In Hibernation (Once again)

I have periods where updating this blog comes down the list of things to do, and unfortunately I can't see it improving anytime in the near future. So back into slumber this blog goes for the time being - no doubt I'll be back one day.

Vintage Humour

Thought I'd share in some respects a humourous thread titled "Calling All People Who Like a Bottle of Wine":

I've been informed to avoid 2007 vintage new world wines. Apparently the grapes have been particularly sour this year.

Bitter thread imo

I suggest the HABANA Merlot from south africa, olde world charm with a smooth finish!!!!!

Anything ANZAC is looking a bit dodgy - lacking strength and clarity, with very little intensity. Some may say the vintage got picked to early, but at least it travels well, all 12,000 miles.

A couple of classic aussie whines for you. Pom victorie vintage 2003 (esp) and 2007. Not enjoyed by aussies due to the bitter and lingering after taste. Available from thrashers. Also available on dvd and on w w w . putacorkinitcampo . com

Lovers of older vintages may wish to try some Pinot All Noir. Despite repeated optimistic forecasts, the 1987 vintage is yet to be equalled. David Kirk "Cuvée L'Amateur" is the one to get

Despite a climate that is not conducive for growing talent, nor is reknown for its flair & versatility, The English 1991, & 2003 cava vintages are robust & full of fight, & whilst they do not appeal to the vast majority, they tend get the job done, with the 2003 vintage showing a cheeky little kick at the death. The 2007 scrumpy vintage, after a truly awful four years of failed apple harvest, is showing signs of a late surge, with the unexpected indian summer pulling a crop which was wet, withered, & ready for pig food, into a (very) potent little number.

I tried a South African sauvignon blanc with a 36.0% alcohol content recently - tres tasty. Off market now, but I do believe another with perhaps a reduced % will be available Sunday.

Moving Day

No, not the third round of a golf tournament - the next 2 days sees all my worldly possessions being transplanted from current abode to another 100 km's away. So sports and betting has taken a back seat over the last few days, including updating this blog.

But I did manage to catch most of the rugby and cricket over the weekend - India's win in the 20/20 was a surprise to me, as if you ran clips of their 20/20 performances and their recent ODI series against England side by side you'd have to wonder if aliens have suddenly inhabited their body.

The rugby is consuming most of my subconcious though - crossing fingers that Henry selects Howlett for the Romania match (somehow I don't think so) and wondering how much liability to carry through on the All Blacks into the real stages of RWC.

Once moved and settled in, three cricket series will take over the brain cells, starting on Saturday with perhaps the most interesting - Australia v India in an ODI series on the sub-continent. See you in a few days.

PS to Prekladatel - have replied to your comment.

Back In Black

Yeah that "Northland Blue" sucked - the RWC is about to start so I'm going back to the blackout.

I've run out of steam on the betting preview - I might get back to it Friday but with a ODI tonight I need to spend a bit of time thinking about earning money.

The Fix

Today, I thought I'd try my hand at a bit of fiction - y'know, story-telling, because if the following actually happened in real-life you wouldn't believe it.

There's this tennis match see, between a real good player called Nick Davedonko and a mediocre journeyman whose name is Marty Vaseline-Redyellow. Nick has been around for years and plays lots of matches and wins most of them and is currently ranked No. 4 in the world. On the other hand Marty struggles to earn a living on the tennis tour and more often than not has to bail out of his hotel room at 4 a.m. to avoid paying the bill.

They're both playing in some tin-pot tournament in the wop-wops of Poorland. Nick hurt his left toe in his first match and doesn't really want to play anymore as he has some real big matches coming up in the United States soon. But he can't pull out of the tournament otherwise he cops a fine from the Tennis Police. Also, Nick's brother who is rumoured to be involved with the Vodka Mafia is in a spot of bother after spending too much money recently on hookers and cocaine.

So Nick comes up with a plan and waltzes up to his next opponent Marty and suggests - NUDGE NUDGE WINK WINK - not to book the train out of the tin-pot town they're in until the day after tomorrow. Then Nick tells his brother his toe is throbbing more than his appendage does at the sight of Maria Sharapova.

Nick puts 2 and 2 together and rings his Mafia boss. "Look Guv, can you spot me a couple of G's for some info?.... Yeah you can? ... Alright, Nick's just told me his toe's in a spot of bovver and he's throwin' the towel in, y'know what I mean?"

The boss certainly did know what Nick's brother meant. By the time the match between Nick and Marty starts, the odds on Nick winning - which he could normally do with one arm tied behind his back - have shifted from an understandable $1.20 to an extraordinary $2.40. Marty the mediocre journeyman is suddenly the favourite everywhere to win.

But there's one problem. Marty actually has to win, and Nick can't retire from the match until at least one set is completed because some bookmakers don't pay out on matches unless one set is played - thanks to the occasional suspicion on the tennis tour that some matches get fixed. But of course they don't, that's just conspiracy theory nonsense.

I should mention at this point that in recent years, a new phenomenon has swept the gambling world where you can bet on sports events during play. A lot of this action occurs at a place called Betngetrobbed. So the match starts out - remember Nick is paying an unbelievable $2.40 to win - and all Marty has to do is hit a few balls over the net for an hour or so and he'll be into the quarter-finals and a healthy paycheque.

Trouble is, someone slipped a note under Marty's hotel room door overnight telling him if he doesn't win this match his cat will be strung up on his clothesline, so understandably he's a little nervous. So nervous in fact, that he starts off playing real bad (even for him) and midway through the first set has to call the trainer for a nose bleed, he's so stressed. He goes back on court with cotton wool stuffed up his nasal passage, but his biorhythm's are seriously out-of-sync and poor old Marty loses the first set 2-6, having hit only two winners the whole set.

Meanwhile, the punters at Betngetrobbed think all their Xmases have come at once - the World No. 4 starts off paying $2.40 against some no-name, Nick wins the first set and he is STILL paying $2.40 to win the match! Now a few of these punters who have been around the block a few times smell a rat, but the vast majority of these lemmings just wade in with maxed out credit cards.

Now Nick starts to worry. He knows his brother's testicles will join the cat on the clothesline if he wins this match so when no-one's looking, he kicks a chair on the sideline with his sore toe and immediately crumples to the ground in agony. The trainer comes over and looks at his toe, applies some first-aid so Nick can manfully soldier on. And Nick does, but eventually has to retire in the third set when the pain becomes too great to bear.

Unfortunately for Nick, his brother and his Mafia boss, the lemmings have this time cried enough and forced the blind mice who run Betngetrobbed to contact the Tennis Police. And here the story must end, perhaps I might write Chapter 2 in a week or two.

DISCLAIMER: This story is purely a work or fiction and any resemblance to actual persons is purely co-incidental. Yes, I know Martin Vassallo-Arguello beat Nikolay Davydenko in the second round at Sopot; wow, was there really 3.5 million quid matched on Betfair for that game? You don't say ...

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.

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.

Double standards?

Sometimes I love our country, so rich in irony and double standards, aptly displayed at Mt Eden Prison earlier this week when the convicted murderer of a 17 y.o. boy (killed in a Chubb security van) refused to travel from the prison to the Court of Appeal in a ... yes, Chubb security van over concerns for his safety.

So this wailing and gnashing of teeth over the weakened Bok side travelling to these parts is a bit mountain and molehill stuff isn't it? While most of the noise is emanating from the other side of the ditch, given our track record (not only in this year's Super 14, but end of season tours to the northern hemisphere), shouldn't we be hiding under our blanket and saying nowt?

Why is the Tri-Nations any different to the June and November test windows that have seen weakend sides for years? Why should we be so presumptious to criticise how another nation prepares for the World Cup and when it chooses to rest their players?

Actually, I think the Boks are being crafty. The biggest danger to a team's chances at RWC will be injury from now on - as the days to Sept 7 reduce, the more potential there is for a player to be unable to recover from any injury sustained. And, given the bashings the southern hemisphere sides give each other, it ain't the most stupidest decision I've seen.

