Ladies and gentlemen, play is suspended. Yes, indeed, it's time for two weeks of rain to fall upon us as Wimbledon is here. Of course, with a British player high in the world rankings, that means ten days of newspapers building expectations and using up the year's supply of Fred Perry mentions, only for inevitable disappointment as one of the players who is simply better than Andy Murray wins the title; relegating Murray back to being a whinging Scot in the process.
After his win at Queen's, Murray was doing quite well on the British-o-meter, his majestic win over Andy Roddick and win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga elevating him to the status of fish and chips. After a lacklustre start against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, he was somewhere around Hadrian's Wall, and when his Spanish opponent took the first set, he was back to full kilt and sporran wearing Scottishness. An excellent fightback later, with two tasty bagels handed out, and he was all strawberries and cream and bowler hats once more.
There is, of course, news emanating from the world of Formula 1 as all this ball bouncing, court covering, ticket queuing fun is going on. It seems that the Sunday Times' story about the BBC dropping their F1 coverage isn't far wide of the truth. Martin Whitmarsh reacted by praising the corporation's product and saying they would be unwise to not renew their deal.
Martin Brundle sounded slightly less bullish on his twitter feed.
I understand everything at BBC is under review for savings including sports rights. We can only keep making our best F1 shows + wait to see
MBrundleF1
A supposed brief flirtation with Ferrari has had the desired effect for Jenson Button – no doubt his heroic win in Montreal helped too – as he is set to be offered a new deal by McLaren. The Woking-based team have an option on JB for 2012, but they look likely to give him a seat for longer than that, possibly keeping him until he hangs up the helmet.
Lotus team boss Tony Fernandes has promised that the team won't simply stick their fingers in their ears and make 'la la la la la, not listening' noises and will actually look to learn from the mistakes they made in Canada. Having finished behind both HRT and Virgin after coming within half a second of Jamie Alguersuari in qualifying, learning from mistakes would perhaps be the least that fans of the team would expect.
We also have a Grand Prix to look forward to this weekend, though unfortunately it does happen to be in Valencia. Perhaps, finally, the DRS and Pirelli tyres can ensure we have something to say about the race other than, "doesn't the pit garage look lovely".
Hope you have a good week and I'll see you in the comments.
hellllo fab new daily post!
is it wrong that every time anyone says Murray I automatically think Murray Walker?
Not sure Murray Walker's serve is up to Wimbledon standards
I would like to hear Murray Walker commentating on tennis though.
Definitely
love the daily, i hereby nominate simon to write one of the wimbledon threads too :)
I doubt I'll be able to watch any of Wimbledon tomorrow without having "and look at that" go through my head whenever a good shot is played.
I'd be delighted to.
The tennis summary made me smile, which is an achievement in itself, given that I can't abide it as a sport, too many horror memories from school games lessons on courts. As for the F1, if DRS and PIrelli make Valencia even remotely watchable, I think both should be appearing on the New Year honours list [CBE - cracked boring european] Here's hoping!
Have you seen these recent posts on sidepodcast.com?
- Daily: 21st June 2011
- Tweets of the Week - Making the best F1 shows
- F1 Debrief - He's been the voice of reason this season
- Wimbledon 2011: Day 1
- Daily: 20th June 2011
I think the two short DRS zones that we have in Valencia will stop it having any effect
Game results ping - http://toomuchracing.com/2011/06/21/tmr-game-2011-week-22/
I have high hopes for Pirelli and DRS.
Looks like sidepodcast co-incidences happen in the Andronov family too. Nina is very prolific for her age
http://andronovjr.com/2011/06/Whatsinaname.html
this daily made me want fish and chips.
In Amy news, I have found out our second Olympics sale starts noon on Friday. They haven't given us a list of what's left like the UK got but they have said there 'were many tickets that were not requested, including many in the higher price categories to some of the most popular events'
I am more than willing to make friends with higher price categories, I missed out on so much the first time around I have a lot of my budget left :) Fingers crossed!
Evening all.
I am more wipped out from a 45 minute bike ride today than the 2 1/2 hour bike ride I took on Saturday.
I'm having something similar. Salmon and salad.
How is everyone?
o0o0o0 my head hurts. trying to unravel the FOM/CVCC/DeltaTopco mess so I can figure out why I hate NEWSCORP's rumored takeover of FOM etc al.
and trying to do it without getting on a political bent about how FOX operates in the U.S.
