F1 Driver is Without a Driving Licence

Former F1 Champion, Nelson Piquet from Brazil, has his licence withdrawn by the Brazillian authorities for infringing various traffic laws. Together with his wife, Viviane whose licence was withdrawn too, were required to attend a Driving Education Course.

This is a 30 hours course that will last over 8 days and upon passing an exam, both Nelson and Viviane will get back their driving licence.

At the moment, he can't drive ..... hehehe

Tags: F1, Formula One, Nelson Piquet, Brazil, Driving Licence

Futsal Competition

Reached home around 11.30pm after a few futsal games organised by colleagues. We played at the Ampang Sports Planet.

There were 4 teams in Group A and B respectively and my team played the 2nd match of the night (all matches on one futsal court). In the first match, even though I did warm up but still not enough, I actually couldn't lift my feet to run as I wanted to. I had a terrible miss of the night when I could have hit a goal but it went way off to the left.

We have to play within our strength as it was a mixture of 3 girls and 4 guys in one team. The goalie must be a guy with minimum 2 girls on the field. The score ended 0-0 against the Orange Team and the moment I left the court, I really started to sweat.

Though the body was ready to react, the Grey Team (eventual runners-up) was better than us and they beat us by 2-0. Our last game against Green Team was dependable on the match just before us. Grey Team has beaten both Green Team and mine. If they beat Orange Team, then the winner between our last match will go to the semis. But if Orange Team was to win, they would qualify for the semis and our last match would be academic. Both teams then said that we would be play like mad i.e. without a goalie and score plentiful (we targetted 20 goals) to enjoy our academic game...hahaha.

Grey won and we had to play seriously. I scored the winning goal and my team, Blue, proceeded to the semis against the winner of Group B (eventual winners of the competition). We tried to play defensively against Yellow Team but alas, we were off guard for a slight second and they scored the winner with less than a minute to play. It was ok, we laughed, we joked, we teased other colleagues who played badly, we enjoyed our matches and it was fun.

Wondering how will my body react tomorrow...... haven't this aggressively for quite some time. Hopefully the past gym sessions would help.
Tags: Futsal, Football, Ampang, Sports Planet, Sports

Thaksin Shinawatra's New Venture

After Thaksin Shinawatra's government has been thrown out by the armies back in Sept 2006, he being a shrewd businessman was fast in his next step.

His involvement in getting a majority shareholding in Manchester City has opened up lots of opportunity for Man City now. With Sven Goran Eriksson as the new manager in charge, new players are making their ways into the team. This is making the English Premier League more interesting.

Thaksin's purchase into Man City has been questioned earlier by the Thai government as to whether the monies used were legal and not laundered off from Thailand's coffer to elsewhere before being transferred to UK Sports Investments Ltd, the holding company of Man City now.
Tags: Sports, Football, Manchester City, Man City, Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai, Thailand, Money Laundering

Betting on Football Match

I was having dinner at a mamak restaurant near my condo and the restaurant had a small projector with a big white screen showing a football match between Man Utd and Chelsea. It was the replay of the 1993/94 Classic FA Cup Final match.

In between 75th and 80th minute of the match, a couple sat at the next table. At the 80th minute, the scoreline was displayed at the bottom of the screen, showing Man Utd leading Chelsea by 3-0.
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The following was their conversation:-
Guy: How come there's a match tonight? Aiyah, didn't know about the match otherwise could have placed a bet.
Girl: I thought Chelsea was quite strong.

And the guy proceeded to make a call.
Guy: (name of other party) ..... there's a match being played now between Man Utd and Chelsea. Do you know what match is it? You have no idea too?
Guy: The league is starting next week so you guys placing bets already?
Guy: Ohhhhhhhhhhh, it's not today's game lah..... the screen just showed that it's a Classic FA Cup Final of year 1994 lah....... aiyah....suspense only. Thought I missed it.
------------------------------

After hearing that conversation, deep in my heart, I knew that guy and his gal do not know a single thing about English Premier League. The moment I sat down and saw who the players were, I knew it was a long time ago game. But the stupid buffalo can even call another friend to check what game was being played. And he was into betting???????

