My Shout By Steve Devereux  January 12, 2012

There’s something in the water, something in the water’ . . .

So the recent hit song from Bernie Fraser’s little girl Brooke goes, and I’m thinking she must be right.
There’s downsides and upsides to everything, and the water in Mid Canterbury is currently at the centre of much discussion, as folks are lining up at their local plumbing supplies depot to get a new hot water cylinder (then lining up again two years later to get another one) as the water (or the something that’s in it) merrily eats its way through the bottom of them, and of course its all nobody’s fault.
‘Nobody’ has been responsible for a fair bit over the course of time, just ask any kids when there’s damage done around the place, fair chance Nobody did it.
The upside for Nobody: it was the nickname of John Eales, ex-Wallaby skipper when they were having one of their golden eras.
Nobody – as in Nobody’s perfect – could do anything on the rugby field, a highly-rated lock who as a sideline kicked the odd goal, including that high-pressure one from the sideline that won the Bledisloe Cup for Australia in a stunning game back in 2000.
He also lifted the William Webb Ellis trophy aloft.
Twice.
Somewhere in there he found time to play first grade cricket for Queensland University, completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in psychology, and he’s now director of various companies, and even a guest lecturer at the University of Notre Dame.
Ah, but has he landed a crippled Apollo spacecraft on the moon??
Anyway, this isn’t about some long-forgotten Aussie battler, its about the water.
The upside from the discussion is that it appears our local sportspersons have benefited from whatever substance is giving our H2O a boost.
Greatly.
Warren French is getting right amongst it in top level darts over in Britain.
Sky TV has a fair amount of coverage of darts on screen, and it can be addictive watching once you get involved – definitely no longer strictly the domain of the twenty-pint three-packets-of-fags fellas, these guys are serious professionals, and our man is certainly making a name for himself in those circles.
Then there’s Lauren Ellis.
This highly-talented, confident young lady is a different person from the shy little girl (with immense potential on the cycling track) who first came to our attention several years ago.
A series of sports reporters just didn’t want to interview her – not because she was difficult or aggressive in any way, but because her vocabulary consisted of two words (yes, or no), and that’s if you could manage to hear her say them.
Now we have a world-class cyclist on our hands, assured and positive with the media, and just a few days ago the winner of the prestigious New Zealand road time trial, against the best opposition in the country, her team-mates in the New Zealand pursuit squad.
The massively high regard she is held in by the local cycling community is patently obvious, and when the London Olympics roll around in a few months there will be a huge support base in Ashburton for our very own cycling superstar.
Finally, to the bowling green.
Sandra Keith has been putting it together very well on the greens in recent times, but she topped all that comprehensively when she went to Auckland last week and claimed the women’s singles title against all-comers at the national bowls championships.
Now that’s a monumental achievement, one that will be in the record books forever; Sandra is officially the best bowler in the country.
Rumour has it that a prominent member of the bowling/punting fraternity who is, er, close to the action, punted on Sandra before the tournament had started, scoring at the very juicy odds of 40-1, and if your punt is in excess of $100 then you’re looking at a very nice collect indeed!
There might just be a couple of extra spectators in Cyprus to cheer Sandra on later this year at the World Champion of Champions tournament.
Now that’s surely a story to gladden the sporting heart at the beginning of a New Year.