (a creditable 1-1 scoreline against Manchester United) to their name. Motherwell, Queen of the South and Hibernian all crashed out of the U.E.F.A. Cup after just one round each, failing to make any significant inroads into the tournament.

It was not just in football where the media were able to report on incidents other than the sport itself, as one of the biggest names in world sport made a series of gaffes with which journalists were able to have a field day. Golfer Tiger Woods’ private life attracted much speculation. A week after he apologised to his family for letting them down (after a string of adulterous encounters, discovered after he crashed his car in the grounds of his home, leading to an inquisition from the media). Shortly after, his mother-in-law was suddenly admitted to hospital while staying at his Florida home, in a mysterious string of events. On the fairway, Woods failed to win a major, those titles finding their way into the hands of: Angel Cabrera (The U.S. Masters); Lucas Glover (U.S. Open); Stewart Cink (The Open, held at Turnberry Resort, Ayrshire); and Y.E. Yang (P.G.A. Championship).

In cricket, England won the “Ashes” series against Australia 2-1, with the series coming down to a showdown in the fifth test at Lords, with the tie level with a victory apiece and two draws. Although rain delayed play by nearly four hours on the second day, and the likelihood of a draw; thus tying the series, the English batsmen outclassed their opponents and went on to win the test by 197 runs. The 2009 English County Championship was won by Durham, for the second year in succession; “Hampshire Hawks” beat “Sussex Sharks” by five wickets in the final of the “Friends Provident Trophy” and the increasingly popular “Twenty20” Cup was won by “Sussex Sharks” who triumphed over the “Somerset Sabres”.

Although Lewis Hamilton had to drive a sloth-like McLaren in the early part of the Formula One season; Britain did celebrate the driver’s world championship with an unlikely first title for Brawn G.P.’s journeyman driver Jenson Button. The win was especially poignant as Button looked set to be out of the championship before the season even started as Honda folded their Formula One team, and Brawn only took over three weeks before the season began. Button and team mate Rubens Barrichello dominated the first half of the season, accumulating an unbeatable total in the drivers and constructors championships. Their closest rivals were Red Bull, in a season where McLaren, Renault, BMW and Ferrari all struggled with poor cars, driver problems and off track political bickering. Ferrari driver, Felipe Massa, was lucky to escape with his life after being hit by a stray suspension component, which hit him whilst travelling at 190mph, although he was ruled out by injury for the last quarter of the season while he recuperated. Yamaha once again dominated the MotoGP scene, with Valentino Rossi cruising to the title, although his team mate Jorge Lorenzo pushed him close on a number of occasions, before making all too frequent excursions into the scenery !

In other sports headlines, Ireland romped to a Grand Slam and won the Six Nations rugby tournament; while domestically, “Leicester Tigers” won the “Guinness Premiership”. The British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa ended in a 2-1 series defeat, with the last test being their sole victory; although this was a marked improvement upon the 2005 tour to New Zealand. In tennis, it was a mainly Federer – Nadal dominated year once more. Federer won the men’s singles at Wimbledon, defeating Andy Roddick; while the women’s final saw a repeat line up of the previous year, an all Williams affair; although this time Serena avenged defeat upon her sibling, Venus.


So, we could leave it there; and in terms of the noughties we will do. But to tie this series of posts together, I am going to write a quick conclusion in my next post summing up the events of this year so far; and the parallels between present, past and future. I am also going to knock up a short list of some of my favourite bands / hits of the noughties which weren’t perhaps so popular, but I thought were far more awesome than the endless karaoke snore-fest which the charts became as the decade wore on.

Thanks for joining (or putting up with) me during this last month. It’s been an epic journey. The noughties, now we won’t pretend they were some revolutionary period in time like the sixties; but I’ve known worse times ! Right, I think it might be time to move back to the present in this blog, maybe discuss some tips and gambling. I’ll have a look at writing an F1 season preview in the next week or two. It’s got to be an improvement on last year’s effort at least !

Thanks for reading,

Mountain Man

When It Came To The "Crunch" ... 2008 Was Rotten To The Stinking Core !

So, onto the penultimate year in this marathon look at the last decade. For the home nations, the European football championships were a bit of a non-event, after none of their teams qualified. Probably just as well, because no one could have even afforded to travel to support their team, or even gone to the pub to watch them; as the worst financial period since the 1930’s was experienced. People would do anything to get their hands on money, including taking their own children hostage or faking their own death to cash in their life insurance. Just two of the headline stories from 2008 !


News

The start of the year was one of doom and gloom in the news. Not only was the threat of recession on the tips of economists tongues, but more freak weather akin to the summer previous wreaked havoc, once again flooding properties; along with gale force winds to make matters worse.

