I have a male dominated senior English class full of boys who'd rather be driving tractors or playing sport than listening to their embattled English teacher.
Today, however, we (I) struck gold by debating whether it's better to watch an era of dominance and marvel at the excellence of it or have a more unpredictable competition.
Hands were nearly thrown with references to Crusaders, All Blacks, Storm, Queensland, Verstappen, GS Warriors, Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather, Usain Bolt etc.
After nearly 45minutes of pointing, shouting, ferocious Googling and fact-checking, the majority settled that they enjoy an era of dominance because the pay off when they eventually fall is all the more sweet.
Not sure I agree entirely but it was a fun period 2 that's for sure.
I am not a fan of the top 8 in Super Rugby but Geoff Parkes over at The Roar made some very good points which I'll quote here:
"The bloated finals format, where eight of 12 teams qualify for post-season action continues to draw justifiable criticism, along the lines that ‘everyone gets a prize’ belongs in the under-sevens, not a premier professional competition.
But rugby in this corner of the world is not representative of a historical, financially secure, perfect market, like the NFL, NBA, MLB or English Premier League. At just 14 matches, the competition is short – too short – and it makes good sense to provide fans of four teams with an extra week of action.
Further, with rugby struggling to attract sufficient numbers of eyeballs, a competition format that provides more teams with something to play for, for longer, whether that be a home final or any kind of final, also makes good sense; particularly given that it’s a long time until February comes around again."
Part of the reason they did it was a fear the Australian teams would be continually shut out, but again that points to a flawed comp if you’re catering for what was seen as inherent weakness.
Then just go back to 2 x 6 team conferences. 2 rounds against local conference teams and 1 round against other conference. More local derbies and top 2 from each conf go through with 2 wildcards making 6. Thus would keep everyone happy surely?
Agreed, except for the early years, Super Rugby's always been a compromised competition to suit the demands of the three unions, with the conference system being the worst. The current comp is a small improvement and it's great to have the Pacific teams in it now, it's just a pity Moana don't play more games in Samoa & Tonga. The support they have there is fantastic.
I think you missed a lot in the F1, Dylan. Verstappen won - but by 0.7 seconds. And in the end the race length saved him as much as his incredible skill in an amazing car - if there had been one more lap ... (but he'd addressed the irrelevance of 'if' with his infamous quote last week).
But like all sports 'tournaments', its not the specific race/match as much as the lead up - and this was an intriguing weekend in the context of the 2024 series. The gap is closing, we have real fights for the win, and the Constructors' Championship is up in the air a little as Red Bull's 2nd driver has lost the 'car advantage' and now is only probably the 5th fastest on track.
Imola is a poor track for passing unfortunately. F1 has a problem with large cars and narrow tracks.
The other interesting story though - Max Verstappen did 6 hours (2 stints of 3 hours each) of sim racing over the weekend, as his e-sports team were competing in a 24 hour race. He was on his simulator not long after qualifying, when he needed to rest and prepare for race day. What F1 champion on earth has ever done or would even contemplate something like that during a race weekend?
The results may have been predictable - that may be about to change. But we are watching the prime of one of the greatest and in many ways most remarkable F1 drivers there has ever been and that alone is fascinating to me.
Can't say I buy into the negative sentiment of the football writers when it comes to the Nix. This season exceeded even the wildest expectations of all followers. The fact they should retain the players that matter (Barbarouses, Paulsen, Old, Rufer, Surman) for a second crack can only be a good thing.
And I don't think the moment that 99th minute goal went in can be understated. The stadium went bezerk. Memories of the All Whites Bahrain WC qualifier in 2009 were flush in the brain. Similar to the Hairy Jav's 6 I'd suspect too (I wasn't at that match unfortunately).
I thought this was a terrific piece of writing on Fury being a plonker.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350283170/tyson-furys-classless-judge-claim-insult-dazzling-oleksandr-usyk
Re Max Verstappen, Man City dominance:
I have a male dominated senior English class full of boys who'd rather be driving tractors or playing sport than listening to their embattled English teacher.
