WINNERS
TALL POPPY SYNDROME
It's complete bollocks really, but there is still a significant portion of the country that believes such a syndrome exists in New Zealand.
The Clubrooms: Dylan Cleaver - Why new Black Caps star Kyle Jamieson is being treated differently
Kyle Jamieson celebrates the wicket of Jason Holder, New Zealand Black Caps v West Indies, Day 2 of the 2nd international cricket test at Basin Reserve. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
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What New Zealanders don't do is rush to put tall poppies on a pedestal, and that does a lot more good than harm I suspect.
Get to the point, would you?
OK, my point is this: If Kyle Jamieson, player of the series against West Indies, was English, Indian or even Australian, he'd be splashed over every screen and page as Cricket's Newest Superstar, the Next Ian Botham, the Next Glenn McGrath or any other number of fatuous comparisons.
Television crews would be dispatched to interview former teachers, classmates and girlfriends.
But not here. In New Zealand he's been quietly assimilated into a strong Black Caps' team culture where he can drink in the shared knowledge of veterans like Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner without being expected to be anything more than he is; a prodigiously talented addition to a very good team.
"KJ has been a pleasure to bowl with over the last few tests," said Boult after day three of the latest victory. "In terms of an asset to New Zealand cricket he's a remarkable addition to the side. He's got good pace and can bat very well."
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There you go. Consider his tyres fully pumped up.
He'll have tough moments in his career but because the 2.03m hasn't been pushed to high, he will never have as far to fall.
HENRY NICHOLLS
Nicholls, like most of his teammates, seems a phlegmatic sort of guy, able to ride out the peaks and troughs of high-performance sport without getting too aroused by success or weighed down by failure.
He is, however, still human and humans have an instinct for danger.
Before this test Nicholls was in a test-match trot. There's no other way to describe 13 innings without passing 50 in what is arguably the cosiest spot in the order. The only way he would not have known that questions were starting to be asked about his place in the order would have been if he didn't own a phone.
Nicholls, player of the match here, no longer needs to worry about his spot for the rest of the summer. A big century will do that for you. Forget about the luck. Nobody mentions it when you're caught brilliantly, or you get an edge to one that everyone else plays and misses, so it's pointless to focus on that aspect when you get a let-off (or three).
As Nicholls put it: "It's batting. It's cricket. It's pretty fickle."
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TEAM NEW ZEALAND
The America's Cup has been more hot air than sea breeze but the word on the big blue is that Team New Zealand will win and win easily.
That's a good thing, right?
LOSERS
WORLD RUGBY
It was always coming but the lawsuit that is coming their way from ex-players battling dementia and, probably, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, places them between a rock and another rock.
If they fight the case the world will hear a bunch of harrowing testimony from those players ravaged, in their opinion, as a result of the sport they played.
If they settle, it is tacit acknowledgement that those players' opinions as to the origins of their condition are correct.
They cannot "win" this battle, but they can at least position themselves as empathetic and concerned. That is about the best they can do.
THE AMERICA'S CUP
A bit of on-the-water intrigue is desperately needed. If the above scenario plays out (see winners), it's unlikely to be a result that encourages other syndicates to spend millions setting up here for next time.
MANCUNIANS
I had a bit of time on my hands so tuned in for the final hour of the "blockbuster" Manchester derby between United and City.
That's an hour of my life that could have been better trying to get the lint out of all the pockets of my trousers. Not all 0-0 draws are boring but this was something even worse than that. It was the footballing equivalent of white sauce.
Why are these [rugby] players suing when everybody knows it is a contact game and there is a risk of getting concussion?
Geoff, Whangarei [abridged]
This is a very difficult question to answer succinctly, particularly when we are yet to see the brief.
You used a word there which is interesting, though, and that is concussion. It really is time to move the discussion beyond that. Without downplaying the seriousness of concussive incidents, they are almost a red herring regarding CTE, which is what these players believe they have. People are increasingly aware of the dangers of concussion and most sports, especially collision sports, have taken steps to lessen the incidences of it and take seriously the treatment of concussions.
Research points strongly to CTE (which can only be definitely diagnosed post-mortem) being caused by multiple sub-concussive impacts, the sort that happen time and time again in rugby, league and other tackle sports, and are barely perceptible.
You suspect the argument will be that players were not made aware of the dangers of these types of hits and were not sufficiently protected from them.
Again, there is a lot to learn about what they will specifically argue but the one thing it is not, as was mentioned by somebody who should know better earlier this week, is a "fishing expedition". The idea that ex-players with dementia – a truly horrible, debilitating umbrella of diseases – are being opportunistic is just crass.
Last week I pointed to the chess as an excuse to send you in the direction of The Queen's Gambit, this week I'm going to use the sport of surf lifesaving as a pretext to send you in the direction of this wonderfully grimy (in the best sense) report from New York magazine.
PAOLO ROSSI
Many New Zealanders relationship with football started in 1982, when the All Whites defied the odds to reach the World Cup in Spain. Just getting there was their victory. The actual winners of the memorable tournament were Italy and they largely got their on the back of Rossi's six goals, including one in the 3-1 final victory against West Germany.
Rossi was only at the tournament because his three-year ban for his role in a match-fixing scandal known in Italy as Totonero, was reduced to two years.
He died last week from lung cancer at the age of 64 (his home was burgled during his funeral, to cap off a bad week for the family).
Totally not sold on the concept of pink-ball cricket, which throws up some crazy sessions, but this Australia-India test series has real meaning for not only cricket lovers, but those anxious to see if the Black Caps can reach the World Test Championship final. From Thursday, Sky Sport, 5pm.
