Well, it is only 1 more week to go until the start of the Prada Cup (The precursor to the America's Cup (Which is like sailing/yachting's equivalent of the soccer (World's most popular sport known as the beautiful game), cricket (The sport played during the summer months) & rugby union (The sport played during the winter months) world cup as well as the F1 on water (Although syndicates competing in both the Prada Cup & the America's Cup are like the constructors competing in Formula 1) because of the technology & design) match which is going to take place in March with INEOS Team UK, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli & American Magic taking part in the Prada Cup with the winner of the challenger selection series will face the defender in the form of Emirates Team New Zealand (Will it be lucky number 4 for ETNZ? After successfully winning it twice (In 1995 in San Diego against the Dennis Conner led Stars & Stripes aboard the Young America yacht (Paul Cayard (Formerly of Il Moro de Venezia & AmericaOne) was the helmsman) & in 2017 in Bermuda (It was during the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinal against Land Rover BAR where we had a frightening pitch pole but we managed to overcome the disaster by improvising the boat before both the Louis Vuitton Cup & America's Cup ended in glory for Burling's men in black (And red) & it was Team New Zealand's joy at the end) against the Jimmy Spithill led Oracle Team USA) & only defended the Auld Mug once on home waters 21 years ago way back in 2000 (Same year that the Olympic Games was held in Sydney, Australia) against the Prada Luna Rossa Challenge of Italy but the number 4 must just be a little bit unlucky (Although the All Blacks in 2019 (Same year that hosts England (Who had appeared in their 1st Cricket World Cup final in 2019 since 1992 in which they lost to the cornered tigers of Pakistan led by the great all rounder of Imran Khan (Now currently the Prime Minister of Pakistan) in the final at the MCG in Melbourne & had become the 1st team to beat Australia (Who inflicted their 1st defeat against England at a Cricket World Cup since 1992 (It featured the debut of South Africa after being allowed back to compete in international sport post-apartheid & reached the semi in Sydney when they took on England only to lose out because of the wet weather conditions robbed a chance of winning (Well to start with, they needed 22 runs off 13 deliveries before the downpour came & after mother nature had stopped, they needed 22 required off 1 cue the disappointment of not making it to the final which the South Africans have never been (And they have been always labelled or should I say tagged as chokers) in the semifinal (In which Australia have never lost until 2019) of the Cricket World Cup (The semifinal between Australia & previous hosts England was held at Edgbaston in Birmingham (New Zealand had won the other semifinal encounter against India at Old Trafford in Manchester including that sensational run out by Martin Guptill on MS Dhoni which proved to be the game changer but I thought Guptill's run out on Dhoni would have been a no ball as well as a free hit for an illegal field) won the Cricket World Cup against the Black Caps of New Zealand (Who had to appear in another final after previously appeared in the 2015 Cricket World Cup final which resulted in a dominant victory to co-hosts Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc easily bowled New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum out which proved to be the turning point (Just like Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's winning spell including he bowled English born New Zealand cricketer Roger Twose (Who was man of the match against Australia for his match winning knock) in the semifinal match of the Cricket World Cup in 1999) & after McCullum got dismissed, the Black Caps continued to lose wickets in the 1st innings meaning that the final had ended in a one-sided affair therefore handing the Aussies their 5th Cricket World Cup crown (They first did it in 1987 then 1999, 2003, 2007 & most recently in 2015) in the final at Lord's in London in a dramatic super over according to the boundary count back rule in which the English prevailed (Most New Zealanders were disappointed about the result that they had because they came oh so close of winning our 1st Cricket World Cup & were expected to go one better than in 2015) as well as the most recent Star Wars movie came out which is Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (The last film of the Star Wars sequel trilogy as part of the Skywalker saga), Dad getting married to Raewyn 2 days after Valentine's Day (A week before Andy married Kelsey in Auckland that Carole & Pops attended) & we went to our trip to the South Island (It was me, Pops, Aunty Tania & Rejean who went on a holiday) tried to win our 4th Rugby World Cup (3rd straight crown) but failed after losing to England in the semifinal & will do it in 2023 in France in an attempt to win rugby's ultimate prize & to regain control of the William Webb Ellis (The founder of the sport which has been invented when he picked the ball up & ran with it) cup from its former glory) at the city of sails in Auckland (Host to both the Prada Cup challenger selection series & America's Cup 2021) so stay tuned & watch this space, may the best syndicate win.
So that is my 382nd blog of the year 2021 (MMXXI) & my 2nd of this year.
P.S. And I had a great time at Dad & Raewyn's on Christmas day especially the food that we had (Me, Pops, Carole & Matt) but my favourite part are the presents because I now got both Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory 20th Anniversary Edition & Meteora) & only 1 Foo Fighters album which is Wasting Light that I literally enjoy to go with my music CD collection along with both Red Hot Chili Peppers albums (What hits? & Stadium Arcadium) & the Foo Fighters greatest hits album but sports news that I've missed especially the cricket such as the Black Caps win the test series against Pakistan meaning that they're the best test playing cricket nation in the world (It was New Zealand captain & number 1 test batter in the world of Kane Williamson who scored a century in the 1st innings during the 1st test at Bay Oval in Tauranga that we've won (I thought the match had ended in a draw) & he got another one in the 1st innings during the 2nd test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch as well as Henry Nicholls who got a century, so too is Daryl Mitchell with an unbeaten score of 102 & Kyle 'KJ' Jamieson picking up 11 wickets in the match after completing 2 5 wicket hauls in both innings).
And finally I am still watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie where I had to watch it for the last 6 days but I'll be watching the rest of the movie tomorrow but I was watching the 30 for 30 which is about the 16th man in which the late South African president Nelson Mandela (Who passed away in 2013 & spent 20 of his 27 years behind bars at Robben Island prison & was president of South Africa in 1995 when the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup compared to Thabo Mbeki in 2007 & Cyril Ramaphosa (The current South African president) in 2019) enlists the Francois Pienaar led Springboks (Which I describe the South Africa national rugby team (12 years later after their 1995 triumph, they win another Rugby World Cup in France against the Phil Vickery led England in a try less final at the Stade de France (Which will host the final at the next Rugby World Cup in 2023) in Saint-Denis then 12 years later, they win another RWC in Japan against the English (All Blacks conquerors in the semifinal ending New Zealand's hopes of a hat-trick of Rugby World Cups in 2019 led by the most hated man in world rugby who plays for Saracens in the RFU Championship, Owen Farrell) yet again at the International Stadium in Yokohama & they scored the 1st 2 tries of the final (1st it was Makazole Mapimpi (An apparent heir of Bryan Habana & I thought that Aphiwe Dyantyi was going to be selected in the Springboks 2019 Rugby World Cup squad but it wasn't to be because he had been suspended for taking performance enhancing drugs so Mapimpi was in & stood up to the challenge by becoming the new 1st choice South African left winger to pair up with his Springbok teammate, agile right winger Cheslin Kolbe (S'bu Nkosi (Who played in the semifinal victory against Wales with Kolbe unavailable through injury & is the fastest player in world rugby) was the backup winger with South African fullback Warrick Gelant being the understudy of Willie le Roux but played in the right wing in the last pool game against Canada) at the Rugby World Cup following Dyantyi's suspension for doping offences) but I thought the pass leading up to the Mapimpi try was forward (The man in the middle of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, Frenchman Jerome Garces says that the pass that he thinks it's OK (And after one of the Springbok players had passed the ball forward in the lead up to the try, the French referee had just said play on rather than blowing the whistle for a scrum due to a potential forward pass) but the English fans were livid about it so they jeered the match officials or should I say the refereeing panel after they presented the medals during the post match presentation (And many English players refuse to put their silver medals on their necks) just before the moment that Springbok skipper & self proclaimed rugby god himself, Siya Kolisi (3rd different Springbok skipper after Francois Pienaar in 1995 & John Smit in 2007 but he has been signed by the Sharks (Although he might be available to lead South Africa in their attempt to defend the Rugby World Cup in France in 2023) from the Stormers and missed both games for Western Province in the Currie Cup (South Africa's premier domestic rugby comp) because