There was little to cheer in the world of the celebrity (of which the public had become obsessed by as the noughties wore on). Children’s television presenter Mark Speight was arrested in January after his fiancé was found dead at their home, although he was not charged. Speight took his own life just three months later, and was found hanging close to Paddington Station. Britney Spears was once again drawing the wrong kind of publicity, as she was stretchered from her U.S. mansion, and was later remanded in police custody over a dispute involving her children. Australian actor, Heath Ledger’s sudden death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs saw worldwide mourning from his legions of fans, while in March, newsreader Carol Barnes was taken seriously ill with a stroke, and passed away in hospital a few days later, the latest in a series of high profile names who found themselves in the obituaries columns in 2008. Even more unpleasant news followed in the summer as the self proclaimed “Paedophile of Pop”, Gary Glitter returned to England, but at the airport it wasn’t autograph hunters looking for his signature, but the Home Office, as he was forced to sign on the sex offenders register.

A somewhat impoverished family from the West Yorkshire town of Dewsbury took centre stage, after reports that eleven year old Shannon Matthews had disappeared. Following heartfelt television appeals, fund raising events and hundreds of thousands of pounds and hours of police time, it was discovered that it had been staged by her mother, Karen. The family were widely condemned, and won few friends, particularly when it later emerged that Shannon’s step father, a somewhat tawdry looking youth, was found in possession of sordid images (some of juveniles). He was convicted with charges relating to pornography, while later, in December, Karen Matthews was found guilty of kidnap and was jailed, showing little remorse for her disgraceful behaviour.

We learned of the shocking revelations of a dysfunctional Austrian family in 2008, with 73 year old father Josef Fritzl confessing to imprisoning his daughter in a cellar for 24 years, and fathering her seven children. His despicable deeds also extended to burning the body of a baby who died at the house in Amstetten.

In a foolish, and ill thought out act of fraud, “back from the dead canoeist” John Darwin, who had faked his own death almost a decade before, was jailed, along with his wife Anne. They were sentenced to more than six years imprisonment each, after they had wrongly claimed £250,000 in life insurance policies.

The worst fears were confirmed regarding financial meltdown when, in August, “Lehman Brothers” bank filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. while at home, “H.B.O.S.” entered into merger talks with “Lloyds” to prevent its collapse. The banks were bailed out with government (ultimately tax payers) intervention, but still their shares fell, and interest rates were slashed to all time lows. The property market was in a turbulent state; “Stamp Duty” was axed on homes costing less than £175,000 in an attempt to bolster sales. The uncertainty also saw a volatile month surrounding activity in the stock market.

In a puerile prank, B.B.C. big money stars Jonathon Ross and Russell Brand were suspended after making obscene phone calls to veteran actor Andrew Sachs. The corporation ended up apologising to the former “Fawlty Towers” star. Brand resigned from his duties, while Ross was suspended until well into the following year. It could be argued though that the media attention kick started Sachs’ career, after he landed a regular role in long running I.T.V. soap “Coronation Street”.

After what seemed like years of debating, voters in the U.S.A. finally voted to elect their first black President, Barrack Obama, with victory over Republican candidate, John McCain. There was more than enough media coverage surrounding the event to last a lifetime and I feel that it requires no more column space here !


Music

New Year – same old story, as the “X-Factor” winner remained at the top into January. Downloads helped some rather offbeat hits into the singles chart, such as “Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em’s” “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” and “Nickelback’s” seemingly endless spell in the Top 40 with “Rockstar”. Debut acts had dominant stretches at number one in the singles chart in January and February. Firstly, Swedish D.J. and Producer, “Basshunter” had five weeks at the summit with “Now You’re Gone”. Then it was the turn of soul singer “Duffy” who also had five weeks at the top with “Mercy”. Meanwhile, “Snow Patrol” made history as their single “Chasing Cars” became the second most charted single in the history of the charts, with 68 consecutive weeks inside the Top 75.

Just as January and February had been dominated by two acts taking the number one slot, so too were March and April. The refreshing urban sounds of U.S. songstress “Estelle” landed her the top spot for five weeks; while “Madonna” knocked her off the top to claim number one for four weeks with a little help from Justin Timberlake and Timbaland; with “4 Minutes”, which continued with the disco influence of her 2005 album “Confessions On A Dancefloor”. Although it did not reach the top, “House Singer” Sam Sparro’s “Black And Gold” made it to number two in April, and it lingered around the charts and received huge air play throughout the year.

May 2008 saw a remarkable debut album titled “We Started Nothing” from “Ting Tings” who landed at the top of the album chart, and their second single, “That’s Not My Name” also made it to the top of its chart in the same week. Dance act “Mint Royale” scored their first singles chart number one, and indeed their first top twenty chart entry since “Don’t Falter” back in 2000 with a remix of “Singing In The Rain”. This came after their remix version sold strongly via downloads, thanks to being used by the “Britain’s Got Talent” winner George Sampson in his high-octane dance routine.

The integrity of the “Eurovision Song Contest” once again came into question, after allegations of tactical voting from some nations. The U.K., represented by former “X-Factor” runner up Andy Abraham received a mere fourteen points, placing a clear last. B.B.C. host and mainstay of the competition for more years than anyone would care to remember, Terry Wogan, threatened to wash his hands of the event; and there were questions from the wider audience regarding whether the U.K. would indeed bother to enter in future contests.

