Picking Australia's Rugby 7's team for the 2012 London Olympics

Obviously this is all hypothetical. It was put to me earlier today to select a Rugby 7's team for the 2012 London Olympics. I used to do this in almost every one of my year nine history classes. While our teacher would moan on about the importance of the Waitangi treaty and what it means for the Maori people of New Zealand, me and a fellow sports nut would be putting together sports teams.

Teams selected could be an English Premier League XI or a Southern Hemisphere Rugby XV. One of the most common teams involved making a fifteen or thirteen man squad comprising both Rugby League and Ruby union players. AFL was mostly an afterthought and never really got considered in any team. Generating such fantasy teams helped considerably in passing the time while being lectured on the inane details of Maori history and culture.

The challenge of selecting a Ruby sevens team is considerably easier. The team could be selected from Australian footballers from league, union or aussie rules. It started out with seven players being selected, until someone went and selected a five man bench as well. I'll list the team I selected, justify my selections, and then proceed to mock everyone else's team.

THE MJ VII

Paul Gallen

David Pocock

Cameron Smith

Johnathan Thurston

Quade Cooper

Digby Ioane

Greg Inglis

Bench: Billy Slater, Kurtley Beale, Robbie Farah, Will Genia, Michael Hooper

Clearly this team is incredible. Paul Gallen and Cameron Smith are tackling machines while also being able ball carriers. Cameron Smith and Robbie Farah are both physical enough to play as sevens props and can assist in playmaking. Michael Hooper and David Pocock would frustrate oppositions with constant pilfering, with Hooper's physicality meaning that he could move to prop if Farah was on at the same time.

The backs have enough creativity, size, and pace to absolutely tear apart any opposition. Inglis and Ioane both have pace to burn and are able defenders. Thurston and Cooper are both capable of taking it to the defence, with Cooper's ability to offload a major asset to the team. Thurston is fast enough to create opportunities for his team mates, and agile enough to jinx his way through the defence.  Slater, Beale and Genia provide plenty of pace, creativity and scoring ability off the bench.

I struggled to think of any AFL players to include in the team. A game like Rugby 7's places a lot of emphasis on one-on-one tackling where the aim is to bring down the man rather than just hold on to him. For this reason I wasn't confident in picking even the more physical players like Chris Judd, Dane Swan or Scott Pendlebury as they have never needed to prove their one-on-one tackling ability. AFL players have also never proven that they could break through a defensive line, with players in AFL getting past their man by slowing down and running in circles. This wouldn't translate at all to Rugby Sevens.

Opposition Team #1: The NK VII

Selected From:

Quade Cooper  Lewis Jetta                          Michael Hooper

Will Genia            Scott Higginbotham        Garry Ablett (C)

Billy Slater           Paul Gallen

Ben Barba           Cameron Smith

Nic Natanui         Kurtley Beale

No surprises at the amount of AFL players selected. This squad's biggest problem is the questionable physicality of the included AFL players. Natanui would be great in the lineout, but hasn't proven to be a very physical player. Lewis Jetta would be a major liability on defence. Even with the Swans at the moment, he does nothing other than score long range goals and run long distances with the ball. He could prove to be valuable in attack, but his defence is too questionable to warrant his inclusion.

I'm guessing the front row would consist of Higginbotham, Gallen and Cameron Smith. Gallen is obviously a solid all round player, Smith is great in defence and adds to the teams playmaking capabilities. Higginbotham may be too slow to have any impact on the game. He would make a great ball carrier, but I doubt he could contribute much at the breakdown. Hooper would be better suited to the team. Barba can create something out of nothing, making him perhaps the ultimate league player in the rugby sevens format. Ablett is an unknown quantity in this game, but is more physical than either Natanui or Jetta. Genia, Cooper and Beale all provide great creativity and flair. If Natanui and Jetta were replaced with more physical players, the team would be vastly improved.

Opposition Team #2: The Spooner VII

Kurtley Beale

Michael Jennings

Cyril Rioli

Will Genia

Anthony Watmough

Cameron Smith

Radike Samo

Bench: Israel Folau, Karmichael Hunt, Billy Slater, Tatafu Polota-Nau, David Pocock

Of the three AFL players, only Cyril Rioli is questionable. Although Rioli has been a strong contributor in attack for Hawthorn, his would be an obvious defensive liability. His tackling ability in AFL is largely restricted to sneaking up on people from behind unseen. This is useless in 7's.  Samo is too slow now, and lacks the agility to make effective one-on-one tackles in open play. Jennings is a solid selection. He is physical enough in defence, while also being agile and powerful enough to break through defensive lines. Watmough and Smith are both consistent contributors.

