Well, there has been a story about famous American sailor Dennis 'Mr America's Cup' Conner (Who was New Zealand's main rival in the America's Cup before the days of 'Pitbull' Jimmy Spithill (The modern day iteration of Australia's original America's Cup hero, John Bertrand & main rival of 'Pistol Pete' Peter Burling (Also the modern day iteration of New Zealand's original America's Cup hero who was the Olympic gold medalist in Los Angeles in 1984 in the Finn class, Sir Russell 'Russ' Coutts (Who had a formidable partnership with tactician Brad Butterworth compared to Blair Tuke who is Burling's old sparring partner (And both are the modern day iteration of both Coutts & Butterworth (But the successful rowing pair of Hamish Bond & Eric Murray are easily the best duo of New Zealand sport compared to both Brodie Retallick & Sam Whitelock in rugby union) being the only man to have lost the America's Cup (It was the Aussies led by Bertrand who triumphed in 1983 at Newport in Rhode Island therefore breaking a 132 year drought where the Americans have literally owned the competition) then to win it back (It was against Australia (Who failed to defend it) in 1987 in Fremantle, Australia by bringing the Auld Mug back to America) & to lose it again (It was in 1995 that New Zealand (Led by the late Sir Peter 'Blakey' Blake & Coutts) followed in the footsteps of Australia in 1983 for our 1st successful triumph of the America's Cup in San Diego, California (And it was the moment that the voice of yachting of Peter Montgomery famously said to our Kiwi viewers as I mentioned in my previous blogs: "The America's Cup, is now, New Zealand's cup!" which was that infamous line that has certainly repeated on air more often than any other in New Zealand's history according to the Back to Black: Black Magic book that I've still got in my bedroom) in the United States of America, where they etched New Zealand sporting history since the famous New Zealand mountain climber of the late Sir Edmund Hillary (Who passed away in 2008 along with famous Australian film actor Heath Ledger who appeared in films such as 10 Things I Hate About You, A Knights Tale & The Dark Knight (The movie that famous British or Welsh movie star Christian Bale appears in as the Dark Knight & the caped crusader of Batman & other actors who have appeared in the movie such as English/British actor Gary Oldman as Commissioner James Gordon, American actor Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face & another one of the English or British actors of Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth) as the infamous comic book hero super villain, the Joker) stood atop of Mount Everest on the 29th of May in 1953 (Same year that the last time that Wales had beaten the All Blacks in international rugby on that fateful afternoon in Cardiff, Wales on the 19th of December, which was 6 days before Christmas & 5 days before the events of the Tangiwai disaster had happened in New Zealand when a train bound from Wellington to Auckland had plunged into the flooded Whangaehu river, 10km west of Waiouru on Christmas Eve) but Conner (Who endeared to the people of New Zealand when he maintained a highly visible prescence after his 1995 America's Cup defeat according to the Team New Zealand Story: 1995 to 2003 book that I've also got in my bedroom) once appeared on the Holmes show hosted by the late TV show host Paul Holmes in 1989 where he once walked out whilst attempting to apologize to him amid allegations of cheating.
