Sometimes, when someone dies young, the general public over-emphasizes their greatness. It is a natural human reaction born out of some semblance of respect for the dead. However, the reality is often far more unglamorous than the memory.
I mention this specifically in the case of Ayrton Senna because of the huge marketing campaign for the documentary that was recently released about the life and times of the Brazilian Formula 1 driver. The film is called “Senna”… and it is an intriguing one with many recommendable qualities. I would tell anyone with an interest in competitive sports to watch it.
However!!! The documentary makes the same mistake that many in the media over the years have made — It deifies Ayrton Senna to such an extent that it proclaims him as the undisputed greatest driver of all time. Something which is far from the truth. In reality, he wasn’t even the best driver of his era. That honor belongs to the unglamorous and still very much alive Frenchman, Alain Prost.
The facts are irrefutable… When faced with the below statistics, even Senna’s mother would have to put her hands up and say, “Yeah, that’s hard to argue with.”
They raced together, head to head, 141 times. In order to be fair to both drivers, we will only consider head to head races (which benefits Senna, because Prost was great before anyone had even heard of Senna).
Generally, Senna was faster in qualifying (where he gained his legendary status), winning 60 pole positions to Prost’s 23. This, of course, is due to two reasons — Senna was a reckless risk taker… and more often than not, he had the better car.
However, as soon as the race began… everything changed.
Despite Senna’s qualifying speed, Prost devoured him in terms of fastest race laps — 33 to 19.
Of the 141 races, Prost finished 111 times and Senna 101. This again was primarily due to Senna’s proclivity to crash into walls and other drivers with reckless actions behind the wheel.
Prost finished in the points 102 times. Senna 88.
Prost had 88 podium finishes. Senna 73.
Prost had 41 wins. Senna 37.
World Championships… Prost 4. Senna 3. Although, Prost should have won the 1988 season over Senna, but Formula 1 was fiddling around with that ludicrous points system where only certain races counted. If all races counted, Prost would have won easily, making the actual World Championship count 5-2 to Prost. Oh, and Prost came within half a point of winning in 1984, when the F1 committee ludicrously only awarded half points at the Monaco Grand Prix. This cost Prost his 6th title. So the actual count is Prost 6 and Senna 2.
When the lights went out and the chequered flag waved, Prost dominated Senna in every category that mattered. Even the edge that Senna had in Poles gives more credence to the idea that Prost was actually better at racing the greatest cars around the greatest circuits.
Listen, Senna was a fabulous driver… He probably ranks behind only Prost, Fangio and Schumacher on the All Time Greatest Driver List.
He was never the best… only the most obsessed… only the most charismatic… only the most reckless… only the most exciting… only the most dirty… only the most jealous… only the most paranoid… only the most over-praised.
Now he is the most nostalgic. And that is why people confuse him for the best of all time.
The facts prove otherwise.
Alain Prost, “The Professor”, was superior in every way that mattered on the track. His only flaw is that he isn’t charismatic enough or dead enough to have a gushing documentary made about him. I would still love to see one made though.
Prost was a winner.
Senna was a celebrity.
There isn’t a bigger sports fanatic than yours truly. I am almost as obsessed with sports as I am with movies. And ranking at or near the top of that obsession is Soccer. It has to be one of my two favorite sports to watch. Having been born in England, but grown up in the U.S., I have a massive appreciation for both brands of Football.
However, Soccer is broken. It is a game that hasn’t evolved into the modern age of world sport. It is lagging severely behind when it comes to the improvement of the overall product and the health of the game going into the future. It is beleaguered by ancient rules and bad habits. Most of the problems are easy fixes, should we be able to get past the stale traditionalists who are desperately clinging on to ideas that only hold the great sport back.
So, without further ado, here are the Top 10 Ways to Improve the Sport of Soccer…
1. A HARD CLOCK: I cannot believe that this hasn’t happened yet. Instead of this oddly mysterious referee time-keeping, why can’t we have a clock in the stadium that everyone can see. There are so many benefits to this. The referee can still control the clock with a very simple bit of technology. This way, there is no mystery, no controversy and no possibility of favoritism. Time wasting would cease to be necessary because players would see a stalled clock during dead ball situations. It would also create a fantastic bit of drama at the end of each game where everyone watching would be completely aware of how many seconds are left. In games where the score is already decisive, one way or the other, it could create a goalie-pulling situation as teams throw all eleven of themselves forward in a last ditch attempt to level the score. What is not to love about this? MYSTERY CLOCK HAS TO GO!!!
