The View From Down Here #14

News, Top Story

Considering the cricket season is well and truly upon us, there is a lot less happening sports-wise than would otherwise be expected down here. Well, I shall do my best, and reveal my latest CD purchase…

Basketball
NBL – Round 5
Perth 89 def. Wollongong 77
New Zealand 120 def. Gold Coast 108
Perth 107 def. Townsville 93
South Dragons 106 def. Sydney Spirit 101
Wollongong 105 def. Adelaide 95
Cairns 102 def Gold Coast 87
South Dragons 108 def Melbourne 80
WNBL – Round 3
Perth 63 def by Bulleen 85
Bendigo 82 def Dandenong 81
Logan 63 def AIS 46
Sydney 90 def Canberra 75
Townsville 86 def AIS 61
Adelaide 93 beat Perth 76

Soccer
World Cup Qualifiers
Australia 4 def Qatar 0
Wow! We beat Qatar! At home! That’s like… it’s like Muhammad Ali in his prime beating me. I’ve done some amateur boxing, and I was in the same weight group. But if I lasted more than 11 seconds (1 punch plus a 10-count) it would have been a miracle. And that was this match.
A-League
Newcastle Jets FC 1 def Melbourne Victory FC 0
Central Coast Mariners FC 0 lost to Wellington Phoenix FC 1
Perth Glory FC 2 def Sydney FC 1
Queensland Roar FC 0 lost to Adelaide United FC 1

Netball
Australia’s recent wins over England were given extra emphasis this week when England actually defeated New Zealand by 2 points in New Zealand! Quite the stunning victory, and it makes Australia’s recent series win over England all the more impressive. Later this month Australia faces the might of New Zealand in what is already shaping up to be a memorable battle between the two sides.

Cricket
Australia v India
The second test is half way through, with things looking shaky for the Aussies, so we’ll have to leave it off for now. However, let it be said that watching the two prima donnas of world cricket bitch, moan and complain about everything from the ‘bad light’ to ‘dubious appeals’ is taking away from what is a genuinely intense and high quality game in the sub-continent. The respective captains need to get together, have a beer, talk about things, and then tell their teams to pull their freaking heads in and just play the game. They way both teams go about their cricket will prove that that is more than enough for anyone, but, no, they have to try to one-man-up each other. It’s cricket. Maybe two dozen countries in the world play it at anything approaching a level that could be considered watchable. It is not soccer on the world-wide scale; hell, even basketball has more legitimate competing countries! Just play the damn game already!
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:

South Australia draw with Victoria
South Australia 7/357d & 7/176; Victoria 6/473 & 151
After a sporting declaration by Victoria and a gettable target set for SA, the South Aussies played so slow it was painful to watch. Not a good way to get any points… or get fans to come and watch! (Victoria 2 points, SA 0)
One day:
Queensland 6/287 from 50 overs def NSW 136 from 39.3 overs

Australian Sportspeople
Interesting title, but a slight misnomer – this is about one sportsperson. Wayne Carey. He recently was given permission by a Florida court to continue using domestic violence against his partner after being fined $US500 (to a police charity) and ordered to do some community service after attacking his girlfriend, some police officers and being a general dick. Allegedly. His lawyer blatantly lied in court by saying Carey is a “hero” in Australia. I guess so, if Mike Tyson is considered a hero in the USA. But I know of no-one who considers him a hero. A good football player in his prime, but a thug is not a hero. This is a man who has always played by his own rules and somehow gets away with it. I spoke to a high school teacher of his who said Carey would turn up to class and just play with a football and refuse to do work because he knew he was going to be a big rich footy star one day. Which shows, I suppose, that he is also uneducated. I guess the reason for including this here and adding to the seemingly endless column space dedicated to this oxygen thief is that some-one in the US may actually get the wrong impression that this guy is worshipped in the Land Down Under. Please, don’t get that impression from anything to do with this case. In fact, most people feel his real last name should be Kerr.

All right, enough of that. Now, my latest CD purchase. The Cosmos Rocks by Queen + Paul Rodgers. First, the artist. How can it be called “Queen” when only half the band are present? Freddie Mercury is dead and John Deacon, a masterful bass player whose talent is sorely missing on this album, is retired. Paul Rodgers, Brian May and Roger Taylor would be much more honest. How about RMT (Rodgers, May & Taylor)? Or Paul, May & Taylor (PMT)? Catchy ring to it… And that brings us to the music. This is not Queen. This is Bad Company with better drumming and different sounding guitars. That’s it. It is not the Queen sound, the Queen feel or anything else. And I am disappointed by that. May and Taylor have done some great collaborations that retain the feel of the original band – the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert showed that George Michael could have easily stepped into the role of Mr Mercury. (I’ve always considered that concert the world’s largest audition, and George Michael came through it all on top. My thoughts…) Even here in Australia they recruited local icon John Farnham to do a remake of ‘We Will Rock You’ for an advertisement which was actually brilliant. But this… is disappointing. Now before I start grinding too many axes, let me say no song was actually really bad. Not like the last Sting album. But it’s just that so many of them were bland and disappointing. The single ‘C-Lebrity’ is closest to Queen as the album gets, with biting lyrics and a cool riff. Track ‘Time To Shine’ is a good rocker and ‘Some Things That Glitter’ features a classic May guitar solo. ‘Surf’s Up… School’s Out’ was a pleasant enough rocker. That was it for the stand-outs from the album’s 14 tracks. Like I said, not a bad album, but not the brilliance I was hoping for considering the pedigree of those involved.

So, that’s it for another week, the end of another view from down here.

Australian. Perpetual student. Married. Kids. Write for Sports and Wrestling and anyone else if they want me. Is there anything else?