James McOnie

James McOnie is a writer who got chucked on TV nine years ago. As a reporter for The Crowd Goes Wild he has been to three Olympics, a Fifa World Cup and the national frisbee golf champs.

Sports
Dec 14, 2019

Obituary: Sir Peter Snell, the inscrutable genius of middle distance running

Sir Peter Snell has died, aged 80, at his home in Dallas, Texas. Looking back at the life of arguably New Zealand's greatest ever athlete.

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Sports
Aug 29, 2017

'This gruff old mountain of a man has a sense of humour!': James McOnie remembers Sir Colin Meads

From his first encounter as an 11-year-old kid in Te Awamutu to yesterday's funeral service, James McOnie remembers some of his favourite Pinetree stories.

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Sports
May 13, 2016

Exposé: Leicester City stole their inspiring sports tale from the 2015 Highlanders

Everyone's hailing Leicester City's Premier League victory as an unheard-of rags-to-riches sporting tale, but James McOnie argues it was plagarised from the Highlanders' 2015 season.

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Television
May 3, 2016

Where will Hilary Barry rank in the TV Newsreader Hall of Fame?

With Hilary Barry's resignation still sending shockwaves through the television news universe, James McOnie looks at New Zealand's rich history of newsreaders who have gone before her.

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Sports
Mar 2, 2016

All Blacks watch – Who’s on the radar (after one week of Super Rugby)?

It's never too early to start talking about who might make the All Blacks squad. Barely a week into the season, these are James McOnie's top 11 candidates to pull on the black jersey for the first time this year.

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Sports
Feb 26, 2016

Breakout star candidates for the 2016 Super Rugby season

It's Super Rugby opening weekend and a few fresh faces are taking to the field. James McOnie does his best to describe just who the hell they are.

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Sports
Feb 18, 2016

James McOnie: The problem with the Halbergs

The Halberg Awards honour the best of the best in New Zealand sport today. James McOnie proposes a new award to honour the best there ever was. Tomorrow night New Zealand …

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Music
Jan 14, 2016

David Bowie: The Songs That Made James McOnie’s ’80s Boarding School Bearable

For James McOnie and his fellow boarding school students in 1980s Hamilton, David Bowie was a lifeline to a more thrilling and artistic world. He remembers the songs that kept the schoolboys swinging.

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Sports
Dec 25, 2015

Summer Reissue: Richie McCaw is a Hippie – How that Transformed the All Blacks

The Crowd Goes Wild's James McOnie on the underrated man-management and team cultural strengths of Richie McCaw. As the stats whirled around about Richie McCaw’s incredible feats as an All Black …

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Sports
Dec 11, 2015

Rowing: The All Blacks’ Select Their Kiwi Athletes of the Year #2 – Hamish Bond and Eric Murray

We asked a dozen All Blacks who their athletes of the year were, then commissioned essays on those they chose. In equal second place: rowers Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, profiled by James McOnie.

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Sports
Nov 21, 2015

Rugby: Richie McCaw is a Hippie – and that Transformed the All Blacks

The Crowd Goes Wild's James McConie on the underrated man-management and team cultural strengths of Richie McCaw.

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Sports
Nov 18, 2015

Sports: James McOnie Remembers Jonah Lomu

James McOnie remembers Jonah Lomu as an athlete whose imposing physical gifts were allied to a playful, vulnerable, huge-hearted man. Watching Jonah Lomu in full flight was a thing of terrifying …

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Television
Dec 19, 2014

2014 in Review: James McOnie’s Sporting Year, as Viewed From His Couch

The Crowd Goes Wild's James McOnie looks back on 2014 in televised sport, recounting the year's biggest stories – most of which were broken by him using MySky and Twitter. At the …

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