The Canberra Cavalry will host the 2012-13 ABLCS in eight days time

In eight days time something will happen which I am a long way from used to.

An Australian based sporting franchise I support will attempt to win a championship, which if successful will be the first time I have tasted championship glory in my own country.

While I don’t know who the Canberra Cavalry will be taking on for the Claxton Shield, one thing is for certain – the images that unfold will stick with me forever.

The most common question I get asked is “Why Canberra?”

Simple really, when the ABL was re-formed in 2009 I had no geographical ties as I wasn’t living in an ABL market.

I waited until the sides were announced and examined logos and colour schemes and potential home grounds to come up with a winner, and my heart landed (and stuck) in the capital.

By the time the first game of the new ABL rolled around I was less than 48 hours from completing my undergraduate degree at James Cook University in Townsville.

Rather than studying for my last ever exam (Ethics in Journalism, I believe) I sat listening to the HHH coverage of the Cavalry and Blue Sox from Blacktown as the Cavs went down in an agonising 1-0 game.

The inaugural season didn’t get any better and by the time the clashes against Brisbane were flooded out in Mid-January we were 12-24, in dead last place and the laughing stock of the league after being on the wrong end of too many blowouts.

Flash forward twelve months and the Melbourne Aces eliminate the Cavalry on the last day of the season at the showgrounds.

This would have been tough enough to watch had I not been an Aces employee at the time, a process which served as a massive learning curve of what loyalty is all about.

When I look at how far we’ve come I realise the result doesn’t matter, because we have shown that we belong.

Would a championship be nice ? Yes of course it would, because it is a feeling that I have rarely felt in my life.

Do I fancy our chances better if we beat Sydney or Perth ? No. We are going to have to play hopefully two and possibly three great games of ball to be the first team outside of Perth to win the revamped league while claiming a spot in the 2013 Asia series.

What do I think will happen at The Fort ? I think there are going to be a few thousand people just like me, proud of the fact they’ve stuck something through, when it might have been easier to give up, who are hoping for the best but have seen enough to know better.

Whatever happens my blood is orange and there is always next year.

Kansas State had National Title hopes before last weekends loss to Baylor.

Enough’s enough.

I absolutely hate the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in College Football.

I’ve no problem with a system that rewards teams who deserves to be in the position to play for a National Title, but as far as i’m aware it’s not the SEC VS Best of the rest, but more on my dislike of the SEC down the track.

I’m a Boise State Bronco at heart, wound up like that after my sister went to College in Idaho and I had a Euphoric feeling when they beat OU in the 2007 Feista Bowl.

Since then i’ve had people tell me my school plays weak teams, we don’t deserve our shot, we don’t have the talent that big schools have, or and my personal favourite “You guys run nothing but trick plays”.

Sure, this year is the worst year for me to make a case about BSU and the BCS from a personal standpoint, Joe Southwick is detached from normality and it has hurt us bad, among many other continual problems.

But let’s look at some of the teams BSU have beaten in years since we “fooled” our way on to the map::

2008 :: Boise State 37  #12 Oregon 32 ( Away)

2009 :: #14 Boise State 19 #16 Oregon 8 (Home)

2009 :: #4 BSU 17 #6 TCU 10 (Bowl game)

2010 :: #5  BSU 33 #6 Virginia Tech 30 (Away)

2011 ::  #7 BSU 35 #22 Georgia 21 (Away)

Not bad for a school who doesn’t play anyone. Fun fact, The 14 points the Ducks scored last weekend against Stanford marks the fewest points scored since the 2009 game against BSU.

Anyway back to the BCS.

All well and good if you’re in an AQ Conference that isn’t the Big East (although given defections to the B1G i’m not sure what the Big East actually represents now, it’s not big and a lot of it’s teams aren’t based in the east.

Notre Dame have the Championship game on a plate, beat USC this weekend, who are without Matt Barkley, and the majority of the college football world (myself included) will be taking the side of the Irish when they head to Miami.

There are some who think that a Notre Dame loss to USC is the best thing that could happen for the BCS, because there cannot be a zero loss team in the title game, to this I say, all well and good but I have a feeling that the BCS powers don’t want an independent school in there any more than they want a school from a mid-major conference.

I will say this, while a four team playoff will be great when it comes in, all it is going to do is benefit those same big schools (USC, Texas, Bama, OU, LSU, Florida, et al.), because they know they can make the playoffs with a loss, so they are yet again protected to the end of the earth.

The South-Eastern Conference is a wonderful place, if you you reside there, that is.

Not since USC and Texas took on one another in the Rose Bowl have we seen a NT game without representation from the self-anointed gods of the gridiron.

If they want to do a playoff the right way, you need to have all conference champions (regardless of status of conference) to get your 11/12 playoff teams plus the next best 4, based off the coaches poll.

Seed them 1-16 based off their coaches poll rankings, throw them in a bracket and there you go.

