Enough Already

Everytime Britain get's hopes of an individual sports star, there is such a racket that is made. Remember Tim Henman? Jenson Button?

Now, there is a lot of noise being made about Lewis Hamilton, McLaren's prodigy who has become the first rookie in Formula 1 to get on all three podiums in the first race. Now don't get me wrong. I am really impressed with the poise and composure of this young man in his first season in F1. He has handled the pressure and deserves to be at the top of the table for his consistent performances.

But would he be the wonder boy had he made his debut in a Renault? Last year's world champions are struggling to get into the points, forget asserting their leadership. And poor Heikki Kovalainen is having a stumble of a debut in a rotten car. Last year's lame horse McLaren has got it's act together after struggling for a few years. And Lewis is riding on the wave of a good McLaren car helping him to the front of the grid.

What he has not done, though, is to talk to someone like Eddie Jordon saying you have raced around this particular track, manouver yourself into a position where you are allowed a race and then qualify a rickety Jordon on to 8th place on the grid.

That's right. I'm furious about this young fella being compared with Michael Schumaker. Schumi retired last year as the most successful F1 driver in the history of the sport and we have here a two bit debutant who has raced in only three races being compared with and being talked about as the next Schumaker.

Brits, please give me a break!

I know you are not particularly fond of Schumi, as you guys go out of the way to blast every single thing that he does. Then why compare this rookie to a person who you loathe? That isn't exactly a compliment, is it? But you do it because you know what Schumi has achieved is unique and that his records will probably stand for all time.

I would love to see what Hamilton can do in a car which is not running as well as it's front runners (remember F1 seasons '96 through '99, when Ferrari was clearly not the strongest car on the grid and yet Schumi was in Championship contention every single year - except when he broke his leg). The test of a good driver is when he does not drive the best car and still performs.

Look at the seasons from 1995:

1996 : Damon Hill (won and was still chucked out of Williams while still champion)
1997: Jacque Villnueve (had the best car on the grid, got lost in a BAR, big mouth, unknown since)
1998 - 99: Mika Hakinnen (the fastest and most reliable car on the grid)

When all these guys won, it was because they were great drivers (not because of the car). But when Ferrari started to dominate, it was because they had the best car, not because they had the greatest driver in the world who resurrected a team that had not won a single race since 1972 into a team which won six constructor titles on the trot.

No one looks at Schumi's ability to win with a four pit stop strategy, his ability to put in a really hot lap as soon as he is out of the pits, his ability to manage the car and his ability to come from behind (as he so amply showed in his final sign-off GP last year).

So I only have this to say. Lewis, you have a long way to go. If you have to even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Schumi, here is what you need to do in your career:

• Start more than 200 races (Schumi 250)
• Start from pole in a lot of them (Schumi 68)
• Win at least 30% of races started (Schumi 37%)
• Finish on the podium in a lot of the rest (more than 60)

Do that and I myself will hail you. Until I see something like that, forgive me if I don't compose songs on your skill and provess. I love what you're doing on the track and the promise that you have shown, but I would like to ignore most of what is being written about you.

I wish you all the best in the coming races and for your entire future and hope you are the kind of driver who will excite me enough to want to watch F1 again, something that I have founf lacking since Schumi's retirement last year.

Give me hope, Lewis. Not hype.

Modest increases

I was looking at the logs for this blog and was suprised to note that:

1. Hits to the blog in these last three and a half months has been more than 50% of total hits for last year and more than 70% of total hits for year before last.
2. In the last three and a half month, the blog has been visited by the same number of unique visitors as the whole of the year 2005 and around 70% of last year.

While I am surprised that so many of you actually care to read the stuff that I dish out, I thank you for participating in this little web adventure of mine.

That's definately not entertainment

I usually have Google News as one of my tabs open in my web browser. It is my only gateway to the happenings in the world at large and is where I catch up on the news, sometimes as it happens.

Today, I was a bit disappointed with Google News, not because of the content, but because of the classification.

After the devastating event at the Virginia Tech campus where a 23 year old South Korean killed 32 innocent people before commiting suicide, there has been a lot of news about the event and the uproar that it has caused. There was even an article which asked "Should colleges ban guns?". To me, this is a stupid question with a rather simple answer. "NO!". That is the only answer comprehensible. But that does not stop the situation from manifesting. It's this whole problem of gun control and how guns are so much more accessible in the US than any other place in the world.

But coming back to Google News and my problem with it.

Here is how Google News classified the report on the South Korean sending a package to NBC News.



How can this piece of news be classified under "Entertainment"? It's not entertaining at all. It's one of the most depressing thing that you can hear or read about.

I think it's just insensitive of Google News. Agreed that they don't put it there on purpose, but I think their software should be aware of shuch things and put them in appropriate places. Insensitive handling of such issues is not a good thing.

All systems go!

A couple of days back, I was told that the result of one of the tests that my mom had to get done had not come back favourable. This could mean that we would have to possibly change her medication and postpone the operation.

I'm glad to say that the doctor who has been advising her medication confirmed last evening that there is nothing to worry about with these new test results and that everything is fine. The operation will proceed as planned next week!

So I am on track to reach Mumbai on Sunday night...just in time to see my old pal leave the country on the way to a new job in a new country.

Obviously, there will be no posts for the whole of the next week.

Unless, of course, if I shatter some course record! HA HA HA!

What's balls got to do with it?

I'm not trying to make a cover version of Tina Turner's Grammy winning song, but am actually trying to make a golf (what else?) point here.

Last year, my golf buddy suggested that I try using the Titliest ProV1x balls instead of the regular any-ball-will-do situation. He was quite emphatic about the fact that the ball is far superior and that it has helped his game quite a bit.

So I switched to the ProV1x balls and found that my game improved as well. I was able to control the spin I was putting on the ball and found that the ball was far easier to shape my shot around. It also helped that the ball went longer off the tee.

How does this change in equipment make such a difference?

If you looked at the Titliest site recently, you would notice that they have launched the new ProV1 and ProV1x series balls. And in the description, I found the answer. See the pictures below (all taken from the Titliest web site, they own the pictures - I'm just showing them to make a point)...



<- ProV1

ProV1x ->

Look at the layout of the dimples. The ProV1 has 392 dimples while the ProV1x has 332. We all know (?) that the dimples are there on a golf ball to reduce drag as the ball flies through the air. The layout will determine how the ball flight is, how much spin is put on the ball and how much drag is reduced to give a more penetrating ball flight.

And that is what it all comes down to.

Unfortunately, the new series of balls is not yet available with the guy who I usually buy them from. And as you know (?), the ProV1 and ProV1x series are a fairly expensive set to buy. A box of 12 balls used to cost me $80 (which is the best rate I have found in Singapore...other retailers charging upwards of $110). Not sure what the price is now.

Waiting for the new ProV1 series to arrive so that I can test drive them. Hopefully I will get my hands on them before my next round.

Too young to marry?

All this news about Prince William and his girlfriend Kate has generated a lot of stuff in print. But I found this article by The Times on "When is a man too young to marry?"

According to the doctor's view, (as quoted in this article),

"It has been thought for at least 50 years, probably longer, that there are three stages of lasting love, all of which are true love and all equally desirable.

In the first year or two of an intimate relationship lust is the overwhelming emotion. It is undeniably fun but it fades into the equally important and enjoyable stage of acceptance — now sometimes called nesting — in which sex and jolly parties are of secondary importance and shared interests and the setting and attaining of goals becomes the cement that holds the structure of the relationship together.

After eight or nine years, the nature of the relationship changes again and it becomes based on firm friendship. This psychologist’s theory is now given credence by the changes in the functional MRI brain scans that can be seen to
accompany each stage of marital love. If a marriage is to have a chance of
surviving, there must be an opportunity for the stage of lust to move to the
stage of acceptance."

Hmmm....

A stroke of luck

As I had posted some time back, my Mumma needs to be operated on to replace her right side hip joint. I will be flying in to India on Sunday as the operation is scheduled for the 25th. I was originally scheduled to leave on Monday morning, but my reservations gave me an idea.

When I looked at the possible options for flights, I had Indian Airlines flying via Bangalore to Mumbai for a fare that was cheaper than a direct flight. In the same price that I would otherwise go straight to Mumbai, I can now stop over at Bangalore and have a round of golf with my dear friend there!

So that's how it will be. I will leave on Sunday morning, land in Bangalore at around 9:30am, leave straight for the Bangalore Golf Club with my buddy (who will be picking me up) and have the first serious game of golf with him in a long time.

Then I leave for the airport and take a flight to Mumbai which lands at 9:30pm, around the same time another pal of mine will be checking in for his flight to Durban (he's moving there). So I will be able to catch up with him and actually see him off as he leaves for a new job in a new country. And interestingly, this guy was supposed to leave on the 17th (today), but his plans kept getting postponed. I was sure I would not be able to see him off as he would leave before I got back to India. But as luck would have it, I am going to get to see him off.

This is just wonderful. Now I only hope that the operation goes smoothly and my mom is fine and healthy again.

Fingers Crossed!