More uni

Progressively getting my uni results in. Turns out I’ve got 100% on 4 of my assignments that I’ve handed in through last semester. Three were for my English curriculum subject, and another was for my history curriculum subject. I don’t expect I’ve got a similar 100 for my History curriculum subject like my English, but it should be up there.

Thomas.

 

Sports

Watched Wimbledon from start to finish over the past two weeks. There were some brilliant displays of tennis – though the final wasn’t exactly a clinic. Exciting, but certainly Roger Federer wasn’t on his best game. Andy Roddick was playing better than I – even himself – have ever seen him play. I almost wanted him to win: I can’t see Roddick staying in this purple patch for much longer. And when he slips back, I suspect he will be lost to the game of tennis. So, in a sense, I thought this might be his last chance to win a grand slam and I almost wanted him to win out against Federer.

Then again, I’m a huge fan of Federer.

I think Federer was thrown off his game last night by the size of the match: for the championship, for the #1 place in the world (first time anyone has re-claimed that position), the most career grand slams, and pretty much the title of greatest player ever. There were a lot of moments where he made mistakes where he normally wouldn’t. Or maybe it’s that he has just past his peak. While he’s still better than 95% of the people out there, he isn’t better than 100%.

It’s the same sort of story with Tiger Woods. The toll that playing like Tiger Woods has taken on his own body has seen him recently  get a knee reconstruction. Coming off a long break and that opperation, one would expect him to be a bit rusty. But maybe he needed to wear his knee out in order to play as good as he did (such are the mechanics of golf), and now that he has ruined his knee, he can’t ever be as good as he once was. Again, he’s better than 95% of the people out there on an average day. But now there’s room for others to show what they’re made off.

Thomas.

 

100

That is the course mark for one of my subjects (Teaching English 3): 100.

My previous record was 99. Pales in comparison.

I feel the need to brag. Ideally it would be in  the company of uni studentswho did not get full marks on all of thier assignments.

But I don’t hang around uni students. They are idiots.

Plus, none of them listen to me for longer than 15 seconds.

Thomas.

 

Twitter

Could I once again emphasise that people who used to enjoy my blog get onto Twitter. In the roughly 2 weeks I have had it, I have written on there 187 times. It has been a mix of personal updates, commentaries on news stories, tidbits about politics, and random things.

187 updates compared to the 10 or so blog posts I have done since February? Twitter also provides you (should you wish to actually engage in it – it is also a passive/observer tool in which you can ‘follow’ a friend and just get their updates without having to put updates up yourself) an opportunity to engage in efficient and effective dialogue.

Just a thought.

But yeah, consider it. I suspect my blog will never go back to its glory days.

Sad but true.

Thomas.

 

A year ago

Not quite a year, but coming close to it.

Grand Canyon Helicopter Flight – Pt. 1

Grand Canyon Helicopter Flight – Pt. 2

Thomas.

 

Proudly presenting …..

Chasing Emus

A co-production by Mr. Rabbitt, The Ombudsman, and Thomas.

 

The Self Destruction of Mark Sanford

From November 2008 to two weeks ago South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was touted as a good chance of becoming  the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. He had little to do with Washington, was young, very conservative but not to the point that it turned voters off, had executive experience, andd was able to craft a message that people listened to.

December 08, Sandford conducted a world tour that saw him spend $21,000+ of tax payer money going to places like China, Brazil, and Argentina.

Last Thursday, Sanford got in his car and left his home. He was totally off the radar from his office and from his family for the next 6 days. No one could find him. No one could say where he was.Literally, the press asked his staff, and then his wife, where he wasn, and no one could say. Panic errupted about who was in charge, and if something might have happened, in S.C.

On Monday, his staff released an “official” statement saying that Sanford was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Staff claim they knew all along – but that he would be checking in infrequently (I guess infrequent means not once in 5 days). Wife confirms that he missed Father’s Day – a regular PR opportunity.

