Fire Woman/Alone I Break: My 8th blog of the year 2024

Well, the 2022 Football World Cup final would have to be the greatest finals in history (And one of my memorable moments not involving our own All Whites) when the Argentina side (Who became world champions for the 3rd time, 36 years after their last one in 1986 (That was 8 years after they first successfully became champions of the world in the global game in 1978 when they hosted the tournament), although they kick started their 2022 campaign with defeat against Saudi Arabia during the opening group game in one of by far, the biggest Football World Cup boilovers of all time since France (Who were the defending champions at the time) being upstaged by Senegal in 2002 in akin to the battle between David against Goliath) led by the incomparable Lionel Messi (One of the best footballers in the world during modern times who is now an 8 time winner of FIFA's top men's individual award & at that moment, he finally became a Football World Cup winner for his proud football playing country of Argentina in 2022 especially both as a player & captain, but Frenchman Kylian Mbappe (One of Messi's ex-teammates during his time with Paris Saint-Germain before his high profile move to Major League Soccer club Inter Miami (Owned by former English footballer/soccer player David Beckham) has taken over as one of the world's premier footballers) stunned the defending champions at the time of France (Who miss out on becoming the first side since Brazil in 1962 to retain the Football World Cup 4 years on after becoming world champions in Russia 2018 when they ended a 20 year hoodoo against Croatia in that memorable final for their nation, but the injuries to the French trio of Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante & Paul Pogba that opened the door for Messi & co of securing their first Football World Cup championship since 1986 according to the blog that I did last year) on penalties in dramatic fashion at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar (And it was immortalized in the documentary released by Netflix late last year called Captains of the World about all 32 teams competing for a quest of football's ultimate prize, the Football World Cup, & their one main goal/objective for every national football/soccer team competing in the World Cup is to become champion of the world), compared to the 2019 Cricket World Cup final in which the Black Caps (Who later became World Test Champions in 2021 after a memorable win over India (Who had to appear in another WTC final in which they fell short again, that time against Australia before the 2 sides met again at a men's Cricket World Cup final last year at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, which resulted victory to the Australians by 6 wickets (Although they completed their record extending but unprecedented 6th men's CWC championship with 42 balls to spare to still become the best as well as by far, the most successful One Day International side in the world to add to their 1 WTC (Last year), 2 Champions Trophy (In 2006 & 2009) & 1 T20 World Cup (That was in 2021) championships to their name in a nation (Who had dominated the world cricket scene by winning a record 10 ICC sanctioned tournaments, but the West Indies side had once became kings in the world of cricket during the golden heyday halcyon period in both the 70's & 80's) that boasts 26 million people according to the commentary from former Aussie cricket Matthew Hayden following Australia's 1st World Test Championship crown) thanks to a century by Travis Head who top scored 137) in the final at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, England) came agonizingly close against England in a historic first ever super over, even though we were defeated according to the boundary count back regulation that proved costly in which we should've won the final at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London, England but my most memorable sporting moment would have to be the 2015 Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham also in London in which the last time the All Blacks would gone on to win the tournament (That's the 3rd to add to our titles won at the inaugural one in 1987 & 2011 but 2015 was by far, better than the other 2 previous ones) against our traditional Trans-Tasman foe the Wallabies in one of by far, the greatest Rugby World Cup finals ever of all time (That was 4 years before our gut wrenching defeat in the semi against England in 2019, followed by the Springboks (Who successfully retained the World Cup by becoming the 2nd side to ever do so & become the most successful rugby playing nation in the world with 4 now (They previously won in 1995, 2007 & 2019) by taking over from New Zealand) in the final last year through a costly but controversial red card by our captain Sam Cane for a cheap shot on Springbok centre Jesse Kriel which hurt us not only that was our first loss since against hosts France (Who ended our unbeaten stretch in pool play after several key All Blacks were missing as they were dealt with injuries) in the tournament opener in which we were stunned after top try scorer of last year's RWC of Will Jordan had been given the yellow card for taking a player out in mid-air, in which we had a rough start during the tournament where the French had made rugby history), but my standout America's Cup moment would have to be in 2021 in which we retained the Auld Mug for the 2nd time against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli during race 10 in Auckland in the middle of a pandemic & it was better than the ones that we previously had in 1995 (It was in San Diego, California in the United States where we managed to outsmart & outwit the Dennis Conner led Stars & Stripes aboard the Young America yacht according to the previous blogs that I did), 2000 (In which we became the first foreign syndicate to defend it on home soil in Auckland, New Zealand, against the Louis Vuitton Cup champions of the Prada Challenge from Italy) & 2017 (And it was the time that our painful memories we had in San Francisco back in 2013 had been erased in which we were triumphant against our old foe of Spithill & Oracle Team USA in Bermuda).

