Formula 1 has lost its charm, fix please!

It's all been pretty strange with F1 of late... I personally haven't watched most of this year because of lack of TV coverage where I am, weirdo timezones but ultimately because I haven't cared much.

From my perspective that's a strong statement (not caring about F1). I've been F1 crazy since around '96, I think my obsession peaked during varsity but I'm slowly falling out of love with F1. Why? Well I'd summarise it as follows; too much bullshit!!!

Let me try and explain:

F1 has always had its conspiracies, think Damon Hill vs Schumacher at Adelaide '94, think Villeneuve vs Schumacher at Jerez '97 think... ok screw this I'd go on forever if I have to continue like this. But during those times, I loved it. F1 had elements of excitement, intrigue and passion all rolled up into one.

What's changed in the past couple of years though is all this off-track political and espionage crap! As funny (and disturbing) as it was to watch Max go all Nazi S&M on us, we've witnessed too much politics in what is essentially a spectator sport. One or two I could handle but the combination of all of them (pick one: 2005 - Michelin fiasco /2006 - Renault Mass Dampers /2008 McLaren Stepney Gate/2009 - The double diffuser saga, Hamilton's Liar Gate, Flavio's Crash gate) makes me physically sick just thinking about it.

2009 really has been a low, no disrespect to Brawn, Button and Redbull Racing, but it's been hard to really care for F1 when I as a spectator feel so disillusioned by the sport. Some might say that because McLaren have sucked this year I've lost interest. I can promise you this isn't true, if you ask me, my favourite seasons of F1 have to be 2003, with the old memories of the '97 and '98 seasons coming in second and third (McLaren only had success in one of those three seasons - '98). Anyway, back to my point...

Now that I think about it, it's a combination of a few things that've made F1 suck:

• The off-track politics (detailed above)
• Tracks - Hands up, how many people would prefer Bernie's 20 races a year at 17 snoozefest exotic Hermann Tilke tracks at the expense of SpaFrancochamps, Suzuka, Hockenheim and the old Osterreichring in Austria which in my opinion epitomise the essence of F1. New locations like Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Singapore and Valencia have all been quite honestly horrible in terms of providing good racing. Dare I say it, but of Tilke's works, only Turkey and Malaysia has provided spectators with something worth watching (and with Malaysia, that's partly because of the storms we get there).
• Schumi - Was Schumi (not Ralf) that important for F1? I think so, judging by the excitment generated by his non-return to the grid to replace the injured Massa. But we really must try move on! Scrap this point - oh, now Kimi's gone too :(
• The FIA Stewards- what a lol! don't get me started
• The manufacturers - They really have stirred up more kak than providing us with something to cheer about. In fairness to them, they did try though. Atleast Honda and the departing BMW have set up some sort of continuity with takeovers (Brawn/Mercedes and Sauber). Same can't be said for Toyota, seems they've wasted both their time and ours since they joined F1... pity.
• Crazy yo-yo rule changes with qualifying, refuelling, penalites, etc...
• Certain cost cutting ventures - Sure you must cut costs in these times (I think the limited engine and gear box rules have been a success), but KERS for example has cost many millions in its development and is now scrapped after a solitary season.

Hope

Amid all this crap, there does seem to be some hope for the future of F1.

• The FIA has undergone a proper restructuring, Jean Todt at the top sounds alot better than Max Mosely. Together with running a better organisation, Todt should hopefully address the stewarding and rule change issues. Time will tell I guess.
• Contrary to what it sounds like, the exit of some manufacturers from the sport might not exactly be a disaster. The return of the era of private teams is back on the cards. The entrants for next year include Lotus, Campos, USF1, Manor, Force India, Redbull, Toro Roso and McLaren together with the manufacturer teams of Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault.
• Who knows, I might be back in GMT+2 :P

I don't know if the above will fix anything, but here's hoping...

To summarise, I wanna see is some good old fashioned racing, I wanna see drivers fighting each other after a crash, I wanna see last lap heroics. I don't want industrial espionage, I don't want teams telling their drivers to crash into a wall and I really don't wan't wanna see what FIA presidents do in their spare time.

Roll on 2010!

JUST BELIEF!

