The Orange

I’d hate to work out how many hours I’ve spent watching the Warriors.

Say 20 games a year – most years more – times 10 years times 2 hours … that’s a lot of time!!! (Actually, is around 400 hours which is … a lot of time!).

Sunday’s game was bizarre.

The Warriors didn’t seem to try that hard but couldn’t do anything wrong.

The Bunnies tried at times but could get nothing wrong.

It even got to the stage – half way through the first half – where the result was predictable. Strange but predictable.

I made a comment over recently about the Warriors getting a hard time, comparing them to the Kiwi boy in Scotland who got abused for wearing a Pommy soccer shirt. Strange but predictable

The point I was really making was about the public attitude – whatever the Warriors do, there’s always some one ready to stick the boot in.

There does appear to be a lot of positives emerging from this year.

Cleary clearly looks the goods as coach.

The old guys – Price and Wiki – are still up for it.

Some of the established players – particularly Ropati – are playing like they aren’t young guys.
And we’re starting to see a few younger guys – Mannering, Ah Ratstail among them – develop which should be the case given Auckland is the largest nursery of league talent. (Funny how Mannering came from Nelson then!)

Still, the Warriors are one short of a 50% record this season and have the second best differential in the league. While they are still 6 points shy of the top 8, they have a bye to come and look like they could be on a roll.

Four for more I say!

… is usually a ball or wheel.

But in this case, the round object is a soccer ball and for 89 minutes plus plenty of seconds, the Footballeroos (we can’t call the bootiful game soccer, now can we??) looked like they were going to make the last 8 of the world cup … sorry, the FIFA World Cup.

Where we were?

That’s right … the Aussies making the last 8 when the walls came crashing down around them.

Unfair!

Ripped off.

Downright dodgy!

How many times has the God of Last Minute Get-out-of-Jail tricks smiled on the Aussies? How often has the cheating hand … oops the cruel hand of Aussie cricket umpires got them out of jail? Kaplan at the Cake Tin? The NRL’s judiciary the week before the Kiwis play?

To see the Aussies – or at least some of them – complain that everything was so unfair just showed how fair sport is.

You gotta love our mates across the ditch.

Last year, they could barely beat the Waimarino Second XV (rumour has it they oulled out at the last minute). A record number of losses in a row leads to the coach biting the magic bullet.

This year, the beat an awful Pommy team (the first game was simply dreaful) and then deal to the Paddies and – viola – they are now the best team in the world.

No jokes – Irish label Aussies world’s best.

Now the heading is a little cute really. What it really should state is: “Aussie Media Believe Irish Label that Aussies World’s Best”.

It could be a Tui ad – or an Irish joke.

The facts make for some interesting reading.

Yes the “AB”s (so called because no one knows whether it’s our A, B or C team) played an experimental – dare I say it – trial team against the Irish. The track conditions did not suit open rugby but suited the kick and clap game of the Northern Hemisphere.

The Aussies win came against second rate Poms or against a deflated and tired Irish team all on a dry track.

Let’s see how good the “world’s best” are on a heavy track against the A team in Christchurch.

It’s not like we haven’t said it before, but the Super 14 wasn’t as super as the powers that be would have liked.

Stuff it: Crowd Figures not so super

Total attendance was up, average attendance was down.

Total games played was up, average quality was down.

In this case, 1 plus 1 equals the square root of 4.

Ok, first off, good on the Aussies for making the round of 15 and Brazil.

The results against Japan and Croatia showed that Aussie spirit … and don’t the Aussie media tell us. From the reading webs from the other side of the ditch, you would think no team has ever won after falling a goal behind in the history of soccer except for the Aussie battlers.

And – just in case you missed it – the Aussies are the proponents of new football – the way of the future. I jest not.

At the same time, you have to admire what the Aussies have done, particularly given the state of football less than 12 months ago. The A league – a sell out 45,000 final – demonstrated the potential.

The only sad point is that the Aussies are doing all this as the representatives of Oceania and these results COULD have backed the case for direct entry for Ocenia to the World Cup … oops, sorry, I mean the FIFA World Cup (to differentiate from some other World Cup).

In the future, the Aussies will be part of Asia because we all know how Aussies love and cherish people of non-European descent.

