Say Hello 2 Heaven: My 20th blog of the year 2024

Well, I was doing a blog in 2022 about WWE wrestlers & their legends are often compared to Formula 1 drivers (Both past & current) so here is the list of them & their equivalents to that (+ their hometowns):

Hulk Hogan (Venice Beach, California, United States) - the late great Ayrton Senna (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Bret 'The Hitman' Hart (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - Nigel Mansell (Upton-upon-Severn, United Kingdom)

Shawn Michaels (San Antonio, Texas, United States) - Jacques Villeneuve (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada)

The Undertaker (Death Valley, California, United States (Houston, Texas, United States during the Big Evil era) - Fernando Alonso (Oviedo, Spain)

Triple H (Greenwich, Connecticut, United States) - Jenson Button (Frome, United Kingdom)

The Rock (Miami, Florida, United States) - Mika Hakkinen (Vantaa, Finland)

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin (Victoria, Texas, United States) - Michael Schumacher (Kerpen, Germany)

John Cena (West Newbury, Massachusetts, United States) - Sir Lewis Hamilton (Stevenage, United Kingdom)

& Roman Reigns (Pensacola, Florida, United States) - Max Verstappen (Hasselt, Belgium*)

*: competes under a Dutch racing licence

And there are calls for the hip drop technique to be clamped down in all forms of rugby (With World Rugby able to step in to declare war on that illegal manuver just like the NFL once did of introducing a crack down on the horsecollar tackle that they used to have 20 years ago in 2004) even if it continues the trend following serious leg injuries suffered by both Hurricanes player Cam Roigard & Brumbies player Lachlan Lonergan during Super Rugby Pacific games against the Highlanders & the Reds respectively, but both the NFL & the NRL had sucessfully made them prohibited as a result of safety issues (It's a 15 yard penalty in the NFL as well as 10 minutes in the bin in the NRL with players facing suspensions for a now illegal use of the hip drop) not only because of the hip drop technique is indeed the new high tackle, but they turned rugby into a mini NFL because of the sport being focused on speeding up the game including shot clocks for conversions (That's 1 & a half minute), penalty goals (1 minute) & now both scrums (30 seconds) & lineouts in the aftermath of that Bernard Foley time wasting debacle during the Bledisloe Cup test in Melbourne in 2022 that cost Australia the test (The French referee had awarded a scrum to the All Blacks for taking too long after being awarded the penalty to the Wallabies for a ball carrier holding on according to the comment that I remember from Karl Te Nana (Who used to work for Sky before being summoned by World Rugby as he takes up of offering a job for the sports governing body as its world feed commentator role) in which the Aussies should've won before New Zealand snuck in of scoring the winning try by Jordie Barrett at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne (And they were playing under a penalty advantage according to the call from one of the assistants to notify the referee that a Wallaby player is never onside also according to Tony Johnson in commentary before Jordie crosses over for the winning try to go 1 - 0 up in the series (And TJ once said that has there ever been a finish to a test quite like this? Well, certainly indeed).

And the Indian Premier League cricket season is underway but why aren't Sky Sport not showing it this year? Mainly because of Sky's broadcasting contract with the IPL might have been expired along with men's ATP tennis events (With Auckland being the exception that they had this year) & the Super League rugby competition in both the UK & France while women's WTA tennis events is still being shown on TVNZ+ (Except Auckland in which is being shown on Sky Sport) along with the World Rally Championship (WRC) & the URC (United Rugby Championship), but Euro 2024 will at least be shown on TVNZ since they acquired the broadcasting rights when they were under the Spark Sport name back in 2022 (And they have handed it over from Sky since April this year but the Ukraine against Iceland game was the first men's international football I have seen since last year (And I have been watching it to prepare for myself of watching UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany on TV but that was the first time I've watched a men's international football match this year (And I've watched the first 10 minutes then the last 10 + stoppages) apart from the women last year when the Football Women's World Cup was held last year in both Australia & New Zealand) in which Spain outmuscled Croatia on penalties during the final of the UEFA Nations League, but the latest in football news such as French Football World Cup winning player from 2018 of Paul Pogba is heartbroken after been given a suspension for doping offences following a failed drug test which resulted in an instant ban in which the man who missed the most recent World Cup in Qatar in 2022 for the defending champions at the time of France through a serious injury alongside N'Golo Kante & Karim Benzema which opened the door for the Lionel Messi led Argentina to end a 36 year drought of becoming champions of the world in the sport of football against the French on spot kicks during the final in Lusail to claim football's biggest prize, the Football World Cup (And the pro-Argentinian fans have gone crazy but berserk as celebrations erupted back home in Argentina in the aftermath of their national team's success of ruling on top of the football world).

