The Weekender 30/08/2009

Hey, how are you all!

Sport

The Silver Ferns finished off their netball series against a World 7 team with a 46-41 win after a great last quarter but while that was a good game they lost previous two & the series. The second game they lost 44-53, and the first 44-48.

In Tri-nations rugby Australia lost 32-25 to South Africa in Perth, to virtually hand the Springboks the tri-nations title.
The Air NZ cup has been rolling on this weekend with the biggest game between the two heavy-weights Wellington & Canterbury and also a Ranfurly Shield challenge to boot. I watched the game with friends and Wellington weren't in it at all despite getting two quick tries at about the 70min mark, Canterbury won the game & the shield 14-36. Wellington coach Jamie Joseph backed down on his plan so far this season not to play any All Blacks (to protest them continually being taken away?). He started his three fit All Blacks but nothing seemed to help! In other games Taranaki beat Manawatu 10-12, Waikato welcomed back Stephen Donald to beat Counties Manukau 8-30, Auckland beat Bay of Plenty 29-14, Otago beat Northland 29-7, Hawke's Bay beat Tasman 28-26 and Southland snuck past North Harbour 24-22.
Table: Canterbury/Southland 18, Bay of Plenty 17, Manawatu 14, Otago/Wellington 13, Auckland 12, Tasman/Hawke's Bay 11, Taranki 10, Waikato/Northland 9, North Harbour 7, Counties Manukau 6

The Black Caps haven't done so well in their second test against Sri Lanka either. They are at 182 for six needing 312 runs for a win to draw the series. However near the start of the game Daniel Vettori took his 300th wicket to join an elite group of 7 other players to do the 300 wickets and 3000 test runs double. NZ is the only country to be represented twice in the group of eight with Sir Richard Hadlee as the other.

The kiwis are doing well at the rowing world champs. Mahe Drysdale won his fourth straight title and Hamish Bond and Eric Murray won the men's coxless pairs, and Rebecca Scown and Emma Feathery got bronze in the women's coxless pairs. There are a few more crews yet to race as well.

After all the arrogant Aussie sports people it was rather refreshing to hear the comments after the Tall Blacks beat the Australian Boomers 100-78 to win the two test series on points (Australia won the first game 84-77). No one in their right minds would have expected a NZ win so the Australian's must have been shocked to lose but they were very gracious giving credit to the NZ players.

Team New Zealand won their third regatta in a row for the Audi MedCup yachting circuit to tighten their grip on the title.

NZ News

The much loved Kashin the elephant was put down this week at Auckland zoo. Today there was a chance for the public to "pay their respects" with the zoo free for public & large crowds being expected.

Manukau mayor Len Brown has officially thrown his hat into the ring to be the mayor of the Auckland super city.

Health authorities have lifted their ban on Hauraki Gulf beaches after dogs and marine life were found dead at a couple of beaches. Fifteen dogs and one child became sick and it was found that the dogs had eaten sea slugs infected with a potent poison usually found in puffer fish!

A man with a samurai sword and an ammunition belt sparked a police armed offenders squad call out in Christchurch this week when he was spotted breaking into a house. I guess it was the kind of call out the AOS don't mind getting so much when they found out it was his house and the sword and belt were from a fancy dress party.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had the good fortune to wear an All Black tie on Monday this week after losing a bet over who would win last weekend's tri-nations & Bledisloe Cup game.

This week cabinet ruled out a request to have dedicated Maori seats for the new Auckland super city.

The Numbers Game

65: % increase in viewing figures for provincial rugby so far this season
72: hours in the bush for 3 teenage pig hunters, they were looking for their 13 year old cousin unaware he'd gone home
148: vehicles ran out of petrol on Auckland motorways during three weeks in July - there is a move to make it illegal
15,000: idle at-risk teenagers will have something to do after a new government school holiday programme was announced this week
17,000: $ awarded for unfair dismissal to a woman fired for sending confrontational emails in bold, red, capital letters
49,000: $ in traffic fine for one Dunedin 16 year old - he is paying it off on a weekly basis
180,000: $ donated by NZers for those affected by typhoon Morakot in Taiwan, in addition to $100,000 from the government
5m: $ pay package for the head of Telecom - despite a fall in profits
80m: $ being spent transforming the former Hobsonville air base into a marine hub for building super yachts
1.3t: $ for a Jetstar flight to Japan - according to their website (yes that was 1.3 trillion) - apparently no one actually paid that price

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4208 (+0.0071)
EUR 0.4787 (+0.0019)
USD 0.6845 (+0.0017)
AUD 0.8141 (-0.0042)

The Weekender NZer of the week

Arthur Lydiard
RUNNING MAN
Arthur Lydiard invented jogging. The method of building up physical fitness by gradually increasing stamina is a simple one, used by millions of men and women worldwide as part of their everyday health and fitness regime. Lydiard's methods trained New Zealand's greatest track athletes, and helped propel New Zealand to the top of world middle-distance running.
http://www.nzedge.co.nz/heroes/lydiard-arthur.html

Joke of the Weekender

Guard Dog
My boyfriend, Tim, a mechanic, does work for the Air Force Academy. One day, a guard asked, "Mind if our new guard dog practices sniffing your truck?
Tim obliged and the dog went to work. Almost immediately, it latched onto a scent and jumped into the truck bed sniffing furiously.
Tim became nervous. There were no drugs or weapons. What could the dog be after? A few minutes later, the guard approached Tim.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "our dog ate your lunch."

Weekender Photos

Check out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42

Darren Harrison: darren@harrison.gen.nz
The Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website: www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
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