Well, in Indycar news such as the former 3 time Supercars Champion of New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (Who held off former F1 driver of Romain Grosjean from France in the Andretti Autosport) has won at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama (His 1st of the season & his 4th in his Indycar career who Scotty Mac currently races for Team Penske, but his hopes for victory in the season opener of this year's Indycar Series championship season in St Pete had been evaporated due to a collision with Grosjean during the race but the Indycar race in Alabama was the most exciting race of the weekend in Indycar compared to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Formula 1 which was boring but not so good as Mexican Sergio 'Checo' Perez in the Red Bull won both the sprint qualifying & the race ahead of his teammate of the defending twice world champion Max Verstappen therefore Perez is emerged one of the championship contenders this season as well as one of Verstappen's main challengers in this years F1 World Championship season (First it was Sir Lewis Hamilton (Who was named after the famous American athletics/track & field star of Carl Lewis & was the victim of a racial abuse by former 3 time world champion Nelson Piquet who recieved a fine of nearly a million dollars & has banned from the F1 paddock already following his racist remarks regarding to Hamilton last year) in 2021 followed by Charles Leclerc last year) in the United States as Pops told me on the 1st of May while I was commenting about it that it's been 20 years since the famous New Zealand rally icon/legend of Possum Bourne who tragically passed away prior to the events of the Race to the Sky hillclimb rally event (And I did a blog about him reflecting on his career back in September last year) way back in 2003.
And now onto the football stuff as the most recent Football World Cup winning player for Argentina as well as the greatest Argentinian footballer ever produced in the modern era of Lionel Messi (And I mean what a player & how appropriate that he is a true football legend now since he achieved his legendary status (Just like his childhood idol of the late Diego Maradona did) in the aftermath of Argentina's success in last years Football World Cup after prevailing over the reigning champs at the time of France on penalties, in that memorable but epic final at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar but Brazil (Who are still ranked the top ranked football playing nation on the planet despite that bitterly disappointing exit in the quarterfinal against Croatia (The team that Argentina (Who are ranked 2nd best in the world after their successful Football World Cup glory or should I say, triumph in Qatar) coincedentally & ironically beat in the semi) is expected to be the favourites to win the 2026 Football/Soccer World Cup according to most people following Leo Messi's retirement in international football in the aftermath of Argentina's success in last years tournament where he had a fairytale farewell (He made his debut in 2006 before going on to appear in 4 more World Cups, but his last one was a success when he was part of the winning squad for the Argentinians late last year (Finally, la Albiceleste had won the World Cup for the 1st time in 36 years, Argentina went berserk) against the reigning champs at the time of the French on spot kicks in that dramatic final which was one of the greatest World Cup final in history) is expected to depart from his current club of Paris St Germain at the end of this season (And the club had opted not to grant him a contract extension but is due to leave PSG amid confirmed reports but there has been an update as Messi is set to head to the United States after being signed by Inter Miami despite rumors of playing for a club in the Saudi league to catch up against his rival Cristiano Ronaldo & Karim Benzema who announced that he's leaving Real Madrid to join a Saudi club competing in the Saudi league) while in the Premier League that Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland has broken the most goals scored in a single season for his club that he currently plays for of Manchester City whose hopes of defending their title as well as a bid for a threepeat got back on track after their win against league leaders Arsenal during a Premier League game which was the season defining moment (And Man City have been invincible since 2020-21 when they won the Premier League crown back a season after Liverpool won their 1st ever Premier League title in 2019-20 (Compared to Leicester City shocking the football world especially in England in 2015-16 by winning their historic first ever Premier League crown (And they had bought cheaper players to start with like before the season started which was during the transfer window) for the ages), but there has been an update as Man City clinch the Premier League title in style after a dominant win against Chelsea with 1 round to go meaning that Man City remain the champions of England for the 3rd consecutive time as well as their 7th overall (They did it in 2011-12 before doing it again in 2013-14 then from 2017-18 to 2018-19 & they have dominated the Premier League since 2020-21 where they left off) but they are going for both FA Cup (Against their rivals Manchester United (The last time Man United triumphed in the FA Cup was in 2016) in the final at Wembley in which Man City haven't won in 4 years) & the UEFA Champions League (In which they'll be up against Italian club Inter Milan (The last Italian club to win the Champions League title which was in 2009-2010 before FC Barcelona took over in 2010-11 followed by Chelsea in 2011-12, then Bayern Munchen in 2012-13, Real Madrid in 2013-14, FC Barcelona again in 2014-15, Real Madrid yet again who did it 3 times from 2015-16 to 2017-18 followed by Liverpool in 2018-19 then Bayern Munchen once again in 2019-20 as well as Chelsea once more in 2020-21 & last but not least, Real Madrid again last season in 2021-22) at the Ataturk Stadium in Instanbul for their 1st Champions League title since they 1st appeared in the final in 2021 against Chelsea which ended in failure) glory in their quest for a treble) therefore completing a hat-trick of Premier League titles in which they had a successful threepeat in which the club where oh so overwhemingly dominant since 2020-21, but something bad/shocking/terrible in football has broken out in Spain as Brazilian footballer Vinicius Junior (Who is now facing DTs (Death threats) even with him having possibly to make the decision to hire security for the matter to provide adequate protection to him (This is like the US Secret Service always providing protection to the current & former US Presidents & their families since 1903 then & most high profile celebs from around the world, including billionaires for example, as well as the Royal Protection Squad in the UK to provide protection to any members of the royal family & our own Diplomatic Protection Squad here in New Zealand providing security to our country's Prime Minister) of Real Madrid got racially abused by opposition fans during a La Liga game which resulted 7 arrests (And further action had been taken in a bid to stamp out racist conduct at football matches not just in Spain as well as Europe but most parts of the world (And Valencia had been given a fine & had 3 of their matches to be played BCD (Behind closed doors) partially while the league can only detect & report incidents regarding to racism under Spanish law (This is similar to online hate to famous footballers where fans can be suspended from attending a football game even if they spew the hate online towards the footballer players social media accounts just like in 2021 that 2 of the African or Caribbean football players playing for England in Euro 2021 such as Marcus Rashford & Jadon Sancho who missed penalties during the shootout after losing to Italy on spot kicks in the final at Wembley) while a hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable effigy dressed in the No.20 jersey of winer Vinicius Jr was hung from a bridge while the Brazilian government has escalated the abuse about Vinicus Junior as they summon an ambassador from Spain which had been taken too lightly as protests were sparked outside the Spanish embassy in Brazil following racism towards him).
And it was on the 4th of May that I watched a movie in full for the 1st time in 17 months when I watched the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring which is one of my all time favourite Star Wars movies by far which is Return of the Jedi (The 1st time I watched a Star Wars movie, it was during the 90's/2000's period where I famously watched it from a recorded VHS tape, although the Emperor didn't die because that was his original death (Although he managed to survive when he appeared in the Rise of Skywalker until his actual death came when Rey took him out with one blow), which came out 40 years ago in cinemas around the world so I've been watching it in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the film's release (And how appropriate that it's Star Wars day which is the unofficial holiday for Star Wars observers & fanatics as well) but 4 years have passed since the original Chewbacca actor of Peter Mayhew who passed away in 2019 (Along with the late Austrian F1 legend of Niki Lauda & others like Luke Perry, Peter Fonda, Rutger Hauer, Doris Day, Albert Finney, Karl Lagerfeld, Keith Flint, Danny Aiello, Rip Torn, Jessi Combs, Emiliano Sala, Gordon Banks & our own Pua Magasiva a year after Burt Reynolds, that Mini-Me guy of Verne Troyer as well as famous female African-American singer Aretha Franklin, the lead singer of the