The return of Players and Plonkers

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here in the Yahoo!Xtra office - we've had Boobs on Bikes, celebrities popping their clogs, a bunch of high-profile court cases and now the devastating earthquake and tsunami that has wreaked havoc in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.

As a result there's been more news-chasing and less blogging from me, but it's time to get back in the saddle and name my Player and Plonker of the week.

Player of the week: The Kiwi man who, against the odds, rode out the Samoan tsunami on his surfboard (this one comes with a 'don't try this at home' advisory). Chris Nel of Wellington was out surfing in Samoa when the quake struck, and had no choice but to struggle to stay afloat and avoid being smashed onto the beach as the massive waves came in.

Nel is one lucky man; it seems a miracle that he and his fellow surfers survived when so many have perished. Most of his possessions were washed out to sea or broken to pieces in the jungle, and he flew home in a pair of jeans he'd found on the beach. My suggestions to him are as follows: 1) buy a Lotto ticket and 2) if you possibly can, think about donating to help those who were less fortunate than yourself.


Plonker of the week: I still haven't stopped fuming after reading this story yesterday. Back in May, Caleb Paikea of Opotiki killed his cousin, Mario Edwards, and seriously injured the mother of his 20-month-old son, in a car crash.

The car he was driving was illegally modified. He was travelling at nearly three times the speed limit, and he had a blood alcohol reading of 132 milligrams of alcohol per litre of blood (the legal limit is 80).

But as if that wasn't dangerous enough, Paikea was playing a game called "chicken run". This involved speeding through stop signs. During the course of this "game" his car became airborne, hit a fence and smashed into a tree.

He's bloody lucky he didn't hit another car while speeding through stop signs drunk, then he'd likely have even more blood on his hands.

Paikea pleaded guilty in July to manslaughter and reckless wounding and was sentenced to four years in jail this week.

The scariest part of this story, however, is the quote from Paikea's partner, who was present at the sentencing and asked that he not be jailed so their son wouldn't have to grow up fatherless. She's forgiven him for what he did to her, and that's her prerogative.  But then she said:

"It was an accident, it could have happened to anybody."

No, it wasn't an accident, and it couldn't have happened to anybody. It happened to your partner because he chose to get drunk, to ignore practically all the laws of the land in one fell swoop and to treat his life and the lives of his passengers as expendable - all for a "game".

And that's why he's going to jail (and why in my book, he's a plonker - or other words I can't use here).


And lastly, a special award for Long stayer of the week: Happy birthday to Farmers, a Kiwi institution and 100 years old. According to historian Ian Hunter, when the company began in 1909 it was so trusted, customers would send in blank cheques with a list of goods required, and staff would fill in the amount owed. I don't think that'd still happen today, but it's still a household name, so cheers to Farmers! (And bring on the 100th birthday sales, please.)

Who are your players and plonkers of the week? Have your say below.