Despite being one of the most popular mainstream groups of the nineties, with millions of album sales behind them, it was not until June 2008 that “Coldplay” enjoyed their first U.K. singles chart number one. “Viva La Vida” was top for just one week, although the album of the same name was number one for six weeks, and sold over 300,000 copies in the first week of release alone.

The big hits of the summer were from one hit wonder “Kid Rock” with “All Summer Long”, which used heavy sampling of “Lynard Skynard” classic “Sweet Home Alabama”. Calvin Harris assisted “Dizzee Rascal” with “Dance Wiv Me” to land the top spot in July. However, American singer-songwriter Katy Perry had probably the most memorable – and controversial chart topper of the year with “I Kissed A Girl” which was cemented on top for five weeks in August. American rockers “Kings Of Leon” waited almost a decade for their first chart topper, but had a monster hit with “Sex on Fire”, which is still in the top 60 of the singles chart to this day (January 25th 2010). It is also the second most downloaded single of all time.

As the nights drew in, the “X-Factor” began to take centre stage once more, and following a guest performance on the show, “Girls Aloud” had a number one with “The Promise”, following up their top five hit “Can’t Speak French” from earlier in the year. The “X-Factor Finalists” also joined forces to cover the Mariah Carey hit “Hero” which was number one for three weeks, benefitting the “Help For Heroes” and “Royal British Legion” charities. December was also an “X-Factor” benefit, with the previous years winner, Leona Lewis, enjoying a fortnight at the pinnacle of the charts with a cover of “Snow Patrols” former chart smash “Run”. While the incoming winner of the contest, Alexandra Burke took the now traditional Christmas number one slot with “Hallelujah”, which was yet another cover version of a tired old hit. Although there were grumblings, the once a year c.d. buyers were more than happy to line the pockets of Simon Cowell, with what have been described as little more than “trumped up karaoke stars” singing “music for braindeads” – and – “songs which were crap first time around !”

In all, the music of 2008 was perhaps a more balanced selection of Indy, Pop, Dance and manufactured acts. Thanks to the growth of downloads, and in a trend against practically every other market, sales of both albums and singles grew significantly against the previous few years, to the tune, on average of over 20,000 copies of number one singles on average a week compared with 2007. However, apathy against “X-Factor” domination, particularly of the festive number one slot was certainly on the rise, as we shall find out next time !


Sport

It was not a happy year to be an England fan. For the first time since the 1994 World Cup, they failed to qualify for the forthcoming major tournament (Euro 2008). Their fate lay in the hands of other results after losing the qualifier against Russia 2-1 (the first England International game to be played on a synthetic pitch). The following month, their misery was further compounded in the last qualifying game, losing 3-2 to Croatia at Wembley, despite goals from Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch pulling the score back to two all, having gone two goals down in the first fifteen minutes. Justifiably, manager Steve McClaren was sacked the following day, and Fabio Capello was appointed as the new boss on the 7th January 2008. To touch on the Euro 2008 tournament, Spain finally shook off their tag as “nearly men” in major international tournaments, beating Germany in the final 1-0.

Manchester United retained the Premiership, a record tenth win, and their seventeenth top flight title. For the first time in many years, final day results decided the outcome of the league, although a 2-0 win for United against Wigan was good enough to take the title, regardless of other results. Chelsea were runners up, and in an all too familiar top four, Liverpool and Arsenal took third and fourth respectively, while Everton, who arguably were the over-achievers of the season, managed a fine fifth place. Despite the obvious disappointment for Chelsea at being so close to taking the title, it was perhaps a miracle that they were even within touching distance of United, as the little known Avram Grant had been hastily installed as their manager in mid-September 2007, following the resignation of Jose Mourinho, who had fallen out of favour with “Blues” supremo Roman Abramovich.

The three teams going down had only enjoyed a brief flirtation with the Premier League this time around. Reading and Birmingham City both went down after dogged campaigns, but Derby went down with an appalling record. They were not only the first team in Premier League history to be assured of relegation before the end of March, but also accumulated only a miserable eleven points, which was also another unwanted historic record to their name. Following their disappointing defeat in the play offs the season before, this time West Brom made no mistake and secured automatic promotion from “The Championship” winning the division. Joining them were Stoke, who had endured a 23 year absence from the top flight, and top tier “virgins” Hull City, who beat Bristol City in the play off final, the only goal in a 1-0 win coming from 39 year old veteran, Dean Windass. This also ended their “claim to fame” of being from the biggest city in Europe never to have had a top flight football team. Going down to “League One” were Colchester United and Scunthorpe United, both of whom had only been promoted to the “Championship” the year before. Joining them, in a surprise relegation though, were Leicester City, who had been a solid Premiership team only seven seasons earlier.

