Is F1 Running Out Of Gas?

A busy week for the Almost Daily Sports Blog. Three posts! You'd know exams are around the corner....


So Honda have withdrawn from Formula One. Wow. the credit crunch has bit hard on the world's most glamorous sport. That a car manufacturer should decide to leave a luxury sport in a time of economic down turn is not surprising. What is surprising is the timing of the announcement. Honda were said to be close to having a much improved 2009 and, under Ross Brawn, had tested next year's car in Barcelona in recent weeks.

There are still hopes that a buyer can be found for the team, particularly since the car giant are expected to be willing to take a nominal fee to shift the team from it's books. Yet in such a recession, who in their right mind would be willing to take on a team that has an annual operating budget of almost $500m??

I've been following Formula One for over fifteen years. My earliest memories are of private racing teams winning Grands Prix (Ferrari aside). Williams were the dominant team then, today they are small. This is due to the advancement into the sport of giant car manufacturers. They viewed F1 as an expensive advertisement for the superiority of their cars. Yet now, when the cash runs tight, F1 could be the first thing they drop.

I have it on good authority that there are three more teams in danger of dropping out of the sport in the short-to-mid term. That turns the sport into a farce. Who would watch 12 cars race for two hours?

The problem is not just that teams are pulling out, but that it is impossible for teams to join. Eddie Jordan started Jordan F1 and scored points the first time his cars went to the grid. That could not happen today due to the exponential increase in spending that the sport has seen. And now the cash has dried up, so that money is even more difficult to come by. It is a vicious circle. I do not see a way out. The 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix may yet turn out to be the sport's grand farewell...

Thinkin' Of Z

I'm a little slow on this one - it's a busy week in college, and in my own personal life too. On Monday, Peter King announced in his Monday Morning QB article on si.com that the much-loved Dr. Z is recovering from two strokes he suffered on November 20th and 21st. The title was aptly Dr. Z is best football writer of our time. Simple, truthful.

I'd just like to pass on my very best to Paul Zimmerman and Linda, The Flaming Redhead. Z is a great writer, though that's almost irrelevant at a time when his health is at stake, something obviously far more important. Describing Z to a non-football fan just now, I described his impact like this.

There's just so many run of the mill writers today that don't contribute anything to an articles and then there's grumpy farts like Z who's pieces tread that delicate line between being factual and insightful while retaining an input from the writer's actual personality.

I'm a grumpy fart too. That's a compliment toZ in a rant from me. What I would love is to have his deft choice of language, his humour and most importantly his knowledge and passion for the sport. Z picked the Giants to win XLII you know, and he in a style which encapsulates the man.

As an Irish American Football fan who has learned so much about the sport and its history from Z, and someone who would love one day to be paid to write about sport, I genuinely hope that we'll get to read his views on XLIII as well.

Get better Z.

Golden Goodbye For Oscar?

So Oscar De La Hoya has said that he's not going to retire after he fights Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on Saturday, preferring instead to fight Ricky Hatton in Wembley next year.

Christ. Another clown and another travelling circus. Just what boxing needs.

I really couldn't use any other picture....

Oscar burst onto the scene at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 as a blubbering young man not long off burying his mother. His sad story captured America's heart (oh what we'd give for another boxer to do the same now... a Heavyweight per chance... Too bad Dick Ebersol doesn't think boxing deserves a spot on NBC any more...) and within two years he hadbecome a Champion. Since then, the Golden Boy has won titles at five weights and has undoubtedly become the sport's biggest pay-per-view star.


Saturday's fight was to be his goodbye, in a town where he is loved, against a 'name' fighter that he should soundly beat because of their difference in size. Sure, Manny will have the speed, but as we saw in Hatton's recent demolition of Paulie Malignaggi, power is king.


Oscar will win on Saturday. The fight will do reasonable business - lower than expected on account of the downturn but probably somewhere near 1,000,000 buys at $54.95, pleasing bosses of HBO. And then... Oscar won't go. In a comeback as unwelcome as Hendrix's vomit, he'll be back next year, for another 'one last fight.'



I love boxing. It is art. I mean that. Nothing beats the purity of the sport and nothing matches the excitement of two gladitorial copmetitors giving their all. Yet as a business, it has many failings, among them the reluctance of a former star refusing to go away.


Oscar - go away.


You've got money, you've got a family and most importantly you have your health. You've given the sport some and taken away a lot more. Fight Saturday, win Saturday and then (and I mean this with all the love and goodwill in the world), fuck off.

The Best Sporting Event No One Follows

One of the best and most undercovered events of the year is taking place this weekend. The European Tour Qualifying School Final is taking place in Girona in Spain. It won't get much coverage - I'm pretty sure it's not on TV, while the website of the European Tour itself isn't giving the Tournament much prominence.

Yet this is golf, and indeed sport, at it's purest. Men, and their caddies, playing for a living, for a livelihood. I'd love to talk about the stories but they're difficult to find out! I'd love to advocate that you follow it but, again, that's not the easiest thing to. The drama is easy to imagine though. One putt, one hooked shot, one lucky bounce could be the difference between getting a Card and not. Sure, it's for money rather than winning, but it's an event where dreams can come true...or not.

Yet I shall say this - good luck to the Irish who are competing in Girona this week. The Almost Daily Sports Blog wishes long, straight and true shots onto Michael McGeady, Simon Thornton, Michael Hoey and Johnathon Caldwell.

