Weekly Round-up (06/02/12)

In football this week, we saw the January transfer window come to an end. Deadline day was not as busy as it had been in previous years, but there were still some transfers of note on the final day. Nikica Jelavic completed his move to Everton, where he will hope to continue the goalscoring form he was in for Rangers. Toffees fans will surely be hoping he does as Everton have been missing something of an out and out striker for a while now, and Jelavic could well be that man. Elsewhere, my beloved Tottenham signed experienced Frenchman Louis Saha from Everton. Personally, this deal baffles me as Saha is over thirty and has been blighted by injuries. Granted we done well to get him on a free transfer, but there are plenty of younger, and perhaps better, strikers out there, such as Hugo Rodallega who was linked with a deadline day move to Spurs.

Moving on to American Football, the Super Bowl was played out in front of a sell-out crowd in Indianapolis last night as the Giants took on the Patriots in a repeat of the 2008 showcase. And just like in 2008, the Giants snatched it at the death. I would like to take the opportunity to point out my prediction that the Giants would repeat their success in my post last week, which seemed to be the only thing I got right. Let's hope my predictions get better before my trip to Uttoxeter on Saturday.

The Six Nations kicked off this weekend, with two rather tame affairs on Saturday. The French done what was expected of them by comfortably beating Italy 30-12 in Paris. However, it was exciting to see the return of the Gallic flair which France often lacked under former coach Marc Lievremont. This was epitomised in Vincent Clerc's try, which came about thanks to some lovely footwork from Francois Trinh-Duc and Aurelien Rougerie. The other day's game saw England narrowly defeat Scotland to claim the Calcutta Cup 13-6. In my belief, it would have been different had Scotland had played only one or two percent better. England capitalised on Scotland's mistakes to win when they should have lost. Sunday's game, however, proved to be a real belter. Wales faced Ireland in Dublin in what many saw as a title decider, despite it only being the first week, and boy, did it live up to expectations. Although the first half was all Wales, with Ireland defending magnificently, the second half was a real pendulum swing. Wales would have momentum, then Ireland, then Wales again. It went down to the wire, with Leigh Halfpenny's penalty deciding the game with less than a minute left on the clock. The game was a great advert for rugby, and despite being half Irish, I could not begrudge Wales winning 23-21.

Finally, some news which broke earlier today. Alberto Contador has been banned for two years but will available to ride again on the 6th of August 2012 as they ban has been applied retroactively. Although this means that Contador will miss this year's tour, I think the punishment was too light. Why can't he miss next year's tour as well? Why can't the ban be two years from today? Yes, Contador may have had his 2010 title stripped, but I'm sure he's not too fussed as he has yellow jerseys from 2007 and 2009 to keep him company. Sometimes, I think sports cheats are punished far too leniently.