Posts filed under 'Sport'
That’s a title I never expected to have to write…but then again, I never really expected them to launch a “green round” either.
The issue of climate change affects us all, the game we all know and love is being severely impacted by climate change
[..]
the footy community from grass roots through to the AFL, the clubs, our corporate partners and the stadiums are banding together and calling in the experts to come up with solutions to save our game and ensure its healthy future
What utter drivel. Need I remind Andrew Demetriou, CEO of the AFL, that global temperatures haven’t risen for the better part of the last decade?
On second thoughts, I won’t waste my breath on the bloke playing with a green football in press photos (yep, green footballs this weekend…and green flags, and umpires in green uniforms, and recycling logos everywhere), instead I’ll just boycott the AFL this weekend.
That’s right Andrew. I will not be watching, listening, commenting or otherwise on the matches this weekend. I won’t even be paying attention to the results. And I will repeat this every time you pull this stunt.
AFL Green Round, Round 20 of 2009, is hereby officially boycotted.
Samuel
August 14th, 2009 at 09:30am
Golf could resume its rightful status as an Olympic sport as of the 2016 games, depending on the outcome of a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in October.
The board will submit golf and rugby sevens — a faster-paced version of the standard 15-a-side game — for ratification by the full 106-member IOC assembly in Copenhagen in October.
The board also gave final approval to the inclusion of women’s boxing in the 2012 London Olympics. Boxing had been the only summer Olympic sport without women competitors.
[..]
Golf was played at the 1900 Paris Olympics and 1904 St. Louis Games. The sport’s backers say bringing the game back into the Olympics would help it develop worldwide, noting many governments only fund Olympic sports.
Tiger Woods and other top players have indicated they would play in the Olympics if golf gets the nod from the IOC.
“Golf is a truly global sport and it should have been in the Olympics a while ago,” Woods said Tuesday. “If it does get in, it would be great for golf and some of the other small countries that are now emerging in golf.”
Golf proposes a 72-hole stroke-play competition for men and women, with 60 players in each field. The world’s top 15 players would qualify automatically, and all major professional tours would alter tournament schedules to avoid a clash with the Olympics.
Rugby, which was played in four different Olympics between 1900 and 1924 in the full 15-a-side format, proposes the 7-a-side version for both men and women. The International Rugby Board would scrap its Sevens World Cup to ensure the Olympics is the sport’s top event.
Final approval of the two sports will require a simple majority vote by the full IOC in October. It’s unclear whether they will be voted on individually or together.
Rugby I care less about as an Olympic sport, but I do think it should probably be there.
Samuel
August 14th, 2009 at 08:27am
Still not content with my suggestion of getting the past and present Chief Ministers to stand on each others shoulders for a day to celebrate 100 years of Canberra, Jon Stanhope has announced that the 2013 women’s Australian Open is coming to Canberra (warning: large photo of Jon Stanhope not-quite-smiling on linked page). For the record, it’s golf, not tennis, although how anybody is supposed to tell from the title alone is beyond me.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope today announced Royal Canberra Golf Club would host the Women’sAustralian Open as part of the 2013 Centenary of Canberra celebrations.
“I am delighted this hallmark tournament will be played at Royal Canberra during Canberra’s Centenary and have no doubt it will be one of the highlights of the year,” Mr Stanhope said.
“This four day championship, during Canberra’s 100th birthday year, will attract many of the world’s best female golfers and bring strong interstate crowds to Canberra.
“The Women’s Open will also enhance Canberra’s reputation as an international sporting destination while promoting the centenary celebrations to millions of television viewers around Australia, across Asia and the northern hemisphere.
Oh yes, because Slӧrdge, watching the golf on his television in Norway, is really going to ring his travel agent and book a holiday in Canberra when realises that we’re the town of one hundred candles. He might even bring his rugby union team with him to marvel at Canberra Stadium, which doesn’t spent most of the year under snow.
Seriously Jon, that you’ve got a major golf tournament to come to Canberra at a yet-to-be-decided date is great, but don’t expect it to do any more for our international standing than the GMC 400 did.
