Weekend wrap

The Herald are at it again. Two weeks after re-hashing the identity of 1980's band Crowded House, we are told today there is "extra spice to the annual New Zealand challenge" in tomorrow's Melbourne Cup with the late entry of NZ-bred Efficient, an impressive winner of the Victorian Derby on Saturday.

You see, Efficient is 25% owned by New Zealanders, born here, and trained by a New Zealander (even though he has been living in Sydney for gawd knows how long). And because of these tenuous connections, we are supposed to get excited.

Parlease. Efficient is as Kiwi as Willie Mason is, and we don't seem to be in that much of a rush to claim him as one of our own at the moment, do we? Anyway, Efficient won't win the Cup (mind you, I said that about Makybe Diva last year) and even if it does, it will probably ruin the horse for the rest of its racing career - putting a yet to be fully developed 3 y.o. into a 2 mile race is IMO not the smartest idea in the world. Then again, I've never respected the intelligence of people who are prepared to throw mega-bucks at owning horse flesh - one of the most negative EV games on the planet.

Yes, I did get out of the wrong side of bed this afternoon. I don't mind losing on the punt, but losing when you have watched sporting contests that promised so much and delivered so little gets me cranky.

First the League. Either the GB team has an extraordinary ability to pull their opposition down to their mediocre level or it's rigged. I'm going with the latter (see the blog archives after the first State of Origin for more proof), especially after NZRL Chairman Sel Bennett said when closing the door behind him "any publicity is good publicity". Right Sel, go and rob a bank - that will get you on the front page of Section 1, not just the sports pages.

Anyone remember last year's Tri Nations? After two thrashings by Australia and NZ, GB needed a miracle to even be in the hunt for qualifying for the final on points differential and whaddya know, after 42-26 and 20-6 losses SOMEHOW managed to beat the Kiwis 38-12 and save the last qualifying game from being a meaningless farce.

So NZ are a lock to beat the Brits this weekend and it will all come down to the final game and points differential to see who will face Australia in the final. If anyone has the script for that final qualifying game, please share the secret as it would be nice to make some money off it.

Second, the All Blacks - England test. I knew my bets were in trouble the minute I heard England might try and play an attacking game. England trying to play attacking rugby is about as useful as me trying to run a marathon - an admirable concept, but one doomed for failure. I don't think the ABs were all that flash either and I fear they could be in for a thorough examination in the next 2 weeks against France; anyone who has taken odds on they'll win all 4 internationals are either very brave or very foolish (possibly both).

Finally, the Cricket. Brian Lara blames "Stage Fright" - fer feck's sake this is international sport not an amateur theatre production. At least Fleming had the nous to say after the semi-final loss it's the skill factor and not some mamby-pamby pyschological crap when looking for reasons for the loss. Gawd help the rest of the cricket world in the next few months through to and after the World Cup - this Aussie side was starting to show signs of cracks and vulnerability and the last thing they needed was a dose of self-belief and confidence (not that Australians need that in huge quantities anyway).

Time to go and kick the cat.