The title of this blog entry are two words I'd like to live by. Sure it's not always easy to be blindly optimistic when you see no avenues of hope but a little faith goes a hell of a long way!

Be it in your professional or personal lives, whether it's regarding religion, relationships, frie(n)dships, health, wealth or a combination of any of the mentioned, life throws you rotten naartjies all the time. You just gotta know that this will never change. The good inevitably comes with some bad, I think your attitude during the tough times plays a big part in the overall balance of what comes your way. Contrary to what it'll initially feel like, the bad will eventually help you grow (I believe it's called 'Life Experience' these days :) ).

Chin up, don't wallow or things will end up like a dark C&H strip (that you can't laugh at).

We've all had our fair share of the crap. You'll get through it, really you will! There's a bigger picture, a bigger plan. 'Don't forget our friend fate, it could disappear without a trace.' (Aren't The Parlotones awesome?!)

Just BELIEF... and it will be true!

p.s - I can't claim that phrase as my own, credit goes to White Rob - thanks :)

Bash.org

I thought I should share this gem from bash.org

http://bash.org/?904983 (link removed)

[ matteo_italia ]: sara i know you want my coc

[ matteo_italia ]: sara why do you kiss so much coc?

[ supersara ]: ...

[ bereco ]: why are u asking about coc?

[ supersara ]: ask him...

[ matteo_italia ]: sara

[ matteo_italia ]: u love large black cic

[ matteo_italia ]: coc

[ supersara ]: loser

[ matteo_italia ]: evreybody says u suck coc

[ bereco ]: wtf

[ matteo_italia ]: i don t care if u swallow

[ matteo_italia ]: ur life

[ matteo_italia ]: ur problem

[ bereco ]: i think matteo swallows

[ verseker ]: supersara sucks coc

[ verseker ]: she sucked mine

[ matteo_italia ]: yes she sucks coc

[ verseker ]: I have it on video

[ matteo_italia ]: really'''?????????''

[ verseker ]: I am a sleeper mod

[ bereco ]: i have matteo wanking on video

[ matteo_italia ]: SARA U R A BYTCH

[ matteo_italia ]: bereco she is ur fat mom

[ bereco ]: matteo sucks julius malema

[ verseker ]: yeah i sent it to bereco he saw it

[ matteo_italia ]: THAT FAT BYTCH MOM OF BERECO

[ matteo_italia ]: AND BLACK

[ bereco ]: i think matteo is sad cus of his teeny weeny

[ mørkeulv ]: now this conversation dosnt sound nice

[ matteo_italia ]: ASK UR MOM

[ matteo_italia ]: HE BEGANS

[ bereco ]: matteo, stop playing with yourself while on castlewars

[ matteo_italia ]: SHUT THE HELL UP

[ matteo_italia ]: U BEGAN

[ bereco ]: i know the cards get u randy

[ verseker ]: morkeulv bereco started this... he always is racist and

insulting

[ bereco ]: what?!

[ mørkeulv ]: do i have to ban u bereco

[ matteo_italia ]: YES

[ verseker ]: YES

[ matteo_italia ]: YES

[ bereco ]: excuse me?

[ verseker ]: please he always mocks my mom

[ matteo_italia ]: HE ALWAYS BEGAN

[ bereco ]: WHAT!

[ matteo_italia ]: YES

[ verseker ]: yes

[ verseker ]: BAN BERECO

[ matteo_italia ]: HE IS RACIST WITH ME COS I M ITALIAN WANKER

[ bereco ]: i do believe there was a discussion running b4 i arrived

[ matteo_italia ]: BAN BERECO

[ bereco ]: matteo was sexually harassing supersara

[ verseker ]: BAN BERECO

[ matteo_italia ]: LIER

[ mørkeulv ]: bereco yout comments has been quite rude

[ matteo_italia ]: BERECO PLEASE DON T SPEAK ME MORE

[ matteo_italia ]: I DON T LIKE U

[ matteo_italia ]: U R ALWAYS RUDE AND RACIST

[ verseker ]: neither do i

[ bereco ]: matteo please go jump off a cliff

[ bereco ]: you made fun of me for being black

[ verseker ]: he tried to harrass my girlfriend

[ matteo_italia ]: WHY R U RUDE

[ matteo_italia ]: LEAVE ME ALONE

[ verseker ]: lets all be friends

[ verseker ]: please

[ bereco ]: verseker i like you

[ matteo_italia ]: YES HE TRIED TO HARRASS VERSEKER S GF

[ matteo_italia ]: NOW LEAVE ME ALONE

[ verseker ]: castle wars is such a great game until he came along

[ mørkeulv ]: well ill make it simpe for you the next one that comes with a

rude comment is going to be banned.