Clear enough that he will be placing bets on the clubs only and he won't know a single player in each of the team at all................. hahahhaa. What a joker!

After seeing the last match in May 2007, it was plain weekends but here comes the opening match for the 2007/08 season with the Charity Shield between Man Utd and Chelsea to be played tomorrow evening.
Tags: Man Utd, Manchester United, MU, Chelsea, English Premier League, Charity Shield, Football Bets, Betting, Classic FA Cup Final, Sports, Football

FA President - A Coward?

I'm really not surprised to read that the Sultan of Pahang wanted to stay put as the President of Football Association of Malaysia despite the resignations of the Deputy President (helmed by his son), General Secretary (Ibrahim Saad, a politician too) and a Council Member (Khairy Jamaluddin - son-in-law of Malaysia's Prime Minister and a Deputy Youth Head of the ruling party).

From the abovenamed persons, they are either royalty members or politicians. Please replace them with professional managers or former great footballers.

The Sultan of Pahang even said this as reported in the Sun newspaper when he was asked why he decided to stay put in which the Sultan replied: "I'm not a coward. I'm not going to bow to public outcry."

Who said that you were a COWARD if you were to resign. Can you see the type of mentality that such royalty members or politicians will have if they continue to hold such high positions in sports association. They considered that it's a total humiliation if you resign, admitting that you were the party to be blamed and their ego is too high to accept such resignation as a way out. He had been holding that President post for the last 23 years......can you believe that? And yet, still wants to hold on to it. That was almost the same time we, Malaysia, last qualified for any major football competition.

Colleagues reading the newspaper statement by the Sultan of Pahang really laughed out. Most were frustrated with the display by the national football team. And the Sultan of Pahang, aged 77 now, could be going a bit senile with the public outcry/pressure. He even called for an "overhaul" of the association and conduct an inquiry into the national team's performance.

What inquiry? Everyone knew about the problems except him. Please stop the play acting and just quit will you! There's nothing to inquire about when the players selected were already the best as chosen from the local league. The issue is not the players.

For once, I will stand by a gahmen minister and that's the Sports Minister, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said. She quoted the following:-

* The state FAs must look at themselves in the mirror because the FAM can set the policies but if not carried out or implemented by the states, then they are also to be blamed.

* Some state FA heads or officials have been holding on to their posts for too long without any significant contribution towards the development of football in the country and they should make way for new energetic young professionals.

First, overhaul the football association by resigning en bloc especially the royalty members and politicians if you guys really care for the national football team. It makes no difference whether there is a management team or not for the next few months. My 2 cents!
Tags: Sports, Football, Soccer, Malaysia, Sultan of Pahang, Football Association of Malaysia, FAM, Azalina Othman Said, Sports Minister, Ibrahim Saad, Khairy Jamaluddin

State of Malaysian Football

I still could recall my numerous trips to Merdeka Stadium, watching and supporting the Selangor state team or even Malaysia in those Merdeka Cup tournaments. How proud was I of the teams I had supported.

Well, gone were the days of those memorable wins over South Korea and Japan. Now this 2 nations have taken the world by storm even with their own local leagues respectively.

Minnows like Philippines, Laos and Vietnam were whipping boys for Malaysia in the yesteryears but it's a total different story nowadays. Today, these 3 teams stand an equal chance of beating Malaysia on their good days. Vietnam, even though football league is corrupted internally, is well above Malaysia's standards.

Why? It will be hard as long as Malaysia do not revamp how their football teams were being managed. Not that I knew lots about it but the fact where royalty members and chief ministers holding on to the highly ranked positions is good enough. What the heck do they know about football? All they care about is their own ego. Do you see any British royal family members holding any post in the English FA or in any of the English football clubs? They should as they are world class but they didn't.

What developments did our royalty members/chief ministers brought for Malaysian football after all these years and that too, dumping hundreds of millions into it and the results were getting trashed by China (5-1) - China hammer co-hosts Malaysia and Uzbekistan (5-0) Uzbeks trounce sorry Malaysia in the on-going AFC Asian Cup 2007. Another trashing by Iran in the last group match? The headline could be "Iran was more at home than Malaysia".

