The late-night TV interview that failed America's Cup skipper Dean Barker gave Paul Henry earlier this week was rather extraordinary.
There has been a lot of finger pointing about who or what was responsible for the dramatic loss by Team New Zealand to arch-rivals Oracle Team USA but by andlarge Barker has managed to avoid being the fall guy.
The first hint all was not right was when Team NZ announced last month that young sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke had been signed for the next Cup. Speculation started about whether or not Barker should step aside and allow Burling to become skipper.
The issue was largely left unresolved until Tuesday night's The Paul Henry Show, which was an obvious attempt by Barker to front foot any attempt to remove him as skipper. It is clear there are tensions between him and Team NZ boss Grant Dalton and it is heading towards one of them having to jump ship, so to speak.
The interview seemed to be an attempt by Barker to clear his name and seemed to be orchestrated. I would not be surprised if some questions were off limits, because surely the first question Barker should have been asked was: "Did you choke?" This never came up and the questions were mostly about who decided to agree to a lay day when Team NZ had an 8-1 lead.
It was a bit like leading the witness and in his hesitant way, Barker took the opportunity to blame Dalton. He obviously did not want to but probably felt he had no choice.
The trouble is that instead of looking like a decisive, hardnosed leader able to bring the Cup home, Barker came across as anything but a winner.
