Love is.....

Valentine's day is here again and the boys of Sports Wall are here to tell you about the many different aspects of love...

Fashion Files - Higher, faster stronger

The season continues apace and so too does the fashion fun and in honour of the beginning of the Winter Olympics, we proudly present a bigger, better and more fabulous fashion round up. So saddle up fashion fans and follow us on the trail of sartorial excellence.

Fashion Files - Light and Shade

Its that time of year again. Figure skating is back and the Grand Prix series is upon us. It may be the early stages of the season but already the fashion stakes have been raised. There have been some big, bold costuming statements made this season so let's jump right in fashion fans.

Fashion Files - World Athletics Championships

As you all know we love bringing you a bit of sartorial silliness with our fashion files series and after being inspired by the World Athletics Championships, we decided that we simply had to expand the range of fashion files. So hold on to your (celebration) hats everyone and join us trackside.

Cartoons a la Francais

Some cartoons I've been working on of Christophe Le Maitre. Firstly a drawing of Christophe celebrating with Jimmy Vicaut inspired by this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_rsrGSV9ps (about 1.05 onwards)

And secondly a drawing of Christophe celebrating with Usain Bolt inspired by this photo http://photo.europe1.fr/sport/christophe-lemaitre-usain-bolt-maxppp-930620/21810095-1-fre-FR/Christophe-lemaitre-usain-bolt-maxppp-930620_scalewidth_630.jpg and christophe's pose inspired by this photo http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/26/article-2179282-14328494000005DC-744_468x286.jpg

The Continuing musical adventures of Neymar

A little while ago, in our Olympics hotlist, we told you about Neymar and his fondness for singing. Well it turns out that we were only scratching the surface. So without further ado we present to you Neymar's musical adventures.

The big (aesthetic) guide to Diamond League

Its been a little quiet around here but now we're back. And to mark a year since the London Olympics we're bringing you our big aesthetic guide to some athletes to watch out for the Diamond League.

Agony and Ecstasy at Worlds

So the huge festival of sequins and drama that is the World Championships has once again swept us all along and left us with nothing more than glitter and make up stains. I had high hopes for the men's competition this year. In some ways I was not disappointed.

Four Continents Fashion Files

So we'd barely had chance to calm down from all the fun of European Championships before Four Continents came swaggering along, dripping sequins and carried us all away. Don't resist, just follow me....

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is a special day. Its the day of the patron saint of love, St Valentino.

  So sit back, relax and enjoy Valentine's day, the Sports Wall way.

Zagreb Fashion Files part one

The European Figure Skating Championships traditionally promise plenty of drama, skill and sequins and this year was no exception. Not only do the skaters raise their game program wise, they often raise the bar fashion wise for the first major event of the year. So lets swim through the chiffon and what we can find...

The Grinch part 3

"All I need is a reindeer..."

The Grinch looked around.

But since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Grinch...?
No! The Grinch simply said,
"If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make my wife do everything as usual instead!"
So he called his wife Adriana. Then he took some red thread
And he tied a small pair of antlers on top of her head.
And he put an umbrella into her hand, so he could be in the shade,
And instructed her to follow him everywhere, still wearing the antlers he’d made
THEN
He loaded some bags
And some old empty sacks
On the back of his bike
And he hitched up his wife
Then the Grinch said, "Giddyap!"
And the bike started down
Toward the homes where the boys
Lay a-snooze in their town.
All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air.
All the boys were all dreaming sweet dreams without care
Dani and Val were snuggled up tight,
Dreaming sweet dreams all through the night,
Dani dreams were full of holidays relaxing, kisses and joy,
And smiled as he cuddled up next to his boy,
Vale dreamed of being a super cool movie star
Being the hero and sweeping Dani away in his fast car.
Little Marc Marquez dreamed of the pop of champagne,
The top step of the podium and national anthem of Spain,
Andrea Dovi dreamed of lounging by a deep blue pool,
Wearing brand new sunglasses and looking super cool
While the boys dreamt, Casey the Grinch did creep,
Up to the houses without a peep,
When he came to the first house in the square.
"This is stop number one," The old Grinchy Claus hissed
And he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.
Then he slid down the chimney. A rather tight pinch.
But if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch.
It was difficult to fit his big head, but fit it he did,
And down the chimney, grumpy Casey slid.
He got stuck only once, for a moment or two.
Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flue
Where the little boys stockings all hung in a row.
"These stockings," he grinned, "are the first things to go!"

