Sunday, March 8, 2009
Rudd the illusionist?
I'm not into internal politics of foreign countries but as Australia could drag NZ down with it this column by Paul Sheehan is essential reading.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
No, I don't like it.
The ball looked as big as, well, as a cricket ball looks when your “eye” is in.
I swung the bat and felt that wonderful feeling you only get when sweet spot and ball connect.
It must have been slightly lower than I thought because it travelled fast and straight towards the boundary neither rising nor dipping.
The game was at the Heathcote Domain and a browsing herd of dinosaurs on the maltworks side of the ground looked up somewhat in alarm at the approaching missile.
I had the same (or a similar) experience one time in Mosgiel.
Those were the only two times I remember that I challenged the boundary on the full.
I've watched cricket since I was a young fellow of seven or so and still remember many of the big hits that went for six although not, I admit, as well as I remember the cover drives such as the one John Wright greeted Jeff Thompson's second new ball with at Lancaster Park one year or the two John Edridge placed to the boundary on his way to a multiple hundred against New Zealand.
The sixes I do remember were part of the building of innings of note, Dick Motz' 103 in 53 minutes (8 sixes, 7 fours), Hadlee and Lees fighting back against the Windies again at Lancaster Park in an ODI before pyjamas became the norm, Lance Cairns' six in Oz (MCG?).
I have over the last few days heard myself described as an old fogey, humourless, heartless, with no ability to enjoy myself and many more entertaining and sweet adjectives because I didn't enjoy the tippenny runs game staged the other night at AMI stadium (at Lancaster Park).
I plead guilty to all the above.
Leaving aside the half-wits of the Gifford ilk and T20 converts like BC who demand that all should drop down and kneel at the alter of 20/20 simply because THEY like it (They do need to take a long look at themselves) the game leaves me cold.
I found Wednesday night's game boring.
Perhaps boring is not quite true, unsatisfying would be better.
Cricket to me is a game encompassing many skills, a team game that pits individuals against each other giving both a chance to test themselves as well as the other while playing in a team environment with the challenges, mainly mental, that that brings.
Tippenny runs takes away many of those skills, particularly that of patiently waiting for the opponent to show a weakness and then using all your own skills to exploit the weakness.
Tippenny runs creates that weakness by forcing players to take risks before they are ready, by forcing premeditation.
That however is why I dislike the game not why I found the game unsatisfying.
In Major League baseball at the halftime all-star break they hold a home run derby.
The home run in baseball equates to a six in limited overs cricket – the ultimate shot that takes the fielders out of the equation.
The home run derby is a contrived competition that sees many home runs hit in a day but, and this is important, no-one takes it for more than a contrived competition, a bit of fun.
To me that is what tippenny runs is, a contrived competition for a bit of fun.
If it remains in this context I'm all for the game but to treat it seriously, to make it mean something, to matter, destroys that concept entirely.
And this is why I find the game unsatisfying.
To see sixes struck as part of an innings when the occasion arises is exciting but to see over after over of batsmen attempting nothing else other than to hit sixes, to watch all the other batting skills subjugated is simply not cricket.
Watching Brendan McCullum hit a six to break the shackles of a bowling attack or to win a game or even just because the ball deserves it is exciting and one of the more enjoyable parts of cricket. Watching Brendan McCullum hit a six is not exciting in itself.
Watching ten/jack of the Windies batting order (even just on Cricinfo ball by ball commentary) withstanding the Poms in bad light for ten overs is far more entertaining just because we don't know what will happen.
Yes I know that this tippenny run stuff is THE game of the young, the money spinner but, like sevens football and the S14/tri-series rugby I'm guessing people will soon tire of it simply because it all becomes the same.
Tippenny runs has taken the unpredictability out of cricket.
Cricket, in fact all sport and indeed most entertainment, needs to be unpredictable not just in outcome but, Just like my shots all those years ago, in execution.
Those shots at Heathcote and Mosgiel were both dropped on the boundary.
I never did hit a six in competition cricket.
I swung the bat and felt that wonderful feeling you only get when sweet spot and ball connect.
It must have been slightly lower than I thought because it travelled fast and straight towards the boundary neither rising nor dipping.
The game was at the Heathcote Domain and a browsing herd of dinosaurs on the maltworks side of the ground looked up somewhat in alarm at the approaching missile.
I had the same (or a similar) experience one time in Mosgiel.
Those were the only two times I remember that I challenged the boundary on the full.
I've watched cricket since I was a young fellow of seven or so and still remember many of the big hits that went for six although not, I admit, as well as I remember the cover drives such as the one John Wright greeted Jeff Thompson's second new ball with at Lancaster Park one year or the two John Edridge placed to the boundary on his way to a multiple hundred against New Zealand.
