I am looking forward to all of those marriage proposals tomorrow. It is February 29th tomorrow! This is from Wikipedia so it must be true. Come on ladies what is the worst that could happen? You get a pound, gloves and a kiss!

There is a tradition that women may make a proposal of marriage to men only in leap years, further restricted in some cases to only February 29. There is a tradition that in 1288 the Scottish parliament under Queen Margaret legislated that any woman could propose in Leap Year; few parliament records of that time exist, and none concern February 29.[1] Another component of this tradition was that if the man rejects the proposal, he should soften the blow by providing a kiss, one pound currency, and a pair of gloves (some later sources say a silk gown). There were similar notions in France and Switzerland.

Andy Roddick greatest serve ever

To add further to my last post. The best on the list was 145 Km/H. I am thinking it was done early in the day with new balls. I would love to see what type of racquet Roddick uses!

Andy Roddick - Fastest Serve Ever - Scotty Donaldson 104KPH

That's right. While Andy Roddick ripped it down at 155 MPH almost 250 Km/h, I had mine recorded at 104 Km/h.

It puts things into perspective! I used a ZM (the radio station) tennis racquet and balls which had lost the brand logo (usually the pros change balls every seven games and in my grade every match!). They come off better if they are new. You hit it into a rectangular container about 15 metres long, so accuracy didn't matter.

That is one of my life dreams, along with facing Shane Warne. I would love to face some Roddick serves. I have realised that anything is possible if you are on your toes! It takes me back to my former glory days and I now remember that being on your toes is critical in tennis when receiving serves especially.

Am I A Fudgepacker?

Westlife are coming to Wellington in May. I actually would like to see them. Is anyone else keen? I am unsure if I would be the only straight single guy there? I realise there may be young females and potentially homosexual males, but I actually love their music. To me they are guys that men want to be and women want to be with, rather than the other way around! Irish boy band Westlife have announced they will perform four New Zealand tour dates in May.


The band, which has sold more than 36 million albums, will perform in Christchurch's Westpac Arena on May 7, Wellington's TSB Arena on May 9, Auckland's Vector Arena on May 10 and New Plymouth's TSB Stadium on May 13.

It will be their first time in New Zealand.

The band formed in 1998 with five members, but Brian McFadden left in 2004 to embark on a mildly successful solo career. The band tours as a four-piece.

Their hits include Swear It Again, Flying Without Wings, If I Let You Go and Uptown Girl.

Tickets for the shows go on sale on March 1.

Seriously is anyone else keen?

I am excited by this Indian Premier League concept which reminds me of playing fantasyrugby. Creating the All Star team is the best way to a man's heart. The high prices paid for wicketkeepers is due to scarcity of players. This means the rival Indian Cricket League is scratching around for players with the most hated player south of the Bombays to ever play for NZ Adam Parore, is making a comeback. Below is the story from www.stuff.co.nz

Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum fetched the highest price of $US700,000 ($NZ886,750) among the New Zealand players who went under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket franchise auction in Mumbai last night.
World No 1 one-day allrounder Jacob Oram fetched $US675,000 ($NZ846,000) while Black Caps skipper Daniel Vettori , the top ranked one-day bowler in the world, fetched $US625,000 ($NZ783,000), Stephen Fleming fetched $US350,000 ($NZ439,350) and Scott Styris $US175,000 ($NZ219,000).
But the pay for McCullum, Oram and Vettori will be reduced on a pro-rata basis because they are unavailable for the whole IPL tournament.
The 59-game tournament starts on April 18 and ends with a final on June 1, but the top New Zealand trio will be required to play in a test series against England, starting on May 15.
Styris has retired from test cricket and Fleming is retiring after the third home test against England next month.
McCullum was snapped up in the auction by Kolkata, while Oram and Fleming were acquired by Chennai, Vettori by Delhi and Styris by Hyderabad.
Indian one-day captain Mahendra Dhoni attracted the highest IPL bid of $US1.5 million, followed by Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds on $1.35 million.
Retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was the first player to go under the hammer in a five-star Mumbai hotel conference room filled with cricketers, celebrities and tycoons, fetching $450,000.
The teams will pay the winning bids to the player annually. The contracts are for a three-year period and are guaranteed by the Indian cricket board.
"It is amazing drama," Inderjit Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told reporters. "The market is determining the price. That's how a free market economy should flow."
Dhoni was snapped up by the southern metropolis side in the first round of the sale.
Warne's compatriot fast bowler Brett Lee was later snapped up by Mohali for $US900,000 while Australia captain Ricky Ponting was bought by Kolkata for $US400,000.
The Mumbai franchise, which has Sachin Tendulkar as the designated city player and is owned by India's most valuable company Reliance Industries, paid $US975,000 for Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya and $US850,000 for India spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Australian 'keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist, who last month retired from test cricket, went to Hyderabad for $US700,000. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan went to Chennai for $US600,000.
The players are being put up for bidding in sets of 12 according to their annual base price, multiple-skills and expected availability for the inaugural year.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was bought up by the Mohali franchise for $US475,000 while temperamental Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar went to Kolkata for $US425,000.
Retired Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf did not find buyers in the first round and will come up for bidding in the second.
The eight franchise teams of the IPL - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mohali and Mumbai - had a budget of up to $US5 million each for a maximum of eight contracted players.
No single event has made global cricket news in this manner since Kerry Packer's circuit did over thirty years ago, but unlike the IPL, the late Australian media magnate's event was a breakaway league.
Some of the country's biggest companies, including Reliance Industries and spirit company UB Group, have bought franchises. Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta have bought into the Kolkata and Mohali franchises, adding further glamour to the league.
The player contracts are for a period of three years.


