Monday, May 02, 2005
Myths, Legends and Dumb shit
What's with people (usually selling tickets or talking up the tour) saying that the Lions tour is "a once in a lifetime opportunity/event". I must have heard that about 20 times from as many different people.
They have actually been to New Zealand 11 times in the last 117 years. Now admittedly there probably wouldn't be more than a couple of people on the planet who could claim to have been alive at the time of the first tour but hell there's plenty of us that were alive for more than one of them!
I was born in 1976 and can vividly remember seeing John Kirwan score a try in the corner against the Lions at Eden Park in a game for Auckland which they won 13-12 in 1983? A year after my birth the Lions toured New Zealand and played 25 games. Then in 1993 I remember watching them lose to Hawkes Bay on TV and us lose the 2nd test but triumph in the 3rd. So here I am about to 'witness' my 4th Lions tour to NZ at the ripe old age of 28. Should be another one when I'm 40, 53, 64, 76 and hopefully 88, 100, 112, and through the miracles of modern (future?)science 124, 136...
Realistically though your average Kiwi will be alive for at least 6 tours and possibly up to 8 or 9. My father is not yet at 60 and he is about to sit through his 8th tour.
So shove this once in a lifetime promotional/robotic crap up your arse.
***
Another one is the Warriors being "hard to beat" in New Zealand. They have now lost 4 of 5 this year in NZ on the back of losing their last three last year so that's 7 from 8... I'd say that's probably the worst record in the comp over that period of time apart from perhaps the Rabbitohs. Their all time record at Ericsson is 68 wins and 52 losses with one draw. And they have lost about 6 and drawn one of other competition games in NZ so it's about 68-2-58 in the country. Only North Queensland and the Wests Tigers have a worse alltime record with Parramatta and Penrith having similar sorts of win/loss ratios. The other ten sides have vastly better home records.
So when they win 3 out of 4 games at Ericsson consistenly then say they are hard to beat. Not when it's about 11 out of 20.
***
The Highlanders crowds are poor. Well yeah, compared to places like Jade Stadium, Westpac Stadium and Eden Park they are pretty poor but if the 12,000 they apparently got for the Waratahs game came from a population ten times bigger like Auckland then 120,000 would seem like a reasonable turnout wouldn't it? Let's face it, the city is made up of students who don't have that much cash and often aren't even in town, old people who can't go cos they have no money or it's too cold (why is every fucking game at night?) and rural folk who probably can't be fucked travelling into town for every bloody game. A bloke on the radio now is talking about how the night games is hurting them a lot with the cold miserable weather. Anybody want to add to that?
And I've forgotten the other stupid myths that are getting a lot of mileage these days. Does anybody have any they want to add in the ruddy forum??
They have actually been to New Zealand 11 times in the last 117 years. Now admittedly there probably wouldn't be more than a couple of people on the planet who could claim to have been alive at the time of the first tour but hell there's plenty of us that were alive for more than one of them!
I was born in 1976 and can vividly remember seeing John Kirwan score a try in the corner against the Lions at Eden Park in a game for Auckland which they won 13-12 in 1983? A year after my birth the Lions toured New Zealand and played 25 games. Then in 1993 I remember watching them lose to Hawkes Bay on TV and us lose the 2nd test but triumph in the 3rd. So here I am about to 'witness' my 4th Lions tour to NZ at the ripe old age of 28. Should be another one when I'm 40, 53, 64, 76 and hopefully 88, 100, 112, and through the miracles of modern (future?)science 124, 136...
Realistically though your average Kiwi will be alive for at least 6 tours and possibly up to 8 or 9. My father is not yet at 60 and he is about to sit through his 8th tour.
So shove this once in a lifetime promotional/robotic crap up your arse.
***
Another one is the Warriors being "hard to beat" in New Zealand. They have now lost 4 of 5 this year in NZ on the back of losing their last three last year so that's 7 from 8... I'd say that's probably the worst record in the comp over that period of time apart from perhaps the Rabbitohs. Their all time record at Ericsson is 68 wins and 52 losses with one draw. And they have lost about 6 and drawn one of other competition games in NZ so it's about 68-2-58 in the country. Only North Queensland and the Wests Tigers have a worse alltime record with Parramatta and Penrith having similar sorts of win/loss ratios. The other ten sides have vastly better home records.
So when they win 3 out of 4 games at Ericsson consistenly then say they are hard to beat. Not when it's about 11 out of 20.
***
The Highlanders crowds are poor. Well yeah, compared to places like Jade Stadium, Westpac Stadium and Eden Park they are pretty poor but if the 12,000 they apparently got for the Waratahs game came from a population ten times bigger like Auckland then 120,000 would seem like a reasonable turnout wouldn't it? Let's face it, the city is made up of students who don't have that much cash and often aren't even in town, old people who can't go cos they have no money or it's too cold (why is every fucking game at night?) and rural folk who probably can't be fucked travelling into town for every bloody game. A bloke on the radio now is talking about how the night games is hurting them a lot with the cold miserable weather. Anybody want to add to that?
And I've forgotten the other stupid myths that are getting a lot of mileage these days. Does anybody have any they want to add in the ruddy forum??
Comments:
The weather in Dunedin is always fucking atrocious ... you are right. They could play at midday in January and still the cold would keep some people away.
For a supposedly "rugby-mad" city, I hear less about rugby in Dunedin than I did in Auckland (a pleasant relief), and certainly less than I heard about hockey in Vancouver.
For a supposedly "rugby-mad" city, I hear less about rugby in Dunedin than I did in Auckland (a pleasant relief), and certainly less than I heard about hockey in Vancouver.
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