If it took me 5 minutes to think of this why are there people spending millions who can’t figure it out ? Oh they want to protect their Alma Mata… Of course.

All the common sense in the world can’t save those who are in charge of saving one of the greatest spectacles in the world, so hang on for the ride because it’s going to be interesting.

Jacqui Freney was the star of the London Paralympics with eight Gold medals

Now that the dust has settled on both London campaigns it’s time to look forward. Be it looking to Rio in four years  or the AFL Grand Final in a few weeks, there is always something going on for lovers of sport.

It’s thanks to the sports lovers and some misused terminology that I can write this post. It was frequent during the ten days of Paralympic competition to see the athletes referred to as Olympians, and while I can see where people are coming from, it’s just not how it works.

Yes the two events are held in the same city, but they are organised by different bodies and have different sports involved in each of them. This would be no different to somebody suggesting that Quade Cooper is a Rugby League International because there was both a League and Union test played in the same city on the same weekend, one on Friday night and one on Sunday afternoon.

Laughable isn’t it, given it is obvious that they are two different entities.

So why do people call Paralympians, Olympians ?

A lot of people have asked me why the Paralympics need to remain independent and I’ve touched on a lot of it in previous posts, so I won’t rehash it here, but there is one word  which exemplifies what the Paralympic movement is about – PRIDE.

Before the games the IPC started a hashtag on twitter #proudparalympian , which was something that was seen throughout the games, with the athletes expressing not only the joy of representing their country, but the gratitude for everyone who helped get them to the pinnacle of their chosen sport.

In the majority of these tweets the pride of being disabled was also evident.

One thing I saw a lot of over the last ten days were comments such as “that’s amazing / inspiring / insert words of choice here”, when really it was nothing of the sort.

Paralympic games are a chance for Athletes With a Disability (as oppose to Disabled Athletes) to show what they are capable of,  in a spotlight they only get once every four years.

That spotlight is the reason for being Paralympians, as they are getting the recognition they deserve.

The Mexican Paralympic Team have the honour of the worst uniforms at the Opening Ceremony.

Sport is as much about the uniform for me as it is the action. The opening of the Paralympics this morning saw a greater variety of uniforms than I expected and there were some memorable ones among them. Read on as I take a look at the best and worst of the crop.

Five best Paralympics Opening Ceremony uniforms:

1. Great Britain  – Hands down the best uniform belonged to Great Britain, because it was one that we had already seen before. The fact that Team GB were decked out in the exact same kit as their able-bodied counterparts shows how serious the GBOC and GBPC are about having the movement succeed. If Great Britain’s Olympic team had worn something different there is no way that their Paralympic team would be at the top of the list in these outfits.
2. Iraq – There wasn’t much that stood out in the Iraqi uniform, but what did is what sees them get the number two position. Hats made from Balloons that you would see a clown make animals with at a children’s birthday party was not only a unique touch, but shows the party atmosphere the athletes are looking to bring to the Games after going through many personal struggles in their homeland.
3. The Netherlands – You can’t go wrong with fluorescent orange in my opinion. Not only did the Dutch wear fluro orange suits, but went one better by adding a white sweater vest underneath. They pulled the unusual look off with ease in a display of fashion that will long stick with orange enthusiasts such as myself.
4. Austria- Looking striking in their national colours of Red and White were Team Austria, who pulled off one of the classiest looks of the ceremony with their red blazer and white slacks combination. When looking at countries such as Canada who also share the red and white colour scheme and what they did with their outfits (very little, in fact Team Canada were on my short-list of worst uniforms), you can’t help but be more impressed by the Austrian outfit.
5. Czech Republic – The stand-out for the Czech Republic was the fact that they were wearing shorts. Sure it was raining (isn’t it always in London), but they did something that very few nations would think to, let-alone dare to do.

 Five worst Paralympics Opening Ceremony uniforms:

1. Mexico – The only uniform about the Mexican outfit as they walked into the stadium was the lack of uniformity. I don’t think I saw two athletes that were dressed the same, which makes me wonder if they either A) were told to just bring clothes from home to wear, or B) have the largest uniform in the history of the Paralympics.
2. United States of America – While Team GB wore the exact same uniforms as their Olympic counterparts, the only similarity for the United States of America was the fact their athletes wore a beret. I said it when their Olympic  team walked out, I said it again this morning and i’m more than happy to say it again here “The American team are playing up to the service stereotype too often” , after they were also seen rocking a military themed outfit at the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
3. Burkina Faso – Burkina Faso came out wearing what looked like a mix between an inmate uniform and winter pyjamas with the sleeves cut off. Furthermore they were wearing maroon hats which resembled teepees. Nothing at all to like about them.
4. Argentina –  The light and dark blue combination works a treat for Argentina, but this morning they found a way to mess it up. Spray jackets are fine if you are an athlete at any sporting event, but they are not apparel that should be worn at the opening ceremony, an occasion where you want to showcase the best of what you have to offer.
5. Solomon Islands- The only thing worse than a spray jacket in an Opening Ceremony is a national flag t-shirt. This was the only mistake made by the Solomon Islanders’ , whose usual green, blue and yellow combination otherwise worked a treat and could have seen them rocking one of the best kits, had they be handled by a different design team.