And finally there was a Bangladeshi cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim who had been given out for handling the ball which is one of the rarest dismissals you'll ever see in a game of cricket (In a similar fashion to Michael Vaughn (The one who bears hatred towards Indian people & is an outspoken critic of supporting 2 teams such as England & whoever was playing against India compared to me supporting both sides in cricket such as New Zealand & whoever was playing against Australia) for England against India in 2001 while Steve Waugh of Australia did a similar thing, earlier in the same year against the same opponent) in which the Black Caps were appealing to the umpires whether Rahim has gotta go, but one of the umpires had to have look upstairs & after a consultation to the 3rd umpire that the umpire made his final decision to give him out obstructing the field during the 2nd test in Sylhet, Bangladesh & I mean, that is terrible stuff when Bangladesh were gunning for their historic first ever test series win against New Zealand after dominating the 1st test for their 2nd win against us which reached the heights for the Bangladeshis 2 years after they made history in Tauranga, New Zealand when they beat us for the first time in the history of test cricket, but onto a cricket related story that the reason why South Africa (Who were always been chokers every time they lose at a men's Cricket World Cup like against England in 1992 in which they could've won, but there was rain that forced them to score 21 runs off the last delivery, then in 1996 where they won all of the group matches before facing the West Indies in the quarterfinal in which they were defeated not only that there was a selection blunder that Allan Donald should've been picked in which the pitch would have suited the quicks (But they have chosen South African spinner Paul Adams (Whose bowling action resembles a frog in a blender) who gave the nod instead) according to the blog that I did in 2021 as well as in 2003 where South Africa were the hosts that they should've advanced to the Super Six if they beat Sri Lanka, but a Duckworth/Lewis miscalculation meant they tied the Sri Lankans in their last group game at Kingsmead in Durban & in 2015 that the South Africans (Well, before the semi that Kyle Abbott would've been selected instead of the semi-fit Vernon Philander, not only because Abbott was impressive, most impressive with the ball in which they set the South Africans alight during the tournament) would at last, finally win a quarterfinal match against Sri Lanka as they won by 9 wickets by setting up a semifinal showdown with New Zealand in which they had set the co-hosts a record World Cup knockout game chase target in their semifinal at Eden Park – and it might have been bigger had rain not shortened the South African innings – but miscues and the heroics of South African-born Grant Elliott undid them as New Zealand advanced to their first Cricket World Cup final in which we fell short against the co-hosts Australia (Who would not win a men's Cricket World Cup title until 8 years later last year, when they silenced the pro-Indian crowd in Ahmedabad against India in the final with Travis Head (Who was the first player to score a ton in the men's CWC final since Gilchrist (Who top scored 149 during the final) in 2007 against Sri Lanka, & was the catcher when Indian captain Rohit Sharma was out off the bowling of Glenn Maxwell who later hit the winning runs, resulting in a game changer/turning point in the final) providing the heroics as he was being awarded the standout player of the game honours for his 137) on that occasion at the MCG in Melbourne with New Zealand captain at the time of Brendon McCullum bowled out cheaply by the player of the tournament Mitchell Starc, & it was game over when New Zealand continued to lose wickets since Baz was out also according to the previous blogs that I did as they won by 7 wickets) lost to Australia in the 1999 men's Cricket World Cup semifinal in which was one of the greatest matches of all time in the ODI format was the poor running by Allan Donald who didn't make it home (He dropped his bat instead) as he was run out by Mark Waugh who threw the ball to Damien Fleming who rolled it along the pitch to Adam Gilchrist standing over the stumps at the batter's end whilst his teammate on strike of Lance Klusener (Who hit 2 fours in a row since the start of the last over as the South Africans were 205 for the loss of 9, needing a further nine runs to win while the two men at the crease were Klusener who was on strike and Donald at the other end, but Damien Fleming was the bowler as if the match was tied, Australia (Whose captain at the time Steve Waugh labels that the 1999 semi against South Africa (Whose English born coach of the late Bob Woolmer resigned following that defeat) as his best cricket match that he ever played, compared to me that I label about the 2015 Rugby World Cup final between the AB's against Australia, was the best rugby game I have ever watched on TV) would go through to the final to play Pakistan at Lord's through a better net run rate than South Africa's) was trying to hit for the winning run (And the twists, turns and close finish resulted in many observers regarding the match as the perfect One Day International from an entertainment perspective. The record-breaking ODI between Australia and South Africa seven years later, in 2006, continued the close rivalry between the two teams).

So that is my 532nd blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 8th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And it's been 2 years since that terrible event had began for which I still cannot post something about it due to a clamp down that is both offensive & objectionable to the people of that country (Led by that lunatic for which I label as a real life Kazuya Mishima (The main villain from the Tekken series, but I got 3 Tekken games now such as Tekken 6 on Xbox 360 console via the Xbox Series X backwards compatibility, Tekken 7 on the PS4 & now Tekken 8 on the PS5) & the Roman Reigns (Who is pro wrestling's equivalent to the former US president of Donald Trump) of the political world while the media labelled that coward as a real life James Bond villain while the Foreign Minister of that evil country (AKA both the Mishima Zaibatsu/G Corporation & the Bloodline of the political world) for which I label as a real life Solo Sikoa (From WWE & one of Roman Reigns's Bloodline stablemates) as well as the male equivalent of Irish assassin Nina Williams from Tekken) who started it since Pops warned me not to post stuff about it back in 2022 (A year before the Israel - Hamas invasion begun on the 7th of October (And the beginning of the Gaza war is similar to the turbulent events of the 24th of February in 2022) which was last year in which the death toll is rising but increasing mainly due to hostages being kept by the Hamas terrorist group organisation, but Gaza now has turned it into hell (And I remember the comments from Carole on Pops emails about her trash talking Leon Benbaruk via email about the Gaza situation being out of control, but the hopes for World War III are under threat due to both horrendous events that just kept going, but I once told Pops what side he is supporting which is either Israel or Palestine on the 17th of February, then Pops replied that he is a critic of Palestine during the Gaza invasion since Carole (Who is part British & part Iraqi according to another story that I remember, but she goes to the Whanganui river traders market every Saturday as part of a pro-Palestinian group about the crisis in Gaza) has Middle Eastern roots) where it continued as the Kiwis stopped watching, right from the thick of it.

