Dominic George: Grateful last round has started

Sport and politics evoke plenty of passion. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Cannot wait for winner of election to be decided

I tend to watch sport one way; I yell at it. From kids sport on Saturday morning to the test later that night and everything in between, I yell at it.

It's not necessarily negative - it's the whole lot; applause, lament, encouragement, despair, joy and disappointment are all verbalised in the same sort of way. I'm reminded of this as the election draws close. We'll be at the polls in a couple of days deciding, to a point, the make-up of the next government. People will have election parties, others will quietly watch the numbers come through on the TV, and others still will avoid it like the plague.

As I've mentioned before, some support their political team like they're watching a sporting contest or backing a winner at the track; no objectivity to speak of. They're left, they're right or somewhere in the middle, and never shall any of it meet ...

This is dangerous and stupid most of the time but, I guess once you've cast your vote, you presumably want your horse to come in first, or at least place. So let's assess the state of play.

There is no better analogy to a lining up in the blue corner this weekend is the reigning champion with a sparse but dependable entourage in the form of United Future and the Maori Party ... and Act - ha ha, just joking.

In the red corner, the contenders. They're giving away height and reach advantage in this bout and have a less than flattering recent record. In contrast to the blue corner, their entourage is positively overflowing, although as is usually the case with most big fights, the contender has a puncher's chance if the whole camp is on the top of their game.

But, as we know, there can be outside influences that can determine the eventual outcome of a contest; referees, judges, bookies and mobsters to name the most obvious. And we've had our fair share of these in the election campaign so far.

The irony for the Nats is all the dirty politics and, more importantly, the gerrymandering of Kim Dotcom and co is playing right into their hands. Some are seeing it as Dotcom versus John Key and, despite where your political persuasions may lie, I think most rational New Zealanders would pick Key in that particular two-way contest. Add to that, the Hager book has lost all its steam in the past couple of weeks.

Which brings us to the question; who is set to benefit? Sure, to the victor goes the spoils, but throughout history, and taking the liberty of sticking to the boxing analogy, it's the promoters who end up lining their pockets in big fights. Who is the promoter in this stoush? Winston Peters, of course. Like a savvy old whisky-drinking, cigar-smoking businessman, Winston has kept up the intrigue by not stating who he thinks the favourite is. Provided he's in a position to help form a government and numbers suggest he is, it's been a master-class from the veteran.

I've even heard this week - no joke this time - that Winston Peters could become Prime Minister. Ya'what? Yes, Prime Minister. Outlandish, yes, but possible? More than you may care to consider. The rationale is if the Labour vote plummets to levels as dire as National circa 2002 and the Greens and New Zealand First continue to pick up numbers, then conceivably they're all in a relatively similar position, insofar as there's no overwhelming mandate for any one of them to form a government. Could Winston ask for the key to the kingdom in return for his support?

It's all intriguing stuff and I'm looking forward to Saturday night. Ironically, the one thing that's annoyed me this election is the response of campaign chairman Steven Joyce to the allegations the National Party ripped off an Eminem song for their election ads. Now, I know it's not the party per se, it's the company they hired to find them a jingle for their ads, but spare me the bollocks about changing the music two weeks ago and that some people found it too "full on". What a load of utter garbage. It's about as full-on as the sound of water trickling down a bloody plughole. Plus, I heard the ad yesterday when I was writing this.

Now I'm yelling and there's no sport in sight.

• Dominic George hosts Farming First, 5am-6am weekdays on Radio Sport.