Shooting Up

OK, after yesterday's morose post it's time to get back to feeling good. And there hasn't been a better feelgood story for a while that compares to Iraq's soccer (sorry, football) win at the Asian Cup.

For a country that is having its problems, isn't it nice to see a few of their young men concentrating on kicking a ball than their fellow man. Yes, sport at times has the ablity to transcend the problems of the world and can make us forget, if only momentarily, mankind's path to self-destruction.

Nah just kidding (sort of) about the self-destruction bit. But I've always thought Earth would be a better planet if we used sport rather than guns to sort out our differences. I mean, if Uncle Sam wants to shove democracy down the throat of the Iraqis, sort it out on the football pitch. If the good ol' USA is the role model that we all must follow, then surely they can beat a rag-tag bunch that have spent the last 10 years hiding under the bed from the torturous threats of Uday Hussein.

Had this been applied over the years I'm sure the only weapons of mass destruction we'd have to worry about would be John Holmes at a public orgy. Instead of bombing pubs, the Irish could have just sent over Hurricane Higgins to whup Steve Davis' arse over a snooker table. World War 2? Adolf Hitler v Jesse Owens down the 100m. OK OK a bit one-sided but it would have saved 6 years of hell and a few hundred thousand lives.

But let's get back to the Iraqi footballers. There's a few things we can learn from this mob. One, is how to celebrate victorious sporting teams. Now I do feel a little sorry for the 4 dead and 17 injured but taking to the streets shooting guns seems a more appropriate way to celebrate sporting achievement than a boring ticker tape parade down Queen St. Especially if, as I assert, we use sport rather than war to settle our differences. The marksman amongst us need some excuse to show off their talent if they can't do it on the battlefield.

I'm also especially pleased to see the Iraqi people have learnt the first rule of democracy - namely to ignore whatever your politicians say. Apparently, "celebratory gunfire" was banned after the Iraqis won but like good democratic citizens, the masses gave the rulers the bird and shot off their guns anyway.

So the unmistakable joy emanating from the Iraqi people has got me thinking: how can we Kiwis appropriately celebrate the forthcoming success of our beloved All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup? Ticker-tape parades and shooting guns are out - we need something original. Something to do after we've all shaved off our beards (explanation here). Suggestions welcome.

P.S. If anyone wants to know the supplier of the chill pills I took yesterday, drop me a line. It's good shit.

OT: Kids

I'm in no mood to blog about sport today. I must stop reading newspapers (even online) except for the sports news and live in my own little coccooned world.

Two articles have tipped the scales of my fragile stability - the child abuse cases in Rotorua and our rising violence in schools. Not many will think they are linked but they are. Unfortunately we now live in a society where we the current generation growing up are not learning about basic values such as personal responsibility and accountability and we wonder why when they turn into adults they can do such repulsive things as spinning a kid in a dryer?

The news that teachers are subject to increasing levels of both physical and verbal abuse won't be a surprise to many - but it might pay to stop and think why. Could it have something to do with the banning of corporal punishment in schools together with educating children on rights over responsibilities?

For those of us approaching geriatric status, we will well recall a belt on the bum with a strap or cane when we stepped out of line at school. My first was for playing noughts and crosses in English. Did I ever do that again? No, lesson (painfully) learned. Fast forward to today when teachers get told to fuck off and all the educators can do is send them out of the classroom, which is what the kid wants in the first place.

Seven teachers have left the local college this year so far. It ain't anything to do with pay or management. Children are being taught the consequences for what most of us would call anti-social behaviour are trivial; teachers are powerless to deal effectively with physical and verbal abuse - so when these little shits enter adulthood if they feel like pinning a child up on the clothesline they'll do so because they haven't learnt anything about being responsible for your actions, or facing up to the music when you overstep the mark.

Yes, I'm bitter through recent personal experience. My 13 y.o. stepson can threaten to kill me, and walk around town telling anyone who cares to listen that I'm a child basher (complete fiction in case you need to ask) and there is fuck all I can do about it. Basically he is learning that he can do anything he feels like doing and there aren't any consequences - until he does something really stupid (that's when, not if). Hopefully it won't end up in the papers.

What's really scary is thanks to Sue Bradford corporal punishment in the home has also been banned, so a parent's ability to reinforce some important life lessons with the occasional kick up the bum has also been curtailed. I shudder to think what some of the current generation of children will be like as adults, growing up believing all that is important in society are their personal rights and choices, having an attitude of I'll do what I'll please and you can't touch me, while learning about taking responsibility for the choices you make and having some understanding of how your actions affect others seems way down the list.

So if you wonder how some members of our society can be so animalistic in their actions, understand if they haven't had teachers or parents correcting misbehaviour as they grow into adults, coupled with an imbalance in the education of rights and responsibilities it's not entirely surprising. And what are we doing about it? Re-inforcing even more that rights are paramount and putting more obstacles in the way of those responsible for shaping future generations. Makes you want to go and have a vasectomy.

Time to go and take a chill pill.

Le Tour ... RIP

For years I've been fascinated by a race around France, where human beings pedal a bicycle up horrendous climbs in extraordinary feats of endurance. But no more. The final straw is seeing tour leader Rasmussen kicked out, a day after we learn Vinokourov failed a drugs test.

I may be old-fashioned in wanting to see sporting contests involving people who aren't on steriods or pumped up on an abnormal red blood cell count. In my book if you want to watch people doped up involved in physical exertion, just pop along to your local nightclub.

Of course Le Tour will not die; it will probably survive these latest scandals and soldier on. But I for one will never watch it again. Thankfully I haven't bet on it - 24 hours ago Rasmussen was under $1.20 to win the thing - if you backed him, you have my sympathy.

Nightlife

Staying up all night and watching cricket can be one helluva way to contribute to a boring life, but occasionally there comes along a day (night) that you will remember for its twist and turns that only this game can seemingly give to a sports audience. As time dulls the memory history will record England were robbed of a victory over India as bad light and then rain meant no play was possible in the final session with England one wicket (and India an improbable 98 runs) away from victory.

But before we dissect the final day, lets go back to the beginning. The test started off with the spectre of a second day washout, which combined with the recent history at the ground and suspect bowling attacks meant most people thought a draw was a nailed-on cert. The rain did arrive spectacularly on Day 2, but what nobody took into consideration was the outstanding drainage at Lords and play recommenced an hour after the aqua moved on.

And here the first of many twists kicked in. The Indian bowling attack, after being lifeless on the first day, suddenly found their rhythm on a pitch juiced up by the rain and wickets tumbled. The dull, boring draw that we were expecting - the odds were down to $1.20 at the beginning of Day 2 - didn't look so certain after all.

Fast forward to Day 5. Another dodgy forecast meant there was plenty of doubt over whether England would have enough time to get the 7 wickets required for victory. My working day began at 2 p.m. (NZT) constantly watching weather sites and odds - and in that seven hour period before play began the draw price oscillated between $1.40 and $2.00.

A precursor of what was to come. A couple of early wickets and England were favourites, before a partnership between Laxman and Dhoni saw the draw freefall (and even India shortened to $7.80). The predicted arrival of rain kept getting pushed out as the rain band stalled over the English Channel, and always in the back of the mind was the possibility of bad light forcing the players off. The draw price kept going up and down (in the words of someone on a betting forum) like a whore's knickers as half-hourly updates of rain radars and commentators musings on the time left before the rain and/or bad light would arrive kept betters on tenderhooks.

Betting in such an environment requires testicles. More than I've got. Usually I avoid betting in such an environment as you're either going to get it spectacularly right or spectacularly wrong, and I'm betting for rent and food money, not play money. But I was seduced by my own strong opinion that the match would finish as a draw and positioned accordingly, so was feeling rather smug when the umpire's light meter came out with India 8 wickets down.

Well fuck me, this game hadn't finished playing its tricks - the Pommie skipper decides to bowl his part-time spinners and play continues. Then an Indian batsman has a brain explosion and tries to whack another spinner out of the park and gets bowled - 9 down and 30 min to go to the afternoon tea interval. Fuck Fuck Farrrrrrrrrrrrrk. Ever bet on a horse race and your horse is leading but there's some other horse flying down the outside and you just know your nag is going to get nabbed on the line? Yeah, that's how I was feeling.

Yes I bailed - England were $1.25 at this point which I felt was a ridiculous price with only one wicket to go - supported by its shortening to $1.12 as play continued. Then without warning the umps decide with about 10 min to go to the interval the light is too bad to continue and they go off, which provokes another expeletive-laden tirade from within the walls of my house and wakes the wife up (not good at 3 a.m. when she starts work at 7 a.m.).

The good news is I only bailed on half my draw profit so I ain't moving into the trailer park yet, but I'd had enough of this roller-coaster. I watched with amusement as the market panicked one more time as the umps announced play would begin at 4.40 p.m. UK time, only for the rain to arrive. That was 3.40 a.m. here, and I'd been watching computer screens and a TV for nearly 14 hours - I was stuffed. The draw was $1.40 - it should have been $1.01, but I'd had enough.

So yes, test cricket can be boring, but getting days like that every so often kind've makes up for it.

ZZZ

That has to be one of the most bizarre endings to a cricket test for a while. And a dangerous one if you were throwing money at it - England got to a low of $1.12 shortly after the ninth wicket fell.

More later, but right now I need sleep.

Rugbyman, Public Servants refers to Wellington - the home of politicians and their Govt Departments.

Weekend Wrap

So that's it then. The next game the All Blacks play - in 47 days - will be at the World Cup. How are we all feeling? Confident? A little nervous? Holding your breath a bit?

Well here's a tip. Go away and forget about rugby for a month or so. Yes I know the Air NZ Cup starts next weekend, but this blog will become relatively rugby-free for a while, until the Northern Hemisphere sides start their warm-up games. The All Blacks will fly to France as deserved favourites, but not the $1.50 shoe-in that the bookies still have them as. The Squad picked had only one surprise, and the conspiracy theorists can go away if they think Weepu (and Flavell) had his name crossed out because of the nightclub visit last week.

I have a lot of thoughts about RWC, but they'll come out closer to the time. In short, I think we'll win it, but from the quarter finals on we'll be in for tough games of the ilk we've seen in the Tri-Nations.

Anyway, I've had an all-nighter watching cricket so I'm off for some sleep. Ciao.

Don't piss off the broadcasters

It's not often a sports news item makes me sit up and take notice, but this certainly has.

German rider on the Tour De France tests positive for banned substance. German TV stations pull the plug on coverage. A timely reminder that broadcasters hold the real power in sport - something the NZRU and its SANZAR partners might like to reflect on.

Groundhog Day

Perhaps partly because of my mood (yes, haven't quite sailed out of the doldrums yet), but rugby prices are boring me to tears at the moment - and it's hard to think of new ways to say the same thing, so at the risk of sending my four regular readers off to sleep ...

Yes, the TAB has NZ winning tomorrow night's Bledisloe Cup clash by 12 and under at a mouth-watering $2.85. I haven't seen anything over the last few weeks to convince me that suddenly the All Blacks will catch more passes than they spill, the backs will run up and down the field instead of across, and a 30-point thrashing is on the cards. Yes, it could happen (fuck, how many times have I said that over the last couple of months?), but on the balance of probabilities, we'll have another scrappy, error-ridden win that will all leaving us scratching our heads, but hopefully with fatter wallets.

The more adventurous of you who would like to speculate to accumulate might perhaps be interested in the $4.50 for NZ by 8-14.

If Oz manage to add their bit to Groundhod Day by repeating their miracle of Melbourne, you'll hear the screams coming out of my household from the other side of the world, as this time I'm not saving on them winning. Gawd help us if they do - can you imagine the cackling from the other side of the Tasman if we lose both the rugby and netball in the same week in the Queen City?

Now, here's a couple of exercises who take (or want to take) their punting a little seriously.

Exercise One.

The H2H (head-to-head) prices for this weekend's rugby test on Betfair is NZ 1.20 Australia 6.20 (for the purposes of this, we're ignoring the draw). The price on Betfair for NZ to reach the final of the RWC is 1.21. Given the probable semi-final opponent of the All Blacks (hint: they wear yellow), logically explain in 20 words or less how these prices are consistent with each other.