[ matteo_italia ]: READ BERECO

[ verseker ]: yeah bereco

[ matteo_italia ]: YEAH READ

[ bereco ]: shame matteo, your maturity is beyond shocking

[ verseker ]: i think some reprimand should be in order for previous insults

[ matteo_italia ]: STOP INSULT ME BERECO

[ matteo_italia ]: LEAVE ME ALONE

[ bereco ]: i love copy and paste

[ matteo_italia ]: U WRITE U DON T COPY

[ matteo_italia ]: NOW LEAVE ME

[ matteo_italia ]: RACIST

[ matteo_italia ]: AND I DON T WANNA READ ANYTHING ABOUT MY HOOKER MOM

PLEASE. ITS NOT HER FAULT SHE'S A DIRTY WHORE

[ bereco ]: my poor poor matteo

[ matteo_italia ]: LEAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[ matteo_italia ]: RACIST NIGGER

[ bereco ]: allow me to post this history online

State of the nation...

(doesn't anyone else really miss good old 'W'?)

There have been vicious rumours circling the web regarding the locating of brotha and that whereisbrotha is now dead and obsolete... I'm here to tell you that NONE OF IT IS TRUE!

Yes it's true that Lacost thought he saw Brotha from behind at a party one night, but it turned out to be a VW Touareg. Yes it's true that Ice thought he saw Brotha at an IPL game, but thatn just turned out to be Dwayne Leverock. Yes it's true that Jedi hasn't visited this blog in over 3 months =/

But the hunt for brotha continues, so please keep those anonymous tips coming on 0800-789-BROTHA!!! We are counting on your assistance in the hunt for the infamous and ever allusive brotha.

In the meantime however, let us take stock of the first 5 months since the inception of whereisbrotha following the 2am miracle and the recent events that have befallen the whereisbrotha team.

Ice continues to follow the path of the nomad. After having been thrown out of Australia for not having a criminal record, Ice has migrated north to the USA for the summer. A week after he arrived stateside, all the US embassies in South Africa were closed, following a 'credible security threat'. It turns out that the threat came from long time ex-lover Maveli, who stated he 'couldn't bare to be separated from the Ice lovin for another minute'. When asked to comment, Ice merely licked his fingers and rubbed him nipples while humming I'm to sexy.

In other news, we feared the world was coming to an end when Lacost found a girl who actually thought all his costs were "cute". In what appeared to be a story straight out of Revelations, this poor misguided girl actually enjoys spending time with Lacost and says 'so what if he causes the Indian cricket team to lose every now and then, he's super cute'. Naturally, unwilling Lacost room-mate Nijella took this as a self-fulfilment of the prophecies regarding the 'end of days' and decided to throw caution to the wind, live dangerously and take advantage of every remaining moment. Nijella has since taken up golfing.

There has also been speculation regarding the creation of a new website to track down the location of our only female whereisbrotha contributor. I'm here to tell you that this rumour is in fact based of some truth and there is a possibility that whereisjedi will be up and operational by the end of October (Jedi has a birthday in October, so we're hoping to use presents as bait to lure her out of hiding).

Finally, your very own Wifi will be relocating to the crime capital of the world in December. So if I haven't posted here on whereisbrotha within a month of arriving in Gauteng, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm dead... but it might.

On a more festive note however, please join me in congratulating Nijella on his recent engagement. The wedding is in December in Kerala and all brown people (except Kulfi) are invited as long as they bring him presents. Strangely enough, Nijella agreed to get married before he thought the world was going to end. We wish Nijella all the best on this new life adventure.

