10.28.07
Posted in Sport at 19:26 pm by Guy
It has been 12 long years, but South Africa are finally world champions again. The world cup in France (plus Scotland and Wales) has been an undoubted success, mainly thanks to the French hospitality and the teams coming to the party. The so-called ’second tier’ nations were fantastic and provided entertainment right through to quarters. The pacific islanders deserve special praise after a pretty ordinary start with Samoa getting tanked by the eventual champions. Tonga and Fiji stepped into top gear, and Fiji were at one stage 20 minutes away from extra time in the quarter against SA. It is worth pausing to consider how much better these sides would be right now, and indeed how good they will become, if those dodgy kiwi’s stop hijacking the islands best players. And, the kiwi’s only got as far in the tournament as Fiji, so perhaps some of the ‘kiwi’s’ should think about going back to their homeland. Enough about the Pacific, more about Africa….. Read the rest of this entry »
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10.02.07
Posted in Sport at 14:12 pm by Guy
After months of speculation, rumour and behind the scenes planning, the one-and-one-halves are back. At this point I only have sketchy details from Mr Jono Nienaber, but it sounds as though the first opposition were saved only by the weather. Jono’s match report:
Duh-DUH Daaaaahhhhhhh….!!! - the infamous One and One Halves were called into action yesterday after a 3 or 4 year retirement…. - there were a few new faces - and many old(er) ones….. - our capain Wichie (birthday boy - 30 - sounds like a good number) Nienaber lost the toss and was instructed to bat. - on what must be said was a mud patch, due to the incessant rain…. Stu (Balls) Tuna opened the batting with the most eager player in the history of the one and one halves - Mr H Bom himself!! (he had that morning gone for a net at Mr Price and bought an entirely new - and matching Wasp kit, socks incl.)
- Tuna got us off to a great start with a bounday off the first ball….
the game was eventaully called off due to the incessant rain - 60 odd off 6 overs and for the loss of one Mr Bom… who scored 10 -
the usual fines meeting ensued….
We are back!
Please send more details boys.
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06.19.07
Posted in Sport, Technology at 13:57 pm by Guy
Online mapping seems to just get better, faster, and more detailed by the day, and most of you will be familiar with online tools such as Google Earth, Google maps, Live Local and Vitual Earth.
I blogged about a simple online ditance and route mapping tool, Wayfaring, a while ago, but I have since been alerted to bigger, better, faster, more detailed tools which might be useful to some of you. Thanks to Mudders for the heads up on a lot of these….
The software (Garmin Training Center) that comes packaged with the Forerunner 305 is quite crap for visualising maps, but is a useful tool for training and is probably more suited to running than biking. Mudders has found this piece of free software, called Sportstracks, and is much better for displaying routes on detailed background maps. It is freeware that you can download onto your PC and is basically a replacement for Training centre.
‘Motionbased‘ is another option for storing training data and visualising maps, but it is a web application with an interface on your PC and all your details are stored online as opposed to your PC which is not ideal for me - I’d rather have the data on my PC. The ‘Lite’ version is free, but if you want ot see more than your last ten activites then you have to pay. A lot of mates use it though, including Grayskull, who uploaded this to his website as an example. Mudders has also uploaded the London to Brighton bike race route here. You can view courses and routes on a variety of backgrounds such as aerial photographs, street maps, etc and it gives you the elevation profile as well. Coverage of background maps is not great outside of built -up areas by the looks of things.
If you use the Garmin Training Centre and/or the Sportstracks software, and want something simpler to create routes then check out MapMyRide. You can very quickly and easily (in a similar way to wayfaring) create a route, and then save it as a .crs file for uploading straight to your gps for your next ride - schweet! It gives you elevation profiling as well. As an example, Sarah and I took a leisurely ride out too Worcester Park on Sunday arvie, and I have mapped the route in MapMyRide. Or, check out Mudders London to Brighton on MapMyRide as a comparison of features to Motionbased. You can see the elevation profile by clicking the appropriate box on the left-hnand side menu.
