McLaren fined !!!!

McLaren have been excluded from the 2007 constructors’ championship and fined US$100 million following Thursday’s FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) hearing in Paris. Drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have not been penalized and are free to continue their fight for the drivers' title.

The penalty follows McLaren’s admission that the team was in breach of the International Sporting Code through their possession of confidential technical data belonging to rivals Ferrari, who are now all but assured of the 2007 constructors’ title.

McLaren are also required to submit detailed plans of their 2008 car to the FIA, who warned that it could apply further sanctions relating to next season should any irregularities be found in the car’s design.

At July’s original hearing, the Council opted not to punish McLaren as it decided there was no proof that the Ferrari data had been used. Thursday’s second hearing followed the emergence of new evidence and the FIA’s request for McLaren’s drivers to submit any information they had that might be relevant to the case.

The FIA will explain the reasons behind the Council's decision on Friday, after which McLaren will decide whether or not to appeal.

The full statement from the FIA:

In an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council was held in Paris on the 12th of September 2007, The following decision was taken:

"The WMSC has stripped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes of all constructors' points in the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championshiop an the team can score no point for the remainder of the season *.

"Furthermore, the team will pay a fine equal to 100 million dollar, less the FOM income lost as a result of the points deduction.

"However, due to the exceptional circumstances in which the FIA gave the team's drivers an immunity in return for providing evidence, there is no penalty in regards to drivers' points **.

"The WMSC will receive a full technical report on the 2008 McLaren car and will take a decision at its December 2007 meeting as to what sanction, if any, will be imposed on the team for the 2008 season."

The full reasons for this decision will be issued on the 14th September 2007.

* Points gained by other teams so far this season will not be affected.

** No McLaren representative will be allowed on the podium should a McLaren driver win any of the remaining races of the 2007 season.

Keep an eye on Alonso ! He might leave Mclaren by the end of this season !

As if they did not already have enough to worry about, Formula One leader McLaren could face the real risk of Fernando Alonso walking out at the end of the season.

With the double World champion seemingly no longer on speaking terms with 22-year-old British rookie Lewis Hamilton after a turbulent Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, the speculation was rife.

“One thing’s for sure, Alonso won’t be at McLaren next year,” a senior figure at another team told Reuters at the Hungaroring. While nothing is certain in Formula One, other than that there will always be int rigue and speculation, the sentiment was strong enough for team boss Ron Dennis to face questions about the Spaniard’s future.

“There is inevitability that these things are rumoured and discussed in other teams,” he told reporters after a race that saw Alonso stripped of pole position and demoted five places on the starting grid.

“We have two drivers who are contracted for several years into the future,” said Dennis, who pulled off a coup in signing Alonso from Renault at the end of 2005, with the Spaniard joining a year later.

“We will respect our part of that bargain and that part of the situation. We hope that the drivers respect theirs because that’s what a contract is about.”

Hamilton’s astonishing debut has unsettled the champion, who had hoped to arrive at McLaren as the saviour after a 2006 season without any wins for the Mercedes-powered team.

Hamilton overcomes Kimi's challenge to win Hungarian GP !

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton took a dramatic revenge on team mate Fernando Alonso at the Hungaroring on Sunday afternoon, leading throughout the Hungarian Grand Prix to extend his world championship points lead to seven over the Spaniard, who could do no better than fourth place.

Hamilton jumped into the lead at the start, but soon came intense pressure from Kimi Raikkonen as the Ferrari indeed proved a lot better in race trim than it had in qualifying.

Raikkonen easily got the drop on front-row starter Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber, but couldn’t quite muster the pace to challenge Hamilton, even though in traffic at times the gap between them was no more than half a second. The final laps were gripping as they duelled, while some 40 seconds back, Heidfeld was challenged by Alonso but similarly had little trouble keeping the McLaren driver at bay to score the second podium of BMW Sauber’s season.
Fifth place fell to Heidfeld’s team mate Robert Kubica, who made a great start and enjoyed excellent pit work from his team, while Ralf Schumacher hung in there for sixth for Toyota ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Williams. Like Heidfeld, Rosberg made three stops, the third dropping him back from fifth place.

The final point went to Heikki Kovalainen after a feisty race for Renault, from Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was a lapped 10th ahead of David Coulthard in the second Red Bull, while 12th was the subject of an intense fight between Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Alex Wurz in the Williams, who finished in that order.

Takuma Sato was 15th for Super Aguri ahead of Toro Rosso debutant Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil who had several off-track adventures in his Spyker, and a very unhappy Rubens Barrichello for Honda.