Today, however, we (I) struck gold by debating whether it's better to watch an era of dominance and marvel at the excellence of it or have a more unpredictable competition.
Hands were nearly thrown with references to Crusaders, All Blacks, Storm, Queensland, Verstappen, GS Warriors, Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather, Usain Bolt etc.
After nearly 45minutes of pointing, shouting, ferocious Googling and fact-checking, the majority settled that they enjoy an era of dominance because the pay off when they eventually fall is all the more sweet.
Not sure I agree entirely but it was a fun period 2 that's for sure.
Sounds like a perfect lead into a lesson on schadenfreude!
I am not a fan of the top 8 in Super Rugby but Geoff Parkes over at The Roar made some very good points which I'll quote here:
"The bloated finals format, where eight of 12 teams qualify for post-season action continues to draw justifiable criticism, along the lines that ‘everyone gets a prize’ belongs in the under-sevens, not a premier professional competition.
But rugby in this corner of the world is not representative of a historical, financially secure, perfect market, like the NFL, NBA, MLB or English Premier League. At just 14 matches, the competition is short – too short – and it makes good sense to provide fans of four teams with an extra week of action.
Further, with rugby struggling to attract sufficient numbers of eyeballs, a competition format that provides more teams with something to play for, for longer, whether that be a home final or any kind of final, also makes good sense; particularly given that it’s a long time until February comes around again."
from: https://www.theroar.com.au/2024/05/20/the-wrap-a-slap-three-trips-and-a-telling-slip-of-the-tongue
I'm still not a fan, a top 6 I could probably stomach, but it does give food for thought.
Part of the reason they did it was a fear the Australian teams would be continually shut out, but again that points to a flawed comp if you’re catering for what was seen as inherent weakness.
Then just go back to 2 x 6 team conferences. 2 rounds against local conference teams and 1 round against other conference. More local derbies and top 2 from each conf go through with 2 wildcards making 6. Thus would keep everyone happy surely?
Agreed, except for the early years, Super Rugby's always been a compromised competition to suit the demands of the three unions, with the conference system being the worst. The current comp is a small improvement and it's great to have the Pacific teams in it now, it's just a pity Moana don't play more games in Samoa & Tonga. The support they have there is fantastic.
I think you missed a lot in the F1, Dylan. Verstappen won - but by 0.7 seconds. And in the end the race length saved him as much as his incredible skill in an amazing car - if there had been one more lap ... (but he'd addressed the irrelevance of 'if' with his infamous quote last week).
But like all sports 'tournaments', its not the specific race/match as much as the lead up - and this was an intriguing weekend in the context of the 2024 series. The gap is closing, we have real fights for the win, and the Constructors' Championship is up in the air a little as Red Bull's 2nd driver has lost the 'car advantage' and now is only probably the 5th fastest on track.
Imola is a poor track for passing unfortunately. F1 has a problem with large cars and narrow tracks.
The other interesting story though - Max Verstappen did 6 hours (2 stints of 3 hours each) of sim racing over the weekend, as his e-sports team were competing in a 24 hour race. He was on his simulator not long after qualifying, when he needed to rest and prepare for race day. What F1 champion on earth has ever done or would even contemplate something like that during a race weekend?
The results may have been predictable - that may be about to change. But we are watching the prime of one of the greatest and in many ways most remarkable F1 drivers there has ever been and that alone is fascinating to me.
Can't say I buy into the negative sentiment of the football writers when it comes to the Nix. This season exceeded even the wildest expectations of all followers. The fact they should retain the players that matter (Barbarouses, Paulsen, Old, Rufer, Surman) for a second crack can only be a good thing.
And I don't think the moment that 99th minute goal went in can be understated. The stadium went bezerk. Memories of the All Whites Bahrain WC qualifier in 2009 were flush in the brain. Similar to the Hairy Jav's 6 I'd suspect too (I wasn't at that match unfortunately).
Yes I have to say it was maybe louder than the Bahrain goal. It was honestly such an explosion of joy, that was worth it despite the loss.