As long as the football management was not done professionally, Malaysia will continue to drop down the world rankings. Who bothers anyway even if it goes up. Rumours surfaced that even the New Economic Policy played a part for the downfall of Malaysian football. What? How is that so? Well, by limiting the participation of certain race or ensuring a certain percentage for a particular race was there at all times. This is not football !!!!

If you are asking where does Malaysia's football future lies ahead then that's the wrong question to ask. You should ask "When are we getting professional football management back into the system?"

A friend in the local football management once told me, that the main reason for those royalty members/chief ministers helming top football management positions was because they were able to source for sponsorships easily. Meaning to say, the rest of the management teams were not doing their work at all for having to rely on only the top person to source such sponsorships.

The Football Association of Malaysia's Deputy President, the son of the Sultan of Pahang, has tendered his resignation due to Malaysia's poor results in the Asian Cup. Would say that he should have tendered donkey years ago as Malaysian football was in doldrums all these years, not recently.

I'm waiting for his father (Sultan of Pahang) to do the same, resign as President of FAM. He has been holding this position for decades. Please do justice to the state of our Malaysian football. And also from the state teams please, each and everyone of you royal family members and chief ministers. It's the same scenario for all the sports association in Malaysia.

This blog posting may not be read by the people concerned and FAM won't be bothered at all. But generally out there, who's talking about it during chit chats or while lepaking at mamak stalls. For that matter, some people who have received free tickets from sponsors, were not even bothered to go for those matches especially when it involved the national team. As for those who went, they were there to see how China whacked Malaysia instead of supporting Malaysia (hehehe....they were not bookies in knowing that China will win but everyone could have guessed the result, only the scoreline).

Malaysia still Boleh?
Tags: Sports, Football, Soccer, Malaysia, Sultan of Pahang, Football Association of Malaysia, FAM, Asian Cup, English FA

Michelin's Tennis Shoes

Michelin - famous for its tyres manufactured for cars and especially those in Formula 1. Michelin has now embarked on a new venture where they transferred their technology in motor racing know-how into a revolutionary sole for tennis shoe. This was in collaboration with Babolat, the world leader in competition rackets and racket stringing.

Andy Roddick, the USA tennis player, has been wearing this newly designed shoes since Jan 2007, named Babolat Propulse.

The uniqueness of the tennis shoes:-
The sole is equipped with the OCS (Optimized Cell System) technology originally designed by Michelin for the World Rally Championships (WRC). The blend of rubber offers 40% greater resistance to abrasion and thermo-abrasion than other shoes on the market (according to tests carried out in March 2006 by an independent laboratory, the Centre Technique de la Chaussure, which compared the Propulse to a sample group of shoes in the same price range). The oblong-shaped tread of the sole improves slowing down, acceleration and sliding, just as for a racing car! The sole's curved geometry and the variation of its ridges and hollows prevent the appearance of cracks and make it possible to adapt grip to the type of surface of play, thus varying the sole's grip according to whether the player is on hard, dry or slippery ground. Babolat, for its part, has combined this special formulation of rubber with Exact Pro technology, a system of dynamic propulsion located beneath the forefoot, which optimises lateral movements when running.
Tags: Michelin, Michelin Tyre, Babolat, Babolat Propulse, Tennis Shoes, Andy Roddick

Unsung Malaysian Hero

Foo Leng Siew, a truly unsung Malaysian hero? Well, that's what the Star newspaper has reported on 14 May 2007. Foo was said to have participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics held at Berlin (yeah, during Adolf Hitler's time).

A bit sceptical on the report when I couldn't locate his name in the International Olympic Committee's ("IOC") officiall website's database.



Then I went to the World Olympians Association's official website to search for the Olympian's (Foo Leng Siew) details where database was available way back to the 1st Olympics held at Athens 1896. Still no records. How come?

