Joy and pain of Munich

I've always wanted to visit Munich ever since my brother returned from a school trip to the German city in 1988 with a Bayern Munich mug.

Having seen them play at Carrow Road back in 1993 against Norwich in the UEFA Cup the famous German side were always on my hitlist of teams to see on the continent.

And so last Satuday me and Gordo jetted off to the freezing cold German city to catch the Bayern boys in action against Energie Cottbus in the Bundesliga.

If Munich itself was cold, the area around the Allianz Arena was brutal. A couple of hastily consumed bratwurst at the station were very welcome as we trudged our way to some cracking seats.

Once the action started, well there could only be one winner right? Well. it didn't exactly go to plan as Ervin Skela gave the visitors s surprise lead with a free-kick to delight the handful of Cottbus fans to our right.

Bayern soon restored order with a cracking Franck Ribery free-kick before Martin Demichelis nutted home the goal that gave Bayern a 2-1 lead.

After the break Miroslav Klose popped in a third before Luca Toni smashed home a volley from a corner.

The Allianz is a great ground, the only problem was you needed special tokens to buy any food inside the ground. Outside the souvenir shop was rammed in the run up to Christmas but Gordo still found time to pick out a rather dashing hat!

Leaving the Allianz behind was for me the best view - it was all lit up in Bayern red.

The day after was a day of contrasts - while the crowds descended on the Christmas markets, we took a throat-lumping trip to nearby Dachau, the former Nazi concentration camp just a few miles from Munich's city centre.
My nanny was in a similar camp in Westerbork in Holland, a camp especially for Dutch Jews - lucky them!

So I took plenty of pictures of the familiar rows of beds, communal toilets and exercise yards and even for a couple of tough Brits with no real connection to the events of 60 years ago, there was still a pretty sombre feeling shared by us.

I'm sure my nanny will shed a tear or two when she sees those pictures too.

It takes all shorts, Maria

Wimbledon today for the fourth time in three years and a first time on Court One.
Last year I sat with Lorraine on soggy Centre Court day without the roof watching bits of Serena Williams against Daniela Hantuchova while 12 months earlier it was seats for the men’s final, the first one between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Two years ago, just days before that final, I was lucky enough to be on Centre Court for the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of Maria Sharapova in her quarter-final.
Today, it was Maria again, and not much has changed in two years. It’s now four long years since 17-year-old Maria was on Centre Court stunning Serena Williams by taking the title.
Since then she’s been a bit rubbish at SW19 and today I fear she’s heading the way of Anna Kournikova – there’s just far more style than substance.
Today, after watching Richard Gasquet out-dazzle Mardy Fish, Maria came on court to the usual camera clicks and flashes to take on French outsider Stephanie Foretz in their first round match. Such is Sharapova’s on court aroma that everything stops when she arrives from the locker room and today, she was teasing us with her annual first-match ritual of warming up in her jacket, towelling herself off and then giving us the big reveal.
Just like Federer loves his SW19 fashion, Maria is no different.
From high up on Court One it looked like a normal dress until off came that Nike jacket to reveal, well I’m not quite sure what really.
A sort of see-through buttoned waistcoat, the see-through bits were of course in the wrong (well, right) areas and there were shorts.
Nice fitting, big-button-at-the-top shorts.
I’ve never seen a woman look better in a pair than Maria!
As for the tennis, she did the usual first-clenching after each crucial point, the preening, the ‘vamos’-ing.
All great to watch and let’s be honest, nobody does it better.

