And another thing
There was one other point I should have made last week when I ranted about all the ranting that's been going on about All Blacks chasing more money overseas.
And it is this.
There is no doubt the All Blacks will be affected next year when players with a combined eight million caps retire or start working on their tans in the south of France.
But will the Wallabies be stronger?
Will the Springboks?
And will the French stay at the top table of world rugby for much longer if they keep allowing their clubs to be populated by has-beens and retreads and third-rate provincial players?
Again, why are we panicking about what's going to happen after the World Cup when there is still a World Cup to be won?I mean, it's not like we could end up with the vastly over-hyped Damian McKenzie in the All Black No 10 jersey. Oh.
Amateur hour
Do you reckon some sports are better consumed at amateur level than at the occasionally-sterile professional level?I have been pondering that question in recent weeks on the sidelines of North Otago club rugby.
Four years on the professional rugby beat expunged any passion for the game at the top level from my soul, though I still get a kick out of seeing the Highlanders do well, especially when better-resourced northern teams are failing.
Rugby, I honestly believe, is more enjoyable to watch at club and school level. It's old school, full of fat props and unlikely-looking wingers. There are mistakes, and it's all a bit rough and loosey-goosey.
Football can be great to watch, for different reasons, at both the top and the bottom.
Cricket, netball and basketball - those are much better to watch at the top level, no disrespect intended to the fine men and women who plug away every Saturday.
The new Phil
They call it BPNTHWAM.
Best Player Never To Have Won A Major.
For years, that title was comfortably (well, uncomfortably) held by American golfer Phil Mickelson, but then he won one and then another and then three more.
Sergio Garcia has sort of been the new Phil for a while, but there is the sense the cheeky Spaniard is forever going to be a what-if case.
The official world rankings say Sweden's Henrik Stenson, at No 3, is the best player without a major to his name.
But I actually think the BPNTHWAM right now is Australian golfer Jason Day. He's nearing his prime and he already has three runner-up efforts in major tournaments.
Oh, and he also called his son Dash.
Dash Day - marvellous.
The mighty Monster
Those who know the man behind The Clutch understand he does not often feel small standing next to a fellow human being.
But that was my sensation when I interviewed the great Nobuhiro ''Monster'' Tajima a long time ago.
The Japanese car driver has a remarkably large head and platter-sized hands and is one of the coolest gentle giants in sport.
When records . . .
Cricket statsmen have been kept busy this week trying to verify records in limited-overs games.
The latest entry on the list of highest individual innings is the remarkable 350 cracked by young English all-rounder Liam Livingstone off just 138 balls.
Everyone rushed to proclaim it as a world record - but it wouldn't even be a Dunedin record.
Just six months ago, we brought you the story of Callum Egen, who blasted an unbeaten 381 for Taieri in a third grade game.
. . . get confusing
The Guardian suggested the record belonged to Trinidadian schoolboy Kirstan Kallicharan, who scored 404 not out in a 35-over match for Vishnu Boys Hindu College against Valencia High School a year ago.
But Cricinfo, basically the bible for cricket statisticians, has someone called W Killian scoring 408 in Coventry in 1994.
Egen is second on Cricinfo's list, and Livingstone slots in at No 3.
Lower down are Indian schoolboys Mohammed Shaibaz (324 off 116 balls) and Manoj Kumar (320 off 120 balls), who combined for a rather marvellous partnership of 721 runs in an under-13 interschool eight summers ago.
Their school bowled out the opposition for just 21, making it a win by 700 runs.
The quote
''I'll never repeat it. It's obvious the joke itself was what got us over the line so I would hate for it to fall into the wrong hands.''
- Australian comedian Andy Lee reflects on his role in helping Michael Clarke's men win the Cricket World Cup. The taller half of Hamish & Andy told the traditional pre-huddle joke before the final.
Triumph
Bravo to Australian rugby for installing a sensible policy to allow the Wallabies to choose selected players from overseas.
Eventually, we'll do something similar.
Disaster
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has been charged by Uefa after he wore a T-shirt to a Champions League press conference that supported a campaign to investigate the death of a journalist at last year's World Cup.
The message referred to the campaign to investigate an Argentine sports journalist's death in a road traffic accident in Brazil.
