Cynicism of the job

Hair artist and barber Nariko (27) holds up a mirror so customer Luiz Fernadez (15) can see the...
Hair artist and barber Nariko (27) holds up a mirror so customer Luiz Fernadez (15) can see the image of Barcelona's Neymar and his team's badge shaved on to his head at a barbershop in Sao Vicente, near Santos, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo by Reuters.
It might be ...

See, you think sports reporters are negative. You think we revel in defeat, bask in failure and wallow in scandal.

The truth is most of us much prefer to write about the good stuff, to witness moments of glory rather than moments of madness, to be ''positive'' rather than ''negative''.

In saying that, there is a certain cynicism that can take root deep in one's soul after a long period doing this job.

To this day, I can't tip the Highlanders to beat the Crusaders or the Chiefs - I had too many bad experiences when I was rugby writer.

Same goes for Liverpool beating Man United, or the New York Knicks beating anyone.

But recent events have reminded me that sometimes - just sometimes - it is important to keep the faith. And to celebrate with unrestrained joy when a great victory is won.

... time to ...

We'll start with the Kiwis.

For those of us who pre-date Twitter, mind-numbing reality shows and Prime Ministers who act like 12-year-old boys, the Anzac test means one thing: utter humiliation.

We would soak up the pre-game hype, listen to some expert bang on about how the Kiwis forwards would win the battle of the trenches ... and watch the Kangaroos tear us to shreds.

It was a cruel annual ritual.

So, last Sunday, we watched the pre-game festivities and listened to what the analysts had to say, and we waited for the inevitable shellacking at the hands of our nasty neighbours.

Yeah, nah.

Three consecutive wins over the old enemy. That's just fairytale stuff for Kiwis fans, but we should have seen it coming.

The Kiwis have built one of the strongest teams in their history around the playmaking of Shaun Johnson, Kieran Foran and Issac Luke, the hyphenated sizzle of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Shaun Kenny-Dowall, and the grunt of Jesse Bromwich, Sam Moa, Martin Taupau and others.

It also seems Stephen Kearney has come of age as a coach who knows how to press the right buttons, and who has developed a team loaded with aggression and focus and self-belief.

I believe in the Kiwis.

... believe

Meanwhile, how about those Highlanders?!?There remains a tendency - especially on the part of the blinkered northern media - to downplay any success emanating from the South.

Even after the Highlanders absolutely pummelled the Sharks last week, we read and heard more about the Hurricanes' latest win, or the Crusaders' travails, or John Kirwan regaining messiah status with a Blues win.

It just doesn't seem sexy to admit the Highlanders have a good team. One, by the way, cobbled together largely from cast-offs from other franchises and unheralded players.

Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown deserve huge credit for developing a team with a small group of stars (the Smiths and Malakai Fekitoa) and a bunch of players - think Elliot Dixon and Lima Sopoaga - performing at their peak.

It also seems clear the players are loving being part of the Highlanders.

Look at Brendon Edmonds last week. When he was named in the squad, odds are you knew very little about another random prop from Hawkes Bay.

But Edmonds came off the bench last week with a massive grin on his face. It was a grin that encapsulated the spirit in the team, the sheer enjoyment of being part of Clan Highlander. And he promptly scored a try.

There's still a lot of rugby to be played, but let's not be shy in celebrating our team's efforts this season.

I believe in the Highlanders.

The fight

Obviously, you want my thoughts after six days of digesting and analysing the goings-on in the fight of the trillennium.1. It was no surprise that Floyd Mayweather won.2. I told you he would win.3. There is zero controversy in Floyd winning. He dominated the fight, and he landed cleaner punches. He won.4. Floyd's an awful human being, but his post-fight speech was a tad more gracious than Manny Pacquiao's.5. Manny's a wonderful human being, but his approach was disappointing. He didn't attack enough.6. Manny lied about the extent of his shoulder injury? Great. Boxing really needs more farce.7. Man, it would have been nice had this fight happened five years ago.8. No rematch, please.

The first quote

''On behalf of the squad we would like to apologise for the moment we are going through. Needless to say this is not anything intentional. The time we have left to turn around this situation is short but after the end of the season we will try to learn from the mistakes we made so that we don't have to go through this again. This is as painful for us as it is for you, because when this team comes on to the pitch we do so with the intention of winning and to defend not just the colours of this club, not just our shirt, but also to represent thousands of fans, the whole city.''

- Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini writes an open letter of apology to fans for the club's woeful form that has left it battling to retain Premier League status.

The second quote

''Now it's public. We got arrested in Qatar, interrogated by the police and the intelligence service. Not allowed to leave the country for days.''

- Florian Bauer, a reporter for German broadcaster ARD, alleges his crew was arrested for making a documentary on corruption allegations and building conditions for the 2022 World Cup.

Triumph

The New England Patriots cheated. FACT.

It fits under this category because it is a triumph that the NFL has finally admitted the evidence that the Super Bowl champions knew they were gaining an advantage in the AFC title game by playing with under-inflated balls is overwhelming.

Disaster

Perennial bad boy Greg Bird will miss the entire State of Origin series after being banned for eight games following a dangerous tackle in the Anzac test.

Bird has been suspended for 29 weeks since his NRL debut.

hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz

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