Exercise Two.

The prices for the first cricket test between England v India at the commenement of play on Day 1 are approx. England 5.0 India 8.0 Draw 1.46. (There is a shitload of rain forecast for Day 2 which you assume has been factored into the market). An average first day of test cricket sees the team batting first score in the high 200's for the loss of 4 wickets.

At the close of play, England are 268-4. The close of day prices are England 7.4 India 21 Draw 1.21. Another logical explanation required in 20 words or less.

Have a good weekend.

P.S. Tim - you've piqued my interest in the Air NZ Cup. A mate who knows more than I do says it's a three-horse race between the Jafas, Cowbells and Public Servants. That 8.0 you can get at Centrebet I'd take without a second thought.

Recharging

Sorry for the lack of posts - to be honest currently I am suffering from a severe case of lack of motivation to do anything, including posting here.

Part of the problem is I'm a sports addict, and the internet (and Sky TV) makes it far too easy to watch sport where my time would be far more productive concentrating on what I earn my living from. The last week shows how easy it is to be distracted - from following the NZ team at the Junior World Orienteering Championships (and didn't they do well), watching Le Tour now they've reached the mountains and today I can watch over the internet the final day of the World Series of Poker where some lucky so-and-so will win over US$8 million.

Some time ago I identified that one of the biggest impediments to earning a living from sports betting was watching too much sport for fun. Which lately is what I've been doing! And so work calls from tomorrow night with the first England India cricket test and already I'm struggling for the motivation to go back onto night shift for five days; well, nights.

I think I need to start a self-help group - Sports Watchers Anonymous.

Back in Friday with a rugby test preview. The SPARC rant will have to wait.

P.S. Tim - I have no idea about the Air NZ Cup. I only watch it for fun :-) Seriously, it's not worth my time to invest in the competition as I'd have to bet on it through the NZ TAB. And therein lies a problem for me - being a self-employed sports better who is honest with the IRD I have a little problem called GST. If I earn money from overseas it is zero rated for GST purposes; yet if I bet through the NZ TAB and collect I'd have to pay 12.5% GST (and then income tax). So basically the NZ TAB is the last place on earth I'd place a bet with as it potentially costs me an extra 12.5%, therefore a domestic rugby competition is way down the list of priorities (like, last) when it comes to choosing what to bet on.

Swiss Cheese

Something the South African backline shares some characteristics with.

Yes, we have the All Blacks playing after a week off. In short:

If the ABs play badly - a 10-15pt win
If they play reasonable - a 20-25 pt win
If they play well? I shudder to think.

While I can see the forward battle being reasonably competitive, especially if Keith Robinson manages to get past the warm-ups, I hold very real fears for the Saffer backline coping with MacAlister and Toeava. If they actually catch more passes than they spill, gawd help the Bokkies.

I'm not betting the game - the handicap is around 23 points which is maybe a few points too many but I'm not prepared to back SAF covering it. Can't back the ABs on the match odds, while a NZ win by 13 and over is a paltry $1.32 on Betfair, which is possibly the best bet out of the lot but I won't take it.

So a sit and watch for me tomorrow night. Have a good weekend; come back next week as a major SPARC rant is brewing.

Statements from the Top

Geez I despair at sports administration in this country sometimes. The news that Kiwis Rugby League coach Brian McLennan is off to Leeds and has quit his NZ post shows that the broom swept through NZRL HQ has not exactly cleaned up the office.

It really was a simple situation. McLennan wanted to coach both Leeds and the Kiwis. Even Leeds were happy for him to do so. But oh no, NZRL digs its toes in and insists the Kiwis coach has to live in NZ to do the job. So Brian, rather unsurprisingly, says sayonara.

But what intrigues me about this story is the reported assurances McLennan was given in May by NZRL Chairman Andrew Chalmers that he could juggle both jobs. Obviously that is no longer the case. While there is obviously more to this story that what has been printed, it points to a problem that a lot of sport Head Honcho's have - they think they can make decisions or promises when they really don't have the authority to do so. Basically if it is in McLennan's contract that he must reside in NZ to coach the Kiwis, not even the Board Chairman can give an assurance to the contrary unless he has been given the green light to do so by the body empowered to make such a decision - which I would guess in this case is the full NZRL Board.