It's the bench that's the most interesting part of this team. Folau would relish playing rugby again, with Hunt having also proven himself across both codes. I considered putting Polota-Nau in my team just because of the energy he puts into each and every game. He is probably the only front row forward in rugby union who could actually play sevens. Pocock obviously provides great defensive ability and breakdown capabilities. If it wasn't for the two-man advantage, the bench could beat the starting team.

The Cricket Club VII

Greg Inglis

Johnathan Thurston

Billy Slater

Cooper Cronk

David Taylor

Paul Gallen

Brendan Fevola

A front row of Dave Taylor, Paul Gallen and Brendan Fevola would be funny to watch. Except it wouldn't be that effective. Gallen would be fine, but Dave Taylor is less suited for 7's then Brendan Fevola is. Fevola could actually keep up with the game (assuming he got back to AFL fitness) and contribute with the boot. Fevola would actually relish being able to tackle people hard, unlike the rest of the AFL players being selected. The biggest problem with this team would be their lack of experience at the breakdown, compounded by Taylor's lack of pace. The backs would be entertaining, but would find themselves stuck in a ruck while Dave Taylor struggles to get his massive frame around the field.

What the Opening Ceremony should involve

The Olympic Games may be one of the largest events in the World, but the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics must be one of the most watched events in the World. Intrigue dominates the Opening Ceremony. What will the athletes be wearing? What will the ceremony entail? Instead of trying to determine what will actually happen in the Opening Ceremony, I've decided to announce what the Opening Ceremony should entail.

Obviously it wouldn't be England without drizzle. If it looks like it won't be raining, the organisers should ensure that suitable implements are installed to create a fake drizzle across the stadium. Bunting should also be present all over the stadium, with mini Union Flags criss-crossing over the Stadium and amongst the rafters. If done well enough, this could act as a roof, allowing organisers to save money on installing artificial rain sprinklers.

At some point a Lancaster needs to fly by. The best part of the Royal Wedding was when the Lancaster flew over. Only idiots would disagree with this, the only other reasonable moment better than the Lancaster was when the Wedding finished. Spitfires should also be involved in some way, with a Chinook helicopter obliged to land in the Stadium at some point dropping off either IOC honchos or Susan Boyle. Susan Boyle can rest assured that the IOC honchos won't hit on her. The reason for this is obvious.

At some point Jeremy Clarkson should be involved. I remember they did this whole E-Type Jag thing on the show. That worked really well because they prominently displayed the Union Flag and had Spitfires. Jeremy Clarkson should either be the choreographer or drive around in an MG/Jaguar/Bentley shouting "power".

Dance Numbers aren't needed as the English can't dance.

The Queen should be made to wave to every athlete who walks by. The order in which nations parade should be done with the most Protestant nations marching first. The more Catholic a nation is, the later it will march. How very, very English.

The best thing about this ceremony is nothing about it would surprise anyone (how very English), and leave everyone disappointed (how very English indeed).

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

It is unfortunate that the Dark Knight Rises will forever be linked to the horrific actions of a lone gunman in Colorado. The Dark Knight Rises isn't the Avengers. It is not an enjoyable film, but it is a thoroughly satisfying experience. The films narrative continues on not only from The Dark Knight, but significantly encompasses elements from Batman Begins. Despite Dark Knight Rises being set eight years since the events of the Dark Knight, it hardly feels like you've missed a beat. Bane is an excellent villain. Selina Kyle adds a whole new level of intrigue and unpredictability to the series. It is hard to fault the movie except perhaps for the pacing of the movie in the second half. The film is more epic than the Dark Knight, encompassing the scale of Batman Begins rather than the narrow focus of Dark Knight. I don't want to write too much, because every part of the film feels integral to the final outcome. Best movie of the year so far.
Rating: 10/10

Determining a Favourite Sport

I've been increasingly looking at the Sydney Morning Herlald website when It's been quiet at work. More specifically, I've been looking at the Heralds AFL section. I've never looked at the AFL section until this week, but find myself looking at it almost daily. All this has coincided with my declining interest in the NRL. I recently decided that the best way of working out what my favourite sports were could be done simply by looking at how much of the sport you watch on TV when neither side or participant is one you have a strong rooting interest for.

