Suitcase of Courage

F1 gets hit with the ugly stick.

These types of things have a way of growing on you, but my initial response to the first pictures of 2009 spec F1 cars was to look for the bathroom. I suppose the blur of speed will soften things a bit, but wow.

Another ridiculous Ken Block / Subaru stunt session.

Burnin' Cash: Honda's 2008 F1 campaign cost $28.4 million per point!

F1 Fanatic has recently put together a run down of how much each team in Formula 1 spent to earn each of their championship points. Ferrari came out ahead with each of their 172 points costing only $2.4 million while Force India clearly lost the most spending about $121 million for zero points. Averaging the grid shows that a constructors championship point in the world's premier motorsport costs around $4.4 million.
 
This chart is illuminating in that it helps show just how hard it is to move up the pitlane. While Ferrari and McLaren got a deal on their championship points and took home the majority of the glory, they are also getting paid vastly more back from the sport's TV revenue because of their success. Meanwhile Honda is spending nearly the same as the front runners and getting very little in return. Less TV time, very little 'glory,' very few points, and almost no compensation. Toro Rosso shows the other side of the coin with their (relatively) meager budget bringing home 39 points, each of which cost less than half what Toyota spent on theirs.

Luca di Montezemolo's broken TV

I know that I was pretty worked up watching the final few laps of Interlagos this year when the fate of the championship swung wildly between the season's two protagonists. When Lewis slithered past Timo Glock to take home the big prize I was jumping on the couch yelling, but stopped short of inflicting any damage to household items. I can thus understand how Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo reacted when he reportedly smashed the tv he was watching at the time.

Said the (excitable) Italian, "I broke the television, I must tell the truth. When a television breaks it makes a terrible bang. My daughter in the other room was given an awful fright. Luckily we had another television so I was able to watch the podium ceremony, which I enjoyed."

What was that about Latin tempers?

How real men race cross

Following up our gorgeous weekend of cyclocross racing here at the Boulder Cup I checked out some pictures from the Internationale Veldritten op de Koppenberg and immediately felt like a gigantic pansy. This is how real men race cross, straight from the muddy hell of Belgium in wintertime. HTFU!


In the end it came down to World Champ Lars Boom vs Sven Nys with Nys prevailing. Sponsors sure didn't get much exposure for this race...

Football Recap 3

5 Things to think about this week in Football:

1 Champions League: 4 Rounds gone by in the group stages and only one ticket punched for the knockout stages. Usually we have a better of idea of what the knockout stages will look like by this point in the competition. Instead; after four rounds we can only decisively say that Barcelona will be playing in the knock out stages of the Champions League. Congratulations to Barcelona. (Please note that some teams are in great shape to advance but have not mathematically assured themselves of knock out stage football yet.)

As fans we get rewarded with another two weeks of meaningful football in the Champions League all around. Due to the format of the knockout stages and the parachute into the UEFA cup for third place finishers there are no games that do not matter. Somewhere in Bristol, Connecticut someone at ESPN is smiling at the prospects for the next two rounds.

2 United and Arsenal: While the managers may be in the news for their comments to and about the officials, rest assured to players realize that this is an important match. The match is Saturday in North London Kick Off is scheduled for 12:30PM London Time.   

There is nothing I can say that will top the first half of Roy Keane's quotes regarding this rivalry from article written before he first visited the Emirates as a Manager.

"It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Usually my preparation for a game on a Saturday if we were playing Arsenal would start on the previous Sunday. Your body just knew you were going to play Arsenal, just psychologically, your body would get ready for it. It was the same for all the players, and I am sure it was the same for the Arsenal players. Those games were brilliant, absolutely fantastic, the best. United against Arsenal - if you could go back for one game, then that would be the game."

Roy mourns for the soul of football in the second portion of the article.

As Roy said it best when it comes to Arsenal and United: "I'll see you out there!"

(For the full article) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2597456.ece

3 The EPL: Is it too soon to talk relegation? There was a great blog entry on the BBC football page regarding the relegation scrap. The entry was written by Steve Wilson one of the commentators for the BBC Match of the day.

(For the Blog) http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stevewilson/2008/11/the_battle_to_avoid_the_drop.html

4 Champions League Reprise: Liverpool and Atletico Madrid played to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday at Anfield, just as they did during the last round in Madrid. Liverpool was awarded a late penalty and Steven Gerrard made it count. So right now, while not mathematically assured of advancing to the next round, both teams need only one draw from their final two games to assure they advance.

It would be interesting to see these teams make it to the knock out stages and advance to a point where they could face each other. With the sale of Fernando Torres to link these two sides, it would be interesting to see Torres play for Liverpool against his old club and the reaction of the supporters in Madrid.      

5 The MLS Playoffs kicked off last week and 3 of 4 visiting sides came away with the all important away draw.  The second leg of the playoffs begin tonight when New England Visit Chicago. The Game is on ESPN2 at 8:30pm Bristol, Connecticut Time.

Irv the Swerve can't believe its not butter!

And he also apparently thinks Lewis Hamilton should drive for Ferrari. Fat chance I would say. Of course, Eddie Irvine was also famous for declaring his status as 'the second best driver in the world,' because, you know, he was Micheal Schumacher's teammate.

Seriously, though, how about that hair. Miami has clearly gone to his head.

Updated F1 Stats

As a follow up to our 'Interesting stats leading into a showdown' post I figured I better update and share our table. The only change is that Massa emerged as the winner of more races and he consolidated his podium/finish percentage.

It does really demonstrate how much the reliability of the McLaren won Lewis his title. Axis of Oversteer wrote yesterday that it's as if the two Championships went to the way and I tend to agree. McLaren had an incredible car that brought Lewis home every race save the time he clobbered Kimi in the Canadian pitlane. If it wasn't for that mistake Lewis' car probably would have finished every race. Deserving of a Constructor's Championship you might even say.

Regarding driver's performances, If you look at the percentage of times each driver brought the car home in the points as a percentage of their race finishes Lewis falls behind Kubica, Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Massa won the most races, was on the podium 67% of the time he finished, and ranked second in poles and points scored/finish. A Driver's Championship winning performance you might also say.

Guess that's how the multi million dollar carbon fiber F1 cookie crumbles though...

 

The Hahnenkamm Downhill

F1 is done, Rally is over, road cycling is through. That means its time for ski racing, and to whet our appetites the New York Times has a really cool computer simulation of perhaps the toughest course in ski racing, the Hahnenkamm downhill course in Kitsbuhel. Check it out.

Boulder Cup 2008

Suitcase of Courage was there to check out Boulder's biggest annual bike race. All the big CX hitters were there along with plenty of big names from all over the sport. Here are some shots from the event.

The crowd was huge by the time the Elite Men made their way up the barriers on lap 1.

Ryan Trebon leads Todd Wells up the stairs.

Taylor Phinney was present in one of his last appearances rocking the argyle Slipstream kit before he heads to Lance Armstrong's possee next year. Also spotted was J. Vaughters in the crowd, possibly looking for Mini-Phinney's replacement?

Always a fashion setter and crowd favorite, Travis Bown was on form and flying on his prototype belt driven Trek singlespeed.

Jeremy Powers looking smooth in the sand and stylie in his Dolce and Gabana shades.

The Boulder Cup seems to smile on the National Champion, so it was only fitting when Tim Johnson powered across the line first in (Cannondale's ultra cool take on) the stars and stripes.

Lewis is Champion while Massa steals our hearts.

Yesterday in Sao Paolo Lewis Hamilton took the Championship that seemed to be his destiny ever since his first days as a McLaren protege. It was a race as thrilling as any I have ever seen, with a finale so unbelievable I had to second guess myself this morning when I thought about what happened. Hamilton, on Massa's home turf, grabbed the biggest prize in motorsport on his second try, and by the skin of his teeth.

If anything his season this year was less impressive from a driving standpoint than last, but nevertheless Lewis remains a deserving champion. If Hamilton is anything like Fernando Alonso, this championship early in his career will only make him stronger, which is terrible news for the opposition. McLaren will no doubt make good use of the momentum they've generated and should have a strong 2009 with the number 1 on their golden boy's nosecone.

Felipe Massa, meanwhile, seems to be the antithesis of Hamilton. While Hamilton's budding career has been guided along the fast road to success, Massa's has been all about proving the skeptics wrong. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and Felipe has been battling this ever since his wild first year with Sauber. This year, Massa finally showed the world how good he is. There were tough spots along the road, but his sheer determination and forward thinking attitude brought him a World Championship for 30 seconds yesterday, until Timo Glock succumbed to wet roads in the final 300 meters of track and shifted a point back to Lewis Hamilton.

