No-one cares about families shut out from sport on TV

No way should our Olympics coverage be locked up on a pay channel.

Recently, the Broadcasting (Games of National Significance) Amendment Bill fell over heavily in Parliament.

Afterwards, there was barely a hue and cry. And yet the bill would have meant ordinary folk who cannot afford subscriber television, half of New Zealand households, would have been able to watch major sports events for free.

Most of rugby’s grass roots can no longer even afford test tickets, unlike back in the day when members of clubs were assured of a ticket.

For the current TV exclusivity, you can blame the major political parties, especially the Government, which was always going to back big business, despite a poll showing free-to-air TV sport was what 84 per cent of the public wanted.

NZ First promoted the bill and it was defeated 95-26 by National, Labour, ACT, the Maori Party and old curly of United Future.

None of them cares that taxpayers already fund sports through government grants and local body rates and yet are expected to dole out more than $1130 to Sky TV each year to watch live sport.

It hasn’t been the case in Australia since 1992, in Britain since 1996 or India since 2007.

Aussie parliamentarians wouldn’t dare block their citizens from watching test matches and Olympic Games free to air. No way should our Olympics coverage be locked up on a pay channel.

It seems pay up or dip out has become so ingrained in New Zealand for a quarter of a century no-one cares, unless they’re in the NZ First or Green parties.

However, with this bill, NZ First might have erred in listing too many events to be free to air. It wouldn’t have made any difference to the bigshots.

Romantic brook much valued

We need to appreciate how the Manawatu Gorge is a gorgeous fissure in the eyes of out-oftowners and tourists.

We locals tend to be blase about it, simply seeing it as quick access to Magpie territory, with the slight risk of wearing a boulder on our car bonnets.

The gorge road, built in 1872, might be garnering a reputation as an expensive elephant because of the slips which close it, but Manawatu needs it for many reasons, as does Woodville.

Outsiders we take through are always fascinated by the enormity of the gorge and at how the Manawatu River’s source is on the east side of our dividing ranges.

And yet the river has carved its way to the west side through the greywacke rock to belch out to the Tasman Sea at Foxton Beach, making it the only New Zealand river to cross a main divide and apparently the only one in the southern hemisphere to do so.

I watched many jetboat marathons take on the gorge and the White Horse Rapids, although not when brown and in flood.

The 10-kilometre Gorge Track has become one of our prime recreational walks, judging by the walkers who trudge along it in designer clobber, although it too can often be blocked by landslips. In the bush along the track, if they have eyes up, they will see the giant maidenhair fern (adiantum formosum), now found only in the Manawatu Gorge.

Towering above the gorge, the enormous wind turbines don’t do our reputation as a calm haven much good.

If only the turbine in the middle of the public viewing area on Saddle Rd would be working more often.

Saddle Rd has also long been a prime training spot for cyclists working on their painful hillclimbing.

Sport Manawatu recently cottoned on to the attraction of the area by organising the inaugural Te Apiti Whanau Challenge as a fun-run-walk or stroll aimed at families.

Although the event was capped by the wind-farmers at 500 participants, they got to marvel at the sight of the gorge below from out on usually restricted far-flung ridges.

I didn’t know until researching this that Te Apiti means ‘‘the narrow passage’’, the name for our beloved gorge.

Apparently in 1895, Mark Twain referred to the Manawatu River as ‘‘a romantic brook’’, which might have been an overly romantic notion when it does its best to flood us.

Club rugby needs boilovers

Manawatu club rugby could do with a revival across all nine teams.

Now, before the season starts, we can almost bank on the top four being Varsity, College Old Boys, Kia Toa and perhaps Old Boysmarist. Hence, aspiring Turbos gravitate to them.

The two Feilding clubs need to come through, as does Linton Army, who this year staggered before fending off circling predatory clubs.

Thankfully, Feilding Old Boysoroua, Te Kawau, Freyberg and Linton have come back from the brink of extinction in recent seasons.

Meanwhile, Te Kawau’s thrilling 35-33 boilover win over Kias on Saturday was just what the competition needed. Now let’s have some more.