Wha' Happened?

Wha Happened to those punters we had yesterday?

2008-11-04T00:20:00.001+11:00

It's that time of year again, the Melbourne Cup. And what is the problem with this you say? Well, it's because 99% of people who care about the Melbourne Cup DON'T EVER CARE ABOUT HORSES ANY OTHER DAY OF THE YEAR. I just don't understand.

I have no problem with horse racing, it can be quite exciting to watch, but why don't these same people watch or attend races at any other time in the year? It definitely isn't the horses. So what could it be? The very high chance that you will lose money? Hmmm... well I guess Casinos are quite popular aren't they? Myself, I don't really like making a few gambling overlords extremely rich by being dumb and not knowing anything.

Is it the office sweeps? From what I have experienced, hanging out with ALL of an office isn't the greatest thing... Sure, most people have a couple of friends around the place, but who wants stinky Jim jumping up and down because he just won 100 bucks while everyone else goes back to their desks disappointed because they didn't actually get to watch the race on the small office television set.

I am almost certain that the reason is that people like to drink. No matter how uninterested people may be with horse racing on any other day in the year, a few beers over lunch (or breakfast) definitely helps everyone get excited. For some reason, for one Tuesday once a year, it is OK to get drunk during work time. Now everyone would be up for that? Right?

(By the way, my money is on Ice Chariot because it has the silliest name)

Well, maybe it is time to start losing?

2008-10-21T19:50:00.002+11:00

So Australia lost a game of test cricket. Looking around sports forums and among my cricket-loving friends, you would think the sport had disappeared altogether! After season upon season of winning winning winning they have decided to start losing again!

For one, I actually love their decision. Earlier this year, the Australian test team equalled the record for most consecutive wins, 16. But this just closed off years of world domination in what would become boring. As I posted a few weeks ago, one-sided games are boring. Sure, it's great seeing a complete flogging every now and then but when a team consistently wins by lots, it really starts to grate.

I the biggest advocate for interesting games. My life as a Fremantle supporter in the AFL really proves that I don't really care too much about winning. I want to see great players and teams playing great games. Good competition is so much more interesting to watch than a one-sided game (or season, or multiple seasons, as has been the case here).

So I think it's great that the Australian test teams has finally felt it in their hearts to start losing some games again. Don't get me wrong, I don't want them to lose forever! Just every now and again, so it at least looks like there is some competition in International test cricket. But if anyone in the team is reading this, whenever you play England you are still allowed to kick their little bottoms.

Also, if it wasn't for Australia losing, we would NEVER get to see this Indian cricket statistics porn:

Wha' Happened to Sydney Olympic Park?

2008-10-20T22:04:00.004+11:00

To the contrary of this sports blog (hmm well possibly not...) I'm really not the biggest of sports nuts. But even the passive sports-on-tv viewer in me got excited about the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It was exciting, and one of the coolest things was the Olympic precinct out in Homebush.

I didn't get to visit until during the Paralympics but the magic still seemed to be around. The stadium was cool, the McDonalds had special biodegradable burger boxes and the olympic village was colourful and had free video games and Coca Cola. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

But what happened? The entire Olympic Park area has lost its magic. When you head out there the place has no excitement, no emotion. The place is cold, and that makes the atmosphere and the people cold.

There is too much concrete, too much space between where you get off the train and where you get into whatever venue you are attending... and there is nothing in between. The SCG is part of an entertainment complex that comes to life with a great mix of people around. Other sports precincts around Australia are within walking distance of the city centre (such as the MCG and Docklands stadiums in Melbourne) and it gives the people more to be excited about. What is worse than being a fan of a team that has just had their bums whooped out at the Olympic Stadium? Having to trek for an hour and a half home on unreliable trains that you have to change three times and go in two directions. It isn't worth the trip!

I'm not sure if there is much they can do. Even if they fill the areas around the venues with more exciting things, would people stay? It is too much of a hassle to get out there in the first place, even for people who live nearby. Even the stadium isn't very nice anymore. It looks VERY old, even though it only opened nine years ago. It is daggy and compared to the birds nest stadium at the Beijing games, it is an embarrassment. And the biggest sign that things have gone wrong is something that the park have done themselves. The Olympic cauldron, which is lit up as a powerful symbol of the games is now a water fountain.

What do you think can be done to improve Olympic Park?

Introducing... The Wha'laroos

2008-10-20T21:43:00.002+11:00

The Wha'laroos are the Australian national team for unimaginative national team names. Yeah, that's right. The people of Australia feel that our teams can't simply be called 'Team Australia' or the simpler 'Australia' and that we must stick some lame name (often containing a lame pun) onto their shirts. Wha?

