The term liquidation sends a shiver down the spine of many Otago rugby supporters, just as the term liquefaction does for many Christchurch residents.
Liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of saturated soil is reduced by vigorous shaking or rapid loading.
The intense shaking experienced in an earthquake causes the water pressure to increase to the point where the soil particles readily move with respect to each other, causing watery sludge to gush out of the ground.
Liquidation is the process by which the financial viability of a company is reduced, brought on by a range of circumstances such as fiscal irresponsibility (vigorous shaking) and over-spending (rapid loading).
The intense strain put on the company results in liquidation where the assets and property of the company are redistributed and potentially dissolved, causing an embarrassing debt to rise to the surface for all to see.
Many of us watch the residents of Christchurch shovelling sludge from their front door step over and over again and wonder why don't they just accept liquefaction occurs in their neighbourhood and move?
But they dig in (literally and figuratively) and continue to battle against what we consider to be the inevitable.
The same could be said for supporters and champions of the struggling Otago Rugby Football Union.
Should we accept that it can't be saved and pack up and move our loyalties or at least build another "body" on firmer soil? Or should we expect it to be bailed out by the NZRU, wealthy business people, or local supporters?
Will staving off liquidation bring about a change in culture within the Otago union or will it carry on operating in a way that has seen it rack up $2.35 million in debt and record an annual loss of $750,000?
Unfortunately, like many supporters of the golden "O" on the blue jersey, I am perplexed by how an organisation can get into financial difficulty and leak funds at such a rapid rate without anyone raising the alarm earlier.
Transparency is the key to stopping the haemorrhaging, and that see-through trait has been lacking at the Otago union and many other provincial unions since provincial rugby went semi-professional.
I'm gutted that after 131 years of history the union where I fell in love with rugby may no longer exist.
If it means the debts will be cleared, player contracts will become obsolete and clubs are free to form another body, then maybe this is the best strategy forward for Otago.
It will take a long time for the business community and creditors to forgive and forget but at least the union gets a reality check and has the opportunity to start again.
As we've all discovered over the last week or so, the Otago rugby union is not the only province in financial strife, but it is the most extreme.
As someone with experience in the property business, Otago chairman Wayne Graham must know that if the rot has already set in, it is best to knock down the whole structure and start again.
The builders must take responsibility for what has happened but the architects also need to take a look at themselves and their template.
Something isn't right with regards to the current provincial rugby structure if unions such as Counties, Bay of Plenty, Tasman and Manawatu struggle to balance their books every year. There are just not enough resources available to keep the current competition viable.
As part of a team-building exercise a few years ago I provided two teams with varying resources to build an "egg parachute".
The team with the most resources used all of their materials in a haphazard and redundant manner while the team with the least resources used what they had more efficiently and ended up producing the most effective egg parachute.
Embrace the term liquidation as an opportunity to start afresh and build a more efficient and stable structure to produce another 130 years of proud Otago history under a more effective egg parachute, painted blue and gold.