The gravel in your sporting ice cream.
“He’s thirteen, well done” – I’m downgrading my opinion of Michael Owen from boring to utter twat
Vijay Singh makes the most incredible ‘I’m going to go ahead and skip this one across the lake’ hole in one EVER, then wanders off
Everyone loves playing Jenga at the beach, but these nerds have added some impressive firepower
Ace Hockey goal – never thought I’d write those words, team
No sportreview.net.nz this week. Reading list ’til next time:
The No-Stats All-Star – Michael Lewis, NYT
Lance Armstrong Rides Again – Douglas Brinkley, Vanity Fair
The pain of pedal power – Simon Scardifield, The Times
‘Happiness was defined by the moment when you slotted a Subbuteo football past your best friend’s goalkeeper’ – Extracts of Graham Taylor and David Baddiel’s Subbuteo reminiscences, The Guardian
Sex, drugs and shoulder pads – The unbelievable story of the implosion of the Dallas Cowboys – Jeff Pearlman, The Observer
Non sport: Playing The Beatles Backwards: The Ultimate Countdown – Jamsbio
Best. Commentator. Ever. ‘Pour some sugar on me!’. We need this guy for Black Caps v India NOW (but none of this).
This is like one of those ACC ads. For God’s Sake, Don’t Go To The Football And Fall Asleep. YOU WILL BREAK YOUR FACE!
Fight! Fight! Fight! Gannets, seals, dolphins and frickin’ sharks all gang up on a bunch of sardines. *Spoiler* – the sardines lose.
Wussiest. Hockey Fight. Eva. This guy looks like a frickin’ Emo missing out on a Chuck Taylor sale. I thought the NHL was meant to be big tough lumberjacks and that?
I would love to see the All Blacks medics get involved like this, maybe with a ball and all tackle on the line, or some off the ball action at ruck time.
Back at work? Not happy? Skive off with a few rounds of Test Catch Cricket. It’s no penguin toss, sadly.
Bunch of hipster-types go to Austin, Texas to ride track bikes with Lance Armstrong. He kicks their arse.
2008 lacked last year’s dangling carrots of World Cup glory, or the crushing, crushing disappointment. Still, with the Olympics and Euro 2008 to go with full Rugby and Cricket programmes, there was plenty to watch, write and bet online about. Here’s what I learned:
Crusaders fans threatening to support Australia against the All Blacks have very short attention spans
TV reporters going to find Crusaders fans threatening to support Australia against the All Blacks look very foolish indeed
Graham Henry and Richie McCaw are pretty good at what they do
Even that won’t get Rattue back on side
The Black Caps are an effective test cricket side like a Jelly Tip is an effective sunhat
Ricky Ponting gets pretty narky when he loses
But then Andrew Symonds, Micheal Clarke, Mike Hussey and Brett Lee aren’t as good as we thought they were. At least Ponting can bat
Australia’s fall is a god send for sports writers and columnists filling word count over the holiday break
Hayden Roulston is a shit hot cyclist on the track and the road, and is just a fucking cool guy
Lance Armstrong is on Twitter
Even the Rugby League World Cup got exciting toward the very end after all
It’s not quite the same without Flem
Juande Ramos isn’t as good as I thought
I had to re-think my dim view of Harry Redknapp
Iain O’Brien is a pretty decent cricketer and blogger
W e can win Olympic golds after all
The Tour De France reached yet another low point despite the cool bikes – roll on 2009
Just getting rid of Bracewell isn’t going to fix everything
sportreview.net.nz related learnings include:
It’s nerve-wracking but fun to sit alone in a broom-cupboard-like studio to talk on the radio. I was stoked to be asked, and with with how it came out, managing to get a few pre-rolled zingers in
Bloggers don’t get picked to coach the Black Caps too often
I enjoyed scanning old photos and writing up my fav stadiums and trips
Robbie Deans is a double agent
Even with 15 minutes’ trouble to set up a CafePress store, people don’t buy your shit
PowerPoint is still the best for making cartoons
There’s nothing like a semi-organised cartoon archive
Kids make blogging time scarce – must focus
This year I really enjoyed JRod’s blog, and Hadyn Green’s Field Theory was always good for a Friday afternoon uniform debate. I met Graeme for a beer and to talk tactics. I joined Twitter, quit, and got back on it. This was my first year on a proper domain and on wordpress, and I’m very happy with both.
Thanks to everyone that’s read, commented and linked to sportreview.net.nz – I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Sometimes this blog feels like a ‘if a tree falls in the forrest, does anyone hear it’ situation, but I love doing it – your participation is much valued. I go by Wil Wheaton’s adage that “it doesn’t matter how many people ‘get’ your work, as long as the right people do’. You’re the right people. Ta.
We love whiskey and we love cigars.
Don’t believe us? Smell our cars.
Sorry for the ‘review being quiet lately – it seems one of the pre-requisites of a sports blog is *blogging*. I know. Here’s what’s been happening while real life has got in the way:
When me and a mate were trying to name the 1987 WC winning XV, John Drake was the last name we came up with – I only knew him much better as a commentator and columnist. I rate him alongside Tony Johnson as NZ’s best. Almost everyone paying tribute said he ‘had interests outside Rugby’, which is a sign of sanity. We’ll miss his thoughtful, forthright style in our house when Stu Wilson starts levering foot into mouth again next season.
Iain O’Brien’s blogging on Cricinfo now, and while JRod bemoans him jumping ship, it seems that Cricinfo are re-blogging Iain’s blogspot site, not the other way around. As Emma Hart said on Hadyn Green’s PA discussion, ‘I was listening to O’Brien getting the hell bounced out of him that day and thinking, wow, can’t wait to read his blog about this’. Too right.
Cockfighting aside, there’s no crueler game than golf – it was excruciating to watch Hamilton’s David Smail mess up the Australian Open yesterday evening. Brother of sportreview has played with David, and even with a hugely successful career in Asia, he’d have wanted to nail the Australian Open to go with his NZ Open. Still, Smail handled himself with dignity throughout, in that situation I would have definitely vomited.
Ben from Mike on Cricket now has his own pad @ Crucket. Get in there.
Sorry I missed Links on Friday this week. If I’d got around to it, the Wunder Boner would have probably made the cut.
Michael Jordan gets his arse handed to him by a desk jockey at some kind of ‘play your heroes’ camp. He’s not happy.
Here’s a pretty decent catch catch from the ICL. This guy shoud take notes.
Now you can bike hero to work, this kicks more ass than listening to Skynard on the bus.