The Race to 5

There's no denying I'm a big fan of Scuderia Ferrari, from the early days with Mansell to that unforgettable Schumacher era, and with others like Kimi and Fernando of late, the team brings so much to the sport, many say if Ferrari ever left, Formula One should shut up shop. Now in saying this, I am a proud supporter of the two cars on the grid every race day and for many who have been following the World Drivers Championship battle this season, it's been all too familiar with Sebastian and his car showing great promise in the first of half of the season but failing dismally in the latter. While this year was a bit closer than last, the end result was evident from 5 races left on the calendar, it would have taken a miracle and some extreme bad luck  for Lewis Hamilton not to secure his 5th title. 

While both drivers fought hard this season, there can be only one winner and last weekend in New Mexico, Lewis Hamilton showed the world why he was the best at what he does. The Brit is an incredibly talented driver and even though his car was not the fastest, he made the most of it where it counted, around the bends and in qualifying securing more pole positions than Vettel or higher placings on the grid. He also had the backing of a great team who's strategies for every race weekend was near perfect, all of this helped him achieve his 5th world drivers championship and credit must be paid to him for achieving this accomplishment. 

However, I have a bone to pick with many about his rival Vettel. While he might not be everyone's cup of tea, the sport has painted him with a black brush in the latter half of the season. With Formula One's TV deal, most of the international stream has to put up with the rubbish that Sky Sports has to say. Sky Sports being British have a certain bias towards their own driver, even though they won't admit it. It's with this bias that many tend to dislike Lewis which is really sad because he is really a great driver. There were a number of incidents that contributed to Vettel's title challenge demise this year, some were faults by him, many by the team in terms of strategy etc but for most of it, it was just racing and at the end of the day, that is what Vettel is, a racer. 

Now if you hark back to Vettel's career when he just began, he took chances, made them count and hence he was so successful at Red Bull Racing, granted the car was brilliant but his driving played a big part in him achieving so much at such a young age, fast forward to present day and nothing has changed in his driving style, unfortunate for him he just had a lot of bad luck this season. In the clashes he had with the Red Bulls, both in Japan and Austin, both were recognised as racing incidents, and if you analyse both closely, he had a gap and in the case in Austin he had the better racing line but yet the Sky Sports team chose to label it as "rash", "dangerous", and my favourite "desperate" by Sebastian. It's like none of those former drivers they have on their commentary team ever raced before. There was an opportunity to overtake, he took it, it didn't work out, and most of the time its a 50/50 on what would happen and unfortunately for him, he spun on both cases. Then there was blame put on the car for doing what it did, it's like he could never win with these commentators. 

Karma soon came to bite them in the ass in Austin though, with VSC called in early on in the race, just after 12 laps, Mercedes brought in Lewis for a change in tyres as he was behind Kimi at the time and wanted to get his lead back after it was taken from the start and hopefully wrap up the title that weekend. The Sky Sports team saw this as a genius move and wondered why Ferrari didn't do the same, its as if they had amnesia and forgot all about how heavy on tyres the Austin track is. With a 1 stop strategy this would be disastrous for any driver! As the race went on, Lewis began to suffer, lost many places in the field and had to go back for a tyre change again, the commentary team didn't acknowledge Ferrari's reluctance to take the gamble and pit their cars early but rather focused on how Lewis saved his race but ultimately couldn't seal his 5th drivers title that weekend. 

It gave Ferrari and Vettel a glimmer of hope going into Mexico but even they knew it was all done and dusted even before the weekend began. As per normal in Mexico, the Red Bulls were on fire and secured a top two spot in qualifying, Ricciardo suffered mechanical failure again during the race but left the road open to Max Verstappen to claim his 5th race victory, with Hamilton finishing in 4th place, it was enough for him to claim victory in the drivers title challenge, some nice words were said between him and Vettel, which is always great to see, even though the commentary team want us to believe they hate each other. All is not lost for Ferrari though, they're still in for a shot at the constructors title with them trailing Mercedes Benz by 55 points, with Lewis wrapping up his title, we're not sure if he will be racing as hard as before and with Bottas having a point to prove after playing second fiddle the entire season, these last two races could be quite spectacular to see. 

Why, Phil?

