Field Theory by Hadyn Green

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Field Theory: An important message for aspiring sportswomen

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  • Yamis,

    Lot's of interesting points above, too many to comment on really. But I'll disagree slightly with you Amy in that people watch sport for a variety of reasons, to make out like there's only one reason is a bit presumptuous. I'll watch my team play to see them dismantle the opposition (ideally). As a Warriors supporter I'm far happier after they've pantsed somebody by 40 points than some error ridden nail-biter where they just got over the line.

    If I'm a neutral observer I want to see top quality sport and if possible a really tight finish. But there's nothing worse than watching two teams I don't support playing out a horrible match with dropped passes, poor kicking, or finishing, bowling, shot selection, catching or whatever else.

    Actually, in saying all that there's one exception I can think of.

    Golf. There I find a perverse pleasure in seeing the best golfers in the world hitting it into dense rough, a lake, off a cliff, from one bunker to another, or onto the neighbouring fairway. A bit like the car crash aspect to motor racing.

    In case anybody is keen though.

    <advertisement> ;)
    Womens Black Sticks are playing tonight at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Pakuranga against South Korea. The men play the same opponents this afternoon. Both games live on Sky Sport, coverage starting at 4pm for the men and 7pm for the women. Good to see the men are curtain-raisers :)

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    (Which maybe takes us away from the point of Hadyn's post, which might have been (?) a comment on the exclusion of the world cup winning women's rugby team from Halberg consideration perhaps? On that front it might be worth noting that since 2001 women have won the supreme award six times out of ten.)

    (all male) Rugby teams have won the team award 5 times out of the 24 times it has been awarded. 8 times the team that has won has been female, and once they were mixed (equestrian). A few yachting teams have won as well where there's in theory open entry to either sex. All the other teams were strictly male or female.

    Amazingly rugby has only had a player or team win the Supreme Award 4 times out of a possible 60. You have to go back 23 years to when the ABs won it in 1987, before that it was won by Wilson Whineray in 1965, Don Clarke in 1959 and Ron Jarden in 1951.

    Richie McCaw won the sportsman of the year this year for the first time but IMHO he should have won it about 5 times by now. The anti-rugby bias in the selecting has scuppered that though.

    The ABs were one of the 6 nominations for World Sporting team of the year awards at the Laureus Awards along with the Spanish WC winners, the European Ryder Cup team, Inter Milan, LA Lakers, and the Red Bull formula 1 team. I guess the AW's only just missed out on a nomination ;)

    http://www.laureus.com/nominees?year=2011

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • Amy Galvani, in reply to Yamis,

    I’ll disagree slightly with you Amy in that people watch sport for a variety of reasons, to make out like there’s only one reason is a bit presumptuous.

    Well if you disagree you can easily test this by not watching the last ten minutes of any game. See if you still enjoy watching competition if you can never know the outcome :-)

    Wellington • Since Oct 2008 • 28 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso, in reply to Amy Galvani,

    Well if you disagree you can easily test this by not watching the last ten minutes of any game. See if you still enjoy watching competition if you can never know the outcome :-)

    Yamis never said you only watch for the quality, he said there isn't only one reason. If you think there is, and it's uncertainty about the result, it wouldn't quite explain how come I've switched off so many different sporting events in the past when it transpired they were just too boring, even if the result was still in doubt. Nor indeed would it explain why people watch some sports and not others.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Jacqui Dunn, in reply to Yamis,

    Why watch the Black Ferns win the WC when I know damn well that my local club senior mens side would beat them by a hundred points?

    Oh yeah? The girls - light, bright and very intelligent - would score a try or two while the blokes were still organizing the balls.

    Mrs D. Evi. L'sadvocetc

    Deepest, darkest Avondale… • Since Jul 2010 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • Tim Michie,

    There's exceptions to this rule though, Netball being the obvious

    I contine to believe that as Sky absorbed male sports TVNZ needed something to programme and netball became free to air. I'd love to be disabused but only remember international test consistently covered prior to Sky dominating the market.

    <advertisement> ;)
    Womens Black Sticks are playing tonight at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Pakuranga against South Korea.

    Can we please keep this thread alive with more like this?

    Auckward • Since Nov 2006 • 614 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    When I was working at The University of Arizona it happened to be the year after the wildcats had won the NCAA. The stadium was always packed for the games and as a very very special going away present my lab got me one ticket to see a live game.

    The same year the UofA had an awesome women's volleyball team, my wife and I would wander down to the gym after work and stroll in to watch one of their games along with about 100 other folk.

    It was the same at Texas A&M where the 77000 seat stadium would be packed to watch their quite average football team and the women's basketball team played to 500 people on a good day.

    My guess is there is simply something primal about watching testosterone loaded boys and men compete in feats of strength and skill that just doesn't resonate the same way when it's women competing, despite the fact that the skill level can easily be as high or higher. I can't think of anything else that makes sense. Because really we don't live in a society that is as sexist as the sports reporting would indicate, sport seems to be several orders of magnitude more sexist than the rest of society.

    However in NZ we have the added factor that to get a job reporting sport in NZ you must have the personal cell phone number of at least half of the All Blacks and must submit at least two All Black stories per week, regardless of whether they are actually playing.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    One of the best waterpolo games I ever watched was my own club's women's team, the underdog, winning the national club champs. Generally it was pretty hard to get the men's team to show up for their games, but they were in the final so a special effort was made. The other club's men didn't bother, only a couple of them were there. It was amazing what a difference the crowd support made - we were in a festive mood and went ape about everything, from goals to good plays to biffo to dodgy referee calls to baiting their supporters. You could really see the women lifting their performance to the crowd, and also the other team sinking when, having slotted a goal there was a bit of polite clapping.

    It made me realize that they came to most of our games and I'd become accustomed to that kind of support. I made a lot more of an effort after that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Kris V, in reply to Tim Michie,

    I contine to believe that as Sky absorbed male sports TVNZ needed something to programme and netball became free to air.

    heh... I've just spent the last 4 days hammering out (errr I mean, finely crafting) a conference paper on aspects of carnival in the tv coverage of the 2007 Netball World Champs in Akld... My head is positively overflowing with netball/media info and now that the paper is done, it can spill out.... ;)

    Back in the 1980s, TVNZ had a contracted sporting stable - the 'Big 4' - which included netball. Enter SkyTV in 1990, and one by one rugby league, cricket and rugby all took the money and ran... Netball was the only major sport left on TVNZ after that, but it too went to Sky in 2007/8 when the ANZ championship started up.

    Netball test matches between NZ and Aus rank extremely highly on tv, have done for years. Helps that they're on TVNZ...

    /history lesson
    sports geek, over & out

    Shakeytown • Since Nov 2008 • 61 posts Report Reply

  • Bevan Shortridge,

    A while ago I listened to a netball test on the radio. I just automatically assumed that as it was a test between NZ and Australia that it would be on Sky, which I didn't have access to. Found out the next morning I could have watched it free to air after all...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 122 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    As the latest Lhaws mindfart shows us, women aren't the only systematically devalued athletes.

    International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven, said he was "utterly disgusted" by Laws' comments which were an insult to all paralympic competitors.

    "His derogatory comments are an insult to all athletes within the paralympic movement who train for long hours each day to compete at the highest level," Sir Philip said.

    Must be good for talkback's munter ratings, I guess.

    Perhaps pandering to easily-threatened piss-weak male audience members is also behind suppressing recognition of superb performances like those world women's rugby and netball finals - both easily amongst the best games *ever* played in their code.

    Strong men delight in that. The problem goes deeper than sport.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Strong men delight in that.

    Physically strong perhaps, but not mentally strong...

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Staggering Laws. As the coach of the NZ Paralympic Shooting Team in Athens 2004 (Michael Johnson - Gold Medal) I was absolutely stunned by his comments.

    I think Paralympic NZ needs to invite him to a few sports and explain the classification criteria. What he needs to udnerstand is these guys will "kill their grandmother" to achieve if it is necessary. They work and compete as hard and as skilfully as any other achieving able bodied athlete.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Ross Mason,

    As the coach of the NZ Paralympic Shooting Team in Athens 2004

    Bravo

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Sacha,

    Strong men delight in that. The problem goes deeper than sport.

    Probably for the same reasons that soccer hooligans in England rouse their rabble - that sense of decaying empire, and the desperate, insecurity-driven urge to dominate something. Only here in NZ, it's the mouths that do the kicking, not the boots.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso, in reply to Ross Mason,

    Staggering Laws.

    Not really, he's just going through the rolodex of hate. I think his most transparent moment was while Henry was under fire for the 'real New Zealander' comments, and he tried to barge in. I'm despicable too, see! I doubt he believes most of the things he says, they're just literally calculated to offend.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    Not really, he's just going through the rolodex of hate. I think his most transparent moment was while Henry was under fire for the 'real New Zealander' comments, and he tried to barge in. I'm despicable too, see! I doubt he believes most of the things he says, they're just literally calculated to offend.

    And if, for instance, someone torches a cross in front of a marae or Pasifika church and claims in court, "Mr Laws made me do it!", how exactly would he react? Come to think of it, how would the Sensibles and the Police Assn react?

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    the desperate, insecurity-driven urge to dominate something

    That's what I meant (but better said)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    Not really, he’s just going through the rolodex of hate.

    Nah, it’s worse that that – it’s cheap shots at easy targets, and as long as APN and Mediaworks are happy to keep being textbook enablers…Hey, it's not like those crips and retards are anyone important. Like the All Blacks.

    Interestingly enough, even enablers have limits. I can’t prove it, but I suspect that typically weasel-worded apology for trolling Anand Satyanand. was dictated by Mediaworks after they realised the backlash against Paul Henry wasn't going away and could easily flash over to them..

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Roger,

    I think Paralympic NZ needs to invite him to a few sports

    Ross, "as the coach of the NZ Paralympic Shooting Team", do you have a vacancy for a target?

    Hamilton • Since Jun 2007 • 179 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Ross Mason,

    As the coach of the NZ Paralympic Shooting Team in Athens 2004 (Michael Johnson – Gold Medal) I was absolutely stunned by his comments.
    Bravo.

    +1
    As Eve Rimmer was a close family friend, I also. Interesting discussion on Gizmodo about prosthetic limbs;

    But in one instant, after Pistorius entered a summer 2007 track meet in Rome and placed second in a field of runners possessing flesh and bone legs, he and I were deemed too abled.

    Commence the comical nightmare of being told that we now possess an “unfair advantage” in wearing prosthetic limbs to run.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • dyan campbell,

    I wonder what Michael Laws would make of two of Canada's greatest athletes?

    Rick Hansen and Terry Fox .

    I suppose Fox really wouldn't have qualified as an athlete in Law's eyes, what with dying before he could run any more than he did.

    Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox CC OD, (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although the spread of his cancer eventually forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 mi), and ultimately cost him his life, his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$500 million has been raised in his name.
    Fox was a distance runner and basketball player for his Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, high school and Simon Fraser University. His right leg was amputated in 1977 after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, though he continued to run using an artificial leg. He also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver, winning three national championships.
    In 1980, he began the Marathon of Hope, a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research. Fox hoped to raise one dollar for each of Canada's 24 million people. He began with little fanfare from St. John's, Newfoundland, in April and ran the equivalent of a full marathon every day. Fox had become a national star by the time he reached Ontario; he made numerous public appearances with businessmen, athletes, and politicians in his efforts to raise money. He was forced to end his run outside of Thunder Bay when the cancer spread to his lungs. His hopes of overcoming the disease and completing his marathon ended when he died nine months later.
    Fox was the youngest person ever named a Companion of the Order of Canada. He won the 1980 Lou Marsh Award as the nation's top sportsman and was named Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in both 1980 and 1981. Considered a national hero, he has had many buildings, roads and parks named in his honour across the country.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    It seems even Paul Holmes has his standards regarding Mr Lhaws.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    It seems even Paul Holmes has his standards regarding Mr Lhaws.

    WTF is wrong with the world - a Holmes column that doesn't lead to a psychic power-chunder? The End of Days is nigh...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    The End of Days is nigh…

    That's two in one day. Not that we're counting or any-ting. If you hit three, we'll have to declare a national wormhole-y day.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

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