This is an appeal to my country. Please, I beg of you, do not lose your mind later this month. Please, pretty please, keep perspective. Please allow me to enjoy world-class sport without drowning me in a sea of nationalistic bullshit.
I love the America’s Cup, at least I used to. I still love the racing. I love the sport, I love the contest.
I hate the fact that in New Zealand we have forgotten about the racing, the sport, the contest. We have turned the event into a giant flag-waving exercise designed to convince ourselves we are competing as one nation against big bad wolves who are corporate bullies.
The America’s Cup ceased to be a nation v nation event a long time ago. In 1995, when Team New Zealand won the cup in San Diego, some of New Zealand’s finest sailors such as Chris Dickson, Peter Lester and Leslie Egnot were competing for other “countries”.
And look at the number of Kiwi sailors who have competed for many different syndicates since then. Our guys are everywhere, proving two things to be true — New Zealand produces world class sailors who are in big demand, and the America’s Cup is about the best teams being assembled to compete at the highest level. You grab the best guys you can, regardless of their nationality.
This year’s edition starts on May 27 in Bermuda (and not in the United States, home of the defenders Oracle Team USA). The boats will be sleek and they will be quick. Reports have suggested the ACC class of boat may touch speeds of 50 knots.
The match racing is going to be exciting, the competition fierce. Hopefully, it’ll be a step up in quality again from the 2013 edition where the racing was simply spectacular. And that, for me, is enough to get enthused about.
I take heart from the fact Sky TV and not TVNZ will exclusively broadcast the racing. The state broadcaster and others have been guilty of pedalling propaganda in their coverage of previous editions, deliberately misrepresenting the truth about who was racing who.
The constant insistence a national team (Team New Zealand) was doing battle with perceived fat cat companies Alinghi and Oracle was an insult to anyone’s intelligence.
It never suited the narrative to be balanced in the reporting that (Emirates) Team New Zealand was battling Team Switzerland and Team USA.
Yet Kiwis sucked it up. And it will more than likely happen that way again this May and June but on a smaller scale. Without the huge pulling power of TVNZ, fewer New Zealanders will tune in. This will still be a big deal though, and it is therefore essential we are vigilant.
You could be watching the America’s Cup in any other country in the world and enjoy it for what it is — a great sporting contest. The best team will win. Not the best country, the best team.
And chances are there will be Kiwis who are winners, as they are strewn across all six participating syndicates. That, in itself, is something to be proud of.
Please New Zealand, put your flags down and open your eyes. Otherwise you might miss some of the best sport you’ll see in 2017.
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The Warriors had to re-sign halfback Shaun Johnson, they simply had to.
Johnson has extended his time at the NRL club for a further two years through season 2019. For the club to ever win a title he must be at Mt Smart and playing well.
Johnson is approaching his 150th first-grade game this season, and must now be considered an established club leader.
Often as his form goes, so does that of the Warriors. And that has been an issue since he was first picked by then coach Ivan Cleary in 2011.
He is a mercurial talent who, at times, has been erratic in his play. When he is on form though he is simply brilliant, and is so often the Warriors’ most dangerous threat with ball in hand.
Johnson is also the club’s most marketable asset. He is a locally grown player, speaks well, and the younger fans love him. That translates to ticket sales, recruiting sponsors and jersey sales.
In that context his rumoured $1 million plus per season contract is a good investment.
Ideally he would have committed to the club for three to four seasons, but the Warriors’ management would have settled for two. They had no other choice.
