Sport can be so cruel, yet we can't take our eyes off it. This weekend was the annual debacle when Rory McIlroy wilts under the pressure of not winning a U.S. Masters. I have followed him faithfully since his breakthrough and watched him win 4 Majors, the Race to Dubai several times, the Fed-X cup twice, Ryder Cups home and away and be the world number one golfer for more weeks than I can count. He has won everything, except the Masters. He is richer than most Northern Irish people and leads a wonderful life, yet I still desperately want him to win the Masters. Why do I even care? That is the power and draw of sport.
Every April I sit down to watch the competition knowing that the pressure will get to him and he will wilt. And so it was this year too. Inevitably. I think now that his only chance is to win it when he is over the hill and is no longer facing the yearly questions about completing the Majors slam.
I followed Darren Clarke through his career too and was heartbroken that he never won a Major. Until, that is, he was no longer considered a contender. And at the grand old age of 42, he wins the British Open, by putting together 4 solid rounds the very year that none of the big hitters could. For me, that is Rory's only hope now. It is 10 years since his last Major and his star seems very much on the wane. I feel every bogey like a kick in the stones.
Also feeling like they have been kicked in the stones are the followers of Liverpool and Arsenal. It is pure agony to watch your team labour to a defeat, especially at home, and especially when you are creating chances not taken. There is a long way to go in this season's run in. City have to go to Spurs where they have never won on the Pep era, and City are nowhere near last season's level, with only a handful of clean sheets all season. Yet amazingly we are in mid-April and the Treble is still on. I am not saying for one second that I believe we will win another Treble but we are still in all 3 comps, which is a testament to the genius that is Pep Guardiola. Part of me can't believe that both Liverpool and Arsenal will let us win another EPL.
Rory McIlroy once said that he likes to win competitions by getting a lead and then going into cruise control. If he isn't playing well then plan B is to grind it out, stay on the leaderboard and hope that the opposition fall away. That is what seems to be happening to City right about now. I had years of agony watching City disappear into League One obscurity so I'll take the highs while they last. But why do we endure years of agony for fleeting bouts of ecstasy? Well if it was easy it wouldn't mean so much.
Every April I sit down to watch the competition knowing that the pressure will get to him and he will wilt. And so it was this year too. Inevitably. I think now that his only chance is to win it when he is over the hill and is no longer facing the yearly questions about completing the Majors slam.
I followed Darren Clarke through his career too and was heartbroken that he never won a Major. Until, that is, he was no longer considered a contender. And at the grand old age of 42, he wins the British Open, by putting together 4 solid rounds the very year that none of the big hitters could. For me, that is Rory's only hope now. It is 10 years since his last Major and his star seems very much on the wane. I feel every bogey like a kick in the stones.
Also feeling like they have been kicked in the stones are the followers of Liverpool and Arsenal. It is pure agony to watch your team labour to a defeat, especially at home, and especially when you are creating chances not taken. There is a long way to go in this season's run in. City have to go to Spurs where they have never won on the Pep era, and City are nowhere near last season's level, with only a handful of clean sheets all season. Yet amazingly we are in mid-April and the Treble is still on. I am not saying for one second that I believe we will win another Treble but we are still in all 3 comps, which is a testament to the genius that is Pep Guardiola. Part of me can't believe that both Liverpool and Arsenal will let us win another EPL.
Rory McIlroy once said that he likes to win competitions by getting a lead and then going into cruise control. If he isn't playing well then plan B is to grind it out, stay on the leaderboard and hope that the opposition fall away. That is what seems to be happening to City right about now. I had years of agony watching City disappear into League One obscurity so I'll take the highs while they last. But why do we endure years of agony for fleeting bouts of ecstasy? Well if it was easy it wouldn't mean so much.
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| Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports |
City winning back to back trebles & on course to have more P L titles than M U by #2030 sums up the difficulty of competing with financial doping . How can Everton & Forest have points deducted , City & Chelsea get away scot free . Touch of the O J Simpson & his fancy lawyers ? Having 10 out of 12 black jurors didn't do his case any harm . Congrats to City on winning another treble in #2025 .
ReplyDeleteBlogger Paul Tomkins has been writing about the idiocy of no flags @ Anfield on Thursday . A modest two per cent increase in ticket prices isn't worth sabotaging the team's run in .
*weeps
ReplyDelete# 2008 , 3 P L teams made the semi's of the C L , # 2019 , P L sides won the E L & C L . Woeful in both competitions this season .
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