Heroes and villains of sport: week 9

Heroes

The biggest hero of week 9 was definitely York sport president Sam Asfahani, when he announced a major shake up to the two interuniversity competitions York competes in. Next year’s Roses competition will start off with a bang with the men’s rugby game played on Friday night under floodlights at the 5,000 capacity Huntingdon Stadium, home to rugby league club York City Knights. Asfahani is also planning to expand varsity to a four team tournament with Leeds Trinity University College and the University of Hull receiving formal invites to join the university and York St John’s in the annual tournament. These announcements mean that the Yorker is hugely excited for 2011’s sporting action, especially as it gives the University’s sportsmen and women a chance to beat a few more universities.

For those who are concerned about the environment, Formula 1 gave the sport’s green credentials a huge boost with recent rule changes announced. The engines in Formula 1 cars, currently 2.4 litre V8s, will be changed to 1.6 litre 4 cylinder engines with turbochargers. The change should see no difference in power, with an impressive 35% increase in fuel efficiency. The greatest benefit to the environment will be indirect, as only 1% of carbon emissions associated with the sport are from the car’s engines. Instead the technology incorporated into the engines should one day make it into normal road car engines, hopefully with similar results.

Not a hero of the last week, but Mark Webber’s heroic deeds have only just come to light. Webber competed in the last four races of the Formula 1 season with a broken shoulder, preferring to race through the pain than conceding his title chances. The results weren’t bad with Webber managing two second place finishes. Unfortunately for Webber, his teammate Sebastian Vettel managed to win three of the four races to take the driver’s title from the Aussie.

Villains

Newcastle United Football Club is the villain of the week after sacking manager Chris Houghton. Houghton took over the then championship club in October 2009 and took them straight back into the premiership by winning the league. Houghton then led the team to a mid table position in this seasons premier league, including a 5-1 victory over bitter rivals Sunderland, before being sacked by the club. The sudden sacking came as a shock to many people, Lord Sugar probably being an exception, he seems to have a habit of firing good people.

The troubles at Chelsea FC have been a shock to many in football, from double winners in May to only winning 6 league points in their last 7 games. One theory is that it is due to the sacking of long time assistant manager Ray Wilkins, with the club giving no reason for his dismissal. With Wilkins a popular member of the club with both fans and players his departure wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. At least these villains are getting their punishment.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.