Poor show ...
Why does Kane Williamson hate Dunedin?
Fine, that is probably a bit harsh for a Saturday morning, and we should stress that everyone here at the ODT loves and respects the New Zealand cricket great.
Nevertheless, it is hugely disappointing that Williamson will again be missing when the Black Caps host Bangladesh at the University Oval tomorrow.
He was rested from the 2019 ODI (also against Bangladesh), he was injured for the 2021 ODI (also against Bangladesh), and he skipped last summer’s T20 (also against ... wait ... I’m being told this was actually against Sri Lanka) as he had IPL commitments.
Here we go again. Williamson and fellow first-choice players Tim Southee, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips and Devon Conway are all missing in action tomorrow.
The excuse, of course, is that there is far too much damn cricket being played, and these men are not robots with infinite levels of energy.
But when you factor in the time of year (no students), the opposition (the dear old Bangers AGAIN) and the fact it is basically a New Zealand B team, you can’t help but be a little grumpy.
... from Black Caps
We are in white-ball mode but it is timely to remind readers how long it has been since Dunedin last hosted a test.
It has been SIX years. No test this summer will make it seven years.
Again, there are mitigating circumstances like Covid and the fact the Hagley Oval has usurped the University Oval and the inability to bring our beloved Bangladesh here EVERY summer.
Still, it is disappointing that Dunedin redeveloped this lovely ground and we seem to have dropped off the test calendar.
They are still talking about developing a test cricket venue in Auckland, too. Bad news for us if that happens.
A redemption story
Nice to see Lou Vincent have his lifetime ban for match-fixing lifted.
The former Black Caps batter has done his time in the shadows and he appears completely genuine in both his regret and his desire to contribute to the game again.
Second chances are a good thing.
Mouth of the South
Springboks provocateur Rassie Erasmus is at it again.
The verbose troll has launched some hefty broadsides at one of the greats of Otago sport, Laurie Mains, tearing the former coach to shreds in a new autobiography.
Erasmus, too, has some remarkable success behind him. But it would not hurt him to show some class now and then.
Money, money, money
You really must digest this news if you have not done so already.
Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani has signed a 10-year deal to move from the Los Angeles Angels to the neighbouring Dodgers.
It is worth (gasp) US$700 million, or a cool NZ$1.13 billion. Wowee.
But wait, there’s more.
Ohtani has cut a deal — not uncommon in American sport — to DEFER a staggering 97% of that salary.
He will be paid "just" a couple of million a year for the next 10 years then receive the rest of his cash in yearly installments of US$68m.
It was Ohtani’s idea, apparently. He will still be mega wealthy, earning an estimated US$45m a year in endorsements.
The Dodgers will still suffer a hit to their salary cap, but it will be calculated on the present-day value of his contract, so about $US46m a year not $US70m, freeing up room to build a better team around Ohtani.
He is incredibly good, to be fair, but have we finally reached the point where sport has lost the plot?
Trendy cricketer
He did not even appear in the coveted ODT sport power rankings in August but he is now officially one of the world’s trending athletes.
Rachin Ravindra is an exciting cricketer with heritage from the globe’s most populous nation — and he is also a handsome young chap — so it is perhaps no surprise he has made the list of Google’s top 10 trending sportspeople in 2023.
The list is topped by Buffalo Bills star Damar Hamlin, who had the sporting world transfixed and constantly refreshing for updates on his condition after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the field.
Football strikers Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane, NFL star Travis Kelce, NBA players Ja Morant and Kyrie Irving, tennis players Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, and cricketer Shubman Gill are the other names on the list.
Rather depressingly, none of the top 10 is a woman, though Kelce is only on the list because of a love story with Tay-Tay T-Swizzle Taylor Swift.
Name of the week
Cindy Sember.
She is an American-born British athlete who was born Cynthia Ofili and married John Sember a couple of years ago.
She is also the answer to a very simple question.
When is Christmas?
Cindy Sember.
Season’s greetings
This is the last Last Word for 2023.
I could tell you all about what sort of year it has been — but I am running out of space on this page. Suffice to say there were some devastating lows, but some wonderful highs, and I believe there are good times ahead.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for appreciating this newspaper. Thank you for remembering, while there is so much awful and weird and sad about this world, that sport can provide a marvellous distraction.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
