Legend Much???

Valerie Adams en route to Gold at the World Indoor Champs in Turkey

This latest week in the world of sport belongs to only one person.  New Zealander Valerie Adams.  The 27 year old collected her second World Indoor Championship over the weekend and as a result has written herself into the history books as one of the biggest if not the biggest legend in her sport, EVER.  Adams threw herself a gold medal with 20.54m, 12 centimetres further than her nearest rival, her Belarusian arch-nemesis Nadzeya Ostapchuk.  In fact the New Zealander was so dominant even her 2^nd biggest throw would have won her the gold by six centimetres.  With the Olympic Games only a stones throw away, excuse the pun, this has surely laid a massive marker in the sand for Adams’ competitors and reinforced that she is in fact the one to beat and they are going to have a hell of a time attempting to overcome her. 

Adams has now, for the second time in her career held the ‘Shot Put Grand Slam’.  This includes being current Olympic Champion, current World Champion, current World Indoor Champion, current World Cup Champion and finally current Commonwealth Champion.  And all this at the age of just 27, in a sport where competitors can compete well into their mid to late thirties!  Let’s hope Adams can continue her dominance for another five years at least and crush the memory of any former Shot Putter before her.

We must of course touch on the rugby this weekend also.  Not only to say that Crusaders are looking unrecognisable.  7 time champions this lot are not, well not at the moment anyway.  They have a couple of weeks to think about their actions before the Cheetahs come to Christchurch for the first home game for the Crusaders in over a year.  A Cheetah I would not want to be, especially come a cold and miserable Saturday night, come on it’s Christchurch, of course it’s going to be cold, with 24 angry and frustrated Crusaders wanting redemption and a sold out home game in front of their adoring fans who have endured so much over the last year.

Pretoria, Pretoria, Pretoria. C’mon lads lets learn how to behave can we please.  Now Bulls fans have never had the best reputation.  I remember myself sitting in Ellis Park watching the Lions Vs the Bulls in awe and amazement.  I ended up watching the crowd more than the game; these Saffa lads clad in their ‘baby blue’ (real intimidating by the way boys) are something else!  After the Bulls got pumped by a Blues side in the weekend that has looked more ‘Clueless’ than Alicia Silverstone in the aforementioned film, some clowns started to throw bottles on the field at the players and a couple even managed to get on the pitch.  A man in his mid 50’s by the look of him, started to argue with Kevin Mealamu, pointing his six fingers into his chest and reminding him that you’re in banjo country now boy!  Bjorn Basson ended up separating the two of them and sending the man packing back to the stands.  A, how did this even happen and b, starting an argument with professional front rower when you are a middle aged runt who looks like you need some company from outside the family isn’t really a great idea.  By the way, the Blues won and played quite well, Gareth Anscombe looks like he could have the skills to go along way and join the queue of First 5’s, ‘Flyhalves’ for everybody else, in NZ behind Dan Carter that seems to be getting longer and longer and better and better.

The Lions were so close dammit!  A howler of a decision by the TMO right on halftime meant the Sharks went into the break with a lead they didn’t really deserve and then right at the death they secured the win with a try during a scintillating piece of end-to-end rugby from both teams.  The Sharks still aren’t convincing at all and the Lions aren’t too far away.

The Brumbies, maybe distracted as their coach took a mid-week meeting in the UK, managed to scrape home against the Cheetahs with two penalties in the last 5 minutes to win by one point in a thriller in Canberra.  The Reds were awful against a plucky but predictably average Rebels team, the Chiefs out Crusadered the Crusaders, the Hurricanes blew away the Force, so many one liners come to mind but we must control ourselves.  And last but not least the Highlanders unbeaten march continued as they muscled up to finally break down an intimidating and very well organised defence to come out the victors 18-17.

The first Cricket Test between New Zealand and South Africa came to an end overnight and it finished up a rather surprising draw.  NZ were well placed going into the final day as were SA.  NZ needing 264 runs in a day and SA needing 8 wickets in a day.  However the big fellar upstairs put paid to that as the rain kept falling, and falling and falling and falling, and, well I’m sure you get the picture, it is the deep south after all and summer never got going let alone the idea of having a warm and dry autumn.  NZ cricket fans were hoping, there was positive talk if only quietly that the dream might finally come true and the BlackCaps would win a tight Test against good opposition again.  But off to Hamilton the series goes and now SA can’t claim the number one Test Ranking but they still stand a very good chance of taking the series 2-nil.  Or will they?  Didn’t we see enough hope….. maybe…... just a little?

Let’s see what next week throws up and as always,

Keep going balls to the wall.