Giants pull of the ultimate upset

THIS column comes to you from New York City - and what a time to be in the Big Apple. Last Sunday the New York Giants pulled of the mother of all shocks beating New England in Phoenix and ruining their hopes of a perfect season.
I was in Arizona for the big game and it was certainly something else to be in that state with such a huge event going on down the road. I drove past the stadium a couple of days before the match and the atmosphere was already starting to gather pace - they had an NFL exhibition there for a couple of weeks before it - kind of like a massive fairground devoted to various NFL activities.
I drove on from Phoenix to Tucson, Arizona and stayed there with my uncle, also named Nick for a few days. I hadn't seen him in 20 years so it was great to catch up and watch the match with him.
He is 51 and also a Sports Junkie as he has devoted a separate room in his house to signed baseballs, photos and newspaper clippings from Phoenix and Arizona's many professional sports teams.
Of course we got on like a house on fire and spent a few days working out what to do for Superbowl Sunday while eating at some of Tucson's finest eateries.Uncle Nick was in the US Air Force for around 25 years and he had the idea of watching the game on the Davis-Monthan Air Force base that he used to work at.
On the morning of the game it was certainly a strange atmosphere as we drove to the huge air force base. Jets were patrolling the sky from an area covering Mexico to Nevada to keep the skies free of trouble - if the World Trade Center was a prime target for a terrorist attack seven years ago, you can just imagine what a prized asset an attack on the stadium holding the Superbowl would be.
Thankfully there was nothing to worry about and inside the air force base it was time to get into party mode.
Around 50 of us - serving air force men and women and their families watched on a big screen with food and drink provided and a game of Superbowl bingo to play - essentially you cross off what takes place in the match on your bingo card.
I cleaned up in the third quarter with a Giants punt and scored myself a cap and T-shirt, and also won the prize for being closest to the half-time score.
Watching the Superbowl at 4pm was strange - normally its a solitary 11pm start for me and I struggle to stay awake, but this time it was one big party.
Any American will tell you that the Superbowl is not only about the action taking place on the field but also about the adverts - most of America's biggest companies pay big bucks to broadcast new adverts during the game - and the next day the New York Post ran a Top 25 countdown of the best. Indeed, some of the watching crowd were more interested in the commercials than the outcome of the match!But the audience that did watch a sensational game was almost part of history - almost 100 million viewers tuned in - and it was revealed on Monday that only the viewing audience for the final episode of MASH in 1983 was bigger for a single event.
And as for the game - well it was no classic but it turned on one piece of genius from Eli Manning in the final two minutes to give the Giants an incredible win. As a Patriots fan I was a tad gutted, but I was just pleased that I wasn't sitting by myself in Suffolk and could enjoy the game with fellow NFL nuts.

Patriots all set to go 19-0

THREE months ago I was sat at a soaking wet Wembley watching the New York Giants defeat the Miami Dolphins in the first regular season game outside North America - and little did I think they'd make it all the way to Superbowl XLII.

It wasn't just me.

Of eight home games this season, they lost five.

No other team with such a bad record has made it to the biggest single sporting event in North America.

The reason for their incredible run is easy - their away form has been historically good. Ten straight wins on the road has secured their place in Sunday's end of season Arizona spectacular - and that's no mean feat.

New York Giants are the NFL's equivalent of Tottenham - a well liked club who've had glory spells in the past but more often than not fail just when it seems they're destined for greatness. Imagine Spurs getting to the FA Cup Final by winning at Arsenal and Chelsea and then defeating Liverpool in the semi with a last minute winner. That's essentially what the Giants have done - won at Tampa Bay, won at Dallas which was a big shock, and then won in ice cold Green Bay when all of America was expecting Brett Favre to lead his team to Arizona.

Since arriving in the US two weeks ago, Superbowl fever has been growing and growing. I'm right in the heart of Arizona and as I munch on a warm piece of pecan pie with cream, the TV's are blurting out non-stop coverage of the build up to the game.

The New England Patriots, who face the Giants on Sunday are on their way to an historic season. They won all 16 regular season games (a feat only matched by Miami in 1972) and are on course to go 19-0 - an unbeaten season which is unheard of. The key to their success has been the leadership of quarterback Tom Brady and the success of running backs Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth and Laurence Maroney, coupled with a strong defense.

Only Tiger Woods ranks higher than Brady in American sport superstar status these days - his ankle injury that he picked up in the AFC Championship game against San Diego kept even the death of actor Heath Ledger off the news pages last week.

Brady appeared in New York with his foot in a brace - and all the talk has been about whether he will be fit for Sunday's game. Just like the hype in the UK in recent years over Becks and Rooney's metatarsals, Brady's ankle has been the hot topic going into this game.Brady has seen and done it all before - leading the Patriots to Superbowl wins in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and rightly his team will start favourites on Sunday.But the Giants have plenty of reason for optimism. The Patriots had won 15 games and faced the Giants in the last match of the regular season at the Giants and the New York side almost handed them their first defeat. The game ended 38-35 and the Giants, known as The G-Men will take the fact they came so close to beating Bill Bellichick's team as great encouragement.Eli Manning, brother of Peyton Manning who won the Superbowl with Indianapolis last year, is their star man and will look to the likes of Plaxico Burress to score points. But it's the Giants defence, marshalled by Michael Strahan that will need to be at their best to cope with the ammunition coming from Tom Brady's arm and that really will be the key to the game.

