Seeing the British and Irish Lions on tour in Australia naturally leads to recollections of their 2005 visit to these shores.
It's funny how so many look back and view that tour as a disaster. You know, because it is awful when the All Blacks win a series 3-0, when a first five produces one of the greatest individual performances in the history of the game, and when thousands of good-natured sports fans come here and pour millions into our economy.
In its infinite wisdom, the Otago Daily Times decided to send its rugby writer at the time and a photographer on the full tour in 2005.
What a blast. We had the freedom to look for stories off the beaten track - a day in Southbridge, the home of Daniel Carter, was a highlight - and we met some great people.
One of us also found time, during the tour, to get engaged to the wonderful woman who is now his wife.
I think this could be a fascinating series. The Wallabies look flaky to me, and I'm going to predict a 2-1 Lions win.
. . . to play theirs
A random tweet got my attention the other day. Why not form a ''Lions'' team from the Super rugby nations, perhaps to play the actual Lions in a tour-ending extravaganza.
Won't happen - too much rugby already, etc - but it's an interesting concept. I decided to name a fictional ''Sanzar Lions'' side, and asked rugby writer Steve Hepburn and columnist Brent Edwards to do the same.
The Meikle Lions: Ben Smith (NZ), Bryan Habana (SAF), Jean de Villiers (SAF, captain), Francois Steyn (SAF), Julian Savea (NZ), Dan Carter (NZ), Will Genia (Aus), Kieran Read (NZ), Michael Hooper (Aus), Steven Luatua (NZ), Sam Whitelock (NZ), James Horwill (Aus), Jannie du Plessis (SAF), Adriaan Strauss (SAF), Benn Robinson (Aus). Reserves: Stephen Moore (Aus), Owen Franks (NZ), Beast Mtawarira (SAF), Brodie Retallick (NZ), Pierre Spies (SAF), Piri Weepu (NZ), James O'Connor (Aus), Adam Ashley-Cooper (Aus).
The Hepburn Lions: Smith, Rene Ranger (NZ), Jan Serfontein (SAF), Christian Lealiifano (Aus), Habana, Aaron Cruden (NZ), Genia, Scott Higginbotham (Aus), Sam Cane (NZ), Pieter Labuschagne (SAF), Whitelock, Horwill (captain), Dan Palmer (Aus), Chiliboy Rapelle (SAF), Wyatt Crockett (NZ). Reserves: Moore, Ben Franks (NZ), Coenie Oosthuizen (SAF), Cadeyrn Neville (Aus), Luatua, Piet van Zyl (SAF), Pat Lambie (SAF), Ashley-Cooper.
The Edwards Lions: Smith, JP Pietersen (SAF), Ashley-Cooper, Steyn, Savea, Cruden, Genia (captain), Higginbotham, Hooper, Philip van der Walt (SAF), Whitelock, Andries Bekker (SAF), J du Plessis, Strauss, Dean Greyling (SAF). Reserves: Moore, B Franks, O Franks, Horwill, Liam Messam (NZ), Sarel Pretorius (SAF), Quade Cooper (Aus), Gio Aplon (SAF).
No train, some gain
Speaking of the Highlanders, did anyone else who watched the win over the Blues on television find Brad Thorn's halftime comments really interesting?Thorn suggested the energised first-half performance could be due to the team having only one proper training, due to bad weather.
Our sources suggest plenty of Highlanders were thinking the same thing - that being spared a flogging at training during the week was conducive to playing well at the weekend.
Board games
My son has discovered the wonders of Monopoly. The rest of the family has, in turn, been put off the classic board game for life.
Earlier this week, we tried All Black Monopoly (yes, it exists) for the first time together. All Black players take the place of the properties, and it was interesting to see where the game - released in 2009 - placed the respective stars.
Richie McCaw was obviously in the No 1 spot (Mayfair), joined in the dark blues by Mils Muliaina. Keven Mealamu, Ali Williams and Dan Carter were the greens, and Andrew Hore, Joe Rokocoko and Rodney So'oialo the yellows.
A real surprise was the placement of Kieran Read, the new All Black captain and arguably the premier No 8 in world rugby, in the cheapest (Old Kent Rd) spot.
Sirs and Dames
Another fine New Zealander has joined the small group of sporting knights.
Gordon Tietjens may be seen as something of a surprise choice. A remarkable coach, certainly, but possibly not an immediately obvious candidate for the ultimate honour.
Who might be next to get the gong? Let's break the candidates down into three groups.-The Colin Meads group (certain): Sir Richie McCaw, Sir Jonah Lomu, Dame Valerie Adams, Dame Irene van Dyk, Sir Wynton Rufer, Dames Evers-Swindell twins, Sir Danyon Loader, Sir Martin Crowe.
The Sarah Ulmer group (possible): Dame Barbara Kendall, Sir Dean Barker, Sir Daniel Carter, Dame Erin Baker, Sir Jeff Wilson, Sir Michael Campbell, Sir David Fagan, Sir Dexter Dunn, Sir Stacey Jones.
The Murphy Su'a group (unlikely): Sir Rory Fallon, Dame Liza Hunter-Galvan, Sir Simon Poelman, Sir Greg Loveridge, Sir Dan King-Turner, Sir Russell Packer.
Divine intervention
This almost seems too good to be true.
Race 7 at Sydney last weekend was the Catholic Trade Training Centres rating 85 sprint.
The winner, appropriately, was Disciple.
By God's Own.
Out of Myrrh.
Monkeying around
The use of performance-enhancing substances in baseball dates back to 1889, according to the Deadspin website.
It revisited the story this week of a pitcher called ''Pud'' Galvin, the first to 300 wins in the major leagues.
He apparently mixed his drinks with ''dried monkey testosterone, distilled from, where else, monkey testicles''.
An 1889 New York Times article said Galvin's elixir had ''found good supporters in approved schools of medicine. His conclusions from experiments are that the fluid is potent to increase the strength of the human organism, presumably in old men, not by structural change, but by nutritive modification.''
Birthday of the week
American basketballer Bryant Reeve is 40 today.
The 2.13m centre, nicknamed ''Big Country'', played in the NBA for the Vancouver Grizzlies, and is best known for the weight issues and injury problems that curtailed his career.
