Taking a Break

I'll be taking a break from updating this for a few weeks - it's pretty quiet on the sporting front during this time, apart from NZ's domestic rugby and the finals of the NRL, both of which I haven't been following closely.

I've also given up reading newspapers - even on the internet, as Don Brash's extramarital affairs, whether the PM's husband is gay and Anton Oliver posing nude for a painting is really the kind of stuff that does not enrich my life and/or knowledge thereof. To think once upon a time I spent $1.50 nearly every day on such crap.

So I'll be back early next month in time for the ICC Champions Trophy - the next major cricket tournament. Until then, ciao.

Decision?

With a quiet sporting week (ho hum, Aussie wins a cricket match, Aussie thrashes NZ in hockey, NZ rugby teams - womens, wheelchair - win, - same old same old), what would you do here?

You're a sole-charge policeman in a small rural town in NZ. You are off-duty, playing golf with the aid of 15 clubs and a six-pack or two of amber liquid.

There's a serious car smash just up the road. Do you:

(a) jump in your car and get to the scene and render whatever assistance you can?
(b) continue with your off-duty priorities at the 19th hole?

The fact that this cop was even charged is a joke. Thankfully he struck a judge with an ounce of common sense.

Yes, well

Thanks to Hewitt and the Pakistani cricket team there is a fair bit of egg on my face as my abysmal record of sporting predictions on this blog continues, but there is not a direct correlation between these predictions and my betting account.

One of the first lessons to learn in sports betting is not to get too attached to your pre-game views. In the case of Hewitt/Roddick, about halfway through the first set I thought to my untrained eye that my pre-game assessment of Hewitt's chances of winning may prove to be wrong, and so it was. Fortunately for me, I decided not to bet pregame and watch for a while before getting involved - and in the end I didn't bet on the match. Even more fortunate thanks to being away from home during the weekend is I wasn't around to bet on the last two ODI's in England.

With that tour and the US Open over, it may be a little quiet on the sporting front for a wee while - I'll have to get back to reading the paper and SPARC website to see if there's something I can bitch and moan about; for me there's a couple of One Day cricket tournaments in the next month that will occupy my betting attention and that's about it - I'm staying away from betting the NRL finals as I haven't followed it closely enough this season. Stick to the knitting has been the catchphrase for 2006.

To finish off, here's my last hand of poker from the casino last night which is typical of the run I'm having there at the moment:

Finally dealt two aces - raise $25 and get 4 callers (it 'tis a loose game) - pot $105. Oh well,

Flop (first three cards) come Ace clubs, Queen clubs, three diamonds. I'm last to act and someone bets his last $100. Hallelujah, Christmas has come early - I call faster than Road Runner and turn over my cards ...

and watch as he turns over King clubs + 10 clubs and then watch the dealer turn over a red jack to give him a straight to beat my three of a kind. After having 12 outs to beat me, I have 9 outs to give me a full house or quads but of course with the run I'm having, to piss me right off the dealer peels off a club as the final card to give him a flush.

All good character building stuff. Fuck it.

C'MON!

OK, the short-term depression after the weekend's shellacking to my personal finances is well and truly over and back on the horse, so to speak.

The Pakistani cricketers winning the 3rd ODI helped, and I find it ironic that after the test series and all the problems with the fitness of their main bowlers, the shoe is now well and truly on the other foot with England now experiencing injury problems. I still can't see how England will win a game, unfortunately neither can the market and there is not much value in the prices.

The US Open has seen more rain than tennis, and the compressed schedule caused by the rain delays adds a new element to assessing matches - fitness and recovery time. For example, how can Haas get past Davydenko after two five-setters on the trot?

The quarter I'm looking forward to is Roddick v C'MON (that's Hewitt). A lot of people are getting seduced by Roddick's return to form, but C'MON leads the head to head 6-2 and as long as he has recovered from last night's 5-setter, Hewitt has the game to win. Should be worth trading at least.

Tomorrow will see Federer take on Blake (I'm assuming he'll win his fourth round match) which also will be worth playing around on. Certainly a tougher match for the FedEx than a potential semi-final against Haas or Davydenko.

I won't be updating the blog until next week - this weekend I have my last NZOF Council meeting down in Wellington followed by a poker tournament on Sunday. So until then, ciao.

P.S. This blog is 1 year old today. It's had about 10,000 hits and I get around 220 unique visitors a month. Currently I'm thinking of either pulling the pin or putting more effort in to make it bigger and better (including getting off my ass and doing something about making it known). Any feedback from occassional and regular readers is welcome.

Crap

After some weekends, I'm not in the mood to update this:

The All Blacks? They lost.
Betting account? Down
Poker? Down

You get the picture.

Death Taxes and

the Yanks stuffing up an international basketball tournament remain the three certainties in life. The last two World Championships and the Athens Olympics has seen the supposed giants of world basketball not even reach one final. Pass the tissues. Yes, my anti-americanism is running at reasonable levels, helped by the crowd booing Baghdatis late in the fifth set against Agassi when suffering from cramp, and I will admit to a significant degree of satisfaction at seeing USA lose to Greece. Ask an American who the World Champions in basketball are and their answer will be the Miami Heat.

It also helped my bet on Argentina, as with the favourites out they dropped from 10/1 to 3/1 to win the competition, allowing me to lay off for a free bet before the second semi-final. Just as well, as the Argies (deservedly) lost by one point to Spain. So no chocolates, but no loss either.

The final should be well worth watching, which is more than I can say about women's tennis. The lack of competition in women's matches in the early rounds of the tennis majors does get up my nose a little (partly because it's a waste of time trying to trade matches). Look at the comparison of second-round matches in the men's and women's draw involving the top 8 seeds:

Federer WIN 6-3 6-4 7-5
Nadal WIN 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-2
Ljubicic - well, he lost in the first round
Nalbandian - yet to play but will not beat Safin in straight sets
Blake WIN 6-3 6-4 7-6
Robredo WIN 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-1
Davydenko's opponent retired
Baghdatis LOST to Agassi in 5 sets

Now the women:

Mauresmo WIN 6-4 6-3
Henin-H WIN 6-1 6-2
Sharapova WIN 6-0 6-1
Dementieva WIN 6-4 6-0
Petrova WIN 6-1 6-1
Kuznetsova WIN 6-1 6-1
Schnyder WIN 6-3 7-5
Hingis LOST in 3 sets

While I bemoan the lack of competitiveness in the early rounds, on comes the sports news to tell me the NZ women's softball team lost to the USA 15-0 while the NZ women's rugby team thrashed Canada 66-7.

A while ago a column on Sportsfreak discussed (well, criticised) the treatment of women's sport in the media and while I have plenty of chauvinistic answers as to why it is so crap, perhaps one of the reasons is sports afficionados such as myself watch sport to see a contest - and too much of women's sport does not involve a contest.

To be fair, one-sided contests are not solely the domain of women's sport and there are going to be a couple this weekend involving men. One, the All Blacks will not lose to the Springboks, and on Betfair you can get 1.93 for the ABs winning by 13 points and over. Two, Pakistan will beat England in the ODI series without losing a game - that is if the rain stays away (the first ODI was abandoned due to the aqua).

Finally, the World Triathlon Champs are on this weekend - the course is not flat, so is it too much to hope for an Athens repeat in the mens? Hamish Carter's (probable) last race - my fingers are crossed for the fairytale finish.