Vitantonio Liuzzi retired his Toro Rosso with mechanical problems, as did Jenson Button his Honda, while Anthony Davidson spun his Super Aguri after a clash with Fisichella, and Sakon Yamamoto lightly shunted his Spyker.

The victory gives Hamilton his third success of the season and 80 points, to Alonso’s 73, Raikkonen’s 60 and Massa’s 59. In the constructors’ championship, McLaren retain their lead over Ferrari but by a reduced 19-point margin following the FIA edict that they should not score constructors’ points in Hungary as penalty for Saturday’s qualifying incident. That decision could yet be overturned on appeal.

Latest Drivers Standings : Click here

Latest Constructors Standings : Click Here

"Match of the Century" to be held at Venetian Arena on November 24th

The ultimate exhibition between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras will take place on Saturday November 24th, at the Venetian Arena, Macao. Make sure not to miss this showdown between two of the best tennis players of our time.

I am not a big believer of stats. That said, there are several interesting coincidences about the careers of Pete and Roger. And unsuprising it is. Though they have vastly different approach to tennis as well as slams, here is an attempt to celebrate the coincidences rather than as a comparison between them.

Sampras and Federer were both born in August ten years apart. Federer's birthday is August 08, 1981, while Sampras's is August 12, 1971. And the grandslams make up this way too. For example, Federer won Wimbledon 2005 at the age of 23, while Sampras won Wimbledon 1995, at the same age of 23. And so on.. get the drift?

August 5...7:30 pm... Be in front of your TV and switch to ESPN...The war will be on !.

On Sunday 5th August 2007 , The FA community shield will return to Wembley for the first time in 7 years.
The live telecast will be there on ESPN at 7.30pm. EPL champions Manchester United will take on FA champions Chelsea. Its always a dream match for every football fan to start off their season.

One thing is sure,no matter who wins the cup,its guaranteed that its going to be a war between minds of the players.The win for either team will increase their confidence to win the EPL this season. This doesn't means that Liverpool and Arsenal are far behind the front runners Chelsea and Manchester United.

So ,who would be lifting the Community shield ? Is that going to be Garry Neville for Manchester United to crown them as champions for the 16th time,so that they would become
most successful club in the history of community shield..Or will it be Terry for the second time as a community shield winning captain .

To know about the live coverage of the football matches ..check this site
espnstar.com

Alves heading to chelsea, but duo heading out ??

Chelsea have resigned themselves to losing winger Arjen Robben to Real Madrid while Claude Makele could also be heading for the Stamford Bridge exit.

But the deposed Premier League champions will use the money they rake in on the Dutch winger to buy Seville right-back Daniel Alves.

Blues manager Jose Mourinho is keen to keep Robben at Stamford Bridge but it appears he is heading to the Bernabeu in a deal which will met the Londoners more than £20m.

Makele, who will struggle for regular first-team football at Chelsea, is wanted by Juventus now they are back in Serie A.

Superkid dreams of a super move to Chelsea..

Brazilian sensation Alexandre Pato favours a move to Chelsea over rival offers from Real Madrid, AC Milan and Inter.

Gazzetta dello Sport says the 17 year-old Internacional striker dreams of pulling on a Blues shirt and actually goes by the nickname 'Stamford Bridge' when chatting with friends on the internet.
However, Chelsea are believed to be well behind Real Madrid and AC Milan in the race for the Brazil U20 international.
Chelsea have offered about 13 million euros for him.

CESC gonna leave London by next summer..???

Real Madrid could make Cesc Fabregas their number one transfer target for next summer, with president Ramon Calderon still hoping to have all three of his main targets at the Bernabeu within two years.When asked if there was still time to sign the three players he promised during his election campaign - namely Arjen Robben, Fabregas and Kaka - Calderon said: "There's a chance they will all be here by the end of my third year in office."

And when queried if that could mean Robben this summer, Fabregas next year and Kaka the following year, Calderon told newspaper La Razon: "Well yes, I think so. I don't want to create any false expectations."
The Spanish champions are known admirers of Fabregas and the Arsenal midfielder was one of Calderon's transfer pledges when he was running for election last summer.

Real were unable to bring Fabregas to Madrid at that time though, and they also failed in their bid to sign the 20-year-old this summer, with the player committing his immediate future to Arsenal.

However, it could be third time lucky in 12 months' time, with Calderon hinting they will be making another bid for the Spain international, who came through the youth ranks at Real's arch rivals Barcelona.

Celebrate boys!!! Our captain has signed a new deal!