The F.A. Cup saw a less than familiar line up, with Portsmouth taking on Cardiff City. Unfortunately, the encounter was somewhat stale with negative tactics and few chances, the solitary goal coming from Nwankwo Kanu in the 1-0 win for “Pompy”. The usual “giant killings” were in evidence, with Chelsea crashing out to Barnsley in the quarter finals, who had also defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the previous round, with a Brian Howard stoppage time winner putting out the Anfield club. Liverpool themselves had already been given an almighty shock by lowly “Blue Square Conference South” outfit Havant & Waterlooville, who had twice taken the lead in their fourth round tie at Anfield, although the Merseysiders did come back to win 5-2 in a less than convincing display ! In the first “Carling Cup” final to be held at the new Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur got their hands on their first piece of silverware since they won the same trophy in 1999. An extra time goal from defender Jonathon Woodgate winning the game, which had been deadlocked at 1-1 after ninety minutes, as “Spurs” Dimitar Berbatov had cancelled out Didier Drogba’s early strike.

In other stories relating to English football, Newcastle’s controversial midfield star Joey Barton was jailed following being found guilty of assault following an altercation in a fast food restaurant. Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne also endured further tribulations in his personal life, which had dogged him since his retirement, as he ended up being sectioned for the second time, for his own safety. A story more memorable for the right reasons was the 150th anniversary celebrations of Sheffield F.C.; the world’s oldest football club. They were rewarded with an all star friendly encounter with Inter Milan as a special birthday present for the tiny amateur side.

The Champions League was an enthralling competition, and any doubters of the strength of the English Premier League would be well advised to look at the performances of the teams involved in the competition in 2006/07. Arsenal thrashed Slavia Prague 7-0, while Liverpool crushed Besiktas 8-0 in a record win in the competition. All four English sides reached the quarter final stages – Liverpool eliminated Arsenal at this stage, but went on to lose to Chelsea in the semi final (to avenge defeat at the same stage the year before). This set up the “Blues” in an all English final with Manchester United, which was the first time this had occurred in the Champions League (or its predecessors). In a repeat of the Community Shield earlier in the season, the game was deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time, and United took the tie 3-0 on penalties. The U.E.F.A. cup was less fruitful for English club sides, with all of them eliminated at the quarter final stages or earlier.

Like their English counterparts, the race for the Scottish Premier League was decided on the final day of the season. The last day of the season was actually changed from 18th May to 22nd May, for a number of reasons: postponements in the winter due to bad weather; Rangers’ progression to the U.E.F.A. Cup final; and the tragic death of Motherwell’s Phil O’Donnell who passed away after collapsing in the match against Dundee United. Celtic were crowned champions again, for the third season in a row, beating Dundee United 1-0 at Tannadice, with Jan Venegoor of Hesselink the sole scorer. Meanwhile, Rangers who had needed a win at Aberdeen on the final day, or a draw, should Celtic falter, somehow managed to lose 2-0, so they ended up second in the final standings, three points shy of Celtic. Motherwell had a good season, and were the best of the none “Old Firm” teams in third, albeit 29 points shy of the leaders.

Gretna, following their meteoric rise to the Premier League with three promotions in as many years had a woeful season. They had been unable to play their home games at Raydale Park as the ground did not meet the minimum criteria stipulated by the league rulings, so they had been ground sharing Fir Park with Motherwell, a good fifty miles away. (With the exception of one game which was played at Almondvale, the home of Livingston F.C.) Gretna ended the season on an unlucky thirteen points, 27 off the total of eleventh placed team Kilmarnock, largely due to the deduction of ten points as they entered administration. Not only were they relegated, but they firstly dropped to the Third Division, but shortly after a winding up order was put on the club, their fall from grace was complete with a total resignation from the Scottish Football League. Taking their place in the Scottish Premier League in 2008/09 would be First Division champions, Hamilton Academical.

First Division side Queen of the South could be proud of their efforts, reaching the final of the Scottish Cup, and giving Rangers a scare, but succumbing 3-2 on the day. They were however rewarded with entrance into the following seasons U.E.F.A. Cup, as Rangers had already qualified for European competition. In a riveting League Cup final, Rangers again took the honours, beating Dundee United 3-2, although they did need the extra 30 minutes to beat off the determined Tayside club. Rangers also made it to a third cup final, with the unfancied Glaswegians playing in the U.E.F.A. Cup against Russian outfit Zenit St. Petersburg in Manchester. They were beaten 2-0 on the night, but it was an evening remembered unfortunately for the behaviour of a number of mindless morons who were set on causing lager-fuelled hooliganism and subversive thuggery in the city. This minority spoiled what should have been celebrated as a great achievement for the club, much as the scenes in Seville had been in 2003 for city rivals Celtic. Other Scottish clubs in Europe didn’t fare particularly badly, Celtic did come through their Champions League group, but were eliminated in the first knock out round by Barcelona, after a strong display in what was a tough encounter. Aberdeen exceeded all hopes by getting through the group stages in the U.E.F.A. Cup, and were, as anticipated convincingly beaten in the first knock out round by German giants Bayern Munich. Dunfermline Athletic’s European adventure was a short one, going out 2-1 over two legs to Swedish minnows BK Hacken.

