As an administrator involved in some of Hawke's Bay's biggest recreational and sporting ventures over the past three decades, departing Sport Hawke's Bay chief executive Colin Stone had to admit the reputation took a dent as he was farewelled by about 150 staff and sports officials last night.
But only a "bit" of a dent, as he passed the buck on the issue of who would plan such a shindig to clash with a Cricket World Cup semi-final involving the Black Caps to the chairman.
Nudging the boss in the ribs on the way out was one of two timely steps on the night in Napier's War Memorial Conference Centre, the other being slotting most of the formalities into the rain-break at the cricket, which seemed at everyone's fingertips ,despite being about 400km away in Auckland.
"It is a big day in New Zealand sporting history," he said, and he wasn't talking about his departure, or the function, where menus and dinner plates and wine glasses were shoved aside to make way for "devices" keeping people up to the minute.
Mr Stone said that after so many years involved in planning events to the minutest detail it felt "very strange" going to one he knew nothing about, apart from date, time and place, and the fact he had to do a speech which might fit into a half-time break.
