Paul Hickey: First time as a knight in shining armour

I'll be making my jousting debut this week and let you know how it goes on air next Friday.

There was trouble in the Hickey household on Saturday night.

For the first time in a while all four of us were at a loose end so a family game night was planned.

So we decided to go and buy a couple of new board games, and one of them was Trouble. Do you know it?

This game has been around for quite a while now, and takes me right back to my childhood playing it.

Simple concept, roll the dice via the pop-bubble thing in the middle and get your four pegs around the board and safe at home before everyone else.

But the trouble started when some players decided to be nice, and not land on others to send them back to the start.

This attitude kind of defeated the purpose of the 1970s era game: cause trouble for others, or you'll be in trouble yourself, or put more simply, kill or be killed.

They soon got the message on the game board though; I beat them all multiple times. No trouble at all.

It is a busy week ahead for yours truly including a first time experience.

I've been challenged to a medieval joust.

Full armour suit and all, and apparently the other guy is some kind of champion jouster.

I'll share the experience on the air next Friday. Luckily, this comes after Wednesday night's Ronald McDonald Family Retreat Supper Club Fundraiser and Thursday's Chamber Of Commerce Golf Day.

The supper club is an amazing night out to support a great local facility that really does highlight everything that is great about our city.

As for the golf day, after last year's stunning round which culminated in 11 lost balls, I'm sitting out the actual golf but I'm looking forward to the barbecue and after-dinner Q&A session and speaking engagement with the world's best golf caddy Steve Williams.

It's a bit of a fundraiser too and should be very entertaining, so grab a ticket if you can make it.

If you have even just a passing interest in sport, aren't we being treated to an absolute feast of it right now?

The Breakers won the basketball, the Kia Magic, the Chiefs and the Warriors have all started their respective comps, and the Phoenix are on top of the A-League.

And, of course, the Black Caps have gone through the pool stages of the Cricket World Cup unbeaten.

It is almost uncharted territory for this team, and as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I hope that as a nation we don't start setting our sights too high.

With the wave of public support and the recent results, there now seems to be a pretty big weight of expectation around our national side, something that is normally only reserved for the All Blacks.

Many people are now not only expecting a win, but a stylish and convincing win as well. Some critics have come out and bagged the close ones, but isn't a win a win?
-Paul Hickey is the host of the locally based 9am-3pm show on The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM. Follow on Facebook - The Hits Rotorua and on Twitter @paulhickeynz.