GPS ROCKS!
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05.06.07
Posted in Sport at 19:19 pm by Guy
Yesterday signalled the start of the UK cricket season for the Surrey Downs cricket league. Rog has decided to play for East Horsley this season, and roped me into the 1st XI for yesterdays game at Albury CC. Albury is a stunning ground, located on the high heathland of the North Downs. The pitch was in good shape, although with a rather disturbing tinge of green. Unfortunately a combination of hot, dry weather, and local wildlife burrows rendered the outfield a hazard. Anything punched through the infield went to the boundary which suited me fine!
We won the toss and put the opposition in to bat. After they got off to a flyer we pegged them back to 81/4 before a 150 run stand seemingly put the game out of reach. East Horsley were ultimately set 243 to win in 45 overs. An early loss brought Rog in to dominate the attack will a cool, quickfire 91 before holing out chasing the runs. It was the highest innings on the day and littered with devastating drives over, past and ocasionally through the bowler. Roger’s demise brought me to the wicket at 3 down and with 65-odd runs from victory. After losing 3 batting partners, I ended on 30 not, and victory was sealed with 6 overs to spare. A great way for East Horsley to begin their campaign, and hopefully they pick up where we leave off!!
The one-and-one-halves continue their work.
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04.10.07
Posted in Sport at 20:42 pm by Guy
Its now 9 days ago that we jogged around Kingston and Hampton Court in the aid of nothing in particular, but rather late than never…. so here’s the review of our Kingston Breakfast Run!
Dan the man Roberts suggested we get amongst this race, so I drafted in the crew of Dodge, Laz and Ryan with the aim of going the full 16 mile distance. After a couple of Richmond Park runs, but not much else, we decided that 16 miles was perhaps a little ambitious, particularly seeing as though it was 2 x 8 mile laps, and entered the 8.2 mile race (13.12km). It was a very well organised race, although far too many entrants which resulted in the first 2 miles being run at pedestrian pace through Kingston and along the tow path to Hampton Court. The scenery in the early stages was awesome though, and as the pace picked up we settled into 8 min miles. Ultimately Rog stepped it up in the final mile to take the bragging rights by about 45 seconds, as Laz and I held in until my characteristic Asafa Powell kick in the final hundred led to a finish in 69:10 and a placing of 422 out of 1600.
Unfortunately the cold weather completely immobilised the girls’ camera trigger fingers so I only have a smattering of random pics from the day. The official photo’s online can be found here and fill in bib No. 4693.
The important thing to take notice of is the headband………. respek.
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04.03.07
Posted in Sport at 15:41 pm by Guy
A slight change of theme, as we stick with sport but switch to rugby. Hows this for a beaut from the SA rugby administrators. If the SA team at the world cup doesn’t have at least 6 non-white players, then the SA governmunt will confiscate the players’ passports and not let them go!!! WHAHAHAHAHA WTF? I have a lot of faith in mankind, especially when it comes to intelligence, you know ‘he can’t possibly be THAT stupid, it must be a mistake’……. well, no more……. I think Butana Komphela is THAT stupid!
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03.29.07
Posted in Sport at 9:52 am by Guy
Now, you will very seldom see any swearing on this website not any blasphemy. I’m going to steer clear of the blasphemy, becfause at the end of the day it is only a game. However, I have one question for all of you:
What the fuck were South Africa trying to pull last night?!!!!!
My shattered nerves. Were they goofed? Graeme Smith said that a few of the boys were chugging on some cancer sticks towards the end, but was it weed, and was it the blokes who still had to bat (scuse the pun)?!?!??!?!
Cruising along at 160/2 chasing a paltry 209, Kallis set on 60-odd, and all of a sardine [cough, cough] South Africa once again collapse. At this level of the game, the difference between winning and losing is often in the mind. These guys spend their lives practicing, honing their skills, training, wotking on fitness, etc, that there is so little to choose skills wise between the top guys. Sure, some players are more talented than others, and there are those ’special’ players who appear a grade above the rest, but in generla there is very little to choose between the top sides in this years world cup. So, if South Africa are genuinely the worlds best one-day side, adn are serious contenders for the world cup, they are going to have start learning to be more ruthless. Quickly. The proteas have this knack of never quite finishing the opposition off, not slamming the door shut, not hammering in that final nail. As opposed to the Aussies of course, who’s natural instinct is too kick whilst one is down!
With Bangladesh and Ireland making the super 8’s, and with England not at their best, you have to think that regardless of the ultimately narrow win last night, South Africa will be one of the final 4 contesting the semi-final. The Windies look eratic, and are likely to drop points again, and the kiwi’s haven’t been truely tested yet. This is not the point though. As South Africa have found to their detriment in previous World Cups, once you reach a reach a knock-out siutation, there are no excuses, no second chances, no time to reflect. It’s win or get on the plane, and I’m afraid South Africa don’t have the bottle at the moment.
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03.27.07
Posted in Sport at 10:02 am by Guy
With our impending trip to the Caribbean, I’m afraid the crciket stories are going to be unrelenting in the next few weeks. And with that I can proudly unveil our official tour logo, as professionally designed and drawn by Ms Leanne Smith…..
So, look out for it on the telly during the following games:
April 13: Australia v Ireland
April 15: Bangladesh v Ireland
April 17: South Africa v England
April 19: West Indies v Bangladesh
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03.18.07
Posted in Sport at 21:31 pm by Guy
T minus 25 days until we hit the world cup cricket in the West Indies. The West Indies blog has been picking revcently as the tour members scour dictionaries for new superlativces to describe the excitement. The tournament is now 7 days old and I thought I’d round things up.
There have been a few suprises thus far, most notably that of Irelands victory over Pakistan yesterday. This, on St Patricks day no less, sent the Paki’s packing as they make an early exit from the competition. Pakistan are certainly the most volatile cricketing nation in the world, but with a batting lineup including Younis Khan, Mohammed Yousef and Ul-Haq, however weakened the bowling lineup is, a loss to Ireland is unacceptable. It has been an incredible tournament for Ireland who also dramatically tied with Zimbabwe on Thursday. Ireland now have a real chance of qualifying for the next stage, and we may well see them in Barbados - more celebrating with the paddy’s! Fine by me.
Other big guns all won in week 1, including Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Australia and, most importantly, South Africa. India, however were humbled yesterday by Bangladesh. The big talking point in week one has to be Hershelle Gibbs, and his world record 6 sizes in one over. Setting aside the fact that the Netherlands are not the strongest crciketing nation, this is a feat that has never been achieved in over 100 years of international cricket. Only the legends Sir Garfield Sobers and Ravi Shastri have ever done it before in first-class cricket. Gibbs’ feat was a mixture of majestic stroke making, brute force and an eye for the ball that I think is unchallenged worldwide. There has never been any doubt about this man’s natural ability, but over and over again (think SA’s victory over Aus at the Wanderers) that he is a cricketing genius.
At this stage its still difficult to work out which teams we will be watching in Barbados, although based on results thus far and future fixtures ending according to the script, it is likely we will see the West Indies twice, Aus, SA and Ireland. Doesn’t get much better than that! Also, a West Indies South Africa semi final in St Lucia is not impossible.
All this put into prespective in the last few hours by the tragic news that Bob Woolmer has died suddnely. Bob Woolmer coached South Africa from 1995 until after the world cup exit in 1999. He was born in India, but payed test cricket for England. The cause of his death is unknown at this stage, and the tributes has started pouring in for a well liked figure in the game.
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01.31.07
Posted in Sport at 9:48 am by Guy
Cricket South Africa released the names of the 15 man squad to contest the up-and-coming one-day series against Pakistan, and at the same time showed their hand for the world cup starting on March 11. The 5 one-day games against Pakistan are the last before the team jet off for the West Indies to take up their place as the second best one-day side in the world to contest for the biggest cricketing trophy. Major changes to the squad are therefore unlikely. Read the rest of this entry »
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