Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The McCully Touch

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  • Tom Beard,

    I'm always creeped out when commentators mention Owen Franks, since in my mind's eye I keep seeing an unholy combination of Owen McShane and Stephen Franks. And now both names turn up in this post. Shudder.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    As far as I'm aware, no one has persuasively explained why the ARC's proposed re-development of Shed 10 won't be able to perform as "party central".

    Indeed, if they just get on and build the bloody thing, it'll have a built-in crowd in the fans who'll be using visiting cruise ships as accommodation. And it'll still have a purpose afterwards.

    It's nothing to do with fitness for purpose -- it's just McCully's hissy fit that's the problem.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Tinshed,

    And it sounds like Haden and his ilk haven't changed all that much since 1981.

    I agree - they are very much the old guard of the rugby/racing/beer NZ male stereotype. The good thing is New Zealand has changed a great deal since 1981 and mostly for the better. We are are much more diverse country now with plenty of reasons to feel good about ourselves without having to rely on rugby prowess. Haden, Deaker et al do not understand this, don't like it and wish we were all back in the halcyon days when men were men and Meads was everybody's hero. Gladly, these days are gone.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Jul 2008 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Thank you for this post Russell. I've been having, or rather attempting to have, a v frustrating debate with a couple of the bloggers from NZ Conservative who have defended Haden on a post I wrote yesterday about the matter. I think we have basically got to a simmering rage-filled standstill, so new perspectives are most welcome.

    Is "don't argue with these people, you'll just end up driven to drink" a new perspective?

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Thank you for this post Russell. I've been having, or rather attempting to have, a v frustrating debate with a couple of the bloggers from NZ Conservative who have defended Haden on a post I wrote yesterday about the matter.

    Gawd. I was looking at Lucia's NZ Conservative post, and the comment underneath it.

    Don't go there unless you're prepared to be seriously creeped out.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    a veritable reptile farm... *

    Gawd. I was looking at Lucia's NZ Conservative post, and the comment underneath it.

    Wow! Scary people! Personally I think that's a strong case for not allowing people to comment anonymously or under pompous pseudonyms...
    I would want to know who these people are so I can have no dealings with them in the real world!
    At least Haden owned his outbursts...

    *actually that might be unfair to reptiles...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    A good few years back I used to have a couple of "Mates". One was called Lenny the Turk, he was what I call a "Point and shoot guy" the other was called Sammy the snake, an inveigling, slippery con artist . On one occasion the next door neighbours were having a row, it went on all day and into the night. One of the guys in the flat said to Lenny "Mate, why don't you go over there and tell him he's a C**t?"
    Off went Lenny,the row stopped and the fight started. Lenny was a punching and a kicking and the neighbours wife came to her husbands rescue. We then sent Sammy in to say all the right things and make everybody happy.
    If only McCully were even more of a snake...

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Young,

    Oh dear...Andy Haden doesn't seem to realise that it's now the twenty first century as opposed to the nineteenth, the great chronologically overendowed pillock.

    Really, though, don't his troglodyte and sock con defenders really highlight the vacuity of that favourite hackneyed right-wing cliche, 'political correctness?'

    It looks like we can add another operational definition to the pile already available- 'cliche used to justify voicing of discredited, hackneyed and archaic unsubstantiated prejudices, usually voiced by a dyspeptic senior citizen who has trouble dealing with social change and transformations in civility and sensibility."

    Craig Y

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report Reply

  • anjum rahman,

    "I agree - they are very much the old guard of the rugby/racing/beer NZ male stereotype."

    unfortunately not. i just had a brief conversation with a young man involved at top level club rugby, who supports mr haden's statements completely. if it were ok to extrapolate from a single example, i would have said haden's attitude is pervasive in the rugby culture of today.

    hamilton • Since Nov 2006 • 130 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    surely calling someone "chronologically overendowed" rather than "old" is PC in itself .... (runs for cover)

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Young,

    Or, let me paraphrase that, especially given dear little Lucia is scoping out this website and has just commented on it on that very thread...

    'cliche used to justify voicing of discredited, hackneyed and archaic unsubstantiated prejudices, usually voiced by an encapsulated religiously biased non-entity who has trouble dealing with secularisation, social change and transformations in civility and sensibility."

    Craig Y

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Young,

    I was being ironic, dearheart. Or sarcastic. Sorry,
    should I have said chronometrically overadvantaged?
    Temporally challenged? Perceptually obstructed? No,
    wait, that's one of my euphemisms for sock cons, damn...

    Craig Y

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    I confess, I nicked it, but I can't remember where or who from.

    My immediate thought was Hot Tub Time Machine, while pinned under a chair being inspected as to whether his arm is still attached Crispin Glover (God bless his soul) asks;

    "Are you rapin'?"

    For some reason the unfamiliarity of removing the direct object from that verb with the present participle sounds quite funny. I think the humourous value is mainly derived from the removal of the object as it seems to possess a certain je ne sais quois in the other forms too;

    "Do you rape?"
    "I'd recently raped when I met the store clerk."
    "He was understandably famished having just raped."

