• They might be young . . .
If, like me, you sat down to watch the Junior Football Ferns play the opening game of the inaugural under-17 women's World Cup on Tuesday with a healthy dose of scepticism, I hope you were equally surprised.
What a promising start to an unheralded tournament.
Nine years ago, Carisbrook was one of the venues for the men's under-17 World Cup, and fancied Paraguay, colourful Jamaica, skilled Qatar and completely unknown Burkina Faso lit up the ground during two weeks of fabulous football.
Carisbrook's surface looked stunning and was rightly rated the best venue at the tournament.
And the quality of football, even if it was played by kids, was spectacular.
• . . . but they can play
Unfairly, some of us worried the women's equivalent would be a bit of a fizzer.
Perhaps the quality and physicality would be lacking, or dull crowds and unknown teams would make for a tough sell.
What we got was a cracking opening game (between New Zealand and Canada), buckets of skill, no lack of commitment and a young Ferns team throwing itself around with gusto.
The Canucks had better first touches and more athleticism. But our girls were really, really good. Unlucky not to get a point, in fact.
It bodes well for the rest of the tournament.
• Whopper fulfils his destiny
When I was in Invercargill for a netball game a few years ago, I found myself in a queue behind a mammoth slab of a teenager.
Honestly, it's not often I feel dwarfed but this young fellow was enormous, clearly raised on a diet of swedes and mutton.
It wasn't until I caught a glimpse of his face that I realised it was the schoolboy rugby star everyone had been talking about, the one barred from a New Zealand age-group team because he was too young.
He went on to captain the New Zealand Colts and play for Southland, and then quickly became an integral member of the Highlanders.
Jamie Mackintosh has now fulfilled the destiny that has been written for him by the Southland faithful since he was 15.
He's an All Black, or at least he will be when he plays a test over the next five weeks.
He's proven himself as a player but you should also know Mackintosh is a genuinely nice young man whose lofty ambitions have never clouded his judgement or humility.
• Goldie takes the fast track
The logic runs that since Jeff Wilson was a supremely gifted player, he will be a successful coach.
Unfortunately, that's an argument that has been obliterated in any number of sports, in cases where coaches have been appointed based on their status, not their ability, and the results have been disastrous.
That is not to say Wilson will fail in his new role as North Harbour assistant coach.
I'm just disappointed he has cut corners to get a top job.
The best coaches hone their craft, learn from their mistakes and prove their commitment at grassroots level before getting elite jobs on merit.
Wilson hasn't done that.
• Jones ranks Hernandez number Juan
Times rugby writer Stephen Jones has again put sensitive New Zealand noses out of joint by rating All Black first five-eighth Dan Carter well below Argentinian playmaker Juan Martin Hernandez.
But I think he's entirely correct.
What I saw of Hernandez at the World Cup last year took my breath away.
His influence alone probably helped the Pumas finish a place or two higher than expected.
Jones ranked his top 10 first fives of all time and had Hernandez right at No 1, using Carter as a comparison.
"Juan Martin Hernandez versus Dan Carter as a fly half and all-round rugby player? The Argentinian is different class, on a different planet. To open your mouth or charge your laptop to argue is to waste breath and electricity."
Hernandez was a "colossus" whose running and passing skills were "sumptuous", Jones wrote.
His kicking and generalship were "astonishing".
"Dan Carter is terrific. But by comparison with all of this, he is just a rugby player."
Jones' greatest first fives, in order, were: Hernandez, David Watkins, Jonathan Davies, Jonny Wilkinson, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Michael Lynagh, Carter, John Rutherford and Hugo Porta.
• All the colour of baseball
Enrique Oliu didn't see a ball of baseball's World Series but he helped thousands of radio listeners analyse the action.
Oliu (45) has been blind since birth, and for the past 10 years has been an analyst for the Tampa Bay Rays' Spanish broadcast.
"I always run into sceptical people, but I've never had any problem doing my job," Oliu told AP this week.
"As my father used to tell me when I was a kid, `You've got to decide if you want the band to play your music, or if you want to play someone else's music'."
Several hours before each game at Tropicana Field, Oliu starts his routine of interviewing players, coaches and colleagues to gather every possible piece of information and detail to help him in his broadcasts.
At the booth of the radio station, Genesis 680 AM, he works alongside his wife, Debbie. She whispers statistical data to him and descriptions about the game.
"The rest is just intuition and instincts," he said.
"You know I played this sport and a bunch of others. Adapted, but I played. Blind or not blind, I have an opinion and I just state mine. That's what people want."
