TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Niki Lauda: What Michael Schumacher can expect on his F1 comeback The Austrian retired as a double world champion in 1979 – but was tempted back behind the wheelRationalising whether or not I could drive competitively again was quite simple in my own mind. I was sure I still had the technical ability to drive a Formula One car properly, but other people questioned whether I could be fit enough to compete. I never thought that was a problem.Getting fit is simple and straightforward. All you have to do is to run for 10 minutes today, 30 minutes tomorrow and an hour the next day. Run, run, run, train, train, train. There is nothing easier in the world, once you've taken the mental decision to do it. I also took a lot of advice and guidance from Willi Dungl, the ski-training expert who helped me get over the after-effects of my fiery crash in the Ferrari at the Nürburgring in 1976.As far as the other drivers were concerned at the time, it was a bit like I expect the response to Michael Schumacher will be. Apart from Gilles Villeneuve, who I remember came up and welcomed me back at one of the pre-season test sessions, it was more a case of the young guys eyeing me warily and thinking: "Is the old fart up to the job any longer?" And that's what the young guys of today's generation will be thinking about in respect of Michael.After I retired midway through practice for the 1979 Canadian grand prix, I totally turned my back on the motor racing business. It was a chapter in my life which I honestly believed was over. My interest – and indeed my business – was now flying and it absorbed me totally. I could watch the start of a grand prix and not feel even the slightest tremble of excitement and enthusiasm. I would think to myself: "What's that all about?" and just turn away. It wasn't until I went to the 1981 Austrian grand prix and suddenly found myself thinking: "I wonder."Then, out of the blue, I received an invitation from the McLaren principal Ron Dennis to test one of his cars at Donington Park. So I said to my then wife Marlene: "How do you fancy going to London and doing some shopping at Harrods?" She looked at me suspiciously and said, "OK". So we checked into the Capitol hotel and I said: "Right, here we are, you go off to Harrods and I've got some business to attend to." Marlene was still looking at me suspiciously.So off I went to Donington Park where McLaren were waiting with one of their cars. Although I wasn't familiar with the Michelin radial tyres the car was fitted with, it only took me a few laps to conclude that I could still do it. OK, so I wasn't race fit, but I knew that was just a matter of preparation.Back in London, I told Marlene where I had been and what I had been doing. "You stupid bastard," she told me. The next thing was that the phone rang. It was Frank Williams. "How did the test with the McLaren go?" I asked him how the hell he knew about it. He replied that it was his business to know everything.Of course, Ron being Ron, he was obviously going to drive a hard bargain if he was to take the gamble on me returning to the cockpit after more than two years away. So I agreed a deal that my contract would be conditional on my performing competitively. In effect, I was on probation for the first three races of 1982. But as I won my third comeback race at Long Beach, that was all resolved satisfactorily and certainly put a smile on both our faces.I stayed racing for my second stint until the end of the 1985 season when I quit for good. I was then 36 years old and in that final season my priority was staying alive. Cars were becoming safer all the time, but F1 was still a pretty dangerous business 24 years ago.I think Michael will be competitive, but more importantly it will be great for the sport. It's going to be great watching Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton going up against Michael in their McLarens, and Fernando Alonso in Michael's old role as Ferrari team leader. It could also be the making of Nico Rosberg, his new team-mate. It's certainly given us a lot to look forward to.Niki Lauda won the world championship for Ferrari in 1975 and 1977 before his retirement. He returned to win a third title with McLaren in 1984Michael SchumacherFormula OneMercedes GPMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Pacquiao 'closes the door' on Mayweather • Pacquiao due to announce fresh opponent today• Mayweather keeps door open for resolutionBrinkmanship rushed past stalemate towards suicidal promotional meltdown tonight when Manny Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, declared he would announce the little Filipino's next opponent tomorrow – "and it won't be Floyd Mayweather Jr".The new opponent