Monday, February 06, 2006

Sport, sport and... more sport

For the past fifteen years or so, I've set aside this day to watch the American Superbowl. We call it Gridiron here. First, yay! to both sides, the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Second, boo! to the umpires. Boo, boo, boo. What an amateurish effort in the first half! Yes, the umps have a difficult job, but jeez, they sure as hell should have been more professional in their decisions. I've seen some poor decisions in the game, but never so many so consistantly. I was beginning to think the umps were determined for the Seahawks not to win anything. And before you jump all over me, my team is the Dallas Cowboys who... ahem... didn't make it. Third, woot! I love the game and regardless of the... dubious decisions, I enjoyed it... mostly. Both teams had their opportunities and the Steelers came out on top. Congrats to them.

The Aussies apparently 'monstered' the Proteas in the one day cricket international yesterday. Australia scored a massive 6-344 from 50 overs; the South Africans scored 6-287 after 50. Yes, it was a great score by us, but kudos to the Proteas for not giving up. On another day, that would have been a winning total. The Aussies just had more Vegemite than the Proteas, and exposed their mean streak. It doesn't matter who Australia comes up against in the finals starting Friday, the way they are playing they're virtually unbeatable. And having said that, the game comes down to who plays the best on the day and we know that it is easy to fall into a heap. Go us!

The National Swimming trials are over and the team has been selected for the Commonwealth Game. There is much controversy about the exclusion of Craig Stevens who won the 400 metres but was excluded from the team because his time was only the 21st fastest in the world. That is, it was not a fast enough qualifying time. Some swimmers who came in third in their races have been selected. I don't have a problem with this. It was always my understanding that races, including athletics, had a qualifying time. Stevens wasn't fast enough; it's a simple as that.

The Winter Olympics begin tonight and we're hoping for a couple of medals. It doesn't matter what colour, this country is not known for it's winter sports. Just getting there is an accomplishment in my book. Good luck to them all. And let's remember that it was luck that lead Stephen Bradbury to the first gold medal in speed racing when the rest of the field fell metres from the finish line. He freely admits it was luck, but that's the sport.

One last sporting event and that's the Super 14 Rugby Union. The Game they play in Heaven kicks off this weekend. While I'd like to see the Brumbies up there at the end of the season, my thinking is that the teams still to beat is the Crusaders. They are an astonishing talent and I love to watch them play, even though their from New Zealand. (Of course, I'll go for any team who wups the asses of the South African thugs... um... teams.)

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