This logic is what has made me realise that I actually prefer AFL over NRL. Unlike AFL, if two teams I don't follow appear on the box, I flick the channel almost instantly. I might check in on scores, but I wouldn't watch an entire game unless it was a finals game or had finals implications for a team I support. The key variable to consider here is the quality and timing of TV coverage. For instance, I watch AFL on a friday night ad free on Fox Footy. NRL on a friday night is shown on Channel 9 with ads. New Zealand Super Rugby games are shown at 5:30pm while no other sport codes are on television. AFL can be found on Saturday afternoons at 1:30pm when neither NRL or Super Rugby is on. NRL on a Sunday arvo is shown delayed. So the best way of working my favourite Australian football code would be to look at what I watch on a Saturday evening when all teams playing are neatral. My viewing habits for all Saturday nights, regardless of whether the Dragons/Waratahs/Swans are playing is the same every week. I watch the Super Rugby, checking in on scores for the other codes, while watching the end of the AFL. Even if the Dragons are playing, I'll at best tune in for the final 10 minutes.

The rankings are therefore as follows:
1 - Rugby Union
2 - AFL
3 - NRL

But it would become much harder to include sports such as Cricket, Basketball or American Football due to the sporadic nature of their TV broadcasting. Back when I wasn't working and had Monday and Tuesdays off Uni, I would be watching three games of NFL each week, regardless of who was playing. Another method you could use to quantify your favourite sports could be how much money you spend on that sports merchandise. But again, different sports have differing prices for their merchandise.

Ultimately gut instinct is the easiest way of working out what your favourite sport is. But the next best way would be to look at viewing habits. Just for the record, at the time of writing, these are my favourite ten sports:

1. Rugby Union
2. American Football
3. Cricket
4. Basketball
5. Soccer
6. Aussie Rules  
7. Rugby League

Picking an AFL team

I've attended seven AFL games in my lifetime. The most memorable of which was a game at the beginning of the 2007 season between the Swans and the West Coast Eagles. The Eagles had played the Swans in the Grand Final the previous year, with the Eagles prevailing by a single point. This game, amongst 62,000 odd fans, failed to disappoint. Sitting right at the back of the stand, high above the field of play, it as possible to understand the appeal of Australian Football. The game flowed reasonably freely with a dramatic finish. The Eagles ultimately winning, like in the previous years Final, by a single point.
Since then I've struggled at times to understand the appeal of the game. Sometimes it appears to be too prone to being a blowout. Of the seven games I've attended, only one has been decided by less than thirty points. The game also appears quite slow at times, with teams struggling to clear the ball from the ruck area. I hardly watched any AFL at all, only tuning in around Finals time, and even then, only when the Swans were playing.
For some reason I started questioning who I really supported in the AFL. I was a Sydney supporter at the time of the two grand finals. But I asked myself whether I was only supporting Sydney because I was taking an interest in the game at the time of their success. I decided to do what I had done with other sports, and support the team my Dad supported. In this case that team would be Carlton. Carlton had become one of my favourite teams to watch in the weekly highlights package. Brendan Fevola was the single most entertaining player in the competition, having won the Coleman medal for leading goal scorer the previous year. He could seemingly score from anywhere and had a big personality to match.
The problem was I could never really force myself to watch a Carlton game like I could a Sydney game. I just kept telling myself that I had only supported the Swans because they were winning. This continued for the next three years until the announcement of a new AFL team in Sydney, the Greater Western Sydney (GWS) Giants. I decided to get on board and went along to the first game of the 2012 season between the Swans and the Giants. The thing was I didn't really cheer on good play by the Giants (even though there wasn't much to cheer about), but cheered on the strong performances by the Swans players.
As of this Saturday, I'm prepared to declare myself a Swans supporter. Yet again I'm questioning myself about whether or not I'm only supporting them because they're doing well. In this instance, this is not the case. No one really expected anything from the Swans this year, but I always put in the effort to check how they were going and watch the games when I could.
No team in the AFL is going to struggle more from the Swans success than the GWS Giants. The Swans are going to draw in all the casual supporters in this years finals run, and you can be sure that the Swans are going to go all out to secure their support heading into the future. As long as the Swans succeed on the field, the Giants are going to struggle to create a fan base.