Leave the Boks alone. Their right to do whatever they see fit to prepare for RWC. If you want to point the finger, point it at the greedy rugby unions and TV paymasters who schedule such bone-crunching test matches shortly before the RWC kicks off.

P.S. I still don't think we're going to get the Auld Mug. I still hope I'm wrong. Test preview tomorrow.

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.

Priorities

OK, I'm expecting a bit of flak for this one and I'd admit it doesn't take much for me to fire up, but the news Chris Jack may miss the South African test the weekend after next because his wife is due to give birth has me seething.

In case anyone has forgotten, international sport is war without guns - it is a time when nations collide head-on to decide who has the biggest kahunas and for Jack to get in touch with his feminine side when we are about to go up against the arch enemy would have Peter Jones and Kevin Skinner wondering why they spilt so much blood all those years ago.

Especially as we are facing our biggest crisis (with all the injuries to locks) since the Reserve Bank decided to take the world financial markets on. He's almost last man standing, and what does he decide to do? Go and hold his wife's hand while she pushes out some ugly sprog that will keep him awake at night for the next 18 years.

And while I'm at it, I know All Blacks are not exactly known for their intelligence but can someone teach these defenders of our nationhood how to count to 40? Next time any of them want to bonk their wife, girlfriend, mistress, boyfriend (have to be PC these days don't we) - whatever - tell them to look up a calendar, or better still - ban sex for international rugby players in the months of September and October so we don't have this ludicrous situation again.

Sheesh.

P.S. Can someone go and bonk Helen Clark in about 6 months time so she misses next year's election due to giving birth? Cheers.

Checking the Odds

I've got an hour to kill before the cricket starts, so it's time to get some of the rustiness out of these fingers. Will probably be a lame post, but hey I don't force you suckers to read this.

The good news is my headspace is getting more into sports and money than the little shit. Even better news is I'm about to collect - barring any unforseen thunderstorms cropping up out of nowhere over Manchester in the next 8 hours - not as much as I should have thanks to falling asleep at an inopportune time (you try working from home at night, epecially at weekends, when part of a family that unsurprisingly operates during the day) - but enough to make me want to go out and splash out on a decent coffee instead of the instant crap I've put up with lately.

So I'm getting back on the horse, spending the day checking odds and thinking ahead. By the time you read this the cricket will probably be over, but the unexpected resistance shown by the West Indian batsmen chasing 455 has at least piqued the interest of the traders in the Betfair market and after a day where England's price refused to budge from sub-1.10, a bit of panic set in towards the end and currently England are 1.24 to win.

At 301-5, another half hour of no wickets should see real panic set in which has me licking my chops - as people panic I'll go in calmly and take chunks of England, for they are still sub-1.10 shots in my book. If the Windies pull off the miracle, good on them but I'd rather have more money riding on the more likely outcome.

Thinking ahead doesn't mean just one day. Already I'm checking the weather forecasts for the fourth test starting on Friday; a posting on Sportsfreak made me look up the America's Cup market on Betfair and I'm also regularly checking both the Tri Nations and World Cup rugby markets.

The NZ TAB aren't able to offer betting on the America's Cup (as Yachting NZ won't sanction them to do so - killjoys), but on Betfair we see Alinghi are $1.56 to retain the auld mug while Team NZ are $2.74. Hmmm - reminds me of four years ago when NZ were favs to retain it and we all know how that ended up, don't we? Broken masts and the bailing bucket brigade. But one of the golden rules is stick to the knitting so I'm not tempted (just).

Looking forward to some decent rugby soon; have backed South Africa for a small amount in the Tri-Nations at $3.50 but not really expecting to collect - it's been well documented they won't be sending their first XV on the away leg later on - so I'll look to lay off when they win their two games at home (heh). The NZ TAB have them at $1.25 to beat Oz in the weekend - I was expecting $1.20 so the Saffers at the handicap is looking a likely bet.

