Countdown

  

• 21 days to Euro 2012 in Poland and The Ukraine
• 31 days to Wimbledon
  
• 62 days to the Open Championship at Royal Lytham
• 71 days to the London Olympic Games

The football and rugby seasons are drawing to a close. The finals of the Champions League, Championship, Leagues 1 and 2 Play Offs, Heineken Cup and Aviva Premiership all being played out this and next weekend. But when one door closes another opens and so we have an exiting summer of sport to look forward to.

The first test match against the West Indies has started and there are the One Day Internationals against Australia and the test match series against South Africa to come. England's number one test ranking will be put to the test.

The BaBas play England, Ireland and Wales. These teams then head off for tough tests against South Africa, New Zealand and Australia respectively.

You can get 13/1 for England to win Euro 2012, Andy Murray 15/2 to win Wimbledon, Lee Westwood 14/1 to win The Open and Dai Green 9/4 to win the 400 m hurdles. A £10 accumulator bet would return £58,012.

Or, slightly less speculatively, Spain at 5/2, Djokovic at 13/8, McIlroy at 9/1 and Bolt to win the 100m at 4/7 would return £1,433.

Do you feel lucky?

Little Maestro

"Sport is war minus the shooting": George Orwell.

But for the man who could be your Little Brother - Lionel Messi, football is all about the shooting.

In the last four seasons he has scored 38, 47, 53 and now 68 times so far with three games remaining. He's surpassed Gerd Muller's '72-'73 vintage of 67 goals for Bayern Munich and Pele's 66 for Santos in '57-'58. Way ahead of our own Dixie Dean's 63 for Everton in '27-'28 of whom Bill Shankly said "He belongs to company of the supremely great, like Beethoven, Shakespeare and Rembrandt. This Young Master's achievement puts him in the same category, aged just 24. Watch all 68 here:

Messi's goalscoring average for the Argentine national team is worse than his Barcelona average - 1 in 3, compared to 1 in 2 so he's not up there with Ferenc Puskas who almost scored a goal in each international game, or Muller who slightly bettered that. As for all time goalscoring greatness, will anyone emulate Pele's 1281 goals in 1363 matches? Charlton Athletic will win the Premier Leauge before that happens!

100 days to go...

...until July 27th when the Queen will declare the Olympic games open. The first medal competed for will be in the 10m air pistol shooting, though Britain's realistic hope of a first medal will be in the men's cycling road race with Sports Personality of the Year - Mark Cavendish. Here are some Olympic facts to get you in the mood.
 

• 26 Olympic sports will be competed over 17 days
• 20 Paralympic sports will be contested over 11 days
• 14,700 athletes will be competing (10,500 in the Olympics and 4,200 in the Paralympics)
• 3 out of 4 people in the world watched at least some of the last Games
• 302 gold medals will be won
• 205 countries will be involved
• 120,000 people will pass through Stratford Regional train station every morning of the Olympics

Spring marathon season

We've had the North Pole marathon won by Scotland's Andrew Murray (no, not that Andy Murray), and the hardcore  Ultra-Marathon Des Sable (six days, 151 miles = six marathons) is currently in full flow. The Virgin London marathon (good luck GT!) is coming up on 22nd April so it must be Spring Marathon time.

Before that we have Paris, Rotterdam and Boston, the latter of which isn't record-eligible (despite being one of the 'majors' and the world's oldest regular marathon). This is due to its point-to-point elevation drop not meeting IAAF standards - a shame for the Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai who ran the fastest ever marathon there last year in 2 hours 3 minutes and 2 seconds, 36 seconds faster than the official world record of Kenyan Patrick Makau in Berlin last year.

Rotterdam is renowned as a fast course so we may well see a new  men's world record there, or potentially in London where the field is stronger. There is extra pressure placed this year as each country can only supply three runners for the London Olympic marathon. That means that 17 out of the top twenty mens runners last year, being all Kenyan, will miss out!

Good luck to everyone competing in a Spring Marathon. I'll be cheering from the comfort of my armchair, there in spirit, but not body, due to a shot cartilage.

Arrivederci Giorgio

In 1977 the former Charlton Athletic player and manager Eddie Firmani was appointed manager of the New York Cosmos. His players included Pele, Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer and Girgio Chinaglia, who has just passed away, aged 65. The former Swansea, Lazio and Italy striker retired in 1983 as the leading goalscorer in the North American Soccer League with 243 goals.

Here's a clip about him from the New York Cosmos film 'Once in a Lifetime'

Volleys from heaven

Seeing Peter Crouch's superlative volleyed goal against Man City has led me to rack my brains for my favourite volleyed goals.

1. Frank Worthington for Bolton v Ipswich in 1979.

2. Marco Van Basten for Holland V Russia 1988.

3. Glenn Hoddle for Spurs V Notts Forest1979. The ball not touching the ground from the keepers kick until it hit the back of Peter Shilton's net.

4. Robin Van Persie V my team Charlton 2006.

5. Paolo Di Canio for West Ham v Newcastle 2000.

What's your favourite?

Jocky on the oche

I've just returned from holidaying in the southern hemispere to the news that someone who was prominent for a time in my sports-mad teenage years has passed away. In the eighties I loved watching the darts world championships on telly. Dad put a dartboard up in my bedroom as I took inspiration from the exploits of the leading players. Jocky Wilson wasn't my favourite player, my favourites were the Crafty Cockney and 'Old Stoneface' John Lowe.

Wilson won the world title twice, to Lowe's three (in three separate decades) and Bristow's five, their combined tally still short of Phil Taylor's thirteen. They had some classic contests. If you haven't seen this 1989 clip yet it may bring back some memories. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/darts/17503460

And yes, darts is a sport not a game, requiring both skill and mental stamina, and to a lesser degree physical stamina, but not one you'll see at the Olympics any time soon to go alongside 'outside darts' - archery.  However, the tug-of-war was once an Olympic event so you never know!