At the Movies: 2012

I recently sought out to determine how many times I've been to the cinema this year. I have only gone to Event Cinemas Macquarie (due to convenience and reliability) and have always booked online. Checking my email account, it turns out I've been to the cinemas sixteen times this year, seeing fifteen movies. In the interest of doing things for no reason, I intend to write a brief review of each movie, score out of 10, then rank them at the end. I'll be reviewing each movie in order of when I saw them.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Solid Film. Enjoyed the banter between Sherlock (Downer Jr) and Watson (Jude Law). The movie did seem to get a bit slow around the middle, but sped up towards the end providing a  gripping finish. Jared Harris (the pom off Mad Men) provided an enjoyable depiction of Moriarty, with Stephen Fry playing Holmes' brother with his familiar pomposity.
Rating: 7/10

The Adventures of Tintin (3D)
I went into this film expecting to be dissapointed. I was relieved to discover that Spielberg had provided a faithful adaptation of the comics, with stunning visual effects. The movie really felt like I was reading one of Herge's comics. I liked that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) were cast as the bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Rating: 8/10

Hugo
I saw this film after having read and heard a lot of the hype surrounding the film. The Visual effects were well and truly worth the hype. From the opening scene where the camera peered across Paris, I couldn't help but be transfixed. Scorcese does a great job in communicating his own sense of wonder about old cinema to the audience. Time Magazine declared the film to be a love poem by Scorcese. They couldn't be any more correct, and what a remarkable love poem it is.
Rating: 9/10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I hadn't seen the previous adaptations of Stieg Larsson's book, and didn't know what to expect. The film was utterly engaging, thrilling, and distressing. David Fincher made very location appear bleak, reinforcing the isolation each of the main characters feels. Rooney Mara was remarkable. You couldn't help but be transfixed by her portrayal of the strong yet vulnerable Lisbeth Salander. A great film.
Rating: 9/10

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (3D)
I've always been more than happy to stand up for Episode I. Despite Jar Jar, depite the cheesy script, despite the confusion midichlorins added to the star wars universe. But this was dissapointing. The 3D did nothing to further enhance the film with the conversion to 3D making everything appear blurry. The Pod Race was good, as was the encounter with Darth Maul (Which I maintain is the best Star Wars lightsaber fight). By the end I felt tired due to the blur, and dissapointed.
Rating: 6/10

The Descendants
Loved this one. Beautiful scenery from Hawaii. Great performances by everyone. Engaging story, engaging characters.
Rating: 9/10

My Week with Marilyn
What a great film. Michelle Williams plays Marilyn Munroe brilliantly, transfixing the audience. The movie really revolves around the character of Colin Clark and his experiences on the set. Eddie Redmayne plays Colin well,communicating Colin's innocence and fascination of Ms Munroe. It was a pity that Emma Watson was playing such a minor role.
Rating: 9/10

John Carter (3D)
I can't understand the indifference directed towards this film. This was better than Avatar. It created the kind of world that hadn't been seen in a movie since Star Trek or Lord of the Rings. It had great villians, great special effects and a great plot. How could anyone accuse the plot of this movie as being confusing while praising films like The Prestige or Inception? This was the best epic film since Star Trek.
Rating: 9/10

The Hunger Games
So much hype. Thank goodness it was all warranted. It was great watching Jennifer Lawrence try to think she was innocent after killing someone with a bee hive. A bee hive! Can't wait for the next movie.
Rating: 8/10

21 Jump Street
Channing Tatum finally playing the perfect role. This was the funniest movie I've seen since Superbad. Humour wasn't too low-brow and there was just enough slapstick. Also loved the entire dynamic of the high school they were infiltrating.
Rating: 8/10

The Avengers (3D) 
I saw this movie twice. Was simply awesome. Who can complain about a franchise where they are able to just casually add in actors such as Scarlett Johannson. Mark Ruffalo was excellent as the hulk. Also great to see Chris Evans in an all round better movie then Captain America.
Rating: 9/10

Iron Sky
Nazis from the Moon! the first half of this movie was simply terrible. But as the Nazi Invasion began it started becoming more and more serious. If the movie hadn't become seriousthis movie could have well gone down as one of the worst releases of the year. Ends up having a strong message, just a pity that they didn't take themselves seriously enough for the first half of the movie.
Rating: 5/10

