Back in February, when it was announced Australia would make its Eurovision debut, even I didn’t fancy our chances. Not that we weren’t good enough or couldn’t bling it. This is after all the land of Peter Allen, Dame Edna Everage, Kylie Minogue and Baz Luhrmann. We know our way around a sequin. But, not…
Tag: Vladimir Putin
Friday funnies: And the numpty of the week is…
You have to wonder at the particular brand of knuckle-headedness that governs cycling. This week, at the Giro d’Italia, there was a positive story to be had. Not the failed drug test kind of positive but a solid gold good news story. Worthy of a Chariots of Fire soundtrack. That good. The scene opens on…
The year in sport… in song
Who better than Miley Cyrus and the cast of Deliverance, among others, to recap some of the highlights — and lowlights — of the year in sport? Budget schmudget Vladimir Putin spent $US51 billion staging the Sochi Olympics, more than every other Winter Games combined. It wasn’t enough to adequately furnish the facilities, light up…
Sports pursuits for our G20 visitors
Dear world leaders. Welcome to Australia. I will be your sports concierge during your G20 visit. Any sport you’d like to see or try, to take your mind off the weighty problems of the world, I’m your guy. For those of you with tickets to the much hyped Shirtfront Showdown between Tony ‘The Duke’ Abbott…
Eurovision: It’s not over till the bearded lady sings
As Austria’s Conchita Wurst belted out her Eurovision power ballad Rise Like A Phoenix, the Twittersphere lit up with calls for the song to feature in the next Bond movie. And why not? It has all the required elements. Rousing lyrics, a soaring melody, dramatic instrumentation. But let’s not stop there. Why not make Conchita…
An Olympics volunteer shares a nation’s lament
Hello again, is Vladimir. Has been a while, da? I share you secret. I have intoxicated. I am drunk whole bottle vodka. Twice. Now I have hurt in head from vodka and hurt in heart from ice hockey. All of Russia is like bear with sore head. We can’t believe we lose Olympic ice hockey….
She’s baaaaaaaack
Ten years ago, the unfolding Athens Olympics drama of Jana Pittman’s Knee provided some fantastic sport for these pages (or the emailed missives that preceded them). There were daily knee updates, media pursuits on crutches, odd Greek-inspired fashion statements, Princess Leia side buns, whale music and meditation rituals. Plus a world-class repertoire of blub —…
An open letter to Bruce Brockhoff
Alex Pullin has no idea how he got his nickname Chumpy. Or if he does he ain’t saying. Aussies of a certain age remember an ad for a dog food that was ‘so chumpy you can carve it’. Watching the men’s snowboard cross was a bit like eating said dog food. We had golden expectations…
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