of his COVID stricken wife Rachel & released an autobiography book which came out last year called Siya Kolisi: Against All Odds) lifted the William Webb Ellis trophy) followed by the biggest little man in world rugby who bamboozled the English captain Owen Farrell all the way to the try line to pieces, Cheslin Kolbe (An agile winger who is JP Pietersen's successor & cousin of Olympic gold medalist Wayde van Niekerk (Son of Odessa Swarts who was unable to compete internationally due to Apartheid) for South Africa (Who have never scored a try in the Rugby World Cup final until 2019) as the toughest rugby nation in the world to play against because of their dominant forward pack as well as the Springboks are the only national rugby team to have never lost a Rugby World Cup final after appearing & winning all 3 of them & they became the 1st rugby playing nation to win the Rugby World Cup after losing the opening match (Which was against New Zealand) in 2019 before winning all 6 (It was neighbors Namibia first then Italy & Canada in the pool games as well as previous RWC hosts Japan (It was payback of the miracle of Brighton that the South Africans lost in 2015 during a pool game against the Japanese in a historic upset of the ages in Rugby World Cup history but Japan could've won the game should Tendai Mtawarira be shown the red card by the referee for a tip tackle on Japanese prop forward Keita Inagaki) in the quarterfinal, Wales in the semifinal (It was virtually decided by a penalty goal in the dying seconds by star first five Handre Pollard that brought the Springboks home in the end to go through to the final) & England in the final (It was a rematch of the 2007 final in which the Boks where overwhelmingly dominant in the end to win the tournament in 2019 & to win their 3rd Rugby World Cup (They successfully added their triumphs of 1995 & 2007 but only 2 South African players that have won the Rugby World Cup twice such as Os du Randt (The only Springbok forward to win both Rugby World Cups) in both 1995 & 2007 & Francois 'Frans' Steyn (One of du Randt's teammates in 2007 & the only South African back to have won the Rugby World Cup twice compared to du Randt who is a forward) in both 2007 & 2019 joining the likes of 5 Wallabies of Dan Crowley, John Eales, Tim Horan (Father of former Sunwolves player Alex), Phil Kearns (He has a daughter who is a water polo player) & Jason Little in both 1991 & 1999 & 14 All Blacks of Dan Carter (Former Canterbury, Crusaders, Racing 92 & Kobelco Steelers player & husband of former field hockey player Honor & father of Marco & Fox), the Franks brothers of Ben & Owen (The only brothers to have become dual Rugby World Cup winners), Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw (Former Canterbury & Crusaders player & proud husband of former field hockey player Gemma), Keven Mealamu, Ma'a Nonu, Kieran Read (A father of 3 children/kids including both daughters & a son named Reuben who he named after the former Canterbury, Crusaders & All Black player Reuben Thorne), Colin Slade, Conrad Smith, Victor Vito, Sam Whitelock, Sonny Bill Williams (The league convert) & Tony Woodcock in both 2011 & 2015) title along with the All Blacks (Winner of the previous tournaments in 1987, 2011 & 2015) after English prop forward Kyle Sinckler (Who had been elbowed by his own teammate Maro Itoje during the 2nd minute of the final (Well, there is no foul play to start with) & had to be replaced by England reserve tight head prop Dan Cole who played the remainder of the final for 77 or 78 minutes) had left the field with a concussion & hasn't recalled the final ever since) in Yokohama) out of nowhere to regain control of the Rugby World Cup from its former glory as the William Webb Ellis cup (AKA the Wiremu here in New Zealand & the Bill in Australia) returns to South Africa) to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup (There was once a movie made about it which is called Invictus which I've seen the movie before (Matt Damon played the role of Francois Pienaar while Morgan Freeman got that elusive role as the president of South Africa, the late Nelson Mandela against our country trying to become the best rugby nation in the world, the New Zealand All Blacks (Led by Sean Fitzpatrick & featuring the world's global rugby superstar which is the late Jonah Lomu (Who has never scored a test try against South Africa) in the final at Ellis Park (Venue for much of the 1995 Rugby World Cup) in Johannesburg.
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