And in the RWC markets, a 50-point win over France C hasn't had much effect on the NZ price (currently $1.46), not that you'd expect it to. This market won't move until SAF-NZ the weekend after next.

So that's my day at the office - yeah I know, will have you running off to betterworkstories.co.nz, but I haven't had one for a while and it feels bloody good.

Spot the contradiction(s)

From the NZ Herald this morning ...

A former top American windsurfer who suffered debilitating long-term injuries after a water collision involving Olympic champion Bruce Kendall says what caused the accident needs to be determined before she will accept a settlement.
Kimberly Birkenfeld now uses a wheelchair after the accident in August 2002 when her windsurfer and a boat being driven by Kendall collided in waters off Greece.
Birkenfeld originally sought US$15 million ($19.86 million) in damages from Yachting New Zealand (YNZ) and Kendall, her former coach.
However, YNZ and Kendall won orders limiting the amount of funds payable to about $500,000, which was upheld by the High Court and the Supreme Court after Birkenfeld appealed.
YNZ has not admitted liability for the accident but has offered on several occasions to pay Birkenfeld the full amount, which she has declined.
YNZ and Kendall yesterday asked the High Court at Wellington to order a stay of proceedings and YNZ also sought an order for the limited funds to be distributed to Birkenfeld.
Birkenfeld, who represented herself, sought to strike out Kendall's application as well as directions for discovery. Justice Anthony Randerson reserved his decisions.
Birkenfeld told the court it was not about the money. She said she needed to know what happened and wanted liability determined.


Oh yeah, take the ABs with the handicap (SO LONG as the weather is ok). By 50+ I reckon.

Back in Print

Sort of. Spasmodically. And the Chief Censor has asked me to state up front not to read on if you are a sensitive soul and will be offended by the use of the F word and the C word as there will be a few of them. Actually probably a lot.

Not that I'm in a bad mood. Far from it - I'm almost back to normal after a hellish few weeks. And I bet all my four regular readers are dying to know what has been going on. OK, you probably aren't but I'm going to tell you anyway.

The (very) short story is I have a 13 y.o. stepson who either has just had a bodybuilder's dose of testosterone or is on P (overseas readers: P is another name for methamphetamine; speed etc). I hope the former but suspect the latter. And of course the latter is (too) vigourously denied.

It all started one evening when during a gentle discussion (alright, heated argument) I lost it when he told me (and I quote verbatim) "fuck off you cnut". Now usually I do have some sort of self-control but not at this particular moment and during a moment of rage smashed his TV. OK, probably not conducive to a harmonious family environment but it was a choice between his face and the TV, and I think I made the right choice. Although I'm still not 100% sure of that. Well at least Constable Yandall told me I did.

Oh yes the cops got involved. During Round 2 (a wrestling match on the lawn) he told me (again I quote) "I'm going to fucking kill you, you cnut", a threat he repeated some days later when we had Round 3 and I also learnt he had told some friends he was going to get a knife and stab me. Possibly not genuine but on the off chance his suspected drug-addled brain decides to carry out said threat at least the cops won't have to look too far.

Suffice to say he and I no longer live under the same roof - I do have a few things to do before I'm 6 foot under - and the last couple of weeks have seen trying to sort out this mess, and my head, at the cost of working.

Which swings me back to betting (after all this is a sports and betting blog); after a stupid overbet on the first cricket test between England and the West Indies I had to knock betting on the head until my brain was in a fit state to function. Unfortunately gambling (for a living) requires clarity of thought and if you don't have a clear head, it's down tools and baked beans.

I'm nearly there - which means I might also start to post back here - but not regularly yet.

And a final word. It's a fucked up country when a 13 y.o. can threaten to kill and the cops can't do anything because he's too young, yet if I so much as lay a finger on him from July 1 I can be done for assault. I'd like to send the little shit down to live with Sue Bradford for a month and whoever drafted the Care of Children Act that gives parents responsibilites rather than rights.

