The week in Sports

Feb 3-10 2013

We begin at Craven Cottage, where Fulham hosted league leaders Manchester United.

Darkness must follow Manchester United, earlier this season they were left playing in the shadows in their Champions League match against Braga.

Manchester United players surround the referee Felix Brych after a power cut against Braga. Photograph: Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters

Again a United game was plunged into darkness, this time against Fulham at Craven Cottage. In what seems like an extreme case of unfortunate coincidence, not only did one set of floodlights blow its fuse, but all four floodlights fused simultaneously to leave everyone in pitch darkness.

Robin Van Persie looks into the darkness. Photo: PA

Luckily for all involved, the momentary setback only lasted 10mins, with the official result stating an unidentified power surge as the cause.

Scores were nil all at that point, and both sides had great chances throughout the match. It wasn’t until late into the second half with a Wayne Rooney brace was the deadlock broken. It proved to be the only goal in the match and giving Manchester United a 1-0 win, but more importantly a 10 point cushion on top of the Premier League.

Super Bowl sent into darkness (Photo : Reuters)

However, darkness didn’t stop there. This time in one of the world’s biggest sporting events, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl XLVII was contested by the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans. Possibly the same electricians contracted at Craven Park may have been employed by those in charge of the New Orleans Superdome.

Unlike Craven Cottage, this outage lasted a fair amount of time, in which the game was halted for 35 minutes. If there was ever a momentum stopper, this surely was it. The Ravens led by 22 points until the stoppage, and saw their lead dwindle, but the Ravens did enough to hold on for a 34-31 victory. Which was a fairytale send off for veteran linebacker Ray Lewis.

The blame game for the blackout lasted for days. In the end it was discovered that an electrical relay device installed to prevent such blackouts had failed.

Beyonce Performs at the Super Bowl Halftime Show (Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Beyonce did steal the show at the Super Bowl with an electric performance, may be she stole the power as well?

However, one thing is for sure, while the Super Bowl Commercials is a mini soap opera in itself, with a cost of $3.8 Million per 30 second slot, the best value came from those that made use of the blackout on Twitter.

Oreo’s clever thinking, making use of the Super Bowl’s unfortunate circumstance (Image via Oreo)

While, the Superdome was in darkness, Oreo went into overdrive and posted this witty advertisement on Twitter. A very smart move. Washing detergent brand Tide, also produced a quick witty social media ad with “We can’t get your blackout, but we can get your stains out.”

For us down under, the only Aussie to have played in the Super Bowl was Ben Graham, a former AFL player from Geelong. He may have looked in awe as his former code was struck with another controversy.

Fellow Victorian club, Essendon, shocked the nation as they went to the AFL with concerns over supplement usage. If illegal drugs or supplements are discovered to have been used, it will surely cause major problems with the club. With a possible suspension from this season. Dean Robinson has been suspended being the man who oversaw the fitness program, and could be one of many. However, the man at the centre of it all is sports scientist Stephen Dank. Dank and Robinson had links with other AFL clubs, who are now potentially in the limelight of this fiasco.

However, Dank didn’t just operate for AFL clubs, he has had ties with some NRL clubs such as Manly Sea Eagles. In what has blown into a nation wide  crime bust by the ACC (Australian Crime Commission) and the ASADA (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority). The Australian Government revealed that they had undertaken a 12 month investigation into crime in Australian sports.

While the findings of it all are yet to be revealed, it has left a sour taste with all involved. The uncertainty grows as the days go by. However, it isn’t just a drug scandal that shocked the nation, there have been findings of match fixing, fraud and dealings with organised crime. As darkness covered Craven Park and Superdome, this is definitely the darkest period in Australian Sports and might just be the wake up call it required.

However, match fixing is something that all sporting bodies have to combat. It isn’t just Australian sports that have been rocked with match fixing allegations. The “World Game”, soccer, was shocked to learn that there may have been hundreds of games around the world that have been fixed. European police agency Europol, announced a massive soccer match fixing scandal and corruption. In what was an 18 month probe, they announced that the crimes reached globally and at all levels.

To end an eventful week, the boxing world turned to Brisbane as Sonny Bill Williams took on veteran fighter Francois Botha. In what was also an eventful night, which started with Rugby Union player, Quade Cooper knocking out insurance salesman Barry Dunnett.

Sonny Bill Williams punches Francois Botha during their heavyweight bout at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Picture: Jono Searle

SBW was on top of the South African for much of the fight, however, as Williams tired Botha stepped it up. In what looked like a possible KO for Botha, Williams started to struggle in the 10th round. The Kiwi, who will now play for NRL outfit Sydney Roosters, was able to hold on and win on points. However, for the week it was, this match had it’s on set of controversies, with either camp accusing the other. Botha’s camp had claimed that it was meant to be a regular 12 round fight, and that the Williams camp had cheated by calling the fight short. The Williams camp have hit back accusing Botha of dirty playing, such as punching after the bell, stepping on feet etc. Now it seems Botha may have failed a drug test, which would discredit any claim he had.

Both parties have maintained the chat, and had talked about a rematch in South Africa. Whether this happens or not is another matter. One thing is for sure, if Botha fails his drug test he will face a potential 2 year ban, which will most likely be curtains for his career and Williams will turn his attention to the NRL and the Roosters.