Winter wonderland
What is your favourite memory of the Winter Olympics?
A bloke asked me that question the other day and it made me think.
Recency bias maybe, but the standout has to be watching Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Nico Porteous soar to gold at Beijing in 2022.
What odds another Kiwi or two will be on top of the world in Italy?
Stay tuned.
Feel the rhythm
It is 33 years since Cool Runnings introduced us to the hilarious concept of a bobsleigh team from the sun-kissed nation of Jamaica heading to the Olympic Games.
Turns out it is not such a joke any more.
The Jmaicans have a serious bobsleigh programme running and are targeting a historic first medal by the 2034 Olympics.
Chris Stokes, one of the bobsledders in the real Jamaican team that inspired the movie, is the head of the Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation, and has been enlisting elite sprinters to join the squad.
All together now: eins, zwei, drei!
Spirit of cricket
The Hawke Cup, the symbol of minor association supremacy in New Zealand cricket, is great.
It works particularly well when it provides an opportunity for real grassroots stuff — for the farmers, truck drivers, mechanics, stock agents and students in the regions to get a chance to play at a higher level.
What never sits well with me is when the Hawke Cup becomes too closely linked to the top domestic level.
Case in point was the challenge game in New Plymouth last weekend.
Will Young played for holders Taranaki barely two weeks after playing an ODI for the Black Caps in India.
Challengers Hawke’s Bay fielded new Black Caps spinner Jayden Lennox in a squad that had no fewer than eight players with first-class experience.
That is really not what the Hawke Cup is supposed to be about at all, even if it is not a particularly new issue. It should be an entirely amateur competition.
Yes, I will make an exception for Nathan Smith and Llew Johnson playing for North Otago.
Sign of the apocalypse
Sweden. You heard.
NordicSmash T20 will include six franchises and is looking for investors and sponsors.
The internet has gone so haywire it is not always easy to tell what is real and what is faker than Donald Trump’s peace prize, but there are names (the Linkoping Tuskers and the Gothenburg Devils among them) and various expat Indians promising non-stop sixes, so let’s see.
Sweden might have a T20 franchise league before New Zealand. Cricket remains undefeated.
Is this just fantasy?
Yes, as promised, I have signed up to give Super Rugby Pacific fantasy a red-hot crack. Or at least a lukewarm crack.
Let’s see how badly I do, and indeed whether I even remember to keep my team updated.
My team — the Haylanders — comprises this lineup:
Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Will Jordan, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Quinn Tupaea, Corey Toole, Damian McKenzie, Folau Fakatava, Hoskins Sotutu, Fraser McReight, Wallace Sititi, Jamie Hannah, Mitch Dunshea, Fletcher Newell, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Aidan Ross.
I have joined the Legend of Marty Banks league, because who doesn’t love Marty Banks?
Super Monday
Nothing really beats Super Bowl day.
I cannot recall the last time I worked on the second Monday in February due to the annual celebration of all that is wonderful and excessive about the US of A.
Even if Super Bowl LX features a team we all loathe — pray for a Seahawks win, folks — it is an occasion not to be missed.
A couple of quirky stats may be of interest.
American sportswriter Field Yates highlighted the fact this is the third time both Super Bowl coaches share the same first name.
Meanwhile, five colleges have produced both a US president and a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Joe Biden and Joe Flacco (Ravens) went to Delaware, Benjamin Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers) attended Miami, Gerald Ford and the great Tom Brady are Michigan alumni, Herbert Hoover was at Stanford before John Elway (Broncos) and Jim Plunkett (Raiders), and Jimmy Carter and Roger Staubach (Cowboys) were navy men.
If Drake Maye wins with the Patriots (ugh) on Monday, he will join fellow North Carolina alumnus James K Polk as a sixth combination.
Model of stability
Here is a fact to blow you away.
The Pittsburgh Steelers last week unveiled Mike McCarthy as the new coach of the NFL team.
That is not particularly fascinating — though McCarthy fashioned a decent record through 17 seasons as Green Bay Packers then Dallas Cowboys coach — but what is really interesting is where he fits in the line of coaches at Pittsburgh.
Before his appointment, the Steelers had employed just three head coaches since 1969. THREE. In 57 years!
Chuck Noll coached the Steelers from 1969 to 1991, Bill Cowher took over until 2006 and Mike Tomlin held the role until stepping down.
A neat comparison is how many managers Chelsea, the famously-quick-to-fire English football club, has had since 1969.
Just the 40 managers in that time.
Until we meet again
As mentioned previously, The Last Word will now enter a hiatus period as focus turns to the Highlanders’ efforts in Super Rugby.
No wooden spoon would be ideal.
See you in June.
