Other Sport

Professional sport in Otago and New Zealand. Discuss. Is professionalism ruining sport? Or enhancing it?

Doom and gloom in sport used to refer to Rugby World Cup droughts, or being bowled out for 26. Now it is more likely to refer to balance sheets and bad debts. Beginning our series examining the state of professional sport, sports editor Hayden Meikle gives an overview of the issues to debate.

Moments after completing a four-minute aerobics routine, Fred Millar gathers his breath and says: "There's nothing we won't do - as long as we can get back up afterwards".

Here is a topic that has had us stumped over the past few days.

The All Blacks swept the Halberg Awards last night with rugby's dominance of the nation's premier sporting awards a reflection of 24 years' worth of expectation and hurt now gone.

Darts again demonstrated its popularity on United Kingdom television last month when Adrian Lewis retained his world singles title.

The New Zealand Masters Games is Neil Gamble's last major event as manager of the Dunedin Ice Stadium.

I am writing this column in Tauranga, as I am here pursuing one of my other interests - athletics - but due to the wizardry of modern technology, I have a good idea of the fishing possibilities for this weekend.

As results go it was hardly unexpected.

The Otago team returns to the national surf league at Mount Maunganui today after an absence of two years from the teams event.