Weekend wrap
Let's celebrate - no, not the AB's umpteenth win on the trot - New Zealand have successfully defended their title at the World Underwater Hockey championships.
No, I'm not taking the piss. As a member of the community known as sports NZers don't give a toss about, the last thing I would do is be patronising to a fellow member of said community in their hour of triumph. So sincere congratulations are in order, and kudos to the Herald who deemed it worthy enough to put in their headlines this morning. I even spent 3 minutes this morning finding out that there were 17 countries at the championships; underwater hockey was invented in the 1950's and is also known as Octopush. Consider yourself enlightened.
I can't recall whether I've linked this before, but if you want to join the "whoop-de-do, so fkn what" brigade at this magnificent news, go and read Simon Barnes' excellent article on sprt bigotry.
OK, back to the rugby. I only half watched the game thanks to being involved in a massive heads-up battle in a poker tournament at Sky, but that second half performance was mightily impressive. Were the ABs that good or the Saffers that bad, or a bit of both? That was the one game I was prepared to go against the ABs this year, and I won't be doing it again. Next week I feel the winning margin will be even greater, and by the time they troop up to the northern hemisphere later in the year, rotation will be history and 2006 will go down without one entry in the loss column.
Saddest news of the weekend - Tab Baldwin resigning as NZ basketball coach. It's almost like a death in the family. Basketball has had a fairytale ride with him at the helm and we can only hope some lasting legacy will be left and our Tall Blacks will remain cometitive on the world stage, but history suggests some decline will occur. The last 6 years have been a great ride for NZ basketball fans and it was fun while it lasted.
Attention for me over the next 2 weeks turns to the US Open (tennis). The way I attack the major tennis tournaments is to watch the first couple of days action without doing much (if any) betting, concentrate mainly on the men's in the first week (as the women don't really get competitive until the last 16) and look for match-ups that on paper are competitive and offer potential in-play trading.
For example, first round matches I'll keep an eye on and could enter the fray include:
Hrbaty v Youzhny, Massu v Sanguinetti, Srichaphan v Acasuso, Simon v Bracciali, Karlovic v Soderling, Wawrinka v Chela, Almagro v Ferrer, Gaudio v Seppi
And the poker? Lost the heads-up, allin with 55 v 10Q and rivered by a 10. First was a seat in the North Island Poker Champs at Labour Weekend while second was worth a handshake. Brilliant, ranks right up there with kissing your sister.
No, I'm not taking the piss. As a member of the community known as sports NZers don't give a toss about, the last thing I would do is be patronising to a fellow member of said community in their hour of triumph. So sincere congratulations are in order, and kudos to the Herald who deemed it worthy enough to put in their headlines this morning. I even spent 3 minutes this morning finding out that there were 17 countries at the championships; underwater hockey was invented in the 1950's and is also known as Octopush. Consider yourself enlightened.
I can't recall whether I've linked this before, but if you want to join the "whoop-de-do, so fkn what" brigade at this magnificent news, go and read Simon Barnes' excellent article on sprt bigotry.
OK, back to the rugby. I only half watched the game thanks to being involved in a massive heads-up battle in a poker tournament at Sky, but that second half performance was mightily impressive. Were the ABs that good or the Saffers that bad, or a bit of both? That was the one game I was prepared to go against the ABs this year, and I won't be doing it again. Next week I feel the winning margin will be even greater, and by the time they troop up to the northern hemisphere later in the year, rotation will be history and 2006 will go down without one entry in the loss column.
Saddest news of the weekend - Tab Baldwin resigning as NZ basketball coach. It's almost like a death in the family. Basketball has had a fairytale ride with him at the helm and we can only hope some lasting legacy will be left and our Tall Blacks will remain cometitive on the world stage, but history suggests some decline will occur. The last 6 years have been a great ride for NZ basketball fans and it was fun while it lasted.
Attention for me over the next 2 weeks turns to the US Open (tennis). The way I attack the major tennis tournaments is to watch the first couple of days action without doing much (if any) betting, concentrate mainly on the men's in the first week (as the women don't really get competitive until the last 16) and look for match-ups that on paper are competitive and offer potential in-play trading.
For example, first round matches I'll keep an eye on and could enter the fray include:
Hrbaty v Youzhny, Massu v Sanguinetti, Srichaphan v Acasuso, Simon v Bracciali, Karlovic v Soderling, Wawrinka v Chela, Almagro v Ferrer, Gaudio v Seppi
And the poker? Lost the heads-up, allin with 55 v 10Q and rivered by a 10. First was a seat in the North Island Poker Champs at Labour Weekend while second was worth a handshake. Brilliant, ranks right up there with kissing your sister.
Labels: opinion, post mortems
posted by Rob Crawford at 8:25 AM
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