Samuel
August 6th, 2009 at 12:32pm
Well that was interesting. Prime lost the Seven feed for a few moments, getting black to air and the test pattern. This was quickly rectified by flicking to an unbranded feed from another source, possibly Fox, which had very different scoreboard graphics and a noticeable lack of the “Seven Sport” logo.
The Seven feed came back within a minute.
Samuel
July 18th, 2009 at 06:59pm
The NRL starts at 6:30 tonight, presumably because it’s a double header in Queensland and The Powers That Be want the second game to start at 8:30 rather than 9:30. 2GB and ABC Radio have altered their schedules this week so that they can cover the games…both of them, but what do Channel Nine do? Delay their telecast until 7:30 so that they can run A Current Affair and yet-another-episode of Two And A Half Men (regional audiences don’t see Two And A Half Men due to WIN News).
Would it be so hard to make a little exception for a special event and do what you do during the cricket…delay A Current Affair? Do you not realise that the NRL coverage would kill Today Tonight in the ratings?
Such a shame that I didn’t notice this before 11am, as I would have nominated them for Jerk Of The Week.
Samuel
July 17th, 2009 at 04:25pm
This is horrifying. 9:05pm on SBS Two One, a bunch of commentators trying to fall asleep and take everyone else with them:
That could have made the umpire move … but it didn’t
Turn on the ABC Radio coverage only to find them plugging abc.net.au/sport for a good couple of minutes…then they returned to Cardiff, and spend the next five minutes plugging the fact that you can send them emails and text messages, followed by the commentators confusing each other about Twitter.
And I thought Nine’s commentators were bad…
Update: Now that ABC Radio’s commentators (via BBC Radio) have started talking about the cricket again, it is quite clear that they are much better than the commentators on SBS (via Sky TV UK). It’s just a pity that the TV coverage is, as usual for sport covered on TV and radio, behind the radio coverage by a handful of seconds.
Anyhoo, I think I’ll turn the cricket off and watch Godzilla. A good CG monster movie sounds like a good cure for a lack of anything except cricket on television to me.End Update
Further Update: I will, however, give SBS credit for screening the cricket in high definition, and Sky UK credit for having better, and less intrusive, graphics than Nine. End Update
Samuel
July 8th, 2009 at 09:13pm
I am expecting New South Wales to play better in this match despite having an even worse lineup than they did in the last match. Despite NSW’s better performance tonight, I doubt that they will have the staying power to defeat Queensland.
I’m tipping a close encounter (although there may be some decent margins at times) with Queensland winning by five points.
Samuel
June 24th, 2009 at 02:39pm
I was quite amused, whilst watching the Rugby Union match between Australia and Italy on the television, to see what can only be described as steam billowing off the players who were clearly much warmer than the air which surrounded them.
The result, however, when a large group of them got together (for a scrum, for example) was a fog, through which it was difficult to see all of the players.
I maintain that it is not cold tonight, indeed it is currently 0.9 degrees. It will be cold though if the temperature continues to fall. I think the Bureau’s rounded overnight low of 1 degree was wishful thinking.
Meanwhile Rex Hunt is singing on 3AW. The fat lady sings. Richmond are home…even if Denis Cometti does think they look like Richmond, which is not a compliment.
Samuel
June 13th, 2009 at 09:37pm
And yet one can easily work out who, in the crowd at Canberra Stadium for the Rugby Union match between Australia and Italy, is a tourist…they’re the ones who are rugged up like Eskimos.
It’s 4.5 degrees outside right now according to the Bureau…I could quite happily go for a walk for an hour or so without a coat right now…but alas I’m inside listening to 3AW’s AFL coverage, and later I will be watching The Bill.
Samuel
June 13th, 2009 at 07:37pm
Well that certainly saves me from keeping an eye on the scores for the rest of the household, as 3AW are providing “around the grounds” scores of the Melbourne Storm NRL match during their AFL coverage, and the other match is on TV.
Many thanks to 3AW’s Graeme Bond for saving me a bit of work tonight.
Samuel
June 5th, 2009 at 08:12pm
One of Channel Nine’s few decent rugby league commentators has reportedly “stormed out” mere hours before he was going to join the commentary team for tonight’s State of Origin clash in Melbourne.
