Last Update - August 7, 2010 at 8:02 PM EDT
The 'Reading And Viewing List' for July 25 through July 31, 2010 contains links to some interesting web items posted from last week.
The topics covered below include super hero comics movies, music, hockey (Washington Capitals) and racing (Formula One and WRC).
For the automotive sports enthusiasts, I've put some 2010 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix Preview post links and a few 2010 WRC Rally Finland Preview posts in the mix this time.
July 31, 2010
Q & A with readers of Sovetsky Sport
Posted by tj at Alex Ovetjkin
...At the end of Kharlamov Trophy ceremony Sovietsky Sport held a competition for fans. Of the 157 questions that readers asked Ovechkin on Sovsport.ru site, we selected the five most interesting in our opinion. And Alexander himself has determined the winner. [The winner received a prize - tj]...
Final practice - Webber leads the Red Bull charge
Posted at Formula1.com
Mark Webber dominated the final session of practice prior to Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying, finishing the hour 0.484s ahead of Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel whose final three efforts to unseat him came up short...
July 30, 2010
Friday analysis - how much do Red Bull have in hand?
Posted at Formula1.com
Red Bull’s Friday pace around the Hungaroring looked ominous, even without an F-duct on the RB6 and regardless of tyre compound. Ferrari could have an answer, while McLaren admit they are a long way off an adequate response (and could come under threat from Renault on Saturday). We take a team-by-team look at early progress in Budapest
FIA Friday press conference - Hungary
Posted at Formula1.com
Team principals: Eric Boullier (Renault), Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari), Christian Horner (Red Bull) and Colin Kolles (HRT).
Q: First of all, can we have a run-down of how things have gone today. Colin, would you like to start?
Colin Kolles: Well, we had some technical issues but we managed to go through the programmes. I think that Sakon (Yamamoto) did a good job. He drove almost the same lap time as Bruno (Senna)...
Ovechkin talks about vacation and the team
Sportbox.ru interview, etc. posted by tj at Alex Ovetjkin
The team Russia and Washington Capitals forward, who received an award of the best Russian player in the NHL, a Kharlamov Trophy, for the the fifth time, talked about his vacation and explained the advantages of long-term contracts...
Stan Lee On His Marvel Movie Cameos: 'I Wish They'd
Make Me A Villain!'
By Rick Marshall at MTV's Splash Page
Legendary comic creator Stan Lee is one of my favorite people to talk to in the industry, so it's probably no surprise that I asked him to come down to Splash Page HQ for a chat during Comic-Con.
Despite a schedule so busy it would make your head spin, the co-creator of Spider-Man, Hulk, the X-Men, and countless characters took some time to discuss his upcoming projects with me — as well as his cameos in nearly every movie based on one of his characters these days...
McPhee on trading for D.J. King and
re-signing Tomas Fleischmann
By Tarik El-Bashir at Capitals Insider
George McPhee said he didn't trade for rugged winger D.J. King on Wednesday because of a specific incident last season or a concern that his players needed a bodyguard. Rather, the Caps GM said he made the move because he believes the oft-injured King can develop into more than a designated fighter and that his toughness will add balance to one of hockey's most skilled lineups...
Changes coming on Caps beat
By Tarik El-Bashir at Capitals Insider
As you have probably heard by now, my run as Caps beat writer is coming to an end after five years.
I'm terrible with goodbyes, so I'll keep this brief. It's been an honor and privilege to cover the hockey team I grew up watching for the newspaper I grew up reading. But the time has come for me to seek out new challenges and, equally as important, spend more time at home after living out of a suitcase every fall, winter and spring since Oct. 2005...
Friday practice - selected team and driver quotes
Posted at Formula1.com
The morning session may have been dominated by the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, but by the afternoon the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa had joined the fray at the front. The leading teams and their rivals reflect on their early progress in Budapest...
Practice Two - Red Bulls split by Alonso
Posted at Formula1.com
To begin with it was Red Bull team mates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber who slogged it out for fastest time as the second free practice session got underway at the Hungaroring on Friday afternoon, but as the 90 minutes progressed Ferrari got into the act too, with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa posting fast times.
In the end Vettel aced everyone with 1m 20.087s, which was 0.497s faster than Alonso’s best of 1m 20.584s which just beat Webber’s 1m 20.597s...
Bruce Dickinson: High Ticket Prices Keep Fans Away
By mdome at Classic Rock
Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has claimed high ticket prices are the reason many major gigs have been cancelled this year, especially in America...
I've done it 5 times
By tj at Alex Ovetjkin
Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin has won the Kharlamov Trophy, the award presented to the best NHL Russian hockey player, for the fifth time. On this occasion he was handed a T-shirt with a sign "I've done it 5 times!" (Я сделал это 5 раз!)...
In sickness and health - a year on from Felipe Massa’s accident
Posted at Formula1.com
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton may have won last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, but the 2009 event was dominated by the accident which befell Ferrari’s Felipe Massa during qualifying. A year on, we look back at the events of the Budapest weekend, which would see Massa ruled out of the rest of the season, and evaluate the Brazilian’s extraordinary return to top-flight racing...
