There seems an obvious answer to the question of who might invest in a 49% stake of the Highlanders franchise.
Japanese rugby, or business interests related to Japanese rugby.
There are already strong links between the Highlanders and Japan. Coach Jamie Joseph and assistant coach Tony Brown both spent years there, and former coach Greg Cooper is working there.
The Highlanders gave Fumiaki Tanaka the opportunity to be the first Japanese international to play in the Super 15, and assorted other players have come back from Japan to play for the Highlanders.
There is also the link between a certain beer company, which is owned by a company that is owned by a Japanese business, and rugby in the South.
Japan is hosting a Rugby World Cup and is keen for the sport to grow. What better way than to invest in a team in the home of rugby?
The Highlanders can dump the green alternate jersey and wear the red-and-white hoops of Japan. The Glasshouse can be renamed the House of the Rising Sun. Three places in the Highlanders squad each year can be reserved for Japanese players. And the yen can pour in. Too easy.
Some accidental . . .
How strange yet oddly brilliant that the final try in the All Blacks' perfect season was scored by Ryan Crotty.
Not Ben Smith, the magnificent Otago man who was scoring test tries for fun until being forced to play in the midfield.
Not Kieran Read, the best rugby player in the world. Not blockbusting winger Julian Savea, nor the enigmatic Ma'a Nonu, nor even a Franks brother.
Nope, good old Ryan Crotty. He won't be an All Black great - he may barely play in the black jersey again - but he had the honour of icing an incredible finish to an incredible season.
. . . sporting heroes
Crotty joins the list of accidental All Black heroes that is highlighted by two goal kickers.
Stephen ''Beaver'' Donald will naturally forever remain No 1. His story of going from widely-scorned whitebaiter to World Cup hero will not be beaten.
There is also Brian McKechnie, who missed selection for the 1978 northern tour but was called up because of injury, then came off the bench against Wales because of another injury to kick the winning goal that contributed to the first Grand Slam.
My favourite accidental sporting hero is Steven Bradbury, the Australian speed skater who won Olympic gold when the three men ahead of him crashed on the final corner.
A close second is Jimmy Glass, the goalkeeper who scored a goal with 10 seconds remaining in the 1998-99 season to keep Carlisle in the Football League.
Last year, Galatasaray footballer Felipe Melo had to move from the outfield into goal following a red card, and saved a penalty to give his club a 1-0 win.
And a couple of months ago, Canadian runner Meredith Fitzmaurice was competing in an Ontario half-marathon. She took a wrong turn, soon realised she had joined the marathon field, kept on running and won.
Classless yobs
Blame Michael Slater. He's basically the sole reason I became a massive fan of the Australian cricket team in the mid to late 1990s.
Slats was, for me, a sporting hero. He was thrilling, charismatic, flawed. And he was mine. I never met another kid - still haven't - who worshipped him like I did.
I cheered for Australia for years. This did not do much to improve my already dangerously low popularity levels.
But not any more. The sight of Michael Clarke threatening Jimmy Anderson in the first Ashes test, and the spittle coming out of Peter Siddle's mouth as he celebrated the test win with anger, not delight, was the final straw.
Bugger all of them. The Aussies, the Poms, the foul-mouthed brats, the nasty sledgers, the lot of them.
I will watch the Ashes, and admire the cricketing skills and revel in the sporting drama. But I will cheer for neither side as long as their truly appalling behaviour continues.
The stress factor
It is, of course, desperately sad that Jonathan Trott has pulled out of the Ashes tour and gone home for stress-related reasons.
But it is good that the reason for his departure has been made public. It is good that we are talking about mental heath issues. And it is very good that the vast majority of the reaction has been understanding and supportive, drowning out the odd moronic comment.
Mental health must be given the same care and attention as physical health, and it is good to see the issue coming out of the shadows in elite sport.
Super Sewell
Nothing like timing. A week ago, The Last Word referenced North Otago cricket great David Sewell and - not at all unkindly - pointed out he was probably not going to add to his single test cap.
Hours later, Sewell went out and took the figures of the day in Christchurch club cricket, earning a nice big headline in the local rag.
Ten questions
1. Is the Rugby League World Cup over yet?
2. Why aren't more people outraged that Gareth Morgan, simply by virtue of being obscenely rich, thinks he has the right to sack a national sport's entire board?
3. But does he have a point? Is football in this country run by dunderheads who are holding the code back?
4. Netball in the summer? Really?
5. Can you believe Colin Meads STILL isn't in the International Rugby Hall of Fame?
6. Have you jumped back on the Breakers' bandwagon?
7. Got all fingers and toes crossed for good weather for the cricket test in Dunedin next week?
8. Where do you rank Andrew Hore on the list of All Black hookers?
9. Is there a worse nickname in New Zealand sport than ''the Maggots''?
10. Wouldn't it be great if we never had to read another quote or opinion piece about the haka?
Dope tales
This sounds like a cracking read.
Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang, by Jamie Reid, has won the William Hill sports book of the year prize in Britain.
It is ''a rollicking tale of crooked bookies and nobbled nags - with a sprinkle of sex and royalty for good measure'', according to the Guardian.
Bucking the trend
Comebacks happen all the time, but few could match the effort of the New England Patriots this week.
The ''Hatriots'', the NFL's version of the Crusaders, trailed the red-hot Denver Broncos 24-0 at halftime, and came back to win 34-31 in overtime.
An extraordinary statistic emerged that showed an NFL team had trailed by 24 or more points at halftime 623 times - and just SIX of those teams had come back to win.
Birthday of the week
Multi-talented American sportsman Bo Jackson is 51 today.
He was a remarkable athlete, and the only man to be an all-star in both the NFL and Major League Baseball.
ESPN produced a fine documentary on him called You Don't Know Bo, and his likeness in 1989 Nintendo game Tecmo Super Bowl was named the greatest athlete in the history of sports video gaming.
