Die Macht » ay for - they are playing for their managers job! Victo

You would be forgiven for wondering if Niki Lauda is in the pay of the British Grand Prix promoters. He says statements regarding Lewis Hamilton allegedly smashing up an office, and speculation on the Englishmans relationship with Nico Rosberg, were due to a misunderstanding.Maybe so. The stable door may have been bolted but the horse, known as a nice little runner in media terms, has long since bolted to the motor sport websites and galloped on from there to the wild blue yonder. In the light of the misunderstanding, these same media outlets are hardly likely to say: Oh, I would no longer bother with the British Grand Prix if I were you. Nothing going on there. Lets go watch a tennis player smashing his racquet or a footballer tripping over a blade of grass.Sports editors have already tasked their correspondents with finding F1 stories, preferably about the home hero if hes got a chance of winning. Hamilton fits the bill perfectly, thanks to tales of his rearranging the furniture in Baku and that controversial finish in Austria last weekend. Its manna from Heaven or, in this case, from the Mercedes motorhome. This stuff is a sports writers dream. Some people may disapprove of the resulting hype, but thats the way of the media - and always has been.In 1996, Damon Hill was the main man. Having won the British Grand Prix for Williams in 1994, only to lose the championship a few months later to Michael Schumacher in that controversial incident in Adelaide and then collide with the Benetton at Silverstone in 1995, Damon came to his home race a year later having just won the French Grand Prix. If he repeated such an easy victory at home, he would be three wins clear of Williams team-mate Jacques Villeneuve in their fight for the 1996 title.The papers were blithely saying that Hill was a shoo-in for the championship. When he put his Williams-Renault on pole, a sixth win of the season seemed certain. If anything, the British Grand Prix backstory was almost too nice. Searching for colour and drama, a tabloid newspaper discovered that German flags had been ripped from a caravan belonging to a group of Schumacher fans. Neither officials nor the police knew anything of the incident but Hill was reported to be quick in distancing himself from the actions of his alleged supporters.Such a mature and mellow attitude was typical of the atmosphere that year. Villeneuve and Hill got on well; there was harmony within Williams (unlike in 1995, when Frank publically referred to Damon as a bit of a prat). But, as we know, motor racing is not that simple. Hill, mysteriously never in the reckoning in this race, eventually spun off at Copse thanks to a seized wheel bearing. Villeneuve won. By Monday morning, the newspapers had changed their tune. Was Hill ever going to win this title?There had been a similar theme ten years before at Brands Hatch when Nigel Mansell appeared to be fighting his Williams-Honda team-mate, Nelson Piquet, just as much as Ayrton Senna in the Lotus-Renault and McLarens Alain Prost. There was additional media emotion attached to Frank Williams making his first public appearance since his near-fatal accident four months before. Similar to Hill 10 years later, Mansell had answered British sports writers prayers by winning the previous race in France, only to add spice to the British Grand Prix by failing to beat Piquet to pole - but then hammering the Brazilian in the race.And yet all of this was tame compared to forty years ago. On a scorching afternoon at Brands Hatch, the crowd went into riot mode when it seemed James Hunt would be barred from taking the restart after his McLaren had been damaged in a first-corner shunt. The fact that the pile-up had been caused by the dastardly Ferrari drivers hitting each other added further heat to an already tense season which exploded in very un-British terms as beer cans rained onto the track. Hunt was eventually allowed to start, went on to beat Niki Laudas Ferrari and score a hugely emotional win -- only to be disqualified at a later date and heap even more controversy onto a season in which the 1976 British Grand Prix had played a significant part. The F1 media was in seventh heaven.Twenty years before that, sports reportage had been a more gentle affair in which the only noise generated by F1 writers was the clacking of their portable typewriters. It was as if they had become attuned to not expecting a British driver to win the championship. Ever.Even though Stirling Moss had produced an immaculate win at Monaco, the 1956 title seemed to be going the way of Juan Manuel Fangio for the fourth time (the championship had only been running for seven seasons).The British Grand Prix at Silverstone would sum up Mosss luck. Driving a works Maserati, Moss claimed pole and led every lap until the fuel tank split (dealt with, would you believe, by stopping for more fuel!) and he finally succumbed to a broken rear axle, but not before setting fastest lap (worth one point). Fangios Lancia-Ferrari took the win but the humble Argentinean was quick to pay tribute to the Englishman 18 years his junior.The respect was mutual. Moss and Fangio had been teammates at Mercedes the previous year. And there were, on occasions, team orders laid down by the legendary Alfred Neubauer. This was a colossus of a man who ran the team like clockwork, personally organising everything from quiet hotel rooms for his drivers to how they would run their races, assuming they were in front. Which they usually were.We could do with Herr Neubauer in the pits today. Not so much to control Hamilton and Rosberg but to scare the living daylights out of inventive journalists salivating over what Lewis might or might not have done behind closed doors. Stitched Patriots Jerseys . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. New England Patriots Shirts . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/ . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Patriots Jerseys China .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. New England Patriots Gear .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo.The battle for survival takes centre-stage on Wednesday night - and Paul Merson is here to preview the action. Sunderland can have the final say in this seasons race for survival, with victory at home to Everton enough to condemn Norwich, and north-east rivals Newcastle, to relegation with a game to spare.Liverpool then look to continue their rich recent vein of form when Chelsea travel to Anfield, live on Sky Sports. Read on to see who the Magic Man is backing... Last weeks predictions Result Merses prediction Norwich 0-1 Man Utd 2-3 Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle 1-1 Bmouth 1-1 West Brom 2-1 C Palace 2-1 Stoke 1-1 Sunderland 3-2 Chelsea 2-1 West Ham 1-4 Swansea 3-0 Leicester 3-1 Everton 2-1 Spurs 1-2 Southampton 2-2 Liverpool 2-0 Watford 2-0 Man City 2-2 Arsenal 1-2 Norwich v Watford - Wednesday, 7.dddddddddddd45pm Norwich have got to win, theyve got no other option. Saturdays defeat to Manchester United summed up their season, they missed chances and then shot themselves in the foot. It was a bad, bad result. They have to go for it against Watford and I expect them to get the three points, but whether thats enough to save their season remains to be seen.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (Sky Bet odds 13/2)Sunderland v Everton - Wednesday from 7pm, Sky Sports 1 HD Everton have shot a bolt. I watched them against Leicester and they were atrocious. They still have something to play for - they are playing for their managers job! Victory for Sunderland, meanwhile, condemns Norwich and Newcastle to relegation and the way they are playing at the minute I cant see past them. The job will be done and Big Sam keeps a club up once again... if anyone else had been appointed Sunderland simply wouldnt have survived.PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (Sky Bet odds 12/1)Liverpool v Chelsea - Wednesday from 7.55pm, Sky Sports 2 HD Chelsea looked as though they were going to spoil the party at Sunderland but they are not playing with the same intensity and twice gave up the lead.Some of the squad will have an eye on the Euros and I fancy Liverpool, who keep going from strength to strength, to get the victory.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 15/2) Agree with Merses midweek selections? Leave a comment on the message boards or tweet @SkyFootball. Also See: Who gets into Europe? Relegation battle as it stands Premier League grades Stadiums final goalscorers ' ' '