Well it's been a fun spell here at whereisbrotha and plenty has happened over the past 5 months. The posts have become fewer and farther between, but that was always bound to happen. But please bear with us, we aren't going anywhere!

-wifi

Comebackability!

Been a while since I've blogged, think it was the combination of busyness and a lack of anything I really wanted to talk about till now...

Straight to the point then, Lance Armstrong made his sensational comeback at the Tour de France last month, and what a return it was! He was epic and 3445km later (after countless drug tests that ended up embarrasing the french authorities rather than him - yet again), Team Astana owned the field with a calculated and measured team performance with Armstrong finishing 3rd in the overall standings, awesomeness!

I've never really seen the worth of twitter till I followed him on it before the tour started, the insight you get first hand makes it instantly worth it! (i'm not gonna start following Ashton Kutcher tho)...

Armstrong has last week confirmed his participation in next years Tour de 'Lance through the all yank Team Radioshack. By then, the 'comeback' novelty would probably have worn off, but it'll definitely be great for the sport, livestrong!

Anyway, Armstrong has shown yet again that he's a legend! It's not about the bike...

Moving on to the more temporary (or not?) return of Der Regenmeister from outta nowhere!

Can't believe I of all people am excited about it, but it's true! When he retired I did say that despite all the controversy and the opinion I had of him, F1 wouldn't quite ever be the same again. It didn't really show in 2007 and 2008 because we had such epic back to back world championships decided by one point each year, but with 2009 in it's boredom I think we'll all be happy to see it. It's gonna be tough for him because he hasn't driven an F1 car since the big aero/tyre revamp this year, but I think his racing instinct will see him through it... It's actually a good time to get back in, the ferrari is looking alot better than it was, infact ferrari and mclaren are on a bit of a resurgence after the early season 2002'esque snoozefest, so no better time I think.

On a more humble note, poor Massa... If this is gonna be the end of his career it'll be a bummer, so much so that it might've been better for him to have won last year (can't believe I said that)... Btw, any Timo Glock conspiracy theorists can go suck it, he was on worn wet tyres for the F*&king umpteeth time!

As much as the Schumacher return overshadowing Massa's incident feels a bit insensitive, a friend of mine explained his 'lightning rod' theory with schumi now attracting all the attention and perhaps it's for the best. I think Massa needs to be outta the spot light as much as possible, him and his family can then recover better without the media continously in their faces. Bigger picture I guess...

Lastly to the football and the transfer rumour silly season. Rumours have surfaced over the past evening on the possible return of Paddy Viera to Arsenal! I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this, at 33 Viera is a shadow of his old self, but that defensive midfield role is looking a bit thin at the moment. Viera with one leg is in my opinion better than Denilson and maybe he can teach his lookalike Diaby a thing or two. Regardless of his ability now, I think his experience and character might bring something to the dressingroom that we're currently lacking.

Arsenal have lost a lot of its african connection to the deep Saudi pockets of man city, both 'King Kolo' Toure and Adeoffside are gone now so I seriously hope le boss tries and fills the gaps. I dunno if Viera is a part of the answer, there are also strong links to the dutch pirate Klaas Jan HuntelAAR joining our attack but shrug... in Wenger we trust!

The power of sport

Last night I couldn't help but reflect on the feast of sport we've been indulged with over the past 3 months... First half of India landed unexpectedly on our shores, were welcomed with open arms and jam-packed stadiums and put on a great show. Then the circus moved to England where the T20 world cup saw Pakistan, a country with huge internal strife at the moment, rise above the odds and capture their first major sporting trophy in over a decade. All the while the Super 14 was drawing to a dramatic finish up in Loftus, with crazy dutch-saffers giving English soccer hooligans a run for their money. As I write, up in the mountains of France, a living legend is making his return to the Tour de France, adding another chapter to what is already an inspirational story of determination and courage. But there were three stories in particular that motivated me to blog today.

