There is news floating around that Manchester United has approached Sahara for a shirt sponsorship deal. I was shocked when I read that! Manchester United currently has a deal with American International Group (AIG) for £56.5 million (about Rs 415 crore) which began in 2006. I knew Manchester United would be changing the current sponsor because AIG is in some financial troubles of its own, and United will surely want a new sponsor. But what I didn’t expect was the sponsor to be from India! Its said that United has sent a proposal to Sahara Group for the sponsorship, which Sahara has confirmed. Its big, really big. Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world, and the increasing fanbase in Asia and especially in India might prove to be a big factor. Sahara already sponsors the richest cricket team in the world, the Indian Cricket Team, and their shirt manufacturer is Nike, who also makes kits for Manchester United. I really hope this does materialise as it will really open up big platforms for Indian football.
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A “Pink” football boot? See it to believe it!
I have seen red Mercurial Vapors, orange Mercurial Vapors worn by Cristiano Ronaldo, but pink! Thats a first! And I’m not sure if I liked it or not. But yeah Nike does manage to make boots in all sorts of colors, especially the Mercurial Vapors, and the T90 Laser.
NikeFootball.com
Sports football, football boot, nike
And I’m so gutted to have written that post title. Absolutely shattered and sad about the way things happened. From a neutral point of view it might have been a great season, but for Massa and everyone who likes and supports him, its been a day to forget. Knowing what he had to do Felipe Massa did all he could, got the pole position, drove the the fastest lap during the race and eventually won it, and while winning it in hope that he just won the title too, but for the luck. Lewis Hamilton was behind Timo Glock when at the very last corner of the race, during the uphill climb, he overtakes Glock and grabs that 1 crucial point which sealed the title in his favor. For a moment I felt as if something was fishy in that move, why did the huge lead which Glock had over Hamilton suddenly just vanish over a single lap, and although Glock has said he was loosing grip, which might be even true, its caused an irreversible verdict on the championship. Many a times its been said that sports can be cruel at times, and we once again saw what it meant. I never felt this bad when Michael Schumacher lost the titles to Fernando Alonso, Alonso drove like a champ and won it, although that engine failure at Japan broke my heart when Schumi’s last hope went up in smoke, but still I always hated Lewis Hamilton and this year the hatred reaches supreme levels. Some of Lewis’s fans might argue with me, but then a champion is not just about who has the maximum points at the end of the season, its also about the way he gets the maximum points. Luck has been with him as much as against him, but whenever it was with him he benefitted more than when it wasn’t. And when that happens you have more good days than the bad ones. Anyways congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for winning the title. And Massa will have his day someday.
Sports formula one
Its the final race of the season and its the Brazilian Felipe Massa in his home race against the Brit Lewis Hamilton. The math is simple:
Hamilton will be champion if:
- He finishes fifth or higher
- He finishes sixth and Massa is second or lower
- He finishes seventh and Massa is second or lower
- He finishes eighth and Massa is third or lower
- He fails to score and Massa is third or lower
Massa will be champion if:
- He wins and Hamilton finishes sixth or lower
- He finishes second and Hamilton is eighth or lower
If the pair are tied on points at the end of Sunday afternoon (which would happen is Massa wins with Hamilton sixth, or if Massa finishes second with Hamilton eighth), Massa would win the title by virtue of more victories (six to Hamilton’s five) or more second-place finishes (three to Hamilton’s two).
So there you have it, both know what they have to do, and both know the stakes. Hamilton might be in a comfortable position thanks to the seven point lead he has, but he knows that it aint over till its over, and Massa would love to win the title at home infront of his fans and becoming the first Formula 1 champion since the great Ayrton Senna. Last season too Hamilton was in a comfortable position, he lost the title to Kimi Raikkonen. Constructors’ wise, Ferrari’s 11-point lead should be enough to win their title from McLaren. BMW Sauber is 10-point behind McLaren so they still have an outside chance of grabbing second from McLaren.
Its also the final grand prix of David Coulthard, aka DC. The oldest man on grid and a veteran of 245 grands prix starts, DC has been a popular figure in F1. Never won the title, 13 wins over a career of 15 years, with his last win in the 2003 season. Not an out and out championship material but he’s been always a tough guy to overtake. DC will surely be missed in F1. Farewell DC.
Here is the race schedule (all timings are in IST):
FRI Practice 1 17:30
FRI Practice 2 21:30
SAT Practice 18:30
SAT Qualifying 21:30
SUN Race 22:30
You just cant miss all the action. And I hope its Massa who wins it.
Sports formula one
He might not be in the best of positions in this year’s Formula 1 World Championship, but when its all about going around the track the fastest, no one beats Kimi, the flying finn has been in flying form when its about fastest laps. Raikkonen has already got 10 fastest laps this year, even with three races remaining, and no other driver has even more than 2 fastest laps, its pretty clear who’s the fastest on track, and the biggest surprise is that Lewis Hamilton, who is leading the World Championship doesnt even have a single fastest lap this season! Last season too Kimi had the most number of wins and shared the highest number of fastest laps with Felipe Massa. And not only that, Kimi is already upto third in the all time fastest laps list.
Top ten drivers in Formula 1 with fastest laps
1. Michael Schumacher 76
2. Alain Prost 41
3. Kimi Räikkönen 35
4. Nigel Mansell 30
5. Jim Clark 28
6. Mika Häkkinen 25
7. Niki Lauda 24
8. Juan Manuel Fangio 23
9. Nelson Piquet 23
10. Gerhard Berger 21
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The new avatar of the famous Nike T90 series is out and its even better. It now has a even better “sweet spot” and a new “V-twin lacing” for better contact. They again have some color combos like the one in the pic below featuring a black and green combination, then they also have white/red combo, black/orange. Read more about the Nike T90 Laser II. We’ll get to see Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres sporting these shoes in the Premier League. The boot is really a mean looking thing, wonder what havoc Rooney and Torres are gonna wreak in the Premier League now 
There is also a new ball called Nike T90 Laser II Omni. Its a new looking ball with a very new design. Like Nike puts it “The revolutionary T90 Omni Ball provides a 360-degree sweet spot, increased visibility and cutting-edge panel architecture, there’s never been a more consistently accurate Nike ball.” It will feature in the Premier League’s new season as well.
Sports football, football boot, nike
Spain’s wait for a major success is finally over as they end the 44 years barren run with a 1-0 win over Germany in the Euro 2008 finals in Vienna. Fernando Torres provided the only goal after 33 minutes. They started out as favorites and justified their status as among the best in Europe. They played well, rose to the occasion and beat Germany convincingly in the finals to be the champions. I was disappointed by Germany as they failed to score a goal even with a bunch of good attacking players. They looked out of ideas and weren’t in high tempo. Spain were much better and played some good football and were the deserving winners.
With this the Euro 2008 also comes to and end, and which means I can now sleep on time, which wasn’t the case ever since the Euro had started, thanks to the late kick-off timings here in India. But it was worth it I guess. We saw some great football action, some new talented players rose to the limelight, some disappointed, but in the end the football fan enjoyed what was a memorable Euro Cup. I missed England a lot. The likes of Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard not present in a major tournament is a bit of a turn off, but Russia, who thumped England to reach the tournament, justified their qualification by plaing some outstand football, and beating the favorites Netherlands convincingly. Marvo Van Basten’s side played some good attacking football themselves before being outclassed and outplayed by Russia. France had a miserable time and they need to give a hard look down the line to see where they were wrong. Italy had a decent run until they lost out to Spain on penalties. Portugal too were favorites to win it but couldn’t get past Germany. Germany on the other hand were not really in good form in the tournament but still managed to get into the finals. Turkey were the kind of comebacks as they played some thrilling football and managed to get into the quarter-finals. Croatia were again very good, and they deserved to play in the quarter-finals, but couldn’t do so.
Players wise we saw some good crop of talented players. Russian duo of Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin emerged as a great force for Russia’s success. David Villa was the top scorer in the tournament and was a player to watch for Spain. Ruud van Nistelrooy was still in best of form and played some good football. There were some big disappointments as well. The French team dissappointed big time. Much was expected from Karim Benzema but he couldn’t do much on the field. Theiry Henry too didn’t make a big impact for the French. Frank Ribéry was somewhat better for Les Blues. Fàbregas played outstanding for Spain, he was a player who deserved to play in the finals. There were still a lot of other players who played their part, like the Turks, the Croatians, they all played some superb football, and got some glory for their teams. But in the end there is only one winner and that was Spain.
