Watching a game during the weekend, a television commentator - one forgets who it was, there are so many - said reality had prevailed in the decision to retain Northland and Tasman in the Air New Zealand Cup.
What colour is the grass in that commentator's world?
Any talk of reality went out the window with this decision.
Financial reality?
More than half of the unions in the competition made losses last year, some significant, and Tasman was deep in the red ink.
Tasman was kept going this season by a New Zealand Rugby Union loan of $340,000. Which begs the question - how can it keep going next year?
Tasman has obviously not heard of the credit crunch.
Playing reality?
The standard of the competition has dropped markedly this year with the All Blacks unavailable and hordes of players trading their wares overseas.
Many games have been ordinary, admittedly not helped by confusing new laws, and the skills on display have been average at times.
Watching reality?
Crowds are down right across the land, though more in the main centres, and even television ratings have slipped back.
So, really, the decision to maintain 14 teams was based on sentiment and to give Tasman and Northland one last chance.
But maybe the NZRU board and chief executive Steve Tew was a tad Machiavellian in the decision to keep both of the unions.
One of the stipulations to keep Tasman in the competition was that Nelson Bays and Marlborough both had to be part of the Tasman team.
But up Blenheim-Picton way, the Makos are like burnt toast. Unwanted, a mess best left avoided.
The marriage between Nelson Bays and Marlborough has all become a bit ugly. And Marlborough did not sign a pre-nuptial.
Lansdowne Park in Blenheim has been sold to pay for Tasman's debts and many in Marlborough just want to chuck the Makos into Queen Charlotte Sound.
So if the marriage is not repaired, and that looks odds on, the NZRU board and staff can just say turn around and act as the divorce court judge saying "we gave you a chance but you do not want to be together so you're out."
The NZRU will not then be portrayed as the nasty bully who took the ball away from Tasman.
So if Tasman is gone, the competition will be left with 13 teams - a bye in a full round-robin competition which may not end until November.
But is tinkering with the Air New Zealand Cup just shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic?
The signals from NZRU have been pretty clear - the Super 14 is going to get bigger and may end up with 18 teams, with an extra team based in New Zealand.
It will go longer, and feature more players and games.
Throw in a dozen test matches, and the rugby menu is already bulging to overflowing.
Maybe the Air New Zealand Cup, or the provincial competition will just gradually wither away and die.
If the Highlanders are in the middle of a chase for a semifinal spot come August (yes, it has happened) is anyone going to care how a second-string Otago side goes against Bay of Plenty?
Ask young people in towns like Ashburton, Blenheim, Masterton, and Levin, what team they support and it is the Crusaders and the Hurricanes.
The franchises are the teams of the future, not the likes of the Makos and the Taniwha.
Maybe the NZRU know that, but has not got the guts to tell anyone.
Especially, Northland and Tasman.
