Let’s start by following on from last week: John Daly. After all the hype and everything else, he failed to make the cut at the Australian Masters. He failed to make the cut! That has to be… embarrassing. Yes, that would be the word. Embarrassing. However, he may get a chance to play in the Australian Open in a few weeks’ time, so we’ll get to see more of him. Maybe. Unless he misses the opening day or something. But, oh well, golf is that sort of game I guess. And so let’s get on with the sport that matters:
Basketball
NBL – Round 11
Townsville 113 def. Melbourne 105
South Dragons 102 def. Cairns 64
New Zealand 108 def. Perth 94
Adelaide 101 def. Wollongong 96
Perth 95 def by Melbourne 108
Sydney Spirit 103 def. South Dragons 94
Cairns 90 lost to Townsville 94
Gold Coast 88 def by New Zealand 110
WNBL – Round 9
AIS 59 def by Sydney 62
Adelaide 93 def Canberra 77
Logan 51 lost to Dandenong 67
Bendigo 80 def Bulleen 71
Townsville 64 def Dandenong 60
Perth 56 def by Canberra 91
Soccer
A-League Round 13
Newcastle Jets FC 1 drew with Adelaide United FC 1
Perth Glory FC 2 drew with Central Coast Mariners FC 2
Wellington Phoenix FC 2 def Melbourne Victory FC 1
Sydney FC 1 drew with Queensland Roar FC 1
W-League Round 6
Adelaide 0 hammered by Melbourne 3
Queensland 3 hammered Sydney 0
Central Coast 2 lost to Newcastle 4
Perth 2 drew with Canberra 2
Cricket
New Zealand Tour
Second Test – New Zealand 270 & 203; Australia 535; Australia won by an innings and 62 runs
Australia claimed they were going to kill New Zealand here. And a win in 4 days looks like a slaughter, but not the way Australia played. New Zealand have a lot of talent, but it just isn’t being fully realised, and Australia have talent that is living off its reputation. Against South Africa in a few weeks time, Australia had better watch out because this sort of pedestrian effort – even though an emphatic win – will not be enough.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Queensland 352 & 392; South Australia 441 & 7/334 – SA won by 3 wickets (SA- 6 pts)
South Australia’s first win for the season, and a strong one, with a high-scoring, fast-paced game against an equally good Queensland. Good standard of cricket, too.
One-Day
Tasmania 246 (43 overs); NSW 1/250 (34.4 overs); NSW won by 9 wickets.
A magnificent century (165 off 112 balls) by young David Warner helped NSW cruise to a comfortable victory. Magnificent stroke play, this guy will be one to watch in future.
Rugby Union
Spring Tour
Wales 21 def Australia 18
The first win by a northern hemisphere team on this tour! A good, tight test match, which puts Wales into 4th ranking place and Australia into 3rd.
England 6 killed by New Zealand 32
English rugby really does look down and out, doesn’t it?
Professional Wrestling
Yes, time for another pro wrestling show, the last for the year:
RCW – Battle For Supremacy, November 29 2008
First, this was a lo-o-ong show. 3 hours of wrestling plus an intermission. The crowd grew a little restless near the end, but it was not a bad show. Unfortunately, it was also not the blow-away show to end what has been a phenomenal year of wrestling from the young promotion.
Second, the main event of Damon Matthews vs Mimic was changed due to Matthews’ injury situation, which has forced him to retire from the sport. So a non-title match between Mimic and a Victorian Tommy Hellfire was scheduled, followed by a Gauntlet match-up featuring every wrestler on the roster. This was expanded to include the women as well after Savannah Summers and Miami came out to complain.
Match 1 – Qualifying match for tournament in March. Adrenaline v Voodoo. An okay match with a couple of missed spots, but good intensity. Adrenaline won with the Adrenaline Rush (a sit-out, pump-handle piledriver).
Match 2 – Luke Santamaria v Del Taurino. Taurino is a rookie making his in-ring debut here. A lot of offence from the larger Taurino, giving him an impressive first appearance. Luke won with a F-U out of nowhere.
Match 3 – Savannah Summers (with Miami) v Vixsin. A re-match from a few months ago, and a better match-up this time round. We even got to see air Vixsin as she flew through the ropes and onto Miami and Summers. Summers won with a roll-up after Miami distracted Vixsin.
Match 4 – Qualifying match for tournament in March. TJ Rush v ‘Giant’ Dregan Grimm. Grimm jump-started the match and they worked a deliberate match, which sort of foreshadowed the result. More than half the match was spent with TJ outside and Grimm working him over, but TJ showing resilience and determination to keep on going and never giving up. The end was a no contest after a 20 minute time limit draw.
Match 5 – Brad Smyth v Furious Fuzion. Special guest referee is Luke Santamaria. Some good psychology working on Fuzion’s arm, but he still managed to pull out strength moves with it with little hindrance. Fuzion won with a chokeslam. After the match Fuzion came in and told the two others this was all a test, and then Brad turned on Luke and joined Fuzion as his Igor to Fuzion’s Frankenstein.
Match 6 – Mimic v Tommy Hellfire. Tommy and Mimic put on a strong, even match. With the title not on the line, the crowd was really having trouble getting into it at first, but as it went on, they warmed to it. This was a very strong match, a very good match, and Mimic pulled out the win with his 450 splash.
Match 7 – The Gauntlet.
A random drawing during the intermission has seen the entrants order of entry decided. Most of the combatants have already fought this evening, so previous injuries and weariness play a factor here:
(a) Adrenaline v Luke: Some good leg psychology, but Luke got the surprise win with a roll-up.
(b) Luke v Brad: Nasty start (as in vicious), some missed moves, but Brad wins with the help of the ropes.
(c) Brad v Miami: First of our female entrants, and Miami looks impressive, but Brad wins with a roll-up and the ropes again.
(d) Brad v Savannah: Miami stays out to cheer Savannah on, and she stopped Brad getting the rope-assisted win, allowing Savannah to get the pin with a chokeslam.
(e) Savannah v Vixsin: Again, a good match from these two, which Savannah won with a surfboard submission.
(f) Savannah v Grimm: Following on from last show’s demolition, but Grimm wins in quick order with the cut-throat driver.
(g) Grimm v Del Taurino: And in less time than it takes me to type this, Grimm wins with a nasty curb stomp.
(h) Grimm v Tommy Hellfire: Wow, talk a bout a torn crowd! They did not know who to cheer for or, more specifically, who to boo. Good match, as Grimm won with a back senton off the top rope.
(i) Grimm v Voodoo: Grimm won with the curb stomp.
(j) Grimm v TJ Rush: TJ won by reversing the cut-throat driver to a schoolboy roll-up.
(k) TJ Rush v Fuzion (with taped shoulder and Brad at ringside): Another good match, using psychology well. The ending came when Brad distracted the ref after TJ executed what is possibly the best shooting star press in Australian wrestling onto Fuzion, and when TJ went to deck Brad, Fuzion got the roll-up (again!!).
Long show. Match of the night was Mimic v Hellfire, with special mention of Brad v Fuzion. The Gauntlet showed that there are potentially half a dozen great match-ups we haven’t seen yet and which have now been previewed, and all up 2009 looks to continue on where 2008 left off – with good wrestling, entertaining shows and fun.
And that’s this week’s view.
