There was a young black golfer who turned professional after dominating the amateur scene for three years. There had never been an athlete come in and shake up the the complexion of a sport quite like Tiger Woods. With a supreme all round game and monstrous driving off the tee, with the physical attributes and ice cold mentality to match, the golfing world was his for the taking.
This was his first PGA tour event and Tiger hits a hole in one. From this moment in 1996, Woods' career went from promising to stratospheric.
Regardless of what has happened recently with his Lothario like lifestyle and change in coaches and form. Nobody can argue that Tiger Woods transformed the game and image of modern day golf.
I mean, this is a historic point in time where fat Americans hadn't thought of shouting; ' It's in the hole!' God, that's annoying...
Professional rugby union was a year old in 1996 and still coming to terms with how professional sportsmen dedicated themselves to training and physical preparation. Rugby league had been using superior and professional training methods for many years in comparison. If you are a fan of both codes and 7s and have half an hour to kill then you are in for a treat!
Back then there was a snobbish attitude by union towards the skill level of league players, but after this performance at Twickenham in 96, the doubters were proved so very wrong. Probably why Wigan were never invited back to play 7s again...
Seeing the calibre of attacking flair from the Wigan team was amazing to witness in the 7s format. Not surprising that most of those guys went on to represent their union countries at international level and even the British & Irish Lions.
The Scottish Premier League was won by Rangers and the Cup by Kilmarnock. Players like Paulo Di Canio, Brian Laudrup, Pierre Van Hooijdonk and Paul Gascoigne graced grounds up and down Scotland in the 90's. Those days seem to have disappeared sadly, but hopefully one day we can have that kind of quality back. Please come back.
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| Gazza uniquely entertaining and provoking... |
Here we have Gascoigne at Euro 96 at Wembley, scoring that goal against Scotland. Magnificent skill and wonderful celebration of the 'dentist's chair' (Gazza pre-tournament was 'papped' lying in a reclining chair and booze being pored down his gullet).
Again, England lose to Germany on penalties with Gareth Southgate striking the definitive penalty with the assurance of a mouse. They think It's all over... It is.
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| Football is not coming home Gareth. |
What better way to answer the critics and laugh off the abuse from the media...
Other English football news:
- An uncapped David Beckham scores from the half way line against Wimbledon
- Wenger takes over at Arsenal
- Middlesbrough lose in both the league cup and cup final. They are relegated after being deducted 3 points for cancelling a match earlier in the season. Turns out that deduction cost them their Premiership status. Bad times.
Staying with fusstball, Borussia Dortmund won the Champions League with a 3-1 win against a very strong Juventus side. Lars Ricken came on and with his first touch scored this goal:
Screamer. Plus a Scotsman played and won a major footballing trophy. Paul Lambert.
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| Gooooolazo |
Every Sunday I visited the magnificent church of Football Italia on Ch4. Fantastic format and a wonderfully insightful view of Serie A, when It was the best league with the best players around. Nothing can compare to James Richardson relaxing at a cafe in Rome analysing and translating the back of the Italian newspapers.
My favourite striker of all time still is George Weah. I wouldn't still have a replica Milan top with his name on the back from 1996 if he was average. Weah also scored this goal too.
As a pretty big fan of 7s rugby, Jonah Lomu's impact in the 1995 tournament was massive. He was almost 20 stone and at 6ft5 was a giant rugby player. Lightening fast and powerful, Lomu was making headlines throughout the rugger world.
However in 1996 Lomu was back again and the world was watching. Jonah did something in the semi final of the Hong Kong sevens which is mental. An American football pass the width of the pitch. Unbelievable...
Both Lomu and Christian Cullen played in this New Zealand 7s team and their attacking prowess translated to the 15 man game. Arguably the best wing and fullback to ever play for the All Blacks.
Saturday mornings for me was the NBA highlights programme. It was the only time of the week without Cable or Sky TV, could you watch the basketball. Jordan, Pippen, Rodman were the trio that had the skills to pay the bills and carried the Chicago Bulls to greatness in the 90's
So here is a montage of them in action.
Ah the good ol' Scottish Claymores. "An American football team right on my doorstep? Awesome!"
No. Not Awesome. I went and It was awful. The idea was good to introduce football to Scotland. But the theory was poor. Bad attendances, poor standard of players and embarrassing entertainment. There wasn't much to shout about... Apart from Gavin Hastings of course. In 96 he had just retired from rugby and was brought in as kicker to try help the rugby fans to show an interest. It didn't work and eventually everyone realised that a franchise in Scotland wasn't viable and that is that.
Look out for the commentator's pronunciation of 'Edinburgh' and 'Murrayfield'.
Not just a novelty BBC athletics pundit. Michael Johnson was the coolest and number one athlete in the world in 1996. You have to be pretty damn good to wear shiny gold spikes at the Olympics to get away with it
He did and in style. A bizarre upright running style was both economical and devastating over 200m and 400m. His double Olympic gold at Atlanta, is one of the very best moments in Olympic history
Not to be confused with fat, shit, failed ex Man City footballer Michael Johnson
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| Gutted |
I'm off now to watch Trainspotting at the cinema and catch a plane to Japan to see what the fuss is all about with these new 'revolutionary' DVD's... Idiots. It'll never catch on.
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