Jonas Jacobsson is certain to add to his record haul at the London Paralympics.

Following my post yesterday on Australian athletes to keep an eye on, it’s only fair that I provide a similar guide for international athletes. There are obviously going to be some exceptional athletes who don’t make the cut.

Pal Szekeres: The Hungarian fencer will be aiming for his Seventh Olympic /Paralympic medal in London, after winning Gold in Barcelona and Atlanta and bronze in  Sydney ,Athens and Beijing as well as a Bronze in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.  Szekeres was severely injured in a bus accident in 1991 and took up Wheelchair Fencing the next year, making his medal achievement in Barcelona all the more special as he was still adopting to life in a chair. The 47 year-old has worked with the European Paralympic Committee and the Hungarian Sports Association for the Disabled as well as being the Hungarian Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Children, Youth and Sport from 1999-2005.

Oscar Pistorius: Many will know of Pistorius after his efforts at the London Olympics. Don’t expect him to  win with ease in London though as he competes in the T44 100m, 200m, 400m and 4 X 100 events. He has said that he has no expectations in the 100, an event which he has not run in 16 months, or run a personal best in in five years. Pistorius has also been honoured as the Laureus Disabled Sportsperson of the year for 2012.

Jonas Jacobsson:  Jacobsson will represent Sweden in shooting at his ninth Paralympics looking to add to his tally of 27 medals, 16 of which have been Gold. Those 16 Gold Medals make him the most successful Male Paralympian of all-time. He also became the first physically disabled athlete to win the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, the most prestigious sporting award in Sweden, in 2008.

Jessica Long: Some would know of Jessica Long because of her recent commercial success, where she has become one of the faces in the latest Coke advertising campaign in the United States. This recognition is well deserved for the swimmer who has taken the world by storm over the last eight years. After making her Paralympic debut at the age of 12 in Athens where she won three Gold Medals, Long confirmed her spot on the world stage two years later, when at the World Championships in South Africa she won all nine of her events and broke five World Records. Long has also won multiple ESPY’s (ESPN’s variety of the Oscars).

Antonio Tenorio: Tenorio goes into his fifth Paralympics with his worst achievement to date being a Gold Medal. the Judo athlete lost sight in his left eye after a slingshot accident, before losing all sight after a right eye infection seven years later at the age of 13. It has already been confirmed that he will compete in a Sixth Paralympics in his home country of Brazil in 2016 after accepting an invitation from the Brazilian Paralympic Committee.

Melissa Tapper will be one Australian athlete to keep an eye on in London

The Australian Paralympic Committee have sent a strong contingent of athletes to the London Gam, and you may be wondering who to look out for.

Matthew Cowdrey: The Adelaide native has already broken 83 World Records in his career and needs just three medals to become the most decorated Australian Paralympian of all-time. Not only will he be unstoppable in the individual events in the S9 class, he will also be the mainstay in the relays, where Australia are expected to dominate.

Kurt Fearnley : Paralympic, World and Commonwealth champion who has crawled the Kokoda trail. Not only does his resume speak for itself, but he is probably Australia’s most well-known active Paralympian. Watch for Fearnley in the T54 Marathon on the last day of the games as he aims to defend the title that he won in China four years ago.

The Gliders: The Australian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team come into London looking for their first Gold since the Barcelona Games in 1992. The Gliders will be led by Bridie Kean, who will be competing in her second games. Coach John Triscari believes that the staging camp in Cardiff helped bring the 12-strong team together, and that with the tightness of the world rankings over the last few years, his squad is capable of anything .

The Steelers : The Men’s Wheelchair Rugby team  finished second in Beijing behind the United States. The core of the side has stayed together and big man Ryley Batt will be one of the key players for the men in Green and Gold. Batt became the youngest Wheelchair Rugby player at the Athens Paralympics when he debuted at the age of 15. Another key member of the squad is the flag bearer for Opening Ceremony Greg Smith who has previously represented Australia at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Paralympics in Track and Field.

Melissa Tapper: Tapper comes into the Games ranked fourth in the world and is aiming to break a medal drought in Table Tennis which stretches back to the 1984 Paralympics. Before heading to Cardiff she spent three weeks in Poland training with the national able-bodied squad in an attempt to get a deeper hit-out before the games. While Tapper admits she is nervous, she is adamant there is only one player who scares her – Polish player Natalia Partyka. The pair have never met and Australian Head Coach Alois Rosario believes Tapper’s recent stint  in Poland puts her in fantastic shape to beat Partyka, who competed at the London Olympics and was eliminated in the third round.