View From The Bridge

It’s that time of year once again. As the end of another Premier League season draws to a close, pundits and fans all begin to focus on who have been the standout stars from around the league in the last 9 months. Not only is this a time to highlight the achievements of some of footballs rising all-stars but is a dream come true for controversial fans like myself who always like to throw a curveball to upset the nearest Chelsea fan. In that spirit, here are our picks for the 2020-2021 Premier League Team of the Season.  Formation: 4-4-2  Goalkeeper: Edouard Mendy (Chelsea)  After a rough start to the year for Chelsea which saw them drop to 9th, putting them solidly in Arsenal territory, the emergence and signing of Edouard Mendy has become a major contributing factor to the clubs continued success. In 27 appearances, Mendy ranks 2nd in the Premier League for fewest goals conceded (22) and has kept 15 clean sheets in his time at Stamford Bridge. His influence in between th...

Welcome to Hot Take! This new series aims to become the hub of quick controversial opinions here on View From The Bridge that will either enrage or delight (but most probably the former!). Unlike other series here on VFTB, Hot Take is powered by YOU! Follow and comment on our Instagram for a chance to see your very own controversial Hot Take included on both our website and app!  Friday 23rd April - Russell Westbrook Should Win This Year's NBA MVP   I'll admit it. When this one first came up in conversation, I just heard crickets and rolling tumbleweed before thunderous laughter followed. However, like most on the conversations I seem to have with this weeks Hot Take producer Aaron Sparrowhawk, the more sense he seems to make.  The 2021 NBA season is on track to produce one of the most tightly contested MVP races we have seen in recent years. At no point did I ever think that Russell Westbrook would be included in this conversation but as the games roll by he's starting t...

To say that the 'Super League' has been met with mixed reactions would be an understatement. Millions of football fans, pundits, players, and former managers have voiced their joint "disgust" toward the creation of the new breakaway league that aims to create another opportunity for big-name clubs to clash on a more regular basis. On paper, who wouldn't want to see Liverpool vs Barcelona or Manchester City vs Juventus on a weekly basis? Unfortunately, the idea has been utterly torched just because a couple of old school football pundits say it's wrong. So, just before you jump up on the hate bandwagon, let's set a few things straight.  The European Super League already has the signatures of 12 top football clubs which include Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan. The basic concept is that these clubs will break away from UEFA competi...

It's official. Stephen Curry has reached 'video game' level. Over a recent 5-game span, Curry has hit 44 3-pointers, the most ever in NBA history and 10 more than the Orlando Magic - an entire NBA franchise.  At the age of 33, he has also matched Kobe Bryant's record for the most consecutive games averaging 30+ points over the age of 30 (10). In my opinion, in his current form, Steph "Video Game" Curry may be the most deadly offensive threat the NBA has ever seen.  Just before I see "WhAt AbOuT LeBrOn!?" or "WhAt AbOuT Mj!?" in the comment section let's just clarify something first. We are in an era of basketball that is all-encompassed by the use of the 3-pointer. NBA teams take more three's, make more three's - hell, if it isn't a three, most players won't even shoot it. The reasoning behind this whole concept pretty simple. 3 points are better than 2 and the team who can make the most 3's will ultimately end up wi...

Racism in sport is worse than it has even been previously. For many, sport is a platform. Some use it as a place to display greatness and achievement. Some use it for political agenda's or propaganda. But some use it to abuse others, and for one reason or another, racial abuse is a continued form of mistreatment that remains largely unpunished within pro-sport.  Now, by "unpunished", I don't mean that any racial abuse is quickly swept under the carpet and forgotten. Governing bodies have taken major steps in minimising the racial abuse that professional athletes may receive by launching campaigns such as the Premier Leagues "No Room for Racism" and "Black Lives Matter".  Penalities for fans or athletes who continue to engage in racism can be given a plethera of punishments that include fines, stadium bans, point deductions, or even arrests. Although this has slightly improved the behaviour of fans in attendance, the athletes themselves are actually...

Picture this. You're an NBA rookie in 1989. You've excelled at every level and have continued to perform amongst the best in the world. Hell, you might even be a shout for the Rookie of the Year! However, one quick trip to Detroit and you come away with a couple of bruised ribs, a bloody nose and a twisted ankle - and that's if you're lucky. This is the home of the Bad Boy Piston's, a team born into hate that houses some of the NBA's greatest ever basketball hitmen and at their very centre (quite literally) is Bill Laimbeer - a man that would rather put you on a stretcher than allow a basket.   At 6'11" and 245lbs, Laimbeer didn't fuss around with providing big-time buckets or dishing out flashy assists - he left that to his All-Star teammates Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman. Instead, he was tasked with one simple goal, to stop opposing players by any means necessary. To you and I, that might mean a hard foul here and there and maybe the odd bit of t...

It's always easy to pick the favourite, and with big names like Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson  lining up on Thursday's first tee, it's easy to see why only a lucky few chose Hideki Matsuyama, a 40/1 underdog, to win the 2021 Masters. For that lucky few, this meant a nice early payday and maybe even a cheeky glass of champagne, but for Matsuyama, this means much more than his first major win - it signals the birth of a new golfing nation.  Matsuyama became the first male Japanese winner of a major golf tournament this past weekend, a mantle he shared with fellow countryman  Tsubasa Kajitani  who pulled away to win the women's Masters on Saturday . For those of you who didn't manage to catch Matsuyama's historic 3rd round, it's probably worth the google. After recording an impressive 69 during round 1 and a 70 during round 2, he headed into day three at -4 and barely a head turned in his direction. To be fair, most of the heads had turned to tournament lea...

Here are some simple NBA testimonials for you.  4 x Defensive Player of the Year.  5 x NBA All-Star. 2 x NBA Rebound Leader. 1 x NBA Champion. 1 x Jersey Retirement.  On paper, these are the credentials of a basketball Hall of Famer for sure, and in the minds of many, Ben Wallace is just that. However, a spot next to some of the NBA's greatest ever talents still eludes him, despite winning more defensive accolades than Dennis Rodman and Michael Jordan combined. So why exactly is Big Ben not in the basketball Hall of Fame.  Well for starters, Wallace wasn't exactly the go-to guy on any NBA offence. During his 16 year career, he never averaged double digits in scoring throughout any 82 game season and retired as one of the NBA's worst ever free throw shooters (41%) - yes, even worse than Shaq (52.7%). Nevertheless, Big Ben didn't throw in the towel because he struggled to put the ball in the basket. Instead he built his Hall of Fame case on a single foundation - defenc...

From 2007-2019, every Champions League semi-final appearance featured the talents of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. This stat alone is more than enough to cement them amongst some of the greatest talents that football has ever seen, but in recent years this talent has gone stale. With Messi\"s Barcelona squad failing to reach a Champions League Final since 2014 and Ronaldo continuing to struggle at Juventus, the world has been on the lookout for the future of football. It is without a doubt that Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland are that future.  In the most recent Champions League campaign, Messi\"s Barcelona saw an eased exit against Mbappe\"s PSG, in which the Frenchman netted 4 goals over 2 legs. Similarly, Haaland smashed 5 past Sevilla over 2 legs, pushing Dortmund into their first Champions League quarter-final since 2017.  In my mind, these acts represented a lot more than a space in this year\"s quarter-finals - it\"s the changing of the guard.   Mb...

The Triangle Offence. Made famous by the 90's Bulls and Kobe's Lakers, few single offences have created so much strategical success over nearly 60 years. On the surface the basis is simple, to create as many scoring opportunities for every player on the floor - every pass and every cut with has an intent purpose. In a time of post-game and mid-range masters, the triangle offence created order out of chaos and was the driving force behind many championship successes. However, as time has passed and the game of basketball has changed, a once-dominant offence has turned obsolete and died right in front of our very eyes.  Now I don't mean dead as in it passed away peacefully in its sleep and had a nice funeral service. I mean dead as in it was thrown in the back of a car and pushed off a bridge - a complete cold-case. One minute it was winning titles, the next is was in every coaches waste paper basket. So what happened?  It all started at the University of South California wit...

In terms of motorised dominance, John Surtees sure gave it a good go. He remains the only person ever to win world championships on both two and four wheels and holds an infamous reputation for walking away from Enzo Ferrari. There is no question - from his inaugural race in 1950 to his retirement in 1972, he established himself as one of the greatest racing drivers who had ever lived.  To truly break down the man's success, it's probably simplest to divide his success into 3 sections - Motorcycles, Formula One, and Le Mans.  On two wheels, Surtees was pretty much unstoppable. From 1956 to 1960, he won 68 out of the 76 races he entered on both 350cc and 500cc engines and won seven world championships for the famed Italian MV Augusta. As the son of a British Motorcycle Champion, it was destined for the man from Tatsfield, England to follow in the family business and by the time he was 11 he had already had the technical proficiency of any professional mechanic and rider. In add...

$1.1 Billion.  This is the total profit that the NCAA generated in 2019 - 79% of it coming from March Madness TV rights alone ($857.5 million). So, where does this money go? Well, other than salaries for NCAA employees, it's mostly divided up between coaching salaries and university student finance support. The athletes themselves? They never even see a dime.  As a multi-billion dollar industry, you would think that the NCAA could at least financially recognise the players that make their business so successful. However, as every Division 1 athlete knows, making money under the noses of the NCAA is a surefire way to get you kicked off that scholarship you worked so hard for. However, considering this is one of the most disputed and controversial topics in modern sport, let's weigh up the pros and cons.  Right now, NCAA players generate no financial income from competing in college basketball. This includes receiving money for playing, funding for training, accepting prize...