The 2007 sportsthought.com sport awards

2007 could have been the greatest year in our history as we may have ended it holding world championships in Rugby, Cricket (one day and twenty20) Netball and of course the America’s cup. Suffice to say we got none of those. Anyways, this is how I saw the best and worst of the 2007 sporting year.

Best Cricket Match
It was the Hamilton run chase by the Black Caps against the Aussies for the Chappell Haddlee series. Chasing a mammoth 347 to win, we were gone at 41/4. Enter Peter Fulton and Craig McMillan who carved up the Aussies and got us back in the game.

The innings from Mark Gillespe was surreal as he somehow managed 3 valuable boundaries. McCullum finished the game in style and we had the silverware. A true spine tingler.

Best Rugby League Match
Warriors v Roosters (a 31 all draw). The Warriors were down about 14 (maybe 16) nil, and were playing poorly. But in the space of 15 minutes they tore the Roosters to shreds thanks to Epalahame Lauaki. He started with a two handed off-load in the tackle to Wade McKinnon who sprinted away for the try. Two minutes later Hame threw a long ball which Jerome Ropati picked up on the bounce and (after a few passes) scored under the bar. Five minutes later Hame scored himself. Both coaches had to change their half time speeches such was the turn around.

The Roosters were great as well and when the teams scored two tries each in the second half, a draw was an accurate reflection on the days proceedings. Gary Freeman’s commentary during the game was a highlight for me as well.

Best Rugby Match
Damm, I can’t think of one to be honest. I know there were a few good ones during the rugby world cup, but I never saw them. So lets say it was the France V All Blacks match. Once again the French showed how passion and toughness can win you big games.

The ‘I told you so’ award
That would be me for my ‘why the All Blacks will lose the world cup‘ and my post about the All Blacks fitness. I told you so.

Team of the year
I can’t split two rugby teams. Argentina for their best ever world cup and the English for making the final of the world cup and proving in the process that boring rugby is winning rugby. They also get a pat on the back for peaking at the right time.

Best Houdini Act
Those disappearing All Blacks car flags - soon to be clogging up inorganic collections all over New Zealand

The ‘lets milk the brand for every last dollar’ award
The All Blacks album - soon to be clogging up bargain bins all over New Zealand.

Biggest Choker
Another tie here. First is the New Zealand Rugby League who managed to get rid of Brian Mclennan, the best Kiwi’s coach this generation has seen. They did this by not overturning their ‘Kiwis coach must live in New Zealand’ rule when Bluey took up a job at Leeds. Quite how they came to this decision is beyond me. The results speak for themselves - new coach Gary Kemble is out of his depth at international level. We suffered a record defeat against the Aussies and got beaten by the Poms 3-nil.

The other winner is the New Zealand rugby media, who clearly know very little about sport, especially Chris Rattue who wrote this aweful preview of the France - All Blacks quarter final match.

Best Losers
The Silver Ferns. Not good enough to win the championship but at the end of the game, they came across as gracious in defeat and proud of their own performance.

Highlight of 2007
Winning the Chappell Hadlee 3-nil - an achievement that cannot be underestimated. This was almost as good as winning the cricket world cup.

Low light 2007
The All Blacks at the world cup. Nuff said. Oh and this guy.

So there you have it. I know I’ve missed heaps of teams and players and events, but these are the ones that stuck out for me. Leave a comment if you think I’ve missed something.