What sports teams do you support?

[Мастер]

New Zealand 15 - 7 Forces of Darkness at the half

[Мастер]

New Zealand 37 - 10 FoD, final score

Last match of the Bledisloe Cup, but New Zealand had already clinched it.

[Arneb]

A few hours later, in a continent far, far away:

Hertha 2 - 1 1. FC Köln

Excellent result, making Hertha jump a few spots in the table, and a correction of the rather sad run of results against Cologne during the last few seasons.


Played 53 Won 28 Drawn 11 Lost 14

[Heid the Ba]

Rangers 0 - 1 Other Forces of Darkness in th eWee Cup

They were by far the better team.

Played 54 Won 28 Drawn 11 Lost 15

[Arneb]

They were by far the better team.

Where have I heard that one before?

Meanwhile, with

Eintracht Braunschweig 1 - 0 SpVgg Greuther Fürth

my Spielvereinigung weren't the better team, apparently. Like, not at all.


Played 55 Won 28 Drawn 11 Lost 16

[Arneb]

FC St. Pauli 0 - 2 Hertha BSC

This is a-fucking-mazing. Hertha reach the round of last 16 in the German football Cup, away to the club currently last of the second league. Next stop, Barcelona.

Played 56 Won 29 Drawn 11 Lost 16

[Arneb]

Gasp!

SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2 - 1 FSV Mainz 05

That ws great! One down at home to a successful Bundesliga team, then a late equalier and even later winner. Not usuallly something my teams do.

Played 57 Won 30 Drawn 11 Lost 16

[Heid the Ba]

Fürth! They continue to surprise us, but in a good way for once.

[Arneb]

They'll be at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the next round, while Hertha will be touring Borussia Dortmund. So it's probably going to end in the next round, but that is February next year.

[Arneb]

SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1 1.FC Kaiserslautern.

You have to win some matches even for mid-table mediocrity.

Played 58 Won 30 Drawn 11 Lost 17

[Heid the Ba]

Rangers 3 - 0 Kilmarnock

County were involved in a game but did not play.

Played 60, Won 31, Drawn 11, Lost 18

[Arneb]

Seems like Rangers saved an otherwise rotten weekend:
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 1 - 0 Hertha BSC

We have a dreadful record against this billionaire plaything club...

Played 61, Won 31, Drawn 11, Lost 19

[Lance]

So I guess there was some kind of "sports-ball" thingy going on around here where some team that didn't do good for a very long time did something kind of a good.

In other news: "Hell reporting frigid temps".

[Arneb]

Hertha BSC 3 - 0 Borussia Mönchengladbach.

That is fucking brilliant! We had a very bad streak against this team during the last years, and with this victory, half the rent for remaining in the Bundesliga is in after 10 of 34 games.

Played 62, Won 32, Drawn 11, Lost 19

[Мастер]

So I guess there was some kind of "sports-ball" thingy going on around here where some team that didn't do good for a very long time did something kind of a good.

In other news: "Hell reporting frigid temps".

I think that was a Chicago team, although the freezing of normally tropical climes actually took place in Cleveland.

However, there is an opportunity for another Chicago event starting just over 19 hours from now, where one national rugby team will attempt to defeat another for the first time ever, despite trying for 111 years. I would have had to be on the aeroplane about 10 hours ago to make it, and I'm not. So I won't be there.

[Lance]

The last couple of innings of game 7 was actually quite riveting, even for a non-baseball fan.

Are the New Zealand All Blacks and the Maori All Blacks different?

[Мастер]

The last couple of innings of game 7 was actually quite riveting, even for a non-baseball fan.

Are the New Zealand All Blacks and the Maori All Blacks different?

To be on the Māori All Blacks, you need to be a Māori. It is a different team than the All Blacks. I think some players have been on both, but I'm guessing that you can't be on both at the same time. (Not sure though.) But even though it is not the top national team, they're still pretty good, having defeated many top-level national teams (as they did just hours ago, 54-7).

Historically, rugby has been largely a white boy's prep-school colonial sport (if you have a look at the South African team, they're pretty white), so I speculate that there might not be as much rugby tradition among the Māori population. But given that the Māori All Blacks go back to 1888, in a sport whose origins are somewhat shrouded in mystery, but thought to date to the 1830s, it is possible that the Māori have "caught up" to the Europeans in their enthusiasm for this sport. I don't really know.

Tubeswell may be able to provide more detailed or accurate answers than I can . . .

[tubeswell]

The last couple of innings of game 7 was actually quite riveting, even for a non-baseball fan.

Are the New Zealand All Blacks and the Maori All Blacks different?

To be on the Māori All Blacks, you need to be a Māori. It is a different team than the All Blacks. . . .

Strictly speaking, this is correct.

... given that the Māori All Blacks go back to 1888, in a sport whose origins are somewhat shrouded in mystery, but thought to date to the 1830s, . . .

Maori tribes had differing reactions to Pakeha (European) culture throughout the 1770-1870 period following first contact. Some thought that Pakeha was best tasting like pork with a bit of water-cress (mind you, eating traditional tribal enemies was fairly common as well). Other Maori chiefs thought it prestigious to have a white envoy living amongst them i.e.' Come and look at my Pakeha folks'. This perception changed with mass migration of European settlers after 1840. Some Maori tribes became overtly hostile to European settlers (many of whom were outright scoundrels/crooks/badly behaved people). Inter-racial tension intensified after British colonisation in 1840, and ultimately gave rise to the Maori Land Wars of the 1845-1870s period. However, some Maori tribes had been 'bought' by the British colonial administration (who exploited traditional inter-tribal tensions in the game of 'divide and conquer') and were regarded by the British as 'allies'. These tribes had greater 'protection' and access to British culture and technology and education etc. And they didn't mind if the Brits helped to get rid of their traditional tribal enemies. Needless to say, the process of cultural integration has never been a homogenous picture, and even Maori culture itself has arguably never been 'static' - there is plenty of archaeological, cultural and linguistic evidence that Maori culture changed throughout 'pre-history' and was changing prior to (and after) European contact. European contact merely accelerated the process of cultural change. The cultural acquisition of rugby is merely one aspect of this process.

[Lance]

Are there still divisions within the Maori, and between some of the Maori and whites?

[tubeswell]

yup and there probably always will be some

[Heid the Ba]

In Rugby League the Maori used to be recognised as a nation, but I don't think they are anymore.

[Heid the Ba]

Great result for Hertha, it is the IrU Derby tomorrow when we visit County. It could go either way.

[Arneb]

SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2 - 1 VfL Bochum

This is ramping up to be a great weekend. 12th of the tabele, JUST qualifying for "mid-table mediocrity".

Played 63, Won 33, Drawn 11, Lost 19

[Lance]

Watch on youtube.com

[Мастер]

Wow, a few days after the Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908, the Irish rugby team beat New Zealand, for the first time ever, with the match taking place rather strangely at Soldier Field, Chicago.

Lots of hot places freezing over lately.