This is Eden Park in Auckland. It’s a nice enough footy field. But it’s only a footy field. So why is it such a graveyard for Aussie rugby dreams? What are they spraying on the turf that makes it so Wallaby repellent? It’s 28 years since Australia beat the All Blacks on this ground, or…
Month: August 2014
An unexpected podium finish
As regular readers might have worked out, I’m not about to make an Olympics team in a hurry. Age being one factor, talent another. Plus a general aversion to cardio. In my teenage years, I was a cross country runner of middling capability, a gymnast who unexpectedly won a regional competition despite a fear of…
Reader’s request: “Where’s my blog?”
Reader’s Request is as the same suggests. You choose what I write about. Today, a salutary lesson in sports obsession. In the coming weeks, a deep dive into thumb wrestling. Leave your requests in the comments section. Somewhere between elite sportspeople and weekend joggers is a class of athlete I call the nutbag. Not for…
Wanted: a girlfriend for Rory McIlroy
Around May 21 this year, Rory McIlroy made a phone call that was to cost Adam Scott the World No. 1 golf ranking. Scott had only secured the top spot three days earlier. For Australian fans, it had been a loooong 16-year wait for one of our own to hold the mantle of world’s top…
“I don’t condone violence against women… but…”
“Now look, I don’t condone violence against women…” When someone says those words, it’s a good idea to brace yourself for some idiocy to follow. Because all too often, they don’t stop there. There’s a pause, then a ‘but’, then the insertion of a size 12 foot in an equally large gob. There has been…
Runner sets bad example by… um… running
If the stoush between Eric Hollingsworth and Sally Pearson was an episode of Judge Judy: Judge Judy: Mr Hollingsworth, what do you do as head coach for Athletics Australia? Hollingsworth: Well, I provide support to athletes and coaches as they prepare for domestic and international competition. Judge Judy: (Frowning over her glasses) Support? Hollingsworth: That’s…
kazblah 