Sports Update for August
With the conclusion of the World Cup and the final golf major of the season the sporting calendar takes on a different complexion in August. The F1 schedule has only one race this month and whilst the golf season goes into the Fed – Ex Playoffs, which are worth millions to the winner over the three tournaments, they don’t hold the attention of the more casual observer like the majors do. But not to worry. No sooner has the last ball been kicked at the World Cup than we now have the start of the Premier League, with the first match seeing newly promoted Coventry travel to the Emirates to face the champions Arsenal on the 21st.
It was great to see Ryan Fox, son of New Zealand rugby union legend Grant Fox, win the Open at Royal Birkdale with a fearless display of attacking golf on the back nine on Sunday and his refreshing approach to the game made him a very popular winner with both the spectators and his fellow competitors. As always the back nine on the last day of the Open was a great sporting spectacle and judging by the record number of fans attending, is as popular as ever. Long may it continue.
What to make of the World Cup? I must say I find much of modern football mind numbingly dull and aside from a few matches, including the astonishing third place playoff between France and England, many of the matches at the tournament only confirmed the trend. Talking of England, what on earth was Thomas Tuchel thinking of with his tactics against Argentina? Watching the game, as soon as the defensive substitutions were made it had that horrible feeling of inevitability about it and England fans must have been watching through their fingers as their worst fears came to pass. This was only compounded by the outstanding attacking performance against France and surely now, with the quality of the players available, a different approach is needed in the European Championships in 2028. We shall see.
Anyway, what do we have coming in August? As mentioned earlier, the F1 schedule has only one race this month, the Dutch Grand Prix and it takes place on the 23rd at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands and the last tennis major of the year, the US Open, starts on the final day of the month at Flushing Meadow. But really August is all about the start of the football season in Europe, where all the major leagues kick off only four weeks after the conclusion of the World Cup. Remember when there used to be a close season? I bet most non football fans do! Week one and two of the Premier League are on the last two weekends of the month and however you feel about the game, in our city it’s always been good for local business and after this low season hopefully people will get out to their local bars and sports lounges to watch the matches.
That’s about it for this month, good luck everyone.