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He's been called a TV pest, three women in South Africa once robbed him outside a takeaway shop, and not long ago he got into an altercation with All Black Jerry Collins.
But Sonny Shaw, in almost Muhammad Ali fashion, proclaims nothing will rob him of his status
as "New Zealand's most dedicated sports fan".
"I'm the only New Zealand fan, apart from people such as broadcasters and commentators, who has more than 100 test matches in cricket and rugby," Shaw said during the third day of the cricket test between the Black Caps and England on Monday.
Resting during a lunch break away from his spot next to the sight screen, he said he had been to 102 Black Caps tests.
And the World Cup loss against France last year was his 101st All Blacks test.
The 57-year-old Auckland accountant has travelled to 56 countries to wave his black Silver Fern flag and brandish the toy kiwi he carries strung around his neck on 40 tours - 22 for the Black Caps, 12 for the All Blacks, four for netball's Silver Ferns and one each for Tall Blacks and Team New Zealand.
Born in Motueka, he moved with his family as a child to Hamilton and left there after the break-up of his marriage in 1987.
His first tour was in 1989 when Wayne "Buck" Shelford captained the ABs to Canada, Ireland and Wales.
He made his first cricket tour in 1996 to the Caribbean with the Black Caps, who have acknowledged his solid support by arranging for him to have free tickets for matches played overseas.
"I buy my own tickets in New Zealand because it's fairly cheap," said Shaw, who says he never short of money "because I own five debt-free apartments in Auckland and I'm a self-made millionaire".
Shaw's globe-trotting sport-watch continues this week when he leaves tomorrow to attend his first Hong Kong Sevens tournament.
"The Hong Kong tournament clashes with the cricket every year but, this year, the gods have been kind ... and given me one day to fly there."
Next on the agenda is the Beijing Olympics in August. He hasn't made any bookings yet, but "I will get there".
He's also pencilled in the ICC Champions Trophy in the same month "but I'm a bit dubious about going to Pakistan" because he was in Karachi when the bomb went off outside the Caps' hotel during the aborted 2002 tour.
"I have the best boss in the world too [Andrew Carpenter, of Truck Rentals, in Auckland] who lets me travel around the world for seven months.
"I work between tours and put in weekends and 12-hour days to make up for it."
During the Black Caps' 1996 Windies tour, he claims he put a US$100 bill into the pocket of batting maestro Brian Lara to honour a bet with his billeting family on whether the cricketer would make 100 runs. Lara was unbeaten on 160.
"I was having drinks with Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming after that match and Lara walks up with a beer and taps me on the shoulder. Fleming said it was the most I'll ever pay for a beer," he said with a grin.
He also presented a US$100 bill to Fleming after his 130-run effort in the Barbados test in 2002.
His most enjoyable time was in Valencia, Spain, last year when the partners of two Team NZ crewmen thanked him for his support through the lost campaign.
His most exciting moment on a trip was the Silver Ferns tour of Jamaica in 2003 when they beat the Australians for the World Cup.
"The last quarter was the hardest in any sport I've watched."
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY