My views on free to air sports

OK, so here in New Zealand, if you really want to watch any sort of sports, you have to watch it on Sky TV, our pay TV service.

Quite a lot of debate rages about this because some see Sky as having a monopoly and others see sports as being a unneeded and costly addition to free TV.

My opinion is that we should have sports on TV.

People in the 80's grew up watching Michael Jordan and the Bulls win six straight championship. People grew up watching the All Blacks win the world cup in 1987 and people grew up watching the NPC rugby competition.

And while nostalgia still really has no part in supporting this argument, I believe along with it, there are some other reasons of why we should put sports back on free to air TV

So firstly. Money. I have seen a lot of political nerds on places like Facebook ranting about how it is unaffordable for free to air TV to broadcast sports, and while this is true to a certain extent, this argument does not stand up to closer inspection. Because while yes, there would be an initial shortfall paying for the broadcasting rights for a competition like the NBA, the money would eventually be made back.

And here's how:

In New Zealand, a lot of people watch sports, so by broadcasting sports, you attract a lot of viewers. This means that advertising companies will be willing to spend a lot of money to have their ads broadcasted at the half time break of a sports match or around the match's TV slot. So therefore, most likely you will be able to make the money back.

Secondly, the monopoly that Sky TV has. Even though New Zealand claims to have some degree of governmental control over the economy, it seems to ignore the monopoly that Sky TV has. A monopoly in any case is not OK, and i believe with a little competition pay TV would be a lot cheaper. So therefore by broadcasting free to air sport, free to air TV would be able to break a little bit of the monopoly that Sky has, because many people only subscribe for sport and would then unsubscribe if this sport was free.

Also, the idea of nationalism. This sort of links back to the nostalgia I was talking about earlier, although I think this more incorporates the patriotism associated with sports. New Zelanders are very proud of their sports teams, because the play well. But because people have to pay to see them and many cannot afford to do so, this national identity is left disconnected. This can be harmful to society because it leads to a lack of unity, and while that may not seem so huge, a nations psyche is very important.

Finally, and quite a minor point, health. So currently, kids sit around all day watching TV like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and these TV shows don't tend to promote physical activity a lot. At least when kids are watching sports they feel motivated to compete and want to aspire to becoming an All Black. So by broadcasting sports on free to air TV, you motivate kids to play sports, and hey, you might even get a decent athlete for the country out of it.

So therefore, yes, I see a definite need for sport on free to air TV, even though I am right wing and I don't like the government funding everything. But, that's just my opinion, drop a comment, and tell me what you think.

Oh, and one last thing, the Warriors, our rugby league team in the NRL were pretty much created out of public interest driven by the broadcasting of the then ARL on free to air TV.

Thanks for reading. I think I'm going to start writing an article every day if I can. And don't worry, I will be writing a politics related article soon, I just feel like writing about sports at the moment :)

No Romo, wait.....yes Romo, and much ado about Iverson

Far out, the Dallas Cowboys just gave Tony Romo a 6 year 108 million dollar contract extension.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!!????

I have major issues with Romo, maybe because my beloved Redskins are rivals with his team the cowboys, or maybe because he is just a perennial underachiever, but seriously, i couldn't see Romo earning a six year contract at all with the Cowboys, let alone a 108 million dollar one.

He has to be the most under performing player I have ever seen, and quite possibly, the most boring.

All he does is pass, and maybe I'm just used to Cam Newton and RG3, but I hate quarterbacks that cannot run. Be it Peyton or Romo, or even Brady, I cannot stand them.

But that's not even the worst of it. I'd be fine if he just passed, and actually won games, like Peyton and Brady, but he doesn't do that either. He chokes in big game situations, and seems to never be able to win anything. I think I would rate him as quite possibly one of my personal worst quarterbacks in the league. I would rate Phillip rivers above him and that's saying something.

Romo just cant seem to perform when it comes to crunch time. Maybe the Cowboys fans saw something in him when he won the first game of the season in 2012, but I seriously cant.

He crumples under pressure, and worse, goes on to take no part of the blame.

But, I guess that's just how the Dallas Cowboys work, hey Romo, want some money??? Here, have 108 million of it.

Its actually sad that this deal has been allowed to pass, because in effect it makes the NFL look terrible. This is because it basically says to the world  HEY WE ARE AMERICANS, WATCH US THROW MONEY AT TERRIBLE PLAYERS. This basically makes the NFL look like a nothing league, that just has a ridiculous amount of money from advertising endorsements.

Even Donovan McNabb agrees with me! http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000155570/article/donovan-mcnabb-on-tony-romos-contract-wow

Yes, Romo has cashed in on his 1-3 playoff record indeed.

The Cowboys would be better off with stumpy hands Kwame Brown than Tony Romo, because at least it would be entertaining.

Oh well, that's about it for my rant on Tony Romo.

Moving on to Allen Iverson......

I think its going to be fascinating what Allen Iverson decides to do with himself in the future from now on, because he actually has a lot of options.

Firstly, or what I want to happen, would be for him to come to the NBL. The NBL really needs to set itself up as a real graveyard for NBA players, although it sounds bad, it would pump a lot of money into the competition. Who wouldn't want to see a 40 year old Kobe and Iverson go one on one?, it would be awesome!!!!

Iverson could come to the NBL, get a decent sized contract deal, and just absolutely rake it in with marketing. Seriously, he is the type of player to be able to do that. He would sell tickets.

Also, I like Iverson, and would pay money to see him, so what the hell, throw money at him and get him to come to Australasia.


Or, and this is the hardest option, he could attempt to make a comeback in the NBA. He is 37, so he is moving on, but he probably has another two years in him. If Kevin Garnett is doing well at 36, so can Iverson. He did recently reject a D league offer from the Mavericks, which sort of shows the apprehension teams have with taking him on though. I think his biggest problem would probably be speed, as it was once one of his best weapons, and he has most likely lost a lot of it now.

This option would be incredibly hard though, and would take a lot out of him.

He would have to work super hard to have even a chance of getting into an NBA team and would have to work even harder to ensure that he wont get injured, and would be able to, in some cases be playing games two nights in a row.

The final option for Iverson, is probably the best for him, but the worst for fans everywhere except Europe. Of course, this option would be playing in one of the Euro leagues. It is probably the best for him, because he will be able to make a lot of money off it, but it would be very boring for everyone else, so lets hope he does not pick that option.

Anyway, that's it on Iverson as well, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post :)

The interesting issue of Tim Tebow

Wow, I never thought that my first real post would be on Tim Tebow, but he just sort of came to my mind, so I guess i'm going to write about him.

Everyone seems to have a huge problem with his throwing style, and this is due to one main reason. The routine he does before his throws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhLgjuyckEo - This video explains it best.

As we can see, Tebow pushes his arm down behind him before getting off the throw, essentially meaning he has a slightly longer throwing motion. Now for those who don't follow NFL, this is a problem because as stated in the video, NFL linebackers and d-liners can get to Tebow extremely quickly.

By removing the part of his throwing motion that has his hand going backwards, apparently he would get sacked a lot less.

Now i disagree with this for a few reasons. firstly, in the video the d liner or linebacker is shown as being able to magically get to the quarter back in a ridiculously short amount of time.

I hate to break it to Sports Science, but the offensive line is a lot more than a bunch of punching bags. these people can hold up the defensive line for enough time to allow Tebow to get his throw off, therefore meaning his throwing motion really does not matter.

But even if the offensive line was a bunch of weight bags, it still doesn't really matter. This is because of two reasons. Firstly, Tebow is a mobile QB, meaning he has plenty of time to roam around the pocket (the area behind the offensive line) before he is even at risk of being tackled.

Secondly, if Tebow is comfortable with the throwing motion, it means that he throws quickly and feels comfortable throwing the football. This means, there is really no point trying to change him because short of working a million hours of the motion, it will never change. And it doesn't need to, for the reasons that I have explained earlier.

Now, onto Tebow's playing history. Tebow should not have been dumped by Denver for Manning (Peyton) for two reasons:

Firstly, Tebow was fine. He really wasn't that bad at Denver, and I am sure that he would of gotten them near Superbowl contention in the coming years, but obviously the Denver GM was just incredibly impatient.

Secondly, Peyton Manning himself.  SERIOUSLY? you want to trade a young Tebow reaching his peak, for a tired, old injury prone Manning??? Maybe i'm just odd, but that really does not seem like the most intelligent decision to make.

But, as we all know, Tebow did leave Denver, so now ill move onto my opinion on his time in New York.

Quite frankly, I was disgusted with the way the Jets played Tebow. They had a quality quarterback in him, and they just wheeled him out on fourth down as some supposedly hilarious circus act. Why would you waste a talented player like him, like that???

It just doesn't make sense.

Anyway, as far as what happens to Tebow now, I have no idea, he may change position, or may stay in the QB position. Only time will tell.

For some reason, Americans seem to have a major problem with the way Tebow throws, I suppose it like tarnishes their beloved game of football. Again, I cannot emphasize how much I think they should get over it. he is a good player, let him be and let him play how he wants to.




Well, that's it for my first ever topical post. It will be interesting to see what Tebow does in the future.....Thanks for reading!

Welcome!!! A little bit about me.....

Hey guys,

As you may or may not know, my name is Liam, I am huge fan of american sports and I follow politics avidly. I will probably just use the first post to go over some of my opinions on things.

I'm going to start on sports.

I follow quite a few teams :

• The San Antonio Spurs
• Washington Wizards
• Canberra Raiders
• Vodafone Warriors
• Washington Redskins
• San Diego Chargers
• Collingwood Crows
• The Highlanders

By no means am I going to be commenting on every team regularly, but I will try. I think what I will do is just comment on what catches my eye, and in particular specific athletes. Personally, i like dynamic, quick and exciting athletes, eg RG3, Allen Iverson, John Wall etc. I also like some of the stranger personalities e.g, Dennis Rodman.

What I think would be good to do to start this blog off would be to go over my opinion and why i support all these sports teams. Lets do this systematically:

San Antonio Spurs:

I first started following the Spurs in 2010. I started playing NBA games on my Xbox,and for some reason the Spurs just caught my eye. Maybe it was Tim Duncan, or maybe it was just something stupid like their logo, I cant remember, but to be honest it doesn't matter, because I am a huge fan now. I like how their complete unit gels really well, and in particular I am really liking Kawhi Leonard. I also love it how Dennis Rodman use to play for them (i have his spurs singlet), a little known fact is that he actually started dying his hair while playing for the Spurs. Currently, I don't know what is going to happen with the spurs, their team is a bit old, but i can see them succeeding in the future with some young talent.

Washington Wizards: 

ahhhh, my beloved wizards.... I do follow them quite heavily, but not as much as the Spurs. I think what got me started with them was John Wall. Personally, I think John could go very far in the NBA, he has all the skills, and is very talented, but nonetheless  we'll see how he goes. Also, might I add, that Washington have improved their uniforms drastically. Moving out of these:

and into these, was genius:

Moving on.....

Canberra Raiders:

My addiction to the Raiders is simple. In 2008, I went to my first ever league game ( a trial game with the Warriors playing), and saw the raiders logo. By god, it was the coolest logo that I had ever seen, and I have supported them ever since. Yes, now my support definitely goes further than their logo, but that was where my initial fascination came from. I am also a huge supporter of Josh Dugan (pictured), but he got fired (hopefully the warriors sign him), so now I just support the team as a whole.

Vodafone Warriors:

This team is the team I get the most stick for supporting by far. Yes, although they suck, I am an avid supporter of the Warriors and have a season pass. I must say, I cannot understand the clubs constant obsession with Jerome Ropati and Manu Vatuvei, but whatever. Personally, I think the Warriors need to stack with Australian players, because in the past they have worked, and they are incredibly hard working. I do criticize the Warriors often, but by no means am i a bandwagon fan, i just always expect the best from them. 

Washington Redskins:

 I am a shameless bandwagon fan of the Redskins. I use to piss myself laughing at them when I played against them in Madden NFL, but ever since they drafted Robert Griffin the 3rd, I have been hooked. Something changed in Washington ever since they got Griffin. They have become a far better team in general and look incredibly dynamic. Anyway, you guys are probably already sick of the wall of text this post is beginning to turn into, so moving on....

San Diego Chargers:

Again, I started following the Chargers after i saw their uniform and thought that it looked cool. now I am a much deeper fan then that, but that's how it began, so whatever. I don't really know what to think of the Chargers at the moment. they suck, but they seem to be on the verge of something great, so we'll see what happens. Some interesting times could be ahead in San Diego.

Collingwood:

I started supporting the Crows in 2010, when i watched the AFL grand final that year. Oddly enough, the first ever AFL match I saw ended in a draw, and the grand final was replayed a week later, with Collingwood winning it convincingly. By god, it was the most exciting game I had ever seen (the first grand final), and I have been hooked on AFL ever since. I probably don't follow them as much as I should, but I am a fan, and I support them so...

The Highlanders:

 I started supporting the Highlanders about two years ago, and was fascinated by the forward dominated type of game they played, I loved it. Ever since, I have supported them, but I was and still are bemused by their decision to build and play in Forsyth Barr Stadium. I doesn't really play to their advantages being covered, and although they sell more tickets, they don't get the uber home ground advantage that Carisbrook use to provide. Man, that place was a fortress.

Well, that's my opinion on sports teams, seeing as this has already turned into quite a long post, I will briefly skim over my political beliefs:

I am right wing, and I believe in the concept of the free market, and little government intervention. I am a huge fan of John Key and Asset Sales, for reasons which I will explain later, and I am a fan of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. I also quite liked JFK. Apart from that, i will not go into any more detail, because I will explain more in later posts.

So thats me, I hope you enjoyed and weren't bored by the post, and that you read my posts in the future!