The Orange

So Stacey Jones gets one of Herr Helen’s people’s awards that are completely meaningless to anyone except for a few tree huggers.

Given what he’s done in the last month, he should be given a knighhood, the freedom of Auckland, and a couple of Northland townships thrown in.

Sir Stacey has a ring about it … and he was close to getting a ring in the NRL too!

Perhaps that’s the only sad part about Sir Stacey leaving the Warriors is that he will never get the ring he deserves.

Having said that, the club survived for ten years based on his name, his ability, and his drawing power.

Most points, games, interviews, and everything else in between.

It is sad to see him go, but his legacy (leaguacy???) will live on in the Warriors in the years to come. It may even be benificial – his salary can be spread over a few players and the opposition won’t have to target one player to blunt the team.

What’s sadder is that dickheads have forced him out of New Zealand. Still, he leaves the dickheads behind and gets to have a few vinos in the south of France.

Good on ya Sir Stacey.

Interesting stats from the Granny Herald about who watched what on the goggle box in 2005.

The top ranked sports event was the NFL Superbowl – in one respect not a big surprise but the 98% Yank and 2% everyone else is a little bit intriguing.

I would have expected soccer … I mean, football, to rank higher but in the absence of a world cup or European champs/whatever, there was a genuine blobal event. Still, the Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Mafioso was the number two event.

The stats do show one thing – that NZ sports are so far off the international radar we don’t exist. It is amazing the number of people who still think rugby matters on the world stage – the World Cup helps but these figures show how far off the big time we are.

Mind you, I don’t care how many watch so long as we beat the Aussies in whatever sport we play.

Talk about making every post a winner … an Irish jockey did except it was the wrong one!

He thought he’d won the race, started celebrating and by the time the REAL winning post was passed, so was our jockey friend.

It’s happened in New Zealand – more often in harness racing when they go round so many times I’m surprised the horses and drivers aren’t dizzy.

The other thing that makes me laugh is that it happened AFTER the jockey turned professional! Would seem to be a bit amateurish to me.

See yesterday’s post.

Sorry, nothing witty or sporty to say.

It is the day after Boxing Day. Read yesterday’s post if you really must.

In any case, I think it is sad that I should even be thinking about writing a post in the middle of the holidays.

What’s worse, is that you are actually reading this!

It could be worse tho. As punishment for not having a life, I should really make you watch replay of the Knights games!

You expect that there is some litigious lawyer (is there any other type?) waiting to sue someone because Boxing Day sport isn’t about, um, boxing.

It’s more like Day Two of Xmas rather than Day Tua. (I kind of like that last sentence!)

However, Boxing Day is more like horse racing, the Sydney Hobart yatch thingy, and of course the Boxing Day test (admittedly an Aussie invention). We used to have our own Boxing Day test but it was too successful so NZCricket had to can the idea.

So you would think I would be glued to the box on Boxing day.

As if.

So far, there’s been two year old replays on the Living Channel. Living??? That channel is terminally ill.

Then there’s the food channel with all the voyeuristic characteristics of porn. So I’m told.

Or one of the zillions of cartoon channels.

And what happens when it’s time for a break from TV … SingStar and Buzz on PS2!!!! OK, I’m the Buzz Superstar but it still isn’t sport.

Thank goodness for cricinfo.org and the TAB site!

So Xmas may have come and gone, but what would I have wanted under my Chrissy tree from a sporting point of view?

1. Success for the Warriors – given the Kiwis rousing display in the Tri Series, surely we can expect more from the Warriors under Ivan The Great? Given that the Tigers were 150-1 at one stage of the 2005 season, it might just give us something to base our hopes on.

2. Another major for Cambo – the guy is a sporting legend but, more importantly, he seems to remember the bad times and what it took to get where he now is. He never seems to have forgotten his past – the people, the experiences, the country.

3. A win for the Knights – we have to be realistic here.

4. Radio Sport to ditch Willie Lose-with-a-silent-L. Tony “The Man They Call” Veitch can go too.

5. A top order for the Black Caps.

And if you believe the last one, you may as well believe in Santa!

OK, here’s the last of the what they think stories, this time from our mates across the ditch.

The Ockers certainly had a few things to celebrate, none more so than the success of the Socceroos. As an aside, now that Soccer is no longer soccer in Oz, does that mean they are now the Footballoos (which sounds more like something you’d get in a curry house).

Honourable mention of the AB’s … as an “Australasian” success. The fact that Cambo has a house in Oz and married an Oz was enough to convince the Ockers that Cambo was really an Aussie in disguise.

Which of course reminds us of the famous story (it may even be true) of the headlines prepared in advance for Phar Lap’s first international race:

Anyway, here’s what the Sydney Morning Herald thinks about 2005.

Here’s something for those of you who still that rugby and the AB’s matters a toss outside a few poxy islands in the South Seas (according to the Welsh RFU team’s Aussie coach).

As an aside, he originally said NZ was just two poxy islands in the South Seas. He was quick to apologise as he’d forgotten about Stewart Island.

Anyway, this is what the Guardian thinks are the sports highlights of the year.

Note that in rugby, there is no mention of the AB’s or New Zealand by name. Also find out more rivetting stuff like … Carlos Spencer had his chainsaw stolen. It cuts me up …

Don’t know about hard, but definitely at it.

A bad day at the races definitely beats any day at the office. It was pretty sad when I needed an inquiry to give me a second collect for the day (albeit very deserving!) and it was the LAST race.

The trick to punting is to analyse the field without emotion.

The trick to winning is obviously not doing any analysis.

Assuming that because number 11 won the previous race it won’t win again just ain’t analytical enough. Number 11 won three races … in a row.

Ditto jockeys. Almost home town boy Chad Ormsby turned up and turned on a side show of his own. He won three races … in a row.

By the end, I was desperate and backing the fillies … those leading the horses around. I had more success at the tote with this method than any other form of logic.

Which just proves the old story:

Q: How do you become a millionaire through horse racing?
A: Start as a billionaire.