On 26 November 2008, FIA boss Bernie Eccelstone told in a news conference (click here to watch the video) that he intends to introduce a new points system in F1 racing to ensure the driver with most wins is crowned the champion. Gold, silver and bronze medals would be given to the top three finishers. The driver with most gold medals won will be crowned, and in case of similar tally, the decision will be made on the bases of count of the next medal in line.The system still requires approval from F1’s governing body, the FIA, Its world council – the body that would decide whether to introduce the system – meets next month.
The current system awards points (10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) to the top 8 finishers in a race, and its difficult to see how Bernie would convince the FIA and the minnows in the F1 world to agree on the new system, one which ensures the teams finishing outside the top 3 would remain empty handed. The FIA also awards money for each point earned, and hence how the classification (standings) will decide the prize money will also have to be confirmed.
The points system has been criticised not just this year, but even in 2003, the world title went down to the last race between Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen even though the German had won six races to the Finn’s one.
For starters, mental integration is a term made famous by Allan Border and Steve Waugh, the Australian cricket captain. Steve use this term to explain what is simple gamesmanship. It comes in various forms, its not invented by the Aussies, however, they’re self-proclaimed practitioners and, now after the India-Australia battles of the recent past, we know that Aussies don’t like it when its dished out at them.
Prime example, look at any team that visits Australia for a series, the media starts digging into the main player’s past and call them such absurd and humiliating names that visitors focus more in defending themselves rather than concentrating on the game. So, Australia already have an upper hand in the contest without even stepping onto the pitch.
Sledging, another form of mental disintegration (adopted by many of the top cricketing nations). Players around the batsman keep talking to the him and poke him with sometime innocuous, sometime venomous banter and try to push him to a limit where he’s defending the arguments and not the deliveries. Here are some examples:
A cricket tour in Australia would be the most delightful period in one’s life, if one was deaf. -Harold Larwood
Merv is a funny guy, though he would sledge his own mother if he thought it would help the cause. -Gladstone Small
Ian Botham had just taken guard in the Ashes match when Iron Gloves (Rod Marsh) greeted him saying: “So how’s your wife and my kids?”
This article talks about the history of mental integration, and it enlightens us about the fact that teams use this technique to further demoralise opponents and take the game away from the classic definition “a gentleman’s game”. But Aussies are responsible not only for MI, but also for some of the most infamous incidents, that they can’t be trusted with the spirit of sportsmanship and they’ve proven time and again that they’re sour losers.
Example 1 – Australians love to win, even if it requires winning ugly. This is the prime example.
This incident is listed on 8th position in the top 10 sporting cheats ever. That’s a disgrace in a game that is revered by millions and millions of fans for its sportsman’s spirit.
Example 2 – One of the most controversial test matches of all time. Indians got the short end of the stick, and turned out to be one of the most tense cricket series of our times. The issue was not that umpiring decisions went one way and not the other, it was the way the game was conducted. Australian captain Ricky Ponting was questioned for his integrity when in the first incident he told an umpire that a batsman was out, but then in another incident, he appealed when in fact the ball he himself caught was clearly grounded. The match contained many ugly spat between the players and the captains, and it turned out to be one of the worst examples of how to conduct on the field in a cricket match.
Posted by perspace 
Posted by perspace 