So till 2012 , Chelsea defence is going to be as strong as great wall..bcoz Terry has signed a new deal till 2012..Now he is England's highest paid footballer on wages of around 1 lakh 30 thousand[130000] pounds a week... These were terry's words after signing the contract..

" I am really happy this has now been concluded.There has been a lot of speculation but these things takes time, and i never had doubts that i wanted to stay at chelsea and the club wanted me to stay .I hope the fans can see that we are all trying to build something special here,both for now and future,and I want to be a part of that. I have been at chelsea all my career and have the privilege of being captain.Now its tine to look forward to the new season which we all very confident about."

Chief executive Peter Kenyon added: "This is an important day for Chelsea. This was the right deal for us and John. We are committed to try and keep our players together on long-term deals. As captain John is clearly a key player for Chelsea and also a great symbol of the club so naturally we are pleased this has been agreed."

The great Indian circus

Actually this is a piece that i wrote last month. I think it would just fit in perfectly in this blog.


Its almost been a month since i last posted an entry here. I could dish out a number of reasons including the cliched 'creativity block' excuse. But if i did so it would be a lie. The actual reason is that I've been lazy. So lazy that i rarely get off my bed (and its not as if am having a wife and we are banging 24*7). The weather has been gloomy at best and I've been doing nothing but sleep.

So onto the topic now. You must be wondering as to why I would come out of hibernation just to write something on Circus. Well, its not any circus thats the topic of interest here; It is the Great Indian Circus a.k.a Indian Cricket. Actually i wanted to write this piece right after the Ford fiasco. But ironically am writing this a day after India's so called 'Historic triumph' over SA( in a 3 game tournament played in a pool sized ground against a depleted South African side...just in case you were wondering what all that 'historic triumph' was all about). I know this is not a good time to post something like this considering how fickle the Indian fans can be(They take out their anger on the players when the team lose and when the team manages to win, these fans turn against the critics).

Dont get me wrong. I was as fanatic as any other Indian would be about this game. I used to bunk classes on match days. I used to stay awake and would turn the TV off only after the presentation ceremony. Heck, there was a time when i preferred cricket to porn( and that says a lot!!).
But it all changed when the Indian Team became Team India and then later Men in blue. One of the main villains in my romance with cricket has been Mandira Bedi( not that i got more attracted to her than the game itself...err...that too is a fact.Thanks to those spaghetti blouses she wore). I am not a traditionalist and I do welcome changes. But having someone with absolutely no knowledge about the game host a world cup pre match show wearing a tricolored saree was a bit too much. And her daily sessions with tarots to predict the outcome of games..Oh gimme a break.
Well, the team's inspiring performance in the world cup(o7) was the final nail in the coffin.


At the helm of this circus we've got Mr.Pawar(the sly stallone like speaking cunt). I still cant understand what a politician has to do with this game? I am no fan of Mr.Dalmiya. But he did run things better.The new board as soon as it took over made a record breaking multi million dollar deal with Nike. Then they went on to make some more deals. Then further more deals(so many deals that the players, the board and the sponsors always end up in a tangle over sponsorship issues whenever a big tournament comes around) . Well, thats pretty much what they do nowadays. All business and NO cricket. Maybe its just that Pawar and co. just misunderstood BCCI to be 'Board of Cunts and Cocks Infesting the game'. If thats the case Mr.Pawar, then you are the man for the job.


Even if cricket is being run badly, we could have had some solace had the players shown some passion and effort on the field. But no. If BCCI has become a franchise then the players have become super models. We have players who run back to the pavilion after every over to....ya you guessed it..to get their hair done properly.(Dont waste your time guessing who. Hes got nostrils so big that even his inflated ego seems minuscule). The senior players are busy backstabbing each other and if time permits the coach also. Stabbing the coach makes all the more sense if the coach happens to be an Australian(could you ask for a better scapegoat).I wonder what the condition of their stabbing device is like now. I mean, they've been doing it for the past decade or so.How it still has the same venom is something that baffles me. I have noticed that the modeling thing has got so much into these cricketers that they mistake the cricket field for the ramp. Have you seen our fielders turning ever so gracefully when a ball passes by them and then jogging and escorting it to the boundary( stupid are those Australians and South Africans who dive around). Have you noticed how some of our players catwalk to take a run( why bother running for a double when you can catwalk for a single?). Then we have the Gods(Cricketing gods that is, not the ones with 23 hands and 32 heads and 2332 temples). If these Gods are not selected, rest assure the selectors and the coach will feel the wrath of the public. Their effigies will be burnt and the crowd will even cheer the vising team and make them feel home.( just ask the South Africans about the Indian hospitality..err...kolkata hospitality rather.They would swear that they wouldn't have got such support even back home in wanderers). And the worst part is that these cricketers are fully aware of this situation and boy don't they make the best use of it or what( and hence the saying' make hay while the sun shines'.)


Sachin tendulkar-THE Indian cricket god recently made a statement that he doesn't have to prove anything to anyone because he has been in the Indian side before he even made it to college , before learning the art of jerking off, before falling in love with a 6 years older, 2 feet taller chick and so on.
Now, this tells me why Indian cricket is in such a sorry state. Once a player establishes himself in the team, he considers his position guaranteed for eternity.
And that brings me to the next problem. Lack of professionalism. The difference between cricket in India and Australia is that in Australia cricket is just another profession(and nobody is running with a pepsi can shouting "ooh aah Australia aah ahh Australia"..btw whats with this "ooh aah"??...perverts!!). There are no demigods. (alright, u can compare Shane warne to Lord Krishna but thats a whole different story). They are professionals who do their job day in day out without any fuss and if they don't perform they will be shown the door.end of story. But here its entirely different. As the popular saying goes 'Cricket is the religion and Sachin is the God'. And that is exactly why the God decided to issue such a statement on not having to prove anything. How many professions are there which allow you to rest on your past laurels.None. The key to success is always the hunger to improve. Which is the one thing that our cricketers lack.


The question is "why is cricket still the most popular game in India"?The answer is simple(NO.Its not because Mandira bedi hosts the pre game show) Its because of the undeniable ability of the BCCI, the players and the media to perform an act called "The great Indian HOPE trick". Yes. Unlike for the Australians or the English lords, Cricket is a game that provides hope for the average Indian. He considers every Indian victory his own. The BCCI, the players and the media know this and they are using this to manipulate the mind of every cricket fan out there. But with the country developing at such a fast rate and with a team full of show ponys, its just a matter of time before this myth is shattered. There will be a time in the near future when people will realize that cricket is just a game and then these players will realize that it is a profession with all the responsibilities that come with any other job.




P.S--Agarkar is one of the few cricketers in the team that I respect. I put that pic just because i found it funny. Lets not even talk about the other guy.

Update: Indian team did somehow manage to draw the first test against England. Good for em and ofcourse for the sponsors.

Good luck Mclaren..FIA is with you,but beware of Ferrari ..they have identified your tactics

McLaren will not be punished over their possession of confidential Ferrari data after Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, decided there was no proof that the team had made use of the information. However, the FIA did find McLaren to be in breach of the International Sporting Code and warned them that they could face exclusion from the championship if they are subsequently found to have used the material. Following Thursday’s extraordinary meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council, the following statement was issued:

“The WMSC is satisfied that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in possession of confidential Ferrari information and is therefore in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code. However, there is insufficient evidence that this information was used in such a way as to interfere improperly with the FIA Formula One World Championship. We therefore impose no penalty.

“But if it is found in the future that the Ferrari information has been used to the detriment of the championship, we reserve the right to invite Vodafone McLaren Mercedes back in front of the WMSC where it will face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship.

The contructors standings after European GP is headed by Mclaren and drivers standings by Lewis Hamilton

Ganguly might be out of second test due to stiff back !

Indian batting under trouble again!!!
The Indian cricket team was hit by an injury scare ahead of the second Test against England with Sourav Ganguly missing the practice session because of a stiff back.
The elegant left-hander, who was seen clutching his back while batting even during the first Test at the Lord’s, did not take part in the practice session which was held at the ECB’s national academy. The team management did not elaborate on the injury but sources said that it was not serious.
Ganguly came at the nets but did not bat and just strolled around.
Later speaking to the media, Yuvraj Singh said Ganguly had a stiff back and the team physio would be the right person to speak about his condition.
Yuvraj said that he was eagerly waiting to get a chance to play in the Test series.

Ready-Steady-Go..

Yet another sports blog...What makes it different is the fact that while most other sports blogs focus exclusively on a single sport, Sportscast covers 4 major sports namely Football( and not soccer), Cricket, Tennis and F1. Another unique feature of this blog is that it is run by an Arsenal fan and a Chelsea fan(I know its like mixing oil and water but then again, stranger things have happend..so lets see).I will be covering Arsenal news and cricket while Niceplaya will be covering Tennis, F1,Cricket and Chelsea related news.
Feel free to comment. This is your ultimate sports lounge.