So much has been lost in the crush of the most improbably drawn-out saga in New Zealand cricket since the angst over the use of the label ''Young Guns''.
Many people seem to have lost all sense of perspective, for example. I don't know if we've seen this sort of hysteria in New Zealand sport since the meltdown in Cardiff in 2007. Actually, the reaction to that might have been more subdued.
The obsession with how coach Mike Hesson informed Ross Taylor of a change in captaincy has spiralled out of control.
It was a coach of a sports team telling a player he was no longer captain. Oh, the humanity.
Fine, the timing was strange bordering on stupid. But Hesson's actions - the decision to make Brendon McCullum captain, and the method of delivering that news - were hardly criminal.
The intensity of the reaction to New Zealand Cricket's inept handling of Taylorgate has also been surprising, given that organisation's form in such matters.
ODT reader Stephen Nicholls summed it up as well as anyone:''People fail to understand that these are the same poor decisions that have been made by every CEO, every coach and every captain for the last 10 years - so this issue is emblematic of New Zealand Cricket. It isn't individual, it is institutional''
.... and our Richie
A third and final point that has been lost in the tidal wave of teeth-gnashing and blazer-burning is that Brendon McCullum's appointment is bloody GREAT news for Otago.
Craig Cumming was absolutely right when he urged the province to celebrate his elevation.
McCullum is a proud son of the South, an Albion man and a King's High School man and, for all his brashness and high profile, a bloke who remains one of us.
You might also note that the captains and coaches of both of New Zealand's most prominent sports teams were educated here.
McCullum (King's) and Hesson (Otago Boys'), and Richie McCaw (Otago Boys') and Steve Hansen (The Taieri High School, now Taieri College) must have benefited from some quality education.
Change, change, go away
Here comes a year ending in a number. Must be time for the New Zealand Rugby Union to tinker with the national championship.
This would be laughable if it wasn't so sad.
Yes, change is again in the wind for the Air New Zealand ITM NPC Premiership Championship Cup, a competition that has had more plastic surgeries than Joan Rivers.
Most of the unions aren't happy with the midweek games and tight turnarounds, apparently.
Here we go again. Just when you thought domestic rugby had been rejigged for the 57th and final time, it is happening again.
There is still much about the national championship format that I hate - the blurry lines between the two divisions, and choosing your own opponents, ye gods - but is it really necessary to change the damn thing every year?
Adam and Magnus
What do All Blacks get up to on their holidays?They go to Sweden and compare arm muscles with one of the world's strongest men, obviously.
Our Adam Thomson has been doing just that since the end of the All Black tour. He tweeted a photo of himself with Swede strongman Magnus Samuelsson and the very funny note: ''Round One: Atlas stones. Samuelsson 5, Thomson 0.''
The Allen key
See, you think journalists are cold people. You think we can be mean and heartless. You wonder, in particular, if sports reporters have had all the joy flushed out of them by having to make sport their work.
Not true - not always, at least.
The Last Word was genuinely thrilled this week when news broke of the return of Hayden Allen to the Otago Nuggets.
His basketball ability, his local roots, his good nature and his sheer glorious gingerness made him a favourite of mine back in the day.
There is something really nice about people like Allen and co-Nugget Mark Dickel (or G.O.A.T. - Greatest Of All Time - as I know him) coming back to Otago.
Former stars, whether they are moving home or extending their careers or even coming out of retirement, bring back their sporting ability and also their leadership, experience and local knowledge to really boost the place.
With that in mind, is too much to ask for Nick Evans, Shayne O'Connor, Regan Laughton and the entire 1998 Otago netball team to bless us (well, me) with their presence again?
Great Scott
Another former Nugget has taken an interesting path since leaving Dunedin.
Point guard Scott O'Gallagher, the American import who played here in 2011, has just retired from basketball.
But the energetic family man is keeping his passion for hoops - and video gaming - alive.
O'Gallagher is working for gaming giant EA Sports, as it attempts to resuscitate its NBA Live series, and featured in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper this week.
Money no panacea
This is for all those Arsenal fans (I know two) moaning that Arsene Wenger has been hamstrung by a lack of funding.
Arsenal's annual wage bill: About 143 million ($NZ273 million).
Bradford's annual wage bill: Just 1.2 million.
Phoenix miniatures
Southern football clubs have an opportunity to take part in the big Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Heart match at Forsyth Barr Stadium next year.
About 60 clubs from Timaru south will be supplied a unique code from Dunedin Venues that will allow them to purchase discounted tickets online.
The club with the biggest take will be invited to provide the 22 mascots that will escort the Phoenix and Heart players on to the field prior to kick off.
''For budding young players, getting a chance to be a mascot at these big games and get up close to some of the stars, is a dream come true,'' Dunedin Venues chief executive Darren Burden said.
The Yellow Fever fan zone will return to the stadium for the March 3 game.
Birthday of the week
Harold Abrahams would have been 113 today.
''Come onnnn Jaaaaccckkk. Hurrah.''