It was heart wrenching stuff. TV cameras showed the Ferrari and Massa family celebrating like mad when it seemed they'd actually done the unthinkable and stolen another Championship from McLaren at season's end. It was the storybook ending for the crowd hero, but it wasn't to be. Massa's father looked crushed as Glock slid wide in the final turn of the final race and you can only imagine how Massa must have felt. He had done everything he possibly could this season, won the most races, come back from the face of overwhelming doubt and skepticism, and overcome a World Champion teammate in the same car. When Felipe climbed from his Ferrari, winner of the battle but not the war, we saw the courage of a lion. It was some of the most emotional stuff I've ever seen in sport. On the podium and in the press conference Massa was gracious in defeat just as he is in victory.

The history books will show Lewis Hamilton as this year's World Champion, but for those of us watching this incredible season finale from Brazil, it was clear that the local boy had stolen our hearts.

An interesting analysis of climbing on l'Alp d'Huez

I stumbled across a very interesting piece today about record times climbing Alp D'Huez over at Le Grimpeur. Taking a look at the top 10 fastest times ever recorded on the Alp its easy to spot that the vast majority of them happened in the mid to late 90's, or as we now know, doping's heyday in the sport.

From Le Grimpeur:

1.	Pantani	36′50″, 1995, 22.5 kph
2.	Pantani	36′55″, 1997
3.	Pantani	37′15″, 1994
4.	Armstrong	37′36″, 2004 (ITT)
5.	Ullrich	37′40″, 1997
6.	Armstrong	38′01″, 2001
7.	Indurain/Zulle	38′10″, 1995
8.	Riis	38′15″, 1995
9.	Virenque	38′20″, 1997
10.	Landis	38′34″, 2006, 21.5 kph

That the records coincide with the EPO and blood-doping era in cycling seems to be no coincidence. It is well known that such doping methods are more effective at improving performances than the drugs, principally steroids, used in the 70s and 80s. Sub-40 minute times were not recorded until the era of these doping methods. This does not mean that all the records prior to 1994 (or 1991, Bugno and Indurain) were done pas de dopage but simply that subsequent rides have benefited from better doping products on a scale from definitely to more than likely.

To break it down in simple terms, these top-ten riders were simply putting out more power. According to Cyclismag.com, equalizing for rider weights, Landis produced 442 watts in 2006, Armstrong 450 watts in 2001, and Pantani 470 watts in 1995 - 5.6, 5.7, 6 watts/kg respectively.

In comparison, in this year’s Tour, Carlos Sastre’s winning time of 39′30″ maxed out at 430 watts, with his chasers not even close to this level - Andy Schleck, Sammy Sanchez, and Alejandro Valverde at 411 watts, and Frank Schleck (the 2006 stage winner with a 40′+ time), Cadel Evans, Christian Vande Velde, Bernard Kohl, and Dennis Menchov and others all at 403 watts. All posted times over 41 minutes. By comparison, Valverde, for example, was therefore producing 6% less power than Mayo in 2003 and a staggering 15% less than Pantani tapped out in 1995. Calculating power, 411 is 5.3 and 403 watts is 5.2 watts/kg.

Click on through to read the rest

This really makes me respect Carlos Sastre a great deal. His times have remained consistant throughout his career up l'Alp, yet he spent season after season watching competitors simply ride away. How frustrating must that be?

Also, the mediocrity of Bernard Kohl. He was juiced on the latest and greatest this year and still just about croaked at the summit.

Fernando Heads down Sentimental Nightmare Alley

I wonder if Fernando blacked out the whole of 2007 in his psyche. In this space I would usually muster the energy to defend Fernando, however in hindsight, he did act like a child in 2007. But this year with some really gutsy drives in a shitbox of a F1 car and two deserved wins, I think he can still say he is one of, if not the best driver in F1. But I am sure people will debate me on that...

The other side of the coin is Hamilton. The indicators suggest he will become an F1 champ on Sunday, but I just can't ignore some of the silly moves this year. It's always that we on our soapbox dwell on the negatives but what happened in Canada was such an idiotic move, it's hard to forget that one even over a monumental season by the young Brit. And then that start at Fuji, where he nearly took out the whole field instead of ceding position behind the Ferraris. A patient driver, would just come back a few laps later, but he blew his whole race (even without those bullshit penalties). But then look at Silverstone where he was in a class of his own in the rain, and Monaco he was also superb (all be it very Schumacher-esque lucky).

But with a photo like this, I am reminded of the bitter rivalries that exist over careers and not just seasons, and I am beginning to wonder what, if any role Fernando is going to play in the championship decider. And if Massa is going to take him up on an offer to assist in his championship, and if old wounds will be opened once again.

Football Recap 2

5 Things to think about this week in Football:

1) 'Arry 'Oudini! Harry Redknapp decided that life on the South Coast of England with Portsmouth wasn't comfortable enough for him. So instead 'Arry decided he could be the man to succeed where "Magic" Jaunde Ramos underachieved and see if he can't give himself a stroke in the process. The White Hart Lane faithful will be happy to have the best English Manager in the game at the helm. Spurs should survive the drop and their new manager has had some success in FA Cup. Most notably lifting the Cup with Portsmouth last year.

However, Harry jumped right into the fire with a trip to the Emirates for the North London Derby. The game finished 4-4. Hopefully he packed a packet of indigestion tablets for the trip.

The tabloids continue to link Redknapp with an effort to hijack David Beckham's move to Milan. North London is a lot closer to "Beckingham Palace" (Beckham did train with the Arsenal Reserves Last Year) than the San Siro is. Beckham's move is designed to give his England career added longevity. Spurs will have a tough time putting Beckham, Aaron Lennon and David Bentley on the field at the same time. Should Beckham get his loan to Spurs, my guess is Redknapp will have a selection problem on the wings in midfield most managers would love to have.

2) Diego Maradona: According to Reports coming out of the Argentine FA Maradona will be appointed manager of the National Team. This is the type of news that has ESPN talking. Some former stars have gone on to be great managers or  front office folks and some have not. Isiah Thomas was a disaster with Knicks, Wayne Gretzky as a GM guided Team Canada Hockey to the Olympic Gold in Salt Lake City.

However, I think there is indeed a blueprint for the former player and strong personality to come into the national team and make an impact. Follow in the footsteps of Jurgen Klinsman. Klinsman acted as a manager and left a lot of the tactical work to his staff, notably current German manager Joachim Low. Maradona must know his limits before he sets foot on the training ground and the AFA need to make sure they surround him with the type of staff that will produce the results that Argentines expect.

3) Muddle of the Table: Six points separate 7th to 17th place in the English Premier League. Looks like most fans picked the wrong season to stop sniffing glue.

4) Spanish Players British Passports? Reports this week have Nacho Novo of Rangers and Mikel Arteta of Everton in line at the home office for British Passports as both have completed their 5 year residency requirements. This has fueled wild speculation that Novo and Arteta, overlooked by the Spanish National Team, will suit up for Scotland and England. "Escocia, el Brave" and "Dios salve a la Reina".

5) Clint Dempsey - American Abroad. Clint Dempsey came off the bench for Fulham converted a cross from teammate Erik Nevland and rescued a point for Fulham. Dempsey is currently the only American (who is not a goalkeeper) in the top division in England.

Ferrari's take on the green movement: a $17,500 Colnago bicycle.

Kimi and Massa try and devise a scheme for fitting their new steed in the company car...

Colnago has been understandably proud of their partnership in developing carbon fiber technology with Ferrari and each year they produce a limited edition road bike bearing the Scuderia's name. This year's bike is a rebranded version of their EPS tube and lug frame (a construction method which lends itself well to custom sizing, which should be nice if the diminutive Massa decides he'd like one for himself. A 50cm I'd say?) decorated in Ferrari F1 livery and sporting full Campagnolo Super Record gruppo.  It should be one hell of a ride, and for the better part of twenty grand it should be. Out of 99 examples being built (of which only 25 are coming stateside) apparently numbers 1,2,3 and 88 are already spoken for.

Now, I know that $17,500 sounds like a lot of money for a bike. However, if you take for granted that most bike geek owners of the Colnago Ferrari will most likely also have a real Ferrari, as a percentage of the cost of their car its not so bad. Let me explain. Each day here in Boulder I see plenty of fancy road bikes on top of fancy Audis. Say the average A4 Quattro sets you back $35,000 and a damn nice road bike another $5,000. You're talking about spending %14 of you car's value on the bike. Well, if you extend that equivalency to the Ferrari Colnago you're not getting that bad a deal; $17,500 is a under 9% the cost of your new $200,000 Ferrari. Can't afford not to, right?

Of course, living in Colorado also means I've seen countless bikes that are worth far more than the car they're on. Now I'm just waiting to see a Ferrari Colnago on a Toyota Carolla.