Last year, at this point in the season, the Phillies were 48-48. This year, they are 52-44 and sitting in first place. So why is it that I, and many other Phillies fans, feel almost the same as we did at this point last year? There might be a four-game difference, but this team is still inconsistent, occasionally maddening and not entirely playing up to its potential. At its current pace, the Phil
By Jonathan Fear, Editor of Vital Aston Villa
How was it for you?
With such a small squad they’ve done extremely well. We need to add to the strikeforce next season because as good as John Carew has been, he does go missing at times. But it’s a massive improvement from last year and we can look [...]
So, the season is almost over and once again we have come away with absolutely nothing to show for it. The difference between this season and the previous is that this season we deserved something. Written off before the season had started, this side have proved so many people wrong. It is hard to strike [...]
2006 Season Review DVDRip - (International) edition In 55 years only seven men had won back to back world championships. In 2006 Fernando Alonso changed all that. The season began with new drivers, new teams and a new knockout qualifying format, but Renault picked up where they left off in 2005. By Canada they looked to have it in the bag, but then Michael Schumacher and Ferrari fought back and the battle for both titles would be won and lost in the last two races. Watch Jenson Button’s fiery exit in Australia and his blaze of glory in Hungary. Ride on board with Vitantonio Liuzzi as Kimi Raikkonen drives over him! Feel the emotion as Felipe Massa wins in Brazil and Michael Schumacher bows out of Formula One racing. Get to the very heart of a sensational season, with original interview
2005 Season Review DVDRip - (International) edition In 2005 Fernando Alonso, already the youngest Formula 1™ driver to take pole position and to win a race, also became the youngest ever Formula 1™ World Champion. The year saw dramatic changes with new rules and a radical shake up of the old order. Gone was the Ferrari domination of recent years, the team from Maranello only managing the top step of the podium on one occasion. Instead it was Renault who scooped their first ever Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles. Runtime: 3 hours Size : 2.05 GB Resolution : 640x480
2004 Season Review DVDRip - (International) edition A truly remarkable campaign from Michael Schumacher, who took 13 wins from 18 races for Ferrari, but that was far from the only story of the season. As McLaren and Williams fell by the wayside with just one victory each, Renault and BAR were only too willing and able to pick up the pieces. The year marked the meteoric rise of Jenson Button, whose ten podium finishes helped him to third place in the drivers’ championship. It also saw Jarno Trulli prove his critics wrong as he took pole position and victory on the streets of Monte Carlo. Other key moments included the return of Jacques Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher’s spectacular crash at Indianapolis and the debut of two new circuits in Bahrain and China. Runtime : 3 hours Size : 2.05
2008 is the year of the rat in the Chinese zodiac calendar.
Rats are tough, resilient creatures and often fearless when faced down by much larger animals. They’re also despised filth that live in sewers and eat shit.
So the godfathers of the world’s different species of vermin possess some of the qualities important for athletes [...]
Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing #12 Dodge Team finished up the 2007 season in 13th place.
Newman had an average start of 13.5 and an average finish of 18.1 this year. He led 287 laps, recieved 95 bonus points and finished the season with an 86.5 rating.
Compared to the 2006 season, improvements were made. Newman known for his pole positions only earned 2 in 2006 while earning 5 in 2007 (the other 4 years were higher than 5 poles). He had 7 top 5 finishes and 15 top 10 finishes this year compared to 2 and 7 last year.
Ryan Newman fans don’t have to much to complain about regarding the 2007 Nascar Nextel Cup season. Sure Newman and his team finished 13th - outside the chase. Newman flirted with the 12th place position a lot this year but was never able to break into the top 12. Every time he got close, he fell back a position or 2.
Newman had some VERY bad luck during this 2007 season which rea
Honda
Oh my…. What a season. This is a team that under its old identity BAR Honda finished 2nd in the constructors table in 2004. This is the team that recorded its first race win in 2006. This the team who’s driver Jenson Button finished 3rd in driver’s table in 2004 and scored more points than any other driver in the second half of 2006 season… They hoped for further step up in 2007, if not for a title fight than at least few more race wins… To promote enviromental issues they entered the season with an unique Earth livery, with no sponsors messages on the car. The weight of the whole Earth was apparently too much for them to carry …
The Australian Grand Prix was an eye opener. The Honda cars were solid midfield cars, far behind the leading Ferraris and McLarens. Both cars finished lap down, barely getting out of Q1. The pattern for the rest of the season has been set. The 3 week break before Malaysian GP did not help them much, more the opp
An awful lot has been said and written about the 2007 Formula One season, and not much of it has been very positive. While it’s been a fantastic few months in many respects, there’s also been far too much that we’d rather forget about.
So, rather than dwelling on feuding team-mates, the trashing of reputations among drivers and team principals alike, the alleged behind-the-scenes fisticuffs, the legalities of flexible floors or cooled fuel, and exactly what it was that Nigel Stepney said to Mike Coughlan, let’s accentuate the positives.
Here’s some things that we think would be good for the sport in 2008. And, sure enough, it will need them after the year it’s just had:
Consistency. All we ask is for the ability to believe that the rules are being applied with a modicum of fairness. This season the suspension of disbelief required has been just too great - with Ferrari’s illegal floor and the BMW and Williams fuel irregularities escaping unpu
No question - the 2007 Formula One season is one that will live in the memory for a mighty long time. Reputations made and broken, the closest of finishes and the biggest of scandals - re-live it all in our end-of-year round-up.
Australia - A race that, with hindsight, was more or less a microcosm of the season. Raikkonen put down a marker of his future intentions with a decisive win in his first race in the red car. He’d been fastest from free practice onwards and made short work of the actual race. McLaren struggled for pace all weekend, meaning they could never seriously challenge Raikkonen - and Alonso and Hamilton ended up duelling for position in the pit stops. Alonso got it, coming second, but Lewis Hamilton had fans and pundits alike sitting up and taking notice after pulling off a magnificent third. Massa started from the back row after a late engine change and fought his way up as far as sixth. Afterwards, questions were raised by McLaren about the legality of the flex
Williams
After their disastrous 2006 season many people (me included) said, that this year will be the make or break one for the Williams team. The danger of taking the Jordan route after Honda deserted them was definitelly real. They however managed to turn the things around. Toyota power replacing the Cosworth engine was an important step. Not that Cosworth V8 was a bad engine, but financial side of the deal with Toyota was definitelly much sweeter for Williams than buying engines off Cosworth… On top of that the team secured the title sponsor AT&T, without even giving them the most lucrative place on the car. That went to another major new sponsor - Lenovo. Mark Webber left and Alex Wurz was promoted from testing duties to a race seat alongside Nico Rosberg. Their winter testing form was promising, things did not look too bad for Williams ahead of 2007 season.
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BMW Sauber
BMW Sauber team surprised many this year and claimed the best of the rest title. After the exclusion McLaren exclusion that meant no 2 in costructors table.
They declared ther intentions right at the race 1 in Melbourne. Nick Heidfeld finished in strong 4th place, well clear ahead of Renaults. Kubica however suffered from their early season reliability issues and did not make it to the chequered flag. In the next race in Malaysia, Nick Heidfeld found himself ahead of Felipe Massa after Massa’s failed attempt to overtake Alonso. He managed to keep Massa behind and claimed the second 4th place in a row. Kubica again suffered car problems and finished way down the field and outside the points.
It took 3 races, but after Bahrain Kubica also had points under his belt for 6th place. However the way Heidfeld overtook Alonso and kept him in bay counts as one my highlights of 2007 season. Third 4th place in a row for Heidfeld. By now BMW Sauber were clearly established
“It’s meaningless,” is the standard cry regarding preseason games, especially when your team is on the losing end of a good old down home whooping. But beat a hated rival in an exhibition match-up and it’s reason to look forward to the regular season with anticipation.
The cliche that no meaning should be attached to what is essentially hockey’s version of “friendlies” is pretty valid. It appears there is no standard number of games, with some teams playing as many as 9, while others suit up for a measly 5 (this based on last year’s preseason.) While the outcomes themselves aren’t much to get excited about, individual players can showcase their conditioning and potential for the beginning of the season. The result is line combinations heavy on experimentation with many skaters on the ice for the tryout of their lives. Of those, some will be long gone by the time games have any meaning.
With that belief firmly in mind for most fan
VivB gives a seasons thoughts…
If a football season is the equivalent to one of those childhood journey’s in the back of your Dad’s car this season has been a trundle through the flat wastes of East Anglia. Watching a monotonous landscape repeat itself through the window with only sporadic excitement to relieve the predictability.
I can think of very few highs this season, indeed after being able to attend home games regularly again for the first time since they knocked down the North Bank, I spent much of my time head in hands despairing of the seeming lack of direction on the pitch. It soon became apparent most teams would arrive at the Emirates aiming to stifle play and leave with a point. Too many games followed the same pattern of dominance undermined by mistakes leading to a goal.
Undisputedly the club is in transition, the players the club’s recent success has been built on have gone or are now prone to injury. Many Season Reviews mention the loss of
Frank’s take on the season. Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy.
The past looked orange on that day last summer when we all turned up for Denis Bergkamp’s testimonial. A joy, to see the master so well respected by so many great players. We sat/stood there throughout the event with mouths wide open watching the incomparable Johan Cruyff not only managing the Dutch contingent but playing as well, and Marco Van Basten was there too. Brilliant. Just Brilliant. We were there not only to join in a last wave goodbye to some great players but to initiate a new stadium. A big and almost perfect place, the seats comfortable (unless someone wants to walk past you), the bar areas vast compared to Highbury, grown up swipe card tickets and a proper sized bowling green of a pitch. Sure there were already complaints about the price of beer and pies and pizzas, but I think we were all really proud of the place and the guys who had put it together.
Something about mettle and experience happened tha
Today’s post gives you a rest from my ramblings, these are Flint’s thoughts on the months past.
After 40+ seasons sitting in pretty good seats in the East Upper, at Highbury, moving to West Lower, at the Emirates, was both exciting and worrying. Now I don’t mind standing, I prefer sitting, but I just hate the old “up-down-up-down” routine all the time. As it has turned out that is not a problem, the stadium is fantastic, I am at last sitting with my mates and, from where we are, the atmosphere seems good and sometimes very good. I am afraid, for me, the old electric atmospheres died with the terraces.
From the playing perspective we were going into the season with some potential and some obvious problems:
The loss of PV4, Bob,DB10, Sol, Lauren (although we didn’t know that would be permanent) etc. in 2 years. There has been some unrest that the club should have acquired experienced players to replace those mentioned. It would be great if such players, of equal
Jay has asked me to chip in again with his NFL team reviews and now it's my turn to take a stab at the Jacksonville Jaguars. So brace yourself...2006 season : 8-8Head Coach : Jack Del RioOffensive Coordinator : Mike TiceDefensive Coordinator : Mike SmithPro-Bowl : Rasheen MathisOffenseIf you try to make any sense of the 2006 season of the Jags, you will end up bleeding from your retina and muttering jibberish. The team finished 9th in the NFL in total points scored, they got to atleast 30 points in 5 of their games, yet they lost twice against Houston while scoring 7 and 10 points respectively in those games. It was inconsistency like that that led to an 8-8 record.The big problem on offense was at quarterback. Byron Leftwich played in only 6 games before getting hurt again which meant that backup David Garrard got a lot of playing time. Garrard appeared in 11 games, totaling 1735 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. In Leftwich's 6 starts, he put up 1157 passing yards,
Jay has asked me to chip in again with his NFL team reviews and now it's my turn to take a stab at the Jacksonville Jaguars. So brace yourself...2006 season : 8-8Head Coach : Jack Del RioOffensive Coordinator : Mike TiceDefensive Coordinator : Mike SmithPro-Bowl : Rasheen MathisOffenseIf you try to make any sense of the 2006 season of the Jags, you will end up bleeding from your retina and muttering jibberish. The team finished 9th in the NFL in total points scored, they got to atleast 30 points in 5 of their games, yet they lost twice against Houston while scoring 7 and 10 points respectively in those games. It was inconsistency like that that led to an 8-8 record.The big problem on offense was at quarterback. Byron Leftwich played in only 6 games before getting hurt again which meant that backup David Garrard got a lot of playing time. Garrard appeared in 11 games, totaling 1735 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. In Leftwich's 6 starts, he put up 1157 passing yards,
Jay has been busy writing kick-ass season reviews for all of the NFL teams and he's asked me to write one for the Dolphins, so it's time for me to step up to the plate and strike out awkwardly.2006 season: 6-10Head Coach: Nick Saban (Has since moved on to Alabama)Offensive Coordinator: Mike MularkeyDefensive Coordinator: Dom CapersPro-Bowl: Jason Taylor (Defensive End), Zach Thomas (Linebacker)Awards: Jason Taylor (Defensive Player of the Year)OffenseThe 2006 offensive unit was statistically one of the worst in Dolphins history. The team averaged 16.3 points-per-game, which was the lowest since 1967, the franchise's second year of existence.At the start of the season, the offense was expected to do big things but as you know, a combination of injuries, sub-par play and bad play-calling led to a very disappointing season. Daunte Culpepper wasn't healthy enough to play and the fact that he was put into the line-up too soon, doomed the team from the get go. The offensive line was inco
Jay has been busy writing kick-ass season reviews for all of the NFL teams and he's asked me to write one for the Dolphins, so it's time for me to step up to the plate and strike out awkwardly.2006 season: 6-10Head Coach: Nick Saban (Has since moved on to Alabama)Offensive Coordinator: Mike MularkeyDefensive Coordinator: Dom CapersPro-Bowl: Jason Taylor (Defensive End), Zach Thomas (Linebacker)Awards: Jason Taylor (Defensive Player of the Year)OffenseThe 2006 offensive unit was statistically one of the worst in Dolphins history. The team averaged 16.3 points-per-game, which was the lowest since 1967, the franchise's second year of existence.At the start of the season, the offense was expected to do big things but as you know, a combination of injuries, sub-par play and bad play-calling led to a very disappointing season. Daunte Culpepper wasn't healthy enough to play and the fact that he was put into the line-up too soon, doomed the team from the get go. The offensive line was inco
