From the America's Cup to the Olympics - Phil Gifford's wishes for sport in 2021. Photos / Photosport
From the America's Cup to the Olympics - Phil Gifford's wishes for sport in 2021. Photos / Photosport
OPINION
Wishes for sport in 2021.
One. More close racing at the America's Cup, and a bit more wind in March when the Cup starts.
On Thursday when Team New Zealand swooped under American Magic and took the lead at the fifth and final mark (even if Dean Barker andhis crew came back to take the race) was the sort of breath-taking moment that turns most Kiwis into yachting fanatics when the Cup is involved.
As a non-purist watching boats on foils racing at speeds of up to 90km/h is the sort of visceral buzz I got as a kid at the Waikato winter show in Hamilton, when a Kiwi world speedway champion called Ronnie Moore made an off-season living defying gravity, by riding a motorbike round the vertical walls of what was basically a huge wooden barrel, aptly called the wall of death.
The remarkable and wonderful thing about the America's Cup is that once the boats hit the water all the on-shore garbage that always attaches itself to the event evaporates.
The only downside to the greatest yachting show on earth will be if too little wind means races are won because a yacht comes off the foils and wallows while the boat it is racing speeds away. The effect is remarkably similar to the disappointment you'd feel if Lewis Hamilton lost a Formula One race not because he was outdriven, but because two of his tyres went flat halfway through the Grand Prix.
Team New Zealand's Te Rehutai in action. Photo / Photosport
Two. That the Olympic Games go ahead, even if it has to be without spectators.
There's a lot wrong with the Games. They're bloated, and the IOC allows drug cheating on a scale so massive, Russia can basically get away with organising it on a national basis. But whatever the level of background sleaze, they are still the pinnacle for our sportspeople.
Seeing Dame Valerie Adams spending most of her life at the moment training in Christchurch because she's so determined to never have any regrets about not giving her last hurrah at the Olympics anything but 100 per cent, or hearing the steel in Portia Woodman's voice when she recalled the disappointment of the sevens team not winning gold in Rio, is more than enough to convince me that our great athletes deserve the chance to shine again on the biggest stage.
If you had to bet, put your money on empty stadiums in Tokyo, but performing to an echo is almost the new normal for sport so roll on next July in Japan.
Dame Valerie Adams. Photo / Photosport
Three. That even more exciting new players might emerge in the Black Caps.
There's something enormously relatable about Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy, who both appear to be as happy and astounded as the fans are with their remarkable breakthroughs this summer.
When Simon Barnett and I talked with Jamieson on Thursday on NewstalkZB, it was obvious he hasn't had the media coaching that leads to the sometimes vanilla responses from, for example, some rugby players.
He spoke freely about how it took Dayle Hadlee to convince him that his physique might lend itself to fast bowling even more than the batting which as a teenager was Jamieson's forte. And a sense of humour goes with the talent too. What was he scared of? Heights. "Which is kind of ironic," said Jamieson, "considering that I'm six foot eight."
Concussion and dealing with the after-effects is the biggest elephant in the rugby room, but not far behind is the issue of defenders being offside at breakdowns.
Tacklers at test level are so well-organised, fit, and hard-working, we see far too often that backs are facing a 120kg forward with malice in his heart.
The answer to the problem is blindingly obvious. Enforce a five-metre gap behind the back foot at a breakdown, just as you do at a scrum now. Yes it'll lead, with quick recycling by an attacking team, to confusion amongst defenders. Good. Let's give the runners and dodgers more chances to shine. And yes, it may need more officials, just to police the lines. But as a man who held a senior position at NZR said when we chatted last week, "I don't give a fat rat's if there are four more officials on the sideline if it means there's room for backs to run and pass."