Tuesday, bloggers begin to report that Monday, Father’s Day, is actually Naked Hiking Day on the Appalachian Trail. Rumours begin to circulate regarding this. Wife still has not heard from Sanford. Later in  the day, his car was found at the Columbia International Airport with all his hiking gear still in it – everyone forgets the day’s earlier news for this.

Wednesday a reporter from The State (a local paper) reported seeing Sanford get off an international flight from Argentina in Atlanta. A couple of hours later, his staff said that he would be having a press conference.

3pm local time, Sanford admitted to having an affair with an Argentinian woman (Maria).

3:01pm local time, Sanford is political poison.

Thomas.

 

Cricket 3

Recently I was debating with one of my co-workers who would make up a World’s XI test team on current form. We then went away and picked out teams, and came up with exactly the same list for 9 of them. I found it difficult, as did my friend, to actually find places for Australian players other than Mitchell Johnson. Another difficulty was that it was hard to not just pick the South African team and field that. In the end, I came up with the better list I feel – primarily because I included Shahid Afridi as my all-rounder (before his form peaked during the Twenty20 finals mind you – was I exercising forsight I didn’t know I had?). I’ll list my list below, but it’s important to remember, while reading, that it wasn’t chosen off reputation or past performance, rather current form for the past year. Which, instantly, rules out choosing the likes of Brett Lee, Stuart Clarke, and Andrew Symonds due to injury or selection issues. So too with Sachin Tendulkar – his form hasn’t been better than any of the batters I settled with. Here’s my list:

1. Graeme Smith (c) – South Africa
2. Phil Hughes – Australia
3. AB de Villiers – South Africa
4. JP Duminy – South Africa
5. Kumar Sangakkara (w)(vc) – Sri Lanka
6. Jacques Kallis – South Africa
7. Shahid Afridi – Pakistan
8. Daniel Vettori – New Zealand
9. Mitchell Johnson – Australia
10. Dale Steyn – South Africa
11. James Anderson – England

To me, those are the best in-form players for their respective places. Phil Hughes might surprise a few, but I really think that between his debut and now, there hasn’t been a better opener other than Smith. De Viliers, Duminy, or Kallis shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone – along with Hashim Amla and Aswell Prince, they form the best middle order in any team across the world now. But Amla, as an all-rounder, doesn’t come close to Afridi. And Prince, as a batter, doen’t even come near to Sangakkara. And the bonus with Sangakkara is that you can give him the gloves and he is a good keeper as well. Much along  the vein (though not as a good as) Adam Gilchrist. Vettori, I feel, is the best spinner out there due to his experience, consistency, cricketing mind, and ability to spin a ball on dead wickets. All of that pushes people who might have a better short-term record, or can spin the ball further, out of contention. The pace line-up is, in my opinion, the best four pace bowlers out there in terms of form, consistency, and variety. I wanted to find a place for Makhaya Ntini, but I couldn’t drop anyone from their spot. Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq, two fantastic Twenty20 Pakistani cricketers, were on the short list – but they are yet to show they can last a full test.

If you look at the bowling line-up, with all-rounders included, it’s quite formidable: Anderson, Steyn, Johnson, Vettori, Afridi, Kallis, Duminy. 7 bowler rotations is very handy for variety, especially with a specialist spinner and two part-time spinners. And the batting depth, if you accept that Johnson can dig out a good knock more often than not, extends to 9.

A good team I think. Opinions? Your own team? Comment it.

Thomas.

 

Cricket 2

Here is my Australian squad for the first test in the Ashes series. The match is being held, for the first time in any Ashes tour, at Sophia Gardens/SWALEC Stadium. A few international ODIs have been played there. One that springs to mind is the match where Bangladesh beat Australia by 5 wickets in 2005 – the same tour where we lost the Ashes. Hopefully any ghosts that the ground may have have been exorcised. The pitch will most likely be spin-friendly. It was so spin-friendly at a recent county match that the pitch, under ICC rankings, was rated ‘poor’. The groundsmen say  they are preparing a pitch that will last five days and not a spinner’s wicket – but I doubt that very much, seeings how England have some strength with spin this tour and Australia clearly do not. Within that context, it forced some changes to my team had it been on a neutral wicket. I have chosen from the squad of players that are over there now:

1. Simon Katich
2. Phil Hughes
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Michael Clarke
5. Andrew McDonald
6. Brad Haddin
7. Michael Hussey
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Stuart Clark
10. Nathan Hauritz
11. Brett Lee

Now for explanations:

• I always argue that the rotating system is ridiculous, and once you pick someone you stick with them unless they are consistantly underperforming or were a quick flash in the pan. To that end, Phil Hughes should be our opener until the day he retires. I like Phil Jaques, but having been injured, and with Hughes in good form, he won’t get back in any time soon;
• Andrew McDonald, David Hussey and, yes, even Shane Watson were all competing for my number 5. I orginally chose David Hussey, but after looking at my bowling line-up with only 4 specialist bowlers, and one of them an average spinner, I needed a dedicated all-rounder with some bowling technique that could get a wicket. David Hussey lost the spot because of this – while a part-time bowler who may get wickets, the only reliable bowling advantage he brings is that he gets through an over in about 30 seconds. Good if you want to take the game away from the batters, but you can’t bowl a fast over if you’ve been whacked into the crowd because you have no variety. McDonald got the spot over Watson because, had I chose Watson he would have tripped stepping over the boundary rope and broken a leg;
• I put Michael Hussey further down the order because the lower he is, the better he performs. Similarly, I think that whatever batter he ends up with, batting at 7, you know that that is the last batting stand, and anyone else he could be paired with afterwards is just a tail end stand. In no scenario is he being expected to make a top-order or middle-order performance, which takes off a lot of pressure from the struggling batter;
• Nathan Hauritz only gets in because of the wicket. Had the pitch been neutral, I would have included Ben Hilfenhaus ahead of Peter Siddle due to his ability to swing the ball (which I suspect will be key to our team because we don’t have a good spinner, and the pitches are never made for pace in England). There’s not much to say – really, I expect nothing bar (at best) a low economy rate. I wouldn’t expect a haul of wickets, even with a pitch made for spin (which, I guess, speaks volumes about my confidence in him). But, if you’re playing on a pitch made for it, you have to include him. Who knows, he might shock us all;
• Brett Lee is only in because of Hauritz. If I had put Hilfenhaus in, I would have put Siddle in as well ahead of Lee. He is in struggling form, he is fresh off injury, and if this were any other test series, I would overlook it because of his mass of experience. But because this is the Ashes, his liabilites win out, and I would have left him out. But, in this instance, his experiences and former skills edged him back in in the wake of low expectations from the spinner and a new all-rounder.

Thomas.

 

Cricket 1

I watched the news all day with expectations of something interesting with this whole Ute-gate thing (again, I hate the -gate suffix thing).

Nothing did happen.

So instead I will blog about something that didn’t even appear once in the headlines today: The Twenty20 World Cup final.

Do you know who was in the final? Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Do you know who won? Pakistan.

Quite deserving, at the end of the day. They played good, and they found form at the right time. Sri Lanka too.

Pakistan team, if their Twenty20 team is anything to go by, have a lot of potential in the future. Very young, and a lot of raw and unrefined talent there. There was a 17 year old who had the best bowling performance over the whole tournament. And there’s a good mix of experienced players in there – Shaid Afridi is the first name that springs to mind (mainly because he is the best all-rounder in the world at the moment).

The Ashes is very soon. Looking forward to it more now, though I still hold little by ways of expectations for it. Drawn series I maintain. Our team is in a slump (and that’s not judging it by the Twenty20 performance). England is suffering from an ill-timed ‘renewal’. There’s a good chance less than even half the team they field the first day played in the last Ashes series, and maybe only a couple will have played in their winning series. None of them are in great form – that’s if any of them are in any form.

I’m going to be blogging about cricket for the next few posts I think. So I won’t put all my material into this one.

Thomas.