No shortage of excitement on world sporting stage in new year

The odd-numbered years are the odd years out in international sports. Or are they?  

In 2005, there will be no Olympics, no Ryder Cup; no World Cup finals or Euro in football. There will be no World Cups in two sports that do exploit the comparative quietness of odd-numbered years – rugby union and cricket. But in the niche-stuffing business of games there is never a real shortage of content, and the best content is also becoming more evenly distributed worldwide.