What could I write about this week considering the drama that is taking place on the West Coast?
In all honesty, writing about sport feels a little disrespectful and trivial at a time like this. Peter Whittall's composed and personal manner under pressure, however, has inspired me to talk about leadership.
In times of tragedy and tension, people desperately seek out someone to lean on or, in some cases, blame.
The Pike River mine explosion has been one of those occasions and I have been impressed with Whittall, Pike River Coal's chief executive, and his demeanor in the public eye since the explosion.
He has remained calm, informative, and seems to genuinely care about the 29 miners and their families.
He appears to be an ordinary bloke with his lined face, fumbling attempts to master technology, and way of explaining the situation without looking like he is reading from a script.
He has a face that gives away no emotion yet is not uncaring.
It must be difficult to get across the right amount of realism and optimism while under the scrutiny of desperate family members, frustrated rescue teams, and demanding journalists.
His leadership under pressure is something to be admired.
It made me think about leadership in sport and how, rather than seek out our leaders for reassurance in testing times, we tend to turn on those in positions of power when the going gets tough.
Leadership in the Black Caps camp has been called into question recently and they chose to rally around their leaders, and stay with the status quo.
Their loyalty under public pressure was admirable, but not their recent performance against India.
Are the leaders to blame in this situation or is there something else more systemic going on in cricket?
Football coach Ricki Herbert is also under pressure since the Wellington Phoenix team has lost five of their past seven matches and scored only five goals while conceding 16.
How can a coach like Ricki Herbert go from hero to zero in less than a year?
In the oval ball code, Warren Gatland's performance as the Welsh rugby coach has been under scrutiny since the very proud rugby nation was held to a 16-16 draw against Fiji.
In an attempt to point the finger somewhere else, Gatland axed Ryan Jones as captain even before leaving the dressing room.
The sporting world seems so fickle, and seems to eat leaders for breakfast.
Watching the drama unfold at the mine makes all the finger-pointing and blame games going on in sport seem ridiculous.
Wouldn't it be great if sport leaders had an opportunity to reassure us that they're doing the best they can under the circumstances and that sometimes, despite all of their best intentions, the outcome is not what we want.
Do heads always have to roll when the going gets tough? Maybe all sport leaders could learn a thing or two from how Peter Whittall conducts himself under pressure, and we, as New Zealand sports fans, could cut people in these roles a bit of slack.
In the end, it is only sport, and there are more important things in life that we should concern ourselves with, like spending quality time with our loved ones.
