Muralitharan To Risk Injury

Sri Lankan spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, announced today that he will fight through his injury just to beat India in tomorrows Cricket World Cup final; thereby topping his cricketing career in the best way possible, before heading into retirement. Muralitharan, 38, is expected to play in the Mumbai final, however he is still carring hamstring, knee and groin injuries sustained earlier in the competition.

Rangers Going Bust

Rangers chairman, Alastair Johnson, announed today that his club, Rangers FC, are very close to becoming bust. This came up when they club announced half-yearly figures showing that the club owes £29m. Alastair Johnson stated that in June the clubs debts will drop to around £22m. However, he is worried that the club could go out of business if the decision over tax payments goes against them.

Real Madrid trio to miss Tottenham match

It was announced today that Real Madrid trio; Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Marcelo will miss next weeks Champions League Quarter-Final first leg tie against Tottenham. Ronaldo has a hamstring injury, Benzema with a thigh problem and Marcelo with a sore rib. They should, however, return for the second leg, and they won't be available for Real Madrid's match on April 9th against Athletic Bilbao.

F1 Drivers' World Championship - Week 1

Vettel after Australian Grand Prix victory

1	Ger	S Vettel	25
2	GB	L Hamilton	18
3	Rus	V Petrov	15
4	Spa	F Alonso	12
5	Aus	M Webber	10
6	GB	J Button	8
7	Brz	F Massa	6
8	Swi	S Buemi	4
9	Ger	A Sutil	2
10	GB	P Di Resta	1

Malaysian Grand Prix

Satellite view of Sepang Circuit in Malaysia

Venue: Sepang, Kuala Lumpur
Race Date: Sunday 10 April
Lap length: 3.444 miles
Race laps: 56
2010 winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
First grand prix: 1999
Fascinating fact: Kuala Lumpur literally means "muddy estuary". The city's grand prix track was built on a 260-hectare swamp, a factor some have blamed for the increasing number of bumps on the track. Some people claim the circuit may be literally sinking.

Formula 1 - Drivers and Teams

Red Bull - Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber

McLaren - Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button

Ferrari - Fernando Alonso & Felipe Massa

Mercedes - Michael Schumacher & Nico Rosberg

Renault - Nick Heidfeld & Vitaly Petrov

Williams - Ruben Barrichello & Pastor Maldonado

Force India - Adrian Sutil & Paul di Resta

Sauber - Kamui Kobayashi & Sergio Perez

Toro Rosso - Sebastien Buemi & Jaime Alguersuari

Team Lotus - Jarno Trulli & Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania Racing Team - Narain Karthikeyan & Vitantonio Liuzzi

Virgin Racing - Timo Glock & Jerome d'Ambrosio

Australian Grand Prix

Satellite view of Albert Park, Melbourne

With the 2011 F1 Grand Prix season about to begin tomorrow, and qualifying taking place today, I believe it is time I post a quick fact file about the Australian Grand Prix. I will be doing this for each race as soon as possible (not necessarily on the day of the race).

Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne
Race Date: Sunday 27 March
Lap length: 3.295 miles
Race laps: 58
2010 winner: Jenson Button (McLaren)
First grand prix: 1996
Fascinating fact: The race returned to Melbourne in 1996 when Martin Brundle was involved in a terrifying crash on the first lap, which split his Jordan car in two. Amazingly, the British driver was able to run back to the pits to collect the spare car for the restart - only to spin off at the same corner on the first lap.

Blackberry Messenger Available for Apple iOS and Android

This week is was revealed that Blackberry have agreed a deal with Apple and Android that it's famous Blackberry Messenger (BBM) will be accessable on all 3 top smartphone brands.

The news came out a few days ago, suggesting that Blackberry had sold all rights for BBM to Apple and Android, however, I can now confirm that they haven't. However BBM will soon be available on iPhone and Android. It is said that BBM on Blackberry's will have a few more unique features; only blackberry's will be allowed to send Photos & Videos over Blackberry Messenger.

