Hard News: When the Game is Over
34 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 Newer→ Last
-
So how'd we do? And how were my predictions?
-
I had a sense of deja vu, until the footnote.
-
Let's watch the "Join Together" video and marvel in the slightly uncomfortable, almost racist lyrics that seemed pretty ordinary in the mid '70s:
I'm kind of glad that the RWC didn't really have an official theme song.
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
Let's watch the "Join Together" video and marvel in the slightly uncomfortable, almost racist lyrics that seemed pretty ordinary in the mid '70s:
Nah, not racist, but ... it seems unusual to take on both race and religion in such a tune.
-
Sacha, in reply to
I'm kind of glad that the RWC didn't really have an official theme song
Whoever decided not to actually *play* The Feelers much deserves our thanks.
-
My late uncle was in the NZ team for that Empire games (and/or possibly the 1954 ones too). He was in the billiards, pool or snooker team or whatever version of that game was the official one. He had a monster pool table in his garage in Auckland and a large collection of newspaper cuttings pasted on the walls. Not being the least bit interested in sport I never appreciated any of it.
-
I'm really curious to see whether any of the government's reaction to Auckland's desire for something approximating balanced transport spending will make it beyond our borders.
Auckland is unquestionably a much, much more "world-class" city now than it was in even 1990, let alone 1950, but we're still running on a 1950s transport plan predicated on paving everything, and right from the opening ceremony it's been on display to journalists who're used to affordable (Auckland's transport fares are significantly higher than many other places), reliable (we had only three train breakdowns in September), high-quality public transport. Not that I'd expect it to make a shit of difference to the Minister of Trucks, but it'd be nice if some foreigners who aren't transport experts passed comment on who awful the public transport experience in NZ as a whole, and Auckland (as the largest city) in particular, really is.
-
Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
-
Simon Grigg, in reply to
I'm kind of glad that the RWC didn't really have an official theme song.
It does - unfortunately... [warning: NSFAWDT]
-
BenWilson, in reply to
it'd be nice if some foreigners who aren't transport experts passed comment on who awful the public transport experience in NZ as a whole, and Auckland (as the largest city) in particular, really is.
Yes it would be interesting to hear if that really is their opinion. Given they wouldn't need to commute, I would think their experience would have been "why use public transport in Auckland?" I've been amazed by how bad the traffic hasn't been, for the duration of the cup.
-
Many a slip twixt Cup and lip ...
So how'd we do? And how were my predictions?
This column was originally published in the
September issue of Red Bulletin magazineAt least you weren't saying, for your Austrian
drink meister masters, that - it was in the can!
:- )(I found a copy of Red Bulletin in the back of plane seat
on the way to Napier some time back, (you could
say the wings give it me...) so I opened what I expected
to be some modern day Oz socialist style mag,
only to find it full of extreme sports and DJ culture,
then I spotted a column that judging by the drawing of
the author, must've been by Henry Rollins - and found
your name at the end!!)
;- ) -
Robyn Gallagher, in reply to
Nah, not racist, but ... it seems unusual to take on both race and religion in such a tune.
Yeah, I guess more racial than racist. You don't really hear songs any more about "black and white" people, but then race and civil rights were fairly big topics at that time.
-
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
It does - unfortunately...
Westenra Union?
-
Sacha, in reply to
I spotted a column that judging by the drawing of
the author, must've been by Henry Rollinssnap
-
Sunday, Oct 23, 6.00pm
three long hours to go
and We ain't got nothing yet...I just hope we haven't sowed the seeds of our
own demise and been Pushing too hard...'cos if we don't win there could be
a cramping Psychotic reaction...and really we just wanna
be Dancin' in the street! -
My spies tell me Auckland is sizing up to be as big as the opening.
Good luck & keep sober enough to walk and not swim home. -
Craig Ranapia, in reply to
but it'd be nice if some foreigners who aren't transport experts passed comment on who awful the public transport experience in NZ as a whole, and Auckland (as the largest city) in particular, really is.