Here's another one from a much bigger Head Honcho - IOC President Jacques Rogge. In the press today is a headline screaming Rugby is a step closer to the Olympics, with Rogge quoted as saying "It's closer than ever" after Rugby has been included as a sport in the 2011 Pan American Games, being held in that rugby hotspot of Mexico.

Now, anyone who knows anything about the process of choosing sports for the Olympic Games program knows the ultimate decision-making body is the full IOC Assembly. Not Mr Rogge. Not even his Executive Committee. And it wasn't so long ago (2005 to be precise) that Rugby had a crack at getting into the Olympics and failed. So even though the IOC have changed the threshold for a sport to be chosen for an Olympics Games from 66% to 50% acceptance from the IOC Assembly, the reality is only 2-3 new sports have a chance of being included at any future Olympics and Rugby is still down the pecking order - behind (at least) softball and baseball which got voted out in 2005 by the slimmest of margins (1 and 3 votes).

So to say Rugby is "closer than ever" is a little misleading. And another example of a Head Honcho perhaps speaking outside of his powers. With the possible exception of Sepp Blatter, most leaders of sporting organisations do not have dictatorial powers and cannot make unilateral decisions, although quite a few think they can. Something 'Bluey' McLennan has learnt the hard way.

Thuggery

Now being a typical macho Kiwi bloke I don't mind the odd bit of biffo in a game of rugby, league or tiddlywinks. Ever since getting smacked in the head as a fourth-former playing prop (yes, I was a prop - one year after playing fullback, which is as impressive as my descent from opening bat to No. 11 in the cricket team - but I digress), I quickly appreciated the value of a bit of bush justice to sort out problems that the ref couldn't or wouldn't.

But there are boundaries that most normal sportsplaying people do not cross. And in this case the line seems to be well and truly overstepped. Even allowing for a bit of exaggeration, to read that a player has been repeatedly punched in the head while having his hands held by another player (supposedly trying to stop the fight) and also possibly having his jersey over his head is a little sickening. But there are a couple of things that really get up my nose.

One, the winger who ran in to stop the fight. Now we all know what wingers look like - usually a skinny white bloke (or possibly a Fijian). The fight was between a Samoan prop (his teammate) and a loose forward who just happens to be the brother of Wallabies prop Matt Dunning, so we'll make the not unrealistic assumption that he too, ate all his breakfast as a youngster.

Now what's a skinny white bloke running in to obstensibly stop a fight between two much bigger fellas and just happens to restrain the person - on the opposing team - who is getting his face punched in? You believe that, look for Santa coming down your chimney come Dec 25.

But what really pisses me off are the comments by the Warringah General Manager (Mark Dickens - take the "ens" off your name, tosser) who reportedly said because the players were sin-binned, "that was as far as the matter should have gone".

And he goes on: "Just because more punches were thrown, does it make it any worse than if one punch was thrown and a bloke goes down?"

Gee, I suppose the bank robber who nicks $100,000 is no worse than my stepson stealing 20 cents out of my wallet. Or the speeding driver doing 150km/h as opposed to 105 down the motorway.

What a fwit. 15 or 16 punches are infinitely worse than 1, especially without seemingly any reply. Not only should the prop and winger be thrown out of rugby for a rather long time, Mr Dickens should naff off until he can learn not to defend the indefensible.

Last word to Mr Dickens:

"Salesi is a gentleman. You will not meet a more nice-natured guy."

Well, if smacking someone in the head 15 or 16 times is the behaviour of a nice-natured gentleman, I'd hate to see his definition of a thug.

Weekend Wrap

Motivation to write is about high as the mercury at the moment - distractions abound with school holidays and the wife's birthday in the weekend. I could bang on about the Herald letting us know the rankings of our top tennis players (Dan King-Turner is up to a career-high 412 in the world; marvellous stuff) but even that joke is wearing a bit thin.