3AM/Unwell: My 7th blog of the year 2024

Well, there is an interesting F1 related story about Sir Jackie Stewart who once raced for Tyrrell (Who later became BAR in 1999 (16 years after their last win in Formula One way back in 1983 on the streets of Detroit, Michigan in the United States with the late Italian driver Michele Alboreto (Who tragically passed away in 2001 in a serious freak testing accident in Germany) driving for them) then Honda in 2006 followed by the buyout of Ross Brawn according to the previous blogs that I did of becoming Brawn GP after Honda had to pull out of the sport as a result of the global financial economic recession that they had in 2008 which enjoyed its fairytale season in 2009 when they won the constructors championship with their ace driver of JB (Jenson Button) who would eventually gone on to win a world championship for the 1st & only time in their sole season before Mercedes purchased them in 2010 & won 7 constructors world championships between them (6 with 7 time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton (2014-15, 2017-2020) behind the wheel who is one of the modern greats of the sport as well as Britain's most successful Formula One driver, & once with Germany's Nico Rosberg (Who was Hamilton's long standing rival when they were teammates & is best known as the son of 1983 F1 world champion from Finland, Keke) in 2016 before Rosberg had to retire from the sport after an exhausting season that he had 10 years after his debut with Williams in 2006) in which he won 3 world titles between them, then he retired from the sport in 1973 at the tender age of 34, 24 years before establishing his Formula One team with funding from the Ford Motor Company of Stewart Grand Prix which lasted 3 seasons before Jaguar had rebranded them which lasted until 2004 when Red Bull Racing came along & took over when it first burst into life in 2005, 5 years before going on to win their 1st of 6 constructors championships as well as the 1st of 7 drivers world championships (4 with German Sebastian Vettel (2010-13) also behind the wheel & 3 with Max Verstappen (2021-23) who is another one of the modern sporting greats & is the most successful Dutch F1 driver between them when last years Red Bull RB19 car proved to be the most dominant of them all compared to the 1988 McLaren MP4/4 that they once had (And last year's F1 season is reminiscent to 1988 where a constructor would gone on to win all but one race in a single championship season (And last year's Singapore Grand Prix (Which was overshadowed by our own Kiwi Liam Lawson (The former Toyota Racing Series champion who was subbing in for the injured Australian Daniel Ricciardo) securing his first points in Formula One in which he finished 9th (His best result so far) by collecting 2 championship points in the Alphatauri during the Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit) is shades of the 1988 Italian Grand Prix where Ferrari had to win with Carlos Sainz Jr last year in Singapore (In which Ferrari (Who has contested in every world championship since the very first one in 1950, compared to McLaren which competed in F1 since 1966) got inspiration from it prior to Singapore by winning at Le Mans in France in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as they ended Toyota's 4 year reign on top of the summit in June last year), in a similar fashion to Gerhard Berger in Italy in 1988), & also both triple world champions of Max Verstappen & the late great Brazilian Ayrton Senna are legendary drivers that provide the backbone for Honda during their success in Formula One (McLaren had provided Honda engines in 1988, so too is Red Bull that they once had from 2019 until 2021).

And onto quick sports news flash such as the sevens rugby in Dubai where the Wallaroos 7s (Well they could be the team to beat at the Paris Olympics in the women's section next year if they want to regain Olympic glory since they last won in Rio 2016) were overwhemingly dominant in the women's section (After they absolutely pummeled the current Olympic champs the Black Ferns sevens in the women's cup final), so too is the Blitzboks of South Africa in the men's division where they still became the most successful as they remain kings in Dubai (And trust me, the twice defending Commonwealth Games men's rugby sevens gold medalists could be favourites of claiming their first ever Olympic gold medal in that sport when the Olympics come to town in Paris, France as the largest sporting event getting ready to begin in July next year, but I fear that it might be a Fiji - South Africa gold medal match in the men's section at the Olympics this year), inspired by their recent success in the men's 15 a side game in which they conquered in France of retaining the Rugby World Cup in fine style against the 14 man All Blacks under controversial circumstances (And just coming up to 4 months have passed since that dramatic event had been unfolded which featured the twists & turns as well as the thrills & spills in rugby's pinnacle event) in which rugby put the African continent on the map according to the sports news report that I remembered watching on Al Jazeera when me, Pops & Carole were in Kerikeri in the Northland province last year in late December following another successful World Cup glory in France which had gone in the way of the Springboks, but like I said before that they kept South African rugby great in a reference inspired by Donald Trump (The former president of the United States), but the latest on the America's Cup World Series in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in which the current defenders of the Auld Mug of Emirates Team New Zealand pulled off a miraculous but emphatic victory (Although they missed out on that occasion in the first preliminary AC event in Spain against American Magic (Who had to withdraw from the event as a result through reasons regarding to security) against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli who got nosedived during the final in a similar fashion to Team New Zealand did in 2017 during the Louis Vuitton Cup semi against Land Rover BAR where we had a frightening pitchpole in Bermuda, but we managed to overcome the disaster of beating the Brits before facing the Swedish syndicate Artemis in the LV Cup final which ended in success by getting over it, then our old foe of the Jimmy Spithill led Oracle Team USA in the America's Cup match in which we won the series 7 - 1 by bringing the America's Cup home to our shores in 17 long years, but we're just 6 or 7 months away until the next America's Cup which is in Barca, Spain (Auckland hosted the last one, Bermuda before them) in which the 3rd time Spain will host the AC series after previously hosting both in Valencia back in 2007 (Where Swiss syndicate & also our old foe Alinghi retained it) & 2010 (Where Alinghi (Who later became Alinghi Red Bull Racing since they announced their intentions of returning to the America's Cup fold which is due this year) last competed when they lost the Auld Mug to the Americans led by an Aussie who is simply known as the Pitbull).

And onto the cricket related story such as the Black Caps winning the 2nd test against England (Who needed just 2 runs to win before the last wicket fell when James Anderson was out caught behind down the leg side off the bowling of Neil Wagner which resulted victory to New Zealand) earlier last year by one run at the Basin Reserve in Wellington which was 1993 revisited in which the West Indies defeated Australia in a similar fashion by a single run at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide in a thrilling finish similar to India against the Aussies in 2001 in one of the greatest test matches in history of all time during the Australia Day test after Craig McDermott was out caught behind off the bowling of Courtney Walsh in which I thought to me was clearly not out when the ball hit the helmet instead of the glove (And there was no 3rd umpire & DRS way back in the day) which resulted in heartbreak for Australia who thought they would've won the series & became the best team in the world, but that match is similar to an Ashes test in 2005, then the latest on the cricket such as Pakistani-Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja speaking out on social media about the ICC getting tough on political statements (Unlike between 2020 to 2021 that they allowed players to "take the knee" before international matches in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement regarding to the racially motivated murder of George Floyd in the United States) such as his solidarity with Palestine & the horrible scenes unfolded as 17,000 Palestinians lost their lives coming from war-torn Gaza as the sport's governing body is clamping down on messages about Gaza which results in an instant suspension if he flouts the rules imposed by the International Cricket Council by wearing his shoe that bears the slogans 'Are all lives not equal?' & 'Freedom is a human right' prior to the opening test in Perth between Australia & Pakistan to avoid getting slapped with sanctions imposed by the sport's governing body (Just like in 2014 that English batter Moeen Ali, who like Khawaja is a Muslim with Pakistani origin, was suspended by the ICC in 2014 from wearing wristbands featuring the slogans "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine" (And Khawaja is in the firing line again before the Boxing Day test against Pakistan that he can't display a dove of peace on his bat in the aftermath of getting reprimanded for wearing a black armband during the 1st test in Perth & I mean, this is like blasphemy, discrimination, vandalism & dissent with the ICC cracking down on players' anti-war statements following Khawaja's remarks about the war on Hamas with messages on his shoes at training that he's not supposed to wear while playing because of the ban being enforced about statements regarding to politics according to the International Cricket Council), but am I allowed to make political statements on my blogs? Well, I dunno except not that terrible event had been unfolded since it began in February 2022 according to Pops, who said to me that I should get rid of that illegal stuff on my blog that I orginally posted it so it does not offend the people of the country who started it, just like the FIA last year that they successfully introduced a clamp down on drivers who are competing in Formula One & any other FIA sanctioned events about making political statements).

