Posts by Paul Rowe
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Hawkes Bay, who always seemed to qualify for this match, and always lost, have subsequently proved they are actually of Div 1 standard.
And Northland, who seemed to not win a Div 1 match until the playoff for years, have finally been relegated.
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I hate the English system for the fact that if you aren't a supporter of the three big teams all you can hope for is to not be relegated or to the team that gives one of the big teams an upset. "Go team! Don't Lose!" What a fun thing.
I half agree with you Haydn, as a supporter of Ipswich Town, who are perennially in the second tier, I only have a passing interest in the EPL, unless I get to see a game (which, when they're good, they are very good). There is usually only 3-4 teams fighting for the title, but there are also teams just outside them fighting for the fourth Champion's League place, one of the UEFA Cup Spots, occasionally for an Inter-Toto spot, and of course the half dozen or more teams fighting the drop. Means there is something to play for right up until the end of the season for a good number of clubs.
In the Championship, the play-offs have been hugely successful (and speaking as a Town man, I've more reasons to hate them than not) and means with 2-3 weeks to go there are usually about 10 teams still in with a shout of promotion.
The NRL shows how good a salary cap is at levelling out the teams - you never know who will be there or thereabouts from one season to the next, but competition from other codes and UK Super League is making that model unsustainable.
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Bear in mind too that the FA was fiercely insular, hardly a soccer promoting body - the English team didn't play abroad until well after WW2.
Point of order, Giovanni
The FA refused to take part in the World Cup until after WW2. They may have even withdrawn from FIFA for a while. This is an infamous pre-war pic prior to this game.
English football was terribly insular prior to the 60s. It had taken until this match for England to lose to non-British opposition at Wembley, and the FA made no allowances for English teams competing in the first European Cup tournaments, which led, ultimately to the Munich Air Disaster.
Please pardon the source of the first link)
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Thank you Angus, for an outstanding example of jumping the shark.
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Lots of people can't afford to go to the games
Hence my kudos to the Wellington RU for letting kids in for free. I'll bet they did a roaring trade in hot dogs and fizzy drinks. (plus I took my two boys to see Kung Fu Panda and it set me back nearly $50 after I'd bout a box of popcorn, so it's all relative)
And while that is a good idea, I feel that the product must good enough for them to want to go first
I'd suggest it's about value for money. Price it right and you'll get the crowds along.
I'm not denying the real money is from TV. But, IMHO, the heart and soul is at the game, not on the box.
When you say "this" you mean your idea right? because I want nothing to do with the EPL, I think it's an awful system.
I was referring specifically the idea of reducing the TV coverage to encourage attendance at the grounds. (and it's clear I was talking about Soccer right, not their premier rugby comp?).
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Which goes completely against my broadcasting policy:
This is based on the English Premier League where games that kick off at 3pm are not shown live at all. There has been an ever increasing number of EPL games that kick off outside that timeslot, but you still get 5-6 games a weekend that play at that time.
(it used to amaze me that they'd have (say) Arsenal v Middlesbrough at 7pm on a Monday night, which means the travelling fans have to take time off work to attend. On occasion they'll have derby games kick off early, to prevent opposing fans getting too pissed beforehand and causing trouble.)
I back a system that encourages fans to go to the game, rather than watch on TV.
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oh, and, in response to one of Giovanni's points -
Take live NPC coverage off TV. Show one game a weekend live if you must, the rest delayed (or highlights). Make people go to the games if they want to see them live (and let the kids in for free, good show Wellington).
And my structure seems wedded to the idea of provinces. Maybe they should be abolished and the clubs take on a national competition.
And, lastly, automatic promotion & relegation between divisions. From memory Northland failed to win a game in the old first division for years, but were never relegated because of that idiotic promotion match with the Div 2 champions. HB were robbed, I tell yas, robbed.
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1. Lock the IRB in a room (preferably with a full-grown bear) and don't let them out until they've settled on a global season. I don't care when we play, cos someone will have to give way, as long as it happens.
2. Absolutely make the 3N every 2 years, and just home & away in each country. If the ABs hadn't been such muppets in Dunedin the 3N would have been all but over after Aus v SA in Durban.
3. Did the Lions tour not teach the IRB that we love proper tours?
4. Abolish SANZAR, create a 12 (or more) trans tasman or pacific competition, made up of the top teams in each country. Split it into two groups (or more) and play home and away.
5. Create a national semi-pro comp that feeds into the International Provincial Championship. To save money etc, split it into regional groups so the teams travel less, and so we have more derby matches.
6. If necessary, force smaller unions to amalgamate. The Makos and Vikings experience has proved that alliances between unions doesn't work. In fact,creating a locally focused NPC, we might be able to get more teams involved (say an extra team in Waitakere, for instance).I'm happy to implement all or none of the above for well less than $1m per annum (but more than happy to do it for more)
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Your are now the In-Crowd Police, have a badge with that
we're the sweeney, son, and we haven't had any dinner
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Who, me? Policy?
Did I mention tax cuts yet?
Forget the Nineties.