Sports Ladder (4th - 10th August)

UP - Rory McIlroy - Not a bad week for the young Northern Irishman as he effectively creates an own era for himself. The returning world number one has always had the talent to be the best golfer in the world but has never strung together a run long enough to claim this title. However, after his third consecutive tournament victory, two of these being majors, McIlroy has set himself aside from the rest of the golfing world and become the very best. We are now well and truly in the McIlroy era.

UP - Arsenal - 'Specialists in failure?' Jose Mourinho will be eating his words this week as Arsenal brushed Manchester City aside to win their second trophy in less than three months. It was a commanding display against the League Champions from a side who have been the laughing stock of the top end of the Premier League for so long.. As cliched as it sounds, that FA Cup victory really may open the floodgates for Arsenal and I see them as genuine title champions this year, not just contenders. Wenger certainly knows what he is doing.


UP - England Cricket - We won again! Two weeks in a row! Actual legitimate victories! This time by a whole innings! Insane! No more words are even needed!

UP - Venus Williams - This week must have felt so very pleasing for the eldest Williams sister. For years she has disappeared, cowering in the shadow of her dominant younger sister. Serena has been the number one ranked player ranked female for well over a year now whilst Venus has toiled with injuries and dropped well down in the rankings. However, this week Venus claimed her first triumph over her sister since 2009 and made the final of the Rogers Cup in the process. Unfortunately she lost but we'll ignore that part.

UP - Howard Webb - Referees get a lot of bad press. Most weeks on Match of the Day they are hounded by Linekar and the gang as well as most of the neutrals for poor errors all over the park. This week though, Manchester United, the Premier League mourned the loss of one of its greatest assets in Howard Webb. The veteran became the first of Louis Van Gaal's summer clear out  referee retired from his 25-year career to spend more time with his family. All jokes aside, Webb will be sorely missed.

DOWN - Mark Robins - Football sackings have become a bit of a joke in recent years. Managers fired before Christmas, given no time at all to implement their ideas and no time to at least try and implement some sort of recovery. Mark Robins decided that getting fired ten games into a season was too mainstream though, opting for the more ridiculous choice of leaving after ONE game of the new season. Huddersfield were spanked 4-0 by a rampant Bournemouth side which left Robins out of a job. My head was buried so deep in my hands at this ridiculous news.

DOWN - Andy Murray - After failing to retain his Wimbledon title it looks like Murray doesn't fancy retaining his Sports Personality of the Year award either. Another quarter-final exit in this weeks Toronto Masters sees the Brit make absolutely no ground on his rivals and continue to languish in a mediocre ninth in the world rankings. Despite the appointment of Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, little has changed for the Brit and it looks to be his worst year for a very long time on the court.

DOWN - Legia Warsaw - Picture the scene. 6-1 up on aggregate in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Absolutely cruising. No way for the opposition to come back. So naturally the thing to do is bring on a player who is potentially ineligible to play with just three minutes to go. Another head-in-hands football moment as Warsaw saw themselves thrown out of the Champions League for this rookie mistake. Never underestimate the importance of paperwork.

DOWN - Bernie Ecclestone - The big, or should I say, little man at the head of Formula One made a bit of a tit of himself this week when he decided that the best way to sort out a bribery trial would simply be to buy his way out with an effectively legal form of bribery. Ecclestone was on trial for bribing a company he favoured to buy a stake in F1 and got out of the trial by paying a 100 million Euro buy-out. If that doesn't scream 'guilty' then I really don't know what does.

DOWN - Tiger Woods - Topping this weeks Sports Ladder was Rory McIlroy and his new era so it seemed only fitting to put his predecessor rock bottom after another week to forget. On a generous Valhalla course, Woods looked barely a shadow of his best, finishing on Friday after failing to make the cut by six shots. Plagued with injuries and still not looking focused after his off-the-course personal problems, the era of the legendary Tiger Woods is well and truly over.