Dan Jones: The Commonwealth Games can lift the clouds and give a hint of a golden summer

 
Golden shots: (clockwise from centre) Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Christine Ohuruogu, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Nicola Adams and Tom Daley
PA Wire.
Dan Jones22 July 2014

When you look back, the American War of Independence was a bloody nuisance.

And I know, I know: without it the world may not have had liberty, emancipation, 20th century salvation, free market capitalism, neoconservatism, hip-hop, McDonald’s and cronuts. But in at least one way I can think of, the world would have been better if the Brits had clung on to the colonies and the United States of America today existed within the dissolving web of British imperialism.

I am speaking, of course, about the Commonwealth Games. They start in less than a week. And that’s all fine and great and awesome and everything but let’s be honest, the whole thing is always hamstrung by the non-participation of those nations outside the club that admits entry: the Commonwealth. Chief among them, the Yanks. And obviously the Russians, too. And the Chinese, come to think of it. It’s good that the Jamaicans and the Aussies can play but really — the whole thing always feels like a hotchpotch of nations, lumped together for a reason no one is quite certain of any more.

But as I am about to suggest, the Commonwealth Games — the stunted and slightly despised step-brother of the Olympics and the World Championships — arrives at a very opportune moment for British sport. In fact, it might just be the very thing we need.

Let us recap. The summers of 2012 and 2013 were astonishing. We recognised it at the time but how much more dazzling do they appear from the distance of only a year?

Not only the honour of hosting an Olympic Games in London but the glory of a whole Pringles-packet full of gold medals. The realisation of the greatest achievement imaginable for British cycling when Sir Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France, followed by a repeat the following summer by Chris Froome. Andy Murray pointing those relieved forefingers to the sky above him at the All England Club, etching the number 77 into tennis folklore. The Ryder Cup boys pulling off the miracle of Medinah. Jamie Roberts barrelling through a desperate Aussie defence to complete that famous Lions win Down Under. The English cricket team of Trott, Swann and Pietersen hitting what would be their apotheosis with a 3-0 Ashes win at home.

But now? See how the mighty have fallen! This summer has been a shocker, the humiliation shovelled on from every side. Our cricketers? On a nine-Test winless streak and in — loser word alert — ‘transition’. The cyclists? Wiggins is in road-race purdah, Froome was out of the Tour just days into his defence. Mark Cavendish flipped and burned in that quintessentially French location of downtown Harrogate. There couldn’t be a more obvious metaphor for British sport’s sudden collapse than several men falling off their bikes all at the same time.

Murray? In ‘transition’ too, if that’s what you call what happened against Grigor Dimitrov a few weeks ago at Wimbledon. He’s still a super player but risks slipping back into tennis’s peloton unless Amelie Mauresmo can do something extraordinary between now and the US Open.

The rugby players? Don’t even think about the summer internationals, from which a combined best XV would scarcely feature any Lions-qualified players. And as for football — well, let’s just pretend the World Cup didn’t happen, shall we? The picture should by now be 4K sharp. Last summer we Brits thought we were swimming serenely in the cool waters of sporting paradise. It turns out we were merely shark-chum. And 2014 has been feeding time. Unless... Unless…

And here we are back at the Commonwealth Games. No matter which way we spin it, this part-populated, Yankless competition lacks the real prestige of other, more glamorous contests. But given all the above, we have to see it now as a last chance to salvage something before this rubbish British sporting summer dribbles out.

It won’t be London 2012 redux, of course: injury, retirement and so on have put a raft of stars out of the running, certainly including Sir Chris Hoy and Cavendish.

World of sport - in pictures

Annual football in the river match
1/40

But there is room for athletes like Wiggins, Tom Daley, Nicola Adams, Christine Ohuruogu and Jessica Ennis-Hill, and rising stars like Katarina Johnson-Thompson, James Dasaolu and Matthew Hudson-Smith to make their names, delight the nation(s) and let us finish off this odd and deflating summer with a woof, rather than a miaow. Keep your fingers crossed.

At odds over this betting ring

So Floyd Mayweather wants a private bet with Marcos Maidana about the outcome of their rematch and Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora are talking about a side bet on their heavyweight title fight. In any other sport but boxing, there would be grave sanctions against athletes betting on their own performance. I know it’s all in the spirit of the hype game but should this be allowed to go on?

Money talks so I'll shut up

Last week this column was expressing its delight that some sanity had been discovered hidden in the Premier League, what with Nike turning down the chance to pump three-quarters of a billion into sponsoring Manchester United. Step forward adidas, to demonstrate that a) I am misguided; b) the world is insane and c) Uefa’s wizard wheeze for saving football — Financial Fair Play — is dead in the water, and probably going to exaggerate, not solve, football’s money problems. Jesus wept.

Germans pull all the right strings

Very few things have pleased me more in recent weeks than seeing Germany winning the World Cup. But Germany winning the World Cup and celebrating with a synchronised display of air guitar? I think I may have just died and been beamed up to die grosse bierhalle in the sky. Unashamed performances of stereotypical national celebration really get me going and this was one from the top, top drawer. (That’s the drawer where we keep all the really awesome stuff.)

Another fine FIFA mess

Odd as it is to agree with Sepp Blatter, the decision to award Lionel Messi the Golden Ball in the World Cup does feel slightly sillier with every passing day. The apparent desire that Messi should be crowbarred into the position of star of the World Cup — even if he didn’t win it and especially despite the fact he looked exhausted in the knock-out stages — is perverse. After all, it’s hardly like anyone doubts his status as one of the most gifted players alive. So, yes, Sepp: really odd.

@dgjones

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in