Even 'weirder', an athletic can only represent a country after being selected by the National Olympic Committee ("NOC") of each country. Only a NOC was able to select and send teams and competitors for participation in the Olympic Games (source: IOC website). Why so weird? The Olympic Council of Malaysia was set-up in 1953 and only gained recognition from IOC in 1954.

With utmost respect to the late Foo Leng Siew, which organisation sent him to the 1936 Summer Olympics?
Tags: Foo Leng Siew, Malaysian, Athletics, Olympian, 1936 Summer Olympics, Berlin, Sports, Adolf Hitler, Olympic Council of Malaysia, National Olympic Committee

Volunteers for Beijing 2008

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said China had expressed its eagerness for Malaysian youths to help out as volunteers at the next summer Olympics in Beijing - as reported in Star newspaper.

I really hoped that the newspaper or Youth & Sports Ministry would do some homework before blurting anything out just to fill in the empty space in the newspaper. The newspaper stated that volunteers were required for the 14 days during the Olympic Games. Please note that all volunteers were required to be in China (at designated cities/venues/stadiums) for training/briefing prior to the Olympic Games. Therefore, more than 14 days are required. Importantly, age requirement - not younger than 17 years old as at 30 June 2008.

China has started the recruitement of volunteers since end of March 2007 and according to their website, recruitment will end by end May 2007. Yet the Deputy Minister mentioned that he would hold further discussions on the recruitment. More discussions with whom and on what? Deadline is end of this month!!! Volunteers could have applied on their own via the Beijing 2008's official website, don't need government's assistance.

The following was extracted from the Volunteer Recruitment page:-

Volunteers should meet the following basic requirements set forth in the General Policy for Volunteers for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. They should:-
1) be able to serve voluntarily for the Beijing Olympic and/or Paralympic Games;
2) have been born prior to (or on) June 30, 1990, and be in good health;
3) be willing to abide by China's laws and regulations;
4) be able to participate in the pre-Games trainings and other required activities;
5) be able to serve continuously for more than seven days during the Olympic and/or Paralympic Games;
6) be able to hold a conversation in basic Mandarin, if their first language is not Mandarin; native Mandarin speakers should be able to communicate in at least one important foreign language;
7) possess the professional knowledge and skills necessary for their posts.
Applicants fluent in both English and Mandarin and competent in a special area will be given priority, especially those who can speak minor languages and are skillful in certain trades.

It would be great if I get to go. Would be able to blog about the extraordinary city of Beijing, its food (slurp!!), the great athletics that will congregate in China, plenty of pictures, get to travel in China (never been there yet) ...... sadly, unable to access the particular site to register myself ........ maybe have to rely on the government......maybe this was the reason the government has to assist people like us.

If any of you from the Beijing 2008 organising committee is reading this blog, please do consider me!!!!! FYI, I meet all the above requirements. Informal application but strong enough.
Tags: Beijing, China, Beijing 2008, Beijing Olympics, Volunteer Recruitment, Olympic Games, Paralympic Games

Ferrari Bicycle

Never heard of a Ferrari bicycle? I'm not joking as Ferrari has combined its technology know-how with Colnago to manufacture a limited bicycle edition for cycling enthusiasts or collectors. So the name for the limited edition version is Ferrari Colnago.

What Ferrari technology? Well, the frame for this bike is the same of the model Colnago Extreme Power in carbon fibre, assembled through junctions that allow the maximum personalization of the size. Sounds very simple.

Tags: Sports, Ferrari, Colnago, Bicycle, Ferrari Colnago, Colnago Extreme Power

Facts About Formula 1 Car

Formula One or F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly; it would still start the race with 80 things wrong! When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300 kph!!!

F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!! F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20 years on an average and they quite faithfully DO....that's the extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...
An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (yeah that's right!!!). At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini.
To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added down force can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track. Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kph. They usually race at over 300 kph.
In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!

The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 liter family car. They use the same refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.
Top F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds. It took me 8 sec to read above point During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.

Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km. A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C (water boils boils at 100C remember). At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.

