20 years of Sport Review

Sport Review #280

20 years ago today, the first Sport Review blog post was published - the link doesn’t work any more and the point is somehow unclear and obvious at the same time, which kind of sums things up nicely.

The impetus was about really enjoying the network of blogs and message boards that was happening and wanting to get involved. So I took to Blogger and was soon sharing random links and cartoons on hot topics like the 2005 Lions tour.

It was a lot of fun. I annoyed Radio Sport. I wrote about some seminal sporting experiences. I got a job at New Zealand Cricket.

I did a whole series of posts on this kind of thing when sportreview.net.nz turned ten, you can read those rather than me boring you with a run down on what the internet Used To Be Like.

Unfortunately, the sportreview.net.nz website is a mess of broken links and photos that don’t work anymore thanks to Photobucket and Flickr issues but you’re welcome to have a look (I still maintain this is the site’s greatest post).

In 2018, things turned into this newsletter - this little Friday morning routine has brought a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction (almost wholly to me). The routine of thinking about things and collecting links through the week then blurting it all out on a Friday is a lot of fun.

Some of my personal favs are:

• An oral history of handover.doc, Scott Robertson's Crusaders legacy

• Former All Black coaches review Met Gala looks

• Sean Fitzpatrick: 'I'm in the metaverse and can't get out'

• Richie McCaw promotional polos as letterboxes

• Great moments in cricket and cable knit

• Sport Review world tour report

It’s an honour to share the fine work of New Zealand’s sporting media and sincerely hope better times are ahead. Hopefully the sporting landscape is better for Sport Review’s career limiting satire and thoughts.

Thanks to my family for putting up with the coffee, swearing and typing on Friday mornings. And Thank You for reading - I appreciate people’s kind words about the newsletter and threaten promise to keep plugging away. There’s no reason for this to exist other than to entertain me and sometimes you.

Anyway. Enough naval gazing, see you back next week when normal service will resume. Righto.

Thanks for reading - Richard

This week's best NZ sport content

All about going to the Oympics - Zoe George on the torturous path, Madeleine Chapman on going head to head with a top athlete, and Dana Johannsen on questions being asked about who’s going on the yachting team boat [RNZ, Spinoff]

Ace pen-slinger Jonathan Liew has a warning about the cost of funding modern stadiums - their soul [Guardian]

Andrew Mulligan meets the Hurricanes and their retro jerseys [Crowd Goes Wild]

Everyone’s laughing about it now!

@newshubnz#Newshub has given Crusaders coach Rob Penney a special gift after being caught out by a hot mic last week. #fyp #foryoupage #crusaders #robpenney #rugbyunion #nz

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

What a club.

spursofficial

A post shared by @spursofficial

Video nasty

Lock him up.

Long read

Turning tricks with a theatrical pickpocket [New Yorker]

Recommendation 

Gavin Strawhan’s debut novel The Call is a ripping yarn of love, traumatic history and gangsters from small town New Zealand, recommended.