''A natural grass turf under a permanent roof - it's a world first.''
That's the line on the Forsyth Barr Stadium website and it is a generally accepted fact relating to Dunedin's covered stadium.
But it seems the story of the Houston Astrodome, the world's first roofed baseball stadium which is now on its last legs, has passed most people by.
The Last Word had no idea, until reading Roger Kahn's classic baseball essay, Seasons In The Sun, the Astrodome trumped our Glasshouse by nearly half a century.
Formidable summer temperatures in Texas prompted the Astrodome designers to pursue the then-radical option of a roofed stadium in the early 1960s.
They wanted to play on natural grass, but knew it could be tricky. So, just as the Dunedin stadium designers did, they held numerous trials to find a blend of grass that could work.
More than 4000 translucent skylights covered the Astrodome, and they did indeed let in enough sun for the grass to grow.
But there was still a problem. The skylights ''smeared'' the sun's rays into a blinding plate of light, making it virtually impossible for the baseballers to catch fly balls.
They tried painting the skylights, which blocked the sun well but killed the grass. So the Astros played an entire season, 1965, on dead grass and dirt painted green.
The following season, they installed Astroturf - which, incidentally, takes its name from the baseball team.
So, there you have it. Our stadium was definitely NOT the first in the world to put a roof over natural grass. Though I suppose it gets points for having grass that works.
Awarding experience
One of the privileges (and responsibilities) of being the sports editor of a provincial newspaper is getting the opportunity to be involved with bestowing honours upon local sportspeople.
As one of the judges for the Otago sports awards, it is always enjoyable to sit down with my fellow panellists and look back over the year.
It can be heinously difficult to rank one athlete/team/coach above another, but I think we do a pretty good job handing out the gongs.
We had our final meeting this week, where we determined the award finalists. And I have to say, the long list of nominees was extraordinary. Absolutely crammed with talent and achievement and, heck, let me gush, potential greatness.
I concur with Sport Otago boss John Brimble, who wrote earlier this year of his belief Otago sport was on the cusp of a golden era.
Very exciting.
Postscript I
AND the Highlanders won last night.
Or postscript II
Oh.
The perfect 10
Those of us in the Glenn Dickson Fan Club will be disappointed the long-serving Pirates first five is to be lost to Otago rugby.
''Dicko'', the strapping third-generation Otago player with the atomic boot, is a good bloke, a fine player and a man who is utterly passionate about wearing blue and gold.
Could he have played for the Highlanders? Of course. Matt Berquist, Michael Hobbs, Robbie Robinson and Jayden Hayward have all worn the Highlanders No 10 jersey in recent years. Reasonable players, but hardly superstars.
Northampton, the English club for which Dickson has signed, has picked up a bargain.
Baby news
Warm congratulations to former Highlanders loose forward Alando Soakai and former Otago netball and volleyball player Debbie Soakai (nee Hill).
The pair, who now live in Japan, have welcomed their first child.
''Would like to announce the arrival of our beautiful baby girl Amelia Aiya Soakai,'' Alando Soakai tweeted.
Golf aces
The thing with golf in New Zealand is that there are so many thousands of players (competitive and casual), and so many hundreds of courses, that EVERYTHING has happened already.
The blokes in Wanaka who hit consecutive holes in one on the same hole - they featured on our front page on Tuesday - will never forget their special day.
But at least one other combination has managed the feat in New Zealand fairly recently. And, incredibly, it was a father and son.
North Shore residents Trevor and Mike Jones, playing in a foursome at the Waitemata club, both aced the 10th hole in September 2007.
The New Zealand Herald reported the same hole also featured consecutive holes in one a couple of decades earlier.
More double tons
Just like consecutive holes in one, it seems double centuries in Otago cricket interschools are not as rare as you might think.
First came news of King's High School batsman Taylor Cumberland and his wonderful 201 not out against Waitaki Boys' High School.
Then we uncovered details of two Waitaki batsmen scoring double tons way back in the day.
Yet another big score has now emerged. The good folks at John McGlashan College emailed me a scoresheet this week showing Tom Fraser belted 218 not out against St Kevin's College in Oamaru in December 1935.
Remarkably, young Fraser scored 74% of his side's second innings total (293). The next highest score was extras, with 15, and Fraser contributed 118 runs to a 10th-wicket partnership worth 122.
Fraser went on to play 14 first-class games for Otago. He died in 1998.
We also hear that Tristan Prattley, now better known as a footballer, scored a double century for Kaikorai Valley College against John McGlashan a few years ago, though it may have been in a regular Saturday game.
Storm no rookie
Our apologies to talented Southern Steel netballer Storm Purvis. We referred to the defender as a rookie in the footnote to her first column (ODT, 6.4.13) but she is, of course, in her second year with the side.
Birthday of the week
Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess grandmaster, is 50 today.
Is chess a sport?
