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Pinch me. Thank you to the Board, and thank-you to the taxpayers of Auckland.

You did the right thing.

NZ Herald:

Board passes up name bid

Eden Park's bosses passed up an opportunity to sell naming rights to the home of rugby - a sponsorship deal that could have covered most of the park's $40 million redevelopment shortfall.

They don't want to sell the name, saying people would be aghast if Eden Park was renamed after a corporate - but the decision means ratepayers must plug the gap.

The $256m park redevelopment has been funded by a number of partners, with the majority paid for by the Government. But the $40m shortfall has been picked up by Auckland City ratepayers. [...]

Source.

So You Think

Magnificent!

Back-to-back Cox Plate championships for the Kiwibred son of High Chaparral. As only a 4yo. In only his 10th race. Freak.

May his owners (Dato Tan Chin Nam & Tunku Ahmad Yahaya) be horse racing fans first-and-foremost. Forget about retirement to the stud farm for a few years yet, please. Let the public see a true champion. We beg you.

I'm seeing rumours about a possible run at the Melbourne Cup - and trainer Bart Cummings would surely love another Cup added to his Scotty Bowmanesque run - but stretching the pony out to two miles may be a couple bridges too far. Nevertheless, We the Horse-Racing Fans want to see him run a mile-and-a-quarter for a few more years, at least. And if you're thinking of taking him to Dubai or the Breeders Cup - by all means Do It! Show him off to the world.

Sandy Barbour: Ignorant wanker, or simply an asshole?

25 NCAA Championships.

Let's type that again:

TWENTY-FIVE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!! And a program that pays for itself.

That's a program of athletic dominance that any varsity should be celebrating and shouting from their rooftops - and Ivory Towers.

But sadly, California Golden Bears Athletic Director Sandy Barbour wants to cut the program.

Cal rugby refuses to go quietly after termination of their program

One day after Cal cut five sports from its intercollegiate athletics menu, there was no surrender among those affected in rugby or baseball.

... Rugby coach Jack Clark went on the offensive Wednesday.

Clark, who has directed 21 of Cal's 25 national championship teams in the sport, said there is no reason the university needed to cut rugby, saying it's largely financially self-sufficient thanks to private donations.

He said he proposed to athletic director Sandy Barbour and the university administration adding a women's varsity rugby team, which would balance gender equity issues mandated by Title IX federal law.

More here.


And Nina Sasso writes a letter to Barbour.

Cal Rugby is paying the price for your incompetency and inability to comply with Title IX.

With your salary of over $470,000, you honestly can't come up with a more imaginative solution to Title IX compliance? Instead of targeting rugby, why not distribute the cut and implement a department-wide squad size reduction across all men's sports? Your uninspiring decision to eliminate rugby is a discredit to this university that values innovation.

This letter is a call for your accountability regarding the rationale behind cutting rugby. Terminating rugby under the guise of a budget cut is dishonest and deceitful.