"Triple Threat". That's what the Straits Times' Sports Desk is calling this weekend. And its hard to disagree. Across the world, in 3 different disciplines, the biggest grudges have to be settled once and for all, or at least till the next meet. In British football, the two biggest derbies are less than an hour away from kick-off. In Glasgow, Celtic and Rangers will slug it out in the most temptuous of sectarian derbies, while Liverpool make the short trip across Stanley Park in northwest England, to battle their most-hated of rivals, Everton. Derbies, as I have written before, are the biggest games of a club's season. Forget the cup finals, derbies are the ones that ABSOLUTELY have to be won. Losing is never an option. The TV big-wigs have left me, and other football fans with a momentuous decision: just which derby do we follow? How they could schedule both games to kick off just 10 minutes apart is beyond me. Derbies of this nature, the biggest of the land they are, are the ones that even the neutrals will take a keen interest, if only to have a taste of the spine-chilling atmosphere the hordes of ravenous fans will produce. Pity then. But in rugby union and Formula One racing, the world champions will be crowned this weekend. The Poms of England play the Springboks of South Africa in the sixth World Cup final, in what is shaping up to be a clash of styles. The in-your-face-scrummage-and-kicking style of the English up against the fast and powerful running game favoured by the Boks. Grit versus Style if you wish. I've been proven wrong on two successive occasions already by the English, but this hasn't stopped me from again picking their opponents to beat them. The all-round class of the Boks team was built, it seems, for this Cup. Surely, they have no better chance than this to grab their second world crown. But rugby, like all other sports, has never been played on paper. The Boks will have to prove their worth on the biggest stage tonight in the Stade de France. And I'll be hoping they do. Or I suppose Joanna will have something to say first thing on Monday in her class. Lol.And its a three-way fight between the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen for the world title. In Schumi's time, I always backed the Prancing Horse, but Raikkonen, the Iceman, lacks the passion for motor-racing that the great champion had, and still has. So for me, I'll be backing the McLarens Mercedes team to have a driver crowned champion. So the question is, Alonso or Hamilton? Easy. Its Hamilton for me. Maturity beyond his years, added to a fearless streak in his driving, makes him a driver out of Schumi's mode. But whoever wins, I think this season has seen the birth of what will be the biggest rivalry in Formula One since the days of Prost versus Senna. Cheers to that!
i heard the crickets at 6:48 pm
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