Taking Shape

United States midfielder Michael Bradley chases down referee Koman Coulibaly.

The group stages are beginning to come to a close, and the knockout round of the 2010 World Cup is beginning to take shape.  Tomorrow the eyes of soccer fans around the globe will turn to Group C as the U.S. will try to punch their ticket, which will be guaranteed, with a win over Algeria.  At the same time, England will try to avoid complete and total embarrassment by defeating Slovenia.  If England fail to move on they will be grilled in the normally and already rowdy British press.  England being booted from South Africa tomorrow would be the equivalent of NFL football being a global sport and our national team exiting early from a similar world wide tournament.

This morning Group A and B were settled with Group A winners Uruguay now squaring off against Group B runners up South Korea in the knockout stage.  On the other side of the bracket Group B winners Argentina will take on Group A runners up Mexico.  Neither match are really that interesting, save for Mexico upsetting Argentina who are sort of a dark horse favorite to go deep in to the knockout round.

As far as scenarios go, the U.S., as previously stated, will move on automatically with a win.  The U.S. could also go to the next round with a tie and an England loss.  I’m sure there are other scenarios out there, but I’m too lazy to figure them out or even read about them.  Lose, and the U.S. will be coming home.

My point for posting this, beyond getting the above paragraphs out there just because has to do with that same old soccer fans versus the world in the United States type argument.  My real point, is to have a few words with said casual viewers.  I know ties, yellow cards and overacting players are hard to digest.  Trust me, I really have begun to have a passion for the sport and sometimes it is hard for me to identify with.  Mainly because the brand of soccer I watch, MLS and the Barclays Premier League (believe it or not, the technical name is not the English Premier League) are mostly filled with players who don’t turn in to gigantic vaginas when they brush up against anyone in an opposing shirt.

However, if you do make it to Friday and get beyond the group stage, you’re in for a pretty good show.  Like most sports here stateside, this is the postseason by World Cup standards.  It’s do or die, win or go home.  So the defensive minded, hang back and play the counter attack type play that has riddled the matches thus far with 0-0 and 1-1 results will become of thing of the past.  The sense of urgency is heightened and makes for more of a spectacle.

Don’t get me wrong, I have had my fun watching the play at the group stage, and I’m still going to watch the rest of the week to see who makes it in and who goes home..  I find a lot of the nuances of this part of the finals are pretty interesting, especially since upping my soccer I.Q. since the past two World Cups when I first started dabbling in the sport.  But I’m not going to sit here and preach like some soccer aficionados will do.  If you’ve watched a few matches and still don’t get it, you won’t get your face rubbed in it here.  I get that the sport is not for everyone.  I’m not one of those people who think it can or should catch on here.  If it does it does, if not we’ll live.  It seems sometimes soccer fans and non soccer fans get in to a, uh, measuring contest about their respective opinion on this particular sport.  I think that argument is a little passe, and a little boring.  You like what you like and if you don’t, move on.  But if you were hanging around as an observer still, and maybe you’ve only watched the U.S. matches, but if you hold on to watch the more exciting part of the the finals you probably won’t be disappointed.  Hey, at least the games won’t end in a tie.

Real Racing Underway

German driver Nico Rosburg had the fastest time in Friday's second practice session

I have never shied away from making public my feelings regarding the differences between Formula 1 and NASCAR.  For some reason watching cars make left hand turns and drive single file for four hours is not that exciting.

Formula 1, considered by many to be the top form of racing not only in Europe but also the world, kicks off its season this weekend in the Kingdom of Bahrain, displacing Melbourne, Australia as the kickoff event.  The 19 race season will stretch to mid-November ending with the Abu Dhabi Gran Prix on November 14.  The European leg of the season will start in Barcelona, Spain with the Spanish Gran Prix on May 9.

The shake ups from the off season go from teams, to drivers and rule changes so the season should keep even seasoned fans interested.  One major change from a regulation standpoint will be refueling, or the lack thereof.  Teams and drivers will be planning for races on full tanks of fuel which already had an impact on both practice sessions this morning.  Cars were seen bouncing and skidding on the track, bottoming out in some stretches as well.

