2012 Sporting year in review

As a sports nut, I feel obliged to give you my highs and lows of the 2012 year in sport. There were some exceptional instances and celebrations that sent chills down my spine, yet there were those moments that were embarrassing and shocking (sometimes personally). In no particular order, here they are - my top 10 best and top 5 worst moments in sport for 2012.

The Best

1. Balotelli double for Italy vs. Germany at Euro 2012 - I know I said I would not rank these, but this stands out for me more than any other because of my Italian blood. Italy were given no chance against the juggernaut Germans in this semifinal, who had already chalked up 9 goals in 4 matches. Italy had played some promising football in their first match against Spain but had struggled since, and after the penalty shootout win against England in the quarterfinals, you could excuse the team for being lethargic. The only confidence I brought into this match was the surprising fact that Germany had never beaten Italy in a competitive match (seven in total).

Who is the man? Mario is

Balotelli had been average at best in Euro 2012 so far, with only a last minute goal against Ireland in Italy's last group game to show for his efforts. In the semi final Balotelli, then 21 years old, had been presented with the perfect opportunity to set his first major mark on international football. He did it in sublime fashion. The first goal was not as memorable as the second but was just as well constructed. Antonio Cassano delivered a superb cross from the left flank, and Balotelli met the cross with a well-timed header to put the Azzurri 1-0 up after 20 minutes. On 36 minutes, and after a German attack, Riccardo Montolivo sent a high pass up to Balotelli, who found himself in open space. He thundered in a long-range shot to the top-right hand corner of the German goal. "Super Mario" was on top of the world after the 2nd goal and didn't he show it (see picture).


2. Double scullers' comeback - Joseph Sullivan and Nathan Cohen had a reputation of being slow starters and strong finishers in their races and this was fully illustrated in their double sculls final at Dorney Lake in the London Olympics. In the 2000 metre race, the Kiwi pair were last (out of 6) after 500 metres, 5th after 1000 metres, and 4th after 1500 metres. But then they slowly stared their charge towards the three crews currently ahead of them. The last 500 metres of this race showed the true grit and determination needed to succeed in such a tough, competitive sport like rowing. Sullivan and Cohen rapidly hurled in the Italian and Slovenian crews to win New Zealand's first gold medal of the London Olympics. It kick started a great night (Saturday NZ time) of rowing success for New Zealand, with men's pair Eric Murray and Hamish Bond also winning gold, and single sculler Mahe Drysdale triumphant in his event.

3. Lisa Carrington - More Olympic glory for New Zealand, this time it was in the water with 23 year old Lisa Carrington winning gold in kayaking's K-1 200 metres final. Lisa had previously set a new Olympic record time of 40.528 seconds in her semifinal.

4. Heartland Championship Meads Cup Final: East Coast 29-27 Wanganui - With 20 minutes to go in this match, East Coast were down 27-3 to a rampant Wanganui side who were looking to secure back-to-back titles. After being 20-3 up at halftime, Wanganui continued their dominance early on the second half but East Coast stormed home with four tries, including a last-minute try to Verdon Bartlet. The crowd at Ruatoria raced on to the field to embrace their team, before being ordered off as there was still time remaining. East Coast hung on for the win and the crowd, once again, went wild.

Hear me roar: Tiger Woods celebrates in style

5. Tiger Woods' chip-in on the 16th hole at Memorial - Tiger picked up his second win of the year at the Memorial Tournament in June, hosted by Jack Nicklaus. It will be remembered for Tiger's 3rd shot on the 16th hole. With his ball sitting down in the rough, and facing a green that sloped downhill towards the water, Tiger played an immaculate flop shot. With hardly any margin of error, the ball pitched on the green, and rolled into the bottom of the cup, sending Tiger on one of his trademark fist-pumping sprees. Nicklaus later made one of his boldest ever statements: "I don't think I've ever seen a better one. That was the most unbelievable, gutsy shot that I've ever seen."




6. Ian Poulter at the Ryder Cup - There were many moments that defined the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, such as Martin Kaymer's winning putt, Justin Rose's come from behind victory against Phil Mickelson, or Bubba Watson's successful attempt to get the crowd cheering "USA USA" during his swing. But if I had to pick one moment that I thought won Ryder Cup for Europe, it would be Ian Poulter's remarkable performance late on Saturday evening (2nd to last day) where, partnered with Rory McIlroy, he finished with five straight birdies, including a 15 footer for birdie on the last, to beat the American duo of Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner 1up. If it was not for the Poluter-McIlroy win, Europe would of been 11-5 down before the final day singles, a daunting prospect. Europe went on to stage a remarkable comeback in the final day singles to win 14.5-13.5.

7. West Indies win Twenty/20 World Cup in Sri Lanka - I'm still not a fan of circus cricket and probably never will be, but the West Indies won their first international title since the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 and second since the 1979 World Cup. After a bizarre group stage that saw the West Indies qualify for the next round without winning a game (a loss affected by rain and another no result due to rain), the Windies then beat England and New Zealand, the later opponent after a "super over." They smashed Australia in the semi-final, helped by 75 off 41 balls from Chris Gayle, and defeated hosts Sri Lanka in the final where Sunil Narine produced figures of 3 wickets for 9 runs off 3.4 overs. The Windies batting duo of Gayle and Marlon Samuels both featured in the top-5 run scorers of the tournament with a combined six half centuries between them.

The West Indies go "Gangnam style" after their victory

8. Usain Bolt - Another major athletics meet, more accolades for for Jamaican Usain Bolt. At the London Olympics Bolt won in his signature event, the 100 metres, setting a new Olympic record of 9.63 and defeated fellow Jamaican Johan Blake, who got silver, in the process. Bolt then defended his 200 metres gold medal from Beijing four years ago and in doing so became the first man ever to defend both the 100 and 200 metre Olympic sprint titles. To add more icing on his cake, Bolt then helped Jamaica win the men's 4x100 metre relay on the final day in record-breaking time.

9. All Blacks go undefeated in the inaugural Rugby Championship - The All Blacks were shaky at times, somewhat evident in their final match against Australia that finished in an 18-all draw, but still went through the campaign undefeated. The world champions completed an impressive double against South Africa, including winning 32-16 away in Johannesburg; held Australia scoreless at Eden Park and put 50 points on Argentina away in La Plata. Julian Savea and Aaron Smith unveiled themselves as young stars for the future.

Del Piero celebrates his goal in trademark fashion

10. Alessandro Del Piero for Juventus vs. Lazio - Del Piero (now 38) was 37 years old at the time, but still played a crucial role in Juventus' unbeaten campaign in winning the Serie A last season. "Ale" made 28 appearances and scored 5 goals. His goal from a vintage free kick against Lazio in April 2012, during his 700th appearance for Juventus, was crucial to say the least. Late in the season, it gave the Bianconeri a 2-1 victory and came in the 82nd minute against their fellow title challengers when the game was evenly poised at 1-1. Juventus were then able to consolidate their position at the top of the Serie A table and finish the season unbeaten.


Notable mentions: Hurricanes Super Rugby team and coach Mark Hammett defy the odds and don't end up with the wooden spoon; Any Murray finally wins his first tennis major; Rory McIlory becomes golf world number 1; Chiefs win their first Super Rugby title; and the Italian women's fencing team dominate at the London Olympics.

************

The Worst - Does not contain all explicit moments on the sporting field, but more so shows how gloomy sports can play out off the field/pitch/track etc with regards to drugs and internal politics. I will only mention five bad moments, since it is important to remember the good things more than the bad. The New Zealand Warriors in the NRL do not make the list, since that would be too painful to write about, and long.

7 fingers = 7 Tour de France titles, or not.

1. Lance Armstrong. To be honest, as I think about what to write under this heading, I cannot be bothered. If you are reading this blog then you obviously like sports and would be aware of Armstrong fall from grace over the past several months. A 1000-plus page report from USADA contained excruciating evidence that resulted in Armstrong being stripped of all his Tour de France yellow jerseys and banned from competitive cycling for life. International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid concurred with this report, and later stated that Armstrong has "no place in cycling" and "deserves to be forgotten." His doctor Michele Ferrari still denies having ever seen Armstrong take drugs, yet several of his former teammates have sworn under oath that they witnessed him do so, including Tyler Hamilton.

2. Ostapchuk Ostracized  -  Belarusian Nadzeya Ostapchuk, long time rival of New Zealand's Valerie Adams, won the gold in women's shotput at the London Olympics. Valerie was completely off on the day and had to settle for silver, with Ostapchuk continuing her amazing run of form dating back to four months before the Olympics that involved remarkably long throws while training at her home in Belarus. Valerie's coach Jean-Pierre Edgar had long suspected that something was not quite right with Ostapchuk's legitimacy, and he was soon proven right. A day after the closing ceremony, Valerie got confirmation that Ostapchuk had been stripped of her gold medal for taking metenolone, a banned anabolic steroid. Valerie now had the gold, but was still robbed of her moment on top of the podium. Who do I feel sorry for more than Valerie? China's Lijao Gong who finished fourth on the night and did not even get to taker her deserved place on the poduim and watch her country's flag being raised.

3. Ross Taylor sacked as captain of the New Zealand cricket team - It is not the decision itself that upsets me, but the manner in which it was done is reminiscent of a British soap opera television show: Conflicting evidence and reports; lies, accusations, divided loyalties, and secret meetings at unusual times and locations. The unwillingness of the New Zealand Cricket board to accept their mistakes straight away, accompanied with a coach and CEO who were in hiding when the public wanted answers, made it a pretty grim end to the year in sport for me. I just hope that the public will support new captain Brendon McCullum and not paint his as some kind of evil instigator of the whole fiasco.

Who said what? Black Caps coach Mike  Hesson will have a tough time getting back into everyone's good books

4. Italy humiliated 4-0. Spain remain the best team in international football. A tired and injury-stricken Italian side were no match for the classy Spaniards in the Euro 2012 final, who continue to dazzle all their opponents with their quick, short, and accurate passing, or "tika-taka" style football as it is known by close football followers.


5. All Blacks humiliated 38-21 at Twickenham. England moved away from their traditional defensive style and attacked the All Blacks at every opportunity, handing them their first and only loss of the year, first loss to England since 2003, and second worst loss in their proud history. The men in black looked slow, lethargic, and even Conrad Smith and Dan Carter made mistakes.The mid-week stomach virus cannot of helped, but full credit to England for proving that not only are the All Blacks beatable, but Steve Hansen and his troops still have plenty to work on.



In my last blog post of the year, which I will chalk up very soon, I will make some predictions for 2013. Not sure if they will be based on what I want to see happen (heart) or what will happen (head). Stay tuned.


Merry Christmas everybody,

Jonathan.