We all went to see the NZ women’s soccer team play Canada at North Harbour Stadium this afternoon. A bit chilly by the end but an enjoyable time with the kids getting to see a good game played.

Final result: Canada 3 – 0 NZ which was a fair reflection of the difference between the teams.

Up in the dark yesterday to take Mark to a soccer tournament in Whangarei. Returned in the dark too. Mark’s team (U11 Waitakere) played 6 games – won 4, lost 1 and drew 1. The team were happy, as they’re a new squad made up of players from various West Auckland clubs who’ve only had a couple of practices together, and things will get better as they play together more.

Very windy (the Pentecost factor?) but the rain stayed away. See the 360 degree panorama taken from side of the park.

Quicktime VR of the same photo. No idea if this will work, and you’ll probably need to view it in Quicktime player rather than in the browser.

Should be tournaments in Cambridge and Tauranga in the next month or two, so lots more traveling coming up.

Got to go – three soccer practices to get kids to this afternoon. Fortunately all club practices so they are all at the same training ground. Will prepare hot and hearty food for when they return.

If you know of someone theologically qualified and with an interest in sport then this might be of interest:

Professor/Reader in Sport and Christian Outreach – University of Gloucestershire

From my daily web surfing of job sites.

Stayed up last night working on the thesis bibliography, which gave me an “excuse” to watch Jonny Reid win twice at the Gudang Garam A1GP Sentul. The first time in the sprint race, and the second in the feature event. The latter had all the things that make motorsport exciting – aggressive driving, variable weather conditions, leads eaten away by the safety car, pit stop dramas, the lead changing several times and the odd collision. Great stuff, and now the New Zealanders have put their first wins away it’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain the pressure. Might be worthwhile going down to Taupo in the new year to see them.

More at:
A1GP World Cup of Motorsport: NEW ZEALAND’S DOUBLE WIN AT SENTUL.
A1Team.NZL

Brilliant opening spell on Saturday by the Hurricanes before losing shape (and Smith) to get through in the end to a bonus point. I thought the Western Force played better than the score (29-5) indicated and expect them to knock off a couple of teams later on in the competition. Maybe even the Chiefs next week?

Big blow for the Hurricanes losing Conrad Smith to a broken leg for the season, plus not good news for the ABs either. Still with Tana, Ma’a and Tane in the mid-field the ‘Canes are better off than some teams in that area.

I’ve always liked Smith’s play – the perfect foil to Nonu’s style – and his intelligence and organization will be missed greatly.

Also see: New Zealand’s source for sport, rugby, cricket & league news on Stuff.co.nz: Homecoming heartache for Smith.

Oh, and it was good to see the Highlanders come through well against the Blues.

Well, that was good. Nice to see we can play well in the rain once we woke up. See NZ Herald – Hurricanes hand out opening night Blues – 10 Feb 2006 – Sport.

David Zimmerman on why sports reporting is like witnessing. See Strangely Dim: Good News, Sports Fans.

Pentecost will find me on the sideline of a soccer field yelling encouragement as one of my sons takes part in his first soccer tournament outside of regular weekly games. Like any sporting event it’ll be marked by passion, atmosphere, noise, sweat, confusion, pain and emotion. And that’s just for the spectators. Maybe not to the same level as an All Black test or the F.A. Cup final but you get the picture. Go Ranui!

(Eden Park, May 2005. Yes, I know it’s not a soccer game)

So too Pentecost. Bob’s suggestions for the grid blog included using different languages, capturing the invitation of the Spirit to all as the church began to emerge and be formed. Sport too is a language. You may not be able to speak the language of a far off place, but produce a ball (particularly a soccer ball) and words become irrelevant. A Danish friend of ours was talking recently of his time in Peru. His Spanish wasn’t too hot but that didn’t matter when he kicked a ball around with the kids in his neighbourhood. By playing the game he became one of them – part of the community.

So I have this image of Pentecost being like a cup final. The teams are playing, the crowd’s immersed in the experience and suddenly a woman runs out onto the pitch. Not only that but she intercepts the ball and starts playing – drawing some of the players and the crowd into her game. And then the game spills out into the street (like in the “Keep the Ball Alive” ad) and before you know it there are all sorts of people kicking and passing balls (even some picking it up and running with it!). The same basic game but with local variations. Anyone can play – no need to learn the language – just “have a go.”

Now of course over time people try to write rule books, dictate styles of play, develop intense rivalries and generally stifle the spirit of the game. But in all sorts of places you’ll find the Spirit and a ball, playing “the beautiful game”, and everyone’s invited to play.

Extreme Anglicanism: A Liturgical Guide to the Sporting Year

In this book, Catherine Fox suggests a completely new liturgical year, starting with the Season of Football (colour: black and white stripes), then passing through Rugby (blood), Cricket (white with grass stains) and Wimbledon (clergy, white; laity, purple and bottle green). High days include the Feast of the Blessed Jonny Wilkinson, and, for our friends Down Under, Billabong Sunday with its unique liturgy (“yeah, with you too, awesome priest dude”). She also identifies several biblical sporting heroes, such as Jonah, who took swimming with dolphins a whole step further. As the author’s elder son observes, there are three kinds of people, those who can count, and those who can’t. ‘Extreme Anglicanism’ will help you score in the Great Game of Life.

I’ll add it to my list of books to have a look at when it’s published.

Last rugby post for a while – I promise.

New Zealand Sports News – super12 – Coach vs Coach

Daniel Carter and Andrew Mehrtens rejected offers to be the Hurricanes’ first five-eighths in next year’s Super 12.

In NZ we’ve often complained about European union or league clubs not releasing players for national teams and now maybe we’re starting to go down that path ourselves.