Dubious Dubai
In watching the men's and women's rugby sevens in Dubai, and living in Wellington makes one very frustrated.
Ok, a little history. Wellington Regional Stadium staged a leg of the international sevens tournament for years and though it dwindled in spectator numbers due to a number of fixable factors, upwards of 38,000 people had turned up each day of the two day event.
Then it went to Hamilton and good year-on-year numbers went through their stadium gates.
But now - from the 2023-24 internationals series on into the near future at least, neither Hamilton nor any other part of NZ gets to host the sevens. And yet Dubai hosts the event in conditions that can reach an unhealthy, sticky 40c and with several hundred spectators watching main;y from the back of sub-standard stands in largely less than enthusiastic conditions that are dispossessed of such things as ridiculously dressed-up and/or gentle beer swilling people.
And just now like in many other years, NZ is the world number one in both women's and men's rugby sevens.
I enjoyed the international rugby sevens at our stadium both as a spectator and in the capacity as a volunteer. One year my wife and I dressed up in Fijian garb and sat among the Fijian supporters and thoroughly loved it. Another time we dressed as dignified Indians and that was fun too.
But I wouldn't be travelling to Dubai to watch rugby sevens anytime soon. The international rugby sevens in Dubai is not a joke and of course money is finding its way into the coffers of world rugby though not via the turnstiles of the park used for rugby in that city.
Poll: Is the increase in disability parking fines fair?
In October, the fine for parking in a designated mobility car park without a permit has jumped from $150 to $750—a 400% increase!
The goal is to keep these spaces open for those who truly need them. Do you think this big increase in the fine is fair? Share your thoughts below.
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89.3% Yes, it's fair
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9.9% No, it's unreasonable
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0.8% Other - I'll share below
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THE POST FOREGOES ITS OWN TEAM
Wellington Lions (men's provincial rugby rep team) brilliantly won the Bunnings NPC last Saturday but The Post (Wellington's daily newspaper) has done absolutely no follow-up article/story in the days following the brief report on the Monday edition.
In fact the Auckland-based NZ Herald carried much more surrounding Wellington's success.
What use is this Wellington newspaper - the "great" amalgamated successor of the Dominion and The Evening Post which had presented a Trump-like lie in stating it was going to to be twice as good and as large as either of the two newspapers it derived from and with a smorgasbord of journalists.
Today it is a limp, dwindling, sometimes delivered soggy cut-down-to-comic-size newspaper that cannot even capture the essence of a stunning sports win by an outstanding team of Super Rugby and All Black quality players within its realm of distribution.
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