Here in the UK and Europe, we get quite cross with our cousins over the pond (aka "the Americans") when they go on about the baseball World Series.

"Hold on", we say, "it's not the World Series, it's just America".

Which is sort of true, up to a point. Except for the story of how the World Series was born. In much the same way that the Optic 2000 has nothing to do with optics or the number 2000, the World Series got it's name from its original sponsor - The New York World newspaper. It began its life as nothing more than a series of matches sponsored by the World newspaper. Hence the name.

So I watched a particularly interesting piece of Video on the Eurosport website about the future of the Dakar.

One of the things that ASO were talking about, Patrice Clerc no less, was a series of events they are calling "The Dakar Series". The thinking, we are told, is a kind of compensatory thing for all those people who couldn't compete in the 2008 Dakar.

So could a lot of small events sponsored by the ASO be equivalent to one big event? If you call something "Dakar Series", will it have the same appeal, the same romance?

Suppose, for instance, that we were to rename 'A'-levels (a high school qualification) and we were to call them "degrees". This would mean that lots more people had degrees - the UK could claim to have the highest number of graduates in the world. Well done, according to the numbers.

But all of these people would have a degree that wasn't worth having. Similarly, if I just went into a shop and bought a karate suite with a black belt then would that make me a black belt in karate? Or would I just be cheapening what it means to have a black belt?

So will a bunch of "mini-Dakars" just cheapen what Dakar is all about? Is this an attempt to compensate the competitors who lost out in the 2008 Dakar cancellation? Or is it, possibly, to compensate the sponsors who lost out on valuable TV time and advertising? Possibly a bit of both.

Will it make The Dakar fundamentally flawed? Let me explain. Tiffany diamonds. You know, that posh shop on 5th Avenue - Audrey Hepburn with a croissant. That one.

So if I were to buy The Missus a Tiffany diamond then she'd be very happy indeed. but what if Tiffany reduced the price of all of their diamonds to, say, ten dollars per carat? Would they still be as valuable, as exclusive, as in demand? Isn't it the fact that they are so expensive, only available to a few, that makes them special? If you could buy Tiffany diamonds with your weekly shopping at Tesco, would they still be valuable?

It was confirmed today by Chris Evans (ASO representative in the UK). ASO are staging a race from 19-26 April in Hungary and Romania, as a kind of 'consolation Dakar'. Entrants to the cancelled 2008 Dakar getpreferential entry, and only have to pay administrative expenses.

He also alluded to the fact that ASO "aren't yet in a position to announce next years 'Dakar'. The race will be held at the beginning of January and will be as much of a challenge as all previous editions".

The use of the quotes is theirs, not mine - i.e. they talk about "next year's 'Dakar'" and not simply "next year's Dakar". A subtle, but important, distinction - especially given ASO's insistence that 'Dakar' is a symbol.

This is not as hair0splitting as it may at first appear either. Think of the Baja 1000. The Baja Peninsula is in Mexico, and this is where the race is held. However, FIM (the governing body of Motorsport) lists Baja as a type of race - like enduro or motocross.

Le Mans, a city in the North West of France, was the birthplace of the Le Mans 24-Hour Race. Nowadays, there is the Le Mans series, which runs all over the place. Cities can become brands. The Tour de France had a stage in England last year. Last time I checked, England wasn't in France. Is it less of a race because of this?

Perhaps, in the future, 'Dakar' will become a type of race rather than the destination of the race. Characterised by long special stages, and equally long liasons, being run over two weeks. Something like that.

Thing is, nobody's yet said anything about next year's Dakar going anywhere near Dakar, or even that it will be in Africa. It's referred to using quotes around 'Dakar', which tells me that there is a shift in mindset going on.

Maybe I just look too hard at the detail but, in the world of humans, nothing happens for no reason.

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