KEY POINTS:
A good week for ...
German soccer club Borussia Dortmund is to offer a special cemetery for supporters. The project - called "After the final whistle" will hold 200 burial sites. Bundesliga rivals Hamburg already have one, but Borussia Dortmund's will be open to fans of all
clubs. "It is an ecumenical project as regards to football - everyone is welcome," said Ulrich Heynen, manager of Dortmund's cemeteries.
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A good week for cricket as the future of Sir Allen Stanford's obscene Twenty20 Super Series is in doubt, after the loaded Yank ditched the grandiose legends employed to promote the event. All this as proper five-day series in India and Australia thrill us with dashing play and nail-biting results makes for happy days for cricketing purists.
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Noble words from the great Sachin Tendulkar. After his unbeaten 103 secured the first test against England in Chennai, he paid his respects to those affected by the terrorist attacks in his hometown of Mumbai. "What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate and I don't think by India winning or me scoring hundreds people who have lost their dear ones and loved ones would feel better. It's a terrible loss for all of them and our hearts are with them. All I can say is that in whatever way we can contribute to make them feel better we'll make that effort."
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Goodbye to World Cup-winner, sound bloke, Herald legend and man of the people: John Drake, RIP.
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A bad week for ...
The Voice of Summer was left rasping drily in the Dunedin commentary booth during the first test against the Windies. During a lull in the action on the pitch, Brian Waddle had lined up an ice cream for a bit of tuck between overs. Problem was as Waddle looked the other way, some cad nicked the little bundle of milky delight, leaving New Zealand's premier cricket commentator to fume. Days later the Voice of Summer still hadn't seen the lighter side.
Witness the quote below, which came from the great man on Wednesday after Radio Sport's Brendan Telfer had the temerity to ask if the glacial klepto had been nabbed:
Have you joined the pathetic group that seems to find humour in minor, trivial little matters? If you want to foster the ego of some moron who thinks it's very funny and who masquerades as a cricket commentator, go right ahead. Don't expect me to buy into the stupidity that you seem to find so amazingly funny.
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Cleveland Browns football fan Mike Meredith is before the court charged with driving an unregistered vehicle and having expired plates after he fitted a couch on to his ride-on lawnmower and drove it to a ball game. Twelve cops waved him through on the four-block journey to the ground - the 13th didn't.
>>See the Go-Kouch in action
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Manchester United have had a good old grizzle about Patrick Evra landing a four-match ban for his part in a brawl with a Chelsea groundsman in April. The FA's ban, the whining Red Devils assure us, is "flawed", "extremely harsh" and "a very poor decision". Clearly they're outraged and will naturally appeal in the interests of justice! After all, to do otherwise would make the world's biggest club look like a petulant pack of moaners, sulking simply because they have no reasoned response for Evra's idiocy.
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"We retain the view that the suspension is extremely harsh," says the club. "But appealing it would only prolong the process as we enter the second half of the season."
That'll be a "no" then.
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Germany's Olympic swimmers kicked up such a fuss about their adidas-made kit, that the sports goods company has canceled its contract with the swimming federation. Tired of watching Speedo-clad fliers whizz past them on the way to setting new records, the Germans gave their togs the flick and want the freedom to choose what budgie-smugglers they wear, rather than being forced to wear adidas' suits.
Now that you mention it, the All Blacks have been rubbish at World Cups since they started wearing adidas kit. Rugby World Cup-winning kit makers since 1999: Reebok, Nike and Canterbury.
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What the hell was the NZRU thinking with their cack-handed dealings on Northland and Tasman? Idiots.
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Nokia N96 giveaway
SuperShorts generally doesn't get tangled up in the murky world of reader giveaways (we usually just keep the best stuff for ourselves), but this offer from the people at Nokia is too good to turn down. They're putting up two prize packages.
First prize package: A whizzbang phone (a Nokia N96) with Fifa'09 on it, a football, a 1982 home strip for the All Whites and a Manchester United shirt signed by some bloke called Wayne Rooney.
Second prize is just the phone, none of the other stuff. So say thank you to Uncle Nokia and post your entry (one each!) to: Nokia draw, SuperSport, PO Box 3290, Auckland. Or you can email us at supersport@nzherald.co.nz (one each! duplicate entries will be kicked out, so play nicely!).
For your chance to win, simply visit www.n-gage.com and find the answers to the following questions:
1.) Which men scored New Zealand's only goals at a World Cup?
2.) How many players can you select from in Fifa'09 for N-Gage?
Entries close Wednesday, December 31. Good luck!
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* Send your Good Week / Bad Week items to supersport@nzherald.co.nz