Mark Keown

I am one of the those people who do not subscribe to Sky TV. It is simply too expensive with our family costs. I live my life following sport on the net, papers, radio etc. It is a tragedy to me that I cannot watch at any reasonable time (except one game every Saturday night) the rugby, league, cricket, soccer, golf and other sports which are exclusively on Sky Sport. I think it is also destructive to the sports involved. A generation of NZer's are growing up who really do not get to watch these sports. This will affect playing numbers I think over time. There is thus a gap in the Free to Air world for lesser known sports to make their move for the hearts of NZer's. There are some who do like surf lifesaving, motor sport and netball who retain their Free to Air commitment. What I am advocating is that those of you in minor sports like hockey, lacrosse, athletics, swimming, triathlon, biathlon, cycling etc move decisively to fill Free to Air TV with your products. This would mea...

As it is the day before Christmas I want to celebrate sport from a God-point-of-view. In recent times I have begun to give thanks to God as I have realised that sport is close to his heart. What, you say? What has God to do with sport? Well, he made us physical. Ancient Greeks despised the body and celebrated the mind. They saw human existence as being trapped in a weak shadow of reality in the evil of matter. However, the Judeo-Christian ethic celebrates the whole person. We are made in God's image, physical, to eat and be whole. The Christian is the temple of God. He made us creative, creativity in forming games to enjoy is part of being human. So for me sport is one of humanities great gifts. It is a healthy way of interacting, socialising, competing and having fun. Sport has indeed become idolatrous and tarnished with cheating through drugs etc, materialism as it has become big business and a win-at-all-costs mentality. Yet this does not invalidate sport. It is good and to be e...

So who stands alongside Peter Snell on the female side of things as NZ's greatest sportswomen thus far. The candidates. 1. Yvette Williams (gold medal long jump 1952 Melbourne and a swag of other athletics medals and acheivements) 2. Elsie Wilkie (winner of 2 world's bowls champs and in 1977 beat three of NZ's best male champs) 3. Sarah Ulmer (winner of gold in women's pursuit 2004, world records, and other commonwealth golds) 4. Erin Baker (winner of 8 world triathlon titles [sprint and ironman] over her career and a duathlon title!) 5. Sandra Edge (netball midcourt legend) 6. Irene van Dyk (netball shooting superstar) 7. Caroline Evers-Swindell (rowing gold 2004 Olympics and numerous world champ titles) 8. Georgine Evers-Swindell (rowimg gold 2004 Olympics and numerous world champ titles) 9. Analise Coberger (silver winter Olympic gold 1992 plus other world titles) 10. Susan Devoy (Squash 4x World Champ; 8x British Champion plus many other events) 11. Beatrice Faumuin...

It is a tough thing to decide on the greatest NZ sportsman. The main candidates for me are: Bob Fitzsimmons (boxing world title) Anthony Wilding (tennis wimbledon 2x) Denny Hulm (formula one champion) Ivan Mauger (speedway champion 6x) Bob Charles (golf British Open and others) Colin Meads (All Black) Peter Snell (athletics 3 gold medals; other records and titles) Winton Rufer (soccer) Michael Campbell (golf US Open and others) Mark Sorenson (Captain NZ Softball team for 2 World Titles plus one other) Russell Coutts (sailing America's Cup 3x; Olympic gold) Richard Hadlee (cricket) Mark Todd (equestrian 2 Olympic Golds; heaps of other titles) Danyon Loader (swimming 2 Olympic Gold; 1 silver; world titles, world records) Ian Ferguson (Kayaking 4 Olympic Gold; 1 silver; world titles) Paul MacDonald (Kayaking 3 Olympic Gold; 1 silver; 1 bronze) How do you choose between these legends? For me it can be narrowed down to: Denny Hulm (formula one champion): this is so tough to win! Peter S...

Sport is sensational. I love it. For me it points to a glorious creator, hence the title, sportdivine. The big guy who is behind this planet sure knew how to make life fun. He created us physical, creative to make games, run, swim, throw, hit and play; awesome! I am thankful for that. It doesn't matter what level you are at, you can enjoy! I love the variety of sport, games that people over the centuries have created. Some are pure and uncluttered like running or swimming. Others are more complicated like golf or cricket. They are all wonderful. If you love sport, you should love God, because he is the one who created us that way. Let's love them both!