Vettel Owns Monza

It was a weekend for upsets except in the rugby. The Shark Tank was wind swept and when I walked out of the stadium, I felt battered and bruised; much like those players must have felt in a battle that was not far from pretty. In fact it was never going to be a fantastic spectacle of rugby that we had the week before for the simple reason, Mr. Willie D Roos. I am sorry to harp on him, but he is poor, pathetic and should not be allowed near a rugby field, let alone on it. In fact beside the Sharks being rampant in the scrums and it was a joy to behold there were two moments of sheer brilliance. The first was Deon Carstens running in on the wing to score a wonderful try and set the tone for the forwards and Frans Steyn slotting a 60m drop goal into the teeth of Hurricane Hilda. The Sharks just missed out on their bonus point try and ran out convincing winners 22-10 over the Free State Cheetahs.

The Blue Bulls thumped the Kavaliers 69-19 with the Lions mauling Griquas 41-20 and the biggest point swing of the season with WP getting revenge over the Valke in the return game at Newlands. Western Provincescored 14 tries, including 5 from Springbok lock Andries Bekker. Western Provincesmashed the hapless Valke 92-15 to send them back to Brakpan featherless,debonedand even spatchcocked in a mild wild herb peri-peri sauce. This left Province 5 points behind the Cheetahs on 27 points. The Sharks are 1^st on 42, the Bulls on 40 and the ever improving Lions on 36.

To recap from last week, Roger Federer was just too good for the young Scot beating Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win his 5^th US Open title in a row. Nadal is still ranked number one in the men’s world tennis rankings and should retain that position until the end of the year.

This is Ryder Cup week and some of the world’s best golfers will be going great guns to see who will be the best between the United States and Europe. This is the 37^th Ryder cup, dating back to 1921, when it was contested between the USAand Great Britton. There have been 2 ties, 10 victories to Europe and 24 victories to the USA. So this week it is off to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville Kentuckyand will the Europeans be able to defend their title under the Captaincy of Nick Faldo or will the very young USteam under the leadership of Paul Azinger be victorious. The bookies have got Europe as favorites and I tend to agree with The Tiger not playing, however those Yankee supporters are a tough crowd and they may just be the deciding factor. All I can say is enjoy the golf.

Formula One crowned its youngest ever race winner this season, with Sebastian Vettel winning from pole at Monza. It was the best race of the season and even as I am very embarrassed to admit it, also the first race that I did not have my afternoon nap in. Hamilton and Räikkönen started in 15^th and 14^thposition after a very poor Saturday. Felipe Massa started 6^th and finished 6^th but Hamilton ended up 7^th, in what can only be described as a brave drive in some very wet and slippery conditions. As for Kimi, this is a man that in the last 10 laps of the race put in four new race lap records in a row, but he could only end up 12^th. “Kimi you are a girl (No offence ladies) and you do not deserve mantle of world champion the way that you drive”. Ferrari would have done better to bring in Vettel than Kimi. The next race is in Singapore, the first ever night race. I just hope that this does not end in tragedy as I am not sure if this will be safe, however, only time will tell.

Valentino Rossi won again this weekend in Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Yes the 4.2km home of the Indy 500, the Untied State Grand Prix (F-1) and motor the United States Motor GP. This has given him an 87 point lead over closest rival Casey Stoner who ended up 4^th. This surely barring any strange phenomenal event such as alien abduction should be the sealing of the world championship for Yamaha and The Doctor.

To my dear Auntie Trudy, yes I loved your message on Saturday. It was great to see Liverpoolwith a victory even if it was only at Anfield, but a win over Man U is a win none the less. The Arsenal went to Ewood Park and thumped Blackburn Rovers 4-0 including a Hat-trick from Adebayor. Man City briefly held a one nil lead until Chelsea pitched up and beat them 3-1 in Manchester. Everton got their first win of the season with a 2-3 win against Stoke Cityand a win at Britannia Stadium. Fulham had a 2-1 win against Boltonat Craven Cottage. Liverpool are still top on the log, with Chelsea, but only lead due to a superior goal difference.

Congratulations must go to the All Blacks on becoming the Tri-Nations champions again by beating Australia 28-24 victory in Brisbane. Well done again to Kappie on equaling the world record for test appearances as a rugby referee.

Until next week, I would like you to ponder on this thought. How would you feel about a Tri-Nations “Wallakiwibok” XV taking on the British Lions and how much would you be prepared to pay to watch such a game?

Cheers

ONETIME