The Grinch (part 2)

Then the boys, young and old, would sit down to a feast.
Wise old Loris sat at the head of the table, pride of place,
Telling them stories from all of his three hundred races,
A happy smile on his wise old face,
Further down the table, with his shirt wide open was Randy
Looking cool, French and fine and dandy
At a small table were baby Marc and all of the baby bikes crew,
Maverick Vinales, Toni Elias, Pol Espargaro and Yuki Takahashi too
All were full of smiles and christmas cheer,
And hiding in the corner were Nicky and Colin, drinking beer,
All of the boys came together to meet,
To chat, to be happy, to smile and to eat,
And they'd feast! And they'd feast!
And they'd FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!
They would start on chocolate pudding, and colin’s special rare roast-beast
Which was something the Grinch couldn't stand in the least!
And THEN
They'd do something he liked least of all!
Every boy down in moto gp-ville, the tall and the very small,
Valentino lofty and tall, and dani pedrosa dainty and small,
Would stand together their hands clasped tight,
And the other boys would join them and stay up all night,
They would stand all close together, with Christmas bells ringing.
They'd stand hand-in-hand. And the boys would start singing!
They'd sing! And they'd sing!
AND they'd SING! SING! SING! SING!
And the more the Grinch thought of the boys’ Christmas-Sing
The more the Grinch thought, "I must stop this whole thing!
I must stop it all, he said with a groan,
So I can go have my Christmas all quiet and alone,
"Why for twenty seven years I've put up with it now!
I MUST stop Christmas from coming!
...But HOW?"
Then he got an idea!
An awful idea!
CASEY THE GRINCH
GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!
"I know just what to do!" The Grinch Laughed in his throat.
And he made a quick Santy Claus hat and a coat.
Although he found the whole santa disguise too sappy,
The idea of ruining the boys fun made him very happy,
And he chuckled, and clucked, "What a great Grinchy trick!
"With this coat and this hat, I'll look just like Saint Nick!"

Figure skating xmas aka new programs

Today I saw the list of new programs that are being planned for the new season. This is pretty much the figure skating equivalent of Christmas, its that exciting and that much of a gift.

Aesthetic Olympics part 2

So I enjoyed putting together my Olympics hotlist so much I decided to compile part two. Also the Olympics just continued to be awesome and provide me with plenty of inspiration. So hear we go, hold on to your hats.

Aesthetic Olympics

 As I'm sure you're all aware I love the olympics. And this year's event in London is no exception.   Now I'll get to the serious sports commentary bit later but first I've been inspired by Cosmopolitan's frankly shocking list of the hottest athletes at this year's games and I decided I could do a way better job myself.

From Rio to the Riverside

I was lucky enough to see Brazil play team GB at the Riverside stadium for pre- olympic football friendlies. It was incredible, such an honour to see such a skilled team playing live and in the flesh. The squad was packed with an unbelievable amount of talent; Neymar, Hulk, Pato, Marcelo, Oscar, Leandro Damiao, Ganso. They were all reall really impressive. Hulk amazed me, I've never seen anyone like him before. He really is huge, his shoulders are enormous he's like an American quarterback. For someone so huge he's surprisingly fast and nimble on his feet. Marvellous to watch. the other person who really stood out was obviously Neymar. He really is a superstar in waiting. He too is very quick and so clever, really skilfull. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Oscar looked very impressive during the game, pulling a lot of strings in midfield. We alsso got to watch GB ladies playing Sweden ladies. It was a really cool day. Here are my pictures of the Brazil team warming up and the GB and Brazil teams lining up.

Olympic Spirit

I'm sure you're all aware that there's something big going on down in London and I'm sure you're also aware that I LOVE the Olympics. And its been brilliant so far.

Figure Skating off season shuffle

Well its figure skating off season as I'm sure you know and we're all eagerly awaiting the start of the next round of competition and all the new routines (and outfits!) that this brings. But while we're all waiting I thought we could play a little game. The figure skating music shuffle game. I've been challenging myself to come up with the music that I would really love to see some of my favourite figure skaters take on. I'm sure you'll all know the songs but just in case I'll include links.

Moto GP merch

Check it out - I've acquired a Valentino Rossi shirt. It will from now on be my 'race day shirt.' I love it so much.
PS: You'll notice that on the TV behind me you can see the half-time highlights of the Euro 2012 final.