The Last Word: Hall of Fame thoughts

See, this is why reporters should simply not bother making predictions.

Three weeks ago, some fool clogged up a fair chunk of this newspaper with a story looking at who might be next up for induction into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.

He banged on about 15 contenders, none of whom (surprise, surprise) ended up getting the nod at the Halberg Awards.

Your new Hall of Famers are All Black winger John Kirwan, and rowers Philippa Baker and Brenda Lawson.

How could I have forgotten JK? Sixty-three tests (35 tries).

The power and the pace. That try against Italy. Later, the work done for fellow sufferers of depression.

The rowers seemed a less obvious pick. They won consecutive world double sculls titles in 1993-94, but could not win a medal at two Olympic Games.

The campaign to get the 1982 All Whites inducted must go on.

Brother update
Last week's suggestion Michael and Steven Bates may be the first brother-brother combination to represent the All Blacks and the Black Caps appears to be true.

The only follow-up we have had is a reminder of another pair of brothers, All Black captain Wilson Whineray and his New Zealand hockey-playing sibling, Bruce Whineray.

The green theme
The Highlanders introduced a new, and spectacularly unpopular, green jersey last year.

Shortly after, it was noted the Crusaders were training in similar green tops.

The Australian sevens team debuted a new green strip this summer, and now the Warriors are playing pre-season league in jerseys containing a fair splash of, well, you can guess.

Just how much spare lime green material dropped off the back of that truck?

Front-rower scores four
Former Otago hooker Peter Mirrielees made an instant impact in his Scottish rugby starting debut.

Playing prop for Selkirk, Mirrielees scored four tries - a remarkable feat for any forward, let alone one plugging away in the front row - against Peebles.

Under the outstanding heading, "Peter Puts Pees To The Sword", the Peebleshire News reports Mirrieless managed the tryfest despite spending 10 minutes in the sinbin.

"It was a lucky day, with the weather suiting the forwards," Mirrielees said.

"To score four tries is unlikely to ever happen again for me."

Sunny's go-slow
English writer Marcus Berkmann has done two very funny books, Rain Men and Zimmer Men, on cricket.

I've just finished his third, Ashes To Ashes, which is a bit drier but offers a nice overall summary of cricket's greatest battle over the last 35 years.

My favourite story in the book is one I had vaguely heard before, and has nothing to do with the Ashes.

It is the story of the great Sunil Gavaskar's magnificently defensive innings at Lord's in the inaugural World Cup in 1975.

England racked up 334 for four off 60 overs. In reply, India dawdled to 132 for three, with Gavaskar batting through the innings for 36 not out off a mind-blowing 174 balls. Yes, 174 balls.

Indian fans invaded the pitch to protest his pedestrianism, and the team manager later blasted the "disgraceful and selfish performance".

Ah, the good old days. Thanks to this infernal twenty/20, we will tragically never see an innings like Gavaskar's again.

Hawke Cup imposters
Good to see those plucky battlers from the tiny provincial outpost of Hamilton holding on to the Hawke Cup last weekend.

Some bloke called Watling - presumably a local butcher - whacked 170 in a score of 678 all out in 199 overs, and Wairarapa was rolled for 137.

Nothing like good old grass-roots cricket, huh?

Pricey pub pugilism
The Last Word touched last week on the unfortunate spectacle of the latest Sonny Bill Williams "boxing" occasion.

A fascinating follow-up arrived in the form of a fax from the proprietor of a local watering hole that shall remain nameless.

After I had recovered from the shock of receiving a fax for the first time in five years, my eyes widened when I saw a page was from the business wing of Sky Television, promoting its deal for pubs wanting to show the SBW v Clarence Tillman "fight".

The deal? Just $999 plus GST, or a special discount of $749 plus GST for Hospitality and Clubs NZ affiliates.

Madness.

Lin-sanity
Google "Jeremy Lin" right now, and delve into the sports story that is gripping everyone with even a shred of interest in basketball.

Lin is playing point guard for the New York Knicks, or as I have known them for nearly 20 years, my beloved New York Knicks.

He has become, if you will pardon the hyperbole, an absolute phenomenon, for the following reasons:1. He played college basketball at Harvard, the elite academic school. Only four Harvard graduates had previously appeared in the NBA. Eight Harvard graduates have gone on to be US president.

2. He was undrafted. This means not one franchise deemed him good enough to play in the NBA when he came out of college.

3. He was cut by two other NBA teams this season, and the Knicks took weeks to decide he was ready for an opportunity.

4. He is Taiwanese-American.

With Yao Ming gone, he is the only player of Asian extraction playing in the NBA.

5. And, oh yes, he has just led the Knicks, a team with a massive fan and commercial base that has historically under-achieved, to seven straight wins.

He dropped 38 points on the Lakers, and set all sorts of records for performances by a player in his first handful of starts.

It is a Lin-derella story to match the best.

Birthday of the week
Enzo Ferrari would have been 114 today.

"Il Commendatore" inspired one of the great motorsport institutions, but he was not a particularly likeable chap.

It was said he treated his drivers like dirt, and his first question on hearing a man had been killed at the wheel during racing or testing was: "And the car?"

Friend and accountant Carlo Benzi said Ferrari saw drivers as "accessories", and added: "For the 42 years I worked for Ferrari I only saw him cry once, and that was when he was at the tax office."

- hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz