Chris Rattue: Sharapova is pretty much the real deal

Maria Sharapova during a training session. Photo / Getty Images

Our dinky tennis tournaments in Auckland are a last stand of sorts. World class names dribble down here for an Australian Open warm-up, even if they are no longer world beaters and on that long walk known as the comeback trail.

Maria Sharapova, the most infamous grunt machine in tennis, is the latest of these tennis visitors. The women's Classic starts today, and you couldn't miss Sharapova, the glamour puss winner of three Grand Slam titles, if you went anywhere near the media over the weekend.

New Zealand is hanging on when it comes to attracting sporting superstars. Even when we do, the results might be haphazard a la the David Beckham success-turned-fiasco.

The world has changed, and can't afford to come calling any more. Downunder international track and field series are a thing of the past, and the Commonwealth Games - should we ever host another one - have turned into duds. Our national events struggle to survive, let alone even think about attracting a star this way.

To think that the motor racing legend Stirling Moss competed in the New Zealand Grand Prix, and in fields that included Jack Brabham, John Surtees and of course Bruce McLaren.

Sharapova was the world number one or thereabouts a couple of years ago so this is pretty much the real deal.

If you can stand the primeval sounds - including from out of the public gallery - then Sharapova is well worth a look and about as good as the superstar factor will get for New Zealand unless Steve Williams persuades Tiger Woods he has unfinished business at the New Zealand Open. Actually, do we even have a New Zealand Open any more?

An important note here. The standout performer in this star-attracting area is the Rally of New Zealand, and all power to this sporting survivor. The RNZ's world status brings the French rally powerhouse Sebastien Loeb and other major names to this country.

These men are genuine world stars, but you need a serious motor racing gene to enjoy the rally.

Tip-toeing around gorse in the middle of nowhere while having gravel hurled in your direction doesn't qualify as a favourable sports watching experience to many of us.

When it came to reasonably big names, the New Zealand Golf open used to lead the way especially when a few key Australians, and especially Peter Thomson, were regular visitors.

A couple of decades ago, when this open golfing glory had long faded, one of the annual media larks was the grand NZ golf open announcement.

We eager beavers would head off to a hotel for a tipple and nibbles plus a free bag designed by someone who knew no boundaries when in charge of a set square and a piece of canvas.

Once primed, and having caught up with old acquaintances, we'd be told the name of a budding or fallen world star who was heading this way. Still buzzing on the ham and guacamole, we'd charge back to the office to relay this exciting news to an expectant public. Sometimes the alleged star would actually turn up to play.

Soccer had its moments in this regard, all of them long gone though, apart from the Beckham forays.

One of my happiest childhood memories should be an Auckland Invitation XI playing the Bobby Charlton All-Stars at Newmarket Park on a Friday night in 1977 but the occasion hasn't stuck in the memory cells.

The surviving programme fills in the blanks. The Auckland team included many of our best players, a number - including captain Steve Sumner - going on to help form the nucleus of the 1982 World Cup team.

Bobby Charlton's mob included fellow 1966 World Cup winners Jack Charlton, Geoff Hurst and Alan Ball, plus other outstanding English first division players.

This highly visible link with British soccer was quite the norm then. We also saw matches between the New Zealand World Cup squad and Luton Town in 1977.

In 1976, for the cost of one dollar, you could park yourself on the Newmarket Park terraces to watch Hearts of Midlothian beat New Zealand. In 1967, however, something far grander happened. Manchester United arrived - Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, George Best, Brian Kidd et al.

They thrashed Auckland 8-1 at Carlaw Park, and New Zealand 11-0 at English Park in Christchurch, watched by 26,000 people, according to the available records.

Incidentally, both local teams included Mark Burgess, soon to become one of our most prominent cricketers, and the captain of the first New Zealand team to beat England.

Last year, as the All Whites prepared for the World Cup, the New Zealand administration failed to attract a club or national team here, a particularly poor effort but also a reflection of how times have changed.

Life moves on and many of us have happily swapped the charms of following domestic soccer all those years ago for the best action from around the world on television.

Professional sport has become a business devoid of almost any sentiment at management level, and you'd need a squillion bucks plus to get a real All Stars team together.

And how would our current All Whites fare against Manchester United? There is no chance of finding that out, perhaps thankfully.

WEEKEND WINNER
Auckland claim the HRV Cup - something of a quiet sporting weekend in other words.

WHAT TO WATCH
Maria Sharapova at the tennis - the sound of summer.