Funny?

Funny? Yeah, hilarious… Provided you aren’t French.

I saw the game down the pub and I knew most ‘neutrals’ would root for Senegal. I must admit that the general reactions since Friday have been hard to swallow on top of disapointing performance.

On the footballing front, the problem is that without Zidane France goes from a world-class team to a good team, and when there’s no spark of imagination, it stutters and huffs and puffs, with no result.
I think that a lot of pundits, on TV, in the papers as well as the length and breadth of Europe have all been guilty of grossly overestimating the chances of certain teams and underestimating others. I knew the first game for France would be a lot tougher than most people said. And the signs were there that Korea had greatly improved in the last year.
The old order doesn’t always apply any more in football. Pundits were quick to predict a Polish victory yesterday for instance or to dismiss Brazil for months.
I doubt this is the last surprise in store this year.

RE: Coulthard wins!

It was an exciting race beliewve it or not, because the gap between the cars remained minimal. Nonne of that 32 seconds gap between the leader and the 3rd and 4th place after 10 laps nonsense.
I am disapointed that JPM’s engine let him down, but DC’s victory is a breath of fresh air.
An exciting contest all round, a bit of drama, real racing and suspense despite the few opportunities to overtake. That’s more like it!

RE: What the????=Austrian GP

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 14-05-02 AT 12:25 PM (GMT)]Hi Kev,

I too have heard that the Ferrari team had been summoned by the FIA following the controversial team decision to allow MS through. Apparently an article in the official F1 rules forbids pilots and/or teams to do anything which is detrimental to the sport. Quite a vague wording, but I reckon Sunday’s race conclusion falls within that description.

I saw the race in France and one of the French commentator, feeling the decision might have come from Jean Todt, said this “made him ashamed to be French”. It would really make the championship title meaningless, were MS to win it by a handful of points. It also raises question marks about the mindset of the whole Ferrari team, namely what real chances has RB got? Is he there to make up the numbers and will he only get a fair crack at it provided Michael’s car is in top shape? In other words, MS comes first (in more senses than one) and RB will never be treated on an equal footing.

A sports journalist has wondered whether, should MS lead in the last lap of the Monaco GP followed by RB, the German driver would slow down to let his teammate claim victory. It would be a nice gesture, but I fear an equally dissatisfying one.
Far better they should fight it out openly.

But where is F1 racing heading to if the only outcome to bet on is “who will come second behind MS”? What with the Austrian GP and the hugely perplexing lack of consistency in the appliance of sanctions in the MS/JPM clashes early on in the season, the dice seem a little loaded.

If the Tiffosi can turn their backs on Ferrari after this unsporting decision, it is not difficult to imagine fans deserting the sport in their droves if the suspense is totally taken out of the equation…

What?…

Rosco, what do you mean, “corrupt socialists”? Chirac is not a member of the French socialist party. He is the figurehead of the right in France.
In any case, the choice was not so much about his politics as about the alternative, and I am sorry to say, given that LP has no track record at this level of governance and that some of his policies would have thrown France, possibly Europe and even the world into turmoil there wasn’t much choice.