I wont get inside the University of Arizona stadium in Glendale, Phoenix for the game unless some miracle happens but it's great to think its all happening just around the corner from me.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Wes Welker. Welker was so ineffective that the dreadful Miami Dolphins released him last season due to his slender frame and lack of height (5ft 9ins). But at New England Welker has flourised and his size, once his weakness has become his great asset. Expect him to be the option if Tom Brady cant get the ball to Randy Moss

NEW YORK GIANTS: Michael Strahan. Veteran Strahan is key if the Giants are to win the Superbowl. He offers great strength in the G-Mens defence and if Tom Brady is sacked (caught in possession of the ball) it's odds on that Strahan will be the one responsible. NICK'S

PREDICTION: New England Patriots 31 New York Giants 17

A familiar voice greets my USA arrival

I've just arrived in a cold Los Angeles - and who's was the first English accent I heard? Yep, you guessed it, David Beckham.
No he wasn't walking down the street in a sarong or popping out of the barbers with a new hair do - he was on the telly as part of his continual quest to make it big in the US.
And what was Becks up to? Well with the American soccer season at an end, he wasn't out on the pitch - instead he was sitting in a diner having lunch with none other than Snoop Dogg - as part of Snoop's TV show, Father Hood, which is big over here right now.
Its a little like The Osbornes but rather than feature Sharon and Ossie, it has Snoop bringing up his kids in LA. Anyway, Snoop was taking his mate 'Dave' out for a chicken salad at the diner and they were chatting about soccer and rap music. Becks was trying to play it cool but looked a bit stupid sitting next to ice cool Snoop.
Still that David Beckham factor is still big over here, but as I wander the streets of up-market Santa Monica, I wonder how big of a deal he really is over here.
Its one year since Beckham made that move to the LA Galaxy and sure, the sports shops are full of Galaxy shirts with Beckham 23 on the back - but I don't see anyone wearing them - and I don't think they really sell that well.I think the plan is really to try and make the LA Galaxy and adidas brand big in other parts of the world - why else would LA Galaxy have recently toured in Australia and New Zealand?And you can quite imagine that there will be repeats of their friendlies against the likes of Chelsea last summer when English clubs are looking for a big name game at the start of their new season in August.
Until then, it seems Beckham is a much bigger name in showbiz circles - but when it comes to the actual soccer side, its my impression that most Amercian sports fans, still think the man is a bit of a joke.

Crab racing is as sporty as Fiji gets

BEFORE jetting in to the US I spent ten days in Fiji - and even on a tropical island, there's some kind of sport to bet on!

Away from the main island of Vita Levu I took a boat out to the island of Mana which is about 10 miles away from the capital, Nadi. On Mana its a slow pace of life, and the only real sports are windsurfing and kayaking - although I did take part in the island's 82nd International Crab Race.

This was a race with a difference - there were ten crabs taking part and each was auditioned before the race. This audition comprised of placing them in the centre of a circle and seeing how fast it would take them to scarper to the outer rim of that circle. The winning crab would be the first to take part.

Rather than bet on each crab, each crab was auctioned off based on how fast it seemed in the audition and to tell each crab apart they were given there own names and nationalities.We had the controversial Marion Jones crab from the USA, Nelson Mandela from South Africa and Jackie Chan from China - not to mention the Maradona crab which apparently hails from Brazil!Despite seeing other crabs that were faster and more nimble, I bid $12 Fijian Dollars (£4) for the Jonny Wilkinson crab - after all I was the only English person there so had to spend my cash on a slice of my own country.With my Jonny crab in the centre of the circle under an ice cream tub with the other nine crabs I was hopeful he would hurtle out towards that rim - and enable me to scoop the $90 Fijian Dollar (£30) first prize.

Sadly for me, Jonny had a nightmare - Nelson Mandela defied age to race home over the rim - and scooped the owner a return of nine times on their original stake. As for my investment in Jonny - well it just reinforces my view that I can stand rugby!

New Zealand in tatters after rugby disaster

YOU dont get much for a pair - not in this game.
Yep, the biggest clue to New Zealand's sporting psyche came halfway through my three weeks in this remote and generally quite country.
I was filling up the camper van I had hired in Taupo on the North Island and when I went in to hand over my $50 for a tank of unleaded, I spotted a sign on the counter.'Free All Black with every purchase'.I laughed at the big basket of three inch high All Black figure sitting in their plastic packets behind the cashier as I handed over my money."You want some?" said the cashier.
I paused for a second, half-smiled and said nothing."Take the whole damn lot if you want" he added. I grabbed a couple as my cousin is a rugby fan and thats why I walked out with my car keys in one hand and plastic figures of All Blacks Daniel Carter and Joe Rokocoko.
You see interest in the finest sports team in the country is at an all time low - and this is a nation still feeling the pain of last autumns rugby world cup disaster.
I got talking to a boat owner in the pretty town of Russell in the Bay of Islands and he explained just why the country was still hurting so bad. The All Blacks expected to win the World Cup. Simple as that. Nothing less would do. When they were drawn in their group against Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Romania and most of the country didnt bother to watch. These were just warm up games for the knock-out phase. They demolished their way through allowing just 35 points to be conceeded and scoring over 300 for themselves.
When they met the French in Cardiff the nation switched on. The French, who had been embarrased on their own patch in the opening match were surely be dispatched with equal ease.The All Blacks were 13-3 up and cruising when the imploded after some questionable refereeing decisions saw them lose in dramatic circumstances.The fall out from the World Cup was imense. Millions of dollars of sponsorship and other revenue was lost as the Kiwi bandwagon flipped over and laid on its roof. It was a write-off job.
Four months on and you cant get a positive rugby conversation out of most Kiwis. They are certainly a proud nation but there's little they can do for four years apart from wait and make sure it doesnt happen again.
Sad thing is walking around Auckland there are still dozens of locals wearing their proud black shirts and on Queens Street, which runs through the heart of town, the big rugby shop is called All Blacks, Champions Of The World.
Until 2011 then, the Kiwis will probably still be sulking - and I doubt that tray of plastic rugby figures will be getting any smaller.

