Opinion: Murray Deaker

Believe the hype - but we still have to win


My old grandmother used to say, "If you can't believe a knight of the realm, you can't believe anyone." She was a royalist and referred to Britain as "Home" even though she'd be ashamed of her republican grandson who, as a matter of principle, treats any utterance from any knight with the height of suspicion.

That's probably why I didn't take too much notice of Sir Peter Blake when he told me the America's Cup regatta would be bigger than any sporting event to come to this country. I remember thinking that bloke's been at sea far too long or been smacked on the head by his boom or one of those other bits that seem to be flying all round the place on yachts.

How could it be bigger than a test series against the Springboks? He had to be kidding, and my old granny had been feeding me pork pies all those years ago.

Well, the race proper hasn't even started yet and my old granny from her pound seat in that big grandstand in the sky must be laughing her head off at me. Sorry, Sir Peter, you were right.

This event is shaping up to be bigger than the 1956 Springbok series, the Christchurch Commonwealth Games, the 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 1987 Rugby World Cup all rolled together.

Let me put one condition on that from the outset. It will only get that big if we happen to win it.

"Who's 'we'?" you ask. Good question. We are the ones who haven't raced yet, the boys in the black boats who hopefully have been doing more than just going out playing with each other. We actually won't know what they've been doing until they go out to start the America's Cup proper on February 19.

What a hell of a fizzer it is all going to be if our boat turns out to be a dog. Here we are having spent most of the past four months tolerating a bunch of foreigners playing around on our water smugly thinking that when they've blown out their last spinnaker Russell and his boys in Black Matt will emerge from their secret practice grounds behind Rangitoto and sink them.

To borrow a phrase from rugby league, "It's a big ask, mate." Frankly, I reckon our fellows could be a bit off the pace at the start. Not that I'm suggesting that their retreat at the back of Rangitoto will have the same effect on Coutts and company as the south of France picnic had on the All Blacks' World Cup chances. However, it is hard to believe that our blokes will be as match-hardened as the challenger who has raced in pressure situations in match conditions.

No matter how realistic the practice races have been, they've still been just that, a practice run. AmericaOne against Prada has been war, each race a battle, each victory earned with blood, sweat and yes, even tears.

The challenger unquestionably will be ready. Will we? I don't know. There is no point in asking Sir Peter because I definitely suspect that this time he would tell me porkies. What's more, I hear he hasn't even been invited out on the boat.

One thing is for sure, we are going to have to be on top form to win it. There is an air of expectation that we will successfully defend it but it is difficult to find any more substance to that than there was to the pre-tournament perception that we would win the Rugby World Cup.

This week I asked a couple of blokes who know a bit more about it than those of us who have been yelling advice to Cayard from the comfort of our couch. Neither Dennis Conner nor John Bertrand, two legends who have won the America's Cup, rate our chances any higher than 50 per cent. Sure, they don't rate them any less either.

With those sort of odds being offered by the experts, imagine the intensity of interest when racing starts. Most of our days over the past fortnight have been a write-off between 1.15 pm and the finish of the race, and these weren't even black boats we were yelling at on our televisions.

The one reassuring thought in all of this is that if my granny was right in saying you should never doubt the word of a knight, Sir Peter of Bayswater still knows his fellow Kiwis well enough to recognise that for something to be a big event in our eyes, we need to win it.

* Murray Deaker is the host of Radio ZB's SportsTalk.