2007 - 2003 = ?
FOUR, as my 11 y.o stepdaughter correctly informed me this morning. So imagine my surprise when reading the paper today and coming across this:
"The aggression toward our Kiwis, I mean, it's seven years now," Bertarelli said. "Let it be. Let it go." He says his team have put 2003 behind them and so should Team NZ supporters.
Yes, we are branching out from our narrow band of topics and this morning it is yachting and the subject of ridicule is Mr Ernesto Bertarelli, chief boss of Alinghi. A man who according to Forbes is worth over US$8 billion yet seems to have trouble doing some simple mathematics. Although to cut him some slack, he did inherit most of his fortune off Daddy so perhaps we shouldn't automatically assume a significant level of intelligence.
OK, he probably got confused - it was seven years ago when he offered thirty pieces of silver to Coutts and Butterworth, but it is only four years ago that the whole of New Zealand got fucked off about it. And we are still fucked off. So to all the Team NZ supporters over in Valencia continue your booing of the traitorous Kiwis who have chosen to sail with Satan. Keep reminding them we will never forget the turncoats who put money before country.
But let's get back to Ernie, who is "concerned" the mood is turning "ugly" in Valencia. Of course the mood is turning ugly - you pinch our sailors, win the America's Cup costing the New Zealand economy millions of dollars, change the nationality rules allowing syndicates with the most amount of money to buy the best sailors (and guess where they come from?), fire your NZ-born skipper and then put a restraint of trade on him so he can't go anywhere else - what do you expect? Sainthood???
And wait, there's more. He has to have a little dig:
"The nationality rule he's speaking about is obviously mainly directed to Alinghi, so I guess that's the "thank you" note for helping him get his team together," Bertarelli said.
Oh Ernest, you silly boy. You loaned Team NZ money because you wanted/needed Team NZ in the contest - whatever. And we've repaid it. I hope for your employee's sake you have learned the first rule of business by now - never give a sucker an even break. Because the best way we know how to repay your stupid generosity is to stick our mast up your backside with a 5-0 dicking in a couple of weeks time.
You wanted us there - we're there. So don't go crying you helped us get there and we should somehow be oh so eternally grateful. Fool.
Getting serious for a minute, all this points to the fact that Ernie is a worried man. Of course the worst-case scenario for him and his European pals is NZ winning and bringing it back to Auckland. Why else would Luna Rossa be practicing with Alinghi when it is the time-honoured tradition that beaten syndicates help the challenger prepare for the race, and not the defender?
Reading between the lines, me thinks that Ernie knows he has a contest on his hands instead of the walk in the park that he's been expecting for the past four years. That $2.70-odd on Team NZ might just be worth a sneaky bet after all.
"The aggression toward our Kiwis, I mean, it's seven years now," Bertarelli said. "Let it be. Let it go." He says his team have put 2003 behind them and so should Team NZ supporters.
Yes, we are branching out from our narrow band of topics and this morning it is yachting and the subject of ridicule is Mr Ernesto Bertarelli, chief boss of Alinghi. A man who according to Forbes is worth over US$8 billion yet seems to have trouble doing some simple mathematics. Although to cut him some slack, he did inherit most of his fortune off Daddy so perhaps we shouldn't automatically assume a significant level of intelligence.
OK, he probably got confused - it was seven years ago when he offered thirty pieces of silver to Coutts and Butterworth, but it is only four years ago that the whole of New Zealand got fucked off about it. And we are still fucked off. So to all the Team NZ supporters over in Valencia continue your booing of the traitorous Kiwis who have chosen to sail with Satan. Keep reminding them we will never forget the turncoats who put money before country.
But let's get back to Ernie, who is "concerned" the mood is turning "ugly" in Valencia. Of course the mood is turning ugly - you pinch our sailors, win the America's Cup costing the New Zealand economy millions of dollars, change the nationality rules allowing syndicates with the most amount of money to buy the best sailors (and guess where they come from?), fire your NZ-born skipper and then put a restraint of trade on him so he can't go anywhere else - what do you expect? Sainthood???
And wait, there's more. He has to have a little dig:
"The nationality rule he's speaking about is obviously mainly directed to Alinghi, so I guess that's the "thank you" note for helping him get his team together," Bertarelli said.
Oh Ernest, you silly boy. You loaned Team NZ money because you wanted/needed Team NZ in the contest - whatever. And we've repaid it. I hope for your employee's sake you have learned the first rule of business by now - never give a sucker an even break. Because the best way we know how to repay your stupid generosity is to stick our mast up your backside with a 5-0 dicking in a couple of weeks time.
You wanted us there - we're there. So don't go crying you helped us get there and we should somehow be oh so eternally grateful. Fool.
Getting serious for a minute, all this points to the fact that Ernie is a worried man. Of course the worst-case scenario for him and his European pals is NZ winning and bringing it back to Auckland. Why else would Luna Rossa be practicing with Alinghi when it is the time-honoured tradition that beaten syndicates help the challenger prepare for the race, and not the defender?
Reading between the lines, me thinks that Ernie knows he has a contest on his hands instead of the walk in the park that he's been expecting for the past four years. That $2.70-odd on Team NZ might just be worth a sneaky bet after all.
Labels: misc
posted by Rob Crawford at 8:55 AM
1 Comments:
AB's by 111+ at odds of 21 at bet 365?
I mean it wont happen but good odds!
Post a Comment
<< Home