Sport Review edition 200
Sport Review #200
This little Friday morning ritual turns 200. Edition number one was March 2018 - since then we’ve had rugby, football and men’s and women’s cricket world cups, Olympic games, five Tottenham managers, a change from Mailchimp to Substack and two house moves (TAU - AKL and AKL - AKL).
There’s also been a global pandemic complete with prolonged national and Auckland lockdowns - this was Sport Review #100, written five days ahead of the first lockdown as sport was being cancelled left, right and centre.
Massive thanks to all the NZ sport writers and content creators - it’s a pleasure to highlight the fine work done here (I’m always fretting about what I’ve missed), among a media business that’s all over the place like Graham Henry’s eyebrows. Things were different before COVID, they’re even more different now and seeing the ways people put a living together while telling stories is fascinating.
Being Into Sport in 2022 is a weird. Rugby is the national sport, but I’ve never felt less interested. We’re world Test cricket champions but looking shaky. Women’s sport is thriving in the spotlight. Tottenham are… Tottenham. You’re always wondering in the back of your mind if you can bin off a sport subscription for Disney+ for a couple of months. With so much shit in the world and the weird often-home virus dodging lives we have now, watching men or women race around on a pitch or grass can feel less consequential than ever. Taking up tennis again is probably honestly the most rewarding sport-related thing that’s happened to me recently.
But you’re always dragged back in. Waking in the middle of the night, there’s no way you’re going to back to sleep and you find yourself making the familiar shuffle to the couch to watch Spurs, Wimbledon, the Tour or the All Blacks in Europe. You’re cooking dinner on a Saturday night with one eye on the TV (muted, with music on) for kick-off), or figuring out how a day watching cricket fits into precious weekend or holiday time.
Writing this newsletter is my small way of adding to the whole thing. It’s a constant balance of trying to be entertaining or funny without being mean-spirited or personal, or limiting any career opportunities as a self-employed person who works in sport.
Often my generally petty nature takes over, reflected in things like the Eden Park resident quiz, and Several boats still in Hauraki Gulf, unaware America's Cup racing has concluded, my apologies to the good folk of Mount Eden and boomers everywhere.
Thanks so much to everyone that subscribes, I hope you get some fun out of it. See you for the next 100.
Just some highlights
Most blessed and most cursed objects in NZ sport
Fitzy: I wanted to bring the boys back together. A lot’s been swept under the carpet. And I wanted to know if anyone still had some of those Canterbury trackies with the buttons on the side
Competitive car packing - Packing the car is Satan’s business, unless you enjoy stress, Tetris and arguments. The only way to cope is to do it drunk, but then you’ve snookered yourself out of actually driving anywhere. Forget it
The top five most popular editions in the last hundred were:
Thanks for reading - Richard
This week's best NZ sport content
Steve n Seamus’ chat with Grant Fox is highly recommend, for the family chat, Martin Crowe and old All Blacks war stories and for making you wonder what you do with your time hearing what Foxy fits in [Between Two Beers]
Excellent story of a sight impaired lawn bowler who discovered the real prize was the friends we rolled with along the way - see if you can make it through without crying, unlike his mate [Newshub]
But it also needs acknowledging that it is a giant leap for New Zealand Rugby to even be publicly discussing and advocating for mental health, women’s rugby and Pacific communities at all. CEO Mark Robinson oversees a torture chamber of an organisational structure – NZ Rugby is an incorporated society effectively governed by its 26 constituent unions, needing to serve amateur rugby but hostage to its professional players and their union. Which makes any kind of progress ferociously complicated.
Duncan Greive on UFC, NZR and staying relevant [Spinoff]
Dylan Cleaver went out twice this week and did the full head to head on Eden Park v Mount Smart as a fan - I still subscribe to the theory that Auckland’s stadium situation could best be sorted out by a series of controlled explosions, but this is good [The Bounce]
D’Arcy Waldegrave on NZC’s Pay Parity announcement and why he copped it on the cursed talkback text machine this week [NZ Herald]
Since the Premier League was on SKY the first time around, most of us have got rid of the box and are doing it all through the internet - Chris Keall put the questions we all want to know to SKY in another Voyager photo caption award winning effort [NZ Herald]
Callum Henderson makes the case that the shit show you see before you is not real and it’s actually the Warriors’ year [Spinoff]
Video nasty
Massive banger here.
Long read
Absolutely infuriating story of the people who’ve dedicated their time on earth to denying mass shootings like Sandy Hook happened [Slate]
Recommendation
Pirate Gold of Adak Island is wholesome family viewing that’s kind of like a fishing show, only instead of the ocean there is earth and instead of fish there is maybe some gold, it’s on Netflix.
Bring back the gif
Everyone in NZ googling what an Altrad is on Saturday night.