And finally I remember an old ad way back in 2001 which is about Xtra (Which is now defunct because it used to be a brand used by New Zealand telecommunications provider Spark (previously Telecom) for its internet service provider subsidiary from 1996 to 2008) & their Xtraordinary people of New Zealanders but here is my take in poetic style:

He doesn't own a suit...

But strolls Wall Street every day

He's moved to London

But hasn't missed a test at Eden Park

She's shy at School

But meets dozens of friends at home.

They're big fans

And Radiohead's at their flat tonight...Live

He dreams of being an astronaut...

So spends nights on Mars

So that is my 531st blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 7th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Long Day/Push: My 6th blog of the year 2024

Well, in Formula One news such as the triple world champion in the Red Bull of Holland's Max Verstappen (Who is now 4 & 0 in Abu Dhabi since 2020) capping off the year 2023 in emphatic style with a record extending 19th win of the season at the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Island in the UAE, the most when he surpassed that unwanted record in 2022 that he scored 15 wins when he broke the all time record set by Michael Schumacher in 2004 & Sebastian Vettel in 2013 (Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished in 2nd while George Russell in the Mercedes has rounded out the podium (And one of Verstappen's teammates of Checo Perez has missed out on a podium due to that costly penalty for an avoidable contact on McLaren's Lando Norris, but he manages to finish 2nd in the championship in the runners up position behind Verstappen, but he had to finish ahead of Sir Lewis Hamilton in terms of the championship), & I mean what an incredible end to a magnificent F1 season last year, but will it change this year in order to dethrone Verstappen & Red Bull? Just like Australian Brodie Kostecki (Who is the first Aussie to win the Supercars Championship since the current Triple Eight Race Engineering team principal of Jamie Whincup in 2017, a year before the series had been dominated by New Zealand drivers such as Scott McLaughlin & Shane van Gisbergen until Kostecki broke that trend last year, but I wonder the headlines would say: BRODIE KOSTECKI DETHRONES SVG AS NEW SUPERCARS CHAMPION or more like: VAN GISBERGEN OUTCLASSED BY KOSTECKI ON THE STREETS OF ADELAIDE, & what a disappointing end for van Gisbergen, what a race for our viewers right around the world) who surprisingly ended SVG's 2 year reign on top of the Supercars Championship summit on the streets of Adelaide (Who once again played host to the season finale in which young New Zealander Matt Payne won the final race of the season as he pipped SVG (Who had a DNF in the penultimate race of the season, therefore allowing Kostecki to take advantage by edging closer to the championship that proved successful, just like Spain's Fernando Alonso in the Renault did at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2006 that he won the race after his championship rival Michael Schumacher (Who had his first retirement 4 years before making a comeback in 2010, but then he retired again from competitive racing in 2012 just like fellow German Sebastian Vettel (Who made his debut in F1 in at the United States Grand Prix in which he got the call up as injury replacement for Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber before joining Toro Rosso for the remainder of the season from the European Grand Prix, a year after tasting his first pole & win in Italy for Toro Rosso in 2008 in which he made the jump for Red Bull in 2009 a year before winning 4 world championships with them in 2010 to 2013 before leaving a year later in 2014, then he joined Ferrari in 2015 in which he had constantly struggled in which his cars had been uncompetitive until he left in 2020 to join Aston Martin where he spent the last 2 years with the team in 2021 & 2022 before retiring in due course from active competition) had 10 years later in Abu Dhabi) had a DNF due to his engine in his Ferrari had let go during the penultimate round of the championship, therefore allowing Alonso who was having a crack of successfully winning back to back Formula One world championships in which he did at the next race in Brazil which hosted the season finale) in his final ever Supercars Championship event, just like last year which was memorable, as Chaz Mostert in the Walkinshaw Andretti United brought Holden's penultimate victory in Supercars as he brought Shane van Gisbergen's 5 race winning streak to a grinding halt, a day before Triple Eight Race Engineering's Broc Feeney who became Holden's final ever winner in the Supercars Championship, 2 years after the car brand had already been closed down in 2020 before Chevrolet's arrival as replacement for Holden of competing in the Supercars Championship since last year as well as the introduction of Gen 3) in South Australia, Australia, in the now former Kiwi 3 time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen's farewell Supercars Championship event before going on an expedition in the United States to take part in NASCAR (Just like fellow New Zealander Scott McLaughlin who left Australia to head over to the United States in 2020 (In which the year was overshadowed by the global COVID-19 pandemic that they had) to compete in an Indycar racing for Team Penske (The most successful racing team in American open wheel championship history, but on the 29th of December last year, the motor racing world was in mourning as the former Indy 500 winner from 2003, as well as the twice CART Champ Car champion in 2000-01 & Indycar rookie of the year winner in 1995 of French born Brazilian Gil de Ferran who passed away aged 56 due to suffering a cardiac arrest in the American state of Florida, so requiescat en pace to him but all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the family of de Ferran (Who is widely regarded as one of the greatest racing car drivers to have never competed in Formula One, alongside the late great Canadian of Greg Moore (If he had been alive, countless number of championships would've won by him so he would've gone to F1 straight away) as he is survived by his British wife Angela & his 2 American born adult children of daughter Anna who is a singer, & son Luke) after winning his 3rd & final Supercars Championship for DJR Team Penske before rebranding themselves as DJR again since 2021, but remember that van Gisbergen won in the streets of Chicago, in his first ever start in NASCAR in the Cup Series last year (And that's the first time they had done that in which a driver won their debut NASCAR race in over 60 years), & remember folks, keep in mind that the first race of the new F1 season (In which Dutchman Max Verstappen is defending his Formula One title after winning his 3rd straight World Championship last year) begins in Bahrain on the 2nd of March compared to the Indycar Series in which St Pete, Florida in the United States will play host to the season opener (Spain's Alex Palou is the reigning champion going into the season opening round of this years NTT IndyCar Series) on the 10th of March which is 8 days after the Bahrain Grand Prix & of course (Last but not least), Mount Panorama in Bathurst is expected to be the venue of the opening round of this years Supercars Championship season on the 24th-25th of February (In which the new champion Brodie Kostecki (Who'll not take further part in the season opener in the aftermath of his turbulent relationship with the defending teams champion of Erebus Motorsport about that toxic workplace environment culture that he had was to blame, although he is yet to openly make a comment on his future, with negotiations over his contract, which which runs until the end of this season, thought to be underway with Todd Hazelwood likely to draft in as his replacement for the Bathurst 500) will start his title defence at the Mountain, but maybe not as Kostecki could have a spell by sitting on the sidelines in the midst of an ugly rift about being split with the team in which he had an nasty feud about his contract), which is 8 days to 1 week before the Bahrain GP.