Tags: Sports, Formula One, F1, Motor Racing, G Force, Temperature, Tyres

UEFA Champions League

Latest vote count found in ESPN Soccer's website after the semi-finalists have been determined last night:- Looks like many soccer/football pundits have put their bets on Manchester United to win the coveted UEFA Champions League this season. Been waiting for the repeat since I last watched the 1999 finals against Bayern Munich. Undeniably, divine help is there to ensure it.

For the fans of Liverpool, Chelsea and AC Milan; eat your hearts out!

Tags: Sports, Soccer, Football, UEFA, Champions League, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, AC Milan, ESPN

BMW Sauber F1 Team

Oh yes! Formula 1 is back in Kuala Lumpur. With that, most car manufacturers or sponsors are displaying their cars/products through various promotions/events. The main F1 event, the Malaysian Grand Prix leg, will be on from 6-8 April 2007 to be held at Sepang International Circuit, 45 mins drive from the city centre.
I was at one of them yesterday evening. At the courtesy of BMW Sauber F1 Team with Petronas of Malaysia, the petrol supplier to the team. BMW Sauber has set up a Pit Lane Park in the vicinity of KLCC Park which was walking distance from my office. A slow stroll with another colleague to the Pit Lane Park under a windy weather was perfect.
Scheduled to open at 7pm, we were there by 6.40pm and a sizeable crowd was already there. By 7pm, an estimated crowd of about 100++ lined up to get in.
We were provided with 2 ear plugs and a tag. FYI, the tag has no special privileges.

That was how close we could get our hands on it. As we made our 2nd round later, due to more people, you could not step in too near or even touch it.
A specially built paddock lounge for BMW owners & invited guests. This paddock lounge will be the place to be, besides the F1 track in Sepang, to view the F1 race on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the paddock is only opened to BMW owners on the race day. Find some BMW owners who would be staying at home on Sunday and borrow their BMW car keys to obtain entrance. Yeah, a car key is all you need to get in.

The pit stop challenge! Everyone was given a chance to feel the intensity during a pit stop.
Without fail, I got my hands into it as well. Partnered a reporter, I was tasked with taking the wheel out and putting the next wheel in so that my reporter mate could drill the cap back on. False start on the first time as the timer was not switched on. Finished first though.
On the 2nd attempt, we did even faster and finished ahead but the other 3 tyres were changed at a much slower pace. The end timing was 10.7 seconds. The announcer said that we will destroy the team's chances with that timing. If you are able dip below 10 secs, you'll be given a certificate.
A virtual challenge was available. Didn't really like it but the fastest lap on the clock during my time there was 1'40" by a foreigner. The top 3 performers' name would be displayed at a scoreboard. The whole game structure was designed and sponsored by Intel.

The BMW Safety Car.
Close-up photo take on the vehicles that would go for a spin later on.
A scaled-down Formula One car that would be driven by Nick Heidfeld later.
Chris Pfeiffer's bikes. Chris is a renowned street bike performer.
This place was initially a car park but was turned into this pit lane liked area.
Time passes by. Forced to wait till 9pm for the performances. Caught hold of the Petronas Twin Towers, the world's former tallest structure, now placed 2nd. Further to the left was the KL Tower (or Menara KL).
That was how delicate & serious they were in tuning the car prior to a simple performance.

Out came the Formula One car driven by Nick Heifeld.
Only a few spins here and there, good enough to cheer up the crowd of about 220 at the grandstand. Further down the lane, there were about another BMW/Petronas 200 guests. Lining at both sides of the lane was about 100++ people. The ear plugs were good as the engine roared at a high decibel.
Chris Pfeiffer soon came out with his outstanding stunts/tricks. Here, he braked at an instant. Can't catch a good photo as the phone cam doesn't have a faster shutter speed.
Chris was burning his bike's back tyre to the thrill of the crowd.
A three-wheel bike? He spun so fast that that was what I caught. Chris, being a professional rider, has won the Streetbike-Freestyle in the recent Indoor World Championship held in Zurich, Switzerland.

Post-mortem discussion on the car's performance? Nick, in the centre, was quite a short guy.