And we have already lost both Inga Tuigamala & Joeli Vidiri throughout the rugby community, but 1st, the cricket world is in mourning as Rodney Marsh (The former Australian cricket team wicket-keeper who is the brother of Geoff & the uncle of Geoff's sons who are famous cricketers, Shaun & Mitch) has died then most importantly, they have lost another as one of Australia's cricketing greats of Shane Warne (A global icon & one of the finest cricketers from that generation who is the 2nd highest wicket taker in test cricket ahead of James Anderson but behind Muttiah Muralidaran & a 50 over Cricket World Cup winning player for Australia way back in 1999 (Played in both tournaments in 1996 & 1999 & he thought that he had played his 3rd & final 50 over men's CWC in 2003 but got suspended for a year for taking drugs) + he had been inducted into the ICC hall of fame in 2013 & was the one who grabbed the crucial wicket of Mike Gatting during the Ashes match between England & Australia in England back in 1993 dubbed as the ball of the century which launched his cricketing career when he 1st burst onto the international scene (He made his test debut in 1992 against India before retiring after the 2006-07 Ashes series in the Sydney test against England while his ODI debut came in 1993 against New Zealand until his last ODI match came in 2005 against the Asia XI for the World XI & has worked for Channel 9 (Which had the broadcasting rights to the cricket in Australia) in Australia then Fox Sports (They currently have the broadcasting rights to the cricket in Australia) also in Australia as a broadcaster/commentator as well as he coached both the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in India & the London Spirit in The Hundred competition in England) has passed away as a result of a heart attack (Cardiac arrest) at his villa over in Thailand so rest in peace to both of you but all condolences, thoughts & prayers go to the family of both Rod & Warnie (Whose last tweet is about Rod Marsh passing away went viral on social media according to his twitter page) indeed but there's the Pakistan-Australia test cricket series (Both cricket playing nations are playing for the inaugural Benaud-Qadir trophy in honor of both cricket legends, the late Richie Benaud (An Australian of French origin who was a player & a legendary broadcaster/commentator who passed away in 2015 a few weeks after Australia won the 50 over men's Cricket World Cup for the record 5th time against New Zealand in the final at the MCG in Melbourne due to a terminal illness) & of course, the late Abdul Qadir (The father of current cricketer Usman who also passed away in 2019 4 years after Benaud's passing) going on there which had been marred by the deaths of both Australian cricket legends of Marsh & Warne as well as the terror attacks unfolded in Peshawar but the cricketing world is in mourning for the 3rd time as Australian cricket legend Andrew Symonds has passed away most recently (As he joins the other Australian cricket legends of both the now late Rod Marsh & the now late Shane Warne who have passed away this year as well as both New Zealand rugby legends of Tuigamala & Vidiri & drummer Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters) so all thoughts, prayers, condolences go to the family of Roy Symmo, rest in pieces (And yeah, that was a bit of a shock but recently that they found Symonds was tragically killed in a car crash so that's always sad & shocking to hear about the news especially the whole Symonds family in Australia have been devastated right now).
And remember Stephen Donald? He was the one who kicked the match winning penalty goal for the All Blacks in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final against France at Eden Park in Auckland to win our 2nd RWC title (Our 1st title in 24 years & it was my 2nd standout moment of the Rugby World Cup behind New Zealand's 2015 triumph on foreign soil of winning back to back Rugby World Cups which happens to be my favorite & ahead of Japan's infamous upset victory in RWC history & the most electrifying in all of international rugby union dubbed as the Brighton miracle over South Africa in 2015) on home soil as well as he was called into the AB's squad as injury replacement for Colin Slade (Who suffered a similar injury to Dan Carter (Who was ruled out of the tournament altogether with a serious groin injury just before our last pool game against Canada in Wellington during the 2011 tournament, allowing Aaron Cruden instead of Donald to take Carter's place) whilst he had been whitebaiting on the banks of the Waikato river.
And when I was living with Dad, he would not allow me to grow my hair really long but now I do since I've been living with Pops because he totally agreed to (I always go to the barber shop or hair dresser every year in December to have my hair trimmed because that is my tradition) because I wanted to be like the late Nan & Aunty Tania as well as Kathryn, Gemma, Huia, Cathey Middelplaats, Paige Williams, Kelsey, Sanne, Sophia Ong & Jennifer Morgan.
