No more tacking, jibing or foiling. No more code zero. No more pretending to understand wind shifts and tidal relief. And, yes, no more ''The rich get richer'' or ''We have a race!'' or that depressing ''Ugghh'' from you know who.
Team New Zealand lost. Oracle, overall, had the better boat and showed immense courage one race away from defeat.
Blame Dean Barker for crumbling under pressure?
Blame Ray Davies for being out-thought on the water?
Blame Grant Dalton for not turning public money into victory?
Blame the rules, the judges, the time limit, the weather, the sailing gods?
No point.
This is not about blame. This is about Larry Ellison being able to buy success, Ben Ainslie being a genius, and Jimmy Spithill being a stone-cold killer.
... runneth away
The ''choke'' label has obviously been tossed in the direction of Team New Zealand and Barker - though not, it must be said, remotely on the scale of the viciousness that greeted, for example, Taine Randell's All Blacks in 1999.
On one level, sure, it was a choke of almost Greg Norman proportions. When you lead 8-1 in a first-to-nine race, and lose, you can hardly claim to have held your nerve.
But, all things considered, this was not a choke.
Team New Zealand got the jump on Oracle, and built a lead that flattered.
''8-1'' sounds like a walloping, but on the water, it was actually 6-3 after nine races.
When Oracle really started humming - in particular, it seems, when it installed this system of automatic foil adjustment - it was vastly superior. Team New Zealand could hardly choke if it was the lesser boat for half of the regatta.
We were left with an incredible sporting story. A comeback for the ages. Sailing, as we had never seen it before.
Should ''we'' challenge again?I don't think so. It's been a wild ride, from the sheer euphoria of 1995, to the successful defence in 2000, to the farce of 2003, to the defeat in 2007, to the heartbreak in 2013.
We've had our fun. Time to step back, and fund other, more pressing, projects.
Wonderful women
The shock of the sporting year was not Team New Zealand's collapse from a seemingly unbeatable position.
It was the New Zealand women's football team beating Brazil 1-0, and then beating China 4-0. Insane.
The Football Ferns are claiming their share of the spotlight in what is really an exciting time for women's sport in this country.
Our greatest athlete is two-time Olympic gold medallist Valerie Adams. Our best swimmer is Lauren Boyle. The most exciting prospect in the country is Lydia Ko. Suzie Bates is the best women's cricketer in the world. And the likes of Lisa Carrington and Sarah Walker are inspiring a generation of girls.
Hall of Fame I
The Dunedin-based New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is calling for help as it begins compiling a national database of sports records.
In its latest newsletter, the organisation - which does a great job preserving and promoting sports history - reports it has begun a push to establish a database.
The Hall points out there are plenty of resources to uncover what has happened in the history of New Zealand sport, but they are not always easy to find.
It is encouraging national sports bodies to advise what records it holds and how they can be made available to the public.
Knowing first-hand how tricky it can be sometimes to check the history of some sports in this country, The Last Word hopes the plan succeeds.
Hall of Fame II
Ron Palenski and his team have produced another excellent reference book.
Profiles of Fame, first published in 2000 and containing biographies of all members of the Hall of Fame, has been updated.
A snip at $20, the book also includes a chronological record of New Zealand's greatest sporting achievements.
The 25
Stay tuned for the announcement of a rather exciting new project from the Otago Daily Times sports department.
My lips are (almost) sealed but I can tell you its working title is ''The 25'' and it will give you the chance to ponder, debate and argue as you select your 25 greatest ... but I've said too much.
Importantly, you will also get an opportunity to WIN some sort of prize.
Hardy cyclist
Further to our report earlier this week on the Twizel to Timaru cycling race comes this interesting little snippet.
Cycling correspondent Jan Brosnahan reports the star of the first race, in 1899, when it was Timaru to Christchurch, was a Dunedin bloke.
Arthur Ralston completed the course in 7hr 8min, competing on gravel roads and carrying his bike across rivers, even stopping for refreshments.
His prize for fastest time was 5, presented by the Dunlop Tyre Company.
Bowls stalwart
Bravo to New Zealand bowls for establishing its own hall of fame - though possibly 36 in the inaugural induction was a tad excessive.
Local folks sent me some more information about William Carswell, the Otago identity who became the first inductee and was a fascinating man.
Carswell was a competitive bowler for 66 years, winning 13 national titles. That number could have been higher had he not quit bowls for a decade to focus on greyhound coursing - hunting rabbits - and playing draughts, in which he was also a national champion.
Carswell was a bowls version of rugby scientist Vic Cavanagh. He pioneered a ''pendulum stance'' that became the subject of a book.
Super stacker
John McGlashan College pupil Ben Lovelock has had another fine result in his (rather unique) chosen sport.
Ben finished second overall at the national stacking championships in Palmerston North recently.
In case you've missed previous stories, sport stacking essentially involves stacking and unstacking piles of plastic cups at a tremendous clip.
Birthday of the week
German boxer Max Schmeling would have been 108 today.
The great heavyweight, who fought Joe Louis in two politically-charged bouts on the eve of World War II, was widely respected for his class and unwillingness to be used by Hitler as a puppet.