The setback in this big event was that the night's programme was not known till it was announced much later. Good thing Wednesday's night event was from 7pm-11pm. That too, I have to be there till 9pm for a half an hour performance. Imagine coming on the next few days where it starts from 3pm-11pm, how would one know when the cars be given a spin around. Do I have to be there from 3pm-11pm to wait for it to be announced?

Tags: Sports, Formula One, F1, Malaysia Grand Prix, BMW Sauber, Petronas, Pit Lane Park, KLCC, Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower, Menara KL, Nick Heifeld, Chris Pfeiffer, Intel

Beijing 2008 Winners' Medals

The winners' medals for next year's Beijing 2008 have been unveiled. It's solidly filled with the JADE gemstone (6mm thick). Priceless indeed!

The design, unveiled on 27 Mar, which inculcates the jade gemstone showcased China's culture and art at the same time. Read more about the myth of jade.

Tags: Beijing 2008, Jade, Medals, China, Beijing, Sports, Olympic Games

Talent Wasted

Internal bickering in the Selangor Badminton Association, where 2 groups of people were jostling for party post, caused those under-12 years old badminton players to be left out in the coming national schools championship. These junior badminton players were champions in their respective categories in recent concluded state championship (of Selangor). By virtue of being champions they could have represented the state of Selangor against the other states in Malaysia.

If these junior badminton players were able to produce excellent results in the coming national schools championship, they would be drafted into the Bukit Jalil Sports School, an elite school for outstanding sportsmen/women, where training programmes (and studies as well) would be developed to nurture those national champions to represent Malaysia in future sporting events. Unfortunately, this has to happen.

Hoping for more repeats of Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong's feats in the future? Maybe still able to but not from the state of Selangor.

Another sports down the drain - the state of Malaysian football. It has dropped down the world rankings (no.154) terribly. Personally, I view that the management team of each state football team is the main problem. How much does a State Chief Minister or a royal family member knows about football? And yet they meddle with the management of the football team. Some of them had been the head of the management as long as they have been around/alive. From insider news, there is even racial quota on players (representing each major race in Malaysia) for each state team.

And yet some officials dare mention that Arsenal has agreed to train with the Malaysian football team if the Malaysian was based at the disputed Sports Academy in London.
Tags: Selangor Badminton Association, Badminton, Sports, Bukit Jalil Sports School, Malaysia, Koo Kien Keat, Tan Boon Heong, Football, Chief Minister, Arsenal, Sports Academy

Restricted Sports For Viewing

Recently I came across a statement by a mufti (mufti (Arabic: مفتى‎) is an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law (Sharia), capable of issuing fatwa) that men could still watch women athletes as long as they are dressed decently. Why this statement arose?

PAS, an Islamic political party in Malaysia, was organising a Malaysian All-Women Games this coming weekend. The PAS's state women and sports committee chairman Abdul Fatah Mahmood mentioned that men can only attend the opening ceremony but NOT the individual sporting events. Did I read it wrongly or did the press published the wrong words? (source: The Star)

I can bet for sure that the attendance for the sporting events will be real bad. I wonder how is PAS going to re-coup the money dumped into organising this sporting events then if the ticket sales are restricted to women only. Most women are either housewives or working mothers and do you think they will take time off to watch a local women-only sporting events. I'm not against PAS's view to ensure that men don't lust by watching women participating in sports. Maybe they can implement a new competition ruling that women athletes must wear certain sporting outfits rather than prohibiting men from viewing the sporting events.