And that's terrible when I heard the news from Dad today that Jans has got COVID-19 along with Bernard so they had to self-quarantine at home after both had tested positive of the corona virus (Which is our ongoing problem since the global pandemic that the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared, started in March 2020 2 months after the world began to spread (And when will the pandemic end? Because it might last forever for the time being) because there must have been something to do with like close contact stuff but now I'm just a worried person along with Carole about this omicron thingy that they might spread throughout our families (And we're now up to 5,000 according to our estimates but the figures might drastically increase the following day (And first we had Delta in August last year then omicron took over since late January this year with more people are getting infected from the disease) but get well to both of you & things have gone worse as the Hurricanes match with Moana Pasifika had to be postponed with Hurricanes hooker Asafo Aumua contracting the disease after being tested positive along with other Hurricanes players therefore an outbreak had been occurred throughout the Hurricanes camp meaning that the team wouldn't be able to field 23 fit players for the clash against MP which had been cancelled as a result of omicron due to the greater numbers throughout the Wellington region but I heard Pops speaking to Dad on the phone this morning that he is unable to come today to complete the computer stuff after Raewyn's daughter had easily picked up the corona virus joining both Jans (Who got bitten by the late Buck who got put down in January last year then he had both accidents with his old scooter & his car & now that he has COVID-19) & Bernard as one of our family members affected by the omicron strain (And it looks like we all gonna get it but this omicron variant thingy kills me, I mean, literally).
And it has been also an emotional but rollercoaster year after the Black Caps (Led by the evergreen Kane Williamson from Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL) did the unthinkable as they claimed our historic first ever World Test Championship against India (Led by cricket's global superstar Virat Kohli of RCB that competes in the Indian Premier League (A franchise cricket competition in India involving cricket's highest paid players from 10 teams) at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton with Black Caps pace bowler of Kyle Jamieson the unlikely hero when he was the standout player of the test match as he claimed 5 wickets in the 1st innings as well as Ross Taylor hitting the winning runs meaning that it was my standout cricket moment that I saw on TV (Compared to my favourite rugby union moment that I saw on TV was the All Blacks 2015 Rugby World Cup triumph against the Wallabies at Twickenham in London, England, United Kingdom on Halloween, then my standout America's Cup moment that I also saw on TV was last year in which we won our 4th America's Cup crown after winning race 10 with 3 races to spare in which we defended the Auld Mug that we won in Bermuda in 2017 against the Italian syndicate of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in Auckland on St Paddy's Day & of course, my favorite football moment on TV involving New Zealand was our victory against Bahrain for the All Whites in Wellington to qualify for our most recent Football World Cup in South Africa way back in 2010 (Including Rory Fallon's goal that put ourselves in front & goalkeeper Mark Paston's save off a penalty that kept our Football World Cup qualification hopes alive) & as I mentioned in my previous blogs that it's New Zealand's 2nd ICC sanctioned cricket tournament victory (Our 1st since 2000 in which we won the Knockout Trophy coincidentally but ironically against India in the final) as well as the wicket-keeper for the Black Caps of BJ Watling in his final ever test as he bids farewell to the sport in style & with the demons of back to back defeats in the 50 over men's Cricket World Cup finals of 2015 against co-hosts Australia & 2019 against previous hosts England, being laid to rest.
And in Super Rugby news such as the Crusaders thrash the tournament newcomers Moana Pasifika (They postponed the 1st 2 matches of the competition against both the Blues & the Chiefs respectively due to a COVID-19 outbreak throughout the squad) to remain 3 & 0 in round 3 of the newly formed Super Rugby Pacific competition at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin in round followed by the Blues (Who had try scorer Caleb Clarke sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for a deliberate knockdown & an intentional offside as well during the 2nd half) having a close shave when they managed to hold on for the victory against the Chiefs (Who had the chance to win the game in Brad Weber's 100th game (Weber (Who was a development player for Otago way back in 2012 before moving to Waikato as well as he's now is playing for Hawke's Bay in the Bunnings NPC & of course, he made his Chiefs debut in 2014) got a double during the match) with Bryn Gatland attempting a penalty goal but unfortunately, it sailed wide) at Eden Park in Auckland & the Hurricanes win 2 in a row in which they defeated the Highlanders at Sky Stadium in Wellington.