This past weekend, many Liverpool supporters were left asking themselves this very question, why Phil? Why did you leave us? I, like many others were angry, but also it wasn't the best kept transfer secret and everyone knew it was bound to happen but for us Liverpool supporters there still remained that glimmer of hope the Philippe would see the bigger picture and stay with the club a little longer but alas it wasn't to be. The rumour mill started from the new year with his sudden thigh strain which kept him out of 2-1 win over Burnley and then the 2-1 win over Everton in the FA Cup, concerns were growing, all eyes were on Twitter to see the latest in terms of the on goings of this transfer. When news of him having not traveled with the rest of the squad to Dubai for some summer training, the writing should have been on the wall for us but yet, like the blind some of us refused to speculate. Then the news came, late Saturday night, Liverpool have accepted a bid from Barcelona for Coutinho. It was done, he was leaving us for Spain, for a club that is no stranger from hijacking our star players, as they did not so long ago to Luis Suarez. But why? Did he not see the bigger picture that was unfolding at Anfield? Was he fed up with the cold miserable weather? Did he not get enough hugs from Klopp? What was it? Why did he leave?

Well, I have a theory, well not so much of a theory but it makes a lot of sense. Hailing from South Africa, we for some odd reason love the English Premiership, and hold it in high regard as on of the best, if not the best leagues in the world. Many other countries share the same sentiments even though 90% of the die-hard supporters will never get a chance to see their team play live, we still cherish the weekends when they play. Much like how our fanfare with the English league is, down in South America, they love the Spanish League. Perhaps it has to do with the culture, the language, the style of football. The appeal is there and and there's many a kid in the street playing football with a dream to play in the La Liga. Philippe was one of those kids, Born and raised in one of the biggest cities in South America, Rio de Janeiro, he showed great promise in Vasco da Gama's youth system and was eventually signed by Inter Milan, he didn't have an easy time in Italy but it was a stepping stone into Europe and a step closer to achieving his dream of playing for Barcelona. After a few seasons being loaned out to various clubs, eventually in 2013 he was signed by Liverpool. Under the guidance of Brendan Rogers, he didn't take that long to settle down and fans saw glimpses of what the kid could offer. 

"Little Magician" as he is fondly called, he started making his way into the league, with some acute passing, masterful trickery and that deadly curling shot at goal. He soon became a fan favourite and won numerous awards with the clubs but sadly no trophies, In his 5 year spell at the club, he became a fan favourite one player that we hoped started every game. Just before the 2017/18 season could start, speculation came in that a bid for him was received from Barcelona. With him being integral to the squad, you could understand the clubs decision to turn down any sort of bid for the player but for Philippe, this was his moment. That kid playing in the dusty streets of Rio, dreaming of playing for Barcelona one day was now a reality. Hence he submitted a transfer request, which the club also shot down. Now, whether or not the he could see it, Liverpool are on a long term building program with the manager and the owners for the first time on the same page. They both trust each other and they both want success, while I understand the player must be frustrated for one, not winning and silverware in his time, and two, finally having his dream move in place only for the doors to be shut, which made him oblivious to the bigger picture at hand. 

While for him at that time as a kid, LaLiga was the be all and end all of football, times have changed and English football is highly regarded in Europe and it shows on its center stage with all 5 teams now in the knock-out phase of the Champions League. But I suppose if you have to take into account the language barrier, the weather and the style of football, you can see why his mind was still dead on making the move. After what seemed to have been ages for the summer window to close, he still remained at the club. Whether he was unhappy or not, we couldn't tell as he still played well for us, scored some amazing goals, none more so than what proved to be his last for us against Swansea. What a pearler that was and just the right way to remember him. 

His decision to leave the club in January may be odd, we're not sure what sort of agreement he made. maybe if the club were still challenging for the title he would have stayed till the end but whatever the case is, he's gone now and with that he became the second most expensive player in world football. That burden of the price ta won't bother him though, he's going to shine at Barca, with Messi and former partner in crime Suarez its only evident that he will. At the same time, while over the last 3 games, we've proved we can win without him, and we no doubt have the fire power, he still will be missed for created chances out of nothing and scoring some cracking goals. 

Bye Philippe. 

