Emphatic with an exclamation mark!

God who would have thought. Two posts in the same week. And after I have struggled to stay awake watching the last couple of games. But I have been inspired. Finally! And thank goodness because god knows it feels like it has been an age.

The All Blacks were amazing. Even losing captain fantastic and a number of other senior players our boys stepped up and reclaimed the All Black mantel. Our rookies played well, Adam Thompson and Richard Kahui had dream games. Kahui scored on debut and Thompson was simply everywhere. But it was the old hand at the back that led the ship, and boy didnt our first five shine.

Over two years of waiting for a promise to be fulfulled and finally Dan Carter has stepped back into the form he showed against the Lions in 2005. He is surely Dan the Man. Simply sublime and class above all others.

And well isnt it funny that the change in form comes on the back of Mr Carter being able to announce that his contract negotiations are closed and he is signed on with the NZRU until the next world cup. And the best part: the only thing it is going to cost NZ is a 6 month stint in Toulon. Six months, just a period of time out, a simple sabbatical that doesnt even really impinge on the All Black games. Didnt we come out on top?

So for now the wolves have been fed and although they are still baying at the gates All Black rugby and therefore NZ rugby remain unscarred (for now).

Mr and Mrs

Following my little foray in to the world of daily newspapers I am already wondering about something (while many things actually but for the purpose of this blog I will focus on just this one thing). How is it that when we write articles for the general part of the paper everyone is referred to as Mr , Mrs or even Ms and yet when sports reporters write about sports stars they always just refer to the subjects by surnames only?

I know its not much but its still kind of strange don't you think? I mean a title like Mr or Mrs is used as a sign of respect and yet the person who is simply the recorder of these sometimes great sporting moments chooses to denote the doer of these sublime actions as simply their surname. No title, no honorarium - just Bloggs as in Joe Bloggs.

I mean I get it is a style thing but my question is - why is it that this style differentiation even exists? Are we saying that because our sports stars only play games we think that they do not deserve to be treated with same respect as Mrs Homemaker on the front page or Mr Accountant in the business section? It may be a small thing but somehow it just doesn't seem to fit with me.

Some of my greatest childhood memories have been watching great athletes perform great deeds. I will never forget Zinzan Brooke’s drop goal in the 1995 world cup semi final against England or Jonah Lomu's quartet of tries in the same game; I will always think back to the heartbreak of losing the final to the South Africans and the courage it took for the All Blacks to turn up and play like they did despite the devious acts of dirty old ‘Suzy‘; and I shall always remember getting up to watch those games with my family and feeling that connection with everyone else in the country who sat cheering our boys on.

It is more than just a game.

And it is not just with rugby. There have been great Olympic achievements, world champ victories, track success - the list goes but they are all just simple moments of digging deep and succeeding despite all the odds. And isn't that what this nation is built on? The desire to be the best even though we are just a cluster of Islands at the bottom of the Pacific ocean, not far from the isolation of Antarctica.

So why is it that we label some of our most inspirational people with a simple surname? For commitment alone don't they deserve more than this?

And ......Yay test time and I cant wait to see how Richard Kahui goes against the big burly English this weekend.