Sports

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Join The Lowdown Blog Fantasy Basketball Pool

With the NHL’s players and owners locked in a bitter labour dispute with no end in sight, we’re turned to a different league to give us our fantasy sports fix for the winter. That’s why we’ve launched our first fantasy basketball league. There are 16 spots in the league and it’s a public pool so anyone can join which means spaces will go quickly. It’s a head-to-head league with the winner of each match-up based on winning the most of the nine categories (Points, Blocks, Steals, Assists, Rebounds, FG%, FT%, 3P%, Double-Doubles). The autopick is on October 25th so sign up now so you’re not left in the cold.

Click here to join The LowdownBlog.com Fantasy Basketball League.

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F1 Korean GP: Looking For A Three-Peat

In the two races since the European portion of the season ended, Sebastian Vettel has dominated proceedings. So it wasn’t much of a surprise that Vettel took his third-straight race victory. His win and Alonso’s third place finish has given the twice-defending champion the lead in the World Drivers’ Championship. Meanwhile, some interesting news broke in the paddock about Force India owner Vijay Mallya and Formula One got a new TV partner in America. Continue reading →

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F1 Power Rankings: Korean Grand Prix

In less than 15 seconds of last week’s Japanese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso’s championship lead was cut from 29 points to 4 over Sebastian Vettel. With Vettel having the superior car, it seems that Alonso will need more luck than skill to have a shot at the World Drivers’ Championship. Has anyone ever suggested that a championship is out of reach for a driver despite still leading the points? Anyway, it’s time for this week’s edition of the Formula One Power Rankings. And, yes, there is a driver who is interested in dancing Gangnam Style. Continue reading →

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F1 Japanese GP: And This Changes Everything

We all figured that the battle for the World Drivers’ Championship would be tight as Alonso fought to keep his slower Ferrari F2012 ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull RB8. However, things change quickly in Formula One. Vettel won the race and scored maximum points while Alonso failed to finish. The result is a four point Alonso lead. Elsewhere in Formula One, the silly season picture was clarified as most seats for the 2013 season were filled and there has been quite a bit of news about current and prospective future F1 venues. Continue reading →

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50 Years of the Bathurst 1000 (Infographic)

This weekend marks the 50th running of the famous Bathurst 1000. The Bathurst 1000 is the most famous race in Australia that every team and driver wants to win and where the legends of Australian motorsport are made.

Today, we have an infographic looking back at the history of this spectacular race over the last 50 years. Continue reading →

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F1 Power Rankings: Japanese Grand Prix

Last week was a hell of a lot more interesting that the Singapore Grand Prix that preceded it. The music has suddenly stopped and the seats in F1’s annual game of musical chairs are quickly filling up now that Lewis Hamilton signed with Mercedes and Sergio Perez moved to McLaren. Will the switch mean McLaren won’t back Lewis title chase? I examine that and more in this week’s Power Rankings. Continue reading →

3 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Sports

Despite TV Ratings, IndyCar Is On The Right Track

Normally, I wouldn’t respond to posts on another blog but I couldn’t help but note an oversight of facts in an Awful Announcing post about IndyCar’s ratings on the NBC Sports Network. While noting that IndyCar’s ratings are down by 27% on NBCSN and 17% on ABC compared to the 2011 season, author Joe Lucia suggests IndyCar’s management needs to consider big changes heading into the 2013 season to right the course.

There’s one big problem with that suggestion: IndyCar’s brass has already made it the best North American racing series on-track. Continue reading →

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F1 Singapore GP: Bright Lights, Big City, Bigger Win

This was a tale of two races. The first thirds of the race was dominated by Lewis Hamilton who led from the pole. The final two-thirds was a different story as a gearbox failure ended Lewis’ day and handed the victory to Sebastian Vettel. Meanwhile, the action off-track was even more interesting than the on-track action with the 2013 calendar being unveiled and more silly season news breaking. Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Sports

There Is No Right Side In The 2012 NHL Lockout

In 2004, it was clear to the fans that the NHL wasn’t going to survive as it was without a decrease in spending on player salaries. After locking out the year for a league, the NHL got a salary cap that gave players a maximum of 57% of hockey-related revenues which resulted in a salary rollback of 24%.

Seven years after the first lockout ended, we’re basically back where we started. The owners say they are losing money and need to cut spending. The players aren’t willing to rollback their salaries again given that the NHL is going through a period of record revenues.

With both sides claiming that the other side is plenty rich enough, we’ve reached another impasse and another lockout. Unlike the last lockout, no one side is right and no one side is wrong. Everyone has played a part in arriving at the latest NHL lockout. Continue reading →

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F1 Power Rankings: Singapore Grand Prix

With seven races left in the 2012 Formula One World Championship, the F1 travelling circus has left Europe for races in Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. The first race of the home stretch is under the lights on the streets of Singapore. McLaren have won the last three races, including at the slow and slippery Hungaroring. However, the three street races so far have been split between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari. So who is looking strongest heading into this weekend’s race? Continue reading →