The sixes I do remember were part of the building of innings of note, Dick Motz' 103 in 53 minutes (8 sixes, 7 fours), Hadlee and Lees fighting back against the Windies again at Lancaster Park in an ODI before pyjamas became the norm, Lance Cairns' six in Oz (MCG?).
I have over the last few days heard myself described as an old fogey, humourless, heartless, with no ability to enjoy myself and many more entertaining and sweet adjectives because I didn't enjoy the tippenny runs game staged the other night at AMI stadium (at Lancaster Park).
I plead guilty to all the above.
Leaving aside the half-wits of the Gifford ilk and T20 converts like BC who demand that all should drop down and kneel at the alter of 20/20 simply because THEY like it (They do need to take a long look at themselves) the game leaves me cold.
I found Wednesday night's game boring.
Perhaps boring is not quite true, unsatisfying would be better.
Cricket to me is a game encompassing many skills, a team game that pits individuals against each other giving both a chance to test themselves as well as the other while playing in a team environment with the challenges, mainly mental, that that brings.
Tippenny runs takes away many of those skills, particularly that of patiently waiting for the opponent to show a weakness and then using all your own skills to exploit the weakness.
Tippenny runs creates that weakness by forcing players to take risks before they are ready, by forcing premeditation.
That however is why I dislike the game not why I found the game unsatisfying.
In Major League baseball at the halftime all-star break they hold a home run derby.
The home run in baseball equates to a six in limited overs cricket – the ultimate shot that takes the fielders out of the equation.
The home run derby is a contrived competition that sees many home runs hit in a day but, and this is important, no-one takes it for more than a contrived competition, a bit of fun.
To me that is what tippenny runs is, a contrived competition for a bit of fun.
If it remains in this context I'm all for the game but to treat it seriously, to make it mean something, to matter, destroys that concept entirely.
And this is why I find the game unsatisfying.
To see sixes struck as part of an innings when the occasion arises is exciting but to see over after over of batsmen attempting nothing else other than to hit sixes, to watch all the other batting skills subjugated is simply not cricket.
Watching Brendan McCullum hit a six to break the shackles of a bowling attack or to win a game or even just because the ball deserves it is exciting and one of the more enjoyable parts of cricket. Watching Brendan McCullum hit a six is not exciting in itself.
Watching ten/jack of the Windies batting order (even just on Cricinfo ball by ball commentary) withstanding the Poms in bad light for ten overs is far more entertaining just because we don't know what will happen.
Yes I know that this tippenny run stuff is THE game of the young, the money spinner but, like sevens football and the S14/tri-series rugby I'm guessing people will soon tire of it simply because it all becomes the same.
Tippenny runs has taken the unpredictability out of cricket.
Cricket, in fact all sport and indeed most entertainment, needs to be unpredictable not just in outcome but, Just like my shots all those years ago, in execution.
Those shots at Heathcote and Mosgiel were both dropped on the boundary.
I never did hit a six in competition cricket.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Just having harmless fun.
Last Saturday night a large number (by ChCh standards) of young people (they certainly were not all "boys") drove their cars around Christchurch.
As a professional driver working that night I had ample opportunity to observe these young people and their behaviour.
What I saw was people enjoying themselves, doing pretty much what young people have done since young people existed i.e. doing their best to attract others the same age as themselves for the purpose of mating.
My observations showed that they were generally law abiding and courteous to other road users.
The standard of their driving was as good as, often better than, the standard seen on an average day on Christchurch streets.
As an aside is the fact that these young people are so much better drivers overall the reason so many old farts hate them?
At times the noise levels of these vehicles was too high but that is a complaint young people have been prone to receiving since recording and playing of "music" in vehicles became prevalent - and having sat at traffic lights beside certainly not young people blasting out god-awful "classical" type crap or cowboy-bawling, not something that should be levelled at the young alone.
The slime have, of course (and we all knew they would) highlighted complaints from various groups about these young people's activities.
To the forefront of those complaints appears to be a group of Motelliers who are complaining that these young people were using the roads outside of their establishments for the purposes these roads were built.
It would never cross these motelliers' minds that they themselves are to blame for any disruption their "guests" suffered due to traffic noise, having built or purchased buildings next to a main thoroughfare that do not have sufficient sound/vibration proofing for that location.
It's always someone else's fault.
The vast majority of the young people were doing no wrong.
Let them alone.
