That Bloke In The Big Smoke

A season of F1 and testing consumes less fuel than one 747 flying across the Atlantic. I can't verify that but a search online suggests he's been making this comparison for at least two years. But I have found a comment to an article describing the F1 as the world's dirtiest sport that sorta agrees:

50 tons of carbon emissions works out to burning the equivalent of about 20,000 litres of gasoline. That is a lot for 1 car, but probably about the same as any 10 single-passenger vehicle commuters (even in reasonably efficient cars) might burn in a year. And keep in mind that a 747-400ER has a fuel capacity of over 200,000 litres. One 747 flight from Vancouver to Australia will burn about as much fuel as TEN F1 cars running all season!

Whether it's all true or not, just finished listening to an awesome interview with the legendary commentator. It'll be available as a podcast later today.

MATCH INFO

Die Mannschaft haven't won the World Cup or European Championship for twelve years, but tonight they produced a less-than-perfect performance to eke out yet another victory in the last four and propel themselves into their thirteenth World Cup or European Championship title match. Turkey were probably the better team and the German defence was found wanting on several occasions, but there's no doubting their attacking prowess and finishing touch. I wanted the Turks to go through and was devastated when Philipp Lahm produced a last minute scorcher. It reminded me of the first goal he scored in the last World Cup against Costa Rica, but from much closer range. It's now upto either Spain or Russia to give 'em a run for their money, and after their underpar performance tonight, we could be in for a thriller in Vienna if they're able to raise their game a notch or two.

Earlier, midway during the second half, the video images were lost (not once, but twice) all over the world due to a thunderstorm in Vienna. I don't know about non-UK viewers but we're very lucky here. The Beeb automatically switched to Radio 5 Live's commentary with the irrepressible Alan Green before switching back. It was then that I remembered the choice of watching the action without listening to the boring John Motson (as much of a legend as he is) and the redundant Mark Lawrenson. The footie was so much more interesting as soon as I kept the Radio 5 commentary while watching BBC One's video coverage. Can't wait for tomorrow night's match. Can we expect a replay of tonight's Belter in Basel? My money's on Spain, but I hope the Russians win. Unless Torres scores of course!