And finally that I did not know that France is the birthplace of motor racing compared to the UK being the birthplace of rugby, cricket, football & tennis indeed, even though with the French are known for their success in motor racing such as Alain Prost being the only Frenchman to win the Formula One World Championship (Their most recent race was in Australia where Spain's Carlos Sainz Jr won that fateful Grand Prix (In which the defending 3 time World Champion still racing in the Red Bull (With their boss Christian Horner being cleared of misconduct meaning that he remains the team principal of the 6 time constructors world champions) of Max Verstappen dominated the first 2 races in both Bahrain & Saudi Arabia before having his first DNF of the season down under after just 3 laps during the Grand Prix) therefore repeating his heroics in Singapore after making a successful comeback from appendicitis in which he had been given the all clear by the medics after being ruled out in Saudi Arabia with young 18 year old British driver who is currently competing in F2 of Ollie Bearman substituted for him in which Bearman finished in 7th during the Grand Prix on his debut, but the next race is in Japan at the Suzuka Circuit with the Japanese Grand Prix now moved to April from its traditional date in September from Azerbaijan which takes Japan's slot) as he's done it about 4 times (In 1985-86, 1989 & 1993) while Sebastien Loeb is the most successful French rally driver with 9 WRC championships to his name from 2004 until 2012, compared to another Sebastien of Ogier who won 8 World Rally Championship titles to his name (From 2013 until 2018 & 2020-21) & Didier Auriol who won it once back in 1994 & both Frenchmen who dominate in American Open Wheel Racing such as Sebastien Bourdais who won the Champ Car World Series 4 times in a row from 2004 until 2007 & Simon Pagenaud in 2016 in the Indycar Series & France winning the currently defunct A1GP series once in 2005-06 with their ace drivers of former DTM & Supercars Championship ace Alexandre Premat & former World Endurance Championship driver Nicolas Lapierre & also, France is being the home of the 24 Hours of Le Mans situated at the Circuit de la Sarthe track in the French town of Le Mans with Italian racing icon Ferrari being the winners of the most recent Le Mans 24 Hour race last year.

So that is my 544th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 20th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And a shout-out to my dear cuzzie as well as my mate & my honorary sister of Paige Ahearn (Best known as the beautiful daughter of Cathey Middeplaats, partner of Jarrod Ahearn (Well, I'm not sure they're married or not, but I heard that they're still together as of today but I'm giving both my old Linkin Park album & my old jade dragon necklace to her next time I go to Wellington (And if Paige is not interested of getting my old Linkin Park album, I'd give it to Andy or Kels instead) who I never met & the mother of Norah who I haven't seen Paige since 2016 along with Cathey, but never met Norah before (And I once saw a picture of Pops phone about Paige & Norah meeting Kathryn Ngapo at a ferry in Auckland back in January) whose having her birthday on the 5th of April as she is 30 years of age now so best wishes for her big 30 (And I was telling Dad that I could catch up with her, inspired by a dream that I had about Paige back in February or March, but I just heard a comment from Carole on the 4th of April that American pop star Taylor Swift (Who is currently dating NFL gridiron player Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs) is now a billionaire pop princess not only that she is wealthy with billions of dollars being earned from her for performing, just like the sporting trio of Americans of golfer Tiger Woods then former & current basketball stars of Michael Jordan & LeBron James who are in fact billionaires & I remember a story on the 5th of April that Pops was alluding to me that the team turned up late whilst the opposition kept on scoring during a sevens tournament in the Nausori region in Fiji (Especially when both players were on the field when they trailed by 11 points) that the late Nan & Pops had been to watch, & it was hardcase (But this is not the Harlem Globetrotters by the way) when their fans had laughed every time a team scores a try.