Despite the distractions, I managed to earn some moolah when for some reason England were $1.55 to win the last ODI against the West Indies and caught the replay of the Bok-Oz rugby test where I didn't bet. It doesn't surprise me the Boks covered the handicap, but they won't in the weekend - more about that in the days to come.

Not only is the weather depressing me - being July means most of the sport I want to watch/bet on is in the middle of the night and I would have loved to have been awake for the Wimbledon final. Over 30 million quid got traded on the men's final as the match wound through it's enthralling journey. I see Federer got as high as $2.42 in the final set when he was break points down; this rivalry with Nadal has the potential to keep us entertained (and making money) for quite some time to come.

Finally, an honourable mention and shout-out to the NZ team at the Junior World Orienteering Championships - four top-20 placings in the two events so far. I know I'm biased, but to me that's just as newsworthy as the mediocre rankings of our top tennis players.

Blade Runner

An article in last weekend’s Sunday Star-Times has led me to spending a few hours delving into the debate occurring over a 20 y.o. South African named Oscar Pistorius, the self-titled fastest man with no legs.

Probably not many in Aotearoa have heard, or care, about Oscar – but bear with me as it is an interesting story that touches on many things including dare I suggest our ingrained prejudices. You see, Oscar is a man with an Olympic dream – no, not the Special Olympics (been there, done that) – the real deal, the one in Beijing next year. And he’ll possibly get there too, that is if he is allowed.

Ah yes, the big IF. This story is doing the media rounds (again) as the IAAF have done a bit of a U-turn and announced he MAY be allowed to compete at the Olympics pending further research on whether he may have an unfair advantage. Yes, you read right. A bloke with no legs – amputated below the knee before his first birthday thanks to being born with no fibulae (that’s the bone from the knee to the ankle) – is suspected of having an unfair advantage thanks to pins made of carbon fibre rather than us normal blokes having to make do with blood and tissue.

Fuck me, what is the world coming to? I guess Mark Inglis had an advantage climbing Mt Everest over able-bodied people because he couldn’t get frostbite in his toes. Here we have a gifted young athlete – he can do the 400m (his specialist event) in less than 47 seconds – not allowing his disability get in the way of his dreams and what do people do? Question whether his racing pegs are so technologically superior that it gives him a leg up (yes, poor pun I know) over his competition.

Well, that’s easy to stamp out (oops, another one) straight away. If artificial limbs are so superior over normal bone and muscle, you’d be able to strap them onto some legless Fat Freddy who sits in front of his TV all day and turn him into a world-class athlete. But that’s not the case, is it? No, those leading the charge questioning what advantage hi-tech prosthetics give Oscar are probably the same insecure wankers who wanted Casey Martin out of the PGA Tour and Muttiah Muralitharan banned from playing cricket.

Yes, there are previous instances of people with disabilities or congenital defects succeeding in “able-bodied” sport and when they get to a certain level and are able to foot it (I’m on a roll here) with so-called elite athletes, the knockers come out and always suggest their success and achievements are down to some “special” reason or unfair advantage. Bollocks. Could it be that these are extraordinary people who have achieved despite not having the “normal” body that we associate with sportspeople?

And then I cast my mind back to 1982 – the Brisbane Commonwealth Games and the late Neroli Fairhall. You may not think so, but I’d bet my house if Neroli was shooting her bow and arrow in 2007 rather than 1982 there’d be people out there saying she has an unfair advantage sitting on her arse while her competitors have to stand.

So all power to Oscar – I hope he knocks another few-tenths of a second off his time to qualify and he’s allowed to go to Beijing. And to those who think this might turn out to be some sort of freak show, I’ve got news for you – sport already is. Anyone tuning into the rugby test last weekend had the CEO of the Australian Rugby Union telling us after the game what great “theatre” it was. Sport these days is about entertainment and money, not about “pure” competition. And I’d bet you if Oscar makes the final of the 400m next year at Beijing the global TV audience would increase a thousand-fold, if not more. Visa and Coca-Cola would be well pleased.

So, if Eddie the Eagle and Eric the Eel are allowed their 15 sec of fame, not to mention the unknown number who pump their bodies full of steroids, then perhaps Oscar should have the right to perform on the same stage.

