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Lisa Wong

I'm so excited....it's the Malaysian FA Cup Final this weekend.

Okay, I hear some say...it's not the Chelsea and Everton final, what's there to be excited about? But for any local citizen, the tournament does bring around a lot of buzz, and if you have some level of patriotism, you can't help feeling the tinge of excitement.

I do know some non-Malaysians residing in Singapore who know more about my country's football than the average Malaysian. Hats off to you guys!

Being a Selangor state citizen, it's pride that I'll carry with me when I walk into the National stadium in Bukit Jalil to see the Red Giants play against Kelantan, a side looking to end a 39-year wait for the Cup.

With a wait that long, K.Devan (coach of Selangor FA) is wary of the hunger for the trophy, but he has said that Selangor will leave no stones unturned in the quest for the title. The Red Giants were so close to grabbing the trophy last season, however, they lost out 3-2 to treble champions, Kedah. So you can imagine this time, it will be an all out fight, as Devan is also seeking to lift his first trophy with Selangor. The coach is no stranger to the battle as he guided Negeri Sembilan to FA Cup glory in 2003.

Meanwhile Kelantan, recently embroiled in controversy when their keeper Halim Napi assaulted Negeri Sembilan centre-back in the FA semis, resulting in the side being handed heavy penalties and a season long ban from hosting any matches in their home ground, are eager to put the humiliating past behind and show their mettle under coach, Peter Butler, who helmed the side at the start of the 2009 season.

The Englishman, who is a former West Ham midfielder first squared off with Devan in February in the Super League. They had a heated exchange on the touchline at the Shah Alam Stadium, and then even refused to shake hands after the match, which was won 3-0 by Selangor.

So expect a feuding encounter this time around among a sea of red and yellow, as about 90,000 fans are expected to show up for the match. From past history with the Kelantan's fans unruly behaviour, let's hope it will be a safe evening with no riots!

Nothing beats seeing how all the action unfold at Sepang from the garage set-up, right to Race Day.

If you love you sport, there's no level of gratification than getting close to the action and meeting some of the people that make up the F1 fraternity - pit crew, drivers, managers, commentators, organizers, and singer Jay Kay (from Jamiroquai), who performed on the last day. Man.. the acid jazz singer is a genius with his music, and what a character in person. But, let's save that for another day.

So, when you have such a privilege to be so close to the action, there's only one thing that could be done, enjoy and soak up everything. So, for a whole week, it was all about Formula one, event after event and finding interesting angles to present to the viewers.

From glamorous dinners basked in luxury to hot and humid track events, there's not one I can single out as favourite. All had something to offer, but nothing beats the chance of meeting some of the people that you respect in the sport.

Take Martin Brundell for example, a former Formula One driver who's still involved as a BBC F1 commentator - A very approachable personality who's still very much passionate about the sport.

Of course, if there's one thing I would hope to see change in the sport is to make the drivers more accessible to the public, if that's too much to ask, then at least the media.

If you're behind the paddock, you'll realize it's tough to get to drivers or team chiefs for their opinions, and this scenario is exacerbated with the top teams.

Many a times, reporters get turned away or let down when only so little time is allocated in a ‘meet the media' session.

Taking things into perspective, these drivers no doubt have a bigger task at hand, that is to concentrate on their race strategy, but with such a strong following of fans, it would be great that the sport lose some of its ‘strictness' which is often translated as arrogance, so that they could bridge the gap with those who ultimately support the sport - the fans.

Having said all that, this is just a tiny matter in my role as a journalist. But as a follower of the sport, this season has so far been such an exciting one, and with all the controversies hovering above it, I can't wait to see how it all pan out.

The wait is finally over when the Formula One season gets underway in Melbourne come this weekend. With the big changes made to the car and the raft of new rules, we can expect a very scintillating 2009 season.

What I first and foremost look forward to is watching the outcome of the most obvious rule changes revolving around the aerodynamics. the rear wings are smaller this year, and the fronts much wider, with the most controversial area, the diffuser at the back of the car. "It's probably the biggest set of aero­dynamic regulation changes in formula one's history," said Paddy Lowe, the McLaren director of engineering. "Almost everything - the front and rear wings, the diffuser, floor and bodywork - is affected. I don't think there's ever been that level of change". The aims have been twofold: to reduce downforce, or aerodynamic grip, and to change the balance of that grip. This will promise closer racing and more overtaking. Already I'm seeing images of how this will translate on track where the cars will look more like their predecessors in the early 90s. The excitement bowls over from watching Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell get on neck-to-neck with their superior overtaking maneuvers.

Other changes include the return of slick tires and the introduction of the overtaking package - KERS, which stands for kinetic energy recovery system. This is one of Max Mosley's initiatives designed to give Formula One an environmentally responsible image. The device stores energy otherwise lost during braking and convert it into power. With the ‘push of a button',  drivers can enjoy up to an extra 85 horsepower in acceleration boost, available in 6.7 sec per lap to help in overtaking. Of course the driver being chased can use his KERS device defensively at the same time, thus negating the chasing driver's power advantage. But the limited storage of extra energy means that drivers will have to be very tactical in how they deploy the device.

The use of KERS is not compulsory this season, but BMW Sauber, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari will run their systems in Australia, with Brawn unlikely to consider KERS at all this year.

And finally to realise the first of a scheduled series of significant cuts in budgets over the next two or three years in light of the credit crunch, testing is now banned outside grand prix weekends. Each driver may use only eight engines over the 17 races, and teams are now restricted to wind tunnels of 60 per cent scale and have limitations on their use of computational modelling. This has presented engineers with a tremendous challenge in adjusting to so many fundamental changes in so many areas. Ferrari's chief track engineer, Luca Baldisserri, summarised it when he said: "We have never seen such a revolution in F1."

It would be so interesting to see how all these changes translate on track, and the curtain raiser in Melbourne will give us some idea. With new team Brawn GP doing so well in pre-season testing, don't be surprised if they clinch top spot in Melbourne, but then again with other teams have been played catch up in the last week, it is going to be a tight battle on track. I can't remember a season I've looked forward to as much as this one.

Finally, the agonizing wait for all Gooners is over...Arshavin will don the No.23 Gunners shirt, and according to Arsene Wenger, may feature in this Sunday's north London derby against Spurs, if he's match fit.

I'm doubtful of that as the Russian playmaker who took a pay cut from £100,000 to £70,000 to make the move to the Emirates is far from match fit. He hasn't played a competitive match since the end of the Russian domestic season last November.

But given time, I'm rather sure he'll prove his message to the Arsenal fans - 'I am looking forward to making the Arsenal supporters happy and helping this great club win trophies. Trust in me and Arsenal.' You have my vote Andrei.

The Russian talisman has indeed produced a memorable performance in the later part of Euro 2008. And he also played a key role to help Zenit win the UEFA Cup last season.

Wenger has said that he's not looking at miracles from the Russian, but there's high expectation no doubt for Arshavin to provide a massive boost to the Gunners, as they look to chase down Aston Villa and claim the top four finish that would secure their Champions League spot next season.

Football aside, it's certainly interesting to read about the 27 year old Russian's opinion on women - he has said that if he had the power in him to introduce a ban on women driving cars and withdraw all their licenses, he would without thinking twice.

I would have to say, Thank God, he's in football, and not politics.

I'm rather disturbed to see the ever increasing whinging and moaning within Arsenal supporters from the reaction to the players.

Against Wigan recently, Emmanuel Eboue became the target, then of course there are the other favourites - Manuel Almunia, , Alexandre Song and Denilson. In fact this season, the bigger and more established names such as Cesc, Walcott, Clichy and Toure have all had their fair share of stinkers.

The verbal torment is going on a lot more than we've seen before. And to me, it seems rather out of perspective.

Well, because firstly, we're fourth in the league, eight points off the leaders, we've lost some games unexpectedly but then again we've beaten Manchester United and Chelsea.

We're still going strong in the Champions league and had a decent run on the Carling Cup. On top of this, the club is in a very strong financial position in times when many clubs are on the rocks. In perspective, things could certainly be going a lot worse. But, some fans choose to pound of the negative, reflecting just the streaks of ugliness that invade society today ... ungratefulness.

Let's be realistic, no team wins every week playing well. We know we have some fantastic players in the club, and let's support them knowing they are doing their best, or else we'll probably end up losing these players eventually.