Practice One - Red Bull out in front in Hungary
Posted at Formula1.com
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber looked to be in a world of their own round the Hungaroring on Friday morning in the opening practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix. They traded fastest times a second clear of their closest rivals, and ended the 90-minute session with Vettel fractionally ahead with 1m 20.976s to 1m 21.106s...
Pre-Hungary analysis - Massa ‘here to win’
By David Tremayne at Formula1.com
No sooner had he had visited with the marshals who helped to rescue him here last year, than Felipe Massa found himself embroiled in further argument over the events of Hockenheim last week, and defending himself against accusations that he is now the number-two driver at Ferrari...
July 29, 2010
A Blueprint
By The Peerless at The Peerless Prognosticator
When the Caps tore out the 2003-2004 team all the way to the studs and began the Great Rebuild in earnest, the ensuing plan had as its core the idea of building through the draft. That’s nice, as far as it goes, but it does not fully describe what unfolded over the next several years as the Caps dragged themselves up from being the functional equivalent of an expansion team to a championship contender...
Exclusive Rubens Barrichello Q&A: I thought Ferrari had changed
Posted at Formula1.com
Williams’ Rubens Barrichello confesses he found himself rubbing his eyes in disbelief at what he saw at Hockenheim. The man who spent so long partnering Michael Schumacher at Ferrari never thought the Italian team would dare to do it again after Austria 2002. The Brazilian admits it made him happy to be where he is now - not at the front of the grid perhaps, but approaching his 300th Grand Prix confident of plenty more to come. We spoke to him about Williams’ form, team orders, and his hopes for the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend...
FIA Thursday press conference - Hungary
Posted at Formula1.com
Drivers: Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Robert Kubica (Renault), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Sakon Yamamoto (HRT)
Q: Robert, you regard this as your home race, don’t you?
Robert Kubica: Yeah, it is the closest race to Poland. Many fans are coming here. As there will not be a Polish Grand Prix I think Hungary we can call it my home race...
Hungary Preview - Alonso out to silence Ferrari critics
Posted at Formula1.com
Completely unmoved by the barrage of criticism that came his way after the manner in which he won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim last weekend, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is determined to repeat the feat this time out at the Hungaroring.
The Spaniard is convinced that the circuit will suit the Ferrari F10, and believes that he can kick start his world championship challenge with a third victory of the season...
Gronholm: bravery is everything in Finland
Posted at WRC.com
Marcus Gronholm has started his home round of the World Rally Championship 18 times and won it seven - making him the most successful driver on the event in the history of the series, but he admits it takes a specific mindset to win in Jyvaskyla.
With average speeds regularly topping 120kph down the gravel-strewn, tree-lined roads, it’s no wonder a win on Rally Finland means more than virtually any other rally. And it’s no wonder the event has been dominated by Scandinavians on all but four occasions...
Hungary preview quotes - Cosworth, Virgin, Ferrari,
Force India & more
Posted at Formula1.com
Hot on the heels of Hockenheim, the teams head straight to Budapest for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the Formula One community takes a well-earned summer break. Drivers and senior team personnel discuss their prospects for the Hungaroring...
July 28, 2010
Edgar Wright Says His 'Ant-Man' Wouldn't Work
With 'The Avengers'
By Blair Marnell at MTV's Splash Page
..."I talked to [Marvel Studios President] Kevin Feige about that a while back where we just discussed about whether [Ant-Man] would be in 'The Avengers.'" Wright told Cinema Blend. "The thing is, the script that I’ve written, you know, whether it’s next or not I don’t know, the chronology of it or the way it works wouldn’t really fit in with what they do. And my film is very much an introduction to that character, and so it wasn’t something where it felt right to introduce him in that film."...
In Central Pa., the Calder Cup Is Three Miles High
By pucksandbooks at On Frozen Blog
Engineers and construction workers in hard hats, utility communicators and administrative staff, even cafeteria workers expressed a common line of inquiry near 1:30 Tuesday afternoon at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Operating Station in Harrisburg. Pa.: Is it here yet?...
Unrepentant Ferrari target Hungarian success
Posted at Formula1.com
They may be racing under the cloud of possible further sanctions from the FIA after their controversial one-two result in Germany, but Ferrari are determined to stay upbeat ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian race...
July 27, 2010
Neste Oil Rally Finland on wrc.com
Posted at WRC.com
The waiting is almost over. Three weeks after Rally Bulgaria, the eighth round of the 2010 world championship is almost upon us, with cars and drivers gearing up to take on one of the giants of the WRC - Neste Oil Rally Finland.
The rally kicks off on Thursday evening, with a single stage ahead of two 14-hour-plus days on Friday and Saturday. It’s a new format which will test endurance to the limit. And to test nerves and skill, Finland delivers some of the best and fastest gravel stages in the world. So fast, in fact, that Finland boasts five of the six fastest rallies in WRC history - with the 2005 event topping the lot at 122.86kph...
