My old mate Greg and I agree on many things - which is a bit scary when I consider his reputation as a gruff, cynical, hard-nosed journo.
But one issue we'll never see eye to eye on is which Bay is "The" Bay, Greg being a Hawke's Bay boy from Napier, and me being from Rotorua.
We're not the only ones. More than 20,000 people have weighed in on the issue on Facebook after former Hawke's Bay man Josh Horne posted a poll asking which Bay was "The" Bay.
There's no question, of course, that the Bay of Plenty is the rightful owner of the title.
It's right there in the name!
It makes perfect sense to abbreviate the rather wordy The Bay of Plenty to simply The Bay.
Why bother shortening Hawke's Bay? It's just as many syllables to say The Bay isn't it?
It seems the voting public agrees - at last check the blue and gold team were in the lead.
Sometimes it's easy to forget the Bay of Plenty isn't just the ever-expanding waterside behemoth across the hill that stole our rugby and netball matches and cushy spot at the front of the phone book.
Those from Rotorua and the Eastern Bay (and depending on who you ask, Taupo) are proud residents of The Bay too.
And every now and then, be it a Steamers, Chiefs, Magic game or similar, we'll stand together as one province against those such as these pretenders from the other Bay.
It's fitting that Hawke's Bay's symbol is a thieving magpie - they've been trying to steal our province's nickname for years.
- All that aside, our thoughts are with those badly affected by bad weather, flooding and slips, which were particularly bad in parts of Hawke's Bay.
