svb blog

NFL - 'Mid' Season of the Whole Season

2009-11-29T01:19:00.001Z

So predictions update, recently found the original file:

Nathan - 98
Me - 93
Mike - 81
Nick - 77

F1 Driver Salaries

2009-11-01T10:17:00.003Z

Many comments have been made about the figures but here are some pre-Dubai stats derived from them:

Top 3 Lowest Salaries per Race / £Millions per Race
1. Barichello - 0.059
2. Alguersuari - 0.063
3. Fisichella - 0.088

Top 3 Highest Salaries per Race / £Millions per Race
1. Raikkonen - 2.65
2. Hamilton - 1.06
3. Massa - 0.89

Top 3 Lowest Salaries per Point / £Thousands per Point
1. Barichello - 0.8
2. Button - 3.3
3. Vettel - 4.9

Top 3 Lowest Salaries per Finish / £Thousands per Finish
1. Barichello - 63
2. Fisichella - 94
3. Buemi - 125

Also note: All drivers with 0 points were excluded from most analysis and some data unobtainable.

Super Sunday Update

2009-10-04T10:00:00.002+01:00

Looks like now I am at Uni Sundays are the only time I might get a chance to update this place.

The Singapore GP last weekend looked fun from the condensed 10 minute highlights I saw. I got my first experience of watching the NFL in a bar and so far this weekend saw the epic five red flags from Japanese qualifying as-live.

For today:
1) Tidy Up
2) Watch the Japansese GP (as-live)
3) Do Some Work
4) Go Watch Some NFL

Week 4
BAL @ NE (SS2) / DAL @ DEN (SS2) / NYJ @ NO / SD @ PIT (FIVE)

Formula 1 2010 - Provisional Schedule

2009-09-21T18:45:00.002+01:00

14 March - Bahrain
28 March - Australia - to be held after clocks change for European viewers
4 April - Malaysia - starting earlier to avoid 08's red flag
18 April - China
9 May - Spain
23 May - Monaco
30 May - Turkey
13 June - Canada* - a popular return
27 June - Europe (Valencia) - earlier in the year for reduced heat
11 July - Great Britain - Silverstone still a possibility if Donnington is not ready
25 July - Germany - If Hockenheim is ready maybe Nuremburg
1 August - Hungary
29 August - Belgium
12 September - Italy
26 September - Singapore
3 October - Japan
17 October - Korea - NEW RACE!!!
31 October - Abu Dhabi
14 November - Brazil - Returns as the Finale

Freshers Week

2009-09-21T17:54:00.001+01:00

Currently this blog is on hold for Fresher's Week. Resumes shortly...

2009-09-18T13:52:00.001+01:00

NFL this Sunday night:

Saints @ Eagles - 5.30pm - SS3

Buccaneers @ Bills - 9pm - SS3 / R5L Extra

Giants @ Cowboys - 0.50am - FIVE

Gekko's Breakfast : A Sardonic Guide to the NFL

2009-09-16T16:19:00.000+01:00

Gekko's Breakfast : A Sardonic Guide to the NFL

SVB Blog on Twitter

2009-09-16T16:17:00.001+01:00

Firstly an update Nat Coombs twitter is : NatCoombs.
Secondly a new twitter for this site: www.twitter.com/chrishalluni

SVB Reports on NFL (MyTeam)

2009-09-16T13:19:00.001+01:00

Philadelphia beat the Panthers last week so this weeks game is a good indicator of how the South is going to perform. A Saints win will progress us to a win against the Panthers and boost confidence. To lose will be a downer but losing will be tight. Less sure of the result than last week but a win by the Saints away will be 28:24

What A Year Makes... - The Singapore Grand Prix Preview

2009-09-16T13:16:00.003+01:00

...a mess. The irony that the result of last years race overhangs the start of this years is a bit of a downer but hopefully the gobsmacking display of a night race around the streets of a lit up city will put us past that.

Plus there is the added bonus of the new named corners making it iconic unlike the course of Valencia. As suggested by the Singapore public the Singapore Sling comprises of ....
And ... Taking corner .... *

The night race will favour the Red Bulls as the temperature drops throughout the race and qualifying but it may be too late. For Vettel, the closest of the Red Bull's, to win the championship Button must not exceed 14 points for the remainder of the season which could consist of either: a win and 5th / two 2nd places / fifth places for the rest of the season. More likely is Barichello's success as he is currently on form just 14 points behind Button. What is confirmed is Brawn GP's constructors championship so now the boys can race on their own, smash ups included.

