The Melbourne Cup.
Wow.
So Efficient won the day, at odds of $22.70. Went on the outside and blitzed home from the middle of the pack to win by about a head. Incredible, even the jockey was in disbelief. "I just won the Melbourne Cup. It's just... ... ... I just won the Melbourne Cup." That would be a paraphrase of his first words when interviewed while riding down from the finish.
What makes this win even more stunning is that Efficient won the Victoria Derby last year. The last time a horse won the Derby and the Cup in consecutive years like this was in 1930. By Phar Lap.
And like Phar Lap, Efficient is a New Zealand born horse, owned and trained in Australia.
Great stuff.
Sadly though, the day was marred by 3 early scratchings and then 2 injured jockeys after a fall.
What was amusing however is the tie-in with the federal election campaign. Prime Minister John Howard is trailing by 6 points in the poll and mentioned that he was backing Mahler, who ended up in third. The leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd has been very strong in the polls and looks set to win the election on Nov 24. His pick for the race? Efficient.
Granted though, Efficient was not on strong odds to win, while Rudd is. But that just makes the victory that much sweeter doesn't it?
In other news, the Baseball World Cup starts tomorrow, hosted by Chinese Taipei. Best odds would be on Cuba to win this. Afterall, they have 25 gold medals to their name. Next closest is Venezuela with a meager 3. Poor Australia then, to have both in the pool. Oh well, here's looking towards a good tournament.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
A day at the races
Well today is Tuesday. Locally anyway. Infact, it's the first Tuesday of November, which also makes today Melbourne Cup day.
For those not knowing what the Melbourne Cup is, consider it along the lines of the Kentucky Derby. It's a very long running event, going back to 1861 (thank you wiki!) for horses over 3 years old. Originally a 2 mile run, it's been reduced by 61 odd feet to be 3,200 metres.
How big is this event? It's a public holiday in Melbourne and the ACT (Capital state for Australia), and nationwide schools and employers will have televisions set up so people can watch the race in class or at work. Even across the Ditch in New Zealand this is a fairly common practice.
But it's not just about the racing, oh no. Each year there is a rather large fashion contest, so expect lots of hats and dresses for the ladies, and a number of fetching tuxedos for the gents.
Alas though that this year has been marred. Earlier this year there was an equine flu outbreak in the country, meaning a large number of stables had to be closed, so participation is far lower than it would usually be. International horses are also fewer as a result. Transportation of horses in Australia is now heavily limited. While the Cup was always said to be going ahead regardless, it was certainly threatened by the outbreak.
Now, I'm fairly sure most people coming across this blog will have heard of Seabiscuit, if not from legend, then from the movie. What I'm less sure of is people knowing of Phar Lap. This horse is on that same kind of legendary pedestal with Seabiscuit. There's not a person in either country who doesn't know that name. He was so highly prized that his skeleton, heart and hide were preserved. The skeleton now resides in the Te Papa museum in Wellington, the hide in the Melbourne Museum, and the heart is in the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. I've been fortunate enough to have visited both Te Papa and the Melbourne Museum and seen the respective displays.
Phar Lap is still considered the most successful horse at the Melbourne Cup, despite the fact that a number of other horses have won more races, or run it faster. The legend of Phar Lap has helped push the regard of the Melbourne Cup even higher, but it's still a huge event on it's own ground.
When I lived in Fiji (1993-1995), I attended a horse race once. Well, long story short, my pick sucked. That trend has continued for every race I've seen. So anyone wanting to know my advice for a pick would do well to choose some other horse than mine. I no longer even bother as I'm so hopeless at it.
That said, it's to the races! Tally Ho!
For those not knowing what the Melbourne Cup is, consider it along the lines of the Kentucky Derby. It's a very long running event, going back to 1861 (thank you wiki!) for horses over 3 years old. Originally a 2 mile run, it's been reduced by 61 odd feet to be 3,200 metres.
