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A good week for ...
We here at SuperShorts don't know much about real estate, but we reckon street naming like this (above), from a subdivision in Remuera, will help to reverse the property slump.
Aussie league fans will this season have a constant reminder of the
Kiwis World Cup win. The World Cup referee Ashley Klein, who was roundly abused by Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart after Australia were beaten in the final, has quit his job in Super League and signed on to whistle for the NRL.
Ex-Canadian rugby player Mike Pyke is to debut for the Sydney Swans in an Australian Rules selection being billed as one of the most left field in the history of the sport.
The 2m-tall Pyke ran in an 80m intercept try against the All Blacks at Hamilton in 2007. He'll debut as a ruck for the Swans in a preseason match on Sunday against Port Adelaide at Canberra.
As Riki Flutey departed London Wasps for French club Brive, UK papers cried foul. "Flutey joins English exodus to France," wailed the Guardian ... Er, hang on.
The days of ground-humping are gone. Under the NRL's dual-referee system which kicks in this season, the second ref will be charged solely with policing the play-the-ball area. The grapple-tackling Melbourne Storm must fear they will have a hard time making the top four.
What recession? The English Premier League clubs spent a record $475 million in the January transfer window.
A bad week for ...
The Middlesex Crusaders have had their day. Middlesex County Cricket Club has announced that the team will play next season as the Panthers after complaints from Jews and Muslims. Vinny Codrington, Middlesex chief executive, said: "We wanted more kids to pick up a cricket bat, that's why it was devised. We were on a crusade to get children into cricket."
Now they're on more of a jihad against rival sides.
The world's oldest international rugby stadium, Lansdowne Road, has long been due for a bit of a spruce up. But changing its name after 137 years seems sacrilegious. Welcome to Aviva Stadium.
The 10-year naming rights deal for the home of the Irish rugby team was worth 45 million euros ($110 million). What price the Garden of Eden?
TVNZ's new yachting commentary team of John McBeth and Peter Lester clearly aren't ones to forget which side their Tip Top High Fibre White is Flora Pro-Actived on. In a highlights package of race one screened late last Friday night, the pair seemed to have dispensed with the nicety of passing on to viewers what the boats were up to and why. Instead, the dynamic duo simply repeated the words Emirates Team New Zealand over and over again until Supershorts hit the mute button. Even experienced sponsor-nodders such as Steve Rebel Sport Super 14 and Iveco Series Tew would be impressed.
Supershorts would never shamelessly plug Sony PlayStation 3, 42 Below cranberry flavoured vodka and Showgirls, regardless of the circumstances.
TVNZ autocue reader Andrew Saville knows where he stands on the sponsor's message. After a story about the kiddies' triathlon sponsored by a certain fibre-rich, Seventh-day Adventist-produced brekkie product, Sav had this to say: "A reminder, kids, eat your Weet-Bix and you'll grow up big and strong."