*edit - really need to find out these names

SVB Links to NFL

2009-09-15T20:51:00.000+01:00

Saints v Lions Week 1 Highlights from NFL.com

SVB Reports on NFL (Predictions)

2009-09-15T20:04:00.002+01:00

The NFL Live on 5 Team have made their predictions and so have I (chosen Saturday):
AFC East - Patriots
AFC West - Chargers
AFC North - Steelers
AFC South - Colts
AFC Champions - Chargers
NFC East - Eagles
NFC West - Seahawks
NFC North - Packers
NFC South - Saints
NFC Champions - Saints
Sleeper - Packers / Seahawks
Super Bowl Champions - Saint

And so for the end of week 1:

Mike - 13
Chris (me) - 13
Nathan - 12 [losing on Cardinals]
Nick - 9 [losing on Redskins, Cardinals. Bills & Panthers]

Note: Mike gets double points for his sleeper team as he only chose 1.

SVB Reports on NFL (NFL on 5)

2009-09-15T19:31:00.000+01:00

For a moment there I thought we weren't going to see Carlson back but he is and the team move on as if nothing happened bar a slight mention of the not so great NFL UK show. But with the new season the technology has moved on:
Email ¦ nfl@five.tv
Facebook ¦ Search 'NFL Live on 5'
Twitter ¦ www.twitter.com/Nat_Coombs

So with the team back game time rolled on with a match up that combined all the different types of game you could get without being able it to be labelled as a single one. In the first quarter you had the dominance game whereby the Cardinals did not get a look in. The second quarter moved to throwing as scores finally got on the board including kicks, touchdowns and an out of the blue safety. The third quarter saw the running game take an unsure approach to provide an advantage to bring the game score to a narrow margin forcing the fourth quarter to be played tactically to the expense of the coaches minds.

There were also plenty of 'I hope that is just because it is the first game of the season' moments including the mentioned safety and a rare occurrence when a referee slipped up on a decision not once but twice in the same explanation. Back in the studio the whoops came not from the quick wit (v. poor wit) from Carlson but a general feeling that Coombs was more interested in his computer than the audience at home trying to understand the game. Even as an old hand watching I am glad Carlson took up the reigns of explanation with such wrath over Coombs to explain as with a summer without I need a memory boost.

The conclusion from the first weekend of the NFL is that the new rules introduced have lengthened the game and lowered the scoring. I suppose they have to constantly change, just look at snooker.
Also I might have to ask them what the new ruling is with the clocks. I heard the NFL changed the ruling on certain plays (such as running out) to speed up the game.

KERS & KERBS - The Italian Grand Prix

2009-09-15T19:18:00.001+01:00

KERS & KERBS

When is a kerb not a kerb? When it's a wall.

This is the issue with kerb height at Monza, an issue dealt with at other tracks including Canada and next weeks race in Singapore with the double chicane. Being such a fast track and initially designed with far fewer corners than it currently has the chicanes were introduced to slow down the cars on the long, long straights. Between 2000 and 2008 the chicanes had relatively low kerb height allowing a smoother flow of the track as cars jumped over both parts taking little damage in order to keep the speed. Both before and now for 2009 the kerb height is greater in order to force the cars to take the corners as proper corners, for the drivers to show skill on the track. The height for 2009 is 150mm which if you don't know is:

______________________________________________________________________________

You'll have to transfer it upright.

So is this a good thing? Yes, temporarily. Many of the drivers on the circuit will not have raced Monza with the high kerb heights and so this will be the first time they will have to negotiate the actual corners. This provides new challenges to the driver allowing for greater racing. It showed the difficulty caused by the change when the heads had to announce a ruling over the kerbs. If a driver cut a kerb three times a drive though penalty will automatically be issued. However the track must constantly be surprising, it has been used since 1950 and so evolution must occur. The kerbs can stay for next year as the no fuelling rule will create a different feel to the car and to reduce them will signal jumping is OK. Maybe the wrong message for a car with twice as much fuel on board with little practice around the track.