Wales came to the forefront in Rugby Union, beating allcomers in the “Six Nations” championships on their way to a grand slam victory. The transformation of the W.R.U. had seen a surprising turn of fortunes for a proud rugby nation who had seen their team in the doldrums for many seasons, as they made it a brace of championships in only four seasons. Wales also set a new record for the least tries conceded in the tournament, leaking only two, which smashed England’s record of four against them in a single year. England were runners up, an improvement from their failings in the recent years leading up to 2008, but Ireland disappointed, slipping to fourth in the standings, with their only wins a less than convincing 16-11 victory over bottom side Italy, and fifth placed Scotland.

In his first fight in the U.S.A., Joe Calzaghe defeated Bernard Hopkins for the World Light Heavyweight title, in a twelve round split decision. The Welshman’s run of unbeaten title fights continued in November, when he beat Roy Jones Jnr at Madison Square Gardens in a twelve round unanimous decision, taking his run to 46 bouts without loss.

The names of the major steeple chase winners are familiar ones, “Denman” took the “Cheltenham Gold Cup” and the “Grand National” was won by “Comply or Die”. On the flat circuit, “Henrythenavigator” was the “2000 Guineas” champion; “New Approach”, the “Derby” winner and the “St. Leger” was taken by “Conduit”.

In the first of 2008’s golf majors, the “U.S. Masters”, South African Trevor Immelman landed his first title, by a three stroke margin. Tiger Woods won his fourteenth major title with victory in the “U.S. Open”, after coming through an eighteen hole play off, and then sudden death in a hard fought win over determined runner up Rocco Mediate. The second half of the calendar was a memorable and prosperous one for Irishman Padraig Harrington, who landed back to back majors, taking the “Open” at Royal Birkdale and also the “P.G.A. Championship”. It was not such a happy event for European golfers and their fans in the “Ryder Cup” though, as the U.S.A. regained the trophy, with their sixteen and a half points eclipsing the eleven and a half from the Europe team.

In Formula One, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton made amends for the last gasp disappointment of 2008 and landed the championship in only his second year of participation. The final race of the season, Brazil, was a thrilling one, as a downpour on the final lap saw Hamilton overtake Toyota’s Timo Glock at the last corner to land the championship by a single point from Ferrari’s Felipe Massa; whose team were already celebrating the title, somewhat prematurely ! Ferrari did, however, enjoy the consolation of the Manufacturers championship, their first honours since the retirement of Michael Schumacher. Although we did not learn the facts until 2009, Renault allegedly ordered their second driver, Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash at the new Valencia street circuit. This action, the most controversial incident of the year, allowed his team mate, Fernando Alonso to take a much needed victory. In the top level of motorcycle racing, after an unusual two years without a title, it was a return to form for Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, who cruised to the championship without too much drama; unlike his crash-happy kamikaze team mate Jorge Lorenzo, who tasted the tarmac (and hospital food) on too many occasions throughout the season to mention here !

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer made the major tennis finals an almost exclusive club, winning all but the “Australian Open” (taken down by Novak Djokovic) between them. In the “French Open” Nadal beat Federer, a feat he followed up shortly after at “Wimbledon”. In the “U.S. Open”, Scotsman Andy Murray came close to taking the competition, but was outgunned at the last hurdle by Federer, for whom it was third time lucky in a 2008 final ! Once again, the ladies final at “Wimbledon” was an all Williams affair, with Venus putting one over on Serena; who made amends in the final of the “U.S. Open”, defeating Jelena Jankovic to finish the year on a winning note.


So, not much to write home about really, was it ? On the news front there was little optimism as a new year dawned, which we shall examine next time.

Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man

2007 - A Washout Of A Year

A year of slurs from celebrities on the box, a summer marred by torrential downpours, and for sports fans: so near yet so far in some déjà vu circumstances. 2007 was probably one of those years best forgotten ! That doesn’t mean we’re going to let it lie though – here are the highs and lows of the year that was.

News

The year kicked off with reality television dominating the tabloid headlines throughout January, with controversy reigning in the “Celebrity Big Brother” series, which saw racism cause reverberations across the globe. A heated dispute between Jade Goody (celebrity ? Since when did coming fourth in a tv game show warrant such a title ?) and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. Over 3,500 complaints were logged to Ofcom, and Channel 4 were severely reprimanded while the show took a year off to cool down, at least in the celebrity format. Ofcom were also at the centre of the news later in the year after several popular television programmes were found guilty of faking competition results, including children’s favourite “Blue Peter”, while a number of shows also ran draws which viewers had no chance of winning, but were charged a premium rate for calling a telephone number. Further television scandal followed, with another contestant on Big Brother, Emily Parr was heard to make a racist slur, seeing her immediate expulsion from the compound. While on ITV show “Hell’s Kitchen” former “Big Break” host and funnyman, Jim Davidson, was removed after describing fellow contestant, homosexual Brian Dowling as a “shirt lifter”.

Robbie Williams battled addiction to prescription drugs in this year, entering rehab in the U.S. on his 33rd birthday, while Britney Spears also underwent therapy after breaking down after a bizarre series of events including shaving her head in public.

Madeleine McCann, a British toddler went missing from her family’s apartment in Portugal, while her parents dined at a nearby eatery. To this day she has never been found, despite numerous false leads; and unproven allegations.

The summer months were far from sunny for many parts of Britain. June and July saw some of the most heavy and prolonged periods of rainfall ever. Northern Ireland was the first to be hit, with County Antrim, County Down, County Tyrone and County Londonderry bore the brunt of the precipitation. Houses were evacuated, and Belfast Airport had to close after conditions became too severe for planes to land. East Yorkshire suffered horrendous conditions just days later, and the seriousness of the situation was hammered home to all after a man was drowned after becoming trapped in a storm drain. A month after the worst of the peak floods in June, the rain returned once more towards the end of July. Conditions in Berkshire were so severe that a landslide caused the M4 motorway to close, while Tewkesbury and Gloucester experienced some of their worst floods ever. Over this two month period, barely any rivers escaped without bursting their banks, thousands of homes and businesses were flooded, some even demolished by the torrents of water, and there was the tragic loss of ten lives as a direct result of the flooding.

The year ended with grim reports from both sides of the Atlantic that a few too many years of the good life, spent with credit neither the banks nor consumers could realistically account for pointed to a global crisis which would eclipse all collapses that had gone before. One newspaper even described the forthcoming events making the great crash of 1929 look like a “walk in the park”. These predictions did of course come to light, but we’ll come to the “crunch” in the review of 2008.


Music

It was a record breaking year for the 2006 “X-Factor” winner, Leona Lewis. She started the year in dominant fashion, sitting atop the charts for her third and fourth weeks with “A Moment Like This”. Her album “Spirit” released later in the year became the fastest selling debut album in Britain of all time, while her second single, “Bleeding Love” was number one for seven weeks in November and December, and was the biggest selling single of the year. Although Lewis had the biggest selling single, U.S. R&B singer “Rihanna” had the longest stay at number one in the singles chart for thirteen years, with “Umbrella” staying at the top for ten weeks in the early summer. While her personal life was spiralling downwards, Amy Winehouse had the biggest selling album of the year with “Back To Black”, and it spawned several successful singles too.

After a fair bit of media hype, “Mika” became only the second artist (after Gnarls Barkley the year before) to top the chart on downloads alone, with “Grace Kelly”. The top three in the charts in the week of 21st January were all sold solely via download, with “Just Jack” at number two with “Starz In Their Eyes”, and “The View” with “Same Jeans” charting in third. “Mika”, with his quirky and uplifting style retained the top spot for five weeks, and he also enjoyed three other top ten hits and a number one album “Life In Cartoon Motion” to mark a successful maiden year at the forefront of the music industry. The “Kaiser Chiefs” returned in 2007, scoring a number one single “Ruby”, then followed it up a month later with a top placed album entitled “Yours Truly, Angry Mob”. Gaining their tenth number one were "Take That" with “Shine”, which ended up being one of the most played tracks on commercial radio of the noughties; despite featuring Mark Owen on lead vocals, opposed to usual frontman, Gary Barlow.

Collaborative acts made up several of the biggest hits of the year. Scottish twins “The Proclaimers” teamed up with comedians Peter Kay and Matt Lucas a.k.a. “Brian Potter” and “Andy Pipkin” to rehash their hit “I’m gonna be (500 miles)” which was the unofficial “Comic Relief” single, and was at number one for a fortnight. Earlier, the official single which too was a joint effort from “Girls Aloud” and “Sugababes” also enjoyed some time at the top. American producer “Timbaland” with some help from Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake also had a huge hit with “Give It To Me”. Another all star collaboration directed by "Timbaland" was from Beyonce Knowles and “Shakira” with “Beautiful Liar”. Welsh rockers “Manic Street Preachers” joined up with Nina Persson of “The Cardigans” for a number two hit “Your Love Alone”.

After a nine year absence from the U.K. chart, Swedish singer “Robyn” scored her first number one with the dance track “With Every Heartbeat”. This held off Kate Nash’s debut single “Foundations” from the top spot, after coming to the forefront of the music business with some resounding performances at the summer festivals.

After going in at number two the week previous on downloads alone, seventeen year old Sean Kingston celebrated his debut number one “Beautiful Girls”. The same week, “Hard-Fi” made a triumphant return with their number one album “Once Upon A Time In The West” which spawned the hit single “Suburban Knights”.

Although they only charted at number five with “Sexy ! No. No. No…” the return of “Girls Aloud” saw them make history by having the most consecutive U.K. top ten hits by an all girl group. This was extended further in the Autumn, with “The Promise”. Another all girl group made their return in 2007, after several years absence “The Spice Girls” made a return to the charts, but not in the epic proportions that boyband “Take That” had done a year previous.

A controversial story from the music world in 2007 came as “Radiohead” allowed fans to officially download their new album “In Rainbows” for any price of between £0.00 and £100.00. This caused heated debate throughout the music world, but still did not deter the band from going ahead. The physical (CD) release of the album did not come until the end of the year, but it still made number one in the album chart, despite being available online free.

The year ended much as it had begun, with the new “X-Factor” winner on top, this time it was the turn of Leon Jackson with “When You Believe”. For the first time in many years, owing to the download market becoming much greater, and the fact that all legal downloads were recognised in the singles chart from 2007, there were a number of timely Christmas classics in the chart, including “The Pogues”; “Slade”; “Wham”; Mariah Carey and “Wizzard”.


