Clan-Members » being a keeper, you need to be patie

Forty years ago this morning, James Hunt kept us out of our beds. Given events throughout the previous eight months, it was impossible to resist the temptation to witness how the season would end on the far side of the world. It was the start of an early-morning ritual that would accompany the climax of future world championships.It could hardly have been otherwise in 1976 when you think Hunt had two of his victories taken away (one eventually reinstated) and been forced to start from the back of the grid at Monza for alleged (but never proven) fuel irregularities. But all of that had faded into bureaucratic insignificance compared to his challenger, Niki Lauda, virtually coming back from the dead six weeks after being given the last rites following a fiery crash on the fiercesome Nürburgring Nordschleife.With his British Grand Prix victory wiped out three months later and Lauda gaining another three points with elevation to P1, Hunts back had been against the wall. Ferrari may have won the courtroom battle but, in the process, they had made Hunt a very angry man. Big mistake. That was when he was at his most determined and dangerous.Hunts victories in the next two races in Canada and the United States were the product of sheer bloody-minded determination to wring the neck of his McLaren and stick up two fingers at the sports administrators. That placed James just three points behind Niki with one race remaining.Cometh the hour and ears were pressed against radio sets. At the end of a season that had seen one controversy after another, the drama continued as Lauda pulled out of the race after a lap and Hunt, apparently heading for the title, was nearly taken out by a spinning car. Then he suffered a puncture. Were talking 1976, not 2016 and pit stops completed in the blink of an eye. Hunt was stationary for 27 seconds. It seemed like 27 minutes to the listening audience as the championship appeared to slip away once more.Then came the comeback on fresh tyres and an eventual third place that would be enough to give Hunt the title by one point. As the celebrations began in Japan, British fans fell into bed as happy and exhausted as the new World Champion.Stan Smith Shoes NZ . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Adidas Originals NMD R1 NZ . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/ . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Adidas NMD Womens NZ .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. Y-3 Shoes NZ . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times.A little over 12 hours since making history as the first Indian to have started a football match in a European continental club competition, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is fretting about the results of a scan on his right hand later tonight after he returns to Norway.On Thursday, Sandhu helped his club, Stabaek, hold Connahs Quay of Wales to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier. But his own participation was restricted to 30 minutes since an injury meant he had to make way in goal for Mande Sayouba.I punched the striker in the head rather than the ball, Sandhu told ESPN. I think it looks like I might be out for a couple of weeks. The return leg is on July 7. I will definitely miss the league game this weekend (against Sogndal), but lets hope I can make it for that [the July 7 match].Growing up in Chandigarh, an eight-year-old Sandhu harboured dreams of playing cricket like most Indian children. An enrolment at the Punjab Cricket Association Academy in Mohali followed, with his cricket-crazy father living his dream through his son.I didnt think I was very good at it, Sandhu said. I didnt want to keep going for it if I wasnt very good.Football, Sandhu said, chose him rather than the other way around. He never watched much football - either as a child or even later when he got picked for the India Under-16 team in 2007. But a chance encounter with Blackpool legend John Burridge in 2011 altered the course of his career.I was playing for East Bengal at the time and Budgie (Burridge), Carlton Palmer and Joe Morrison had come to Kolkata to cover the (East Bengal-Mohun Bagan) derby, said Sandhu. Budgie came to me when I was training and he said, Son, youre wasting your time here; why dont you try your luck in Europe? I thought to myself, Sunilbhai (Indian captain Sunil Chhetri) has also played abroad. So why not.The move to foreign climes eventually took place in 2014, with the aid of Morrison who also doubles as his agent, but Sandhu would realise how difficult that transition could be fairly early on.dddddddddddd.The first obvious challenge is the atmosphere -- the pace of the game and the quality of the game was much bigger than what I had ever experienced or ever personally played at, he said. I realised it would take a lot of hard work to match the players or go beyond their quality. I took a couple of years to adjust. Before I made my start, I felt like I was wasting my time. But then I thought if I give up now, then what was the whole point of having come here? Besides, being a keeper, you need to be patient, because you only have that one slot in a team.Norway wasnt easy either, especially for a young man who says he had to take cooking lessons from his mother and sister over Skype. It is a beautiful country, but it is very expensive as a place, Sandhu said. I dont think I have been able to teach the guys too much Punjabi, apart from some gaalis (swear words). I am still coming to terms with Norway after two years.These two years of waiting have helped Sandhu polish his game. More than anything, he feels the knowledge that it is not okay to make mistakes has simply made him mentally tougher than he was when he left for Norway. He feels he can see that improvement every time he plays for India now.That patience came in handy when Stabaeks Scottish manager Billy McKinlay announced the starting eleven after practice on Monday. He told us that he was going with the same combination that he had used in the 5-0 win against IK Start, Sandhu said. It gave me some relief, I thought the hard work Ive been doing was paying off. ' ' '