Actually in the visit to the lawyer (yep, cops, lawyers - if this had been a reality TV programme it would have rated through the roof) he told me as a step-parent I don't have protection under Section 59 of the Crimes Act anyway. Brilliant - how the fuck are welded together families meant to teach right from wrong if you can't give a little shit a kick up the arse occasionally?

But this is a sports and betting blog. And it will return to that next post (whenever that may be) now that I've had a little self-therapy banging away on the keyboard. Have a good week.

What's wrong?

Super 14 previews will be up later in the day/early evening, but on my mind at the moment is what is wrong with Roger Federer?

One of the most dominant sportspersons on the planet looked like rolling through 2007 as he did in 2006 (with the exception of a few clay finals against Nadal). Another Australian Open crown without dropping a set, and then off to the US Hardcourt swing where a couple of losses to Canas did not raise too many eyebrows.

But his overnight loss to Volandri (who?) certainly will. While Volandri is a reasonable tennis player on clay, perhaps a bit better than his ranking of 53 would suggest, the FedEx should be able to beat him with one arm.

All we need now is Nadal to pick up an injury and the European clay season will suddenly get interesting.

Oh Yeah!

Yes I know the America's Cup is a playground for rich boy's toys. Yes it is a huge waste of money. Yes there are more Kiwis on the Yank boat than the NZ one.

BUT

When the Yank media proclaim the Loius Vuitton series a one-horse race after Round 1, when I wake up this morning and find little ol' NZ gave Oracle the full 6 inches up the rear - or 94 seconds, take your pick, in the words of Frankie Stevens (NZ Idol) ....

Oh Yeah!

94 seconds is a thrashing. About the same as a 92-3 scoreline in rugby. There ain't nothing I like better than seeing Americans failing in sport when their public expect them to win (which is why I love the World Basketball Champs) - except maybe a Crusaders loss in the weekend.

OK OK

- I've got rid of the poo brown and pink (I'm just bored with black - not good when I'm in a shit of a mood)
- LB you know you're more than welcome to rip off anything from here at any time
- Good to hear from you Ray; I'm making enough to keep the wolves from the door :-)

Facelift

A week off means I've got time to piss around and do odd jobs - one of them was to give this site a fresh coat of paint and update it a bit. Amazingly I still get new visitors so there's an updated welcome and other tinkering.

Yawn

I think I need a holiday.

As I watch Australia waltz away to another comfortable win at the Cricket World Cup, it's just struck me how many supposed sporting contests are recently anything but (a contest). There hasn't been a great finish to a match since England v Sri Lanka, the winning margins in the Super 14 are getting larger and out of sheer desperation I tuned into the first round of the America's Cup, only for that to be cancelled due to lack of wind. Which I found amusing as with our beloved Prime Minister on Team NZ's boat as 18th man (oops, person?), there would have been plenty of hot air to fill our yacht's sails at least.

Part of it is frustration - match-ups which on paper look appealing turn out to be one-sided, although it has to be said that there is a significant influence on winning the toss in the cricket matches. Which makes Jayawardene's decision to bat first this morning very suspicious considering they were resting Murali and Vaas - oh yeah that's right, lets avoid Australia in the semi-final. Hopefully NZ won't do the same thing.

Part of it is sleep deprivation - after the umpteenth night-time spent watching cricket followed by broken sleep during the day (school holidays, who the fuck invented them? Kids don't need a holiday - I DO). Yep, you don't need to be an adventure racer to discover the sleep monster.

Maybe I got spoiled earlier this year with all those last-minute thrillers in the early rounds of the Super 14 and those fantastic run chases by the Black Caps. Or maybe I just need a break.

Blogrest

A combination of sickness, doing some work for the NZ Orienteering Championships which are being organised by my club this weekend, and lack of sleep from watching too many cricket games means I don't have the time to put up my normal Super 14 preview.

I haven't had the chance to prepare for this weekend's round - one of the fundamentals of betting is don't part with your money unless you know what you are doing, and this weekend I don't. Normal service will resume next week. Have a good Easter.