I found a list of Australian team names on Wikipedia and was horrified. A few issues I have:

In Australia, as in (I assume) most countries around the world, women's sport generally doesn't garner as much interest, fans or money as the equivalent men's competitions. If the administrators were serious about taking women's sport up to the same level of popularity, you would think that they wouldn't give the teams second-rate names. CASE IN POINT: The men's rugby union team is the Wallabies. The women's is Wallaroos. In league, we have Kangaroos and Jillaroos. The men's teams have the first grade names and the women get the alternative, the 'we are associated but different! (but secretly we hate being associated and just want to have a good name like the Lion Giraffes)' name.
Yeah, ok, I get it. Kangaroos are Australian. DER. That doesn't mean that more than half of our national teams need to be a version of kangaroo. Kangaroos, Wallaroos, Jillaroos, Olyroos, Socceroos, Hockeyroos, Boxaroos, The Might Roos and even the Futsalroos (our national Futsal team). Goodness me, get some imagination. We even have the Boomers... they are related to kangaroos too!
Opals. Let's not even talk about how silly our women's basketball team looks in their skin-tight lycra against the baggy shirt and shorts of every other team. Even their name is horrible.

The one shining light amongst all of the unimaginative names comes from the wheelchair rugby team. The Wheelabies! That name is AWESOME. But they don't even use it anymore. Now they are the Steelers! Is that a name relating to our convict past? It's still better than the Wheelchairugbyroos I guess.

Slow-motion V8 SuperWha?

2008-10-11T18:52:00.003+11:00

This weekend we see Mt Panorama fire up and get loud for Australian motor racing's biggest race of the year - the Bathurst 1000. But there is one little issue that I find will make the coverage the worst in the event's history. Channel 7, who took over the V8 Supercar coverage from Ten last year, are forcing their crazy slow-motion footage on us.

I first noticed the use of this in an ad I saw at the start of the season, and at first I was baffled. And to be honest, I still am. For those who aren't familiar with the slow-motion technology, it is the same as what was used during the Beijing Olympics for those cool swimming shots, among other things.

Now, I can see the worth in the technology. The olympics proved this. It does look cool when watching athletes do there thing. You can really see the skill involved when you watch a pole-vaulter curving over the pole in super-slow-motion. You can see the best athletes performing at their peak, and it can be amazing seeing how their bodies move. But in motor racing? HA!..

I've been to Bathurst. I'm not really into motor racing anymore, but I still look fondly back at that time. It is all about the noise, the speed, the endurance. From the package I have embedded, you don't get anything extra. The race goes all day, why make it any slower? Even for the most fanatic racing supporters, these slow-motions are a slap in the face. In the last few hours you are really just waiting for either a) a crash, or b) it all to end.

There are no muscles you can see flexing, no backs arching, no swimmers turning. Just cars... static except for the fact that their wheels move and turn. Athletes who throw Javelin's use that Javelin as their tool. V8 Supercar drivers, who are definitely athletes, use their car as their tool. Would you expect a slow motion video of a javelin flying through the air? NO!

Seven, please. Keep the slow-motion for the Olympics and get the Supercars back to normal speed. Racing is all about going fast, getting to the end in the shortest time possible. Just because you have the technology doesn't mean you should use it at every oppurtunity.

Grand? Hardly.

2008-10-08T09:02:00.000+11:00

What Happened to great grand finals? I've never really been one to enjoy a Rugby League game, but last Sunday's NRL grand final probably wasn't that exciting to anyone but the Sea Eagles' most fanatic. 40 - nill? The grand final is meant to see the competition's two best teams face up against one another in the greatest battle of the year. Yet we are given the greatest defeat in grand final history.

What went wrong? Well I think the answer to this is pretty simple - Manly were great and Melbourne weren't. Easy as that. Storm didn't try to make excuses but as was reported on news.com.au, it probably came down to Melbourne being a tired team that only had enough puff to last until the semi-finals. Lets hope next year they start their pre-season a week later so they can make it all the way through!

I want to see grand finals that are decided in the last minute. Now that is how these things ought to be done: close, damn exciting and down to the wire. Maybe Manly could have helped the public out by letting Storm come back a bit or, well, score at all. They seem to have absolutely no respect at all for the viewing audience! Stop trying to win by so much!

Need a good example? Check out the final few minutes of the 2006 AFL grand final between West Coast and Sydney:

That one-point win came after the eagles took a 4-point loss in the 2005 grand final to the same team. Now that is how to play grand finals.

What do you guys all want to see from a grand final?