Yay for Dan and hoorah for the New Zealand Rugby Union and thank goodness we can sleep at night and all that.
But shouldn't there be just a little more dissent following the big news of the week?
It has certainly been a public relations triumph for the much-maligned New Zealand Rugby Union, which got to hold on to one of its star players to an out-pouring of media and fan adulation.
And Dan Carter is unquestionably a great player.
He has a blend of all-round skills and sheer class that perhaps no other New Zealand first five has ever possessed.
He's also humble, well-behaved and loyal. What's not to like?
• ... but at what price?
The problem with the NZRU putting so many golden zeroes in the Carter basket is that it emphasises the essential hypocrisy behind the national union's approach to the All Blacks.
(And remember this is an organisation responsible for the health of ALL rugby, not just one team, in New Zealand.)
The NZRU preaches - as if we needed reminding - that the All Black jersey is incredibly special, that it is the best bargaining tool they have to keep players in the country.
But at the same time as they espouse this utopian vision, they shatter the myth of New Zealand rugby being egalitarian by setting up a cushy deal for a single player.
It is one rule for one (two, if Richie McCaw signs a similar deal), one rule for everyone else.
Carter gets unprecedented freedom to use his beloved All Black status for commercial opportunities and for "sabbaticals", where the NZRU will pay his wage while Carter gets to double-dip by earning another wage at the same time.
What message does it send to other players, particularly other first fives? Well, they're all leaving, I suppose.
The NZRU continues to pour millions of dollars into keeping a select few players, while hundreds of talented men in the second tier flee our shores. This simply cannot be sustained.
One final thought that worries me: What if Carter fails to have an impact on a third consecutive World Cup? Will the mega-contract look so good then?
• Ferg v Phil
Two magnificent coaches.
Both masters of man management happy to let much of the hands-on coaching be done by trusted associates.
One retiring. One threatening to do so for years.
The Zen Master v Ol' Purplenose.
One who masterfully channelled the talent and ego of Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. One who did the same for Roy Keane, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.
So is Phil Jackson or Sir Alex Ferguson the greatest coach on the planet?
I hate the Lakers and Manchester United equally, so it is with complete objectivity that I say: sorry, not sure.
Jackson (11 NBA titles) gets bonus points for operating in a league that has a salary cap - hence, relative parity - and for the intense requirements of coaching on the side of a basketball court three or four times a week.
But he also had MJ, Shaq and Kobe. He was always going to win more than he lost.
Ferguson (12 Premier League titles) dragged United out of the abyss, blooded a generation of young talent and played the best mind games of any coach in history.
But his success in recent years has rested largely on United simply being able to financially overpower other teams. And Ronaldo and Rooney have helped.
Too close to call.
• Hope for Nuggets
Remember that line from The Shawshank Redemption: "Hope is a good thing."
And it certainly is for the Otago Nuggets, those gutsy battlers who host the Manawatu Jets tonight.
The Nuggets are trying to break - sorry to mention it yet again - a 33-game losing streak. But there is light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel.
Look at the example of the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle Supersonics).
From the worst record in the NBA (3-27) to the Western Conference finals.
Sure, it helps when you can draft someone like Kevin Durant. But keep hoping, Nuggets fans.
• The students
It has been a poor season for Otago University by the great rugby club's own very high standards.
But Otago still had a massive influence on the New Zealand Universities team that thumped Australian Universities recently.
The team featured Waitaki Boys' High School product Nick McLennan at fullback, former Otago midfielder Andrew Parata, former Alhambra-Union winger Casey Stone, former Varsity A first five Brad Linklater, Otago No 8 Paul Grant, former Otago lock Josh Townsend, Varsity A lock Rob Verbakel and former Otago prop Grant Polson.
• Rugby gear wanted
Dunedin man Geoff Simons has put the call out for any spare sets of rugby jerseys to be sent to Fiji.
Simons went to Fiji two years ago and before he went he was told of how many people in isolated villages loved to play the game but found it hard to get hold of a set of playing jerseys.
He took a set of old referee tops over to the island and has since sent two more batches over, another set of referee jerseys and a set of Alhambra-Union jerseys.
Simons said contacts in Fiji had again appealed for jerseys as authorities encouraged teenagers to take up the game.
He said many clubs in Dunedin may have a spare set lying around which could be suitable to send.
• Newfangled technology
From our Wanaka office comes a story illustrating how new technology is benefiting sport right down to the grassroots.
Netball Upper Clutha umpires received a boost in their preparation for theory exams last week when they joined 60 other umpires from six regions in a video conference.
International umpire Fay Meiklejohn was beamed in from Auckland to Mt Aspiring College along with Buller, Greymouth, Westland, Ashburton and the Rotorua Education Centre.
Upper Clutha umpire co-ordinator Margo Beattie said the two-hour session was "a fantastic concept and a great way to develop umpires".