Australian soccer is a step back in time

ON my first night in Sydney nine years ago I spent two hours in a club with my mate trying to work out which of the women we were talking to at the bar were actually transvestites.
On my last Saturday night in Sydney, nine years ago, I spent the evening asleep on a bench at the airport waiting for a Sunday morning flight home as a security guard paced up and down beside me.
And I’ve got to say that both experiences were probably better than my latest Saturday night in Sydney watching the city’s football team.
Sydney FC, in fifth place, were taking on eighth and bottom place Perth Glory in the Hyundai A-League. Australia’s top flight has been through one of those oh-so common sports rebrandings – the local newspaper refers to the teams as franchises, the teams have new names and colours and before the match there’s even a reminder over the PA system to get your entries in for the clubs new nickname competition.
But the A-League is more like the Z-League when it comes to football. And the atmosphere at the Sydney Football Stadium is a little odd too.
When I last visited Australia in 1998 I actually watched Sydney, then called Sydney United, in action against Brisbane Strikers. The match was also a Saturday night, pre-pub kick-about, the fans were mainly ex-pats in their 40s and 50s wearing Celtic and Leeds shirts and the football was combative to say the least.
Now though the game is all about diving and pushing and shoving – all niggly fouls and ‘not me ref’ incidents.
I spent the match in The Cove – an area behind one of the goals reserved for the real hardcore fans. Though such is the nature of hardcore fans in Sydney that I was able to pay 18 dollars (eight pounds) for my ticket on the intenet. Games rarely sell out here.
The Cove is full of the sort of Australians we always wanted to send out of our country – beer drinking, overweight, raucous and some truly dreadful hair.
If you thought the mullet went out of fashion with Hoddle and Waddle in 1987, think again. Twenty years on there are mullets galore here.
The fans in The Cove whip each other up into a frenzy with their songs straight off the terraces of England in the early 70s.
Their central defender Mark Rudan is off to join former Sydney boss Pierre Littbarski at Avispa Fukuoka in Japan and as this is his last game, the home crowd are keen to recite their little ditty for him:
“Mark Rudan is a big blue man/Get past him if you f**kin’ can/Try a little trick/He’ll make you look a dick/He’s big Mark Ru-dan”
Most of the chants are of a dreadful throwback nature – United We Stand, Hey Jude, Nick Nack Padywack – I mean which credible football fans in 2007 would chant “Give a dog a bone”?
Sydney play in a kit similar to Wycombe Wanderers and the standard of football is pretty much like watching Wycombe despite the fact there are five players on the pitch who have played in England.
Sydney’s star man is former Middlesbrough striker Juninho but he doesn’t play tonight. By the time the teams take to the field Hayden Foxe (ex West Ham), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace), Steve Corica (Wolves), Nicky Rizzo (Liverpool) and most curiously, Michael Bridges are in the respective line-ups.
Most of the players in the A-League are mid thirty-something former Socceroos – John Aloisi is probably the star name in the league at the moment.
As for Bridges, still only 29, the former Leeds and Sunderland man signed from Hull City in August forms a three-strong attack with Corica and rising star Alex Brosque, who is being watched in the crowd by new national boss Pim Verbeek.
Perth score twice late in the first half through Billy Celeski and soon after the break they are 3-0 up to the delight of their tiny contingent of visiting fans.
Steve Corica pulls one back straight away but by the time Michael Bridges slots in a 90th minute goal, Perth have scored again with Celeski completing his hat-trick and the game finishes 4-2 to the away team.
The football, to be honest, was shocking. – It’s easy to see how the standard of football in a nation like Australia drops when the best players are asleep in Europe waiting to play in the top flights in England, Scotland, Holland and Germany later that day.
But then football is way down most Australians list of sports they follow behind cricket, rugby, Aussie rules and surfing, so that may be why attending a match here feels like being in a timewarp.
Oh, and just to complete the retro feel to the whole occasion, a punch-up between two booze-fuelled Sydney fans breaks out just yards from me as the game draws to a close.
And to think just a few weeks ago Sydney beat David Beckham’s LA Galaxy 5-3 in the same stadium. It seems tonight the only thing worth beating was a path to the pub for a post-match pint.