Uru has mark of real champion

OPINION: Southland is blessed in having produced some of New Zealand's most well-rounded, highest achieving sportspeople, writes Nathan Burdon in this week's Straight Up.

One of them is Storm Uru, the rower who has received a Halberg Awards team of the year nomination along with his lightweight doubles partner Peter Taylor.

The combination was unbeaten last year, a season that culminated with victory at the world championships and included two World Cup wins.

Despite that record, Uru and Taylor are not the favourites to win the gong in a category that includes the All Whites, the men's rowing pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond and the world championship-winning women's 420 sailing combination of Alexandra Maloney and the superbly named Bianca Barbarich-Bacher.

In the past few years there's been a bit of heat attached to the Halberg nominations as the sporting public find something to get their teeth into.

That's fine, that's great. There's nothing wrong with a bit of passionate debate.

A move to include a sprinkling of elite athletes among the sports journalists on the selection panel was also a good move, although I would always want to see it weighted more towards the scribes, who theoretically approach the process from a somewhat less biased angle.

Argument over the Halbergs does get out of hand, however.

There was even the suggestion in a national newspaper that the decision to leave David Tua out had racial overtones.

For me it had more to do with the fact he had only knocked out a journeyman in a fight that failed to live up to its hype.

When I spoke to Uru he emphasised how good it was going to be sitting in the same room as New Zealand's best sportspeople on February 4, rubbing shoulders with the people who make the headlines.

I've got no doubt he and Taylor would love to win, but they also genuinely feel honoured to have been nominated.

That's the mark of a real champion.wLike the Halbergs, politics in sport is a sure way to divide the populace.

You can take the attitude that Shahar Peer is merely a tennis player plying her trade and she should be left to get on with it without protesters making noise outside the venue just because she comes from Israel.

There is no simple logic to this issue, however.

What of the Chinese or Zimbabwean players involved? What about the Fijian sevens team in Wellington next month?

Sport does not exist in a bubble. It is as vulnerable to manipulation by political forces as it is by financial forces and we have to be wary as a result.

Who should we play sport against and where should the line be drawn?

John Minto knows readily the power sport has for cutting through people's traditional apathy. The debate is healthy if it educates people on the issues.wThe seventh edition of the national sevens in Queenstown starts today, one of the best community-run events I've ever covered. It is one of the highlights of the rugby season. It would be even better if Southland was to make the top half of the competition for the first time.wAs a parting shot, is anyone else feeling a little nervous about the second test between Australia and Pakistan? Some people are describing it as one of the greatest fightbacks ever. I can't help but be suspicious that some people might have known the result before it happened.

» Nathan Burdon has been the Southland Times sports editor since 2003 and has won numerous journalism awards, including provincial sports writer of the year.

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