famous Irish rock band of the Cranberries of Dolores O'Riordan, Stephen Hawking, former US presidental candidate John McCain, former US president George H. W. Bush, R. Lee Erney, famous Swedish musician Avicii & famous American celeb chef Anthony Bourdain as the list of celebs who passed away in 2018) as a result of declining health (His last movie appearance was in Star Wars: the Force Awakens until that injury during filming where he couldn't get out of the Millennium Falcon in which he struggled which ended his career when he decided to move on to deal with his health issues so former Finnish basketball player of Joonas Suotamo drafted him as his replacement & would gone on to appear both Star Wars: the Last Jedi & Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker as Chewie) a year before the actor who played Darth Vader of Britain's David Prowse who infamously passed away in 2020 which was affected by the global pandemic, on the same year as both the late British film star Sean Connery & the late Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona but I hadn't mentioned the late Eddie van Halen who was the lead guitarist from the famous Dutch American rock band Van Halen who passed away in the same year & also Kirk Douglas (Father of famous Hollywood movie star Michael), Chadwick Boseman (From the Marvel comic book movies such as Black Panther & the Avengers), Kelly Preston (Who was the wife of John Travolta), Kobe Bryant (NBA basketball legend), 'The Soulman' Rocky Johnson (Son of the late 'High Chief' Pita Maivia & father of world famous global icon Dwayne Johnson (Formerly The Rock during his WWE days), Max von Sydow as well as our own Kiwi celebs including Jeanette Fitzsimons (Ex-Green Party leader) & Aaron Tokona (The lead singer of the New Zealand rock band Weta), that was the year before Larry King (The world famous talk show host), John Madden (The legendary American football/gridiron coach & broadcaster), DMX (The famous American rapper), Murray Walker (The original voice of Formula 1), Max Mosley (The former head of the FIA), Al Unser Sr (The American motor racing legend & a 4 time winner of the Indy 500 along with 2 other Americans of AJ Foyt, Rick Mears & Brazilian Helio Castroneves), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Royal Highness Prince Philip (Husband of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II) as well as Massimo Cuttita (The former Italian rugby player) & Betty White (The famous American actress & comedian) as the list of famous celebs who have passed away).
And finally the latest on the Super Rugby Pacific competition as the results of the 10th round of the competition are in:
Hurricanes 32 - 27 Brumbies (It was the Hurricanes night as they topple the most competitive Australian side against New Zealand teams of the Brumbies at Sky Stadium in Wellington)
Waratahs 21 - 20 Highlanders (And it was the Waratahs who stole the show as they snatched it at the death to down the Highlanders (Who thought they had it until they conceded a try & a game winning conversion by the Tahs to lose that game in which they were so gutted & is one of the bogey teams in all of the New Zealand sides in Super Rugby Pacific) at Allianz Stadium in Sydney as they scored the try with the kick to come by successfully converting it to pull off a tremendous victory (It is reminiscent of Ardie Savea scoring that cracking try for the Hurricanes against the Blues last year with a kick to come, before successfully converting it by Ruben Love to seal the deal & win it in the dying seconds), ending the Highlanders hopes for a win)
Fijian Drua 14 - 30 Blues (It was the Blues day as they held off a strong challenge against the Fijian Drua at Churchill Park in Lautoka)
Moana Pasifika 33 - 43 Rebels (It was the Rebels who trounce the Moana Pasifika side who remain winless in the competition at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland)
Chiefs 34 - 24 Crusaders (And that game was by far, the best of the season as the Chiefs stay undefeated with a brilliant win against the Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton what was a season defining moment, to go 9 & 0 in the competition this year but their next match is against the worst New Zealand side in the competition which is the Highlanders on May 5th, in which they'll put their winning streak on the line going into the next game)
& Reds 31 - 17 Force (And it was the Reds (Who have their coach Brad Thorn in his final ever season as he is announced that he is stepping down) who prevail over the Force at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane)
So that is my 498th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 22nd of this year, viva Ukraine.
P.S. Just wanted to give Aunty Tan a shout out for her 55th birthday over in Canada so best wishes.
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