Monday Choon: Tiesto - Boom

It's not quite Monday but with most of the world having the day off yesterday, well the counties which the British colonized, we can pretend it is. Ultra Miami is the perfect place for new releases and many DJ's dropped their latest work, one of which being Tiesto who played his new song "BOOM" which he made in conjunction with Sevenn. He calls its Brazilian bass and it's pretty catchy and he seems to love it as he's been dropping it every where, most recently at the Kings Day Party in Netherlands. 

Hotties of Rio 2016

The Summer Olympics gets under way tonight in Rio De Janeiro, well it actually started a few days ago but today see's the official opening ceremony with them lighting the flame and stuff. It's one of the biggest sporting events on the planet with countries competing in many of the summer orientated sports, to win gold for themselves and their country. Now while many will be watching the events for the sport and competitiveness, it doesn't hurt to know there are more than a handful of eye candy present. Now with them all being athletes, they have to be looking after their bodies and will be in the shape of their life for the games but there are a few who have been blessed with both the looks and the ability to compete at the highest level of their respective sports. We've done a quick run down of our top 10 female athletes to keep an eye out for during the games. 

Jacqueline, Carvalho, Brazil, Volley Ball

Well it's in Brazil so how can we not have a Brazilian first on the list? Sadly that's where it ends for the host nation but be sure to keep an eye on this hottie on the courts. 

Ellen Hoog, Netherlands, Hockey

The star of the Dutch female team, Ellen isn't just popular for her looks. Whilst being a key player for the national side, her looks did earn her a shoot with Sports Illustrated Magazine.

Genevieve Lacaze, Australia, Steeple Chase

It was bound to happen, yes while we all love to hate the Australians, you got to admit they have some fine looking Sheila's and Genevieve is one of them. Competing in the Steeple Chase, she's hoping to take home gold for the Aussies.

Amber Hill, England, Skeet Shooting

At just aged 18, Amber is probably the youngest on this list and at the Olympics but becareful, her forte is Skeet Shooting, so she'll have a marker on your head if you not wary. 

Ana Ivanovic, Serbia, Tennis

Ana needs no introduction to us, she's been wowing us on and off the courts with her gorgeous looks for years now and with the absence of Maria Sharapova this year, she'll be the one everyone looks out for at the Tennis even though she recently got married.

Michelle Jenneke, Australia, Hurdles

If you watch track and field and haven't heard of Michelle then quite frankly you've been watching with blinkers on. Known for her famous warm up dance that warms up just about every male watching. This is one Aussie I won't mind having over for tea.

Shelina Zadorsky, Canada, Football

Truth be told I wouldn't even know about her if I didn't watch the game against Australia the other night. It's a pity she was red carded quite early on, I think the ref thought she was just too hot to be on the field so sent her for an early shower. 

Darya Klishina, Russia, Long Jump

It just wouldn't be the Olympics without a hot Russian and Darya is your lady. Her legs will tower over just about anything hence she's a champ at the Long Jump. If that doesn't work out for her she could always go into modeling.

Alex Morgan, USA, Football

It's time to focus on the Americans and first up is Alex Morgan, she narrowly beat her team mates Hope Solo and Alex Krieger to this list but can you blame me? I mean look at the picture below.

Alana Blanchard, USA, Surfing

Yes! Surfing is a legit sport at the Olympics and honestly I cannot wait because of this particular lady. Alana Blanchard of the USA is bound to be competing for gold and she will be looking damn good doing so. Massive fan of her for obvious reasons and she's not that bad on the board either.

Tomorrowland Movie

Every year I always joke about the length of the Tomorrowland aftermovie, I mean I can handle a 15 minute short video but these guys take it to the extreme and push it beyond 30 minutes. There only so much you can handle watching but this year, they've out done themselves, they went and made an actual movie! No idea how long it is but it will be available for download on the 1st of December this year. The trailer has been released (it's just over 2 minutes, phew) and it looks quite good. I say all this now but I'll probably end up watching the movie, it really is unique festival and one I'd like to attend but damn guys, a movie?!

                     

Monday Choon: Hardwell & Dannic feat. Haris - Survivors

The song has been out for a while now but the official music video was dropped last month. It's the first time Hardwell and Dannic have teamed up to produce a track and judging by it's success so far, they should do it more often. The music video for the song was shot in South America with some of it being in the mystical Amazon rain forest. It follows a girl from a tribe in search of Hardwell and Dannic who she eventually finds at TomorrowWorld Brazil. Quite different from the norm and a nice little story to go with a great track.