Landmines/The Glass: My 19th blog of the year 2024

Well, Pops told me that morning on the 25th of March that Rejean had been involved in a truck crash back in Canada but hope he is alright (And will the truck be repaired or are they going to shelve it after it had been wrecked by another vehicle), but it's been 115 days since I last saw both of them on the 24th of January this year before heading to Vanuatu then heading back home to Canada.

And rugby news that I've missed such as Ireland (Who are the AB's main challengers along with the defending world champion Springboks side with the Irish able to bounce back to win the Six Nations title in the aftermath of a quarterfinal defeat against New Zealand at the World Cup last year) retaining the Six Nations championship following their win against Scotland in the final round when they also bounced back from a 1 point defeat against England (Who had to lose against France by a single point a week later with the scars of '23 had been erased for the French after losing to the eventual champions South Africa in the quarterfinal at their home Rugby World Cup) in the penultimate round who had Marcus Smith kicked the winning drop goal in the final play, then in Super Rugby such as the Hurricanes go 5 & 0 to start the season (Including their win against the Reds in the Super Round which was the best game in round 2 which was marred by Jordie Barrett's sending off for dangerous foul play on Jordan Petaia in his 100th Super Rugby game which resulted a fortnight's ban for him, alongside Moana Pasifika who had their first win against the Fijian Drua & against the struggling Crusaders side coached by Rob Penney in round 4 which was the best game of the round), their best since 2015, compared to the poor old Crusaders outfit who lost 5 in a row including the Chiefs first in a rematch of last years final in round 1, then the Waratahs in round 2, followed by the Fijian Drua in round 3 which was the best match of the round, then the Hurricanes in round 4 & of course (Also marred by Owen Franks who had a card under review in the dying seconds for dangerously taking out the man who scored the winning try of Justin Sangster in a clean-out gone wrong which resulted Franks copped a 2 week suspension for his actions), the Blues (Who had to end their drought which lasted nearly a decade against the Crusaders (Who'll face the Chiefs again in round 6 but it's make or break for the Red & Blacks if they want to bounce back after losing 5 in a row with their frontline players missing such as injury (Scott Barrett & Tamaiti Williams), suspension (Owen Franks) or players heading overseas (Richie Mo'unga, Leicester Fainga'anuku & Sam Whitelock (The most experienced lock who should come back if the Crusaders make an S.O.S. call to him) at Eden Park) which was the standout game in round 5 of this years competition.

And it was on Saturday, the 23rd of March that I purchased the Neil Finn book at Paper Plus to go with Dave Grohl: the Storyteller as the list of rock star books that I own but at one point that I wasn't going to get that book, but however, I simply changed my mind about it that I was a fan of Neil Finn as well as his bands of Split Enz (His old band that he first started with but they're no longer active as of today) & Crowded House (That had been around in the 80's & 90's but are still active & his sons Liam & Elroy are in it as their band members but their song 'Don't Dream It's Over' was the first rock song I remembered listening to & it's been my fave (I thought 'Something So Strong' was my favourite Crowded House song).

