You'd think with a name like Tiger he'd face his problems head on a bit more

Tiger Woods: whiny fuck

I bloody said this would happen. As soon as the news came out a few months back of Tiger Woods having an assorted harem of ladies that he was, er, knocking about with, I knew that he would come out and admit he was addicted to sex and try to seek treatment for it.

Because this is what famous people do. They get caught out, made to look like a fool and then try to blame it on some sort of psychological problem that they have only just now realised they suffer from. Is there no way for any celebrity type person to simply accept responsibility for their behaviour? Is there no way for Tiger to say ‘look, I’m a really rich and famous man. I can have almost any woman I want. So I did. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to do it again’.

Surely that’s all that’s needed? Surely that’s the honourable thing to do rather than fake an 'illness'.

You never know, he may have a serious problem. He may be an addict. But when you think of an addiction and its effect on an addict, well, their addiction is all they live for. I find it hard to square the need to fulfil the cravings of an addict with the dedication and time that is required to be Tiger Woods and be that ridiculously good at golf. The whole thing just cheapens the difficulties that genuine addicts face. And it makes Tiger Woods look like a whiny philanderer who wants to avoid and deflect the fact that he simply got caught with his dick in many pies that he shouldn’t have been near.

Irresponsible and Irregular

Yes Peter, the title of the article would be referring to you.

I’ve watched with increasing concern over the last week or two as yet another Cardiff City drama has played out. This time, in addition to some slightly ropey performances on the pitch involving a total inability to hold onto a lead, it’s been revealed that City owe nearly £3m to the taxman.

Now I have a simple question. Did you not realise you had to pay tax? We all have to pay tax. Everyone, unless you’ve got some seriously good accountants. Surely there’s an army of accountants ensuring that the club’s finances are in shape? Did they not realise that you needed to pay tax? If not, sack them now as they’re incompetent.

Whoever made the call to deliberately avoid paying our tax bill (and this is what appears to have occurred) deserves to be hauled over the coals by their bollocks for their sheer stupidity. I fail to see the justification for going down this route. It was not an honest mistake, an organisation of the size of Cardiff City does not make an honest mistake like that.

I just can’t see what City would gain. So you hold onto the couple of million that you need to pay. How much interest do you get from it? What, a £100k, maybe £200k at the most? And if you have held onto it for the interest, then why not, as soon as a query came in, just pay it off. Otherwise, where has the money gone that should have been paid in tax gone? What have we spent it on, and is the business model for the club so ridiculous that it does not accounted for paying tax? And you say you’re running a multi-million pound business without being able to pay your taxes or figuring that in?

Now consider the court costs we’ve had to pay, any possible fines, and the reputational damage done to the club. Also consider the damage done to the fans in terms of their trust in the club. All those people (including some of my friends) who have paid for their season tickets in the hope that it would provide some capital for buying new players, with an eye on pushing for the Prem. Now all that money is being blown on paying back HMRC. Also, what sort of image does this present to potential investors? Basically that we’re a tinpot outfit that can’t manage itself. That’s not exactly a sound investment opportunity now is it? Frankly the club’s management deserves all it gets, including the ire of the fans for being so irresponsible.

This all brings me to man in charge, Peter Ridsdale. Ridsdale has a distinctly dodgy reputation courtesy of his incredibly stupid and incompetent dealings at Leeds Utd. I must admit when he first turned up City I was perturbed, I didn’t want this dodgy bloke having anything to do with the club. But he made the right noises about learning lessons and more transparency. Clearly he still hasn’t learnt his lesson, and the transparency is becoming increasingly opaque every day. So, Peter, was all this dodgy dealing really worth it?

This all highlights how murky and corrupt (financially and ethically) the world of football can be. But I don’t think any one of us is naïve enough to not believe that the football business (and it is a business) is dodgy as fuck.

An apology to Mr. I.R. Bell

The text on The Guardian website accompanying this pic said 'You shall not pass'

Ok, so this blog may have been a little, uh, hasty in calling for the dropping of Ian Bell from the England side before Christmas. I don’t know what he was given for Christmas, but clearly it worked some sort of miracle as he has followed up the First Test debacle with two matches where his performances have been outstanding.

I was going to write an apology immediately after the 2nd Test and his extremely well made 140. But, but, something held me back. While it was a great innings the platform was already set for him. Ali Cook had already scored a century (I believe the stat trotted out by Sky at the time was that Bell has only scored Test centuries in innings where someone else has also scored a ton) and the score was well poised at 297-4 for him to go on and score runs with the pressure off and on a flat pitch. While his score contributed a lot to England’s emphatic win, you get the feeling that it was just a bit too easy.

However, the 78 off 218 balls that he scored yesterday in a partnership of epic proportions with Paul Collingwood (yet again the hero with an extended bout of billy blocking) was undoubtedly magnificent. It showed grit, determination and character in the face of adversity, combined with some elegant strokeplay and an unwillingness to succumb to the pressures that the Saffers were exerting. The only downside was that he couldn’t stick it through to the end and score a much deserved century. In addition, he made an excellent 48 in exacting conditions in the 1st innings. In the Third Test Ian Bell was called upon and stepped up to the mark.

So once again apologies to Ian Bell for hastily shouting off-with-his-head. Your performances over the last 2 games have earned you a well deserved reprieve. I really do hope this is the spur for you to go on and fulfil your huge potential as a top batsmen.

Before I finish my grovelling, can I just say let’s drop Kevin Pietersen ASAP. He’s done nothing this tour and is clearly rubbish.

Here’s hoping that has the same effect on KP as it did on Ian Bell.