| Button plans aggressive approach • McLaren driver keen to be first Briton to win back-to-back titles• 'I'm not going to sit back and hope for a good result'Jenson Button is aware he has to adopt an aggressive approach for the rest of the Formula One season if he is to retain his title. Button and the four other championship contenders are separated by just 24 points heading into the year's long-haul finish as drivers face five distant races in Singapore, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.It is a mouthwatering prospect that leaves no margin for error as the smallest mistake could have significant consequences when it comes to the final shake-up. McLaren's Button, however, also appreciates he can leave no stone unturned in his quest to become the first Briton to win back-to-back titles, and with different teams, after claiming the crown with Brawn GP last year.From his personal perspective, 22 points behind the championship leader Mark Webber of Red Bull and 17 adrift of his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Button is relishing his role of hunter this season compared to a year ago when he was the hunted."It's a great feeling, it really is," said Button ahead of this weekend's race around the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore. "If you'd have said to me last year, if I'd been 10 points behind, 'You're attacking for the last five races,' I would say, 'No, I'm not, because I don't have a car to do that.'"But this year I do. I've a very competitive car, and although the next race will be more tricky for us, I'm attacking and it's exciting."I'm not going to sit back and hope for a good result or try and be consistent. I did that over the second half of last year and mentally it's very tough."But when you're behind and you're chasing and you have a good car, you can be more aggressive, and for me every race I go into I have to be aggressive. I can't sit back and hope to get good points."At least Button is relishing the prospect of returning to Singapore this weekend as he feared a year ago his title dreams were slipping away at the Far East venue."The end of the year was so tough for me," added Button. "In Singapore I remember saying on the in-lap in qualifying, 'We've thrown this championship away,' but this year I go there excited."I still finished fifth, even though I qualified in 11th. I just won't make it that hard on myself this time. But yeah, I'm excited. You've two Brits who are fighting it out, so we should be happy."The stress levels are one of the noticeable elements considerably different for the 30-year-old, who said: "I don't feel like I'm under any pressure at all, it's quite weird. I'm just going to every race enjoying it, although I still wake at nights when I'm not racing feeling frustrated when I've not had a good race."I'm thinking about racing a lot, which is annoying because sometimes you need to get away from it. But I feel a lot more relaxed. I go to every race just to enjoy it, and if the end result is as good as I hope it is then it will be amazing."If it's not, it's not. I'll live to fight another day and I'll be back here next year, but at the moment I'm just enjoying my racing and that's the most important thing for me."Jenson ButtonFormula OneMcLarenMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
1998 Derby, Preakness winner Real Quiet dies at 15 By 2010-09-28T17:12:24ZHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Real Quiet, the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who missed a Triple Crown by a nose, has died at 15.... hosted.ap.org |
Austin, Quinn, Little won’t play for UNC again UNC-Chapel Hill has dismissed football player Marvin Austin, a star defensive tackle, from the team, the school announced Monday. In addition, All-America defensive end Robert Quinn and starting wide receiver Greg Little have been ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA – all because of violations of NCAA agent benefits, preferential treatment and ethical conduct rules. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Wasps 38-26 Glasgow Wasps 38-26 GlasgowWasps have not been the same since Lawrence Dallaglio's retirement. That is hardly a surprise given the totemic influence of the club's former England captain, both as a No8 and as a leader, but in Andy Powell they have at least found a ball-carrier who provides a target for those around him.Powell, a 2009 Lion who was thrown out of the Wales squad this year for taking a golf buggy while over the limit and driving down the M4 in search of breakfast, will never be accused of possessing Dallaglio's capacity for thinking on his feet and having a wide strategic outlook, but he does set an example when motivated.Powell, who hopes to be named tomorrow in the Wales squad for the autumn internationals, just a few months after his Test career appeared over, looks to have found his sanctuary at a club that sees itself as a refuge for lost souls. He has had as many clubs as the average golf buggy driver, but he is, in turn, helping one that had also lost its way.Powell played a significant role in two of his side's four tries in a bonus point victory that keeps them on course to finish at the top of their pool. "Everyone thought we were taking a risk by signing him, but as soon as we met Andy we knew he would fit here," said the Wasps director of rugby, Tony Hanks.His capacity for keeping the ball by offloading is essential for a side whose strength does not lie in the set-pieces. With the scrum-half, Joe Simpson, alert and quick on his feet, slow ball is a curse for Wasps.That said their first two tries came from scrums. Having been taken apart up front in Toulouse the previous week, they forced Moray Low to go high. The Glasgow tighthead was twice penalised at scrums and then put the low in yellow when he was sent to the sin-bin for not releasing Serge Betsen after a tackle.Wasps were 11-3 up by then. Simpson scored a try on seven minutes after Glasgow were shoved backwards in a scrum so hard that their back row was too busy to react to the scrum-half picking up and scurrying down the blindside.Low had just gone off when Glasgow, packing with eight men by deploying the centre Graeme Morrison at wing forward, lost their own put-in. Powell's perfectly timed offload allowed Dave Walder to kick to the line for Tom Varndell to claim his fifth try of the season.By the time Low returned, the score was 18-13, although Walder was just about to kick his third penalty. The outside-half Ruaridh Jackson had scored all his side's points, landing two penalties and converting his own try, created by a deft chip from the flanker, John Barclay.Glasgow struggled to sustain pressure, not least because they kept giving away penalties at the breakdown, and Wasps went into the break 28-13 ahead when Powell again surged over the gainline and slipped a pass under pressure to Riki Flutey. Glasgow felt the centre had knocked on but the referee ruled that the hooker Fergus Thomson had tipped the ball backwards and Ben Jacobs forced his way over.It took Wasps until the final quarter to secure the bonus point they needed to close the gap with Toulouse to two points, Flutey and Dan Ward-Smith prompting a counterattack that the replacement centre, Dominic Waldouck, finished off, but most of the half belonged to Glasgow.They forced their way back to 38-26 through the boot of Jackson and a try from the replacement hooker, Dougie Hall. Morrison was held up over the line and despite almost constant pressure in the Wasps' 22 in the final 10 minutes, Glasgow lacked the craft to unpick the defence.Wasps Haughton (Van Gisbergen, h-t); Varndell, Jacobs (Waldouck, 51), Flutey, Lemi; Walder, Simpson; Beech, Webber (Ward, 62), Taulafo (Broster, 65), Shaw (Worsley, 65), Birkett (Veale, 80), Ward-Smith, Betsen (capt), Powell.Tries Simpson, Varndell, Jacobs, Waldouck. Cons Walder 3. Pens Walder 4.Glasgow Stortoni (Pyrgos, 61); Van der Merwe, Evans, Morrison, Aramburu (Dewey, h-t); Jackson, Gregor; Welsh (Grant, 65), Thomson (Hall, h-t), Low (Kalman, 56), Ryder (Forrester, 56), Gray, Harley, Barclay (capt), Vernon (Wilson, 71).Tries Jackson, Hall. Cons Jackson 2. Pens Jackson 4.Sin-bin Low 24.Referee P Gauzere (France). Attendance 6,759.Heineken CupWaspsGlasgow RugbyRugby unionPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Lakers get their rings then rally past Rockets to win opener Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, newcomer Steve Blake hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 18.8 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Lakers opened defense ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |