The national rugby championship was never a competition that required much thought.
Three divisions, automatic promotion and relegation - simple.
The first sign of trouble came when the New Zealand Rugby Union decided it wasn't fair for the bottom team in the first division to drop straight down.
The ridiculous promotion-relegation game, heavily stacked in favour of the worst team in the top tier, was invented, and Northland went something like three years without a win but never got relegated.
My team, North Otago, plugged away in the third division for years, built a dynasty, got promoted to the second division and immediately made the semifinals.
It was BRILLIANT.
We smashed Manawatu by 50 points, and nearly pulled off improbable semifinal wins against Hawkes Bay in both 2003 (lost by six points) and 2005 (four points).
. . . was broken . . .
Then the trouble started. A review was instigated. Workshops were held.
The NZRU announced it was extending the top division by two teams.
It called for expressions of interest, then bizarrely decided to promote all four unions who put their hands up.
Hawkes Bay, Counties, Manawatu and the new Tasman were given hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to instantly make them competitive.
This created a false economy, a bloated first division and a stupid format.
The division was split into pools, then broken off into a top six and a "repechage", followed by quarterfinals.
It was a nightmare.
I was the rugby writer in 2006, Steve Martin's first and most successful season as coach, and I ended up covering seven away games in the last eight rounds.
It changed again in 2007, with a modified round robin introduced.
But that was hopeless, because it skewed the draw.
Finally, in 2008, a full round robin was introduced.
But that just raised the cost of a competition that was already over budget, primarily because of an insanely high ($2 million) salary cap that drove up player wages.
Cue another review, and an NZRU decision to cull Northland and Tasman.
That was overturned to avoid a messy legal battle.
Finally, one last review and series of workshops resulted in the decision to trim four teams from the top level - not based on results (far too logical) - and create a hybrid second division of six teams.
. . . but now it ain't
Cutting a long story short, the NZRU ruined a great national championship with its constant tinkering.
But somehow, without planning for it and without deserving any credit for doing so, the Wellington fish-heads have uncovered a fantastic competition that is way more interesting than the Super 14.
Surely, it's time to make one final flip-flop, realise that costs - not teams - should be cut, and stay with a 14-team top division and a 12-team second tier.
I don't feel particularly disposed towards two of the unions apparently under threat.
Tasman was set up mainly as a Crusaders feeder union, and Manawatu was its own arrogant worst enemy before it was bailed out with pots of cash.
But things are finally working.
The Air New Zealand Cup is interesting and competitive, and the Heartland Championship is just right.
I don't want to see North Otago in some strange, cobbled-together second division consisting of just six teams.
And it will be completely wrong if under-performing major unions like Otago and Auckland get to stay in the top division while others who are doing better on the field get the chop.
Excusez Moimoi
My pick for the NRL grand final tomorrow night is Parramatta.
Melbourne's a great team but it just seems the Eels have destiny on their side.
They also have Jarryd Hayne, the best player in the game right now, and a runaway train known as known as Fuifui Moimoi.
In a fascinating story in an Australian paper this week, a physicist was asked to work out how much force the stocky, fast and in-form prop was generating in his regular and frightening hit-ups.
Dr Nicholas Armstrong said to imagine standing under a leaning tower while someone dropped a 20kg bag of cement from a height of 22m.
Catching the cement would equate to the same energy Moimoi generates on one of his big runs.
A sports scientist with the Eels, Dr Anita Sirotic, said Moimoi hit the defence with a force of more than 14G.
By way of comparison, fighter pilots experience forces of 9G, and 4-6G is enough to induce blackout if sustained for a few seconds.
Moimoi's collisions in an average game would add up to the force of being hit by a six-tonne truck travelling at 30kmh, another scientist said. Good luck, Melbourne.
Cameron . . . I think
It's fight night, finally. I was a David Tua fan for a long time and I won't be surprised if he can still pack enough of a punch to knock Shane Cameron into next century.
For weeks, I've been picking Cameron, reasoning he is in better boxing condition and will be smart enough to steer clear of Tua for 12 rounds.
Now I'm starting to think Tua might still be far too classy.
Time to be United
Plenty of feedback during the week about the two big Otago United stories.
Some folks applauded former player Blair Scoullar for his forthright comments on the team's board.
Others backed chairman Dave Lamont, feeling his board has a difficult enough task without being bagged by a player.
Either way, let's hope the decks have been cleared and United can move on with the business of playing football.
I don't expect miracles, given the delay in appointing a coach and the lack of funds and the poor form in recent seasons.
But I agree with Lamont's assertion that it's better to have a battling team than none at all.
Example A, the Otago Nuggets.
Optimistic yachting
Four new Optimist training boats were launched at the Waihola Yacht Club last weekend.
The club tells me the Pub Charity-funded sailing boats, along with others owned by the Waihola District School, will be used for more than 700 school pupils who will be introduced to sailing this summer.
The Waihola club was incorporated in 1993 but has records of its predecessors dating back to 1937.
A sailing introduction session for children has been an aim of the club since incorporation.
More than 800 children, many with disabilities, have sailed over the last two seasons. Schools from Waitaki to Edendale have participated.