Also, I despise Speed/FOX F1 coverage
wow that really sounds arcane, doesn't it?
sad thing is, it's all F1, but it sounds like the plot to a bad 007 film
Steven, try not to dash too many hopes out there. Valencia being a complete bore, I've fallen asleep during that race several times...and i usually watch a recording of it
ello? ello? this thing on?
...back to the google monster I guess. I'm going to have to make a very big, very complicated flowchart to understand who actually owns F1. It SAYS he only controls less than 10% of the overall business, but I'm thinking smoke and mirrors are involved, and he really owns the whole shebang.
If there really were a lot of US F1 fans, this thread would be hoppin right now.
I am asleep now but Joe may have saved you a lot of effort
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/news-corporation-and-exor-bid-for-f1/
yes I'm trying to expand my own knowledge of that though. Joe's been informative on these things, but I suspect he's holding some details back that would only complicate his reporting...
much as it could be MORE complicated, somehow. eh heh.
I like Hobbs, Machett and Varsha (dispite being apart of the lie that was USF1)
However I think the network as a whole does a crappy job with Formula One. I wish ESPN would start a motorpsorts network and steal Hobbs, Machett, Varsha, and Marshal Pruitt.
As for the take-over... I have mixed feelings. I don't like Murcdoch but I get the feeling that he would be a lot better in understanding the sport that CVC Capitol.
Dan, i have serious issues with the way they participate in politics, and I see it spilling over into their other operations. F1 is already pretty politicized but Murdoch makes tons of money of it...
Given FOX's unholy marriage with NASCAR and the deep-south cons...religi...good ol boy style of doing business I'm trying to find a way to elucidate on my mistrust without making it completely political in nature.
I would like for people outside the US to understnad how this corporation operates
But I'm pretty Hobbs is on the near-end of retirement, and Matchett is way out of touch with the technical side, having not set foot in the F1 paddock for years as far as I can tell.
Varsha is good but he was much better paired with PW pre-USF1 fiasco (which I am still sad about)
...'pretty sure'
I don't like Murdoch and will never forgive him for ruining the Wall Street Journal and a number of other publications I care about like has.
However if it's between a group who will market and grow the sport versus a group that just takes money from the sport like CVC Captial currently does, so be it.
The potential investor group is more than Murdoch. On the whole, I like them a whole lot better than the people who pull Bernie's puppet strings currently.
What you say makes sense, yet as the US broadcast rights holder, their coverage is, frankly, for the birds (trying hard to censor myself tonight)
If they can't even send a crew to the actual races like the BBC what would ever make anyone think they'd be more active as owners?
That they squander the exclusive rights with sub-par efforts (not to discount the actual personalities, it's all budget issues) should be a big warning sign about the overall intent here
Throw in lead-to-outtro advertising on their speed/fox broadcasts and it spells bad things
I am also suspicious of the BBC news today (6/20) that they might pull out of F1 broadcasting due to 'budgetary' issues, at the direction of certain political pressures to cut expenditures (not unlike how certain groups in the US are constantly pushing for the same things...groups who get significant coverage by FOX news) and something is very fishy.
Can't help but think NewsCorp would get a very good deal if the value of F1 - propped up in part by it's significant BBC coverage in English speaking circles - tanked after losing it's best overall coverage
Hard to be apolitical when the big money players are so entwined with certain interests. Can't be helped, honestly, but it can be balanced if the right moves are made by interests not entirely devoted to profits, profits profits.
The Murdoch thing is simply the better evil right now. I'm hoping something better will come along
I'm just one fan but, like JS and SPC, if I can get the right interest going, and some other fans support, who knows what kind of impact might be made, for the betterment of all involved...?
I mean, I'd KILL to get a decent, LEGITIMATE HD feed of the races with an option to select my audio feed. Nothing but self-imposed regulations keeping it from being a reality tomorrow.
F1 is like...
negotiating a treaty, wherein you get the land you want, but you bargain away your guns and governing rights to keep it, so once the negotiating is done, you've left yourself open for more attacks from other places.
That to me is the commercial rights situation of the teams and even FOM itself. It has literally handicapped itself by selling regional broadcast rights, sort of hoping these companies (who are now looking to buy) do the right thing by not damaging the brand you've sold them.
FOM cannot make any broadcast revenue outside of those agreements, having no say in the end use of it's content since they've been sold.
This is too complicated. I need a stiff drink.
