Matthew Hall - Open Season

Gaza and the home ground advantage

Bombs rain down on Gaza, missiles are launched from it into Israel, while the Israeli government bans international media from entering the territory to report on what's really going on.

Paris-Dakar: Wacky Races

Several years ago, living in London, I was invited to a party (don't worry – this gets more interesting) thrown for a friend of a friend who we'll call Jim. Jim was a cavalier kind of guy, prone to whimsy, but maybe more importantly, he usually carried that whimsy through to the finish line. Any finish line.

The way fate has it

Chad Pennington was super-polite on Sunday night. He need not have been.

When Mascots Go Wrong. Best. Present. Ever.

They call it the "silly season", so Open Season takes a look at some sporting mishaps that make us laugh when they really shouldn't. Well, apart from the the silly mascots.

If it's Christmas, it's a list!

An NFL star shoots himself. Nadal switches from right to left. Michael Phelps turns to comedy. Lewis lets off some steam. Ashley poses, and Ana sings karaoke. It all happened in 2008.

Just 13 votes from 24 men

This weekend, FIFA's Executive Committee will sit down in Tokyo and decide whether hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be bid for and decided at the same time.

A Bollywood dream

According to Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda: "It encourages people to dream and gives their talent the full potential that it requires."

How you pay for footy folly

In news that apparently sent shockwaves across the nation, Australia's Federal government will throw around $45 million at Football Federation Australia's bid to bring the 2018 FIFA World Cup Down Under.

Don Doane bowls with the gods

Don Doane will become legend, according to his friends and teammates. He's someone that will never be forgotten.

The strange case of Plaxico Burress

In February, Plaxico Burress became a legend. With 35 seconds left on the clock, the New England Patriots, unbeaten all season, seemed destined to win the 2008 Superbowl.

Myron Rolle and my own inadequate shame

When you compare your everyday life to a guy who aspires to be a brain surgeon, is a Rhodes scholar, and is also a top college football player, it's probably time to take a long, hard look at yourself.

Pretty in pink

I've been informed, admittedly unreliably, that the pressing issues currently facing sport in Australia are the aftermath of something called a rugby league "World Cup" and the errant behaviour of a cricket player.

Now, they all fake it

Simulation, diving, penalty pulling. It has finally emerged that footballers aren't the only ones faking it. Is the sporting world a stage, and all players merely, well, players? Open Season cries foul on faking it in sport.

Sport on the ocean waves

Whilst living it up on the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Florida, Open Season finds that the grass really is greener, strangely on a cruise ship.

When sports stars go good

Open Season finds that not all athletes are obsessed with the money, cars and fame often associated with modern-day sports stars.

Sports in Space

Back in the day, way back in the day, there was a TV show called Lost In Space.

It was compulsory viewing in Perth during the 1970s, at least in my house, and at least if only for Marta Kristen who played Judy Robinson, a role taken up by Heather Graham in the lame 1998 movie version of the classic TV show.

The Audacity of Hoops

On Tuesday afternoon, having voted in the morning, Barack Obama rounded up some close friends and colleagues, shed his Secret Service detail, and went to play two-hours of pick-up basketball in a Chicago gym.

Six hours later, he was President-elect of the United States of America.

Waiting for Lance, Marathon Man

On Sunday, Ilgvars Timbra was not the happiest he's ever been during 38 years of driving a yellow cab around the streets of New York City.

Timbra – we can call him George, apparently – was caught up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, trying to find a passenger for the trip over the East River into Manhattan.

East Timor and the Hunt for the Elusive Win

The result, according to Pedro Almeida, a motorcycle mechanic in Dili, made everyone proud.

East Timor, officially the worst football team in the entire world, had played a competitive game and did not lose.

Compromise: The New World Order

Forget the credit crunch, Sarah Palin, and an Australian dollar lower than Tottenham Hotspurs' Premier League standing.

Actual evidence the world is upside down was revealed last weekend by activities in and around Australian sports stadiums.