There is talk of a Jonah movie, similar to Chasing Great, the story of Richie McCaw. But again the feedback is why should we do a New Zealand documentary when Kiwis never really got Jonah.
That has always been the debate, was Jonah beloved overseas more than he was in his birth place? I remember asking Jonah that question in one of the last interviews he did, his answer was diplomatic as always. Jonah never sought to be controversial, but I do wonder what he truly thought about his place in New Zealand sport.
Go back to 1995, and the negotiations to take rugby truly professional and introduce a new concept we know as Super Rugby.
Having spoken with those that handled those negotiations, the head of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch wanted only one thing. Not the 10 teams, not the posse of All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks, he just wanted Jonah.
If Jonah did not commit to New Zealand rugby, Super Rugby may never have launched in 1996, such was the pulling power and global influence of the big man. Yet, I still ask, have we done enough to recognise him? And the brutal reality is no.
Why are we so bad at recognising our sporting heroes. Look across the ditch, the Aussies do it so much better. The Don Bradman Stand, the Steve Waugh Stand, what do we have?
Sure, Wellington dedicated Bay 13 at the Cake Tin to Tana Umaga, there is the Michael Jones statue at Eden Park, but beyond that, not much.
Shane Harmon is keen on building a Walk of Fame at Westpac Stadium's Wellington concourse, which would ideally be an interactive tribute to those that have starred in the capital. This is a great concept for not just Jonah, but Jerry Collins as well.
Sport unifies this country like nothing else, yet when it comes to thanking those individuals who enhanced our lives we are failing them. It's time to act. We can do better, our sporting heroes deserve better.
Head: Win a $18,000 Lions table
Last week we launched one of my favourite competitions, a platinum table to the Lions v All Blacks at Eden Park on July 8, valued at over $18,000, courtesy of AllBlackshospitality.co.nz.
What we want is for you to come up with your ultimate dinner table experience, that must have a sporting flavour.
So far the entries have been bizarre, brilliant and enlightening. Richie McCaw is getting a lot of votes, as is my childhood hero, JFK.
Make sure you enter, go to my Facebook page, VeitchyonSport for details.
We draw the winner next Sunday.
Headline: The interview I obsessed over
For about four weeks I've working on getting an interview with the great Sir Colin Meads.
We all know he is in the fight of his life, battling pancreatic cancer. So, this was always going to be an incredibly tough chat for me. How do you approach a topic with someone you've always viewed as being bullet proof. This is "Pinetree'', the man with the monstrous hands and heart to match. So, this week I was stoked to hear that Te Kuiti is planning a statue and permanent exhibition for the great one. It made our chat, quite simply wondrous.
The questions went this way:
Me: "Sir Colin when I heard about the concept, I thought he's going to hate it."
Sir Colin: "Yeah, I don't know why anyone would look at me."
Me: "How are you going to approach your own statue, look to taking him around the legs?"
Sir Colin: "Ah no, I'll look the other way."
Me: "What are the doctors telling you?"
Sir Colin: "Well one specialist said I would only have a certain amount of time to live, I was a bit annoyed, I'm going to beat it."
Don't you just love the spirit of our most famous 80 year old. He said he's been inundated with offers of help from all over the world.
He is a wonderful human being who is the ultimate Kiwi fighter. He says he plans to get out and about over summer which is fantastic news.
If you want to donate to the cause to raise money for the statue and exhibition, get hold of yvetteronaldson.gmail.com.
This is a great cause for a great man.
