The geek in me approved of the quality of this preview video, so I had to share it here!

Before this tournament started, nobody had dared to dream of reaching the final game. Now, a day after losing, we can’t even be happy with finishing second. Bitter disappointment followed a few pretty exciting weeks. Sadly, a potential new football trauma has arrived to haunt our collective memories. I didn’t plan on writing this entry about our loss. I didn’t want to; what happened in South Africa, stays in South Africa! However, I couldn’t ignore the downcast atmosphere in the office. It’s quiet. So, so quiet. Everyone is getting on with their work in silence. It’s as if an unspoken agreement has filled the office; please don’t mention the football game!

We’re disappointed. We struggle to accept a second place. We came to win and we almost did! Nonetheless, I think our football team are heroes! They did well to get this far and for about a month, they succeeded in uniting roughly 15 million people. Everyone seemed to put aside their differences in opinions and supported our boys in South Africa. For about a month we were one, a collective, and ever so slowly we started to believe in a fairy tale ending.

I’m sure our players will be received in a deafening roar of cheers and applause during their homage in Amsterdam tomorrow. And rightly so. Being the number two in the world is quite an achievement, even though admitting defeat leaves a bitter taste.

What a damn shame we didn’t quite make it!

I’ve heard that a picture can say a thousand words, well I’ve got seven for you:

On Friday before the weekend the World Cup kicked off with a match between South Africa and Mexico! I was pleasantly surprised when the boss told us to shut down our computers and go to the bar together to watch the opening match! He didn’t have to tell us twice! In a minimum amount of time we were ready to go! We were a bit too late to watch the beginning of the match and apparently we had missed out on a few exciting minutes!

It was good fun hanging out with all the footie-crazies at the bar though. We found ourselves sitting between South African and Mexican fans! It was fun to watch how the South Africans went from noisy to quiet after the equalizing goal from Mexico. Thankfully, nobody carried a vuvuzela! Although the noise of many hundreds of them from the telly was quite sufficient to be annoying.

Besides the start of the World Cup, there was a lot more sport to watch: 24 hours of Le Mans and the Formula One Grand Prix of Canada. It made me wonder if the organisers of these events are just living in their own world without looking at what else is going on. It was too much! In fact, I managed to miss the finish of the Le Mans race completely. And I almost, almost, forgot to flip channels to watch the magnificent Eddy Jordan, David Coulthard and Jake Humphrey for the Canadian GP build up on the BBC!

World Cup fever!

I’ve said this before: I’m not a particular fan of football. I don’t really have a favourite team, I don’t follow the competitions or European cup tournaments. However, for some weird reason I do like playing Fifa 10 on my XBox 360 and I always get a little hyped up about the really big tournaments such as the Euro and World Cups. Perhaps it’s something to do with national pride and hoping that this time they really will make it to the final (unlikely).

"Aaaanvalluuuuh!"

Tomorrow is the kick-off of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. I’m guessing we will end up with a final between Brazil and Spain. If that happens, I hope Spain will win the Cup! Despite this, I’ll cheer for our Dutch national team and hope they’ll truly make it this year!

“Hup Holland Hup! Laat de leeuw niet in z’n hempie staan!”

This year I watched in dismay as I saw cars go round and round. Nothing happened. This isn’t racing! Who in their right minds thought it was a good idea to ban refuelling from pit stops? I saw a full grid of race cars, but no race. After the first lap everyone was settled and that was it really. Everyone was nursing their car: save the tires, save the fuel, save the engine. Again, what the fuck? They should be racing each other, not wet-nurse their car! The only good thing that can be said of the race is that my beloved Ferrari team scored a 1-2 victory.

The big question now is if the fault is in the new rules or the ridiculous Bahrein circuit. The changes made to the track didn’t seem to come out well. An excruciatingly long lap without any serious possibilities for overtaking except the end of the straight. I’m willing to except part of the blame is on the circuit. But looking at the fact that lap times in the race were 8,5 seconds slower at the start of the Grand Prix then they were in qualifying, I have a shrewd suspicion the rules will have to be changed into something more appealing. Fast.

As it goes, Formula One hasn’t been known for their spectacular races in the last few years and it’s actually a shock to me that they’ve managed to make it even less exciting. So far the hype of having so many (former) world champions on the grid this season has not been lived up to!

I’ve got to hand it to the BBC though, their pre-show was more interesting than the race! Well done to Jake Humphrey, Eddy Jordan and David Coulthard. They were a pleasure to watch as always. I wish they had gotten rid of Jonathan Legard though. It’s so annoying to have him yell something at the top of his lungs, interrupting Martin Brundle who is giving an interesting explanation on something.

I already dread the next Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia. I can only hope it won’t be such a poor performance as what we had to witness in the Bahrein GP.

I have followed Formula One for many seasons now. I think I started to watch back in 1993. As a small child I have always had a love for Ferrari; I still have a fairly impressive collection of model cars to prove it! When I first saw a Formula One race on TV and figured out those red cars were Ferrari’s, I’ve been following and cheering for them ever since.

Having Michael Schumacher drive for Ferrari and win 5 world championships with them, it is a slight disappointment to see him return in a Mercedes; Ferrari’s biggest rival over the last decade! That said, I hope he performs well and that he’s still capable of winning races. I have always admired his ambition and determination to win and to keep winning. Sure, he’s got some black smudges on his record, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive!

Even though I will still be cheering for Ferrari and hoping the reds take the championship home to Italy, I am still going to keep my eye on Schumacher and hope he will do well and claim some victories. Imagine him returning to Formula One and completely dominating the entire season again! I wonder how long it will be before all the positive noises will turn into good, old fashioned grumbling about him claiming all the victories…