Sport

The long wait for Wembley Stadium was finally ended in 2007, with most of the home Internationals having been played all over the country in the years immediately previous. The start of the 2006/07 season also saw a new man leading the England team, former Middlesbrough beak Steve McClaren, who took charge in September 2006. Opening his account with a 4-0 friendly win over Greece, and then a 5-0 mauling of Andorra in the opening qualifying round for Euro 2008, saw the usual bilge from the England fanatical that they would not only qualify, but win the tournament. However, a series of very unconvincing performances followed this, including a goalless draw at home to Macedonia, and a 2-0 loss to Croatia, which left the managers jacket on a very shaky peg indeed as the football season closed in June 2007.

Manchester United ended, by their terms at least, a barren four seasons, in landing the Premiership title, after Chelsea faltered somewhat, finishing six points astray. Liverpool and Arsenal tied on 68 points apiece, but the Scousers took third place on goal difference. At the foot of the table, Charlton Athletic went down in nineteenth after eight seasons in the top flight, while Watford endured a miserable season, winning only five times, and sitting bottom for more or less the whole year, going straight back down following promotion the previous year, as did, in somewhat dubious terms, Sheffield United who were level on 39 points with Wigan, but lost out by a solitary goal in the goal difference standings. West Ham played Wigan on the last day of the season at the J.J.B. Stadium, and won 3-0, which saw them as unlikely survivors, following a season languishing in the bottom three. There were repercussions and court appearances for months after, as well as unsuccessful appeals by the “Blades” to see West Ham reprimanded for the illegal fielding of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. Three days after United were relegated, their manager, Neil Warnock resigned to be replaced by Bryan Robson.

Sunderland, under the stewardship of new manager Roy Keane, bounced straight back to the Premiership after relegation the previous year. They won the league by two points from Birmingham City (also returning after just a single season). Derby County had waited a little longer, their last season in the top flight had been 2001/02, but after finishing third in the league, and conquering West Brom in the play off final, they could look forward to life in the top tier once more. At the other end, Leeds continued their miserable form of the last few years, finishing bottom, and moving down to the third level of English football, following a ten point deduction for entering voluntary administration (although by the time this was announced their fate of going down had already been sealed). The Elland Road outfit also had the prospect of starting life in League One on -15 points, which was actually a relief to their following, as the club were close to expulsion from the football league due to their interpretation of the administration rulings.

Two notable goals stood out in the Premier Division, firstly, the 15,000th goal since the top flight was rebranded as “The Premiership” was scored by Moritz Volz of Fulham (against derby rivals Chelsea), gaining him the nickname “15,000 Volz" ! Also, a bizarre goal was scored by Tottenham Hotspurs goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, who beat his opposite number and England understudy Ben Foster, from an 83 yard free kick in the 3-1 win over Watford. This was the third time a goalkeeper had scored in the Premier League, can you name the other two and whom they were playing for ? If so, post your responses in the comments section below, please.

It was a decent season for Premiership newcomers, Reading. Having been promoted as winners of the “Championship” the year before, they made their debut in the top flight (their first time in the top tier in their 135 year history), they finished in a very credible eighth place, thanks to gritty determination, which was in evidence throughout their campaign, for example winning their opening tie against Middlesbrough 3-2, after going two goals down. Reading also recorded the biggest scoreline of the season, thumping West Ham 6-0.

Chelsea took the F.A. Cup in a 1-0 win over Manchester United, to avenge the suffering for conceding their title in the Premier League. The return to Wembley for the final, the first since 2000, was a very dull affair, with 116 minutes without a goal until Chelsea striker Didier Drogba hit the back of the net to ensure the tie did not go to spot kicks. Despite their torrid Premiership form, Watford surprised many by getting to the semi final, but were outclassed 4-1 by United at this stage. It was a cup double for Chelsea, as they beat Arsenal 2-1 in the Carling Cup final back in February. In a repeat line up of the 2005 Champions League final, AC Milan and Liverpool once again squared up. However, despite a late rallying comeback from Liverpool seeing Dirk Kuyt score in the 89th minute, they did not have the same answer to the Italians as two years previously, and thanks to a brace from Felipe Inzaghi either side of half time, AC lifted the trophy. The semi finals had seen three English teams take part, with an all English tie between Liverpool and Chelsea, which ended in a shootout loss for Chelsea after a 1-1 aggregate result (with a goal which never was from Liverpool). Manchester United were comprehensively beaten 5-3 by Milan over two legs in the other tie. Arsenal, who had been runners up the year previous, were dumped out by PSV Eindhoven in the first knockout round.

It was yet another fruitful year in Scotland for Celtic, but not so for the blue side of Glasgow, with the Ibrox club finishing twelve points off the leaders in the league, and failing to take down a trophy in their other competitions. A surprise third place in the league were perennial underachievers, Aberdeen. Going down to the First Division were bottom side Dunfermline, but at the same time earned themselves a place in the UEFA Cup the following season after being beaten in the final of the Scottish Cup by Celtic. Gretna continued to capture the imagination of fans in Scotland, and indeed beyond, with their third promotion in as many years, once again winning their league, and making it into the top level of Scottish football, but was their bubble about to burst ? In the League Cup, Hibernian thrashed Kilmarnock 5-1 in the final, in a one sided encounter.

It was all change in Formula One, following the retirement of German legend Michael Schumacher. Ferrari welcomed former McLaren golden boy Kimi Raikkonen, while McLaren signed the reigning champion Fernando Alonso to pair with their protégé Lewis Hamilton, who had been nurtured through the junior formulae. The season was an intriguing one, with a close battle, which often turned sour and cold between the McLaren team mates. In his rookie year, the title was so nearly Hamilton’s, but in the heat of the moment, he lost his cool, while “ice-man” Raikkonen made up a 22 point shortfall in the last three Grands Prix to snatch the title from the jaws of defeat. Alonso lasted only twelve months in a tempestuous relationship with the British team. Meanwhile, BMW looked good, with Polish driver Robert Kubica particularly impressive, despite one of the most horrendous crashes of the decade, in Canada, thankfully without serious injury. Worth a mention is Scotsman Dario Franchitti, who won the world famous “Indianapolis 500” race in the Indycar scene.

While Ducati had been regular winners in the World Superbike Championships, Australian rider Casey Stoner finally landed them their first top flight MotoGP title in 2007 in a dominant season. Valentino Rossi could only finish third in the standings for Yamaha, a point adrift of second placed Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, in his worst season for over a decade. Over at World Superbikes, 2004 champion, James Toseland of Sheffield took the championship once again, but this time for Honda, which earned him a 2008 ride in MotoGP. Over on the Isle of Man, the T.T. Races celebrated their centenary year, with victories for John McGuinness in the superbikes and Dave Molyneaux & Rick Long in the ever popular sidecar class.

Once again, it was a good year for Welsh boxing hero Joe Calzaghe, in November he defeated Mikkel Kessler by unanimous decision in a unification bout for the W.B.A.; W.B.C. and W.B.O. Super Middleweight titles. In doing so, he became the first undisputed Super Middleweight holder, and also surpassed the twenty defences made by Bernard Hopkins and Larry Holmes at Middleweight and Heavyweight, respectively.

In a year which England cricket fans will want to forget, England bowed to a 5-0 series whitewash to Australia in the Ashes series. The lifeless display was the first time since 1920-21 that one side dominated a series in such a fashion. Australia also took the Cricket World Cup, beating Sri Lanka by a 53 run margin in the final. England were knocked out at the “Super 8” stage, on the bubble for the semi final placings. In the inaugural International “Twenty20” tournament, India beat Pakistan by five runs in a closely contested final. Domestically, Sussex again won the County Championship, Kent the “Twenty20” Cup and Durham, the “Friends Provident Trophy”.

At the P.G.A. Championship, it was a lucky thirteenth major title win for Tiger Woods at “Southern Hills”, and it was also his fourth P.G.A. Championship win. The other major titles went to Zach Johnson (U.S. Masters); Angel Cabrera (U.S. Open) and Irishman Padraig Harrington, in a play off win over fellow European Sergio Garcia (The Open held at Carnoustie).

“Silver Birch” took the Grand National at Aintree, and the legacy that is “Kauto Star” took down the “Gold Cup” feature race at Cheltenham. On the flat circuit, “Cockney Rebel” romped to victory in the “2000 Guineas Stakes”; The “Epsom Derby” was taken down by “Authorized” and “Lucarno” won the “St. Leger” at Doncaster.

The annual Rugby Union Six Nations championship saw a return to form for France, who won the tournament, beating “Triple Crown” winners Ireland on points difference, which was a fair result, given the French beat the Irish in a close run 20-17 encounter. A 21-9 kick and clap victory over Wales, with seven penalties from Chris Patterson was not enough to prevent Scotland ending up once again with the “Wooden Spoon”. Italy had their best tournament and final placing to date, with fourth in the table scoring their first away win, a victory over Scotland at Murrayfield, and also beating Wales in Rome. Later in the year, the Rugby World Cup was held, and the title returned to the Southern Hemisphere, after holders England succumbed to South Africa 15-6 in a turgid final which featured little running rugby, and no tries. It was, a relatively disappointing tournament for the home nations, especially Ireland and Wales who failed to clear the group stages, and Scotland, who were knocked out in the quarter finals by Argentina, who were clearly the revelations of the tournament, having beaten both Ireland and France to top their group in the early stages.


Well, we are rapidly approaching the end of the decade, yet looking back at 2007, it seems many of these events only feel like they happened yesterday. The element of mystery of unsolved cases in the news, the current hot property in the music charts and the events in the world of sport can all be closely related to, even today. Very much a year of deflation, Liverpool and England R.U. getting so near yet so far to the biggest prizes in their sports; much of Britain underwater in one of the most miserable summers on record and the charts full of menial rubbish. Surely 2008 was better than this ?

Thanks for reading,

Mountain Man