Thinking too hard? ... Steam comes off the head of Newcastle Falcons player Sebastian de Chaves after his side’s English Premiership match against Harlequins in Newcastle. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
What happened ...
And just like that, here is 2025.
Spoiler alert: the 1990s were better.
Happy New Year to all our readers, a full quarter of a century beyond 2000. And here are 18 things that happened while I was on holiday in the glamour of Kurow, Mosgiel and Ranfurly:
1. Liverpool! Yes, the greatest football club in the world rolls on. Not without some stumbles — a couple of niggly draws, including one with relegation candidates Manchester United, made me grumpy — but top of the Premier League by six points (with a game in hand) and flying in the Champions League? Happy days.
2. Not sure what to make of the Wellington Phoenix. Kostas Barbarouses, having another fine season, led them to an important win over the Jets, but then they were terrible against Melbourne City. They are 10th in the league and have injury problems to boot. Newcomers Auckland FC got smashed by Western United, rebounded with a good win over the Mariners, and had a stalemate on New Year’s Day. Still top of the table, so they can’t complain.
3. The Nix women have quietly won two of their past three and seem to be on the right track. But do we have a new contender for the worst nickname in New Zealand sport? The Wahinix? Ye gods.
4. The Australian cricket team had one player aged 19, and 10 players in their 30s, in the final test against India. Not a single man in his 20s. That was my favourite random thing of the sporting holiday period.
5. That 19-year-old is Sam Konstas. An annoyingly cocky Australian? Or someone who is going to be a lot of fun to watch? Maybe both. He sure got up the noses of the Indians.
Nice day for it... A snowman stands outside Anfield before this week’s clash between English football heavyweights Liverpool and Manchester United. PHOTO: REUTERS
... while I was ...
6. Just quietly, the Australian cricketers have become horribly dominant again. They hold every bilateral test series trophy, they are the World Cup champions, and they defend the World Test Championship mace against South Africa in June. It was more fun when they were (briefly) struggling.
7. Virat Kohli and his mates? Classless.
8. I saw this list of India’s win-loss record in tests in the 2020s: Bangladesh 4-0, Sri Lanka 2-0, West Indies 1-0, England 9-4, Australia 5-6, South Africa 2-3, New Zealand 1-6. India are our bunnies. Oh, and that makes it 24 tests for India against England/Australia, and 19 against the rest combined. But yeah, let’s turn test cricket into two divisions so the big three can play against each other even more often.
9. Luke Littler! The scruffy young Englishman is now a global superstar. Thanks to darts, of all things. He became the youngest world champion at 17 going on 37. Apparently only Donald Trump and Kate Middleton were searched more on Google in the UK last year.
10. LeBron James became the first man in history to play in the NBA as both a teenager and a 40-year-old. The remarkable James is still going strong for the Lakers. Just this week, he put up 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in a game. I have always been on Team Jordan — Michael will forever be the GOAT — but we will never see anything like LeBron again.
11. In saying that, do you realise what French sensation Victor Wembanyama is doing for the San Antonio Spurs? The lanky lad just turned 21 and is averaging 26 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four blocks. After his first 100 career games, he has the most points (15 more than Allen Iverson), most three-pointers (21 more than Klay Thompson), most blocks (17 more than Shaq) and most rebounds (154 more than Anthony Davis). Genuine freak.
12. It is crunch stage in the NFL, which means there is much fevered discussion in the Meikle household. The boy is convinced his beloved Bills will finally win a Super Bowl, but the old man is tipping the Lions.
See that?! ... Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic reacts in his wheelchair doubles match during the Night with Novak charity event in Melbourne on Thursday. Djokovic paired up with Tokito Oda, of Japan, to play against Australians Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
... on a break
13. Radical, dude. American surfer Alessandro Slebir caught what was believed to be the biggest wave of all time, successfully riding an estimated 108-foot (33m) monster. Slebir achieved the feat at the Mavericks surf spot near Half Moon Bay — no, not in Stewart Island, but south of San Francisco.
14. There was an odd story out of French rugby as Hassane Kolingar, a prop for the Racing 92 club, revealed he suffered a cardiac arrest after taking snus (powdered tobacco). The incident happened at a wedding, and Kolingar was put into a coma and had his heart shocked four times. “It’s not illegal — there’s tobacco in it but it’s real s..., I think," he told Midi Olympique. "At one point, I burst out laughing and immediately felt pressure in my chest. My heart was beating really hard and I was sweating a lot; seeing stars."
15. Dame Lydia Ko! This will sound grinchy but The Last Word was not sure about this one. She is great, and had an amazing year. But she is 27, and with plenty of golf left in her, and while she is clearly an inspiration, it is uncertain which "services to New Zealand golf" she has provided.
16. The WWE is now on Netflix. No, it is not a sport, but their vault of shows has been uploaded, and that is cool news for us old-timers who enjoy the odd walk down memory lane.
17. The best book I read on my break — indeed, the best sports books I have read in a while — was Sir Alf, by Leo McKinstry. Cracking yarn about the much maligned and misunderstood Sir Alf Ramsey, who coached England to glory at the 1966 World Cup.
18. I was also delighted to find Crazy Horse, the autobiography of Liverpool great Emlyn Hughes, at a bookshop in Owaka, of all places. A bargain at $7.
The crystal ball
Next week’s column will be my rather pointless annual exercise in making some predictions for the sporting year ahead.
Come join me as I seek to better my usual crystal ball success rate of about 10%.
