A Welsh Rugby Progress Report…Of Sorts

The progress within Welsh rugby since last summer has been nothing short of astonishing. Having long been a nation of underachievers particularly playing within the Southern Hemisphere, I had very low expectations going into the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, a place where a Welsh victory has been as rare as Arjen Robben passing a football. The initial group was tough but qualification was realistic; South Africa were the heavy favourites, and with good reason. Entering as defending champions and after an impressive Tri Nations, they were Wales’ biggest threat heading into the group.

I don’t think anybody could have predicted the tumultuous events that made up the Welsh campaign:  Let’s examine exactly where we had stood when the 30-strong Wales squad left for New Zealand  and be brutally honest about things. Would anybody, Gatland, players, officials or fans, have turned down the offer of a fourth-place finish had it been made before the tournament began? I for one, would have decided in a heartbeat.

Cardiff City, Is This Our Year?

I’ve been a Cardiff city supporter for as long as I can remember. I’ve been there through the good times, such as our 2-1 win over Leeds in the F.A Cup at Ninian Park in 2002, Andy Campbell’s wonderful goal in 2003 to secure us promotion to the Championship, and even our latest cup runs, which has seen us in two major cup finals in the last few years. However I’ve also been there through the bad times; Sam Hammam leaving us in horrendous debts, or almost every year since 2006 looking as though we just might make it and then having an abysmal end to the season. But the worst part is that we’ve had 4 different badges in the last 10 years. As a Cardiff fan it seems we have more ups and downs than any other team, but will this year finally be our year?

Bye Bye Brad – The End Of An Era

Bye Bye Brad!

Remembering Brad Voth

The Cardiff Devils seem to have drawn the short straw this upcoming season. The league has decided to go down a slightly different route, and have two conferences as opposed to one. While this might seem like a good idea, it means that Cardiff will have to play the big spending ‘Arena’ teams twice as much as the other low-budget teams, which in turn will have a massive impact on their overall league standing come the end of the season. This season, the Devils will be carrying 11 imports, but will the increased import limit be enough to account for the loss of Brad Voth?

The Top Ten Defensive Ends In The NFL

The Most Dominant Male Athletes Ever

The 25 most dominant Male Athletes of all time (as of July 2011)

I have tried to include as many athletes from different sports as possible because in the other articles that I have read, sports such as baseball and basketball have been over represented while sports such as rugby and MMA have not been mentioned at all. I will try and balance each sport out equally but inevitably I will leave people out who arguably deserve to be on the list and some sports will have more than one athlete that appear on the list.

The Top Ten Defensive Tackles in the NFL

Defensive tackles have two important jobs. First, their job is to make sure that the running back can’t run straight up the field. If the tackles clog up the middle of the line, then the running back will have to go the long way around, which gives the rest of the defense time to catch him and tackle him. Second, if it’s a passing play, their job is to push the center and guards backwards. This is because the quarterback will be stepping backwards, and there are defensive ends who will be running around and trying to get him from the side or from behind. To avoid these guys, the quarterback is going to want to step forward into the “pocket,” the safe area held open by his center and guards. If the defensive tackles can close up this space, the quarterback will be stuck where he is and the defensive ends will have a much better chance of getting him.

The Top Centres In The NFL

Center (C) is a position in American Football. The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team’s offence. The center is also the player who passes (or snaps) the ball between his legs to the quarterback at the start of each play.