Beck-Cam

David Beckham, to the surprise of many, started for Paris Saint Germain in their Champions League match against Barcelona on Tuesday. Beckham has brought his media circus to the French capital since his move from the LA Galaxy. Lucy Howell discusses Beckham’s debut in France, which included a television camera dedicated to him: “Beck-Cam”.

Pom Poms At Parkhead

Grab your pompoms and start dancing, as this years European Cheerleading Championships will be held in our fair city of Glasgow. Nearly 3,000 competitors from 34 countries are expected at the city’s new Emirates Arena for the competition at the end of June and the event is expecting to attract over 2,000 spectators for the two day spectacular.

Poor Show, Sebastian

Team orders have long been a controversial issue in Formula 1. Whether it was McLaren’s orders to David Coulthard to concede title hopes to teammate Mika Hakkinen, or the massive history of Ferrari and Schumacher, team orders have always proven divisive in the sport.

Glasgow’s Hidden Reservoirs

The grey, monotonous appearance of Scotland’s largest city doesn’t scream ‘green energy.’ Quite the contrary – the noise pollution during rush hour traffic, the smog you see rising from factories, the litter lining even the loveliest lanes of the West End all point to Glasgow being a fine candidate for mankiest place to live.

Women and Independence

If you have read a paper, watched the news, or been on campus at all over the past few months, you will be aware of both the Yes Scotland and Better Together campaigns involved in the future of Scotland. The facts are these: there will be a referendum on Scottish independence towards the end of 2014; if successful, Scotland would become independent by 2016. The question will be ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’

North Korea’s Nuclear Ambitions

North Korea is one of only five officially communist countries left in the world, and it’s certainly one with a confused image. Despite the country being parodied and caricatured in popular media, in reality it is in a dire state, with famines so severe that there are persistent rumours of cannibalism, while the military continue to spend billions on new weapons.

Lampard: As Good As His Last Match

When Frank Lampard nodded a header past Jussi Jääskeläinen to give Chelsea the lead against West Ham this weekend, he scored his 13th goal of the season. What is the statistic that you are perhaps more likely to have heard however, is that this was his 200th career goal for Chelsea – leaving him just two goals behind the all-time record for the club, held by legendary striker Bobby Tambling.

Redemption for Tiger Woods?

With a dominant win over a strong field at the World Golf Championships on Sunday, Tiger Woods secured the early season double of the tournaments at Doral and Torrey Pines – something which he has already done four times. Rather ominously for the rest of the golfing world, he always follows it up with a trophy-laden season. In 2005 he followed it by winning six titles – including the Masters and the Open. 2006 saw him win the Open and PGA Championships amongst his eight tournament wins, and in 2007 he won another PGA crown amongst his seven victories. This has led to many commentators to question whether we are now moving into another era of Tiger Woods dominance over the sport.

A Move in the Right Direction, Albeit Nineteen Yards

For a sport known more for their massive behemoths flying through the air, crashing into each other with the might of titans than their movements towards ensuring gender equality, American Football has taken their first step towards embracing the chance of women to play the sport professionally. “Times are changing,” explained the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, when the ban was lifted in December 2011. “The military is about to allow women into combat. If women are going to be fighting on the battlefield, how can we stop them from participating in football? It’s not fair.”

Needless to say, it has split opinion.

Wrestling’s Place in the Olympics Under Severe Threat

The executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have voted by secret ballot to eliminate wrestling from the Olympic Games, beginning in 2020. This decision comes as a bit of a shock to this writer – and not this writer alone. I mean, wrestling is one of the few Olympic events with any real connection to the ancient games. Including both the ancient games and the modern re-incarnation of the Olympics, wrestling has been absent only once. So the decision taken by the committee has taken many a fan – of both wrestling and the Olympics themselves – by complete surprise.