The Importance of Having Teammates

Lewis Hamilton is currently the bookies' favorite to win the 2008 F1 World Championship. According to the UK principal bookmakers, LH has the probability of about 62% to win, while Felipe Massa has about 41% and Kimi Raikkonen about 6% (Wow!!!). Twenty-one percentage points difference between LH and FM, and fifty-six between LH and KR. hmmm... I think that's too many points.

First of all, Hamilton has only two-point championship lead over Massa with five races to go. Second of all, Felipe has something that Lewis doesn't have. He has a teammate, Kimi Raikkonen (the current world champion), who can help Felipe to win the championship. I'm sorry, but I don't think Heikki can do the same for LH. I don't see Heikki (26-year-old sophomore) stopping Felipe, or making him nervous. To be honest, I don't see Heikki finishing among first four places in remaining races. Finally, the five remaining races: Monza, Singapore, Fuji, Shangai and Brasil. Brasil is ten points for Massa, and probably eigth for Kimi. Massa has shown that at his favorite tracks (such as Bahrain, Turkey, ... Brasil) he never fails. Shanghai could pretty be a Ferrari 1-2 (FM-KR). Singapore and Fuji are a mystery (we don't have stats from previous seasons). And Monza... who knows?

Gentlemen, I bet on Ferrari's duo. Last year, they showed how to win a World Championship in today's F1.

PS: Don't blame Lewis, blame Ron Denis, who again made the mistake of hiring the wrong teammate.

Maybe the Worst President Ever

I think you know that I'm from Barcelona. And it couldn't be any other way, I am FC Barcelona supporter. Well, surely you don't know Joan Gaspart (former FCB's president between July 2000 and February 2003, maybe the worst president in FCB's history). He is one of my preferred FCB characters, a mad FCB supporter with a really unique personality.

I was reading El Mundo Deportivo online yesterday and found the comic strip above, a caricature of JG wearing a straitjacket. I think that KAP (pseudonim of Jaume Capdevila), the author of the caricature, is who has the better grasp of the JG's personality.

Translation of the text:

"A clinical case: Gaspart, the only FCB supporter happy with the defeat against Sant Andreu, and the only Sant Andreu's president that would prefer a FCB win..."

"¡Sometimes even I think FCB is ok!"

"Crazy he is..."

What Would Have Happened If...

Did you watch Beijing 2008 Men's Basketball final? I hope you did, because it was one of the best games ever seen. Believe me!! If you didn't watch it and "You Love This Game", then hurry up and do it!!

Immediately after the game ends, I asked myself some "What if...?" type questions:

• What would have happened if Jose Calderon would have played?
• What would have happened if Kobe Bryant wouldn't have played?
• What would have happened if all traveling violations would have been penalized?
• What would have happened if every three-second violation would have been penalized?
• What would have happened if Rudy Fernandez would have played the last three minutes?
  
• What would have happened if Jorge Garbajosa wouldn't have played below his level?
  

In any case, it was a spectacular game with two great teams. The Spaniards played without any inferiority complex against the Americans who played at an amazing high level in turn, showing that they are unbeatable... or maybe... almost unbeatable.

Two Different Pictures

Have you seen any difference between the two pictures of JCN in my last post on this blog (Not Pleasantly Surprised)? I didn't notice before, but re-reading the post, I couldn't believe it. The picture located at the right side of the photo-composition looks really bad in comparison with the one located at the other side. But, why?

I obtained the picture from the FC Barcelona official website. Could not FCB hire a good photographer? I wanna remind you that FCB is the club with the budget of 380M € for the 2008-09 season. And this picture looks as if it would have been shooting by an amateur. Maybe, the one located at the left side is too good. However, there is no excuse for that.

By the way, a silly question. Where did JCN play for, according to the picture located at the right side? Answer. He played for FC Barcelona. You can see a VERY LITTLE crest of FCB on the left upper corner of the picture. Of course.

Not Pleasantly Surprised

Recipe for a dissapointing surprise:

1. Take a look at Juan Carlos Navarro ACB Career Season averages
   (see last row in table, "Promedios")
2. Take a look at Juan Carlos Navarro 2007-08 NBA Season average
   (see SEASON AVERAGES table)
   
3. Compare both

Yes, they are SOOO SIMILAR. Even if we only consider the last 8 ACB Seasons (the two first ones are not significant), they are still so similar. Well, not really. Certainly ACB stats are better than NBA ones (specially in points per game, 25 vs. 20 points per 48 minutes, and field-goal percentage, 45% vs 40%). However, the other stats (rebounds, assists, steals, fouls, turnovers, etc.) look practically identical. What I mean is that I thought that JCN had space to grow in the League. But, 5 points in 48 minutes and a 5% is a very little space, and it's really hard to believe that JCN will be able to improve his ACB stats playing in the NBA at age 28. Drazen Petrovic is the perfect example to illustrate what I mean. You can compare his ACB stats with his NBA stats, and see how he grew in 5 seasons in the League (Amazing!!) without reaching his ACB numbers.

I don't want to demerit JCN. Honestly, I think what he did in the League is very difficult and commendable. However, it's not worthwhile to spend time and loose money to be there.