Note: The main traffic disruption on Saturday night among these young people was caused by a gang in (more often than not) fancy painted, souped up, large engined cars adorned by pretty but blinding lights and driven by cowboys with no consideration, when driving, stopping or parking, for other, legitimate, road users.
This gang has publicly stated their aim was to harass these (mainly) harmless law-abiding young people.
That harassment by police caused a great deal of disruption for all road users.
Meanwhile the very poor driving, very drunk and very dangerous older drivers around Christchurch found their way to their destination unhindered because the police were busy trying to stop these young people having harmless fun once again.
As a professional driver working that night I had ample opportunity to observe these young people and their behaviour.
What I saw was people enjoying themselves, doing pretty much what young people have done since young people existed i.e. doing their best to attract others the same age as themselves for the purpose of mating.
My observations showed that they were generally law abiding and courteous to other road users.
The standard of their driving was as good as, often better than, the standard seen on an average day on Christchurch streets.
As an aside is the fact that these young people are so much better drivers overall the reason so many old farts hate them?
At times the noise levels of these vehicles was too high but that is a complaint young people have been prone to receiving since recording and playing of "music" in vehicles became prevalent - and having sat at traffic lights beside certainly not young people blasting out god-awful "classical" type crap or cowboy-bawling, not something that should be levelled at the young alone.
The slime have, of course (and we all knew they would) highlighted complaints from various groups about these young people's activities.
To the forefront of those complaints appears to be a group of Motelliers who are complaining that these young people were using the roads outside of their establishments for the purposes these roads were built.
It would never cross these motelliers' minds that they themselves are to blame for any disruption their "guests" suffered due to traffic noise, having built or purchased buildings next to a main thoroughfare that do not have sufficient sound/vibration proofing for that location.
It's always someone else's fault.
The vast majority of the young people were doing no wrong.
Let them alone.
Note: The main traffic disruption on Saturday night among these young people was caused by a gang in (more often than not) fancy painted, souped up, large engined cars adorned by pretty but blinding lights and driven by cowboys with no consideration, when driving, stopping or parking, for other, legitimate, road users.
This gang has publicly stated their aim was to harass these (mainly) harmless law-abiding young people.
That harassment by police caused a great deal of disruption for all road users.
Meanwhile the very poor driving, very drunk and very dangerous older drivers around Christchurch found their way to their destination unhindered because the police were busy trying to stop these young people having harmless fun once again.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Fowl rip-off
Mr Madoff is claiming the record, Mr Stanford is trying to deny his record attempt.
50 Billion USD does seem a large sum but personally I think it pales in comparison.
Think about a ripoff that continues to catch people out.
A ripoff that makes millions for it's authors every day.
Take some rubbish with very little food content that used to be thrown out, cover it with batter, fry it and sell it to the mugs at a premium price.
Working on the conservative figure of 1 billion people who have access to this product, 1 in 1,000 of those people buying the product daily and a very conservative estimate of 1USD clear profit per sale that gives an estimated 365 million dollars.
365 million dollars a day for something that used to be, and still should be, discarded.
Mr Madoff doesn't stand a chance.
Has there ever been a bigger con than chicken wings?
50 Billion USD does seem a large sum but personally I think it pales in comparison.
Think about a ripoff that continues to catch people out.
A ripoff that makes millions for it's authors every day.
Take some rubbish with very little food content that used to be thrown out, cover it with batter, fry it and sell it to the mugs at a premium price.
Working on the conservative figure of 1 billion people who have access to this product, 1 in 1,000 of those people buying the product daily and a very conservative estimate of 1USD clear profit per sale that gives an estimated 365 million dollars.
365 million dollars a day for something that used to be, and still should be, discarded.
Mr Madoff doesn't stand a chance.
Has there ever been a bigger con than chicken wings?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
An answer?
So simple and yet so correct.
An answer to why obesity is becoming such a problem (and to why those of us with plastic teeth tend to run to fat quicker).
An answer to why obesity is becoming such a problem (and to why those of us with plastic teeth tend to run to fat quicker).
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Spend
To save the economy we need to spend, to keep the economy moving.
This is exactly what all these "stimulus packages" are designed to help.
Putting your money under the mattress for a rainy day will hurt rather than help your chances of surviving the recession.
THIS IS the rainy day!
Forget the slime doomsaying and take no note of the halwit the Yanks just, to their cost, elected.
Spend wisely but spend.
This is exactly what all these "stimulus packages" are designed to help.
Putting your money under the mattress for a rainy day will hurt rather than help your chances of surviving the recession.
THIS IS the rainy day!
Forget the slime doomsaying and take no note of the halwit the Yanks just, to their cost, elected.
Spend wisely but spend.
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