FORMER Queensland State of Origin star Ben Ikin has stormed out of Channel Nine only hours before he was supposed to be commentating on tonight’s showdown in Melbourne.
A furious Ikin phoned Nine’s director of sport Steve Crawley early this afternoon to resign from all his commentary duties.
[..]
Ikin, who is the son-in-law of super coach Wayne Bennett, is angry that Channel Nine’s A Current Affair is doing an investigation tonight into a business owned by his father on the Gold Coast.
[..]
Steve Crawley confirmed Ikin had quit but refused to comment, other than saying, “”At this stage I’m just concentrating on getting the telecast right for tonight.’’
Ah well, it just makes the already superior coverage on 2GB that little bit better. Best wishes to Ben, I hope he pops up on Foxtel or radio in the near future.
Samuel
June 3rd, 2009 at 02:45pm
The mighty Bulldogs had a wonderful second quarter and blitzed the Swans by 40 at Manuka Oval. I’m very very happy about this.
I would have loved to be there, but didn’t buy tickets as I knew that I would be too tired to get there in time. As it happened, I was right, and slept until 1:30pm and ended up watching the game on Southern Cross Ten whilst listening to the other match, North Melbourne V Brisbane, on 3AW Football. It’s the first time (as far as I can recall) that Rex Hunt has sent the fat lady around the grounds to sing for a match which they aren’t covering…mid-way through the second quarter, and again near half time.
Now listening to the Friday edition of the The Rush Limbaugh Show (not a typo), and later tonight The Bill is on ABC1.
Samuel
May 30th, 2009 at 05:39pm
Good news: Brumbies lose to the Chiefs 10-7, taking with it their slim chance os making the Super 14 finals
Good news: Crusaders defeat the Blues 15-13, propelling them in to the top four
Bad news: The Hurricanes defeat the Reds 37-28, putting the Hurricanes back in to the top four
Good news: The Crusaders have a better points difference than the equally placed Waratahs, keeping the Crusaders in the top four, and in the finals.
Now it’s just a matter of ensuring that the Bulls prevent the Sharks from winning and getting four or more tries.
Update: Bulls win 27-26, Crusaders are in the finals! Very good news.End Update
Samuel
May 16th, 2009 at 09:37pm
Ian Craig is retiring. It was bound to happen eventually, but it is sad to see the various voices of racing disappearing.
AFTER 45 years entertaining the racing world with his dulcet tones and classic calling Ian Craig has announced his retirement.
Craig, the longest serving fulltime racecaller in Australia, said the decision to hang up his binoculars was quite an easy one.
“I have been planning to pull the pin for some time now,” Craig said.
[..]
“I have called 35 Golden Slippers and AJC Derbys and thought the time was right to hang up the 10-by-50s.”
Craig, 67, started at 2UE in 1965 before moving to 2KY in 1968. He will call his final race meeting at Gosford on June 24.
He could not single out one performance as a career highlight but rates Kingston Town, Luskin Star, Sunline and Octagonal among the best thoroughbreds he has called.
One wonders who will fill Ian’s shoes for Sky Channel and 2KY. Regardless of who it is, I get the distinct feeling that the days of “personalities” calling races are all but over.
Samuel
Image courtesy Racing And Sports
May 4th, 2009 at 05:00pm
I went for a two hour walk to my post office box and back at about 2am, and found a letter, marked “urgent”, from a gentleman in Cobram in there, urging me to drop most of Channel Ten’s AFL commentators in favour of Kelli Underwood, an up-and-coming female commentator who caused a stir in 2005 when 3AW made her a match co-commentator, a move which Ten have repeated recently during their NAB Cup coverage, making Kelli the first female to call AFL football on television.
I agree with the sentiments of the letter writer as I think Ten’s commentators are generally quite awful, and Kelli is a vast improvement, however I’m not sure what I can really do about it.
I think I’ll write back to the letter writer asking for permission to publish their letter in full as a “Letter To The Editor”. That’s probably the best thing that I can do under the circumstances.
Samuel
March 4th, 2009 at 04:03pm
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