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Sideswipe has found McCully's lookalike

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    2. Appearing to state that young women who seek to hook up with sports stars for sexual fun "do so at their peril" because, hey, players be rapin'. - R

    I heard it as appearing to state that if you come off second-best in your encounter with a rugby player and then complain about it, you can expect to come up against a united front of the old boy rugby network including the sort of legal and PR firepower that'll make you wish you'd just kept your trap shut.

    I may be wrong but I have very keen instincts. - Holmes

    That's a laugh and a half of a sentence, huh?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Or, let me paraphrase that, especially given dear little Lucia is scoping out this website and has just commented on it on that very thread...

    Couldn't help myself. Went back. Explained the painfully obvious to those weirdos.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    There's a fundamental reason why some sort of temporary hospitality venue (trying to avoid the "PC" phrase: "Party Central") will be need for this event: cities tend to work best when they're designed to support everyday living rather than a once-in-a-lifetime event.

    The Viaduct works (and I use the word "works" advisedly) because the open spaces are in keeping with the volumes of people using it. If it had been designed to handle enormous crowds, 99.9% of the time it would be empty, bleak and uninviting. It's prudent to include spaces that support, or can be easily converted to support, larger events. But given the projected numbers, it looks like the viaduct wouldn't be able to cope, and it's worth looking for somewhere else that can easily be converted into a special venue, and then later readapted to become an attractive part of the day-to-day city.

    The same applies to the bars themselves, but based upon economics rather than urban design. The market can sustain a certain amount of boozing, but it would take dozens of extra venues to provide for those few big nights, and there's no way that they'd survive long-term.

    What Auckland would need is a wide street lined with munter-friendly pubs that can be closed to traffic for a few nights, with space for screens, crowds and a few marquees. Courtenay Place plays that role in Wellington, and when combined with some waterfront areas and every other bar adding its own little marquee, should just about do it. Offhand, I can't think of a place that fits that description in Auckland, and of course Eden Park will have a much bigger capacity for the city to handle. Hence the need for something: not sure whether Queens Wharf fits the bill, but just saying "let the exising bars handle it" isn't going to work.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Jonty,

    Wasn't Haden one of the Cavaliers back in 1981(?) who crept out of the country under cover of darkness to play the Boks in SA in the face of world-wide condemnation of the then reviled apartheid system? He and his mates were rewarded with 5-star treatment and diamond cuff-links.
    Haden has always been an arrogant, egotistical, self-opinionated twerp who has delusions of grandeur. Another ex-AB for whom there is always a sweet reward in NZ society after retirement -- whether they have any aptitude for the job or not.

    Katikati • Since Mar 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    1986, and yes.

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Hence the need for something: not sure whether Queens Wharf fits the bill, but just saying "let the exising bars handle it" isn't going to work

    As I keep saying, I think what the ARC wants to do will fit the bill just fine.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Kim Sokolich,

    Gawd. I was looking at Lucia's NZ Conservative post, and the comment underneath it.

    Don't go there unless you're prepared to be seriously creeped out.

    You also want to keep away from the comments under the stuff.co.nz article. I was amazed at how many commenters fully supported Haden. It must have been at least half in his favour. Unbelievably a large portion of them were women. The ignorance was truly awe-inspiringly sad. Of course, these are the same women who think Tony Vietch got a raw deal so no real surprise I guess. Still sad though.

    Since Oct 2008 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    What Auckland would need is a wide street lined with munter-friendly pubs that can be closed to traffic for a few nights, with space for screens, crowds and a few marquees. Courtenay Place plays that role in Wellington, and when combined with some waterfront areas and every other bar adding its own little marquee, should just about do it.

    How many bars are there on Ponsonby Rd? Close it to traffic from Crummer Rd to Three Lamps, put up screens in Western Park. Kinda like the Hero Parade -- only for rugby.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    More McCully. In light of Bethune's media statement, Scott Yorke lampoons our govt lapdogs of the Japanese.

    Key of course tries to twist that into blaming the diplomats rather than himself, craven McCully or the other yesterday's men of his cabinet. And we wonder where people get the idea that this is what "leadership" means.

    "We gave him all the support that we possibly could and, in the end, he's had a sentence that has allowed him to return to New Zealand but to somehow lash out and blame our people in Japan under the leadership of our ambassador there, Ian Kennedy, who has done a tremendous job for him, I think it's just ungrateful."

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Philip, that has merit. Hero Parade crowds were 100-200k so we know the capacity is there. And it's just off the official walking route to/from the stadium.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    What Auckland would need is a wide street lined with munter-friendly pubs that can be closed to traffic for a few nights, with space for screens, crowds and a few marquees.

    Hang about... Didn't we just spend 100 squillion on Queen St to make it People friendly? You know, with stuff for tourists and the like? Didn't the Council know about the RWC?
    Anyway. For those visitors that would like to see the Rugby and can't because the tickets are not only expensive but, apparently, already sold out. It will be on TV, well Sky TV at least, I have a suggestion. Get a room in a Motel in one of the nicer parts of NZ, sit back and enjoy the News coverage of all the drunken revelry and resulting chaos of a badly organised fiasco.
    I'm, joking... of course... aren't I?

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

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