is, according to Arum, going to be the light-hitting New Yorker Paulie Malignaggi, who was stopped by Ricky Hatton in November 2008 and has a loss and two wins since. This is the boxing equivalent of Manchester United cancelling a Champions League fixture against Barcelona and opting instead for a Wednesday night friendly against Huddersfield. Arum, however, has, seemingly, lost patience with Mayweather, whose negotiators want Pacquiao to prove he is drugs-free by taking random "Olympic standard" blood tests before their scheduled 13 March fight in Las Vegas.Pacquiao, defending his WBO welterweight title, agreed instead to random urine tests and three blood tests, two of them 30 days before the fight – a requirement that goes beyond the strict regulations of the Nevada State Athletics Commission under whose jurisdiction the fight will come. Pacquiao has denied taking drugs.That compromise, apparently, was not acceptable to Mayweather's people. Arum set a Monday deadline for Mayweather's promotional partners, Golden Boy Promotions, to respond and that passed without acceptance.Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, said: "Random is random. We are not backing off and the ball is in their court." Arum's response to that was: "If that is the case, then tomorrow morning we will announce who Manny will fight on 13 March and it won't be Floyd Mayweather. It's terrible. Mayweather and his people have never cared about the good of boxing and it is Manny that has brought boxing back. Is this a loss for boxing? Is this a missed opportunity? Of course it is."Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions said: "Let the record be clear: Manny Pacquiao and his promoter, Bob Arum, are threatening to walk away from the largest fight in history. It is disappointing for us to see that the benefits of blood testing, and the fact that many different substances and procedures can only be detected by blood testing, are still not fully understood by all."But they left the door open for a resolution: "[We are] still open to the earlier discussions of having both parties work out a mutually agreeable understanding of the testing, which would be conducted by a mutually agreed upon agency."The head of the Nevada boxing commission has ordered Pacquiao and Mayweather to submit to urine tests within 48 hours as a way of trying to break the impasse. The boxers face possible fines or suspension by the Nevada Athletic commission if they refuse to do so. "That at least starts the ball rolling," said Keith Kizer, the commission's executive director.In the convoluted question-and-answer rhetoric of the modern-day sports industry manipulator, Arum went to the core of the dispute: control. At stake is a potential pot of $200m (£125m) and it has become clear over the past week that the integrity of the contest between the acknowledged two best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing has come to play a poor second fiddle to the egos and financial aspirations of not just the fighters but the suits who rule their destiny.Arum has protested that Pacquiao does not object to blood tests up to 30 days before the fight, nor to random urine tests at any time, but he does not want the intrus.Number three, there is the possibility it is a way to disconcert Pacquiao who they know … doesn't like to give blood immediately in the weeks prior to a fight when he is in training because he believes, rightly or wrongly, that it saps his strength."This is chutzpah on a grand scale: No way does Mayweather want to kill a fight that could earn him $50m, and the notion that Pacquiao, who is covered with tattoos, doesn't like to give blood is stretching credulity.Arum, meanwhile, insisted: "The reason they know this is that Pacquiao's last defeat was to Erik Morales and he had been directed to give a blood test that the state commission requires, that he needed for a licence, for HIV and hepatitis. He did it, they took his blood test 10 days before the fight. He claims it sapped his strength and [contributed to] his loss to Morales."Manny PacquiaoFloyd MayweatherBoxingDrugs in sportKevin Mitchellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Peyton Manning wins record 4th AP MVP NEW YORK (AP) -- Maybe the award should be renamed Most Valuable Peyton.... hosted.ap.org |
Carroll: Seahawks 'have embraced my approach' RENTON, Wash. (AP) -- Pete Carroll pumped his fist. He talked excitedly and forcefully. He chopped the air with his hands, commanding his new audience.... hosted.ap.org |
Avalanche win fifth straight by taming Predators Craig Anderson stopped 29 shots, Matt Duchene and Brandon Yip both scored, and the Colorado Avalanche won their fifth straight by topping the ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |