Georgian figure skater Nika Egadze puts on a show in a Deadpool costume during the ISU Grand Prix figure skating event in China earlier this week. PHOTO: REUTERS
‘Tis the season
Hold on. Just hold on one minute.
It’s only chuffing December!
Ye gods. You know you are getting older when the year nears its final month and you feel stuck in about June.
It is 62 days until the Highlanders’ first preseason game - now that is scary.
As we do every year, the Otago Daily Times sports department will be reflecting on the past 12 months, and The Last Word will be making some predictably useless predictions for the new year.
Send me your thoughts - who deserves highlighting from the 2024 year in sport, and what might happen in 2025?
Chicago ain’t Dublin
Interesting to have it confirmed by Sky Sport this week that the All Blacks will be having a crack at the Grand Slam next year.
But will they, really?
The All Blacks will start with three home tests - though an opposition newspaper this week reported one could be played in the United States, sigh - against France, or at least a French team missing all their best players. One of those tests will likely be in Dunedin.
Then there will be two home tests against the Springboks, two in Argentina, and home-and-away Bledisloe Cup clashes.
At the end of the year, the All Blacks will play Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England — the fabled Grand Slam — in consecutive weeks.
The wrinkle, as reported by Sky, which presumably has the inside word, is that the Irish test will be played in Chicago.
That is a reality of professional rugby. Personally, I don’t think we can call it a proper Grand Slam if one of the tests is played on neutral territory.
Cricket score of the week
Yes, the summer game remains the BEST sport for absolutely ridiculous scorelines.
We take you now to the Nigeria Cricket Federation Oval in Abuja, where the Nigerians are hosting Ivory Coast in an ICC T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa group C qualifier.
The home side bat first and rack up an impressive 271 for four, powered by Selim Salau’s sparkling 112 off just 53 balls.
Fortified by a hearty lunch, the Ivory Coast openers stride to the middle with purpose, knowing they need to set a solid, brisk platform before letting the middle order give that total a good crack.
Ah, cricket.
What follows can either be described as carnage or glorious entertainment as Ivory Coast are dismissed — as in, lose all 10 wickets — for a measly seven. Yes, seven. Total.
Ouattara Mohamed is the hero of the day with a gutsy innings of four off six balls. The other scores are 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0 not out and 0. The Nigerian bowlers share the wickets around, led by the appropriately named Prosper Useni with three for none off 1.3 overs.
The 264-run winning margin is merely the third-heaviest in T20 history, but it is the first time an international men’s team manages a single-digit score.
If they’re good enough?
This is just getting silly.
You may have seen some snippets this week from the annual Indian Premier League mega auction, that rather gauche multi-day ceremony at which cricketers’ services are bought by billionaire-backed franchises.
What you may have missed was an auction that broke a record.
The Rajasthan Royals snapped up Vaibhav Suryavanshi for $US130,000 ($NZ220,000).
Vaibhav is 13 years old. You heard - 13.
Apparently the lad scored a century off 58 balls against the Australian under-19s, enough to convince the Royals he was worth contracting immediately.
I am staying calm
Liverpool just beat Real Madrid to remain perfect in the Champions League.
Liverpool are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Liverpool will be 11 points clear of their biggest rivals if they beat Manchester City this weekend.
Trying not to get too excited, honestly.
Birthday of the week
Vincent Edward Jackson is 62 today.
The eighth of 10 children, he was said to be as "wild as a boar hog" as a young fella, and eventually, he came to be known as "Bo".
There really has been nobody like Bo Jackson in American sport.
He was, briefly, perhaps the greatest athlete in the world, during a stretch when he became the only man to be named an all-star in two major professional American sports.
Jackson was a dynamite hitter and outfielder in Major League baseball, and an insanely dangerous running back in the NFL, after initially being drafted No 1 but turning down big money to pursue his diamond dreams.
His career ended prematurely but his impact was immeasurable.
Check out a great documentary, You Don’t Know Bo, if you can.