2. A SALARY CAP: In club football all over the world, the richest teams can just buy anything and everything they want. There is no level playing field. The rich get richer. The poor get left behind. In every major European league, 95% of all teams are ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED not to have a chance before the season begins. How ridiculous is that? In some leagues, the same 2 or 3 teams have won every year for the past half a century. What is the point of playing if you can’t even compete? A salary cap is the only way to truly solve this ludicrous problem.
3. A PLAYOFF SYSTEM: The problem with a league championship is the total and utter lack of drama. Most of the time, the league is over with a month to go in the season. Very boring indeed. In top flight English soccer, I think it is come down to the final day less than a handful of times in the past quarter century. The solution to this slow fizzle problem is the introduction of a playoff system with a championship game. It has done wonders in secondary leagues as they compete for promotion — making it far more exciting than the top flight itself. It will also keep other teams involved in the season for far longer. The Top 8 teams could play three games each against each other… 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5 etc. And the higher seeded team could get 2 of the 3 games at home. Then the final could be played in the national stadium. Exciting. Involving. Awesome.
4. NO TIME WASTING: One of the biggest plagues in soccer is time wasting. There is nothing as excruciating as having to sit through a team, up by two goals with half an hour to go, as they pass the ball around and kill the game. The aforementioned hard clock would help a little, but there are a few other ways of eliminating this bullshit. First of all, there should be a half way line clock. Let’s say 10 seconds to get it across the half way line. Then, once across, there should be no back passes to the goalie. It should adopt the over and back rule from basketball. Once across, no going back. Also, it should be a foul to the opposing team if you take the ball into the corner flag and shield it to waste time.
5. INSTANT REPLAY REVIEW: This is a simple one… Go to instant replay for goal related decisions. If there is any lack of clarity about a ball crossing the goal line or an offside call, simply have the referee go over to the sideline to review the play. It would take less than 30 seconds. It would remove any controversy. It would get the decision correct. End of discussion.
6. DRAFTING PROCESS: Here is another adoption from American sports. Draft youngsters into organizations. Instead of having all the hot prospects go to all the best clubs in a free agent stampede, why not allow the worst teams to draft those hot prospects first. This would keep the playing field level and guarantees that smaller clubs have the chance to improve instead of always being passed by.
7. THE EXTRA TIME FORMAT: One of Soccer’s biggest problems is the issue of tied games. Now, in a league situation, this is not an issue. However, in a knockout competition, it has always posed a problem. Replaying the game at a later date is an antiquated solution and should be stopped immediately. Penalties is exciting, but has always been considered rather unfair. So why the fuck can’t the players just keep playing??? Who gives a shit if they are tired. They are world class athletes for fuck’s sake. After a 30-minute extra period, if they are still level, then they should just play until someone scores. The more tired they get, the more likely someone will make a mistake. If you want, add a couple more subs for this scenario. If you absolutely have to, take a player or two off each side so that there is more space to move. I don’t give a shit. Just play until someone wins. How hard is that?
8. REVENUE SHARING: I have already written about the obscene competitive imbalance in the game. It hurts the entire sport and makes a mockery out of fans whose teams have less than zero percent chance of winning anything every year. Why should I pay thousands to support a team who cannot ever pay me back with silverware? The key to solving this is to look to the NFL. Revenue sharing is a great way to support the health of the league. Essentially, it is communism in its purest form. If Manchester United sell a Wayne Rooney shirt, then every team in the league gets a piece of the pie. Why would Man Utd want to do this? Hmm… Why don’t you ask the billionaire owners of NFL teams? Maybe they can tell you why revenue sharing is actually mutually beneficial to everyone. Competitive balance would actually bring billions more into the game. The health of the league is far more important than the health of the individual team. In sports, communism is far more profitable than capitalism.
9. CLEAN UP THE OFFSIDE RULE: Either abandon the whole first phase, second phase lunacy or get rid of the offside rule altogether. There should be a clean solid rule that everyone understands without any hesitation or room for interpretation. Instant replay could be used in disputed goal situations. This is an easy problem to fix.
10. BROADEN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: To be honest, the highest quality teams in the world are not National Teams, but the ones in the Champions League. They are not restricted by any national ties. So, instead of eliminating the rest of the world, why not make it a true league of champions from around the globe. The South American giants could play. The USA could get involved. Asian teams would send a couple of representatives. Etc. Let’s globalize the game even more.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Harsh punishment for divers and fakers of injury.
