Well, there is an interesting F1 related story about Sir Jackie Stewart who once raced for Tyrrell (Who later became BAR in 1999 (16 years after their last win in Formula One way back in 1983 on the streets of Detroit, Michigan in the United States with the late Italian driver Michele Alboreto (Who tragically passed away in 2001 in a serious freak testing accident in Germany) driving for them) then Honda in 2006 followed by the buyout of Ross Brawn according to the previous blogs that I did of becoming Brawn GP after Honda had to pull out of the sport as a result of the global financial economic recession that they had in 2008 which enjoyed its fairytale season in 2009 when they won the constructors championship with their ace driver of JB (Jenson Button) who would eventually gone on to win a world championship for the 1st & only time in their sole season before Mercedes purchased them in 2010 & won 7 constructors world championships between them (6 with 7 time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton (2014-15, 2017-2020) behind the wheel who is one of the modern greats of the sport as well as Britain's most successful Formula One driver, & once with Germany's Nico Rosberg (Who was Hamilton's long standing rival when they were teammates & is best known as the son of 1983 F1 world champion from Finland, Keke) in 2016 before Rosberg had to retire from the sport after an exhausting season that he had 10 years after his debut with Williams in 2006) in which he won 3 world titles between them, then he retired from the sport in 1973 at the tender age of 34, 24 years before establishing his Formula One team with funding from the Ford Motor Company of Stewart Grand Prix which lasted 3 seasons before Jaguar had rebranded them which lasted until 2004 when Red Bull Racing came along & took over when it first burst into life in 2005, 5 years before going on to win their 1st of 6 constructors championships as well as the 1st of 7 drivers world championships (4 with German Sebastian Vettel (2010-13) also behind the wheel & 3 with Max Verstappen (2021-23) who is another one of the modern sporting greats & is the most successful Dutch F1 driver between them when last years Red Bull RB19 car proved to be the most dominant of them all compared to the 1988 McLaren MP4/4 that they once had (And last year's F1 season is reminiscent to 1988 where a constructor would gone on to win all but one race in a single championship season (And last year's Singapore Grand Prix (Which was overshadowed by our own Kiwi Liam Lawson (The former Toyota Racing Series champion who was subbing in for the injured Australian Daniel Ricciardo) securing his first points in Formula One in which he finished 9th (His best result so far) by collecting 2 championship points in the Alphatauri during the Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit) is shades of the 1988 Italian Grand Prix where Ferrari had to win with Carlos Sainz Jr last year in Singapore (In which Ferrari (Who has contested in every world championship since the very first one in 1950, compared to McLaren which competed in F1 since 1966) got inspiration from it prior to Singapore by winning at Le Mans in France in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as they ended Toyota's 4 year reign on top of the summit in June last year), in a similar fashion to Gerhard Berger in Italy in 1988), & also both triple world champions of Max Verstappen & the late great Brazilian Ayrton Senna are legendary drivers that provide the backbone for Honda during their success in Formula One (McLaren had provided Honda engines in 1988, so too is Red Bull that they once had from 2019 until 2021).
And onto quick sports news flash such as the sevens rugby in Dubai where the Wallaroos 7s (Well they could be the team to beat at the Paris Olympics in the women's section next year if they want to regain Olympic glory since they last won in Rio 2016) were overwhemingly dominant in the women's section (After they absolutely pummeled the current Olympic champs the Black Ferns sevens in the women's cup final), so too is the Blitzboks of South Africa in the men's division where they still became the most successful as they remain kings in Dubai (And trust me, the twice defending Commonwealth Games men's rugby sevens gold medalists could be favourites of claiming their first ever Olympic gold medal in that sport when the Olympics come to town in Paris, France as the largest sporting event getting ready to begin in July next year, but I fear that it might be a Fiji - South Africa gold medal match in the men's section at the Olympics this year), inspired by their recent success in the men's 15 a side game in which they conquered in France of retaining the Rugby World Cup in fine style against the 14 man All Blacks under controversial circumstances (And just coming up to 4 months have passed since that dramatic event had been unfolded which featured the twists & turns as well as the thrills & spills in rugby's pinnacle event) in which rugby put the African continent on the map according to the sports news report that I remembered watching on Al Jazeera when me, Pops & Carole were in Kerikeri in the Northland province last year in late December following another successful World Cup glory in France which had gone in the way of the Springboks, but like I said before that they kept South African rugby great in a reference inspired by Donald Trump (The former president of the United States), but the latest on the America's Cup World Series in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in which the current defenders of the Auld Mug of Emirates Team New Zealand pulled off a miraculous but emphatic victory (Although they missed out on that occasion in the first preliminary AC event in Spain against American Magic (Who had to withdraw from the event as a result through reasons regarding to security) against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli who got nosedived during the final in a similar fashion to Team New Zealand did in 2017 during the Louis Vuitton Cup semi against Land Rover BAR where we had a frightening pitchpole in Bermuda, but we managed to overcome the disaster of beating the Brits before facing the Swedish syndicate Artemis in the LV Cup final which ended in success by getting over it, then our old foe of the Jimmy Spithill led Oracle Team USA in the America's Cup match in which we won the series 7 - 1 by bringing the America's Cup home to our shores in 17 long years, but we're just 6 or 7 months away until the next America's Cup which is in Barca, Spain (Auckland hosted the last one, Bermuda before them) in which the 3rd time Spain will host the AC series after previously hosting both in Valencia back in 2007 (Where Swiss syndicate & also our old foe Alinghi retained it) & 2010 (Where Alinghi (Who later became Alinghi Red Bull Racing since they announced their intentions of returning to the America's Cup fold which is due this year) last competed when they lost the Auld Mug to the Americans led by an Aussie who is simply known as the Pitbull).
