It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd they pull for the soccer – if it is actually a sellout. I would predict 'not quite' – maybe 30,000 – and certainly not the need for that extra seating they can put in.

They will probably have to let…

27-20
We were robbed!

Were we what! They needed ten All Blacks, a forward pass that led to McCaw's try and a blind touch judge to sneak past us. I hear the good Lord himself expressed his displeasure with an earthquake shortly after the game.

The crowd was fantastic as…

Bland is not one of them.

"Thanks to my players, today I was consecrated as a coach," he said defiantly, during post-match remarks laced with profanities. (AP)

Are you taking notes, Mr Henry?

"They [journalists] treat me like dirt, but we qualified with honour. I dedicate this to all of the Argentinian people and my family, but one sector does not deserve it, because they treated me like garbage."

Now that's a post-match interview. Beats the heck out of "full credit…

One woman, Manon Rhéaume, appeared as a goaltender for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning in preseason games against the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, and in 2003 Hayley Wickenheiser played with the Kirkkonummi Salamat in the Finnish men's Suomi-sarja league.

…

Argentina have qualified. Forty million people now having group sex. Diego Maradona somewhere underneath them.

Gosh! Is that what we're supposed to do if New Zealand qualify? I must remember that if I'm at the game

I say this as a waterpolo goalie of 15 years. The top female goalies were far, far closer to the men in ability…

Other lands have their vitality in a few, a class, but we have it in the bulk of our people.

Whitman wrote that 48 years before brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
How could he have known?.
;-)

So interesting, in fact, that I think I'll write a book abou...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ

No, no, it *is* interesting hear me out. True, it may be illegal to bodycheck a goalie in ice hockey, but they get regularly crashed into and must be super tough. That women should (if only formally) be…

>“Any pedantness on this chapter would be great”
>Where to start...

Well, that's obvious.

Yes, "Pedantress" surely.

On the note of females not being allowed to play men at football. Ice hockey only allows this if the female plays in goal, womens ice hockey being non-checking.

That's really interesting.

New Zealanders celebrate winners, not qualifiers. Anything else is for losers.

Good to know. Do we get these rules given to us on a wee card at birth?

At the moment the level of participation, quality of the players, geographical spread, interest among the sports' viewing public are just not…

Where to start...

Well, that's obvious. :)

“Any pedantness on this chapter would be great”

Where to start...

to ladies on omnibuses

I believe it's omnibusii.

If you were old-fashioned, wouldn't you just follow the old rule?

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Yeah, Graeme, I know *how* to form a sentence without using the preposition at the end. My point was that I didn't, because it's now technically correct to put the preposition there, but I wanted to note my discomfort. Because I am old-fashioned and a weirdo, etc.

If you were…

(This edition of…

That's a much bigger question that I don't think anyone really has a definitive answer for.

ETA: I know it's technically correct nowadays, but man I hate ending a sentence with a preposition like that.

There was something wrong with:

__That's a much bigger question for which I don't think…

ETA: I know it's technically correct nowadays, but man I hate ending a sentence with a preposition like that.

This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.
(stuffs cigar in mouth and goes off to build a wall. For fun)

Should women be banned from men's football?

That I could just never, ever understand.

Should women be banned from men's football?

The world football governing body, Fifa, has ruled that a leading female Mexican footballer should…

...since 82 (when Hungary potted ten against El Salvador)...

They came right in the rest of their pool games though (imagine the shimmying if NZ held the defending champs to 0-2), and in the end only conceded one more goal than that rabble from Oceania...

And they drew the rematch.…

In cricket two years ago there were barely any girls at year one in Wellington.

That's depressing, seeing as it is the Best Sport Ever. (Note: you couldn't pay me a million dollars to personally play *any* sport, at school or now, so I probably have no right to an…

Also, what does that even *mean*? Earn what? Followers? Players? Sponsorship? Cute outfits? How do these measures of achievement work? Who decides? If they get to, say, 63% of the level of support of the men's competition, are we going to graciously allow them equal naming rights? Or what?

Enough…

Bahrain will qualify for the World Cup after earning their place in Asia, seeing off the likes of China and Iran. Or – let me dream – NZ will defeat Bahrain. The likes of Sweden and Poland will miss out,…

Also, I don't even *like* soccer. :)

What?! Don't make me revoke it . . .

ETA: I know it's technically correct nowadays, but man I hate ending a sentence with a preposition like that.

Respect.

Do you want the mens' competition, which has been going on since 1930 and has n-times the following, to rename itself? Earn it.

Yeah, I'll get right on that. After I sort out everything else. Also, what does that even *mean*? Earn what? Followers? Players? Sponsorship? Cute outfits? How do…

It's not renaming it. It's calling it what it is.

I just think it's a cop out. And it seems almost condescending to me, demanding nothing of the womens' movement. Do you want the mens' competition, which has been going on since 1930 and has n-times the following, to rename…

To my mind, equality would make sense if there was any meaningful equivalence between the two versions of the sport.

I don't know, to me it seems weird to say 'well, when they're equivalent, that's when we'll name them equivalently!' Given that *absolutely nothing in any fight for equality works…

For much the same reason, I would expect a mens' version of the roller derby to be called mens' roller derby without the womens' version having to change its name.

It's not renaming it. It's calling it what it is.

And they might rightly think their tournament deseves to have a name. Or at least be differentiated from the boys.

It does – it's called the women's world cup. And look, ordinarily I'm not at all insensitive to this sort of argument. But the mens' and women's version of football…

Come on now, the Mens' World Cup has been around for a few decades longer and the women's side of the sport hasn't developed (yet) in a way that makes the two versions of the sport remotely comparable

And yet, I'm pretty sure there is still a world cup for…

Changing practically everything to gender-neutral language is 'comically tokenistic', according to quite a few people. I subscribe to the belief that 'words mean things', though.

To my mind, equality would make sense if there was any meaningful equivalence between the two versions of the sport. I just don't think there…

Chile and Mexico have qualified in their own right. But if you take the Mexico example, the best side not to qualify from CONCAAF at the moment is Honduras. We’d be a shot against them.…

Actually, the olympics *are* supposed to be about taking part. :-)

If you believe that then meet my friend, he heads the Central Investment Bank of Nigeria, don't you know!

legbreak, it isn't that we won't win the FINAL that gets on my goat. It is the mediocrity of those…

changing the name of the mens' competition won't be almost comically tokenistic

Changing practically everything to gender-neutral language is 'comically tokenistic', according to quite a few people. I subscribe to the belief that 'words mean things', though.

It is a sort of mediocre defeatism that is roundly criticised when we see it in people who get sent to the Olympics

Actually, the olympics *are* supposed to be about taking part. :-)

Strange that the Football World Cup is the most popular sporting event on the planet when there have only ever been 7 “winners” in its history.

@ Giovanni
Can’t see double figures occurring again at a World Cup Finals. Mainly because the European professional leagues are now so multi-national…

New Zealanders celebrate winners, not qualifiers. Anything else is for losers.

And so we throw everything into a sport which is the undisputed national game practically nowhere else and is only seriously played in half a dozen countries?

Whatever, we're a small country and we'll never be winners in a…

...they are a respectable team from a small country that is actually pretty decent considering they are competing against almost every other country in the world.

Wow! that sounds exciting.

If the the All Whites were well managed and led with a clever long term plan I might say "well,…

Ah, so the name is *officially* sexist. Well, that's all right then.

Come on now, the Mens' World Cup has been around for a few decades longer and the women's side of the sport hasn't developed (yet) in a way that makes the two versions of the sport remotely comparable.…

Pal, if I came from the land of cattanacio, I would not be getting cheeky about any other country; at the very least, we don't play anti-football.

Ahahaha... oh dear.

Forget dancing about a goalless draw, I may have just danced about making that point :)

That was very nicely…

Another thing to note. This is the Mens World Cup. Not "the World Cup". There are two. Most commentators reliably fail this.

That might be because you're wrong?

It's the FIFA World Cup.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/

The equivalent women's event is the FIFA Women's World Cup.

http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/

And didn't the All Whites give a European side a bit of a scare recently?

Yes, . Italy.

Touché.

Forget dancing about a goalless draw, I may have just danced about making that point :)

The thought of the national side whose coaches danced with joy for holding Iraq to a goalless draw making it to the World Cup (sorry George: the Mens World Cup) is a little depressing.

Pal, if I came from the land of cattanacio, I would not be getting cheeky about…

And didn't the All Whites give a European side a bit of a scare recently?

Yes, . Italy.

Touché.

And then there was Ireland at the (men's) cricket world cup.

And didn't the All Whites give a…

It's because Bahrain have had the harder / longer route this far that they are now the better prepared side.

(Men's World Cup anyway, also.)

Another…

Poms coming out of the woodwork to comment in their every-so-dreary and irritating working class accents

This from Tom Semmens, tireless champion of the working man? I feel so disillusioned. :)

You mean when he pulled my hair it was because he actually secretly likes me?

Shh! Amy might read this.

there is another special event coming up that I will tell you about when I'm allowed to

I hope that turns out to be an inter-city bout.

Actually it's for Aucklanders:

This Halloween, you are cordially invited to the Monsters' Brawl!

For the first time in New Zealand, the girly…

You mean when he pulled my hair it was because he actually secretly likes me?

No, that's if he dips your pigtails in the inkwell.

The All Whites will go the world cup, where they will be exposed as a bunch of plodders, outclassed charlatans who qualified via the weakest of weak competitions.

Look, the All Whites captain gets paid an order of a magnitude more than any All Black and plays in, if not…

maybe your friend was just trying to tell you how much he loved you?

You mean when he pulled my hair it was because he actually secretly likes me?

But if you're watching with a friend it's not clever or "cool" (as the kids say) to support the opposition solely for the reason of annoying your friend. That's what a troll is. And nobody likes a troll

I'm going to have to disagree with you here, Haydn.

Winding each…

there is another special event coming up that I will tell you about when I'm allowed to

I hope that turns out to be an inter-city bout.

Yeah, I'm with Richard. The '82 World Cup gave us kids the courage to stand up to our rugby-loving dads in rugby-mad small-town NZ and enter a soccer team in the inter-school competition. It was a glorious time for football.

Also, the 1981 Tour was still fresh in NZers' minds,…

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all

Read it yesterday and then winced my way through the wrap up of the weekend action on espn.

Given that they're quad skates, one of those two figures is wrong.

Curse you Kyle! I hoped no one would notice that

And what's better than four wheels AND two legs? Both together!

Awesome segue.

Given that they're quad skates, one of those two figures is wrong. Segue fail!

but

The Caketin sells out for the 7s every year and on average one All Blacks match (the trinations one) as well. They get 3 or 4…

Wow, you seem, somehow... invested.

Hehehe Haydn DID start with

I'm quite grumpy writing this.

It would have been rude not to stay in theme.

Here's highlights [and there were a lot of them!]

Actually it was one of those great Monday Night games that would be better if the other team had won.

Dude...Next

Wow, you seem, somehow... invested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNIWrbGwyVg

That fake punt was so sweet!
But…

Bahrain, who'll be coming to Wellington for the biggest sports event here since… the first Rugby World Cup? The Auckland Commonwealth Games? The America's Cup?

Dude, the first round was a 0-0 draw. That is really the sort of result that sets the world on fire. Soccer is as dull…