Sports 'n' All � Number 2: The Return

Hello again SABers and it's good to be back for a second week of sports commentary and a general look at how things are shaping up in the sporting world.

Firstly, again, yes sorry about this but it's Wimbledon. Not the rain this time but a tribute to possibly the happiest person in the tournament this week. Ana Ivanovic scrapped her way back from match point down to beat Nicole Vaidisova in the women's quarter finals. I can safely say I've not seen anyone that happy since I last watched Peter Kay doing standup. A lot of players are reserved when they win or maybe pump their fist a few times. Miss Ivanovic however genuinely looked like her biggest dream had just come true. I don't know about you but I find that strangely reassuring that someone can do that in this age of cutthroat sport.

Following on from Darren Bent's inclusion in last week's blog I'm turning my beady eye (my other eye is quite normal) on Carlos Tevez. Like a lot of people I found it very strange that Tevez was 'owned' by a company, it makes it sound rather like Tevez sold his soul to be a professional footballer. No doubt he will cost in the region of �20 million, which would bring United's summer spending to a eye-bulging �67 million. For four players.

All you United fans bear in mind that, for the same money, you could buy the most expensive private island in the world (�37 million), Vatu Vatu Island in Fiji with its extinct volcano that slopes down to a unspoiled blue lagoon with a coral reef and sandy beaches. Fear not about stopping there because you would still have enough money left to buy the 1518 Renaissance period Raphael painting that sold at Christies for �18 million recently. Oh, not forgetting that with the remaining money you could celebrate by buying 631 bottles of Macallan Fine & Rare 1926 whiskey (�19,000 a bottle). Imagine the party you could have with that lot, well, apart from the painting anyway.

Anyway enough about football. Cycling is about to hit the back pages with the start of the Tour De France this weekend. Of all the sports out there cycling has been hit hardest by doping scandals, indeed it seems that no conversation about the sport can happen without drugs being brought up. It would be nice to get through a year in the sport without someone deciding they will try to beat the system. I'm no prude but surely they need to have an overhaul of the drugs testing procedures, otherwise people will see that there are loopholes to get through and they will continue to dope up race after race.

On a happier note, darts player Andy Fordham is well on the way to recovery. He has even thrown his first darts since having operations to remove 18 litres of fluid from the side of his lung. So look forward to seeing him taking on the best in the world on TV again soon.

Sheffield is to host the World Diving Championships this September in what must be another coup for British sport. My only question about diving is how did anyone first realise they were good at it, and at what point would you think to make it into a competition. Maybe this was the conversation 'Dave, I just jumped off the cliff but I flipped round three times before hitting the water like a bullet', 'Oh, right, no way. We should tell more people about this, maybe the whole village would like to take it up'. Well, however it happened it's now a fixture in the sporting calendar.

And that is it for another blog. I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any suggestions of stories to cover or sports to include then please contact me by clicking the link below. Have a good week and I'll be back sooner than you think. Well�..next week.