And onto the cricket related story such as the Black Caps winning the 2nd test against England (Who needed just 2 runs to win before the last wicket fell when James Anderson was out caught behind down the leg side off the bowling of Neil Wagner which resulted victory to New Zealand) earlier last year by one run at the Basin Reserve in Wellington which was 1993 revisited in which the West Indies defeated Australia in a similar fashion by a single run at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide in a thrilling finish similar to India against the Aussies in 2001 in one of the greatest test matches in history of all time during the Australia Day test after Craig McDermott was out caught behind off the bowling of Courtney Walsh in which I thought to me was clearly not out when the ball hit the helmet instead of the glove (And there was no 3rd umpire & DRS way back in the day) which resulted in heartbreak for Australia who thought they would've won the series & became the best team in the world, but that match is similar to an Ashes test in 2005, then the latest on the cricket such as Pakistani-Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja speaking out on social media about the ICC getting tough on political statements (Unlike between 2020 to 2021 that they allowed players to "take the knee" before international matches in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement regarding to the racially motivated murder of George Floyd in the United States) such as his solidarity with Palestine & the horrible scenes unfolded as 17,000 Palestinians lost their lives coming from war-torn Gaza as the sport's governing body is clamping down on messages about Gaza which results in an instant suspension if he flouts the rules imposed by the International Cricket Council by wearing his shoe that bears the slogans 'Are all lives not equal?' & 'Freedom is a human right' prior to the opening test in Perth between Australia & Pakistan to avoid getting slapped with sanctions imposed by the sport's governing body (Just like in 2014 that English batter Moeen Ali, who like Khawaja is a Muslim with Pakistani origin, was suspended by the ICC in 2014 from wearing wristbands featuring the slogans "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine" (And Khawaja is in the firing line again before the Boxing Day test against Pakistan that he can't display a dove of peace on his bat in the aftermath of getting reprimanded for wearing a black armband during the 1st test in Perth & I mean, this is like blasphemy, discrimination, vandalism & dissent with the ICC cracking down on players' anti-war statements following Khawaja's remarks about the war on Hamas with messages on his shoes at training that he's not supposed to wear while playing because of the ban being enforced about statements regarding to politics according to the International Cricket Council), but am I allowed to make political statements on my blogs? Well, I dunno except not that terrible event had been unfolded since it began in February 2022 according to Pops, who said to me that I should get rid of that illegal stuff on my blog that I orginally posted it so it does not offend the people of the country who started it, just like the FIA last year that they successfully introduced a clamp down on drivers who are competing in Formula One & any other FIA sanctioned events about making political statements).
And finally I remember an old ad way back in 2001 which is about Xtra (Which is now defunct because it used to be a brand used by New Zealand telecommunications provider Spark (previously Telecom) for its internet service provider subsidiary from 1996 to 2008) & their Xtraordinary people of New Zealanders but here is my take in poetic style:
He doesn't own a suit...
But strolls Wall Street every day
He's moved to London
But hasn't missed a test at Eden Park
She's shy at School
But meets dozens of friends at home.
They're big fans
And Radiohead's at their flat tonight...Live
He dreams of being an astronaut...
So spends nights on Mars
So that is my 531st blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 7th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.
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