Great result - I said I thought Rob would do it but I preferred Mahe as I believed he deserved it - and he came through. It now seems Rob has a heart problem but I think it would have been quite unfair to select Waddell.
Chris Rattue in the N Z Herald summed it up in my view
' Drysdale was the incumbent selection, the best in the world, the man who had qualified the New Zealand boat, the people's new champion, a man who fully deserved to be an Olympic single sculls certainty until the remarkable Waddell quietly slipped into his comeback.
As great as Waddell has been, this should never have been regarded as a trial between two equally weighted combatants.
Waddell ambushed Drysdale to a degree, forcing a man who had every right to regard himself as an Olympic certainty to alter his preparation course.
If Drysdale had been given plenty of warning that his well-earned Olympic spot was under threat, then fair cop. But Waddell timed his surprise comeback for a vigorous sprint towards selection, while Drysdale had been physically and mentally preparing for a longer build up towards China.
Drysdale initially reacted with easy-to-understand pique, and then set about peaking. He's confronted the challenge, and showed his true grit. '
Was Mahe foxing at the N Z Champs, realising that what happened there didn't really count. I only hope that having to peak twice doesn't wreck his medal hopes in Beijing.
A friend phoned me during the race - she doesn't follow sport - really weird!!
Rugby - The ELV's are being used in the Super 14 and after a couple of rounds already the Northern Hemisphere are going crook. No wonder they are so bad at the game - never looking forward, always complaining. The irony is that I understand many of the ELV's were their idea. Personally to date I have liked what I have seen.
Watching the Reds Brumbies game and the 10 minutes it took to take Julian Huxley from the field on Saturday night, I, like the commentators, was mystified at what had happened from what was an inocous tackle. Now we find out he was convulsing due to a benign brain tumour they discoverd. Lucky it happened on the field with good medical support - imagine if he had been driving.
The AB's are going to play in Hong Kong against the Wallabies. Some are against - a quote 'will they be playing in Disneyland next!!' But, I think we have to promote the game and we will not go to a city unless a profit can be made therefore there will be spectators. I prefer that to the Super 14's being privately owned, which I am convinced will lead to the problems the Northern Hemisphere have with their Clubs.
Oz got beaten 2-0 by India. How sad. How sad also for the streaker shoulder charged by Andrew Symonds. Some idiots, as per usual, are talking about assault by Symonds - what a bunch of nutters.
Not Sport - On to less important things - the US Presidential race. Just saw the Hillary advert showing a phone ringing at 3 AM and asking who would you like answering it - a person experienced like her or an inexperienced person like Barack Obama. If I was Obama I would say the phone rang just before the invasion of Iraq and Clinton voted in favour - I voted against - who has been proven correct.
