MetaFilter posts tagged with newzealand and sports

OOh.. Ahh .. Ouch ... Umaga!

remo — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:54:23 -0800

New Zealand All Blacks and Hurricanes Captain Tana Umaga has been quite the news maker lately. Umaga, a hard nosed rugby player known for his fierce tackling, equipped himself with a women's handbag to beat his drunken teammate to tears while breaking up a late night fight in a Christchurch bar. Umaga then followed up the weekend be being honored by the Queen for his services to New Zealand Rugby. While it is well known that the Queen favors carrying a handbag, it was not revealed if that weighed into her decision to give Umaga the honor.

Trying to cash in on Umaga mania, the young lady who owned the bag sold it on trademe.co.nz for $22,000 NZ. While the bar owner launched a failed attempt at selling the security video of the incident. Not wanting to be left out Chris Masoe, who was hit with the bag is rumored to be considering selling the napkins he used to whip the tears from his eyes in order to raise funds to pay off the fine he received for the incident. There is still no word yet from the NZRFU as to whether or not the All Blacks will incorporate overhead handbag smashing motion into the newest version of the Haka.

There's a Metaphor here somewhere...

mmahaffie — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 17:30:42 -0800

Right now, a roll downhill in a giant inflatable ball sounds like just the thing (Flash). A wander through Flickr led to a photo of a Zorb. A what!?! A Zorb! Several, in fact. It turns out that Zorbing has been around for some years now. It started in New Zealand and is catching on in the UK. It's not widely known in the US, and as a US person I've been un-blissfully unaware.

Samuel Farrow — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:31:01 -0800

The British and Irish Lions tour the remote South Pacific nation of New Zealand once every 12 years. Rugby is like a religion on these islands and the rich history and intense rivalry between the Lions and the All Blacks will combine to make this the single biggest event in New Zealand’s history. New Zealand will be bursting at the seems during the tour and the economy, already buoyant will get another boost.

...is now Switzerland's Cup!

sycophant — Sun, 02 Mar 2003 02:24:34 -0800

The America's Cup which became New Zealand's Cup in 1995 today became Switzerland's Cup. The land-locked Swiss have yet to decide where or when the next cup will be held, but it will be in Europe for the first time in the cup's history.

Sport and Politics

brettski — Mon, 10 Feb 2003 07:25:38 -0800

The Cricket World Cup is turning into a political mess as England boycott Zimbabwe and New Zealand's players refuse to play in Kenya. Meanwhile, Cricket legend, and Pakistani politician, Imran Khan wonders if UK involvement in a war on Iraq should lead to a sporting boycott of England. We've had sporting sanctions on South Africa, Olympic boycotts in 1980 and 1984 - should we ever mix politics and sport?