The Boat Race has Restored my Faith in Sporting Conduct.

There is no other way to say this. Ashley Young is a cheat. I watched his blatant dive to gain a penalty for Man Utd against QPR at the weekend convinced his actions would result in a yellow card for simulation. Not only was a penalty given but the defender, Shaun Derry, was sent off. The fact that Young was clearly offside notwithstanding, the contact between attacker and defender was a light brush of the shirt at best and certainly not enough to send the forward tumbling theatrically to the floor.

I would like to point out I am not a QPR fan and this is not a rant against Man Utd or Young in particular. Its a rant against being unsporting. I’m glad not all sports are like this and over the same weekend I watched the Boat Race. I would like to say thank you to the Oxford and Cambridge boat crews for going a long way to restoring my faith in sporting conduct.

Alex Woods the rower in the bow seat of the Oxford boat collapsed shortly after crossing the line. The fact he was in distress was not picked up on by his crew mates for several minutes due to his position at the back of the boat. His condition was serious enough for him to be treated for some time before being taken to hospital.

The Cambridge crew, to their eternal credit agreed to cancel their celebration and presentation of the trophy. In the television interviews they gave to the irritating BBC presenters their first concern was the heath and wellbeing of Woods. This shows no small measure of their class. These guys train as hard as professional athletes in preparation for the Boat Race and to win it means everything.

Woods, for his part, mirrored their respectful conduct. Once well enough, he telephoned the crew of the Cambridge boat and their coach individually to apologise for spoiling their celebrations!

Its not as if the example set by these people cannot be followed buy others. It was once said that football isn’t life and death....its much more important. The football community has disproven this emphatically with its responses to Fabrice Muamba and Stiliyan Petrov. It is heartening to see Muamba making what appears to be fantastic progress following his heart attack and my thoughts are with Petrov and his family as he begins his treatment for acute leukaemia. Messages of support for both have been sent from sports around the globe.

I know that unsporting conduct is not generally rife in professional sport, I’m just prompted to speak when I see two incidents which are polar opposites. One which exasperates and angers me and one which makes me proud of the sports I enjoy and their exponents.