We can be Heroes.5 Sporting Heroes prt 2

3)Steve Ovett.

Moscow Olympics 1980 will mostly be remembered for the USA team boycotting them owing to the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan---Irony Alert---I would suggest that as a result many of the medals won are  effectively devalued in the Athletics especially.Except in the middle distance events where GB ruled at the time.

The Blue Riband event at the Olympics Athletics is the 1,500 metres.GB had Seb Coe and Steve Ovett,along with Steve Cram at Moscow.Arguably the strongest middle distant trio we have ever produced and there's no doubt the competition between them spurred them all on to achieve greater things.

Ovett V Coe...The country was split between them but Coe appeared to be the more clean cut and was generally the housewives choice,especially as he'd broke three world records in a couple of months preceding the games.

Ovett was seen as a bit more of a rebel.Mainly because he did'nt court the media as Coe did---In Hindsight Coe was obviously learning about how to deal with the press for when he became a Tory MP---So there was something mysterious about him and i liked that.

Coe was clear favourite for  the 800 metres with maybe Ovett slight favourite for the 1,500 metres,owing to his greater nous with tactics for the longer race...

It was to general surprise that Ovett stormed the 800 metres race,especially as Coe was the faster man.I was beside myelf with joy when he won the first round of the potential double Gold...

Nobody's perfect and it's probably a good thing if one's hero's are flawed in some way.To be fair to Coe he came back in the next race with determination to win the Gold after the let down of the 800 metres.For whatever reason Ovett was'nt at the races for the 1.500 final.

When the dust settled however to win a Gold & Bronze in possibly the two strongest fields ever for these two middle distance races was a fine return and even though Coe had the last laugh i'll always be an Ovett man...

4)Sir Viv Richards

I used to love watching Viv just walking out to bat.It was a show in itself.A slow gum chewing confident languid stroll out to the middle,always proudly wearing his Windies purple cap,never a helmet.There was only one cricketer this could be;Sir Viv.

Then there was his batting...he was'nt the best but he could be the most destructive and take a game away from any opponents in an hour.He also did it against the best going,Lillie,Imran Khan etc.He was no flat track bully

I have always adored West Indian cricket ever since i went to the Oval in London to see them Versus England in the mid to late 70's.This was in the days before cricket grounds in England became sanitised and the Windies supporters made it a home game for them.They were wildly noisy and fantastically funny.It's a great shame they're now going through a slump.Hopefully one day they will be back.

But they'll never find a new Sir Viv.He was a one off...

Even if you no nothing about Cricket i urge you to watch this wonderful documentary about Viv and also about the unique Windies Cricket.

5)Steve Bull

Bully scores for Wolves.A sight Wolves fans became accustomed to.306 times to be exact.

A true sporting hero should be locally born,bought from your fiercest rivals for virtually nothing and then save the club from years of obscurity by banging in goals galore...

This is what Stephen George Bull did.

Bully was born in Tipton,a tough post industrial Black Country town set in the hinterland between Wolverhampton & West Bromwich.It really is a one (Shire) Horse town.Hard and uncompromising.Much like the man himself.

When he signed for Wolves from West Brom in 1986  for £64,000 along with full back Andy Thompson (who also played about 450 games for Wolves) Wolves were in the bottom six of the bottom division and stoney broke.

Bully was raw,very raw.But he knew where the goal was and would often get a shot away early so not giving the keeper time to position himself.The joke was his first touch was terrible but his second usually ended up in the back of the net...

His first season saw him bag 19 goals as Wolves just missed out on promotion via the Play Offs.However more importantly for the club was the partnership he'd struck up with his fellow forward Andy Mutch---Mutch was bought the previous season for £7,000 from Southport and went on to score over 100 goals for the club---The next two seasons saw Wolves win both the 4th & 3rd division titles with Bully bagging 52 & 50 goals respectively.
This earned him a place in the England 1990 World Cup squad held in Italy and meant that many Wolves fans holiday plans were changed to follow their hero to Italy.I doubt if Tuscany has ever really recovered...

Bully was at the height of his form and fame and many Wolves fans were waiting for the day when he left the club for bigger and better things.But that day never came.He stayed with us as we attempted to reach the premiership for the first time.Sadly that day never came whilst Bully was there despite the fact that he kept banging the goals in...

Speaking with fans of many different clubs at the time and without exception--apart from West Brom fans---they all loved Bully.A rare event in the parochial world of English football.

One story sums up the man.Norwich away.Bully was at his wife's side as she gave birth at about 5am on the morning of the game.The club had no doubt given him the option to stay in Wolverhmpton.However he drove to Norwich--a 4 hour journey--and not only played in the game but cracked in two superb goals.

Bully never played in the top flight with his beloved Wolves and finally retired from the game at the end of the 1998/99 season.He still works at the club in a PR capacity and has one of Molineux's stands named in his honour.

Here's a few of his goals...

Thanks for helping to save my club Bully...