In other news, my other favorite auto site has posted an article in very bad taste today, about an actor who died in a car crash (in his GT3) , claiming it may have been a hoax, but then backpedalling and claiming it was a 'what if', since the actor in question is known as a prankster.
I have delete my account. It is a sad day, found that site about the same time as SPC
The other site went commercial about a year ago.
SPC? Still indy, and still turning out exceptional content for a 'hobby' site.
So, my new top-favorite auto/F1 site.
To be honest, it was may favorite anyways...the other one offered 'crayola' versions of F1 rundowns, being too cheap to purchase photo and content rights in the US market.
And sidepodcast has way better live events to coincide with the races we all love to watch.
For Valencia, I get to take over the living room, and I'll have no less than three screens upon witch I hope to indulge my need for data and live feeds.
Live timing on a 35" flatscreen? WHY THE HECK NOT? I'll have two of them, heh.
No, blinking cursor, I have nothing else to say.
Stop guilt tripping me to write more.
....and I've totally lost my mind researching Delta Topco. awesome.
Have you seen these recent posts on sidepodcast.com?
- Daily: 21st June 2011
- Tweets of the Week - Making the best F1 shows
- F1 Debrief - He's been the voice of reason this season
- Wimbledon 2011: Day 1
- Daily: 20th June 2011
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/quite-a-sight-at-the-formula-one-construction-1551322.html
49 degrees C?! Are you kidding me?! This might become a rerun of Dallas all over again.
It'll make Sepang seem like Europe in comparison.
Are you referring to the site starting with the letter J?
Mind you, they made a very good article on Group Lotus a couple of months ago. We applauded them for telling it like it is with Dany Bahar.
First, a little golf clip for all you Rory fans:
Check this video out -- US Open Champion Rory McIlroy, aged 9, chips the ball into a washing mac... http://t.co/foJEM6u via @youtube
Second, happy b-day to ME! :) Remember, you're not getting older, just longer :)
Night!
I thought it was a good post, Half my facebook wall was people debating whether it was a stunt or not. It comes with the teritorry of being that kind of performer. You could even see it as an endorsement of his work as to that people thought he was capable of pulling something like that off.
Sadly it wasnt so.
What the Jalopnik post did was to explain the ridiculous lengths that would be needed to fake such a thing.
looks like the Red Bull F1 event here last weekend attracted some attention of important people.
all nice and fine, but I wonder if they all realize that 40,000+ people came to see free event, the real race would be slightly more expensive for fans and for the city ...
anyway, glad to see that people and mainstream media are now actually talking about F1 :-)
morning all
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92494
I am all for clampdowns on these fuel wasting practices but I can't say I am comfortable with rules or rule enforcements changing during the season. On the other hand teams exploring the grey areas probably have to be prepared for FIA clampdowns ... Probably better to take an advantage in 7 races thanks to exploiting the loophole than in none ...
hate this.
while i'm glad vettel's "advantage" is being curtailed, we're back to the bad days of the FIA fiddling with things mid-season. hello michelin.
i get why the fuel overrun needs killing - bad for f1's eco-image. but what's the justification for this?
Heikki is not giving up his fp1 seat to karun easily!
“@ianparkesf1: Just had confirmation that @karunchandhok will be in for @H_Kovalainen in FP1 in Valencia on Friday” Not true I'm driving
http://twitter.com/#!/H_Kovalainen/status/83105548236627968
Wimbledon post ping: http://sidepodcast.com/post/wimbledon-2011-day-2
My biggest issiue is stringing the decsion along. At the end of one race they should have said we have looked at this, the results stand for this race, but in future you cant do X. We have taken this decision because of A, B & C
Guess who's back, back again.
Flavio's back, tell a friend.
Well, he may be anyway. With Pat Symonds too. En route to Ferrari... at Alonso's request?
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/taming-prancing-horses/
as we said a while back, expect davey ryan to make a return soon too. cheats prosper in f1.
thankfully though, no chances for piquet jnr :)
Unless his dad buys hispania :P
after serving the required suspension, anyway.
Indeed.
Oh no!
Scarily that makes some sense, lots of cash, and plenty of brazillian business connections
Cant See PKJ coming back though
Have you seen these recent posts on sidepodcast.com?
