Compiled by PHILIP REID
Dakar Rally still endures dark days with fatalities
THE FAMED Paris-Dakar Rally – which had a reputation as the most dangerous motor race in the world when its traditional route took it from France to Senegal – has managed to retain its notoriety since moving continents to South America.
It is not due to finish until January 15th, and the first week of the race – which saw the rally start in Argentina before moving on to Chile and finishing in Peru – resulted in three deaths: Argentine bike-rider Jore Martinez Boero died in a crash on the first stage when the 38-year-old had a heart attack after being injured in a fall just 2km from the end of the stage. He died in the helicopter on the way to the hospital. On the same day, the pilot of an ultra-light plane and his son died when the aircraft crashed while following the race.
Despite advances in technology and a host of regulations aimed at improving safety, the race – which moved to South America in 2008 after terrorist incidents made the traditional Paris-Dakar route too dangerous – has a long history of fatalities. In the 31 races since 1979, there have been 58 recorded deaths: 25 of them competitors, 33 spectators.
The worst year for fatalities was in 1988 when three competitors and three local residents were killed. In addition, racers were also blamed for starting a wildfire that caused panic on a train running between Dakar and Bamako when three more people were killed.
One of the more obscure incidents involved Mark Thatcher, son of then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. In the 1982 race, Thatcher and his French co-driver Charlotte Verney and their mechanic disappeared for six days after being separated from a convoy of vehicles in the desert after stopping to repair a faulty steering arm. They were discovered unharmed, 50km off course, after a large-scale search.
The fatalities this week, though, have only served to reinforce the off-road rally’s reputation as one of sport’s most dangerous events.
Dawn runs priceless in amateur game
WHEN YOU hear that the party is over, and the Dubs have restarted the 6am pre-dawn physical regime that ultimately led to the lifting of the Sam Maguire, you know the new year has officially started.
When you hear that other counties, supposedly devoid of any training over the dark winter months, are copying the early-morning training routine, you know – in this Olympic year – the Corinthian spirit once the preserve of those amateur athletes is alive and well. Sort of.
Most of all, though, you wonder about the different efforts made and different rewards that amateur sportspeople – men and women – attain compared to their professional counterparts.
And while Dublin’s footballers and Kilkenny’s hurlers carried Sam and Liam around schools and clubs and earned a holiday and much back-slapping for their training-ground commitment that in another life amounted to penal servitude, none of them will become millionaires or even billionaires for their hard work, tears and sweat.
Then, as Jessie J might put it, it’s not all about the money. Or, is it? In professionalism, which really makes the world of sport spin, money is what it is all about.
It doesn’t matter if the ordinary sports fan believes professionals are grossly overpaid for what they do, the bottom line is that there is a going rate and professional athletes across the divide – in individual sports like golf and tennis and team sports like soccer, on this side of the Atlantic, and American football, baseball and basketball on the other – are milking it even in these recessionary times.
The two biggest earners in the sporting world remain Tiger Woods, despite his personal problems, and Phil Mickelson followed by Roger Federer and boxer Manny Pacquiao. Woods’s take in 2011 apparently fell by almost half of his figure the previous year – down to €48 million ($62 million) – according to Forbes magazine, but it still kept him almost €1 million ahead of Lefty. Federer, meanwhile, earned an estimated €40 million ($52 million).
In the cases of Woods, Mickelson and Federer, the vast majority of their earnings comes from endorsements. In the case of Woods, he earned 30 times more off the golf course than on it through sponsorship deals, mainly with Nike and EA Sports.
As far as confirmed salaries go, however, baseball player Alex Rodriques of the New York Yankees and American footballer Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons – who has a crunch play-off match with the New York Giants tomorrow – top the list, each earning a salaried endorsement-free €25 million ($32 million) a year for their onfield endeavours.
A look at the highest paid soccer players gives credence to the theory that off-the-field image is as important as anything a player does on the field, with David Beckham marginally ahead of Ronaldo – the Portuguese version – in the financial stakes and the world’s best footballer, Lionel Messi, in third.
It is estimated Beckham, despite being exiled to the footballing netherworld of LA, earns a cool €31 million ($40 million) a year thanks mainly to sponsorship deals which include a lucrative set-up with Adidas that sees him get a cut on every pair of Beckham-endorsed boot sold.
In times of tightening purse strings, the sheer scale of the money which professional sportsmen – mainly – and sportswomen (Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova, despite not winning a Grand Slam title since 2008, tops the female list with €20 million, mostly through off-court endorsements) will be mind-boggling for the average fan. But it is what it is. In the world of professional sport, and the marketing that goes with sporting superstars, these sums continue to be sustainable.
Which is all small comfort, of course, for the likes of the Dubs and the Cats and the other GAA intercounty players who train just as hard – some would say harder – than any professional athlete and at the same time hold down full-time jobs in performing to optimum levels. Hopefully, all those pre-6am alarm calls will make that quest for silverware more enticing than the millions awaiting Messrs Woods, Federer, Ronaldo et al.
It’s not all about the money.
Irish prove value for money
ALTHOUGH THE volume of traffic from the League of Ireland across the Irish Sea is not what it once was, it could be argued that English clubs are getting exceptional value for money for whoever does secure a move.
At a time when the transfer market is bulging with nonsensical fees at the top end, the cute purchases of certain clubs is worth its weight in gold. The classic case of recent years remains Séamus Coleman’s move from Sligo Rovers to Everton for €70,000. The defender-cum-midfielder currently has a market valuation of €7 million.
Before him, we had Stephen Ward’s move from Bohemians to Wolves for €180,000. Now currently valued at €3.5 million, the Republic of Ireland defender – set to play a big part for Giovanni Trapatonni’s men in the Euro 2012 finals – has had his contract at Molineaux extended until 2013, while Wes Hoolahan’s roundabout route to Norwich came after an initial €150,000 move from Shelbourne to Scottish club Livingstone. Hoolahan’s market value is now €2.5 million.
Mooted as one to watch by his ex-boss Stephen Kenny, James McClean’s immediate impact at Sunderland since moving from Derry City for about €400,000 will seem to make one of Steve Bruce’s last acts as a manager before Martin O’Neill succeeded him one of his better moves.
And, in the past few days, we’ve seen defender Enda Stevens completing the move from champions Shamrock Rovers to Aston Villa in a deal reputed to be worth €300,000. Stevens is already hardened by a campaign in the Europe League group stages, and it looks like a good move for both parties. If the evidence of Coleman and McClean is anything to go by, it would also seem another bargain basement purchase by an English club.
Name calling by Hall of Fame
ONLY two Irishmen – Christy O’Connor snr and the late Joe Carr – have been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, based in Florida. Time will tell if and when the likes of Ireland’s Major champions Pádraig Harrington (right) and Darren Clarke earn a place among the game’s chosen ones but, given that inductees must be at least over 40 years of age, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy have a longer wait to see if they come out on the right side of any ballots.
Of more immediate interest is that the Hall of Fame – which features permanent exhibits of golf's great players through the ages – is developing a new exhibit to honour current triumphs. And, in doing so, it is using a more current way to name the new exhibit: by letting golf fans select the name on its Facebook page. Who said golf was a game for old fogeys?
O'Connell's riches rewarded
LOYALTY deserves to be rewarded and is there a more loyal son of Munster rugby than Paul O’Connell? The decision to give him a two-year contract extension is one that makes sense, for Munster and the player. Anyway, could you ever see the big man play for anyone else? O’Connell has been a terrific servant to Munster and Ireland and his capacity to retain such intensity in so many bone-crunching games serves as an inspiration well beyond the pitch.