Well, I talked to a reasonable but totally unscientific sample of foreigners who found public transport in Auckland fairly good. And, frankly, they seemed to have about as many problems as I'd expect to have trying to make sense of the Paris Métropolitain or negotiate Shinjuku Station at rush hour.
-
Sacha, in reply to
Yep, I'm sure that's the comparison they'd make. :)
-
Turn out the lights, turn out the lights...
<May contain unpleasant truths & churlish thoughts...>As a post-coital depression suffuses the sated nation
I wonder what was gained and what was lost
sure we won, just (and yes, I know, that's enough)
but it all seems rather hollow...It was like watching Israel gag and 14 other chokers
embroiled in a brutish desperate struggle
they didn't deserve to win, but someone had to
really it all came down to luck...
with the game being saved by the fourth five-eighth
- who a week before was still a whitebaiting rugby pariah...
it's a funny old game - the whole spectacle puts me in mind
of ancient Rome - with preening Penguin Caesar,
Most Excoriated Emperor Key, giving the thumbs up...Now can we get back to saving the country from
the impending depredations of multi-millionaire Key
and his hordes of soul-less zombies... -
Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Of course, Ian. It was particularly thrilling watching John Key drop his thumb as a signal for the the flesh-eating attack possums to unleash hell on the Frenchies.
-
Joe Wylie, in reply to
Now can we get back to saving the country from
the impending depredations of multi-millionaire Key
and his hordes of soul-less zombies...Still a bit yawny down this end, but maybe see you here.
-
Cecelia, in reply to
I feel you as Stringer Bell would say.
But heck (I know bugger all about rugby)
Didn't they deserve to win?
They held on
They had a crook kicker
If the latter
Had got one ball over
It would have been
A more
Resounding
Victory -
When the game is over - for me I don't think I will ever forget what it is like just now in NZ – the circumstances visiting NZers now are to my mind the worst has been, by all sorts of measures, in my lifetime.
"We've got to mop up the years and years and years of poor vaccine delivery."
In regard to this comment made in the NZ Herald this morning in an article “Doctors urge mass measles vaccination to beat outbreak”, one could replace “vaccine delivery” with a range of other factors that impact on life in NZ.
I don’t hold much hope that deep sea oil exploration/drilling won’t be a disaster when as a nation we for decades haven’t been able to effectively enforce a building code.
It is tragic that half of New North Road was without power for the RWC final though very typical of a half arsedness that pervades NZ.
As an aside I watched 'Bad Taste" yesterday afternoon - in between working early morning and late afternoon - and thought that showed NZ as it was at the time it was made and was a prelude for the future.
We deserve better, the win RWC 2011 won’t change the reality of what it is really like just now.
I am tired waking up stuffed in a tub of water with a leader of flesh eating aliens telling me I am about to be eaten and finding my kind to be ruthelessly harvested by corporates.
-
On the game itself - although I am glad we won, it did not feel like we were watching a victory. When the French rampaged in the second half I was stunned and sat down and hand beat the cream for the pavlova.
I watch all the Super 15 and AB games I can with a mate Bryon, a Waikato stalwart, who when Colin Slade was selected for the ABs made the comment at the time that “Slade won’t last, Carter will get injured, and Stephen Donald will come on and kick the winning goal in the RWC Final, just you wait and see.” How right he turned out to be.
How lucky we were, the French played very well, and the last few minutes were an outstanding slugfest played very fairly by both teams.
Stephen Donald kicking well for field possession took heat out of the French rampage and he made a telling tackle late in the second half that SBW missed.
I loved Ma’a Nonu’s comments on Stephen Donald at the end of the coverage.
I am still in a state of shock when I think about it - that was a close run thing as one would ever want to see – two great teams.
-
Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
They had a crook kicker
Well if a week wasn't good enough for him, he wasn't good enough to be there. Others as shown, could do the job.innit
Jus' sayin'
And let's face it, there is much to be fixed. The AB,s get to party hard. We get to ..... pay.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.