- Wimbledon 2011: Day 2
- Daily: 21st June 2011
- Tweets of the Week - Making the best F1 shows
- F1 Debrief - He's been the voice of reason this season
- Wimbledon 2011: Day 1
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/red-bull-and-america/
This is interesting, especially considering Red Bull announced they're leaving NASCAR yesterday
It makes a lot of sense, especially considering what Joe said about similar deals in place in MotoGP.
They're gonna need a lot of Red Bulls in that heat!
probably only of interest to us, but new video editing software from apple: http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/
motion 5 is only £29.99 eeeek!
Us?? ;)
crack open the green screen ;)
xx
oooh, bonus post ping: http://sidepodcast.com/post/discussion-point-do-races-or-championships-make-for-vintage-seasons
Ooh, a sneaky guest post! http://sidepodcast.com/post/discussion-point-do-races-or-championships-make-for-vintage-seasons
I approve :)
You beat me.
...assumed you were in /realtime :)
I also have a ping: http://www.f1minute.com/news/engine-mapping-regulations-set-to-change-for-european-grand-prix
But look at Stuart's!
I am enjoying the best of both worlds today.
love that picture :)
y'know what's annoying about the ECU changes. i'm gonna have to watch qualifying afterall this weekend.
Don't tell the FIA that or they'll know their ploy has worked.
#confidential
Enjoy a little something from the sidepodcast.com back catalogue.
- Brazil 2009 - Team Standings
Originally published 18/10/2009
hehe, half-points.
#confidentialfromchristine
This is very handy: http://www.vivaf1.com/blog/?p=7135
Don't forget Christine's Rankings today. Suggestions for teams and drivers, whether they've been good or bad, all welcome.
Whilst Jenson is super smart, not so sure about Lewis' suit
http://twitpic.com/5etge6
#rankings
Hello world.
I am charging my new Nikon D7000's battery :) *waves*
I am happy because I've got a new camera, not a new battery ;)
Have you seen these recent posts on sidepodcast.com?
- Discussion Point: Do Races or Championships Make for Vintage Seasons?
- Wimbledon 2011: Day 2
- Daily: 21st June 2011
- Tweets of the Week - Making the best F1 shows
- F1 Debrief - He's been the voice of reason this season
Hurrah! :)
via @grandprixdiary - http://twitpic.com/5etxf9
erm...
Here is a little pic of my new camera: http://martif1.com/2011/06/21/nueva-nikon-d7000/
cricket top and lotus shorts. Interesting!
I say shorts they could easily be trousers for poor Mike
ahh, lou will love you for getting a nikon :)
best bar bill ever: http://americandrink.net/post/6761392391/thememegeneration-the-bruins-partied-at
(via daringfireball)
Well if your going to celebrate winning the Stanley Cup... might as well do it in style.
Goodness me :o I don't think I'll see that much in my entire life!
Wonder how they tipped :)
$100,000 for one bottle!
Hmmmmmm...FAIL!
http://twitpic.com/5eujxh
and up next Damon Hill talks to us about his successful 1962 world championship win
Obviously can't get insurance for Hamilton these days!
http://thefifthdriver.visibli.com/share/pb14a9
now that is team favouritsm :)
Yay! :) I mean.. :)
Heikki has chills, and they appear to be multiplying
http://twitter.com/H_Kovalainen/status/83253199141748737
joe thinks cosworth likely to go bye, bye: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/more-thoughts-on-f1-engines/
Not a great surprise. They can't compete with the car manufacturers and the FIA is prepared to bend over backwards to give the manufacturers whatever they want even of only Renault is actually involved in F1
So... who becomes the 'affordable' option. Pollock?
i guess so. interesting.
I doubt there will be an affordable option
"These engines will win races in their first year"
With approval from Jacques Villeneuve
:)
:D
Virgin and Hispania need them. I'm still hoping Williams get the Renault engines but that's a lot of grid they'll be supplying by then..
Glock: Wow cool just realized I still have the lap record in Valencia. Let's see if the Red Bulls will take it of me this year! What do you think??
I wonder how many engine manufacturers there will be in 2013.
i know this is weird.. but i'm jealous.. i wanna be an F1 photographer
https://twitter.com/#!/davenportemily/status/83265136713940992
i love that they are all friends and things.
Oh dear, James...
FIGHT!!!
Hehehehe.
In my book, I have it as the 24th, so I'm siding with whoever agrees with that :)
you can't register someone's birth before they were born?
i'd always back hh-f over james allen :)
Unless you're Doctor Who.
Sorry, should be: In my book...