Given the scandal unveiling in Italian football, it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see the Aussies win. And there won’t be enough trees in the world or web sites for the Aussie media to tell us about it.

I hope someone actually appreciates the post title … even if I did flog it from the days of Eric Cantona.

Anyway, Eric kungfu kicked a fan after being sent off with the headline the following day: SHIT HITS THE FAN.

Anyway, it appears a young half Kiwi lad in soccer was hit by a thug for wearing a Pommy soccer shirt – read about it here:

NZ boy in England soccer shirt attacked in Scotland

Quite frankly, it is appalling.

Mind you, in NZ, every week 17 people get beaten up, spat onto, abused, and other wise ridiculed. But that’s what happens when you play for the Warriors.

I like to extract the urine within these pages, particularly with reference to myself. It’s not hard, believe me.

This is one of the exceptions.

Ken Browne – the jumps jockey – has died. The legend remains.

For those who are unfamiliar with the story, in a nutshell here it is – at the age of 67, Ken was still riding racehorses over steeplechase fences.

While many of his age were struggling to get out of bed or off the couch, Ken was jumping on racehorses and competing head to head – and often beating – people more than 50 years younger.

In many respects, Ken and his wife Anne were single-handedly (OK, there were two of them but they worked together) responsible for keeping jumps racing alive in New Zealand. Ken and Anne’s famous colours – brown with red armbands – were seen in all the major jumps races and on many occasions, there were more Browne runners than others.

While his impact on the racing industry is real, his impact on the wider racing community can’t be underestimated.

The adage – you are only as old as you feel – could have just about been written for Ken Browne. Many people in their 60’s struggle with their quality of life, yet Ken Browne was still out there competing in one of the most dangerous and competitive sports there is.

Sadly, the last five years of his life were spent in a wheelchair after – almost inevitably – a riding accident. Ken of all people knew the risks – not only did he deal with them everytime he rode a horse, but the Brownes had lost a son in a polo accident.

While Ken has passed away, his legend will live on and it can only be helped that the Brownes colours – possibly worn by his grand-daughter Missy – we still feature in the winner’s circle this year and in the years to come.

Here’s what the NZ Herald had to say:

Some of the more enlightened of you will wonder why a story about WAG’s is classified under Soccer. Others will be demanding that the site’s records manager change the classificication to Football.

Which is still missing the point of this post.

Ever wonder why the Poms are such a disappointment on the park?

Obviously, all their focus goes on the things that happen off the park.

Now I always thought Wag was a name for a dog. Close. (You may wish to laugh after you read this story:

NZ Herald – 20 June 2006

It’s always a touchy issue (mind out of the gutter please!) – the idea of a bit of bedroom athletics before the game.

In this case, someone needs to ask the question – why would you bother? Posh and the other trollops aren’t worth the trees that are processed daily to keep up to date with the soap opera that is there lives.

I may be doing Posh a disservice. Not that I care. But the point is do I rarely care what Posh is eating or drink or am I more interested in what the score is when Swedes play the Turnips (an oldie but a goodie).

And strange that this same drivel isn’t warn out for the female athletes … do we can what Mr Van Dyk buys at Mitre Ten?

I thought there was a world cup on somewhere …

You know you’re in trouble when you start quoting Gary Glitter.

Mind you, where would American sports be without Rock’n'Roll Part II? Having said that, most Vietnamese won’t be interested in American sports when it comes to Gary Glitter.

So, what’s my excuse.

Simple really. This is a sports blog. And with the amount of sport that’s been happening over the last couple of months, I’m just grateful I’ve found time to breathe let along blog.

So let’s say I’ve been doing active research other the last couple of months.

It hasn’t stopped the spammers tho. My favourite has to be “Your site is very cognitive. I think you will have good future.:)”. Ummm … if you think this site IS congnitive, then you really haven’t read it, have you? And my name’s not Jane but thanks for the nice thoughts.

Anyway, having cleaned out 673 spam posts (I didn’t count them myself but believe me, they were all there!) I am now ready to return with more insightful comments and objective analysis.

OK, let’s be honest, I am ready to return with some insightful comments and some half-arsed analysis which is not the same as congnitive analysis.

If this blog is cognitive, then the Pomgolians will win the We-don’t-call-it-soccer-anymore World Cup.