Season 34 General Discussion

ivelostmysparky wrote:What does social science consist of in Sweden? In NZ there is "social studies" which is  subject everyone takes for the first two years of high school. Then it splits into history, geography, and classical studies which are all optional for the last three years.

In primary and secondary education the subject is actually called "Social Science Orientation", and consists of history, religion, geography and, well, social science (which in turn consists of things like media, propaganda/advertising, law and state and political science).

It's taught at different depths, and with different emphasises from 1st-9th grade, and on through 3 years of high school (gymnasium in Swedish). I teach 7th-9th grade, in Sweden 14-16 year olds. However, history is my main subject which is why I like to emphasise that.

I'm currently on parental leave, though. I won't be back at work until the end of August.

Press Release

The club welcomes Charlie Hanson, a true star player and a veteran Wallabie, to New Zealand and the Auckland Katipos!

Hanson is a distinguished player with 106 caps for the Wallabies. He will team up with All Black Cecil Ambler, creating a fearsome midfield for the Katipos. He will now settle in at the club and have his league debut next week in the game versus Sparker. The club envisions Hanson to stay a Katipo for many seasons to come.

After a few player purchases, I no longer have the second lowest average top CSR in league one, but the third lowest (unless you count my starting U20's, of course).


Jokes aside, Hanson is exactly the kind of centre I would like to have alongside Ambler, and I think I got him for a fair price. I believe he is still increasing in CSR (form has been dropping for almost two weeks, though), He will also be very needed next season when I'm going to school in two new U20's. Looking forward to see how he does!

Not bad. Could do with some more tech though

That's what Ambler is for. But I am sure you'll find it more than adequate when I go for the win in R13.

@donkeysaint

I'm curious if a Swedish history class teaches some of the darker moments of your history... I was struck by this article

https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/11-04-2018/the-hurricanes-prove-why-we-need-to-do-better-at-teaching-the-new-zealand-wars/

Which led me to realise that I was never taught anything about the New Zealand Wars at school, a vital piece of history ignored. Anything similar in Sweden?

Bren wrote:@donkeysaint

I'm curious if a Swedish history class teaches some of the darker moments of your history... I was struck by this article

https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/11-04-2018/the-hurricanes-prove-why-we-need-to-do-better-at-teaching-the-new-zealand-wars/

Which led me to realise that I was never taught anything about the New Zealand Wars at school, a vital piece of history ignored. Anything similar in Sweden?

The untold/untaught parts of history has as much to say about a nation or a society as the told and taught parts, don't they? I read and learned about the New Zealand Wars when I was over there, back in 2004 I believe. I think it started as a brief text in a the lonely planet guide, and then I read on some more about it. I had never encountered anything about it before, but that isn't strange given that New Zealand and Sweden are more or less on opposite sides of the Earth.

If I remember my thoughts about it at the time, it was something about the contrast to other native populations and their wars against European colonisation. The Maori were not thoroughly defeated, unlike like most other such examples, like the Australian Aboriginals or native Americans. Instead the wars ended in that treaty (my apologies for not remembering the name, but I'm trying to write this without actually looking it up and spoiling my recollections), which then formed a sort of foundation for Maori/NZ European relations up until today. I also remember news at the time talking about that treaty. Is that very brief recollection of mine in any way accurate?

But that was not what you asked about. Yes, in Sweden we also have parts of our history that our society has chosen to speak very little about. In recent years, the last decade and a half perhaps, there has been a rather thorough discussion about Sweden's history of racial biology. It was a big thing in the late 1920's and 30's, inspiring the Nazis among others, and went on into the 60's. That has actually trickled down into education too, and has started to become a part of a collective memory, I would dare say. I think that many Swedes would now be able to say that, yes, they are aware of it, unlike say 20 years ago. The discriminatory treatment and institutionalised oppression of Roma (which have been living in Sweden since the 16th century), has also been talked about, but in a much smaller scale.

Something that has not yet trickled down into basic education or collective memory, though, is the colonisation of the northern parts of Sweden, Laponia or Sapmi. As Sweden ascended into Great Power status in (northern) Europe during the 17th century, it started sending farmers and founding towns and cities up north. The area was interesting for fur, timber, but also silver and later iron ore. The latter played a major part in our transformation into a modern industrialised society, starting in the mid 19th century. Of course, the area was already inhabited by the Sami who had lived there for thousands of years, originating perhaps as long ago as 7000 BCE. They were systematically discriminated against, marginalised and swept away, and that was general state practice well into contemporary times. Most were forced to be assimilated into Swedish society, as the state only recognised nomadic people as Sami, while perhaps the majority were not. There were no real wars or great massacres, though. But coercion, and use of force when needed, was always part of the state's approach to the Sami.