How big is this event? It's a public holiday in Melbourne and the ACT (Capital state for Australia), and nationwide schools and employers will have televisions set up so people can watch the race in class or at work. Even across the Ditch in New Zealand this is a fairly common practice.
But it's not just about the racing, oh no. Each year there is a rather large fashion contest, so expect lots of hats and dresses for the ladies, and a number of fetching tuxedos for the gents.
Alas though that this year has been marred. Earlier this year there was an equine flu outbreak in the country, meaning a large number of stables had to be closed, so participation is far lower than it would usually be. International horses are also fewer as a result. Transportation of horses in Australia is now heavily limited. While the Cup was always said to be going ahead regardless, it was certainly threatened by the outbreak.
Now, I'm fairly sure most people coming across this blog will have heard of Seabiscuit, if not from legend, then from the movie. What I'm less sure of is people knowing of Phar Lap. This horse is on that same kind of legendary pedestal with Seabiscuit. There's not a person in either country who doesn't know that name. He was so highly prized that his skeleton, heart and hide were preserved. The skeleton now resides in the Te Papa museum in Wellington, the hide in the Melbourne Museum, and the heart is in the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. I've been fortunate enough to have visited both Te Papa and the Melbourne Museum and seen the respective displays.
Phar Lap is still considered the most successful horse at the Melbourne Cup, despite the fact that a number of other horses have won more races, or run it faster. The legend of Phar Lap has helped push the regard of the Melbourne Cup even higher, but it's still a huge event on it's own ground.
When I lived in Fiji (1993-1995), I attended a horse race once. Well, long story short, my pick sucked. That trend has continued for every race I've seen. So anyone wanting to know my advice for a pick would do well to choose some other horse than mine. I no longer even bother as I'm so hopeless at it.
That said, it's to the races! Tally Ho!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Oh no you didn't!
I've just found myself wondering about the attitudes of high profile sportspeople and teams. Or rather, the bad attitudes displayed by what seems to be quite a number of them.
Recently you've had Alex Rodriquez and his opting out announcement DURING Game 4 of the World Series. That was such bad form that even the MLB COO has derided it. Following this there's also his (sketchy) reasons for the opting out. In short the whole issue smacks of a massive ego. He may be a talented player, but is anyone really allowed to act like this?
A couple of week ago or so, an Australian cricketer was the subject of racial abuse from Indian fans. Andrew Symonds is a class player whose heritage comes from the West Indies, while playing in India recently fans there made gorilla imitations, verbally abused him, and generally made the tour to carry a very negative tone. This lead one Australian reporter to reflect back on what Australian players and fans are known to do towards opposing teams. He asked himself whether "we are as bad as them?" The answer implicated in his article was Yes.
Sledging is a well established tradition in cricket, a large part of the time it's fairly innocent and humourous, intended to just break the victim's concentration in the game. But there are times when it gets ugly. A few years back, New Zealander Chris Cairns lost his sister in an accident with a train. Shortly after, it's said that Australia made a chant of "choo choo choo" to accompany one of their fast bowlers during his run up towards Cairns. It's been denied by the Australian players, yet it's a prime example of just how nasty sportsmen can get.
During the 2003 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand and Australia faced off in the semi-finals. As the final minutes ticked down, Australia was ahead by a good margin. George Gregan, the captain for the Aussies stood over a ruck and shouted "Four more years, boys. Four more years", referring to the fact that NZ would need to wait a further 4 years to try and win the Cup (NZ has only won the first Cup in 1987). It makes me wonder what calling that would have accomplished. New Zealand were in a position they were unable to win from, there is no reason Gregan had to say that except for humiliation. Classy. Mind you, Gregan was well known for being a bit lippy on the field, and that just exemplifies it.
Yes, I am aware of the bias against the Australians here, but I am a kiwi after all, I know these examples best.
But the question remains, why do players and teams feel the need to fuel bad feelings by showing bad attitudes towards others?
Barry Bonds and now A-Rod are not exactly highly regarded for their motives, but rather due to their abilities. The Australian cricket team is the best in the world, yet they are known to play rather ugly at times. George Gregan was an excellent player, if in need of a smack at times (no, I don't like him much).
