Posts by Peter Darlington
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I always thought if I was a Bill Gates billionaire I'd just buy the NZRFU and be done with it.
I'd make offers players couldn't refuse to stay in NZ, tell SANZAR to stick their Super comp and reinstate the good old NPC. Winning the Ranfurly Shield would bestow treasures upon players that nought but NBA stars and English football players could dream of.
We'd get to the final of every RWC and with a minute to go on the clock, with the AB's well ahead on the scoreboard, I'd sub off Doug Howlett and nip on myself for a quick jog along the side line, maybe a catch and kick for touch before the final whistle, just so I'd get to walk the magic mile up the grandstand and lift up Bill and bellow with the rest of them.
It would be a beautiful thing.
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Not really, but a man can dream.
Taking an optimists view, England is so bad that the Aussies might be underdone by the time we meet them...
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I'll be reasonably happy to see England go through because they're our best shot at someone giving Australia a hard game before we meet them in the semi (if we do...). I don't believe Australia are really all that, and you never know, even this awful England team might just find some reserves when it comes to playing the crowing ones from the West Island.
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in their first four games. In the French/Arg game the first stoppage is a try by Rougerie. Argentina narrowly beats France but loses to Ireland. SA beats England by 28 points. Wales loses its game against Australia by only 2 points (an Aussie drop goal ends the game). George Gregan is struck by lightning but contests his death and gets off.
Eventually NZ faces SA (not France) in the final. Eleven players are injured. NZ wins 33-13.
Actually that's quite a realistic scenario in my view. I'm picking an AB-SAf final.
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My biggest concern when Weepu got dumped was the lack of depth we have at halfback in this squad, and the rest of your predictions worry me greatly too! (esp number 5!)
FWIW, I do believe we'll win.
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But, for now, I'm just waiting for 11.45 tomorrow night. Finally, this thing starts. There is nothing to keep in reserve now. I'm not nervous yet, but this is going to be a long six weeks.
Ok, time for a NZ prediction or two then:
1. Dan Carter is going to get injured
2. Andy Ellis will be called on for some significant game time late in the tournament
3. Sivivatu will be our top try scorer
4. Ali Williams will be yellow carded at some point
5. Collins or So'oialo will be our on-field captain at the end of our last game
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While I don't have a story, at the mention of breakups I have an observation.
One of our standard roster of questions at job interviews goes something like "Tell us about an experience that didn't end well and how you would approach it differently in the future" etc...
Anyway, it's become noticeable that when interviewing women, we get a whole raft of replies and scenarios. When interviewing men, we usually get an admission of a bad breakup with a partner/gf etc... where there's obviously still some residual guilt or anger going on.
I'm constantly amused and surprised at the seedy stuff some guys appear happy to contribute as if it might add weight to their attractiveness for employment. As if they're going to score a pity job or something.
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...but my original point is that we're still moving forward. Heck, we've seen the complete transformation of centuries of gender oppression in just 40 years, hands up who thought it was going to be that easy? :)
Heh, the eternal optimist. You must be a West Ham fan!
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I think we've discussed this before here, but the state of the pop videos that get played on TV -- in the mornings, even -- does my head in. I'm sure I'd feel even worse about it if I had young daughters, instead of sons who don't watch that stuff anyway.
Fairly aggravating when the tunes are damned good too. Someone like Snoop Dogg has made a career out of fantastic beats and dirty funk coupled with derogatory lyrics and writhing women. A tune like 'Gin & Juice' can go from perfection to cringeworthy in the space of a couple of lines.
I'd still rather listen to him than Bono though.
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If you want to do some further reading on this, I highly recommend Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy. She looks at the modern cultural phenomena of woman are embracing raunch culture and wonders if it's a result of equality or, in fact, the opposite.
The opposite I suspect. Which makes me happy that I've never visited a strip club and never plan to, I find the whole idea dreary beyond measure.