Gil de Ferran

1967 - 2023

And we have not had a good sporting year last year in 2023 such as the AB's miss out on regaining the Rugby World Cup against the now 4 time world champions & the most successful rugby playing nation on the planet of South Africa led by Siya Kolisi (And no wonder why that Kolisi is still the self-proclaimed rugby god following the Springboks retention of this year's RWC) in the aftermath of All Black skipper Sam Cane's costly red card which took the AB's out of contention of regaining the World Cup therefore we were playing the remainder with 14 men also following the sending off from Cane who was marched from the field by English referee Wayne Barnes (Who had a disastrous performance as a referee including the winning try by the All Blacks that had won us the World Cup for the first time since 2015, had been disallowed due to a knock on at the scrum but would've counted according to the ex-All Black coach Sir Steve Hansen who suggested of getting rid of the TMO, but I somehow label Wayne Barnes as a woke & corrupt referee (And he had a damn good job when he retired from refereeing as the New Zealand rugby fans praised him for his efforts on the field throughout these years) in light of him being a victim of online hate by those Kiwi yobs who got salty being spread across social media following the final in which World Rugby is beefing/ramping/stepping up to curb hatred towards rugby referee's social media accounts so that they can be held accountable (And they need to introduce a security operating cryptic code system to every famous persons social media accounts) in disgrace, in the RWC final at the Stade de France in Paris, France, then the Black Caps unfortunate defeat against hosts India in the semifinal in the men's Cricket World Cup at the Wandhede Stadium in Mumbai despite a century from New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell, in which the Aussies are feeling generous about it, but let's hope all that can change in 2027 (With Australia set to defend the men's CWC in South Africa, Namibia & Zimbabwe in which the number of teams will increase again to 14 (Up from the original 10 that they had in the last 2 men's Cricket World Cups), while the Springboks will defend their Rugby World Cup title down under in Australia when the number of rugby playing nations will expand to 24 as they have a chance of securing an historic first-ever threepeat in which New Zealand tried & failed in 2019 after a devastating but gut wrenching defeat against England (Who had Samoan born Manu Tuilagi score that all-important try that New Zealand came crashing down to earth to not make the cut of appearing our 3rd straight final) in the semi in which the AB's were missing Damian McKenzie who got injured in a Super Rugby game against the Blues for the Chiefs which changed the course of the RWC therefore opening the door for South Africa of ending a 12 year wait of winning Rugby World Cups as well as ending the utter dominance of the All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup) as well as this year at the Olympic Games (The world's largest sporting event which begun life in Greece during ancient times before it came back as the modern Olympics when Athens hosted it in 1896 which was founded by a late Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin who was once the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but the rule states that during the opening ceremony that the Greeks go first then the host nation go last except in 2004 that Saint Lucia went first instead of Greece who came in last during the parade of nations) in Paris where we have a massive gold medal chance in any sport, particularly in the rowing front as well as rugby sevens & kayaking (And my favourite Olympic memory would have to be in 2012 in which George Bridgewater & Joe Sullivan (Who was the future America's Cup champion sailor) getting the gold in the men's double sculls, then a day later when our nation had a golden hour with the virtually unbeatable but unstoppable dynamic duo men's pair of Hamish Bond & Eric Murray (The most successful pairing in New Zealand sporting history compared to Peter Burling & Blair Tuke in the yachting & Brodie Retallick & Sam Whitelock in rugby) who both successfully dominated before Mahe Drysdale finally at last winning gold after missing out in Beijing 2008 in the men's singles sculls when he got the bronze medal instead, but he revealed that he vomited & had been dehydrated at the time before the gold medal race had begun according to the story that I remember now) while special honourable mentions have been around as well as gathered such as Lisa Carrington (Who is now Dame Lisa Carrington due to her knighthood that she recieved following her success at the last Olympics in Tokyo 2020 which was held in 2021) & her heroics at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021 to become our country's most successful Olympian since the glory days of Ian 'Ferg' Ferguson as well as the greatest female Olympian from our country ever produced, then Dame Valerie 'Val' Adams & her gold medal winning performances in both Beijing in 2008 & London in 2012 (After a Belarussian opponent who thought she initially won the gold, but got DQ'ed for failing a drug test allowing Adams to step up & still become the Olympic champion), while the Evers-Swindell twin sisters in the women's double sculls section & their successful chances of claiming the gold twice in both Athens 2004 & Beijing 2008 (Which included a close finish in which we almost missed out, needless to say just like Drysdale did in Rio in 2016) as well as Burling & Tuke's gold medal winning performance in Rio 2016, just a year before the pair were part of Emirates Team New Zealand's success at the America's Cup in Bermuda back in 2017 against the Jimmy Spithill led Oracle Team USA, then our retention of the Auld Mug in Auckland in 2021 just like in the events of 2000 against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli led by co-helmsmen of Spithill & Francesco Bruni, & last but not least, Danyon Loader & his success in the pool as he won both the 200 & 400 metre freestyles respectively in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States way back in 1996.

And the Blink-182 song One More Time is an pop punk anthem charged in which they joked the song according to Brian Davids of The Hollywood Reporter in which living proof that they made grown men get emotional about the song which reflects on the band's career especially with the song focusing on the history of the band (As well as the highs & the lows), & the interpersonal relationships between the 3 members of the classic line-up (And at one point that one of the band members (Mark Hoppus (A cancer survivor along with other celebs such as New Zealand rugby player Aaron Cruden, female Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue & famous American Hollywood movie actor Mark Ruffalo) sings about his own battle with a terminal illness in which he eventually survived as well as the band's drummer (Travis Barker (One of the famous Vegan celebs along with the famous successful British Formula One race car driver Sir Lewis Hamilton, New Zealand rugby star TJ Perenara as well as American musician Moby & the lead singer of the American punk rock band Rise Against of Tim McIlrath, compared to both German tennis player of Eastern European origin of Alexander Zverev, famous British rower Sir Steve Redgrave & American race car driver Charlie Kimball as the celebs who are diabetic) having a taste of surviving that fatal plane crash back in 2008 & his fear of flying which haunted him for the rest of his life until he overcame that fear recently like in 2022 by getting over it).

And finally, the Northland trip that me, Pops & Carole went was sensational (And it was a great trip by the way but it was my first holiday post COVID-19 era (Compared to my last holiday pre-COVID 19 era was the South Island trip in 2019 when I was with Pops, Aunty Tan & Rejean which took place after Dad & Raewyn's wedding that I've been & the year right before the global pandemic in 2020) as well as my first holiday with Carole (And before that, I had never been on a holiday with my close mate Carole before up until that point) as we saw our whanau such as Kathryn (Who is 64 now but I once saw a picture of her in Auckland with Paige (My cousin & officially now my honorary sister who I haven't seen since 2016) & her daughter Norah (Who I have never ever met her in my whole life) at a ferry), Ken (Who I didn't know that he had a brother named Phil (The one that wears the England rugby team apparel not only because he is a passionate rugby watcher according to the comment that I remember from Ken), Andy (Carole's son who is my best male friend indeed), Kelsey (Who is another of my honorary sisters along with Paige), Gail, Richard, Margaret & Rex as well as the dogs of Yodi, Daisy & Millie (A & K's pet dog), but my favourite part of the Northland trip would have to be the food of course (And I nearly had a bout of food poisoning because of the mango kulfi that I ate at an Indian restaurant during our Christmas eve dinner, but somehow I was feeling okay by getting over it during the morning on Christmas Day) ahead of the family & Kathryn & Ken's house near Hihi (The place that I've been where we had a Thai dinner there) that I've been twice now, especially on Christmas day where we had our epic Christmas dinner in which the holiday took place before the new year as well as Aunty Tan & Rejean's arrival to New Zealand on the same day, but I have already made an announcement that my next holiday will be in Wellington (I haven't been to that place since 2016 where me, Pops & John Coburn went to that All Blacks - Wales rugby test, the day before the last time we met both Cathey & Paige) between late December this year to early January next year (Compared to Carole & Pops next holiday will be in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands in the middle of this year which is a follow up to the holiday that they had in 2022 which I will not be going due to me looking after the house at 15A Kells Avenue in Whanganui, but I think I can handle myself of using the new air fryer thingy that we got at home when both Carole & Pops are away on a holiday) with possibly Pops or Dad where I'll be seeing my biological aunty Cathey Middelplaats (Who I have not seen her for 8 years), my cousin & honorary sister Paige Ahearn, Paige's daughter & Cathey's granddaughter Norah & possibly Toa Waaka (Who I last met him during Dad & Raewyn's wedding in 2019), but there is mainly traffic in Wellington because of Pops saying to me on the 12th of February that Northland is his & Carole's preference of going back there mainly the reason that the province are having to deal with has less emphasis of traffic.

So that is my 530th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 6th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Untitled/So Long, & Thanks For All The Fish/Every You Every Me: My 5th blog of the year 2024

Well, here are the results of from the 2023 Cricket World Cup semifinals that have just come in:

India 394/5 (50)

New Zealand 327 (48.5)

IND won by 70 runs

South Africa 212 (49.4)

Australia 215/7 (47.2)

AUS won by 3 wickets (16 balls left)

So it's hosts India (Who had just beaten the Black Caps in the semifinal that hurts us thanks to a Shoaib Akhtar inspired peformance from one of the Indian bowlers of Mohammed Shami to advance through to their first final since 2011 in which MS Dhoni (Who was the standout player of the game in the 2011 final which was played in Sachin Tendulkar's hometown of Mumbai at the Wandhede Stadium) hit the winning six as they chased down a total to win by 6 wickets in the 49th over against Sri Lanka, but I rather prefer New Zealand's victory in the 2021 World Test Championship against the Indians as my favourite standout cricket memory as well as the best cricket match I've ever watched) against Australia (Who haven't won since 2015 in which they had an overwhemingly dominant performance in the final by decimating against our Trans-Tassie rivals New Zealand in front of 100,000 fans at the MCG by 7 wickets including Mitchell Starc easily bowling our Black Caps captain at the time of Brendon 'Baz' McCullum which proved to be the game changer, & it was game over when we continued to lose wickets after McCullum was bowled out cheaply according to the previous blogs that I did) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on the 19th of November in the 2023 men's Cricket World Cup final (Their most recent meeting between the two sides at a men's Cricket World Cup was on October the 8th where the hosts got off to a flying start after their 6 wicket win against the Aussies in Chennai during a round robin match) which is a rematch of the 2003 final in which the Australians won convincingly against the Indians at the Wanderers Stadium in Joburg, South Africa & in 2015 during the semi, in which Australia went on to win against India at the SCG in Sydney but will it be Indian captain Rohit Sharma, or Australia Pat Cummins to lift the men's CWC trophy this year to decide who'll become champion of the world? We will find it out (Well, who is it going to be? Whether it's India to party like it's 1983 & 2011 where they did it twice, or will the Australians who are gunning their record extending 6th title just like they did it 5 times in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 & 2015, but the last time a side had won a Cricket World Cup before the hosts would gone on to dominate the last 3 tournaments (First co-hosts India in 2011, then another co-hosts with New Zealand of Australia in 2015 & England (Who were co-hosting the tournament alongside Wales) in 2019) was Australia in 2007 in which they gained payback against Sri Lanka in the final at the Kensington Oval in Georgetown, Barbados in the West Indies after losing to them in 1996 in which Aravinda de Silva scored an unbeaten 107 during the infamous final in Lahore, Pakistan).

And in rugby related news that word on the street in which most rugby aficionados suggested that they should abolish the TMO according to former All Black coach Sir Steve Hansen as Pops told me on the 18th of November last year in wake of Wayne Barnes's disastrous refereeing performance in the Rugby World Cup final this year marred by that red card by All Black Sam Cane for a dangerous tackle on Jesse Kriel in which Cane originally being shown the yellow card & an off-field review by the bunker which proved us costly (And that to me was unintentional the way it is, & it was ridiculous), then the All Blacks try would've stand which was rubbed out by the TMO due to an All Black player adjudged to have knocked the ball on in the leadup to the try in which the AB's fanbase were imploding therefore we were robbed on that occasion & I was in disbelief about the result (And I'm especially more worried about the TMO decisions that they made) which opened the door for South Africa of keeping the William Webb Ellis Cup for another 4 years (And they managed to keep South African rugby great as a matter of fact in which the reference of the Springboks conquering the rugby world again, has been inspired by the former US president who is facing serious criminal charges of Donald Trump), but let us go back to the old days where their had been decent rugby games such as the referee would consult it to an AR (Assistant referee) whether he was out when he or she was trying to ground the ball in the leadup to the try or if a player who committed foul play should be either sin binned or sent off (And these are the perfect examples of having a great game, not only modern day rugby is ruined by the television match official fiddling around for some stuff).

And that there has been an update in the 2023 Cricket World Cup that for the first time since 2015 that the Pat Cummins (Who became the fifth Australian men's Cricket World Cup winning skipper after Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting twice & Michael Clarke) led Australia has been crowned champion of the world for the record extending 6th time (They first did it in 1987 (Including Mike Gatting who went the reverse sweep but it was caught by Aussie wicketkeeper Greg Dyer who had taken a brilliant catch off the bowling of Australia's captain Allan 'AB' Border which proved to be the game changer) then 1999 to 2007 (Including the one in 2003 that Australian captain of the time of Ricky 'Punter' Ponting who had scored an unbeaten ton which was overshadowed by a plumb LB (Leg before) decision by India in which Ponting should've been out to start with according to the West Indian umpire as well as the worst umpire in the world of cricket of Steve Bucknor (Who quit umpiring in 2009 but admits that he decided against it when he made that decision in which India were robbed as a matter of fact, stone cold robbed, but the 2003 Aussie cricket team was by far considered to be the greatest squad ever assembled to a cricket field, especially the bowling attack led by Brett 'Binga' Lee, Glenn 'Pidge' McGrath, Andrew 'Andy' Bichel & Brad Hogg which was considered to be the best of all time while the all-star batting attack led by the likes of captain Ponting as well as Matthew 'Matty Haydos' Hayden, wicket-keeper Adam 'Gilly Gill/Churchie' Gilchrist & Damien Martyn were in fact awesome, literally, but they thought they had Shane Warne, & too bad he got sent home for illegally taking a weight loss medication on the advice of his mother before being given a 1 year suspension for drug taking, just like Englishman Alex Hales who missed England's successful men's Cricket World Cup glory at home in 2019 in the aftermath of recieving a ban for recreational drug use before the tournament began) thought that Ponting wasn't out & I thought he was to start with (Well, that could've used DRS for that as of today (And there was no umpire decision review to start with way back in the day) that it would've pitched outside off, then the impact was in line & the wickets was hitting because that would've gone on & hit the stumps (And the umpire would've overturned the decision from not out to out nowadays should the modern video replay technologies be available, but the LB rule usually works if the ball hits the batters leg in front of the wicket, that's out, but it does count as a wicket anyway) & 2015) after a overwhemingly dominant 6 wicket win with 42 deliveries left against hosts India (Who just beaten them earlier in the tournament during round robin play before Australia responded in the final to gain revenge by outmuscling & outplaying them completely when they rolled their sleeves up on that occasion (But I wonder the headlines would say: AUSTRALIA SILENCE 1.4 BILLION INDIANS TO CLAIM CWC or more like: INDIA TROUNCED BY INCREDIBLE AUSSIES IN FINAL OF THEIR HOME WORLD CUP or especially: CUMMINS'S BOYS BRING CWC TROPHY BACK HOME FOR AUSTRALIA IN AHMEDABAD) who just literally suffered their heartbreak as well as their heartache at home who tried their best of winning their 3rd men's CWC championship & their 1st since 2011 (And what a disappointing end for India, what a match for our viewers right around the world) off the back of a Travis Head ton who top scored 137 (And the century by Head in the final paved the way at that moment, of bringing the men's CWC trophy back to Australia (Compared to All Black captain Sam Cane's red card in the RWC final which opened the door for South Africa of retaining the William Webb Ellis trophy) & it was massive) by getting his player of the game honours as the Aussies (Who had stars like David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell (Who hit the winning runs just like he did in 2021 in the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand), Mitch Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood & Cummins (All have been part of the winning squad in 2015 although 5 have played their part such as Warner, Smith, Maxwell, Marsh & Starc in the final) took victory by 6 wickets with 42 deliveries remaining as they silenced 1.4 billion Indian fans who cheered the Indian cricket team on throughout the tournament (The last time India went on to win a major international cricket tournament was in 2013 in which they defeated England at the Champions Trophy, a year before losing to Sri Lanka in the final of the 2014 men's T20 World Cup, then a year later in 2015 against Australia in the men's CWC semi, a year before against the West Indies in the semifinal men's T20 World Cup in 2016, followed by Pakistan in 2017 in the final of the Champions Trophy, then 2019 against the Black Caps in the semifinal of the men's Cricket World Cup, followed in 2021 against the same opponent in the final of the historic first ever World Test Championship, then failed to qualify for the semis when they finished in the Super 12 stages followed by in 2022 in the same tournament in which they were semifinalists when they fell to eventual champions England, then to Australia last year in the WTC final & now in all of a sudden, the men's CWC in the same year in which they fell short against the Aussies in the final), therefore that the Aussies had just completed their successful year with a rare treble such as the WTC (World Test Championship), then the rentention of the Ashes despite the series had been drawn just like in 2019 & now the men's Cricket World Cup just like Man City (Who had their Spanish born coach/manager Pep Guardiola & their players playing their part as well as playing their pivotal role on completing the treble such as Belgium's Kevin de Bruyne (A former Belgian international whom he has a son named Mason), Norway's Erling Haaland (Formerly of Borussia Dortmund) & England's Jack Grealish (Who is Irish born) as well as Portugal's Ruben Dias & England's Kyle Walker did this year where they won the Premier League (In which the club had a successful threepeat & have been invincible since 2020-21 also according to the previous blogs that I did), the FA Cup (Their first since 2019) & then all of a sudden, the UEFA Champions League where they won for the first time against Inter Milan in Instanbul, Turkey after falling short against Chelsea in 2021, & that's why that the Aussie men's cricket team exactly dedicated their men's CWC final win to the late Warney of Shane Warne who passed away in 2022 just like the Argentinian football team led by the ever incomparable Lionel Messi by dedicating their Football World Cup final victory in the same year that Warne passed away to the late Diego Armando 'El Pibe' Maradona who passed away in 2020.

And the latest in the F1 as defending triple world champion Max Verstappen (It's viva Las Vegas to him after his win) in the Red Bull, powers his way to his record extending 18th win of the 2023 season in Formula One's most expensive race in history (And ticket prices for that historic occasion are dear at the moment just like the 2 Iowa double-header Indycar races that they had last year) at the historic first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix (Which hosted the penultimate round of the 2023 season before Yas Island in Abu Dhabi hosts the highly anticipated season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Which hosted its first race in 2009) on the streets of Sin City & the gambling capital of the world of Las Vegas, Nevada under lights (And it was the first Grand Prix in history to be held at night in the United States, & the first on a Saturday, which was marred by Carlos Sainz's Ferrari that crashed into a loose manhole cover in which the team undertook a task of repairing that car & resulted him a 'ridiculous' 10 place grid penalty for the incident which is not a black eye for F1 (And also it was very embarrassing meaning that it was a slap in the face for Formula One) as the 1st practice session on Thursday had been called off immediately but prematurely following Sainz's accident into a dislodged drain cover therefore triggering a rough start to the session) as he completes a stunning American clean sweep this year (He won in Miami at the Miami Autodrome, then the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas & now on the streets of Vegas) despite picking up a 5 second time penalty for forcing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc (Who had an incredible comeback to snatch 2nd ahead of Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez who rounded out the podium therefore denying Red Bull a one two finish whilst having the advantage of using the DRS (Drag reduction system) on the fastest part of the race track, on the final lap of the race just like Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso did on Checo, as he snatched a podium position at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Interlagos whilst having the advantage of using the drag reduction system on the 2nd fastest part of the track then he defended his position from Perez on the fastest part of the circuit in sight of the checkered flag that came out) off the track on the opening lap in which has been cleared (And the Red Bull pit crew had been told to get their hands off the car until the penalty had been expired (And it's like hands in the ruck in rugby as well as an illegal handball in football/soccer & handling the ball in cricket) before he pitted for fresh new tyres during the race (And I mean where will Verstappen be finally stopped? Probably this year if Red Bull's nearest rival Ferrari want to take over as the quickest team in Formula One with Red Bull expected to pay the penalty when they got fined $7 million & a 10% loss of wind tunnel development for infringements regarding to the cost cap that Verstappen first triumphed in 2021 also according to the previous blogs that I did (And they already did that at the start of that season), just like Michael Schumacher did in 2005 (In which the championship had gone in the way of Alonso way back then) then Sir Lewis Hamilton in 2021 (In which the title went to Verstappen who ended Hamilton's quest of a record breaking 8th world championship & if Hamilton won the F1 crown, he would've solidified his status as one of the all-time greats of the sport according to the previous blogs that I did).

And finally the Springboks plans of retaining 2023 Rugby World Cup began after their triumph at the 2019 tournament against England in the final in Yokohama, Japan, compared to the Australian cricket team's plans of winning the 2023 men's Cricket World Cup started after defeat against hosts at the time & eventual champions England in the semifinal at Edgbaston in Birmingham also in 2019 that they just needed to get in shape in order to get back on top of the world.

So that is my 529th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 5th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And we have just learned that American actor Matthew Perry who appeared on the hit TV sitcom series Friends (Which featured the likes of Jennifer Anniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer & Matt LeBlanc) has passed away so all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the family of him in this sad & most difficult time around, so rest easy/rest in paradise/rest in pieces.

Matthew Perry

1969 - 2003