In a different story

Bermuda over and out for 13

It was a defeat of epic proportions. The Bermudan women's cricket team crawled to 13 all out - and South Africa overhauled them in just four balls.
As usual in cricket, the true drama was in the statistics.
Batting first in a World Cup qualifier at Stellenbosch University yesterday, the Bermudans took 18 overs to score their 13.
Three players scored a run each and extras top-scored with 10. The mainstay of the innings was skipper Linda Mienzer, who stayed at the crease for 60 minutes, facing 48 balls for her one.
In reply, the South Africans took just four legal deliveries to reach their target after Bermudan opening bowler Terry-Lynn Paynter bowled nine wides and a no-ball in her opening over.
Mienzer said she was extremely proud. "In terms of women's cricket Bermuda has come a long way, but we still have a long way to go."

Check out these guys!

I can't claim to be as skillful as these guys. You would find them up front with the other pretty boys. This clip is not for football players and fans, but for everyone. Awesome!

Foot ball hits Cory Jane in the Face Typifies The Hurricanes Efforts

The Hurricanes were woeful in Round One of the 2008 Super 14 failing to fire a shot in the 20 -3 defeat at the hands of the NSW Waratahs. The new Experimental Law Variations (ELV) are supposed to help the free running sides like the Hurricanes, but the proof is in the pudding.

League great Mario Fenech who went to get substituted wasn't looking as he was passed the ball and it hit him in the head. He still has the nickname "Falcon" and would've been proud of Jane's efforts.

Living The Dream

A mate of mine just got back from being a Hawk eye operator in Melbourne at the Australian Open tennis. I want to go even more now!

My tennis is happening again. I belong to The Street chain of players. It begins with playing one person or people who then advise me of someone better to play, who then in turns advises me of someone else. My first interclub game since Christmas ended in two defeats against Ngaio. I lost doubles in three sets, then I lost my singles 6-2 6-4 against a guy who plays in the 2nd highest grade Regional Two on Saturdays. He has a great serve and a ranking 1600 places better than my 3280. It is great to be playing sport again, although my plantar fasciitis is still getting treatment.

The Naked Blogger Show and Tell

I received my classy biscuit tin today the 1982 All Whites. I also got all nostaglic in Invers and so have some great photos to show you all!

Good luck all you budding Casanovas, Valentines Day is just around the corner!

Should females make their move on Valentine's Day?

I say a big "Yes"

Jessie Ryder in great form and Scotty Styris
Cricket - Man of The Match and Where Have They Been Hiding?

I had a great time at the cricket. I knew (or met) heaps of people from The Street (including females who love cricket, yes!). We won in a canter which was surprising and tended to drag the game on for longer than it should've gone, given England's trash performance to start with.

Scotty Styris - the virus, pig, human gyro, the most beautiful man in world cricket is my favourite player and hero. I have been compared in ability, looks and by name with the man, but even I was surprised at what happened. Styris was named Man of the Match with the game almost over. He then came in and batted being dismissed for a duck and this raised an interesting conundrum, as this wicket gave England bowler Stuart Broad better bowling figures to go with his unbeaten 18. I guess Styris's two wickets were crucial, but I think they should wait until after the game to award the prize.

It was refreshing to meet some new people at the cricket. The Street is full of different social groups and it was cool to mix with people like Nicolai and Jared Visser. Among their group were American people (too many rules in cricket to explain in a day) and some more females who love cricket. I don't know where they have been hiding, but it has provided with hope of finding the perfect woman. How many more of these good looking, Christian females who love/like cricket are there hiding out there? Dalman reckons they only need to be cricket tolerant like his Neelam, but I say you have to strive for perfection!

