Posts by Richard Irvine
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Wicked, I'm stoked PA has RWC coverage underway, I really enjoyed the crew covering the cricket world cup, and look foward to more of the same.
I love the flurry of activity World Cups and like prompt in En Zed's blogosphere and look forward to joining in properly once me day job calms down a bit. Stupid day job.
Go the All Blacks and Keith Robinson's ankle...
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Smyth, Tommy is a shocker alright - he has no idea what's going on (ESPN football guys are calling the game from the US, not the ground). Get rid of him and the game could really take off in the US.
At cricket, I find Ian Smith very, very negative when he's talking about our team - maybe he's just not as passionate about rugby? He's a very competant comments guy though for rugger.
Melodie Robinson is great value for Sky, they should use her more.
My all time fav NZ commentator is John Parker, of the old Sports Roundup radio cricket commentry - a very, very funny man. Not sure what he's up to these days...
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Erm, I never noticed ANY bias in NZ commentators until I went overseas, probably 'cos I was busily screaming at the ref myself.
Still, I'm mature now (!) and can appreciate the extent to which commentators talk us up and denigrate the refereeing. I think they just get carried away - they're fans alright, but they should remember they're on the telly, not in the bar.
There's a trend in these competitive times to spend a lot of time talking up what we're watching. Cricket's Mark Nichols is absolutely shocking at this, everything with him is "Astonishing", "Superb" or "Masterful", and that's just the toss. English Football commentators also spend a LOT of time talking about the "Remarkable strength and competitiveness of the Barclay's Premiership in association with Bovril" or whatever the official title is nowadays. The Channel 9 team are pioneers at this.
I want to know where's the succession policy is - Nisbett's been around for ever, Keith Quinn and John MacBeth are largely irrelevant. Who are the young up and comers.
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Hey thanks for the linkage :) My thoughts -
1. Re: Stu Wilson - I really enjoy watching RE:Union on Tuesday, but if Stu's on... ugh... It can be funny watching the sideways looks TJ, John Drake etc give him while he rambles on, though.
2. The Australians will still be tough - they're smart, and their backline is one of the best around, but I don't think they'll get enough ball. Matt Dunning talking up his chances is like a cream bun saying "Hey! I bet you can't catch and eat me!"
3. I listen to 'dem dropkicks and all...
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Hey Kyle - at the 1996 World Cup they had two matches on at once all the time, and I remember sitting at a mate's flat with two (count 'em!) TVs showing two different matches. It got a bit confusing with the mute buttons and remotes and that, but we got the hang of it eventually.
Golden, golden memories, there.
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Yeah thanks team - I've really enjoyed your write ups - pity there wasn't a better result for NZ, or a better world cup full stop. Or does shitty cricket get make for better writing?
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Hey thanks for the link. Yeah, it took me ages to decide how to spell 'Hoes', and went for the 'e' in the end. Should have just said tarts.
And where is Macca and his meals? Since he started growing that beard his blogging's gone to bits.
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Mike - yes I thought Parore got a lot of grief during his time, probably becuase he a. was good looking b. had bags of confidence and c. lived in Auckland more than anything else. He didn't really fit with the down home 'gee shucks' attitude we Kiwis love so much.
And Roger, not everyone agree with Sir Viv..
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Isn't this a kind of Pot / Kettle / Black situation? Flintoff and Pieterson aside, England has an equal number of grafters / journeymen. When Nixon got called up during the Commonwealth Bank series, he was selected largely on the basis of being 'a bit chirpy'.
Tall poppies in the Black Caps tend to get clamped down on pretty hard - see Glen Turner, Martin Crowe, Adam Parore, etc, not to mention the uproar about the recent Sri Lanka series. We're just getting on with it, that's not a bad thing.
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Yep, Brit Football seemed to go through a brief period of wrestling with the morality of alienating their traditional fan base in favour of family units who enter stadiums through the megastore, buying replica shirts and duvet covers left right and centre. Nowadays its just accepted that clubs are money grubbing bastards - and they need to be to compete. The latest thing is looking for their very own Russian Billionaire so they can compete with Chelsea - as per Liverpool fluttering their eyelashes at Dubai Corp before going home with their new US owners.
I agree with Peter above - from afar, this looked like the best ever CWC to go to - what a shame for those paying so much for their trips that the games have less atmosphere than the moon. This tournament needs more locals and fast.