Field Theory by Hadyn Green

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Field Theory: Sunshine? Bah!

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  • Geoff Lealand,

    Could never get interested in NFL as it seemed more like theatre (bad theatre) than sport. But I agree with you about the incongruity of another rugby season looming. whilst we still have dispatches from Daniel Carter's exploits overseas, to sustain us. In the week before Christmas, the Waikato Times featured large photos of Chiefs players disporting (sic?) themselves in the surf at the Mount. Maybe we should threaten drowning unless they do better in 2009!

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    Cricket here in Aussie's been interesting but, I confess to enjoying Australia's loss a little too much. Sydney test may yet produce a result? I'm with you on the sun though, it's raging hot at present which has caused me to to hide... air-conditioning is the only thing that makes it tolerable and it's just a coincidence that pubs have the best aircon!

    On rugby matters, it seems as if John Mitchell's learned little about team management and may not last too much longer at the Force.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    Could never get interested in NFL as it seemed more like theatre (bad theatre) than sport.

    One thing I always liked about American Football (although it may be American sports, rather than strictly football), is that its followers seem to have a sense of history. The number of times the All Blacks, or Dan Carter or someone else, has had the best ever game, best ever test, or had the the best all-round All Black performance or most superb something-or-other over the last few years have been too numerous to count.

    In American Football, the "greatest game ever played" was the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants. And everyone knows it...

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    In American Football, the "greatest game ever played" was the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants. And everyone knows it...

    Ha! That's funny, because as you wrote it I was thinking "he better say the Giants and the... oh he did!"

    Oh and anyone who can't get into American football is welcome to watch the Superbowl with me. Megan (of the Dropkicks) did last year and is now a convert.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Also yes, I am going to the ODI at the Caketin, thanks to all who asked.

    Should I be prepared for a NZ win or a loss? (or one of those draws you hear so much about)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    I have always been puzzled by the American resistance to the notion of a drawn game. Some years ago I went to an Orioles v Yankees bb fixture in Baltimore and it went on until midnight, to avoid a drawn outcome. Does it says something about the American mind-set, that there must always be a solitary winner?
    But I did very much like baseball during my time in the US--partly because the rituals echoed those of cricket (even though I remember the looks of disbelief when we once staged a cricket match at my university (in Ohio), with a hodge-podge of Indian, Pakistani exchange students + one Kiwi foreign student).

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    Ha! That's funny, because as you wrote it I was thinking "he better say the Giants and the... oh he did!"

    I get the broad point about hyperbole, but there's a hell of a lot more rugby played that NFL. Still, the bestest culture is a drag. That said, I'm picking there's a fair degree of agreement the best game of Tri-nations rugby in recent years was the 2000 Bledisloe.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    I get the broad point about hyperbole, but there's a hell of a lot more rugby played that NFL. Still, the bestest culture is a drag.

    At the top-level? I'm not sure sure. The NFL is at the pinnacle of American Football, tests are at the pinnacle of Rugby. I'd say there were NFL matches than test matches in your average year (certainly between the top teams). An NPC final is never going to worthy of a best-game-ever accolade.

    Plus, the analog of Rugby is American Football, not the NFL. There's a hell of a lot more American Football played than there is Tri-Nations :-)

    The 2000 Bledisloe was a great game - and great thanks go to the boot of Andrew Merhtens - but the test write-up to which you link is a little odd:

    it took Jonah Lomu's injury-time try to separate the two teams, who had both crossed for five tries each.

    ...

    when Lomu crashed over for the winning try in the 78th minute, the crowd knew they had witnessed something special.

    Was it in injury time or not? And wasn't it only the boot which separated the teams? It's not like Lomu's try put New Zealand ahead on tries ... it caught us up is all.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    Oh and anyone who can't get into American football is welcome to watch the Superbowl with me. Megan (of the Dropkicks) did last year and is now a convert.

    Well, yeah, except that when I sat down to watch a game without the influence of you and beer, I was hopelessly lost. I expect I will join you for the superbowl again though. Especially since 'my' Chargers could still be there. Right?

    Oh, and Hadyn, draws in ODIs are pretty rare. Prepare yourself for a loss.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Prepare yourself for a loss.

    Or a win. But take a blankie and sit on the sunny side. Before I went to an ODI at the Caketin, I thought Lancaster/Jade/Amy was cold and windy in summer. (It is, but at least there the wind goes through, not round and round.)

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    Does it says something about the American mind-set, that there must always be a solitary winner?

    It's especially strange in baseball because they play so many games in the regular season that the outcome of any individual game is more or less irrelevant. I once watched -- from the comfort of a bar -- a Pittsburgh Pirates home game that went to 13 innings. It was -2 and snowing outside.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    Oh, and Hadyn, draws in ODIs are pretty rare. Prepare yourself for a loss.

    New Zealand is currently in playing a series of 5 ODIs against the West Indies. The third is tommorow. Neither of the first two matches saw a winner. Are you sure that it's not ties that are pretty rare?

    If these don't count as draws, is not the reason that draws are pretty rare in ODIs that it's not actually possible to get a draw?

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    The West Indies won the second ODI by five wickets with one ball remaining, in a reduced overs match.

    But, more to the point, it is possible to get a draw. Both teams can have the same number of runs at the end of 100 overs. It happens from time to time.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    Tie! Tie!

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    Ah. I see. I was out-pendanted.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    Doh!

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    I'm confused.....

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    In cricket, a draw occurs when the allotted time for the match elapses and neither side has been able to achieve victory, which effectively means dismissing the the other side twice.

    It can't happen in limited-overs cricket.

    A tie is the far rarer occasion when the game finishes -- because the allotted time or the specified number of overs has elapsed, or because both teams have been dismissed -- with both teams on equal scores.

    That can happen in any form of the game.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    <That can happen in any form of the game.

    Except in 20-20. (So long as we're splitting these particular hairs).

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    On rugby matters, it seems as if John Mitchell's learned little about team management and may not last too much longer at the Force.

    Sweet Jesus. He's still a self-obsessed fount of life-coaching psychobabble isn't he?

    From that Rugby Heaven link ...

    "I am contracted right through to 2011, so I feel very secure - but it is about evolving and improving myself. I am totally committed," Mitchell said.

    "There are some behaviours, I guess, that have worked for me in the past. But again it’s just this club needing a certain style at the start of its introduction and, I guess, it’s now requiring me to evolve and pitch at a different level.

    “You know the great thing about all this, a lot of people see it as negative and probably not conducive to teamwork and harmony, the great thing about it is that this group wants to take responsibility.

    “To me that’s a real positive sign because that’s something that we’ve been seeking since our start and I sense there is an element of maturity in having come out of this situation, which is very pleasing from my point of view.”

    Arggh ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Arggh ...

    C'mon, the man is dealing with a whole new paradigm. He's on a journey...

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    __<That can happen in any form of the game.__

    Except in 20-20. (So long as we're splitting these particular hairs).

    But no!

    The tie occurs (as it did just recently) and is then broken by the tiebreaker, surely ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    The game can't finish in a tie, Brown, don't be sophist. Oh, wait, I started it...

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Chapman,

    C'mon, the man is dealing with a whole new paradigm. He's on a journey...

    Joining the discussion from the end, I thought you were talking about Hadyn going to the cricket.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2008 • 135 posts Report Reply

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