Of course, it's a far cry of saying every sportsperson is like this. Mariano Rivera is quite possibly one of the nicest baseball players I've heard of, yet his respective abilities are certainly on par with those of Bonds and A-Rod. I mentioned that Andrew Symonds is a class player earlier, and he is. The guy took the high road out of the racism controversy by just not putting any focus on it, he simply doesn't delve to those murky depths other do. Michael Jones is a former rugby player for NZ from Samoa and considered to be one of the games greats. He is a devout Christian and refused to play on Sundays out of religious observation. I don't think rugby players can come any nicer than him.
I guess the bottom line is that just because you're good doesn't give reason to be rude/arrogant/whatever. People may respect a good player, but they tend to respect someone who shows more sportsmanship far greater. Players like Mo, Symonds and Jones will be respected for both ability and sportsmanship long after they're retired.
Recently you've had Alex Rodriquez and his opting out announcement DURING Game 4 of the World Series. That was such bad form that even the MLB COO has derided it. Following this there's also his (sketchy) reasons for the opting out. In short the whole issue smacks of a massive ego. He may be a talented player, but is anyone really allowed to act like this?
A couple of week ago or so, an Australian cricketer was the subject of racial abuse from Indian fans. Andrew Symonds is a class player whose heritage comes from the West Indies, while playing in India recently fans there made gorilla imitations, verbally abused him, and generally made the tour to carry a very negative tone. This lead one Australian reporter to reflect back on what Australian players and fans are known to do towards opposing teams. He asked himself whether "we are as bad as them?" The answer implicated in his article was Yes.
Sledging is a well established tradition in cricket, a large part of the time it's fairly innocent and humourous, intended to just break the victim's concentration in the game. But there are times when it gets ugly. A few years back, New Zealander Chris Cairns lost his sister in an accident with a train. Shortly after, it's said that Australia made a chant of "choo choo choo" to accompany one of their fast bowlers during his run up towards Cairns. It's been denied by the Australian players, yet it's a prime example of just how nasty sportsmen can get.
During the 2003 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand and Australia faced off in the semi-finals. As the final minutes ticked down, Australia was ahead by a good margin. George Gregan, the captain for the Aussies stood over a ruck and shouted "Four more years, boys. Four more years", referring to the fact that NZ would need to wait a further 4 years to try and win the Cup (NZ has only won the first Cup in 1987). It makes me wonder what calling that would have accomplished. New Zealand were in a position they were unable to win from, there is no reason Gregan had to say that except for humiliation. Classy. Mind you, Gregan was well known for being a bit lippy on the field, and that just exemplifies it.
Yes, I am aware of the bias against the Australians here, but I am a kiwi after all, I know these examples best.
But the question remains, why do players and teams feel the need to fuel bad feelings by showing bad attitudes towards others?
Barry Bonds and now A-Rod are not exactly highly regarded for their motives, but rather due to their abilities. The Australian cricket team is the best in the world, yet they are known to play rather ugly at times. George Gregan was an excellent player, if in need of a smack at times (no, I don't like him much).
Of course, it's a far cry of saying every sportsperson is like this. Mariano Rivera is quite possibly one of the nicest baseball players I've heard of, yet his respective abilities are certainly on par with those of Bonds and A-Rod. I mentioned that Andrew Symonds is a class player earlier, and he is. The guy took the high road out of the racism controversy by just not putting any focus on it, he simply doesn't delve to those murky depths other do. Michael Jones is a former rugby player for NZ from Samoa and considered to be one of the games greats. He is a devout Christian and refused to play on Sundays out of religious observation. I don't think rugby players can come any nicer than him.
I guess the bottom line is that just because you're good doesn't give reason to be rude/arrogant/whatever. People may respect a good player, but they tend to respect someone who shows more sportsmanship far greater. Players like Mo, Symonds and Jones will be respected for both ability and sportsmanship long after they're retired.
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