I ought to mention KERS, it is in the title. Whilst it provides a distinct advantage during this latter third of the season were they seriously ever going to consider it with the extra weight of fuel next year?

SVB Reports on NFL

2009-09-15T13:57:00.001+01:00

The 'SVB Reports on NFL' Blog consists of up to five parts each weekend:
NFL UK, the weekly magazine show on FIVE on a Saturday morning
MyTeam Predictions, a preview of my teams (Saints) game this week
GameTime, a brief reaction to the results throughout the NFL
NFL on SKY, reactions from any games seen through the SKY feed at the bar
NFL on FIVE, reporting about the show as well as the live game

Sport Next Week

2009-09-14T19:42:00.002+01:00

18/09/09 - Sailing BBCi 12pm
19/09/09 - NFL UK on FIVE 10.30am
19/09/09 - Sailing BBCi 12pm
19/09/09 - Great City Games BBC1 1pm

21/09/09 (Sunday Night) - NFL on FIVE (DAL v NYG) 0.50am

Download 12MB (right click & "save target as")

2009-09-14T19:41:00.000+01:00

Radio 1 Mini Mix - Dubstep Special
Download 12MB (right click & "save target as")

Sabres @ Lancaster

2009-09-14T19:40:00.000+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbqhnO4KOSg

My new team against Lancaster a few years ago

Burghley Horse Trials 2008 - The Falls

2009-09-14T19:39:00.000+01:00

Burghley Horse Trials 2008 - The Falls

BBC - Podcasts - Chequered Flag Formula 1

2009-09-14T19:38:00.000+01:00

BBC - Podcasts - Chequered Flag Formula 1

SVB Reports on NFL (MyTeam)

2009-09-14T19:32:00.002+01:00

This was posted on Saturday:

Easy prediction this week, not only are Orleans at home for the opening game they are against the worst team in the league last year the Lions. Coincidently both teams had much promotion in the new NFL UK show on FIVE. Orleans have fixed their problems from last year; Detroit has improved but not by a lot. Orleans win 35:7.

SVB Reports on NFL (NFL UK)

2009-09-14T19:32:00.001+01:00

Many people picked up on this before the show went out just from the trailer to which I initially I ignored and hoped it was a special promotional clip. Instead it was in the show and throughout the same thought came into my head.
'Apart from Nat Coombs why are there two other presenters who don't really do a lot?'
They sit in a badly designed flat like set trying to chat about anything in an obviously scripted manner to link features which don't need linking due to the graphics. Then there was the cheek to make a joke about the fact the chit chat was scripted. The pair of them, Nelson & Pinks, do have a reasonable on screen relationship but there was no need for them. Whether next week they spend more time introducing highlight packages without the annoying 'banter' is yet to be seen. To be fair they only had the one package this week. When FIVE talks about the need to save money why did they do this when...
...Coombs can hold the show on his own. He does all the voiceovers and hard work it seems. My favourite parts of the show were Nat's. His rant on the weeks news was ingenious with his brilliant way of sprouting words so naturally. His versatility was shone to the audience later in the show with his 'Super Bowl Predictions' piece. Only the best presenters can string the audience along a winding story. Appreciation to the writers for that although I can not believe they were the same writers creating the awful 'trying to be funny' presenters attitude back at the flat. Also another hope is that Nat's introduction to the highlights was a one-off failure and in the future he literally just introduces them with some proper introduction. The show will only survive by inducing old and young to watch.
If FIVE have Nelson & Pinks on contract for the rest of the season rather than film them in a studio get them to do something else. Just don't invade Nat's space.
The slightly childish attitude the show feels is to be attributed to the show being on after FIVEs kids strand but surely they knew for the first week the show was on after 'The Grid', a show which would have already driven the kids away. Yet 'The Grid' was needed there to draw the regular audience in, if NFL UK were to have been shown straight after the kids strand many would immediately have switched off purely due to the titles. Hopefully the live game will be preceded by the usual titles to say 'let's get serious now'.
Yes, the show is needed. Maybe too much money thrown into unnecessary things.

Welcome To The Jungle

2009-09-14T19:23:00.000+01:00

This is the new SVB Blog away from its counterpart. Hopefully this will be more together and easier to use so here we go...