All Whites Biscuit Tin

I won the first auction I have bidded on from Trade Me, in two years. Last time it was Jonah Lomu Rugby the game, this time it was a 1982 All Whites Biscuit Tin.

I first fell in love with this tin when one of my workmates at the Dunedin City Council had one. I offered to buy it off him, but he didn't want to sell it.

I went out for dinner with some friends to "Sweet Mamas Kitchen", where they have heaps of old merchandise. They have WWF Cards. It brought back memories of buying the album and collecting the cards frantically, all three series. My collection included an errored card of the Genius. They also had wait for it....... the same 1982 All Whites Aulsebrook Biscuit Tin with some square for sale in it. My friend asked if it was for sale, but no!

I bought it on Trade Me tonight. It cost me $6.50 + $4.50 courier. The competition wasn't fierce like the 1982 World Cup. I just read the book which went behind the scenes of the longest campaign in World Cup history. The tin has a team photo from 1982 on the top, with signatures on the side. I would've gone up to $20. One sold for $15 on Sunday, so I am getting a bargain.

Old Friends and Waitangi Day

Over the past few days I have bumped into so many people I know from my Dunners days. I have decided since I was new last year, that it is my duty to take them under my wing and show them the ropes.

Yesterday I saw my old best mate Matty Dalman and his wife, who were passing through town and I hadn't seen them for several months as he would be away when I returned to Dunners, and as manager of Redemption FC we love to discuss the future of the club which I started and he has taken over since I left.

I did the unthinkable and stood up a group of females yesterday. I thought movie club was set to go to the movies and invited a female life group from church who were keen to join us. Unfortunately I didn't have their groups cell phone number and received some last minute pull outs from movie club. I didn't receive a confirmation email from this group to completely confirm their participation. I arrived on time for the movie and didn't see this group until I was leaving, satisfied that they didn't spot me as the only member of Movie Club to show. The club does exist, but I didn't want to be a dork by having to queue alone in the massive queue when they already had tickets. Anyway they enjoyed their movie and there are no hard feelings.

There was a radical dance party at the Goatshed flat last night. Not doing things by halves, there were smoke machines, lights and Mason did some grinding causing sparks to fly. The floor was moving with all of the moshing and there were so many guys that it was a real sausage fest.

Today the group from the Goatshed went to the Warehouse, like we did on Labour day. This time we wore red. It was a great chance to make an impression and I invited my old flatmate Dave "Crouchy" Marsh. We then went to Rebel where I saw another old Dunedin contact Tammy Nicholson. It is my duty to show these people the ropes! It is crazy the number of peeps who have ended up in Wellington. IT is the land of opportunity!

I then played some mixed doubles tennis with a few people from The Street. The standard was a step down from the usual interclub tennis I play. I was torn between hitting hard or playing with soft slice. I did the latter fearing a bully tactic label. It was good to get fresh air, but the distraction of the stoners at the nearby One Love Bob Marley concert was entertaining.

The Human Tetris

I love these Japanese game shows in my spare time. I have no tennis on, so thought that I would add some entertainment to your lives. They really get into it and show far more commitment than the crew at Deal or No Deal.

Things to look out for.

Summer Break - Waitangi Day and Eve Summer Break party action at the Goatshed. Wild parties with kegs and chicks. Maybe not, but it will be a great holiday and we may even go to the Warehouse.

Valentines Day - Is it ok for women to give Valentines to guys? I wish. It is always a very awkward time of the year for singles worldwide. We need to have a big singles party!

The loud party is over for another year, but this time we won it! Each year the party gets bigger after I had the distinction of being at the dull, but enjoyable first tournament in Wellington.

The team praised the Lord for their victory, which is cool, but I often take this with a pinch of salt as many people, however loosely associated with the man upstairs often give credit when they win, yet never when they lose.

I have also seen what goes on behind the scenes with these rugby players involving drunkenness and women which makes a bit sceptical.

Unfortunately many of the Islanders are bought up in the church, but that is as far as it goes. They then leave home and reach pro football and it goes out the window.

Of course the ultimate Christian was the South African cricketer Hansie Cronje and we know what happened there!

In summary, I hope the NZ Sevens guys are part of God's Army, but just because a team does the Christian prayer after the game, doesn't mean every individual in that team are Christians. Sometimes the Island guys especially are brought up in the church but have moved away from it!