Last month, South Africa hosted what has become known as the 'dress rehearsal' for the soccer world cup, the Fifa Confederations Cup. To be modest... the event was a huge success. Finally South Africa was able to prove to the world what we saffers have known all along, that we are as capable of hosting and delivering a world class event as anyone else. Words cannot express my pride and my delight at being able to laugh in the face of those nay-sayers who insisted that the world cup would have to be moved because Africans couldn't possibly handle such a task. For those reading this from outside of Africa, you should know that there is a general buzz of excitement thoughout all of Africa, on the streets, in the offices, in the schools... The effect that this tournament is having is amazing to watch. Excuse the miserable cliché, but SA is truly emerging from its coccoon. The added bonus? The cherry on the cake? The performance of our Bafana Bafana! I will gladly put up with the heartache of a hundred last minute losses, just to see a country once again fully behind their team with a genuine belief that they can succeed.

Now on Saturday, the Lions tour to SA came to an end. This is an event that only takes place once every 12 years (I struggle to think of any sporting competition with such a gap between events) and therefore is looked forward to with great anticipation. But I for one was actually really glad to see it end. Now I know this is far from a popular opinion, but to me this rugby tour represented everything that is wrong with sport. From obnoxious foreign press, to arrogant and intolerant coaches, to foul play and accusations of foul play, ignorant and offensive comments from players, accusations of racism, bitching about referees... the list goes on. As an all round sport fan, it actually pained me to watch this tour unfold on and off the field. If I were absolutely ignorant and was forced to judge all professional sport based on the evidence of this series, I'd never watch sport again.

Lets end on a positive note (in fact my inspiration for blogging today). Yesterday I settled into what's left of my couch at 3pm to watch what I expected to be a 1h30min Federer festival. What I witnessed instead was an epic afternoon of tennis. As I sat through the 90-odd minutes that was the final set, I couldn't help but remember the 2008 Wimbledon final, a match that many call the finest of the modern era. Federer is now in my mind the greatest player that ever lived and barring Andre Agassi my favourite player of all time, but after seeing the determination to win, the courage to fight and the way he was gracious in defeat, I am now a Andy Roddick fan. Days such as these are few and far between, but yesterday I really wished we didn't have a need for a winner and a loser in professional sport.

But yesterday was more than a great game of tennis, it was a great display of sportsmanship. The players, the officials and particularly the crowd... there was just this emotion, this aura around that tennis court that was plain to see, even on a television set thousands of miles away. That's precisely what I love about sport, that's why I'll wake up at 6am on a Sunday to watch F1, that's why I'll go watch any live cricket at Newlands, that's why I pay a ridiculous monthly fee for satellite tv, for the magic and the power of sport. Nothing else on earth has the power to unite people of all races, cultures and creeds... Just you wait till next year, bring on 2010!

The Flying Donkeys

This post has been a long time coming but I finally managed some time to write about something that I find awesome in world sport, the sheer passion of supporters worldwide.

Whether you're in morocco, india, ecuador or soweto, you'll always find a small town that supports their local team, come rain or shine. It's those towns that live around their team, buying season tickets and living through the ups and downs with their teams... The team and the supporters are one. Sure this extends to larger clubs, but it's always heartening to see the unwavering love and passion that people show to their small town club.

Take for example a team I came to know about recently, Chievo Verona. A small town club in Italy whose main sponsor is the local town bakery. The team started off from nothing and are now are the proberbial underdog of the Serie A.

The local rival team Hellas Verona once said that Chievo would play in the Serie A when donkeys fly... Now Chievo are a regular Serie A team while Hellas suck in the third division. The nickname stuck btw, Chievo Verona are 'The Flying Donkeys'

The same sorta passion extends to bigger clubs. As we watch season after season of the big 4 in the premier league, bitching as our teams fail to win everything every season, there are those teams that fight the relegation battle year after year, and dare I say it, the supporters probably get a lot more satisfaction out of the relegation battle and the championship than a top four supporter would from winning the premier league...

It was sad to see the toons getting relegated, I so wished Shearer would just put on a team shirt during that last game to go show them all how it's done, alas... But if anyone caught the last few championship games, you'd be pretty harsh to deny Burnley and their fans premier league status after their performance in the championship and relative heroics in the FA cup.

The pic above shows the contrasting emotions for both teams, but more importantly, the passion of the teams and supporters...

You gotta love the small teams and their fans, maybe it's the underdog thing, but i'll always have a soft spot for the bolton wanderer, the minardi, the flying donkey...