One of the great stories in the All Blacks over the past 12 months has also been one of the least told.
Richie McCaw and Dan Carter are the superstars, Keven Mealamu, Tony Woodcock, Brad Thorn, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Mils Muliaina are the dependable veterans, Owen Franks and Israel Dagg are the exciting newcomers, and Jimmy Cowan and Piri Weepu are the halfbacks who have both overcome personal demons.
Why isn't Tom Donnelly getting more love?
Forgive my Otago bias but I would argue Donnelly is one of the feelgood stories of the modern era.
He plugged away in Otago for years, initially in the shadow of a prodigiously talented, flame-haired team-mate called James Ryan, who was poised for an outstanding All Black career before injury and, I suspect, a lack of motivation intervened.
While Chris Jack and then Thorn and Ali Williams dominated the second row, the selectors also tossed the black jersey to Ross Filipo and Kevin O'Neill and Greg Rawlinson and Jono Gibbes and some rooster called Bryn Evans.
Not too many great All Blacks among that lot.
Finally, at the relatively prehistoric age of nearly 28, Donnelly was given his chance. And he hasn't looked back.
Beside the magnificent warhorse Thorn, Donnelly's height, ball skills and work ethic have become integral parts of a very good All Black side.
Donnelly is an interesting character. I always found him a reluctant, slightly prickly interviewee. Possibly he was uncomfortable with the media when he was younger; maybe he just didn't like me.
But the players who know him well speak sincerely and highly of his character and ability, both of which are shining through on the field.
• Otago goes whole hog
Television watchers might have seen Otago rugby players reaching up to pat a stuffed pig's head outside their dressing room at Carisbrook recently.
Those at the ground have also heard reference to "the Razorbacks" and wondered how and why this porcine promotion has suddenly emerged.
The Last Word has discovered the idea has slowly evolved this season. Part team motto, part marketing gimmick, the concept has snowballed and now everyone is jumping on the ham wagon.
The theory is that razorbacks - wild pigs - "stand and fight". Which probably makes them a better mascot than Magpies (Hawkes Bay) or Turbos (Manawatu) or whatever Steamers (Bay of Plenty) are.
Steve Dougherty, from the Maniototo, donated the two pig's heads to the team, which contains a few keen pig hunters, notably veteran prop Kees Meeuws.
Now there is word that poor old Shaq the cat has been mothballed and an actual razorback mascot - Rodney the Razorback? Roger? - may be unveiled at some stage.
I'm a little cynical about it all. Otago rugby hasn't needed a nickname for 125 years, and inventing one at a time when the union is at such a low point is hardly great timing.
But maybe you can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear . . .
• Engaging the crowd
Everyone knows the only surefire way to attract rugby crowds is to win games.
But credit has to be given to the Otago union for at least trying some different ways to - buzzword alert - "engage the community".
It started with letting the fans run on to Carisbrook after the last home game, delighting those who remember the good old days.
And I don't know about you but I LOVE this plan to allow some people to watch tomorrow's game against Northland from their own cars.
That's good grassroots stuff, and it at least shows the union is trying.
• On par with the best
Golf clubs around Otago are still buzzing after the release of the list ranking the top 25 courses in New Zealand.
If you recall, the list was produced by Chisholm Park professional Andrew Whiley, who surveyed 35 assorted golfing types. Taupo's Wairakei course was No 1, Kauri Cliffs was No 2, Kinloch, another Taupo course, was No 3, and Otago's Jacks Point (sixth), The Hills (seventh), Millbrook (14th) and Chisholm Park (21st) made the cut.
You could almost hear the teeth grinding at St Clair, Balmacewen, Arrowtown and Kelvin Heights, arguably the most prominent of the 46 Otago courses to miss out.
As St Clair general manager Paul Barlow told me in an email, the ranking of golf courses is a "hugely emotive" issue and golfers can get "pretty precious" about their home club.
Golf Otago executive officer Doug Harradine, who has played 19 of the 25 courses, pointed out Otago was blessed to have so many courses, all of which he believed had at least one memorable hole.
Two more rankings to mention come from the Golf Australia and Golf Digest magazines.
The Australians ranked Cape Kidnappers the best New Zealand course, with Jacks Point fifth, The Hills sixth, Millbrook eighth, Arrowtown 20th, Chisholm Park 24th and Kelvin Heights 25th.
In their list of the top 100 courses outside the United States, Golf Digest had two New Zealand courses - Cape Kidnappers at 13th and Kauri Cliffs at 25th.
The Last Word has played just three courses in his mercifully brief career, and he would have Waitoa Park at No 1, St Andrews (the Timaru one) at No 2 and Ranfurly at No 3.
• Our own Cambo
Fingers crossed for former Otago golfer Thomas Campbell, who as you read this will be at the crunch stage of his first attempt to qualify for the PGA Tour.
Campbell (24), one of Bill Trewern's prize pupils at Otago Boys' High School, is playing a pre-qualifier at Yankee Hill Country Club in Nebraska.
He was tied for 53rd in a field of 84 after the first two rounds, needing about a top-42 finish to move on to the next stage of the tortuous "Q-School" process.
• Under the radar
So, who do you think will win the Champions League?
If you answered "Barcelona" or "AC Milan", your butterfly brain must have been distracted by that piffling European football competition.
No, the real champions are on display in the (ahem, clear throat) Airtel Champions League Twenty/20 in South Africa.
The mighty Redbacks, the dazzling Indians, the Stags, the Super Kings, the Warriors, the Wayamba Elevens . . . hmmmm.
• No African safari
I am staggered at New Zealand Cricket's decision to send a team - even an A team - to Zimbabwe for the first time in five years.
Chief executive Justin Vaughan claims he is comfortable with the "improved conditions and stability" in the African country.
But this is still a politically unstable Zimbabwe ruled by a tyrant, where unemployment is estimated at 70%, where a 23-year-old man has just been jailed with hard labour for calling Robert Mugabe "an old man", where artists are blocked by strict censorship laws, where power blackouts have become the norm, and where a woman was recently arrested for allegedly murdering her son and selling his body parts.
Zimbabwe cricket is run by Peter Chingoka, who is banned from Australia and the EU because of his links to corruption.
Chingoka, according to Australian cricket writer Malcolm Conn, is "the most despicable man at the ICC table".
The Guardian newspaper recently reported the MCC had cancelled a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe, with the Foreign Office believing tours of the country would "confer unjustified legitimacy on Mugabe's regime".