And for the rest of you, check out the account of the USPGA Final Qualifying School Tournament in John Feinstein's A Good Walk Spoiled. A compelling read, and a great book.

Fantastic F1 Finale In Store

Lewis v. Felipe.


McLaren v. Ferrari.


Tomorrow's Brazilian Grand Prix promises to be special. World Title deciders often fail to deliver but tomorrow's could be special. Today's Qualifying has thrown up a grid that should give us an interesting struggle for Hamilton, and the weather (80% chance of rain according to weather.com) will also give us another wild card to deal with.

I've been lucky this year to have attended two Grand Prix. Thanks to the fine people at Bridgestone for that one! I won't pretend that gives me an insight into the Championship battle, but I did on both occasions get to see Lewis up close. He is an affable guy, one who represents the sport well. In Barcelona he was good enough to show up and lend his support to the GP2 Series, while in Monza I personally witnessed him laugh at Italian fans who heckled him as he entered the paddock.

I'll still be pulling for Massa though. I've a bet on him.

Either way, most importantly and in all seriousness, my one true wish is for a good race, a tight battle and for a lack of controversy, something which has been all too prevident this season.

* * *

Also, as a quick aside, tomorrow's race will be the last covered by ITV in the UK for the foreseeable future. From 2009, the contract returns to what many call the sport's spiritual home at the BBC. I, for one, was delighted when I heard the news but tomorrow will nonetheless be an era for fans of the sport. ITV are unlikely to have a grand farewell like the BBC did in 1996 (though I did like the montage before today's Qualifying session) but when tomorrow's race ends, I know I will not be the only Formula 1 fan from this part of the world thanking Mark, Ted, Martin, Steve and even James for their work over the past 12 seasons.

There's Hope For Me Yet!

If this woman can get a job then surely even I can too!!




What a gaffe. God bless Youtube!

Yours,
Gavin Grace....your potential employee!

Time To 'Execute' Racism in Boxing

You have to learn one thing. You have to learn that slickness that black fighters have and then you'll really be a great champion.

Bernard Hopkins, speaking to Kelly Pavlik after winning their non-title 170 pound fight on Saturday.

What can you say about Bernard Hopkins? From the moment he entered the ring in Atlantic City on Saturday night, wearing (for the first time in many a year) his trademark Executioner mask, we should have known something was up.


What a performance.


For those of you who didn't see it, B-Hop dominated Pavlik from start to finish with a comfortable unanimous decision. I had it 118-107 but in truth it didn't matter - this was a (surprising) whitewash.


However, his comments after the fight (shown above, taken from Dan Rafael's account of the fight on espn.com) are sickening. Coming from the man who said he would 'never lose to a white boy' before he fought Joe Calzaghe, this is another racist statement which should not be tolerated.


I have no problem with Bernard as a fighter. Sure, he's not the most exciting to watch, but to see him mentally as well as physically deconstruct an opponent is a great sight. It is art. Yet for this statement to go virtually unnoticed is a disgrace.


Bernard - you are a first ballot Hall of Famer. In a time when boxing shoots itself in the foot with alphabet soup organisations and too many champions, you were for many years an undisputed champion in one of it's key divisions. In terms of dominance and superiority, you were a throwback to halycon fighters such as Sugar Ray Robinson and Carlos Monzon. Yet statements such as this, as well as your chequered history, make you unlikeable as a human being.


Now, more then ever, boxing needs strong leaders in the ilk of Ali, Louis and Marciano. MMA, though I don't rate it myself, has become a threat. It is taking money and attention out of boxing. Yet it is struggling as well, and in the fight of the pugilistic disciplines, 'faces' would go a long way. These men need to be likable, these men need to be exciting and, Bernard, it makes no difference if they're black or white.

Baseball = Politics?

Saw this picture just now, over here.

Is it a case of the second one will be right?

Or, one down one to go?

I know which one I want... but I won't say. Sport and politics should never mix... ;)

Agony and Ecstacy

So why do we like sport? That's a question I'm often asked. I'm passionate about my sport, just ask anyone who knows me, including Ash who's on the couch beside me watching the Gilmore Girls... and she says I'm sad.

This weekend I experienced the highs and the lows of sport, the reason that I follow teams, sportsmen, my country, my province.

On Saturday night the Chicago Cubs were dumped out of the MLB Playoffs by the Dodgers. Another sweep. Christ.. Now I'm not the biggest Cubbie in the world. I'm only a recent convert. Nonetheless, I really wanted them to win this year. It would have been great symmetry, 100 years after their last World Series win, five years after Steve Bartman. However, it was not to be.

By the way, Ozzie... Fuck you too.

Then, less than 24 hours later, Connacht took on Leinster in the Magners League in rugby. Oh Connacht... being a fan of the worst province in is the definition of a labour of love. We are given less money then every other team, and are less successful then the others also. Yet sometimes...sometimes the underdog wins. That was last night. Connacht beat Leinster 19-18. It was amazing. I cried. Genuinely, I cried. It was beautiful.

That's why I love sport. Joy, despair.. I laughed, I cried. It was everything that sport should be about. It was life at it's purest. Sport gives us moments we yearn for, ranges of emotion that re only otherwise hit in times such as family deaths, births and weddings. My life is sport. Sport is my life.

Lance Is Back

Astana? Astana? I've blogged about Lance before. I'm not a fan, but if his comeback brings attention to the world of cycling, in a positive way, then great. But to go to a team with the history of Astana....? Jeez Lance. You're making loving you even harder then I thought possible.