I joked with my malay colleague that he would be barred from watching the following women's sporting events in the coming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games:-
1) Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo, Swimming & Diving;
2) Volleyball
3) Athletics
4) Cycling
5) Gymnastics
6) Tennis
7) Rowing
and especially 8) Beach Volleyball

To which he responded "Only can watch Archery then? Anyway, for a mufti to have said something, it's a very strong issue already"

I'm wondering whether it's intended as a sporting event or a way to tell muslims that PAS is very pious with some subliminal message too. But kudos to PAS for taking the effort in trying to organise such an event. Seriously speaking, how did they picked the participating athletes? From which qualifying events? Please enlighten me.
Tags: PAS, Islamic, Mufti, Malaysian All-Women Games, Beijing 2008, Sports, Women

English Gone Foreign

With the latest transaction done for the purchase of Liverpool by both George Gillett and Tom Hicks, there are now 7 English football clubs in the English Premier League that are owned by foreign owners:-

Manchester United - Malcolm Glazer, owner of American football's (NFL) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Chelsea - Roman Abramovich, owner of Sibneft, a Russian oil company

Portsmouth - Alexandre Gaydamak, interest in financial and real estate businesses

Aston Villa - Randy Lerner, owner of NFL's Cleveland Browns and MBNA Corporation, bank holding companies

Fulham - Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods Department Store, with further interest in aviation companies, casino, real estate and hotel

West Ham - Eggert Magnusson, Icelandic businessman

Liverpool - George Gillett, owner of NHL's Montreal Canadiens, with interest in resorts, golf courses and food industry and Tom Hicks, owner of NHL's Dallas Stars and MBL 's Texas Rangers

The above owners are multi-billionaires/millionaires in their own capacity. They bought football clubs due to their 'want to win' attitude and that's the trait that brought them to where they are right now. On the other hand, the foreign owners see these investments simply as a business opportunity or a personal plaything.
Tags: Sports, Football, English Premier League, Manchester United, Malcolm Glazer, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, Sibneft, Portsmouth, Alexandre Gaydamak, Aston Villa, Randy Lerner, Cleveland Browns, Fulham, Mohamed Al Fayed, Harrods, West Ham, Eggert Magnusson, Liverpool, George Gillett, Montreal Canadiens, Tom Hicks, Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers, NFL, NHL, MBL

2007 Deaflympics Games

2007 Winter Deaflympics - the name speaks for itself, it's for athletics who have a hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in the better ear - essentially a need to use some visual means to converse either in lip reading or a sign language. The games have started on 1 Feb and will end on 10 Feb.

The host city is Salt Lake City this time. The Winter Deaflympics, founded in 1924, is the second oldest international sports event after the Olympic Games.

Individual events under Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Ice Hockey and Snowboard are the only sports being contested in this games.
Tags: Winter Deaflympics, Salt Lake, Deaf, Decibels, Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Ice Hockey, Snowboard, Sports

Paintball - World Cup Asia 2006

Some 90 teams made their mark as they fired their best shots in the World Cup Asia 2006 held at the Xtion Paintball Park Bukit Jalil from 8 to 10 Dec 2006. The inaugural event was recognised by international paintball bodies as the biggest paintball event in Asia. This event is part of the Paintball Asia League Series ("PALS") where teams vie to win the coveted title of World Cup Asia champions.

The World Cup Asia 2006 is organised by Xtion Paintball, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Tourism, and in association with the Paintball-Asia League Series, Millenium Series, Paintball Sports Promotions and the United Paintball Federation.

Iranian team Datis rejoicing over their win in Division 1 as well as being overall champion of PALS. Team rankings are available here. Picture was sourced from Paintballstar. (source: The Star)

Tags: Sports, Paintball, World Cup Asia 2006, Xtion Paintball, Paintball Asia League Series, Millenium Series, Paintball Sports Promotions, United Paintball Federation, Iran, Datis

World Soccer's Player of the Year

Fabio Cannavaro who skippered Italy to victory at the World Cup, was named World Soccer's World Player of the Year on Friday -- only the second defender to win the honour in the awards' 25-year history. Fabio Cannavaro also won the European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") last month. Details of past winners for the Ballon d'Or are found here.

He got three times as many votes as Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and Frenchman Thierry Henry of Arsenal, who finished second and third respectively.

Other award winners were Marcello Lippi of Italy, who was named coach of the year while European champions Barcelona were named World Team of the Year. Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina was named Young Player of the Year.
Tags: Sports, Football, Fabio Cannavaro, Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry, Marcello Lippi, Lionel Messi, World Soccer, Player of the Year