9 Sporting Events Which Are Better Than The Football World Cup

For the first 31 years of my life I was part of the standard football is everything mainstream. Then in 2012 the Olympics struck and everything changed. I spent those four weeks engrossed in the stories of commitment, courage and sacrifice. We were also lucky enough to be present in the Olympic Stadium for Mo, Greg and Jess's Super Saturday. Before the Olympics were over, a well known UK premium sports channel started their advertising for the new football season and I realised I just didn't care. So this post could easily have been titled "9 sports and its competitors that I respect more than football and footballers."

So here we go...

9. Wimbledon
The strawberries, the Pimm's, the grass, the tears, all of it. Just to add as well, in my opinion, Andy Murray is one the most misunderstood, potentially undervalued sportsmen in the world.


8. The Open
Whilst The Open certainly belongs here in its own right, for me, The Open at St Andrew's is one of the highlights of all sport - and simply because of this view...



7. The Ashes
Look past that Harmison wide. Look past the night time starts. The Ashes is one of the all time great events (and incidentally saw me through two babies worth of night feeds).

And however much this video is a reminder of my youth through England being awful it's the only video I wanted to use:


6. The Masters
Another golf one, and another sleep depriver. But The Masters, from the Augusta National is truly picture gallery TV. Plenty of drama, plenty of characters, and this view...


5. The 6 Nations
I'll let a better orator than me do this one...



4. The Rugby World Cup
See above. No fans fighting. Mixed seating. Drinks in stadiums.


3. Formula 1
Whilst I know Formula 1 has been a bit up and down lately, and it can get a bit dull. This is the pinnacle of engineering and high octane sport. The history of Silverstone, the speed of Belgium, the Wall of Champions and the style of Monaco. I love this on board footage of Graham Hill going round Monaco from 1970...



2. The Tour de France
The Tour de France is the highlight here - and the three week race is probably the only series-linked sporting event in the Dad Craft household - but this is really about all top level cyclists - Giro, Vuelta, Track, all of it. Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Sarah Storey, Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny, Chris Foy, Lizzie Deignan and Mark Cavendish are, for me, among the greatest sports people that this country has produced. Their commitment and sacrifice are amazing - and anyone who can sit on a bike for that long deserves out respect!



1. The Olympics
Quite simply The Greatest Show on Earth! Seeing Steve Redgrave train until he fell off a rowing machine, or the Brownlees basically training in a bathtub in their front garden, or Mo Farah spending months away from his family, or Jess Ennis running with the hope of the nation on her shoulders, or the rower Alan Campbell training on Christmas Day simply makes the football unwatchable. The effort and time spent by each and every competitor is worthy of everyone's complete and utter attention.

I know this video is 51 minutes long, but I would happily sit and watch it over and over again (in fact over the next 4 weeks I may do just that!)





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