Here are some posers for the silly season
Questions and more questions, but there’s no wrong answers.
Twenty-six questions as we hit the sporting silly season.
Are we missing Brendan McCullum yet? Do we think McCullum in Canberra would have batted first? Would that have changed the the game?
How much of a vote winner would promising free to air rugby telecasts be? But would a politician dare to raise the issue of where money for our major sports will come from if we force free to air coverage by law? And would tax payers be relaxed about an extra sports tax to cover the lost revenue to rugby if tests were free to air?
Was it slightly weird, in the leadup to their title bout, that Joseph Parker and Anthony Ruiz jnr presented as likeable, decent men? Or are we too conditioned to the idea heavyweights are either thugs like Mike Tyson, or as loopy as Tyson Fury?
If Eddie Jones’ England side breaks the All Blacks’ streak of 18 test wins, does that make them the best team in the world? Does the style of rugby played matter, or just the results? Does the red card for England’s Elliot Daly for an appalling tackle in the air on Puma Leonardo Senatore make England a dirty team? Or does that logic only apply to the All Blacks?
Has there ever been a funnier cock-up at a farewell press conference than the one made by Ernie Merrick when he also announced the resignation of not only himself but also New Zealand hockey coach Colin Batch?
Does Tiger Woods seem more likeable as a weathered, balding guy than he did in his prime? Or is the more laidback, approachable look as brilliant a disguise as the clean cut, sparkling eyed persona was before his true nature was revealed in a shower of broken car window glass? And is speculation that Woods can win a major again reality, or more a reflection of commentators yearning for a golden era from their own past?
Would it be more appropriate, given how the man played rugby, for the statue of Colin Meads in Te Kuiti to be made of granite rather than bronze?
If cheerleading becomes an Olympic sport can poker, scrabble and tiddlywinks be far behind? Given that IOC sports director Kit McConnell kept a straight face when he extolled the virtues of cheerleading as a sport, will he be tapped to act as a spokesperson to explain the next time Donald Trump melts down on Twitter?
After umpire Paul Reiffel had to leave the field when hit in the head by a throw from the outfield during the India-England test in Mumbai, should Ian Healy’s idea of bowlers wearing helmets be extended to umpires? And does the scheme to introduce red cards in cricket kill forever the sport’s ethos of ‘‘Play up! Play up! and play the game?’’
How seriously should we take the remarks of Lydia Ko’s sacked coach, David Leadbetter, about the over-weening influence of her parents on her career? If they are as domineering as Leadbetter suggests will there be the normal shift in family dynamic when she turns 20 next April? And did you pause for just a split second at the reminder this amazing golfer is still only 19?
Australian-based league players testing for American football teams has become so common it’s worrying the NRL, so who do you think is the All Black who’d be most likely to make it work in the NFL in the States? The obvious ones, like Julian Savea and Waisake Naholo? Or the rare combination of size and skill that Brodie Retallick brings to the table?