So now no football for a while now, until August when the new season of English Premier League kicks off, which promises to be a even more action packed than the last season. Will write a preview for the season, so watch this space.
Sports euro 2008, football
I was casually browsing Youtube when I found a video of the news report on the day when Ayrton Senna died. Everyone remembers that on May 1, 1994, the Formula One triple world champion Ayrton Senna died in a crash that occurred while he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, but only a few know that another Formula One driver died in the same grand prix a day earlier on Saturday 30 April, 1994, during the qualifying. It was Roland Ratzenberger who died in the high speed crash he had which resulted in his death. But Senna’s death overshadowed Ratzenberger, and still today not many people know the fact that 2 Formula One drivers died in the same grand prix event making the darkest day in the history of Formula One racing.
Ayrton Senna died the following day. According to Wikipedia “When track officials examined the wreckage of Senna’s racing car, they found a furled Austrian flag. Senna had planned to raise it after winning the race, in honour of Ratzenberger.” Such a tragic incident really, makes you feel very sad about it.
Ratzenberger was doing 314.9 km/h when his car struck the wall. The cause of his death according to Wikipedia “Suffering front wing-damage on the previous lap, the high speed on the backstraight, and therefore high wind pressure, finally broke the wing off, sending it under Ratzenberger’s car. His car failed to turn into the Villeneuve Corner and struck the outside wall at 314.9 km/h. After the car carried on down the track, spinning around and stopping at the next corner, Ratzenberger’s lolling head was revealed; he had clearly broken his neck. The cause of death was a basal skull fracture.” On February 18, 2001 NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt also had a similar injury at the 2001 Daytona 500 when he had a high speed crash and died because of serious injuries.
The double tragedy was marked before the start of the next race in Monaco, with the front row of the grid left empty and the two slots painted with a Brazilian and Austrian flag. Although Formula One cars are a lot safer, thanks to the San Marino tragedy, and even after a high speed crash, the drivers survive the accident. But we still remember the drivers we have lost in motor racing. May their soul rest in peace…
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A SportZForumZ exclusive Report, by Varun K R:-
So after a big wait of 4 years, the Euro is back! Something that always lives up to the hype it gets, it’s also one of the tournaments where amazing football is on display, probably because of the fact that one bad game could mean another 4 year wait! Read more…
Sports euro 2008, football, Sports
“YESSS!!!” I must have scremed, yelled, shouted and whispered this word uncountable times tonight, and what a memorable night it has truly been. Manchester United has won the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. United deservingly won the trophy and did a double, winning the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. And the only goal for United coming from that boy Ronaldo. What a season he’s had. United dominated the first half, and just before half-time conceded a goal which was unlucky. And it stayed level in the extra time period to go into a penalty shootout, which was very nervy, but it was Manchester United who came on top and they are now the champions of England and the champions of Europe!!!
Didier Drogba justified why I hate him so much. He’s such a jerk. You cant just get into such a mess and expect to walk out. I’m sure he has played his last game in a Chelsea shirt. The nail biter of a shootout it was, which I spent clinching my United badge on the shirt the entire shootout, kissing it every time we scored the penalty, and all hell let loose when Edwin van der Sar stopped the spot kick from Anelka to win the trophy for United, sending me into a wild celebration. Its been a great display from the team in the whole season. What makes it so special is the fact that its Forty years after first winning the European Cup at Wembley in 1968, and 50 years since the Munich tragedy. Ryan Giggs overtook Sir Bobby Charlton’s appearance record to make his 759th appearance for United. Paul Scholes who missed the final last time in 1999, started the game, and even after taking a blow and bleeding during an incident in the first half, continued and was a big factor in the first half. United dominated the first half, but Chelsea came back strongly in the second. United then again were the better side in the extra time and deservingly won the penalty shootout.
Its been a memorable season, a season which started very slowly, with goals hard to come by initially, but then the solid defensive displays all over the season combined with the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United got the double and underlined the statement that why they are the Champions. Sir Alex deserves it more than anyone, he’s been absolute solid personality, leading the team to this glorious night. Just a single European success didn’t reflect the true genius that he is. This team is truly among the best United has had and could well go on to become the best ever if they continue to show the character and grit during the last couple of seasons and build on the solid team we have. This team can go on to become the biggest and strongest team in Europe, which they already are, and for a long long time.
Sports manchester united
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