I HAVE been told I'm "greedy", I should "give it a break", and that I should "give someone else a turn" recently.
They are all comments taken out of context and were in relation to my surprise success at the 2013 Sir Terry McLean National Sports Journalism Awards.
It probablydidn't help that at the time of the awards I was in South Africa competing as part of the New Zealand wheelchair rugby team, the Wheel Blacks, and upon my return was the National Maori Sports Awards, of which I won the Disabled Maori Sportsperson of the Year title, and the Attitude Award.
However, of all my recent achievements it is the journalism awards won which are two of the more special.
Like I said in a Northern Advocate article at the time: "I love just telling people's stories and doing my best to keep readers informed with what is happening in the local sporting world.
"At the end of the day, readers buy the paper to read local stories, so that's the goal I have. If recognition comes as part of that then, hey, it's all part of the journey. But if it wasn't for the readers I wouldn't be as chuffed as I am."
Having said all of that, I find one of the biggest compliments I have received on the work I've done this year was a complaint I fielded a few weeks ago. A caller wanted to know why there was not any All Blacks coverage from the weekend's game in the Monday paper, and the reason was simple - the sports pages were jam-packed with local action.
It seems weird to think that a complaint could act as such a compliment. While I don't personally rate myself highly as a writer, it was good to know people read the sports section and that I had upset someone from doing, what you could consider, too much work. I'll take that.
Any sportsperson will agree, no matter what level you compete at, that accolades received after the fact is not what you strive for. Athletes work towards goals and when you achieve them you reset your focus and press on. The same can be said for me as a writer. All I want to do is a good job. If people believe you to be a good writer then so be it; same goes if they think you're terrible. At the end of the day, you are employed to do a job and naturally you strive to do it well, presuming it is a job you enjoy or want to do.
From a working and journalistic point of view, I hope to continue providing readers with what is hopefully a decent sports section.