Drivers and teams will be listed below, but the team Sports Central will be focusing on this season will be McLaren Mercedes.  Drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, both coming off winning the drivers championship in 2008 and 2009 respectively, are both set to be early favorites for the drivers title.  Here are the drivers and teams.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (United Kingdom) – Jenson Button (UK) and Lewis Hamilton (UK)

Mercedes Petronas F1 Team (Germany) – Michael Shumacher (GER) and Nico Rosburg (GER)

Red Bull Racing (Austria) – Sebastian Vettel (GER) and Mark Webber (Australia)

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (Italy) – Felipe Massa (Brazil) and Fernando Alonzo (Spain)

AT&T Williams (UK) – Rubens Barrichello (BRZ) and Nico Hulkenberg (GER)

Renault F1 Team (France) – Robert Kubica (Poland) and Vitaly Petrov (Russia)

Force India F1 Team (India) – Adrian Sutil (GER) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)

Scuderia Toro Rosso (Italy) – Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) and Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)

Lotus Racing (Malaysia) – Jarno Trulli (ITA) and Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)

HRT F1 Team (Spain) – Karun Chandrok (IN) and Bruno Senna (BRZ)

BMW Sauber F1 Team – Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) and Kamui Kobayashi (Japan)

Virgin Racing - Timo Glock (GER) and Lucas di Grassi (BRZ)

Knockout qualifying will be early tomorrow morning (for North and South American audiences) which will give way to the Gran Prix Sunday.

You Like What?

Ruebens Barrichello Testing in Barcelona

Yes, Formula One racing is something appearing on my sports radar throughout the year.  As a typical man’s man for watching sports, you wouldn’t think that someone who likes the American standard of football, baseball and the occasional hockey game would be into a bunch of prissy Europeans driving whinny cars.  But I am that guy.

It isn’t without it’s sense of intruigue and controversy.  The F1 circuit is basically a soap opera built around some stout engineering and technology.  I enjoy the fact that these men race in vehicles that will rip your face off, make you lose ten pounds per race, and unlike American stock car racing they (gasp!) race in the rain.  If you have been up early enough the past few Sunday mornings you may have seen a race or two, but I doubt it.

I’m full into it.  I watch practice, knockout qualifying where the bottom five or six drivers are eliminated through three rounds, and of course the race itself.  Rather than going to places like Fontana, Homestead, and Pocono, the F1 drivers and their teams travel to places like Melbourne, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo.  Moving from country to country seems to be so much more interesting to me.  I have no idea why.

Without going too deep into how I feel about the difference between NASCAR and F1, which you can read about here, this season of F1 is shaping up to be quite thrilling.  Imagine if the Pittsburgh Pirates were poised to win the World Series, and teams like the San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals were all vying for the number one spot.  And teams like the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies couldn’t buy a victory.  This is the state of F1 this season, and it’s enough to put a smile on any sports fans face.

The teams with unlimited resources and championship pedigre drivers are on the outside looking in on newly formed race teams (some not lacking experience) with limited sponsorship.  Brawn GP, which is headed by master race strategist Ross Brawn, have taken the ashes of the defunct Honda factory squad and are in a solid position to see their two drivers take one, two in the drivers championship, and the team take their Mercedes motors to the top of the constructors cup.

Watching the likes of Ferrari and McClaren Mercedes come up with virtually no answers for the leaner and more flexible teams is highly entertaining if you like cheering for an underdog.  If you like racing of any sort and have never watched an F1 race, where the cars can go 0-100 in the blink of an eye and back to zero before you open them again and reach nearly 19,000 RPM’s, you could be in for a treat.  It’s a different breed of pedigree than most in our country are accustomed to.  I suppose I sound a little like that guy in the bar who argues that soccer is superior to North American football, but so be it.  Watching cars make left hand turns for five hours gets a tad boring.  And I’m a guy, I happen to like cars.

If this sounds remotely entertaining, be sure to set your DVR to you local Speed TV channel for early Sunday mornings.  The next race is the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain and is scheduled for May 10th.