This has been part of university level discussions for a while, but I dare say that it has not yet become part of standard primary and secondary education. I must say I have not taught much about it myself. Time to make it an integral part of my courses.

Thanks! Very interesting!

How was the TV series "Midnight Sun" received in Sweden? I'm not entirely sure it involved Sami (but it was indigenous people in remote Sweden) and it was a murder-drama series involving murders in response to foreigners(?) mining their land. Not that it was supposed to be a documentary or based on a real story or anything like that.

donkeysaint wrote:That's what Ambler is for. But I am sure you'll find it more than adequate when I go for the win in R13.

Considering the way the table looks and remaining fixtures, you could make good on your word. If so, then 2nd place on the table would be very possible.

ivelostmysparky wrote:

donkeysaint wrote:That's what Ambler is for. But I am sure you'll find it more than adequate when I go for the win in R13.

Considering the way the table looks and remaining fixtures, you could make good on your word. If so, then 2nd place on the table would be very possible.

Please don't mistake banter for a promise. I refuse to promise any win over you, ever. Or at least for now.

In fact, the way the table looks at the moment, and with the coming fixtures in mind, I cannot help but wondering if Sparker will LTNT me next Saturday? If I lose that game, and then likely lose against you too, there will be no 2nd place on the table for the Katipos. My admirable form fly half got absolutely trashed nine minutes after he got on against WuhC too, missing not one league round but two (I'm not sure I have seen two week injuries before)!

So winning against the Crusaders in R13 might have to wait.

How was the TV series "Midnight Sun" received in Sweden? I'm not entirely sure it involved Sami (but it was indigenous people in remote Sweden) and it was a murder-drama series involving murders in response to foreigners(?) mining their land. Not that it was supposed to be a documentary or based on a real story or anything like that.

I saw it myself and thought it was pretty good. A Nordic Noir, similar to Bron, which in turn is considerably better, IMO.

From what I have seen it was received well, among Swedes in general and with the Sami too. It does take up the history of racism and exploitation of the Sami, even though it certainly has a dose of exoticism with all that Sami magic. Worth seeing, I particularly liked the French-Algerian police character, which I interpreted as a symbolic French "ethnic equivalent" of the Swede-Sami prosecutor.

Nah sparker won't LTNT. He'll wnwim his way to semi finals like he always does to get that perfect energy. On the injury front, that is very unlucky these days. But they used to be a lot longer - 6 weeks max I think. I checked an old player Paul Tazewell (thanks @smellystuff) and from an injury in the S8 Div 1 final he was out for 4 weeks and 6 days

That's a whole season in new BR!

I remember being super salty about that actually. IIRC I was doing alright against robelix and then Tazewell got injured and the floodgates opened...

Then of course because Tazewell carried my team, my team bombed for the next month. :/

Note: Tazewell is still in my squad at the ripe old age of 50 and gets the odd runaround against bots in the cup. I don't have the heart to get rid of him.

I see that Tazewell got 5 tries in a game earlier this season. He's still got it! Gotta keep that $10k/week flowing in after all.

ivelostmysparky wrote:Nah sparker won't LTNT. He'll wnwim his way to semi finals like he always does to get that perfect energy.

Nope I was wrong again. He went normal and won...by the skin of his teeth.

If Herc beats Gunslingers next week then Rob has his top 4 spot cemented and condeem Gunslingers to 5th. But if he loses then he'll likely have to beat Sparker in the last round to get above Gunslingers which would be very interesting.
Katipos still looking looking ok with the last round game against Okaiawa a future guaranteed win.
Last round game of WuhC vs Cobras will see who finishes 6th and 7th.

Awful week for the Katipos.

I entered R12 in second position in both the league and the NZI premiership, and I was ranked second in NZ. Nice symmetry, I thought.

Then, on Thursday, I lost in the NZI against Showtime, dropping down to third. And today I lost in the league against Sparker, making me fall down to fourth in the NZ ranking. And picked up another injury too..

The only upside was that I managed a defensive BP, while Sparker and Hercufleas got 4-point wins. It still looks like I have q decent chance at ending up second in the league after R14, but now it's much less certain. And very interesting.

ivelostmysparky wrote:

ivelostmysparky wrote:Nah sparker won't LTNT. He'll wnwim his way to semi finals like he always does to get that perfect energy.

Nope I was wrong again. He went normal and won...by the skin of his teeth.

That's right, I'm holding you responsible!

If Herc beats Gunslingers next week then Rob has his top 4 spot cemented and condeem Gunslingers to 5th. But if he loses then he'll likely have to beat Sparker in the last round to get above Gunslingers which would be very interesting.
Katipos still looking looking ok with the last round game against Okaiawa a future guaranteed win.
Last round game of WuhC vs Cobras will see who finishes 6th and 7th.

It is great that the league is still so competitive. With the exception for the top spot, of course.

bonus points failed to fall my way this weekend...though I am relieved to have won against WuhC after trailing 18-3 early on and losing 5 players to injury rthroughout the game.

looks like im on a collision course with the Catfish in the semis....but first I have to contend with the Gunslingers this weekend. I have to expect a pltnt from Gunslingers from them...they have to throw it all in if they want to overtake me for that semi spot...

...also made another stadium improvement...I will be up to 48,500 in 2 weeks time...nearing a 50k stadium!

Your man Dooley has only played a total of 129 minutes (equivalent of 1.61 games) for the All Blacks this season. Nutimaki (134 mins) is only 5 mins better. A good player who is worth his place in the squad would be expected to play in the equivalent of half the 18 games for a total of ~720 minutes.

Still, Chewy has managed to navigate the BR AB's into position 2, with a clear chance of winning the EE.1 title after this weekend, the first since S32. Not bad..


I have realised that I should have played LTNT against Sparky last week. It was the game for me to go LTNT this league season, and a win would have pretty much secured me second position, a pretty awesome feat (if I may say so myself) for my first league one season. I could then have chosen to WNWIM my last two games, entering the playoff with perfect energy.

Now I can still do it, but it's much less likely. If I end up third after R14, I only have myself to blame. Not playing LTNT last Saturday was as clear a strategic mistake as I have ever made in this game.

robelix wrote:...also made another stadium improvement...I will be up to 48,500 in 2 weeks time...nearing a 50k stadium!

We will soon see the Cup Final being played in the Tough Terrier Battleground!

I agree I think NZ are favourites and likely will take the EE.1 title with Aus' bad discipline finally coming back to bite them this season. If I wasn't happy (enough) with chewy being the NT manager then I wouldn't still be training current and future ABs. If the ratio of exp gain is 3:1 in favour of club games:rep games then bothering to have 2 very low CSR players gain the equivalent of 1 club game (on normal/LTNT) over 2 subseasons is hard to fathom.

I'm not sure it was a clear mistake to normal last week actually. How highly do you rate SF HGA compared to near max energy? How do you think your main 2nd place rival sparker rates them? I honestly thought he would have played wnwim. You have a free win in the last round against WuhC and your opponent this week has 1st place locked up so a full power lineup would be unlikely. Sparker might have to win against a determined Herc at home in the last round if Gunslingers win this week. Perhaps it was a mistake. But I would argue a small one, if at all.

Well done Donkey! You handed me my first NZI loss in about 55 games.

In light of this I'm going to have to reconsider my sub rules. Hughes (4) got injured and was replaced by Tough (8.), with Mazurek moving into 6, and MacAmollo going into lock. That worked perfectly. But then MacAmollo now at (4) also gets injured and is directly replaced by 192 cm & mediocre jumper Bogucki at 4. Not good!

At first I have no idea wtf is going on, but another look at my sub rules tells the story. My two "2nd replacement" locks are Tough and Mazurek (reasonably tall and can jump), but they were shuffled to 8 & 6 because of the first injury. Bogucki is the 2nd replacement for 8 so he comes onto the field and goes into 4. All "2nd replacements" are treated equally so the ME doesn't want to move Tough (playing 8.) into lock (or Mazurek into lock) and put Boguckni where he is supposed to go at 8 (or 3).

Then I found something else out with the next injury. Chauncellor is subbed into 8 when he directly replaces the injured Tough, even though he is my 2nd replacement halfback and not a forward. I thought at this stage the order of operations was 16=>22 on the bench so Rosol or Kozma would enter, but no.

I think I'll have to make Boguckni my 1st replacement 8, and Kozma the 2nd replacement 8. But if I'm unlucky then Mazurek (starting 8.) will get injured first and I'll want Tough to be his direct replacement at 8 instead of Boguckni/Kozma. I better figure this out before the semis.

This deserves an article in its own! I mean, not sparky's sub rules, but donkey's win

ivelostmysparky wrote:Well done Donkey! You handed me my first NZI loss in about 55 games.

Wow. Thank you, that was unexpected. I did see that I had a slight lead at halftime, but didn't think I would end up winning. Great result for me!

The reporter's summary does give a hint as to why, though. Along with the injuries, you had six red arrows to my zero and four green arrows to my 13. I will be hard pressed to repeat that come Saturday.