Bugger

At times you wonder if there’s a higher power scripting sport. Of course the most competitive America’s Cup match in recent times has to be decided by a 1 second margin in what turned out to be the final race. That final puff of wind to appear out of nowhere to give the dead-in-the-water Kiwis one final sliver of hope, only to be dashed by a bad wave, proves to me not only is there a supreme being at work, but he (or she) has a nasty streak that almost matches mine.

As always, I’ll be watching the reaction to come out in the wash to this latest Kiwi sporting performance. Most of us will reflect on an honourable effort in defeat and I suspect there will be not much criticism of Team NZ, especially given the debacle four years ago when we lost the Cup.

But the cold hard fact is we lost. We came second. It always intrigues me the NZ public’s reaction to our efforts in the global sporting village and a lot of it comes down to prior expectation versus actual result. Which to me is inconsistent with what our Government through SPARC says our sporting philosophy should be – that winners are grinners and if you come second (or third, fourth etc), take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror and consider a change in vocation to macramé or origami.

I hesitate to hark back to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, but when Chantal Brunner gets pipped for a medal by 1 cm in the Women’s Long Jump or Paul Hamblyn (who?) misses out on a medal by 0.05 seconds in the 1500m, our Heineken-loving Sports Minister questions their mental toughness. Yet when we lose a yacht race by 1 second, it’s “hard luck chaps, great effort and here’s $10 million of taxpayer’s money for the next one”.

Yes, this is another dig at SPARC and their philosophy they have foisted on sporting organisations in this country. Of course the NZ effort in the America’s Cup proves there is such a thing as honour in defeat, you can finish somewhere other than first and be considered "successful", and our high performance sporting people should be funded accordingly. That we can give $10 million to the next America’s Cup campaign a nanosecond after FAILING to win it a few days after NZ Hockey miss out on $270,000 funding because of conceding a golden goal in overtime shows to me those controlling the purse strings for sport in this country still don’t have a fkg clue.

Weekend Wrap

OK, I'm offically spewing. Not because the All Blacks lost, but because I didn't friggin' win any money off it. In fact (be prepared to laugh), I was so sure NZ was going to run away with the game after halftime I backed them on the handicap during the break. I bet I wasn't the only one.

So for the third week in a row, we watch a team unable to convert a 9-point lead into a win. You don't have to be Einstein to work out what happened:

(a) not taking opportunities to score
(b) tackling below-par
(c) a certain referreeing decision

Of the list, (b) is the most worrying and to me reflects a little bit of complacency crept in on the flight from South Africa. So the loss may or may not be a good thing from a RWC point of view; unfortunately the MCG debacle may be (slightly) forgotten by the time we're in France if we smash the Aussies in the return fixture at Eden Park in a few week's time.

Bah humbug. Enough about the rugby. I can only take solace that the rest of the world might start to believe the ABs are not the shoe-in for the World Cup that perhaps was once thought and that ridiculous price on the winner's market (now out to $1.46) may continue to drift.

Now, does anyone else feel sorry for the NZ Mens Hockey team? They blew a 2-goal lead late in the final of the Champions Challenge to eventually lose in extra time to Argentina. According to the paper this morning, the loss not only means missing out on the Champions Trophy next year, but missing out on $270,000 of high performance funding from SPARC.

So, win a tournament that ranks you seventh in the world and you get $270,000. Finish runners-up in said tournament that ranks you eighth in the world and you get zilch. Just doesn't seem right to me. If our high performance hockey programme is worth supporting; support it. If not, don't. But to see such a large discrepancy in funding based on one tournament result is to me a joke - the team went through the tournament unbeaten (in reality they "drew" the final - extra time is played only to find a tournament winner) yet now come home with their Olympic build-up facing an uncertain future.

But of course the highlight of the weekend again comes from New Zealand tennis. Our darling top female player Marina Erakovic won her first career doubles title in the weekend, at some futures tournament in the wop-wops of Italy. I can't wait to see how much her doubles ranking improves from last week's 266. Such news really helps dull the pain of that All Black loss.