And here are the results from the other games in the 3rd round of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season:
Fijian Drua 31 - 26 Rebels
Force 16 - 29 Reds
& Brumbies 27 - 19 Waratahs
And there has been an update in round 4 of Super Rugby Pacific such as the Blues get a victory over the Highlanders in a rematch of the final of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman from last year which was marred by the terrible officiating from referee Ben O'Keefe (Including the Taine Plumtree double which might have been ruled out after the referee thought that there might have been no advantage so he could've blown a scrum to the Highlanders due to a knock on from the Blues & both sides played on until the 90th minute & after that, players from both sides had been gassed out as a result) at North Harbour Stadium in Albany (Where Carole used to live until she moved here nearly 4 years ago) a night before the Chiefs triumph over the Crusaders (Who had put their unbeaten streak on the line but it wasn't to be as their chances of remaining undefeated has ended) in a replay of last years Super Rugby Aotearoa final with a match winning try for their 1st win in Christchurch since 2016 at Orangetheory Stadium with Chiefs reserve midfielder Rameka Poihipi scoring in what was to be the game winning try in another one of the best matches in Super Rugby Pacific history (Compared to the Hurricanes-Blues in round 2 & the Blues-Chiefs in round 3).
And here are the results from the other games in the 4th round of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season:
Rebels 17 - 36 Brumbies
Reds 33 - 28 Fijian Drua
& Waratahs 22 - 17 Force
And there also has been an update that there is only one Super Rugby Pacific game held in New Zealand (As 4 of the 5 New Zealand franchises have been dealt by COVID-19 problems throughout the Blues, Crusaders, Highlanders & Hurricanes camps as their matches had to be postponed at a later date) as the Chiefs thrash Moana Pasifika in just their 2nd game for the newcomers at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.
And here are the results from the other games in the 5th round of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season:
Brumbies 16 - 12 Reds
Fijian Drua 18 - 20 Force
& Waratahs 24 - 19 Rebels
And there also has been an update again in round 6 of Super Rugby Pacific as Moana Pasifika create Super Rugby Pacific history as they defeated the Hurricanes to claim an historic upset of the round in their debut season with MP reserve back Danny Toala scoring the try at golden point extra time to secure their 1st win of the competition at Mount Smart Stadium in South Auckland (There were 3 yellow cards dished out during the match, one for Sekope Kepu of Moana Pasifika for increasing penalties then the other for Levi Aumua of MP for no arms in the tackle on a Hurricanes player & one to the Hurricanes of Salesi Rayasi for repeated infringements) then the Blues (Who have a midweek game in hand as they face Moana Pasifika tomorrow in which the Blues won but the match had been marred with Blues prop forward Nepo Laulala getting red carded for a dangerous shot on a Moana Pasifika player (I wonder how long will Laulala be out? A minimum of 3 weeks probably but he needs to sort out his tackle clean out technique once he's back from a 3 match ban) continue their dominance against the winless Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin followed by the Crusaders who overpowered the Chiefs (Who were without 6 players including Pita-Gus Sowakula & 6 management staff including the head coach Clayton McMillan, through a serious illness such as COVID-19) at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.
And finally in this blog, here are the results from the other games in the 5th round of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season:
Rebels 42 - 27 Fijian Drua
Force 38 - 39 Brumbies
& Reds 32 - 20 Waratahs
So that is my 458th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 6th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And it's my 31st birthday today (It must've been my 2nd birthday in my 30's compared to my last birthday in my 20's in 2020 which was hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic during the year) & my 1st birthday in my 30's last year when I was 30) so wish me happy birthday but I have been feeling like a young kid at Christmas now (And my last thoughts to wrap up this blog? Watch this space (I want to give a shout out to Dad who had his 53rd birthday 2 days ago as well as Aunty Tania for her 54th on Friday & Carole for her big 70th on the 17th of June so best wishes (And we are all getting old according to the estimates throughout our lives in terms of recent years).
