F for fabulous at the French

One of my favourite sporting events has come round again this week. Its time for the red clay of Roland Garros and that means one thing; the French open. I think I had forgotten (only slightly) how much I actually enjoy watching tennis. Its beenn  a cracking tournament so far. The first match I watched was Roger Federer's opener against  Feliciano Lopez. If you've seen any of this blog before you'll know that this was entirely because of Flic Lopez and literally nothing to do with Roger. Flic is an absolute aesthetic dream, he has a beautiful, graceful languid quality to his movements. He brings out the 'Death in Venice' in me he really does- I read the book recently and adored it, I totally identify with so much in thhat noveel. Anyway, point is he's a wonderful player to watch. Unfortunatley he didn't win but that doesn't mean I  didn't enjoy it. I always enjoy watching hima nd cheering him on whatever the result. For some reason I feel the need to be a lot more vocal when watching Feliciano and I yell at the TV during near enough every point in his matches. Luckily HQ was empty yesterday so I didn't look like a total loon. I also watched Rafael Nadal's first round match which was a lot closer and more worrying than  I'm used to from him. As we speak I'm watching his second round match which the eurosport commentator (male) has pronounced 'F for fabulous.' I have to agree. There's been some breathtaking shots from both him and his opponent, particularly at the net and this third set is turning into a hell of a contest. I caught two of my favouritte players in action briefly too; firstly Gael 'Baby G' Monfils. I love his all action, mission impossible style of tennis and how wonderfully expressive he can be (those eyes!) Secondly David Ferrer. I love the sheer energy this man has, I love how he prowls on the baseline like a sexy Spanish lion and I love his fiery temperament. And you know, he's a real hard-working professional. Ahem.
It hasn't all been boy-watching. Unusually for me, I tuned in to the women's competition too and watched Kim Clijsters. I like Kim. I have a lot of respect for her and she seems a classy lady. Unfortunatley she lost today. Oh well back to the boys then.

My (Europa) Cup runneth over

As you all know I'm a big fan of the Europa League competition. I just plain love watching it as its full of random players that I like to keep an eye on and I really love to adopt a team in the competition every year. My record in this respect in pretty damn good. Last year I adopted Atletico Madrid. First and foremost for Tomas Ujfalusi, the guy cracks me up no end and I love his hardcore attitude. Secondly Diego Forlan, the man  is a machine. And thirdly Quique Sanchez Flores a man who rocks knitwear like no other. This year I was torn  in the early stages between Napoli (Edinson Cavani oh yeeeeah) and Porto. As I've said previously I've really enjoyed watching Porto in Europe this season. Their passing is incredibly quick, they flow so well as a team and they play beautiful incisive attacking football. the final on Thursday was pretty cagey at first but they totally deserved their win. It was veery fitting that Falcao scored the goal that won them the trophy too given that he has  been far and away the star of this yeear's competition. The rapturous celebrations were pretty special too. I loved the sombrero he acquired from somewhere. And his sweet joint lifting of the trophy with birthday boy Helton. So here's to a great competition this year and this great tradition continuing next year. Roll on the next round of boywatching

A walk down Wembley Way

While I was in London last weekend, I didn't just visit the Emirates. My dad and I went to Wembley for the FA Trophy final. My Dad, you see is a massive Darlington fan and when I was a kid I used to go to all the matches with him. And when they got into the division three (its called league two now) playoffs about ten years ago we went to watch them at Wembley together then. So it was pretty special to go to the new Wembley to watch Darlington together again.

A horrendous hat-trick

A stark contrast to a couple of weekends ago when everything went right. This weekend everything went wrong. Sporting wise. First up was Moto GP and while there were positives such as Valentino's first Ducati podium and lovely Dovi on the podium, there was an incident which overshadowed the joy somewhat. Dani had a little duel with Simoncelli which he came out of worse and crashed. His collarbone is broken. Poor baby Dani has only just recovered from breaking the left side of his collarbone. Now he's broken the right. It just never ends for the poor guy. I wish him all the very best in his recovery because as you all know HQ is very firmly Dani territory. Then came the Arsenal match. A 2-1 loss to Aston Villa. Robbed doesn't cover it. A stonewall penalty denied. A perfectly good goal denied for no apparent reason. Bookings and red cards not issued. Ridiculous. On the plus side Robin got fighty which is always a highlight. Then to complete the hat-trick, Rafael Nadal lost the Rome final to Novak Djokovic. What a weekend.

A visit to the Emirates

Its been pretty quiet here at Sports Wall for the past couple of days, as I was away in London for three days so was wrenched from my laptop. However, while I was there I achieved a dream. Yes everybody, I've finally done it, I did the Emirates Stadium tour. Photos this way......

Happy Birthday to a football legend

As the title indicates today is the bithday of an absolute legend of the game. Feliz Cumpleaños to Juan Pablo Sorin who turns 34 today. He's aplayer who brought us a lot of joy over the years particularly at the 2006 world cup so much much love to Juan Pablo on his special day.

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Tennis News- Flic's big day

More exciting sports news from this week. Last weekend Feliciano Lopez reached the final of the Serbia open. He didn't win it, but we still feel like its worthy of celebration. He's been one of my very favourite sports people for some years now after I watched one of his US open matches and was just bowled over by how charming he is and how entertaining he is to watch. I follow his results very closely and to see him get in a final is fantastic. So there you have it. We love you Flic! Congratulations.

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Dani day in Estoril

I've already talked about one momentous event that happened over the weekend but there are even more to come. Starting here. With Sunday's Estoril GP. And a stonking GP it was.
Once again before it had even started we were on the right track with a press room bitch fest worthy of the red carpet. Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli got into a little spat about Marco's ahem aggressive riding style. The highlight was Jorge telling him that "if it happens in the future with you, then there'll be a problem." To which Marco replied "Then I'll get arrested." What a guy.
The race itself was a tactical masterclass from Dani Pedrosa. Valentino Rossi would have been proud of his patience and perserverance in stalking Jorge until four laps remaining. Clever boy. Lovely Dovi also pulled out a hell of a strategy in reflecting the famous Elias-Rossi duel over the line from 06. Its turning into an amazing season already and with Le Mans up next we're sure to have more drama coming. Bring it on

Justice

FINALLY. Finally loyal fans. Finally it has happened. Rejoice boys and girls. Justice has been done. Arsenal have beaten Manchester United. Oh yes, savour that just for a moment.

From Russia with love

Is everyone feeling chilled out? Shall we take down the temparature some more? That's right everyone, it's that time again....ISU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. I've been ridiculously excited since I saw the entry lists for this and the rescheduled event finally kicked off in Moscow this week and boy has it lived up to its promise so far.