Further details about US F1 race announced
Posted at Formula1.com
Tavo Hellmund, managing partner of Full Throttle Productions LP, revealed Red McCombs as the primary investor for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix™ racing project. McCombs, a business and sports legend, is committing financial resources, experience and the business relationships of McCombs Partners to complement Hellmund and his extensive motorsports’ background.
Hellmund and McCombs Partners have been working on potential site development as well as event and facility infrastructure. The end result will present one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events and the first ever purpose-built Formula One facility in the United States...
Captain America Won't Don 'Final' Suit Until Third Act Of Movie, Reveals Chris Evans
Posted by Rick Marshall at MTV's Splash Page
One of the biggest reveals to occur during this year's Comic-Con was the first look at Chris Evans in his "Captain America" costume shown during Marvel's movie panel Saturday evening.
Marvel's teaser only gave us a brief look at Evans in the familiar red, white, and blue suit, so when we got some time to chat with the "Captain America" lead, we had to ask: how much more will we see him in costume during the film? [WARNING: Potential SPOILERS!]
MINI comeback a strong vote of confidence in the WRC, says Long
Posted at WRC.com
The news that MINI will be returning to the FIA World Rally Championship from 2011 has been hailed by the championship promoter as evidence of the increasing appeal of the WRC to car manufacturers and teams.
Simon Long, CEO of North One Sport, said MINI’s decision to make a WRC comeback was an endorsement of recent technical and sporting regulations designed to increase value to manufacturers and the sport’s relevance to their production cars...
Schumacher seeking a fresh start in Hungary
Posted at Formula1.com
For a driver who has scored four German Grand Prix wins during his career, you could imagine a ninth-place finish would be a result to forget. However, Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher is determined to glean as much as he can from his poor Hockenheim outing ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian event...
MINI confirms WRC comeback
Posted at WRC.com
The iconic MINI name will return to the World Rally Championship stages next year after its parent BMW group announced a multi-year comeback for one of the most charismatic names in the sport’s history.
From 2011, MINI will compete at selected rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship and will go on to contest the entire season from 2012 onwards. BMW says this involvement is planned ‘for several years’...
Q&A - Sebastien Ogier
Posted at WRC.com
This week’s Neste Oil Rally Finland marks the debut of Citroen’s latest weapon in the World Rally Championship battle: two Sebastiens.
After a mid season re-shuffle, French rising star Sebastien Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia have been promoted to the main factory team, to work alongside the team’s number one driver - Sebastien Loeb...
July 26, 2010
Ted Leonsis Tackles Phone Booth Food Fears
By Mike Rucki (a.k.a. OrderedChaos) at On Frozen Blog
ESPN.com has released a report regarding health inspections conducted in 2009 at all 107 NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA stadiums. Food safety issues are common in restaurants, of course, and minor violations are often impossible to avoid completely.
But unfortunately (and, to me, surprisingly), the Verizon Center had the highest percentage of food vendors in violation among all 107 stadiums, tied with Tropicana Field...
Can Hirvonen do the Finland double?
Posted at WRC.com
Ford team leader Mikko Hirvonen will defend his Rally Finland title next week on a weekend which is guaranteed to give him at least one reason to celebrate.
Hirvonen, who comes from host town Jyvaskyla, fulfilled a lifetime ambition by winning last year in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. This year the Finn celebrates his 30th birthday on the final day next Saturday and is hoping for a double celebration...
Sordo upbeat after Junior switch
Posted at WRC.com
Dani Sordo has given an upbeat assessment of Citroen’s decision to drop him to the Junior team for the forthcoming Rally Finland, saying the lack of pressure could help him achieve a better result.
Citroen has relegated Sordo from the factory squad in favour of Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier for the three gravel rallies which remain this year, although Sordo will be back in the main team for the asphalt rounds...
July 25, 2010
A Mid-Summer State of the Bears
By Jess Mikula at On Frozen Blog
Barely a month ago, the town of Hershey was ensconced in celebration. Again. A fitting conclusion to the best season in AHL history — and arguably one of the greatest in all of hockey — the Bears hoisted the club’s 11th Calder Cup...
Heaven & Hell Pay Tribute To Ronnie James Dio
At High Voltage Festival
By Nightwatcher at Nightwatcher's House Of Rock
Heaven & Hell members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice performed a special tribute to their late bandmate, Ronnie James Dio last night(Saturday, July 24th) at the High Voltage festival at Victoria Park in London, UK...
'Captain America' And 'Thor' Footage, Avengers Assemble
At The Marvel Comic-Con Panel!
By Rick Marshall at MTV's Splash Page
There was no small amount of news and blazing-hot footage coming out of this year's Marvel movie panel at Comic-Con. So without any further introduction, here's what happened:...
*Dan, Jr. / Junior's Eyes Note: See the cast of 'The Avengers' introduced below:
Comic-Con 2010: The Avengers
Posted to YouTube by HallHCoverage
