[wordup] thank god for kiwi sanity. :-)

[Adam Shand]

i wonder if this made the nz news?

Via: Bruce Potter
From: 
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/03/10/offbeat.nz.wrestle/index.html

By CNN's Marianne Bray in Hong Kong

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (CNN) --Two New Zealand telecom bosses have 
resolved a network battle in a most unorthodox way -- using brute force 
to wrestle their way to an out-of-court settlement.

Unable to reach a deal on access to a mobile radio network, the chief 
executive of a Wellington-based telecom company challenged his 
counterpart from a rival firm to a best-of-three bouts arm-wrestling 
contest.

Worried that the relatively small nine-month dispute could get out of 
hand, Teamtalk boss, David Ware asked Auckland-based MCS Digital chief 
Allan Cosford to square off around the table.

The companies had taken their NZ$200,000 ($112,000) spat to the commerce 
commission who didn't resolve it, and a court battle was looming, Ware said.

"The whole thing was becoming a distraction," says Ware. "The process 
was becoming a lot more than the original dispute was worth. This was a 
win-win."

So last Friday, 42-year-old Ware and 45-year-old Cosford shed their 
suits and trundled down to a "low-rent box of a gym" in Mt. Eden, 
Auckland to let strength settle the score.
Quietly confident

"It could have got rather nasty and lawyers could have won," Cosford 
said of the row over MCS's bid to win access to TeamTalk's network.

"I took it (the wrestling) as a great gesture and reciprocated in kind."

In front of around 60 spectators the two faced off, hands interlocked 
and elbows firmly planted on a table, bidding to force each other's arm 
down.

"He was shorter than me and an accountant so I was quietly confident I 
would win," says Ware, of his arm-wrestling debut.

"I'm a bit heavier than him."

Ware won the first bout, which according to both parties, seemed to go 
on forever, but then faded after that, with Cosford coming back to pin 
his opponent down in the second and third rounds.
Steroid accusation

"I got him in the end because of persistence," said Cosford of his 2-1 
victory. "My shoulder told the news for the next two days."

Ware seemed a little put out by the loss, accusing Cosford of ingesting 
illegal substances.

"Between rounds 2 and 3, Allan took his ventolin (asthmatic inhaler) and 
I reckon there were steroids in it," Ware said in jest of his loss.

But Cosford refuted the performance enhancing allegations, saying the 
two beers he had before the bout to ease his anxiety "probably helped," 
as did "rugby training from a few too many years ago."

While Cosford said the wrestle was a "damned good way to settle a 
score," with both contestants fielding sore arms, they will look to 
other options in future.

"Next time I'll use the child's game, stone-paper-scissors," said a 
defeated Ware.

Cosford advises companies to try to resolve their issues before 
resorting to arm-wrestling, which "is not that easy."