The Dictator
Terrible. What a let down. Way too crude. Some good throw away lines like "Is it a boy, or an abortion?" that really look awful when they aren't placed in their proper context.
Rating: 4/10

Men In Black 3 (3D) 
Solid. Fitting conclusion to the Men in Black franchise. Will Smith hasn't changed and neither has J. Brolin makes a solid addition to the cast, playing a younger version of K. The film captures all the best parts of the previous two films. It captures the gore, the humour, the irrelevance. Not as strong as the first MIB, but better then the second.
Rating: 7/10

Snow White and the Huntsman
What do you mean this isn't in 3D? I'd grown so accustomed to seeing movies like this in 3D that I was almost in a state of disbelief when I discovered the movie was in 2D. After my initial dissapointment, I'm happy to report that Snow White was a  great movie. It had great beasts, great performances. Plus I finally understand why Kristen Stewart is considerd attractive. The film is barely girly at all, and has some great battle sequences.
Rating: 8/10

2012 Movie Rankings (till 12/07/12)

1. My Week with Marilyn
2. The Descendants
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
4. The Avengers (3D)
5. Hugo (3D)
6. John Carter (3D)
7. 21 Jump Street
8. The Hunger Games
9. The Adventures of Tintin (3D) 
10. Snow White and the Huntsman
11. Men in Black III (3D)
12. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
13. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (3D)
14. Iron Sky
15. The Dictator

I'll probably update this list each time I watch a movie. Probably...

The Olympics

Normally it isn't hard to get excited about the Olympics. The Olympics is the second biggest international sports event after the FIFA World Cup. It brings together thousands of athletes from around the world competing in a heap of sports. There are the various story lines that follow the favourites in these events. Will they be healthy? Will they be able to handle the pressure of competing in front of a home crowd? Can they meet the hyped up expectations? But there is something about these Olympics that feels different.

I just can't get excited about these Olympics. I'll admit to being obsessed about the Basketball competition (Mens). But that's basically because it's one of only two occasions every four years where you see a de facto NBA All-Stars team put together. It stems more from my basketball obsession rather than the Olympics. But when it comes to the Athletics or the Swimming, there is no way I can get excited. This probably has more to do with the state of each competition at the moment. Swimming looks set to be dominated by the Americans, while Athletics coverage seemingly made up of nothing more than speculation about whether Bolt will perform in London.

In reality the Olympics isn't about particular athletes meeting the hype and living up to expectations. It's about finding new athletes to barrack for. New athletes who get you out of bed at 3am to watch the 400 metres mens swimming final. The most thrilling Olympic moment for me was when Cathy Freeman handled the hometown expectations and won the 400 metres. But everyone of my favourite Olympic moments after that involve someone using the Olympics to introduce themselves on the World stage or show us something about them that shouts at the audience: "This is why we compete".

In 2004 an Austrian weightlifter received a call from a German lady. The German lady had been watching the weightlifter compete throughout Germany and had hounded the event commentators for the weightlifters number. Not long after they met, they found themselves married. He moved to the his wife's native country, and kept on training to represent his native Austria. In 2007, as the weightlifter trained for the upcoming Beijing Olympics, he received a call no one should ever receive. The woman who had hounded commentators for his phone number, the woman who had become his wife, had died in a car accident. He dealt with his grief not in quitting but through training. He decided to represent his wife's country, Germany, in the upcoming Olympics. Matthias Steiner failed until his final lift. His final lift of 258kg gave him the Gold medal. As he stood on the podium clutching a photo of his deceased wife, it was clear to all why Steiner had put the effort into winning the event. "This is why we compete".

And that is why I'll probably be up till 3am every night of the Olympics. To see the athletes who come out of no where. To see the athletes who are dealing with something more than expectation or injuries. You have to want athletes to win, and the Olympics never fail in tossing up dozens of such individuals who you are willing to stay up all night to cheer for.

Manly v Parramatta: The Brookie experience

It's been about 7 years since I've been to an NRL game between teams I didn't have an interest in. In that instance it was a game between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs. My eight year old brother had decided he would support the Roosers because they were "The Sydney team".  He was also looking forward to seeing our Grandfathers team, The Rabbitohs, fall to his newly adopted "Sydney" Roosters. That game was at the Sydney Football Stadium, known as Aussie Stadium at the time. The game time experience for an NRL game at the football stadium was always the same. Unless you were part of a particular teams dedicated supporter group you wouldn't be interacting with anyone outside of your own group and nothing would be taking place other than the game. At the end of the game everyone would gather their things and proceed, as directed, to the nearest exit before disappearing into the evening.

