Halbergs got it wrong
It's become very fashionable to bag the Halberg Trust, which
hands out New Zealand's premier sporting awards and never
finds favour with everyone.
Until now, I haven't grizzled too much, because someone like
Valerie Vili is normally a straightforward choice.
But I'm still scratching my head over the decision to award
team of the year to rowers Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.
Both are remarkable athletes and there is obviously strong
support in Otago for Bond, who doesn't spend much time in
Dunedin but was educated at Otago Boys and is still nominally
a member of the North End club.
But putting aside the question of whether two people make a
team - they don't, in the traditional sense of the word -
there are two major points:
Bond and Murray won a world title, not an Olympic gold medal.
The pinnacle of their sport is the Olympic Games.
Rowing hands out 13 gold medals for men's events at a world
championships. One doesn't necessarily hold more value than
the other.
The All Whites should have claimed the award, for emotional
as well as sporting reasons.
The theory that emotion should be shelved in favour of hard
facts is tosh.
Sport wouldn't survive without emotion.
The All Whites were THE story of 2009.
They qualified for the biggest sporting event in the world
for the first time since 1982.
And for a country like ours, just qualifying is a victory in
itself.
It would be interesting to know the split of votes on the
panel, which includes a two-to-one ratio of former athletes
and journalists (The Otago Daily Times does not have a
vote.).
Dan is still the man
Watching Daniel Vettori and new coach Mark Greatbatch give
differing opinions on the leadership of the Black Caps made
for fascinating television this week.
Vettori, in his own polite but firm way, appealed to the
media to clear up a "misconception" that he was in charge of
the team.
You know, because as the captain, No 1 player, selector and
stand-in coach, he hasn't been in charge for the last three
months at all.
Greatbatch, clearly appointed ahead of John Wright because he
is more willing to perform a back-room role, told reporters -
in an odd, stunted sort of way - that the team was basically
Vettori's to run how he pleased.
Those who deny player power led to the removal of Andy Moles,
the allocation of extra power to Vettori and the appointment
of Greatbatch have their heads in the sand.
New Zealand Cricket boss Justin Vaughan effectively admitted
Vettori was in charge when he referred to other great players
who were "at the top of the pyramid".
That's where Vettori now resides.
The question is whether that is a particularly healthy for a
national sports team.
The Sky falls in
A belated brickbat must be handed to Sky Television for a
massive blunder in its otherwise polished coverage of the New
Zealand Open golf tournament in Arrowtown.
The championship came down to a shoot-out between young
American Robert Gates and Australian Andrew Dodt, who were
tied with two holes to play last Sunday afternoon.
Both butchered their drives off the 17th tee, before Dodt
played safely into the fairway and Gates found a left-hand
bunker.
Gates then played a fine third shot to the edge of the green,
but Dodt got too ambitious and found the bunker next to the
hole.
This was gripping stuff.
Who would crack first? Could Dodt get up and down to match
Gates, who would presumably two-putt for par? It was,
potentially, the moment that defined the $830,000 tournament.
So Sky switched to an advertisement.
When they came back, Dodt had gone from his third shot to his
fifth.
His crucial fourth shot, we later learned, was a badly
mistimed chunk out of the bunker.
It was a moment of blinkered thinking from a channel that has
done so much to improve the standard of sports broadcasting,
even if it has given jobs to one or two former rugby players
who should be far, far away from a microphone.
The highlights package later showed the crucial Dodt shot.
But that was small consolation for missing it as it happened.
Driving for show
Before leaving Queenstown the day after the Open, Gates and
close friend Martin Piller, who finished tied for seventh,
were invited to go on a helicopter ride to the top of the
Remarkables mountain range.
Once at the top, the golfers and Lauren Johnson, Gates's
caddy-girlfriend, drove golf balls far out into the blue
Lakes District skies.
The Rebels still yell
Looking at a photo of former Otago Rebels netballers playing
in the Masters Games brought back a lot of memories and also
a touch of sadness.
My introduction to sports reporting was covering the great -
and I use that term advisedly - Rebels and Otago teams of
1998-99 that won an astonishing 26 consecutive games.
Without blinking, I can rattle off a starting line-up
featuring Katie Fay and Belinda Blair on defence, Vic Edward,
Lesley Nicol and Anna Rowberry through midcourt, and Belinda
Colling and Jo Steed in the shooting circle.
They were mates, they had a laugh and they were possibly the
best provincial team in the history of New Zealand netball.
We've got a team called the Steel now, and it's based in
Invercargill.
That's fine, but it will never quite be as special as the
Rebels.
But where is Ken?
Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters, who came back from
maternity leave to win the US Open last year, was
immortalised as a Barbie doll this week.
Daughter Jada, nearly 2, is now also available in a miniature
version of the famous doll.
Sadly, Clijsters' husband, Brian Lynch, has not been turned
into Ken.
hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz
