Forty-nine days. Seven full weeks after the worst season in modern Otago rugby history came to a merciful close, one rather important question has still not been answered.
Will Phil Mooney continue to coach Otago next year?In the time it has taken North Harbour (which finished 11th) to review its season, sack its coach and find a new coach, Otago (14th) has ... done nothing.
Or at least, the Otago Rugby Football Union has said nothing. It has refused to endorse Mooney, refused to indicate he is for the chop, and refused to accept it is in serious danger of slipping even further behind its rivals by dithering until the new year.
What's the hold-up?
Is it, as we keep hearing, that the new kingmaker on the ORFU board has decided he wants to give Mooney the boot, but is not finding much support for the idea of having to pay a large sum of severance money to a coach who was only employed, to much fanfare, 12 months ago?
Or is it that some interminable review has not yet delivered a clear answer as to whether the coach, the players or a union that oversaw five years of poor recruitment and retention should be blamed?Whatever the case, the ORFU is again treating the last vestiges of its support base with disdain, choosing obfuscation and evasion over clear, upfront messages of action.
• ... for a decision
Sadly, the ORFU is starting to make the Otago Nuggets look organised. And that's not a good thing.
The senior Otago players have made it clear to the union that they want Mooney retained, that it would be a major step backwards if he was sent packing back to Australia.
The players think he is an exceptional coach with a clear plan - particularly related to player development, and upskilling coaches - to drag Otago out of the terrible rut in which it finds itself.
They blame the union for not providing Mooney with more quality players and a settled management structure. And they believe Otago rugby is shooting itself in the foot, season after season.
"We keep getting it wrong. And it's getting incredibly frustrating," a player told me this week.
My view remains the same: Mooney must be retained, in the interests of continuity and rebuilding, not sacked on the whim of one man.
But whatever the decision, sack him or support him - do it now. This long delay is doing nobody any favours.
• Speaking of circuses
That was a desperately poor performance by Otago in the twenty/20 game against the Northern Pinkos in Oamaru on Wednesday evening.
(Note: I am writing this before yesterday's game in Invercargill. Hopefully Otago has flogged 250 and bowled Auckland out for 12.)
Bad twenty/20 is awful to watch, and Otago produced a real stinker on the field of dreams. The Volts batted like headless chooks and bowled without conviction.
Still, at least Otago had the decency to employ two full-time imports for the duration of the HRV Cup.
The other provinces seem to have been in a competition to see which could sign the most overseas players in the space of two weeks.
I enjoy the abbreviated, abbreviated form of cricket but I hate to see any sport assume excessive festival-like components. And that's what is happening here. Shipping in multiple foreign players for one or two-game stints eats away at the soul of a sport.
It damages the fledgling status of a game that is already sniffed at by some for its smash-and-giggle approach. Good twenty/20 is still real cricket, but twenty/20 cricket with a bunch of mercenaries is starting to look like pure entertainment.
• Cracking four figures
Cricket is the best sport for digging up long-forgotten trivia and statistical gems.
My boss, who is a fund of tales from his native land, mentioned the name Jack Ryder to me the other day, and suggested I look up the score from a game between Ryder's Victorians and New South Wales in Melbourne in 1926-27.
Yowzers. After bowling the Sydneysiders out for 221, then taking two days off for Christmas and Boxing Day, Victoria rattled on 1107. No misprint. It's still, and will surely remain, a world record.
In order, the batsmen were Bill Woodfull (133), Bill Ponsford (352), "Stork" Hendry (100) and Ryder (295), and there were a couple of 60s lower in the order.
Victoria didn't muck around, either. It looks like the match featured eight-ball overs, but 5.8 runs an over is still a cracking clip.
In its second innings, New South Wales was rolled for 230, giving Victoria victory by the Brobdingnagian margin of an innings and 656 runs.
• That's outstanding, Darling
Here's a name to look out for in future summers.
Charles Darling is a 13-year-old Balclutha kid who has been at school at Waihi, in Canterbury, but will be back in his home province at John McGlashan College next year.
Charles, a top-order batsman and legspin bowler, was one of the stars at the recent Milo Cup in Palmerston North, taking five for 17 against Berkley Normal School. In the same game, cousin Lawrence scored 56.
• Who's next for the Hall?
Two more inductions into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame will be made at the Halberg Awards in February.
Assuming the panel takes a break from its obsession with track and field for a year, it could be a chance to recognise some sports whose presence is sorely lacking.
It almost defies belief that football has just one entry (Wynton Rufer) in the Hall. How has the 1982 All Whites team not made it? Or at least captain Steve Sumner?
Basketball also supplies just one (Stan Hill). Glen Denham would be a worthy recipient. Or the 2002 Tall Blacks who shocked the world with their efforts in Indianapolis.
Sean Marks, Kirk Penney, Pero Cameron and Mark Dickel, like all New Zealand athletes, have to be retired for five years before they are eligible.
League has just four - what about Hugh McGahan, Kurt Sorenson, Dean Bell or Matthew Ridge? Stacey Jones' time will come.
Netball has two teams and a coach, but just four players. Surely Bernice Mene is a leading contender. Lesley Rumball (nee Nicol) has another year to wait.
Softball (Mark Sorenson and coach Don Tricker), tennis (Brett Steven) and shearing (Snow Quinn) also have worthy names to consider.
Rugby leads the Hall with 28 entries, but somehow Michael Jones remains overlooked. The Iceman presents a compelling case.
• Game giveaway
It must be Christmas. The Last Word has yet ANOTHER little goodie to give to a lucky reader.
The prize this week is Five Men Standing, an intriguing sports board game just released as the official, er, board game of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Developed by a New Zealand company, IQideas, the fast-paced game features two random participating nations - you can buy additional packs - and a collection of scoring tokens.
To enter the draw, flick an email with your name and a daytime contact number to the address below by Monday 2pm. The winner will need to have the game picked up from our offices.