As an iPhone user, I have looked into much depth about this discussion as when I heard about this a few days ago I couldn't believe it! With my contract running out soon, I was debating whether to switch over to Blackberry because of Blackberry Messenger. Hearing this news has made me decide to stick with my iPhone until the end of the contract, and I suggest you all do this.

Furthermore, recent news just got out that there will be a new iPhone 5, released in June 2011. Great news! (there will be a post in a few days on this).

Now, back to BBM. At this moment in time, Blackberry, Apple and Android are debating whether BBM should be available on a "one-off purchase" or whether they should have a monthly fee for it. With my experience of the App Store on iPhone/iPod, I strongly believe that they should sell it for a one off fee, however the amount you use it should be determined by the amount of "accessable internet" you have on your contract/pay-as-you-go. I have noticed a problem with pay-as-you-go for this, so I believe it could be a fairly high price - about £4.99 (at a max.) or £0.59 (at a min.). However, if Apple decide that they want to have a continuous charge depending on your internet tariff, I believe it should be a FREE app download from the AppStore. As I don't use Android phones, I don't know how the App store works there, but I believe it is the same as Apple and Blackberry.

Regardless of what happens, no doubt Apple will be able to convert all of the Blackberry Messenger coding into an Application within days. But, as the deal has not been expressed in much detail by the spokesman from Blackberry, one can only assume that BBM will be out as an app at the same date of release as the highly anticipated iPhone 5 which is expected to be out in June 2011 - NOT LONG LEFT!!! For more information on the iPhone 5, check out my post later on this week, with just a small bit of information about why people believe it will be out sooner rather than later.

Six Nations Results - Week 5

O'Driscoll celebrates Irish victory in Grand Slam against England

Here are the results from the 3 matches that took place this weekend in the RBS Six Nations last week of matches.

France 28-9 Wales

Ireland 24-8 England

Scotland 21-8 Italy

 

Here is the final RBS Six Nations Standings.

 

F1: Valsecchi Replaces Trulli or Kovalainen

Formula One racers, Trulli (left) and Glock (right) at a briefing

It was announced today that Italian GP2 driver, and F1 driver, Davide Valsecchi, will replace either teammate Jarno Trulli or teammate Heikki Kovalainen for Team Lotus. He is expected to fill in for the Friday morning practice ahead of both the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix. I have taken the liberty of comparing his and Trulli's statistics.

Valsecchi:
Starts - 54
Wins - 2
Poles - 1
Fastest Laps - 0

Trulli:
Starts - 234
Championships - 0
Wins - 1
Poles - 4
Fastest Laps - 1

Champions League Semi-Final Draw

Below is the draw for the UEFA Champions League Semi-Final. Again, the team on the left will be playing the first leg at home. Ties will be played on 26/27 April and 3/4 May 2011.

Semi-Final 1:
Inter Milan or Schalke04 vs Chelsea or Manchester United

Semi-Final 2:
Real Madrid or Tottenham vs Barcelona or Shakhtar Donetsk

Champions League Quarter-Final Draw

Below is the official draw for the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final. The team on the left will have the first leg at home. The ties will be played on the 5/6 and the 12/13 of April 2011. Check out the next post for the Semi-Final draw.

Real Madrid vs Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea vs Manchester United

Barcelona vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Inter Milan vs Schalke 04

Champions League Round of 16 Results



Below are the final results from the UEFA Champions League Last-16 Round. Check back tomorrow for the full list of the Quarter-Final draw.

Chelsea 0 - 0 FC Copenhagen (agg 2-0) Chelsea Win

Manchester United 2 - 1 Marseille (agg 2-1) Manchester United Win

Shakhtar Donetsk 3 - 0 Roma (agg 6-2) Shakhtar Donetsk Win

Barcelona 3 - 1 Arsenal (agg 4-3) Barcelona Win

Tottenham 0 - 0 AC Milan (agg 1-0) Tottenham Win

Schalke 04 3 - 1 Valencia (agg 4-2) Schalke 04 Win

Bayern Munich 2 - 3 Inter Milan (agg 3-3) Inter Milan Win (on away goals)

Real Madrid 3 - 0 Lyon (agg 4-1) Real Madrid Win

Bryan Robson Faces Throat Cancer

Bryan Robson coaching the Tailand national team

It was announced today that Manchester United and England great, Bryan Robson, has undergone surgery to fix a tumour in his throat. We have been told that the tumour is a treatable condition, and Bryan Robson will be able to continue his role as Thailand manager as well as being an ambassador at his old club, which he signed for a record tranfer fee of £1.5m in 1981, Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson Handed Five-Match Ban

Ferguson during Man Utd's 2-1 defeat to Chelsea

The FA have given Sir Alex Ferguson a Five-Match touchline ban due to his improper conduct towards referee Martin Atkinson during his side, Manchester United, loss against Chelsea earlier this month. The ban starts on the 22nd March and runs through Manchester United's FA Cup Semi-Final match against rival, Manchester City. They have also fined Sir Alex £30,000 because of his actions.

England Nervous Ahead Of Ireland Match

Ben Youngs playing for England as Scrum-Half in the Six Nations

England's scrum-half, Ben Youngs, has admitted that England are nervous for their clash against Ireland this Saturday. If England manage to win, we will see Martin Johnson's side claim their first RBS Six Nations Grand Slam since 2003. To some people this may seem worrying, but, in my opinion, this is good news... Why? Well it shows that England are already fully focused on their tough match against the Irish, showing that we want to do well, and hopefully they can. Check this blog later on this week for the RBS Six Nations results and table.

2012 Olympics Tickets On Sale

Tickets for the 2012 London Olympics

Stats are out that 8.8 millions tickets are available for the London 2012 Olympics. Prices for these tickets range from £20 to £2,012 and events with so much publicity will be balloted. It is expected that the Olympic committee will make half a billion pounds from ticket sales alone.
Tickets for the London Marathon will be free, as always, and 2.5 million tickets will be priced at £20, others start at £30 to £50. Under 17s will be able to "pay-your-age" to early heats, while over-60s can watch the same events for £16.
6.6 millions tickets are available for the general public via the application process. The other 2.2 million tickets; half will be issued to the National Olympic Committees of each country, and half will be split between sponsers, the IOC, guests and hospitality partners.

Footballer Dies Due To Head Injury

Huw Thatcher "lived and breathed sport"

Today it was announced that Under-15 Sunday League footballer, Huw Thatcher, was killed due to natural causes. 15 year old, Huw Thatcher was playing for Hepworth United Juniors in a game at St Giles Road in Brighouse on Sunday when the incident happened. The school student was later taken to hospital, where sadly he passed away.

Let the 2012 Countdown Begin, or Not!

Clock counting down days until 2012 Olympics

Today, the clock counting down the days until the 2012 London Olympics was unveilved. It started at 500 days until the olympics, and then stopped within hours. The creaters, a Swiss-based Swatch Group, announced that the clock was fully tested beforehand and was fully working, they are now investigating into why the clock suddenly stopped. The clock was restarted, however, on Tuesday evening.

Call of Duty: Black Ops - Greatest Game Ever

In-Game Picture from Call of Duty: Black Ops

Black Ops has now officially set the record for the highest selling video game in history. This, however, is according to the market research firm NPD, stating that it sold more than 13.7 millions copies across the United States alone. NPD said that within it's first 24 hours the game had began creating revenues of over £223 million. Within 6 weeks the game had turned over $1 billion of revenue. By creating $1 billion of revenue it was added to the elite group of 3 other entertainment releases; Michael Jackson's Thriller Album and James Cameron's 1997 hit, The Titanic & Avatar. Only Black Ops and Avatar have hit the billion dollar mark this quickly throughout all of history.