And finally I have purchased the Star Wars Battlefront: Classic Collection game on both the PS4 & PS5 formats to relive my nostalgia days playing that video game (I first played the 1st Star Wars Battlefront game in 2008 on the PS2, 2 years before playing the 2nd, but I've got both versions on the Xbox via backwards compability on the Xbox One then later the Xbox Series X console & now I own all of the Star Wars Battlefront games including the 2004 version of Battlefront, the 2005 version of Battlefront II, the 2015 version of Battlefront & then, the 2017 version of Battlefront II) but I prefer the PS4 version & I was lucky just to get the console version after the PC version was a complete failure in which the remastered version was in fact considered the worst during launch, but there is Star Wars related news with the new Star Wars movie titled Star Wars: New Jedi Order (Which is set 15 years after the events of the most recent Star Wars movie, the Rise of Skywalker, released in 2019 in which the movie is about Rey Skywalker reforming the Jedi Order whilst in the midst of a Yuuzhan Vhong war being taken place) is due to come out in cinemas in 2026 with Daisy Ridley returning as the main protagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy of Rey Skywalker along with a new character played by Idris Elba who takes over from Adam Driver who played Kylo Ren as the main antagonist of the possible Star Wars: New Jedi Order trilogy & with other characters like Finn, Poe Dameron, Chewbacca, Maz Kanata, Zori Bliss, Jannah, Rose Tico, Lando Calrissian, C-3P0 (Threepio), R2-D2 (Artoo) & BB-8 returning.

So that is my 543rd blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 19th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

One Eyed/Mustang: My 18th blog of the year 2024

Well, there was a week at the Academy Awards (While this years edition was marred by that unfortunate incident in Los Angeles involving protestors of Israel & Palestine where they had ugly scenes just before it begun most recently about that unfortunate invasion in Gaza by Israeli forces searching for hostages held captive by those evil Hamas fighters where security & police had ramped up to safeguard the theater & the glamorous movie stars who are attending at the awards ceremony from protestors on opposite sides) where the highly successful movie which came out last year called Oppenheimer that Carole & Pops had seen it had been crowned champions of the Oscars 6 or 7 times including best picture & best director in which the heavy hitting movie that KO'd the rest of the opposition including other Oscar nominated movies at the Academy Awards.

And 5 years have been passed since the horrific scenes in Christchurch where they had a mass mosque massacre had been occurred in both the Linwood & Riccarton areas where a gunman who is currently incarcerated as a result for serving his life sentence, opened fire & killed 51 innocent victims which resulted in our country stepping up our gun law reforms by clamping down on them especially assault rifles used in the killings in an effort to keep New Zealand safe (And the Bangladesh cricket team touring New Zealand managed to escape the shootings that they just had & after that, returned home following the tragedy which had struck) in which the tragic event took place on the 15th of March in 2019 is similar to the terrible events of the mass shootings that they had in Port Arthur, Australia in 1996 which claimed 35 lives & resulted in Australia by beefing up gun law reforms by prohibiting those assault weapons like the ones used in the mass killings being brought into the country.

And the 23 Springboks including Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Duane Vermeulen, Handre Pollard, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Kwagga Smith, Franco Mostert, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Damian Willemse, Willie le Roux, Lukhanyo Am, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Cobus Reinach, RG Snyman, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane & Faf de Klerk (All of them played their part of their successful World Cup glory in both 2019 & last year) are double Rugby World Cup winning players for South Africa (Dubbed as the Aussie cricket team & Brazilian football team of rugby in terms of the most successful on the international rugby field when they won 4 Rugby World Cup championships compared to Brazil's 5 Football World Cup titles & Australia's 6 men's Cricket World Cups that they won) as they joined the likes of both other Springboks such as Os du Randt (Who was part of the success in both 1995 & 2007) & Frans Steyn (Compared to him being part of their successful RWC triumph in both 2007 (Steyn was coincedentally a teammate of du Randt) & 2019 (Who played with 23 others who were involved from the winning campaign in 2019, played their part last year in which they succeeded of the Springboks of becoming the 2nd side after New Zealand to complete their successful defence of the RWC as they KO'd our own AB's side in a final which was overshadowed by controversy) as well as 14 All Blacks including Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Kieran Read, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, the Franks brothers of Ben & Owen, Keven Mealamu, Tony Woodcock, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Colin Slade & Victor Vito & last but not least, the 5 Wallabies of John Eales, Dan Crowley, Phil Kearns, Tim Horan & Jason Little.

And finally that there was a rock music related story about the American rock band Green Day were going to release an album called Cigarettes & Valentines which was due to come out in 2003 (Same year that Blink-182 had released their self-titled album), but one of the master tapes had been stolen so they decided to start from scratch instead of re-recording an album which led to the creation of American Idiot that came out in 2004 where they had massive success by having the most successful album to date by the band itself (And it's been 20 years since that American Idiot album came out that I'm alluding to & 30 years since their breakthrough album Dookie had been released way back in 1994, but the most recent studio album released by the band was Saviors in January this year (Including the singles: The American Dream is Killing Me, Dilemma & One Eyed) in which the album was considered to be Green Day's best work since the days of American Idiot).

So that is my 542nd blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 18th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And a shout-out to Cathey Middelplaats (The other John Mitchell's wife, Paige Ahearn (Who Dad told me at the Cobb on the 18th of March that I would like to meet her again one day because I have not seen my cuzzie as well as my honorary sister for 8 years along with Cathey, John, Nico & Luca but never met both Paige's partner (Now husband since they're married as of today) Jarrod Ahearn as well as Paige & Jarrod's daughter Norah before), Nico & Luca's mother & Norah's grandmother) who is 57 years of age now as she had her birthday on the 16th of March (And oh by the way that there is St Paddy's day on the 17th of March celebrating everything Irish especially now that our family has little Irish roots to go with our English, Maori & Scottish origin).

Friendly Fire: My 17th blog of the year 2024 (AKA Rules of the Game of Thrones 2024 edition)

Well, in Olympics news such as an Aussie competitor named James Willett has missed out on qualification at the Paris Olympics in the trap shooting after he appeared to have missed the compulsory check-in time ahead of the final (He had both competition points deducted when the eagle-eyed Kiwi coach protested about the decision but if you miss the check in time, 2 competition points will be taken away the rule states) for turning up late that triggered an incident (In a headline which says following dramatic scenes: CANNY KIWI DENIES AUSSIES) which was payback to that terrible underarm incident by Australian Trevor Chappell in 1981 against New Zealander Brian McKechnie who needed a six to win the game at the MCG, allowing Kiwi Owen Robinson (Who tried hard to make the Olympics after 15 years) to secure qualification to Paris this year which is happening in 2 months time so here is the full story according to the NZ Herald:

A dramatic scene unfolded during trap shooting qualification for the Paris Olympics, with the incident drawing comparisons to the infamous underarm cricket incident of 1981.

Australia’s James Willett was tipped to win the final of the November event in Brisbane, which would have sent the New Zealand team packing and booked the Aussies a spot in Paris.

But in a twist that means the Australian team is on the verge of missing their first Olympics since 1968, Willett missed the mandatory check-in time ahead of the final and an eagle-eyed Kiwi coach protested, resulting in Willett being docked two competition points.

New Zealand’s Owen Robinson emerged victorious from the tie by a two-point margin and jubilant scenes erupted as the Kiwis secured their ticket to Paris.

The result leaves Australia with a solitary opportunity for a team member to gain qualification to the Olympics and they will head to Qatar’s capital, Doha, in a bid to save the team’s blushes.

While discussing the Brisbane incident, Willett’s private coach, five-time Olympian Russell Mark, referred to Trevor Chappell’s underarm delivery against Brian McKechnie when the New Zealand batter needed a six to win a match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“New Zealand are still laughing about it – they are saying there is your justice for the underarm delivery,” Mark said.

“There is no way you could expect New Zealand to be in Paris ahead of Australia but they are saying, ‘hey, you blokes ran that event in Brisbane and didn’t even follow your own rules’.”

In a further twist, Robinson revealed in an interview with Newstalk ZB that other members of the New Zealand team had been penalised similarly just days before.

“We had a few skeet shooters shooting a couple of days before us and the Aussies docked them two targets for turning up late... so it was kind of payback on them as well.”

In typical Kiwi fashion when speaking about a battle with our trans-tasman cousins, Robinson said he wishes he’d been able to put up a bigger score.

“I was three targets ahead pretty much going into my last three, I sort of knew that I’d won it and just let the pressure off. To be fair, it would have been nice to win by three but I’ll take the win, take the spot for the Olympics.”

The highly-touted Australian team would have been expected to waltz into the Olympics but Robinson said for him it was a payoff for a decade and a half of hard work.

“I’ve been trying to make the Olympics for 15-odd years now and that Olympic spot, they’re not the easiest things to get, so yeah, it was pretty satisfying to actually win it.”

In response to the dire situation the Australian team finds themselves in, Shooting Australia have accepted a free-of-charge offer from Atlanta gold medallist Mark to help Australia’s men’s trap team ahead of their trip to Doha.

And the rematch between US president Joe Biden & former president of the United States of Donald Trump (Who is due to stand trial whether he must sell his businesses in order to pay a record $400 million + fine but if he doesn't, he'll be sent behind bars for failing to pay the fine) is set after Nikki Haley pulled out of the race by officially ending her campaign in this years upcoming US general election which is a repeat of 2020 where both of them squared off with Biden ended up winning against Trump (And is similar to 1956 where the same presidental candidates turned up in a different year but Trump I believe is the worst US president ever since the late Herbert Hoover in the 1920's).

And the first time I literally remember started watching the Olympic Games on TV was in 1996 when the games was held in Atlanta when Danyon Loader won gold in both the 200 & 400 metre freestyle events, but I covered it since Sydney 2000 (The memorable sporting moments were Australian Cathey Freeman winning gold in the 400m in which the home fans cheered her on throughout the course of the Olympics while New Zealand rower Rob Waddell claimed our country's only gold medal in Sydney in the men's singles sculls) compared to me watching my first rugby game on TV in 1995 (That's 20 years before Japan claimed the biggest upset of the Rugby World Cup since France's boil over victory over New Zealand in the semi in 1999 when they famously knocked over the South Africans in a story dubbed as 'The Brighton Miracle' in which the Japanese men were getting emotional about the win as I mentioned in my previous blogs (And there was Fiji who had beaten Australia by producing the mother of all upsets last year during the World Cup before falling victim to Portugal (Who played like Uruguay in 2019 when they claimed a scalp over Fiji during the pool stages to claim their first ever victory at a RWC after missing out against Georgia in which they sealed a draw against them) in the very last pool game of the tournament despite the Fijians marched on to the quarters for the first time since 2007 by finishing ahead of Australia in their pool) as well as the first time I watched the Rugby World Cup (I have covered it since 1999 compared to my first time following the Football World Cup in 1998 where hosts France (The goal scorers were both Zinedine 'Zizou' Zidane twice of both headers from corner kicks & Emmanuel 'Manu' Petit who finished the Brazilians off in style to score the last goal of the tournament according to the previous blogs that I did) won against Brazil in the final, but I have been covering it since 2002) which was during the final in which the host nation of South Africa (Who have never lost a Rugby World Cup final before because they are 4 out of 4 in terms of wins (First it was the All Blacks in both 1995 & last year & England in both 2007 & 2019) but conceded just the one try in the final against New Zealand last year) broke our hearts after Joel Stransky had a clutch moment during extra time against the AB's to win their 1st of 4 Rugby World Cup championships, & it was that moment which united the whole country under the leadership of the late South African president at the time as well as their great leader of Nelson Mandela in one of South Africa's greatest ever iconic but legendary sporting moments also according to the previous blogs that I did.

And finally in boxing related news such as our own Kiwi boxer Joseph Parker winning against China's Zhang Zeili via unanimous decision in Saudi Arabia after overcoming both knockdowns in which Parker thought that he was out of it, but he got over it instead during the bout in which the New Zealander who emerged victorious against the opponent from China (While the rematch between Parker & Zhang is on the cards after that glorious fight that they have ever seen).

So that is my 541st blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 17th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.