Jared Smith Photo/File
So, how did my selections go for the Laureus Sports Awards?
You may recall back in December I was asked for my contribution for nominees towards the global ceremony which celebrates outstanding achievements by men and women across all sporting codes and creeds in the previous 12 months.
Journalists like myself were given large lists of potential nominees to be shortlisted to six per category, plus any others we wished to "write-in" as candidates, an opportunity I used once.
I've covered the difficulty of using sentimentality to pick Kiwi favourites ahead of those who have achieved in a wider scope, namely putting the Richie McCaws, Dan Carters and Lydia Kos against the Usain Bolts and Serena Williams of this Earth.
Another point of contention, which may reflect how we in the Southern Hemisphere feel about American team sports and whether they are somewhat over-hyped, can be seen in other differences of opinion I have with the final nominees list, which the Laureus judges will consider for the ceremony in Berlin on April 18.
You know the old saying with America's "world" championships in basketball, gridiron , baseball and ice hockey - if you're going to call it a world championship, then invite the rest of the world.
But let's compare the final call on nominees with my own selections and see what you think.
Best Sportsman: Usain Bolt (athletics), Stephen Curry (basketball), Novak Djokovic (tennis), Lewis Hamilton (motor racing), Lionel Messi (football), Jordan Spieth (golf).
My selections: Bolt, Djokovic, Kohei Uchimura (gymnastics), Ashton Eaton (athletics), Teddy Riner (judo), Richie McCaw (rugby).
With the greatest respect to Curry for helping his Golden State Warriors solve the near insurmountable equation of negating LeBron James so they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA finals, but I considered Japan's Kohei Uchimura taking out six all-round world titles and France's Teddy Riner claiming his eighth Judoka world crown to be superior, stand-alone moments.
Hamilton's F1 championship success, his third, nearly had him on my list as an acknowledgement of the global appeal of open wheel racing, but how could I kick off Richie? Surely his contribution to the All Blacks becoming the first back-to-back RWC winners and earning the game's highest number of test caps would stand higher than Curry's efforts?
Truthfully though, this is an argument over the minor placings - there is no denying the award will be decided between Bolt and Djokovic.
Best Sportswoman: Genzebe Bibaba (athletics), Anna Fenninger (skiing), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (athletics), Katie Ledecky (swimming), Carli Lloyd (football), Serena Williams (tennis).
My selections:Williams, Ledecky, Dibaba, Marit Bjrgen (skiing), Lydia Ko (golf), Daniela Ryf (triathlon).
Slightly more consensus here, which reflects that Williams will be hard to deny the Laureus after her unbroken run as world No1 and winning the majors of Australia, France and Wimbledon.
Ledecky's five gold medals at the world champs in Kazan is likewise obvious, while Ethiopia's Dibaba was IAAF Athlete of the year ahead of Bolt.
My "Kiwism" shines through with the inclusion of Ko, but there was clear justification after becoming women's No1 at only 18, especially if you're using gender equality given American Jordan Spieth, men's No1 at age 21, gets two nominations for sportsman and breakthrough.
Likewise, I looked at the Norwegian Bjrgen's outstanding effort to win her fourth overall world cup in cross-country skiing, nearly 1000 points clear of her nearest competitor, she has a dominance that surpasses US football team player Lloyd, although she did score three goals in the world cup final.
Best Team: All Blacks (rugby), FC Barcelona (football), Golden State Warriors (basketball), Great Britain Davis Cup team (tennis), Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team (motor racing), US Women's Football team (football).
My selections: All Blacks, Mercedes, US women's football, GB Davis Cup, Australian men's team (cricket), France men's team (handball).
This gives me hope - there is a real international undercurrent of thought, especially in a non-Olympic year, that the All Blacks deserve this honour.
Like Hamilton nearly getting a sportsman nod from me, I acknowledged the efforts of his F1 team, as I did with the American football women, perhaps likewise reflecting why I didn't give an individual selection to Lloyd as those kinds of successes are more about collective effort.
Forgive my heresy for putting up those chirpy, sledging Aussies after their CWC win at the massive MCG, but doesn't it make it easier for our Black Caps to know they were beaten by the best? The French have won three of the last four handball world titles, so they were due some recognition.
Best Breakthrough: Chile men's team (Football), Jason Day (golf), Tyson Fury (boxing), Adam Peaty (swimming), Jordan Spieth (golf), Max Verstappen (motor racing).
My selections: Spieth, Day, Peaty, Chile football, Verstappen, Tania Cagnotto (diving).
Look at that, nearly unanimous!
I gave Spieth the nod here as opposed to best sportsman as I think the young man's sudden arrival on the world stage to win the Masters and US Open makes one of the best tales of 2015.
But as much as I love boxing, there needs to be a reality check about England's Tyson Fury finally ending the reign of the aging Wladimir Klitschko in a boring, technically-deficient display where his poking and pecking was worth a little more on the judges' scorecards.
If Joseph Parker's career trajectory continues to climb in the next 24 months, I hope he can be maneuvered into a position to show Fury what a real breakthrough performance is all about. Cagnotto impressed me with her gold and bronze diving efforts in Kazan - the first for any Italian woman.
Best Comeback:Dan Carter (rugby), Jessica Ennis-Hill (athletics), Mick Fanning (surfer), Michael Phelps (swimming), David Rudisha (athletics), Lindsey Vonn (skiing).
My selections:Carter, Phelps, Rudisha, Aries Merritt (athletics), Anthony Crolla (boxing), Kyle Busch (Nascar).
One of the hardest selection groups to quantify.
I'm thrilled Carter is up there, despite the fact that calling his RWC efforts a "comeback" based on what happened four years prior is a stretch - which other Kiwi columnists have also pointed out this week. With respect to the UK's Ennis-Hill, winning the heptathlon world crown after a personal choice to take time off to have a child is not the same as overcoming a cruel adversity.
By contrast, the American Merritt winning a 110m hurdles bronze in Bejing despite having less than 20 per cent of his kidney function is a medical miracle and a triumph of the human will.
I went close on adding Fanning, acknowledging his courage to get back on the surfboard just six days after a shark attack in South Africa, but used the "write-in" option for Busch, because while I thought his march to the Nascar Sprint Cup title was assisted by bending the eligibility rules, he really did deserve it after driving so brilliantly following intense rehab on his shattered legs from the wreck at Daytona last January.