'Sport' Weekend

What a weekend of Sports, it turned out to be? If i was into betting, i would have lost everything including the $138 billion of the GoI forex reserves. It didn't seem too bad to start with, I went up to the British Council Library and forked some good greenbacks for a membership and spent the next 1 hour, a little disappointed with the book collection. As I checked the library, i noticed that most of the good books were out for a long stroll.

Saturday evening & i tuned in to watch the Ban Vs Aus match. I joined late & watched the Bangla reply begin & was quite surprised to see Aussies score only 249. I was stunned & thought it was a good batting pitch & when i tuned in, a batsman lost temper and Bangla were reduced to 49/2. I thought, there go the minnows and when i returned after a 'healthy' after dinner snack (subject of another blog), there was a match on hand (70+ required of 60+). I enjoyed the chase & it was incredible to see the Aussies lose. The same was the way, they lost 3 quickies in the England Australia match. One minute, it was a good song & Aussie were 57/0 and when the song ended (Shaun's Tanha Dil), it was 58/3 and it was soon followed by a blinder from Collingwood. That sealed the fate of the Aussies and did not tune in for the rest of the match

I was focused on the US F1 GrandPrix and it numbed me that there were only 6 cars that came on the track. Shame on the F1 management! My notes on the US Grand Prix Fiasco-

• Culprit 1: Michelin Tyres - Your business, as contracted is to build tyres, not reengg circuits. I mean, how can you not bring in reliable tyres for the GrandPrix & you certainly have no right to speak on what others contributed to the confusion
• Culprit 2: F1 Owners - How can you suggest that a chichane be added in the 11th hour. Anyways, what is the logic on veto voting. I guess, a 7/10 is sufficient to implement any decision taken
• Culprit 3: Bernie & Max - Please come down from the ivory towers & mingle with the fee paying crowd. If you knew about the tyres earlier in the weekend, it was your responsibility to fix the issue and not blame everyone but you.
• Culprit 4: Jordan - Proved that a few points in the bag are more important than agreement with others. Suits fine with me. But consider this, if you did not take to the race, Minardi would not have & that would have left Ferrari all alone on the track. Wouldn't that force Ferrari's hands?
• Culprit 5: Ferrari - While i do understand Ferrari's stance. It is like everyone in class asking the one student who is prepared, to agree to alter the format of the exam because they were not well prepared. However, Ferrari have won no friends and lost any, with their attitude. Please remember, there is something called following the spirit of the rule

If i was there, i would have given the choice of changing the tyres during the race (suspend the rule of the year) as well as impose a 4 places/ change drop in the qualifying of next race. That would mean that Bridgestone tyres can go around without change in tyres while Michelin fellows would change tyres (lose time in the current race as well as lose place in next race)

Another thing, while the crowd were justified in feeling bad, it still gives them no excuse to throw objects on the field. What if the tyre burst on impact and caused harm to the driver. Remember the Concorde accident was caused by debris on the runway puncturing a tyre. A punctured tyre has a potential to lead to catastrophic results on a race circuit.

A few thoughts on the race & such:

• What was MS doing, putting RB on the grass. It was downright bad & could have led to a retirement if RB did not yield. Some good luck used MS & you don't pull tricks like these on teammates
• As per my last blog, F1 Gods are out to see a 8th title from Schumi. Why else the Michelin fiasco happened?
• Ferrari are the only winners of the US grand prix and it would be such a disaster for other teams, if Ferrari go on to win the constructor's championship. If Ferrari can do in such a bad year, nightmare of 2004 domination will resurface again in forthcoming seasons.
• Any titles to MS, Ferrari in this season & the focus would be on the points gained in US GP. That will not add to the glamour of the game
• The big losers are Alonso & Kimi. MS has caught up with you folks & he looms larger than where he was 2 races ago
• This championship is turning out to be the best since i started following the game in 1997.

With F1 turning to farce, Cricket pummeled by Aussie bad performance, i was looking to football for some action & lo, behold - Mexico defeated Brazil

What a sporting weekend!