Rossi's Mind Games

Valentino Rossi has finally drawn the ire of Casey Stoner.

Stoner was unhappy with Rossi's over-aggressive driving in the United States Grand Prix, where Rossi won at the Laguna Seca circuit for the very first time in his illustrious career.

Ever since Stoner emerged as a genuine threat to Rossi last year, the feud was something waiting to happen.

In the past, Rossi has had feuds with riders such as Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau, both were his main contenders for the World Championship at the time. If history is going to repeat itself, Stoner has to keep his fingers crossed and brace for the worst.

He's not going to do well in the foreseeable future.

The feud between Rossi and Biaggi was legendary, and the pair even came to blows at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2001. Biaggi's career petered out shortly afterwards and he is now racing in the all-but-forgotten World Superbike Championship.

Meanwhile, the feud with Gibernau was no less controversial. During the Qatar Grand Prix in 2004, Gibernau's team complained to the officials about Rossi's attempt to leave tire marks on his starting spot. Rossi was then (justifiably) sent to the back of the grid. Legend has it that Rossi then put a curse on Gibernau, saying that he will never win a race again.

And he hasn't won a race since then. The closest Gibernau came to a win was the opening race at Jerez in 2005, when he got punted off the track at the very last corner by, who else, Rossi himself. Since then, he had survived a major start line accident at Catalunya in 2006, and is now out of MotoGP but close to a return to racing full time next season, as a teammate of Stoner.

And in both cases, Rossi was the lone beneficiary as he picked up five straight World titles between 2001 and 2005.

Stoner, after a slow start in the season, has been in excellent form with three victories on the trot. But if there is a lesson to be learnt, it would be not to fall victim to Rossi's mind games.

Rossi's photogenic and larger than life personalities have won him fans over the world. But underneath his innocent smiles lies something more complicated and calculated which should never be underestimated.

Cars, Cars and Football

Does It Rain in Brazil? I'm amused (yes, amused, as I am not a Ferrari fan, which you may know) by Felipe Massa's total inability to drive in the rain. Of course I understand how difficult it is to race in wet condition. But spinning your car five times in the entire race and finishing dead last? And he did so in a Ferrari and was leading the Championship coming into the race? That is simply inexcusable.

Winless Wonder: When will Nick Heidfeld win a race? He's been with the BMW Sauber team seems like forever now, and all he does is keep picking up second-place finishes (he picked up his sixth at Silverstone). Even his young teammate Robert Kubica has picked up a victory in Canada. When will the stars align for Quick Nick?

Winless Wonder, Part 2: The same predicament is also staring squarely in the face of Vitor Meira who, despite a strong run, was inexcusably punted off the track by EJ Viso in the Indycar race at Watkins Glen. The number of winless races for Meira now stands at 86.

Gone But Not Forgotten: When Ryan Hunter-Reay took the chequered flag at Watkins Glen for his first ever win in the series, I couldn't help but think of Paul Dana, who was driving Hunter-Reay's car with the same sponsors and number, when he was killed while practising for the opening race in 2006. After a barren run of four long years, Rahal Letterman Racing is finally back to the victory lane.

Just Go, Baby! And finally, Brett Favre, please don't come back and just enjoy your well-deserved retirement. I know it is tough to say goodbye to the game you love oh-so much, but flip-flopping your decision to retire is not one that a good leader should make. Just stay out of the limelight and allow Aaron Rodgers to take over the team, please.

Love is Blind

I can't say I am a huge fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves. But since my favourite player Kevin Garnett spent 10 frustrating years with the team, I do hope them to do well.

That's why I am absolutely pissed by what their GM Kevin McHale had done on draft night.

Drafting at the third spot, there had been rumours before the draft that the T'wolves would pass over O.J. Mayo, the consensus third-best (some would say the best) player in the draft and select UCLA center Kevin Love instead, believing that Love would be the answer to their search of a quality big man in the middle.

On draft day, common sense prevailed as the T'wolves drafted Mayo, who has star potential written all over him, at number three.

But just as I was thinking which number Mayo would put on for the T'wolves, something happened late in the night.

Turned out that their love for Love never died as they pulled off an eight-player trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, which had selected Love at number five.

In short, the T'wolves sent Mayo and pieces to the Grizzlies, and received Love, sharp-shooting Mike Miller and pieces in return.

While many believed that McHale had done a good job in landing Love, a player he covets, plus a sharp shooter in Mike Miller who could boost their outside shooting, my initial thought was, "Shoot! McHale has done it again."

I don't have grudges against Love, who I believe will be a solid player. But I just don't see him being an excellent player that Mayo will definitely turn out to be.

And Mike Miller is, well, just Mike Miller.

Time and again teams have fallen into the trap of selecting players with LOTS OF height but LIMITED skills, for believing the age-old axiom of "You can't teach height". Players with lots of height and lots of skills do not come by often, so teams keep rolling the dice on big men, hoping that they would someday become solid players. But very often these big men simply can't play and that's why big players drafted in the first round more likely turn out to be busts than the smaller guys.

Remember Michael Jordan? When you have good perimeter players, why on earth do you still need big men in the middle? Quick: Name any of the anonymous and replaceable big men that have played with MJ. Try Will Perdue, Bill Wennington, Bill Cartwright or even Joe Kleine.

I'm not saying that Love will become a bust or a stiff. But McHale has simply exaggerated the need of a big man in the middle and has given up a star way too early.

And hopefully this will be his last draft for the T'wolves.