No more pointless international friendlies.
No fans can sing “We’re by far the greatest team the world has ever seen”.
English national fans have to stop believing the lie that they are a world soccer power.
Ticket prices need to come down… and consequently player salaries.
Top level management has to become more racially integrated.
Moronic announcers should drop the rampant sexism.
Sky sports needs to stop with the musical montages. Ugh.
When trying to win back the ball from corner flag time-wasters, why do players insist on staying in bounds… Just go around the fucking guy and come at him from the corner flag!!! I have never understood why this is complicated???
ENGLISH SOCCER NEEDS TO GET RID OF THE ABSURD 3PM TELEVISION BLACKOUT!!! Is it 1953???
THE END… for now.
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I love sports… playing them, watching them, talking about them. There aren’t too many people who can compete with my sports or movie obsessions.
However, each of them has issues. Cinema has a few throw-away genres that don’t carry as much emotional weight as others. I am thinking primarily of horror, fantasy, animation etc. Are they lesser genres? Yes they are. That’s not a bad thing. It is simply a fact. They still have their place in the entertainment world.
Sport has a few silly examples too. You might even make the argument that some of those examples aren’t even sports. Synchronized swimming, x-games events, gymnastics, figure skating etc. They may still be artistic and / or entertaining… but are they sports? I will grant that they are athletic. I will grant that they are astonishingly difficult to master. I will grant that I have enjoyed watching them. But are they sports?
The key relies on how participants win. Do they win because they are the fastest? Do they win because they score more points? Do they win because they are measurably better than their opponents? No. They win because judges decide they like them better. I call bullshit on that.
You can add College Football to that list of pseudo-sports.
It was always a joke… a quaint one. A joke that we all forgave for decades. It used to be the AP poll and the Coaches Poll. They would wait until the day after New Year’s and each vote for a champion. Sometimes they agreed. Sometimes there would be two winners. It was always ludicrous, but we went along with it for some reason.
However, over the last dozen years, the shocking BCS disaster has highlighted the legendary stupidity of the “sport”. They have botched the national championship game in 10 of the last 12 years. They have repeatedly rigged the rankings to preclude smaller (less profitable) teams from taking part. They have made egregious errors in judgment for all of the bowl games that appear under their black cloud. Everything about the process is a total and transparent joke.
I have heard the moronic argument that the voting process keeps people talking about college football. Yeah, maybe in the days before mass media and internet. But now, all anyone ever talks about is the embarrassing process and the injustice of it all. There is no positivity being discussed. I have also heard the notion that every game is a playoff game. Double bullshit! Tell that to teams like Marhsall, TCU, Utah and Boise St. Since 1998, all of them have won every “playoff game” throughout a season and still not even had the chance to compete for a championship. Imagine a sport where someone can say, “I was PERFECT” and they didn’t even get considered to play in the title game.
Imagine a sport where perfection isn’t good enough. Imagine a sport where 10 of 12 title games were shams. Imagine a sport where 8 of the last 12 winners could safely be considered controversial choices. Imagine a sport where there is rampant corruption. Imagine a sport that makes billions in revenue but doesn’t pay the participants. Imagine a sport where winners feel tainted forever. Imagine a sport that cheats the public out of great stories — Davids beating Goliaths.
That’s college football for ya!
It has officially lost its title as a sport. It now gets placed in the same category as surfing or platform diving or American Idol.
It is less of a sport than darts, pool, chess, poker etc. At least there is a definitive winner in those sports.
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I never thought I would say those words.
Is it just me or is the shock-jock, sports radio over-analysis becoming all too prevalent in the world? It used to be confined to AM radio stations and an occasional piece buried late in the ESPN staple, “SportsCenter”. But now, it seems that ridiculous arguments, vast overstatements, snap reactions, absurd speculation and repetitive lame banter blasts my eardrums morning, noon and night. ESPN has turned the conversations I used to have with my buddies into redundant chatter.
I say ESPN, only because it is the bread and butter of sports television. Sure, there are other channels that are very much guilty of the same bullshit — but ESPN is the one I always have looked forward to watching.
Like I said… It used to be confined to bit segments as time filler on “SportsCenter”. There was also a favorite show of mine that aired every Sunday morning called “The Sports Reporters”. After that, “Pardon the Interruption” became a massive hit for the station. I was an avid viewer and
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