So bravo to Tony Smith, the former Otago Daily Times reporter who dared lob a little grenade in the direction of the Evil Empire last week.
His column in The Press asked if the Crusaders were being "greedy" in poaching talented All Black fullback Israel Dagg from our struggling Highlanders.
Let me provide the answer: yes.
The Crusaders are greedy, the New Zealand Rugby Union is toothless and the franchise system in this country is doomed if this outrageous disparity in talent is allowed to continue.
The NZRU, mindful of the power the players' association now holds, is always careful to say players must retain the element of control over where they play, and that a successful franchise like the Crusaders can not be blocked from recruiting talent.
But those arguments don't stand up.
The NZRU preaches free-market principles while completely distorting the market by owning all five franchises and paying the wages of all the players.
This isn't football, and New Zealand isn't England.
We can't have a Manchester United (Crusaders), an Arsenal (Hurricanes), two Tottenhams (Chiefs and Blues) and one Blackpool (Highlanders).
For the national interest, there must be more talent equalisation.
The A to Z . . .
Another bouquet this week goes to Keith Quinn, the elder statesman of New Zealand sports broadcasting.
Quinn has just released a book, The A-Z of Meads: Yarns, Facts and Fallacies About a New Zealand Rugby Legend (Trio, pbk, $44.99).
As the title suggests, the book is a collection of tidbits about our greatest All Black, Colin Earl Meads, laid out in alphabetical order.
Given that Pinetree's life and rugby career have been exhaustively covered in two books, firstly by Alex Veysey and then by Brian Turner, and innumerable newspaper stories, magazine features, radio interviews and television segments, I wondered what more there was to know about the great knight.
But Quinn, who explains he has been keeping clippings and notes on Meads for half a century, delivers a swag of fascinating material and memories.
There are snippets from articles, anecdotes from opponents, extracts from after-dinner speeches, and facts and figures and photos from a remarkable life.
. . . of the great Pinetree
There is a piece on Dunedin's famous No 5 Fan Club, a lengthy bit on the day Meads got sent off against Scotland in 1967, and at least three photos of Meads with a sheep under each arm.
Then there is a cracking yarn on nutrition - a dirty word to most old All Blacks - and the time Meads, when he was manager of the Laurie Mains-coached All Blacks, told a "lady expert" how he used to prepare for a game.
There would be a "big feed of steak and eggs" in the morning, and cold meat, mashed potatoes drowned in butter and tea with eight sugars a few hours before the game.
"She just looked at me, smiled nicely and said, `Colin, you just don't know how good you could have been!'"Dieticians and Colin Meads - we just don't mix."
One of the sweetest pieces is a reprint of a handwritten letter sent to Meads by a young fan, after Meads had been injured and was reportedly in need of a skin graft, or as the youngster called it, a skin draft.
"If you want to have a skin draft you can have all the skin you want off my back. It's all free and it's quite good skin."
Liam for life
There was one question in my mind after our midweek profile of Liam Edwards, the talented Otago Boys' High School rugby player who won season tickets for life to Carisbrook a few years ago.
Would Liam get two seats for life to the new stadium when it was finished?Apparently, yes.
The Otago Rugby Football Union advises Liam's rugby ground memberships will be transferred to the Glasshouse.
Lawrence's big day out
They have been celebrating a lot down in Tuapeka country lately.
First Lawrence stormed to victory in the Otago Country rugby final.
Then the little tackers from the town claimed the honours for best-presented team at the junior march past at Carisbrook last week.
Local woman Bronwyn Bugden reports the kids had a great day in the city, riding on the double-decker bus, playing a bit of tenpin bowling and mini golf, and then getting to walk on Carisbrook.
The day went so well, there were no complaints when the team's bus broke down on the way home, and a replacement had to be called.
"We ended up home at 12.30am, so there were some tired kids the next day," Bugden said.
Remembering Bert
We had a flood of entries for our giveaway of copies of the Bert Sutcliffe book - The Last Everyday Hero, by former ODT reporter Richard Boock - and what was lovely was that many were accompanied by memories of the great man.
Elizabeth Jack said, as a schoolgirl, Sutcliffe was her hero, and he was "gracious and kind" when they met later in life.
Evan Beale, a fellow left-hander, recalled watching Sutcliffe bat at Carisbrook against Len Hutton's Englishmen in 1955, and winning a junior award that came with a Slazenger Sutcliffe 355 bat.
Anne Marie Parsons remembered the day Sutcliffe visited tiny Wilden School, in West Otago.
Graeme Garden clocked in from New South Wales to recall visits to the Sutcliffe-owned Otago Sports Depot.
Myfanwy Morgan talked about the time she and her brothers helped Sutcliffe practise.
It is those sorts of testimonials that remind you why the Sutcliffe name still holds such a dear place in the Otago sporting heart.
Thunder meets Stanley
Dunedin Thunder import Martin Millerioux got up close and personal with ice hockey's greatest prize after returning to France last week.
Millerioux shares a home town, Grenoble, with Cristobal Huet, a goaltender with the Chicago Blackhawks team that won the Stanley Cup this year.
Tradition states that each member of a Cup-winning team gets to spend a day with the huge trophy.
Huet presented the Cup in front of thousands of fans, including Millerioux, and then took it to the Eiffel Tower.
