KEY POINTS:
Ah, 2008 ... it was a decent vintage, with a full-bodied Olympic campaign and some pleasing rugby notes and a clean league finish. But what does 2009 hold? Let's analyse nine things we'd like to see in '09 to prevent this crop leaving a bad taste.
1. All Whites qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals
In 1982 it was the Impossible Dream. This time around it is the snappily titled More Realistic, Though Still a Longshot, Dream.
The All Whites have their best chance of qualifying for a World Cup since 1982 and now face a home and away playoff against the fifth-best Asian side in November for a place at the Big Show in South Africa in 2010.
Australia's departure to Asia made New Zealand's task of winning the Oceania round infinitely easier and a playoff against Asian opposition rather than a South American side has opened the door even further.
The All Whites' opponents are still unknown but, on present form, they are shaping up to be either Qatar (ranked 84), Bahrain (80) or North Korea (113). If rankings are anything to go by - and they are seriously flawed - New Zealand (86) are in with a good shout.
They will at least get the ideal build-up when they take on South Africa, Iraq and European champions Spain at June's Confederations Cup.
2. A New Zealand team wins in Australia
It could actually happen.
The Breakers are well-placed to go deep into the ANBL playoffs and the Warriors will surely start the season as one of the favourites for the NRL.
Indeed, outside Manly and Melbourne, it is hard to see any team being better placed than the Warriors to make a tilt for a premiership, though you can guarantee the angry little man in charge of Cronulla, Ricky Stuart, will be seeking some kind of redemption.
First things first though, and the Breakers are a well-balanced team in a surprisingly lop-sided league.
While the 2008-09 season will always be accompanied in Australia by an asterisk denoting the season basketball was brought to its knees in the Lucky Country, few this side of the Tassie will give a toss should Kirk Penney and the boys bring a big trophy home.
The Phoenix might even make the playoffs. Might.
3. A full-strength French team travel to New Zealand in June
Understrength teams touring New Zealand in June has been an issue for far too long. The French have been one of the worst sides in that regard, bringing a woefully depleted squad here in 2007 that was pasted twice, with only Sebastien Chabal going on to play at the World Cup later that year.
In November 2007 it was agreed by all the major nations that the best players had to be available for all tests. Then the French, just months later, said they couldn't honour that agreement in 2009 because their club final would have to be played the week before they were due to play the first of two tests in New Zealand.
The NZRU managed to force a concession that individuals involved in the club final - likely to be at least 10 first-choice international players - will fly out separately to join their teammates in New Zealand on June 7.
Hmmm. That's what they say will happen. But this is the French. What they say is not always what they do. And if New Zealand is short-changed, it will be time for a serious fight that probably won't have any winners.
4. Sachin comes and he scores a ton
Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes and the 1.68m small Tendulkar is living proof.
He's been playing a man's game since he was 16, breaking all manner of batting records along the way and carrying the hopes of a billion fans with him every time he walks to the crease.
At 35 and banged up, he has earned the right to pick and choose his assignments and, who knows, a trip to New Zealand might not be high on his list, particularly when we put on a smorgasbord of greentops for him last time he visited.
Let's hope, though, because it will likely be the last chance to see him play in person and the guy is a genius.
5. More Nadal vs Federer epics
The French Open might have been a damp squib (Nadal beat Federer 6-1 6-0 6-3) but last year's Wimbledon final will live long in the memory. It was even described by many as the greatest game ever played.
It was the longest final in Wimbledon history, won by Nadal 9-7 in the fifth set in the gloaming light, four hours and 48 minutes after the first ball was hit. Federer looked down and out having lost the first two sets but showed the type of form that won him five-straight championships and 13 Grand Slam titles in all. Men's tennis, any tennis for that matter, has been crying out for another Borg-McEnroe-type rivalry. Hopefully we've found it for real.
6. Stadia start to take shape
This could get really embarrassing, like your mates finding out that hot chick you took to the school ball was not your out-of-town girlfriend but your out-of-town cousin.
We are just 33 months from hosting the Rugby World Cup and there are still question marks about Eden Park being finished in time and anything useful happening at all in Dunedin. Warning, this could get ugly.
Who cares if it's called Eden Park or Enron Stadium - the potential selling of the naming rights, incidentally, last reported in the Herald on Sunday on February 24 last year - let's just build the damn thing in time.
7. Less of Steve Williams
How does a bag carrier become such a sporting figure in this country? A quip he made about Phil Mickelson recently (he called the guy a "pr*ck") left him in the deep rough and his boss, Tiger Woods, apologising to a player he doesn't even like. Williams might be one of the highest-paid New Zealanders in sport (we would be too if we worked for Woods) and his dedication to Starship Hospital is a stunning and generous gesture but he is not a sports star. Period.
8. United's hegemony is challenged (but not by Chelsea)
When Liverpool went out to an early lead in the Premier League, it was seen as only a matter of time before they developed a bad case of vertigo, wet their pants and snuggled back into the relative comfort of fourth.
But, hey, it's the new year and they're still on top, even if inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard is set to become familiar with the working of Britain's fine criminal justice system.
With a buoyant Aston Villa joining the fray and Arsenal not quite firing blanks, this season has the makings of the best in a long time.
The worst-case scenario is still on, however, should the three aforementioned sides fall in a heap.
A Manchester United-Chel$ea one-two. Yawn.
9. More emotion from Ted, please
The normally austere Graham Henry let his stone veneer crack a couple of times last year. He was photographed smiling (twice) and when the All Blacks bounced back emphatically to hammer Australia at Eden Park in August, he did the whole man-love thing with Wayne Smith - hugging, jigging and there might, just might, have been thought given to kissing.
That burst of spontaneous emotion went a long way towards winning over a sceptical public and towards reminding the nation Henry cares deeply and passionately about the All Blacks.
A little more of that would be welcome. Not the over-the-top, fist pumping and running up and down the stands that Clive Woodward used to do - just a bit more smiling, back slapping and general bonhomie.