Gotta get better at plugging :)
Heinz Harald Frentzen? I'd say he's only an authority on mediocre driving, myself ;)
ha
had to check who the tweets were then because I thought you meant the legend that is heinz harald frentzen with hh-f
but I'll take his opinion too over James :)
Beat me to it! I;m glad it wasnt just me who thought that!
Far better than mediocre my friend, far better.
yay for book reviews too.
How can you forget the man that was named after a can of beans?
(Note: That fact was verified by James Allen)
He could have been better, for sure.
Oh yeah, forgot he was a Sauber driver.
Ping: http://sidepodcast.com/post/drivers-get-suited-and-booted-in-christines-rankings-this-week
And Fox Mulder impressions
Or David Duchovny I suppose..
Poor James. Even with inside inforation he screwed it up
You need to plug better than that
Hey everyone, back from my exams! Can finally start spending time on the site again!
Gotta read all the comments before I complain.
Still it gets you another plug
Hi there Joe. Did your exams go alright?
What exams?
Eeeevening :D
Had a good day
Yeh they went fine thanks Lukeh, just nervous about the results!!
Just remember you have done all you can do now, just playing the waiting game now :)
Ermmmm so so. I have tomorrow off though. I have a lot of reading planned.
Works for me :)
A day off is always good
Only one this week so I best enjoy it :P
Ping: http://sidepodcast.com/post/even-cricket-gets-points-in-team-rankings-this-week
Anyone want to know what I've found out about Delta Topco? No?
Good, because I stayed up really late last night trying, in vain, to trace the whole enterprise, and frankly, all I got for my efforts were bad dreams and a splitting headache.
I would need a legion of lawyers to get the proper information, and another team of analysts to hash it out, and another team of interpreters to make it sensible to the rest of us.
Although I am fairly certain it's all just smoke and mirrors, and BE is actually good portion of these mystery stakeholders.
That man is a magician, I think.
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/some-numbers-from-the-f1-world/
or a man named joe.
Today was the longest day of the year?
Seems no time since the middle of winter
I dunno, some days this week make me think we still are :)
Apparently so... although some others this year have certainly felt longer :)
I used Joe's rundown as a starting point yesterday morning. I am convinced there is more to it, and I want to understand what's going on if (when) the money starts changing hands.
I've also tried looking into EXOR but that is like...blinding lights exploding in my head. They've got some cosmic protection there. Makes my head hurt thinking about it.
did you see his chart?
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/news-corporation-and-exor-bid-for-f1/
Of course I only speak english and german so I couldn't really decipher some of the stuff I found. google translate was worthless with legalese.
I believe money changing hands process in f1 goes like this
1. Someone rich comes in and offers Bernie money
2. All sorts of parties in the background pop their heads into the equation
3. ??????????
4. PROFIT!!! ...for Bernie.
lol lukeh. I think you may be right
nailed it.
oh my goodness me, exciting tennis news (that amy has probably mentioned months ago but i just found out)
Novak's dog has twitter too - https://twitter.com/#!/PierreDjoko
awww!
It's easy enough for me to find out about newscorp, plenty of people over here that are very interested in their busniess practices, but it's all political. I can't really say much more without getting off topic, but it's not a good scene. The more I dig, the more I confirm my suspicions, which doesn't help my objectivity much.
Fortunately I think I finally found a job so I won't have so much time on my hands. One can only spend so much time filling out online applications and, errr. getting creative with your resume
I actually had to lie about my lack of qualifications (no, I've never done that before...ahem) to get my foot in the door. Guess I'll be learning stuff really quickly heh
If they ask tell them you accidentally put your degree in the washing machine.
well I DID find it at a coin laundry, after all...in the wash.
college town...those things are blowing around in the wind everywhere.
Not worth the gold printed on the paper anymore
SHHHHHHH!
night guys...hope ya'll havn dreams of a decent race this weekend. *crosses fingers
Night!
eh it's 4pm here so I'll still be up when the rest of you roll out of bed tomorrow.
gets pretty slow in here around midnight/2am UK time.
hehe, well I am heading off now anyways so it applies to me at least ;)
Nighty night all.
;D
RoC forced to move from Frankfurt due to football..
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92493
well JB is a show off..
@JensonButton "@thespartnership: At the McLaren London launch with @JensonButton - #wantone yfrog.com/kltrccj" #gotonecoming!
:) although i'd probably be happy if i could afford one.