Brookvale is different. Here you have the possibility of having supporters turn up after getting off the couch. The teams leagues club is less than 300 metres away. The entire ground isn't full of seats. There is room around the side for bored spectators to do their own thing. This is why rugby league gets the dedicated supporters who are prepared to give everything to get to the next home game. As we stood at the back of the hill in the north-east corner, watching Brett Stewart go over for a try, we began speculating amongst ourselves about why he had pulled up just before scoring. Was it an injury? Did he not realise a chasing player was so close? "He did it before his last try" a nearby spectator added. "He's done for the day". It's hard to imagine having this conversation at Homebush or the football stadium. It's almost like the difference between that swanky new bar and your local pub. It's a completely different atmosphere.

As Manly started scoring try-after-try our attention wandered over to a group of kids wrestling with each other just below the embankment we were standing on. One kid, who was about half a foot shorter, and a fair bit lighter than the other kids was going hard. He'd crash tackle the others into the ground before ferociously trying to drive them deeper into the mud around them. A consensus seemed to arise throughout our area that Parra should sign this guy. The greatest amount of courage and passion we saw that day wasn't on the field but in some young blokes effort to show his size didn't matter.

The game itself wasn't that great. Most of the hardcore spectators were bored by the time Manly went over early in the second half to send the margin to over fourty points. The Eels bewildered everyone in the second half by playing good enough football to win the half and significantly decrease the margin. Final score was: Manly 40 Parramatta 24. This was the second time I've been to Brookie, but it is definitely far better than either the football stadium or Homebush. It was at these suburban grounds that the Dads who take their kids to the game first attended a game of rugby league, and it will be these grounds that todays kids will want to take their children to in the future.

NBA Free Agency Watch: Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers

Steve Nash from Suns to Lakers for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, cash
Well done to the Suns for making something of this situation. It looked like they weren't going to get anything out of Nash until this went through. Lakers will come to regret Nash's contract ($25 million over three years). At least he'll be better than Sessions.
Suns now look like they're pursuing Michael Beasley. Beasley would fit in reasonably well, and I'm sure Phoenix still believe that Beasley has the potential to be one of the top scorers in the NBA.
On paper the Lakers now have the best starting five in the NBA. Who wouldn't want a team with Bynum and Gasol around the rim, with Nash and Bryant in the backcourt? It's fortunate for the league that Bynum isn't consistent and Kobe is starting to show his age. This is the kind of trade, at least for the coming season, will be regarded as a good one by both teams.

NBA Free Agency Watch

It's looking more and more likely that Eric Gordon has just signed an offer sheet from the Phoenix Suns. The deal looks to be $58 million over four years. The Hornets have to be reeling right now. Even with Anthony Davis, Gordon was the major part of the trade for Chris Paul. Unlike in the NFL, teams get nothing when they lose one of there players in Restricted Free Agency.
For the Suns this deal makes a whole lot of sense. They have a scorer who can fill the gap that looks to be left by the likely departure of Steve Nash. Suns still don't really have much to work with and look like they'll spend at least another year out of the playoffs. Unless both Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers come through right away, there is no way the Hornets are going to make the playoffs this coming season. As long as Rashard Lewis' $21 million plus salary remains on the Hornets books, they'll struggle to come close to making the playoffs. If they can't resign Chris Kaman (rumoured to be getting interest from the Pacers) or another decent centre there is no chance they'll be close to competitive this season.

It's going to be a very interesting free agency period...

The Rugby Championship: Hello Argentina!

The expansion of the Tri-Nations to include Argentina is one of the best things to happen in World Rugby for a long while. The staggering of the tournament till later in the year allows for Argentina to avoid its usual conundrum of having all their top players still playing club Rugby in Europe at the time of the Autumn Internationals.
The best Argentina could possibly be hoping for in the tournament would be to knock over either South Africa or Australia when they trek it over the Atlantic/Pacific in order to face the Pumas. Argentina have proven that they can compete even without their big names. A second-string sides victory against Italy suggests they have the depth to at least be competitive in the tournament. France also discovered how hard it can be to win in South America, losing narrowly in the first of their two games in June. The addition of Argentina to the tri-nations adds another storyline to what is shaping up to be a great tournament.