Reporter Adrian Seconi has been lucky enough to have had a front-row seat during some wonderful sporting moments involving Kiwis but would give anything to have seen the following six events live.
Lovelock wins gold
''My God, he's done it! Jack! Come on! . . . He wins! He's won! Hooray!''
Those words are indelibly etched in our collective consciousness and we've all seen the grainy footage.
Commentator Harold Abrahams just could not suppress his joy while watching his friend Jack Lovelock sprint from 300m out to win gold for New Zealand in the 1500m at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
While Nazi Germany was not at the top of a list of places to visit, it would have been wonderful to be a New Zealander at the Olympic Stadium the day the curly blond-headed man in the black singlet inspired a nation and a great tradition of middle distance running.
The Underarm
We've been able to claim the moral high ground ever since and who wouldn't have wanted to join the chorus of boos at the MCG that day.
New Zealand needed six to tie and our Australian ''mates'' opted to send down a delivery by rolling it along the ground.
The action was legal at the time but it was definitely not cricket. The 1981 underarm incident became the most infamous moment in New Zealand sport and according to Prime Minister Robert Muldoon the most chicken-livered moment in Australian sport.
''It was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow,'' growled Muldoon at the time.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was more reserved, calling the act ''contrary to the traditions of the game''.
It is funny now, but it was more than 30 years ago.
Long road to Spain
Watching the All Whites 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign was like watching the Hero Parade with all those moustaches and perms.
The other enduring memory I have is of the 9-year-old boy I used to be who was too afraid to go to bed at night in case I slept through the alarm set for some obscene hour.
The long road to Spain began on Anzac Day 1981 with a 3-3 draw with Australia in Auckland and culminated in Singapore when New Zealand beat China 2-1 to clinch a place in the great event for the first time. In all, the All Whites won nine games, had five draws and one loss just to get to Spain.
They were outclassed at the World Cup but the two Steves, Wooddin and Sumner, scored against Scotland in the 5-2 loss. The All Whites also played the Soviet Union and the mighty Brazil.
''Lomu ... oh, oh''
Look, no-one cares about what happened in the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. All anyone really remembers is the sight of rugby's first and only superstar, Jonah Lomu, swatting aside Englishmen two, three sometimes four at a time.
The man had pace, power and a sidestep which would leave a salesman dizzy. He could step his way out of a bear trap and keep going. And against England, in the semifinal of that tournament, he was unstoppable.
He scored four tries and left even Keith Quinn lost for words. The experienced broadcaster was so flustered watching Lomu smash his way through Mike Catt, he fluffed his lines and delivered those immortal lines ''Lomu ...oh, oh''. It said it all.
Two gold medals - one golden hour
''Who's the big guy in black?'' singing legend Bing Crosby reportedly asked an American journalist moments before the start of 800m final at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
''Oh, that's Snell from New Zealand,'' came the reply.
''He's run OK but the pressure will get to him. He hasn't a show.''
Our Peter Snell might have arrived in Rome as an unknown quantity but he left with the gold medal. He upset world record holder Roger Moens from Belgium and Jamaican George Kerr with an explosive finish and a desperate lunge at the tape.
Murray Halberg did not have the luxury of flying under the radar. He had been singled out as the man to beat in the 5000m final. His tactical awareness, mental strength and superb conditioning meant he was feared by the other competitors.
Halberg later said Snell's win had helped inspire his own victory and he made his move with three laps to go. The rest of the field appeared stunned with indecision and the New Zealander opened up a 30m gap and then held on to win.
Tangiwai Test
A profound silence fell over the large crowd at Ellis Park when a grief-stricken Bob Blair joined Bert Sutcliffe in the middle during the second test against South Africa.
Blair had just that morning learnt his fiancee, Nerissa Love, had been killed in the 1953 Tangiwai railway disaster and had initially stayed back at the team's hotel before making his way to the ground unexpectedly.
Earlier in the match, Sutcliffe had been struck in the head by a bouncer from Neil Adcock and had retired. But he returned, complete with a blood-stained bandage, to launch a fabulous counterattack.
The pair added 33 runs in 10min. The test was lost and so was the series, but their courage won wide admiration.
''All the glory was for the vanquished,'' The Cape Times reported.
''Memories of the match will not be of the runs made or of the wickets taken, but of the courage displayed.''
