Taitoko caught many out in Dream Team

The selection of Jimmy Taitoko as our Manawatu rugby Dream Team first five-eighth was the one which caught many out.

But our research showed that Taitoko was a clever, cunning player, the attacking gem of Manawatu teams of the 1960s. He is reputed to have missed out on selection to the 1963-64 All Blacks tour to Britain by a smidgen. Earle Kirton went instead.

Taitoko was a brilliant schoolboy player for St Pat's Silverstream. He was coached at Palmerston North Marist by Owen Gleeson, who remembers him as a "slippery little beggar" and at Manawatu by Jack Gleeson.

A New Zealand Maori player, James David Patrick Taitoko was very similar to Auckland All Black Mac Herewini, but quicker. He died at Te Kuiti in 2006.

Spies tell us that the football pavilion planned for Skoglund Park at a cost of about $750,000 will be more modern but not any more practical.

The current building is to be knocked over. It gets in the way of buses using the road into the place where there are four pitches. That means there are eight teams playing on them but there have always been only six changing rooms. Football folk cannot understand why eight changing rooms aren't being built.

There will be more showers but two teams will still miss out. All we can deduce is that a new youth playground might end up replacing one of the football fields. Strange!

We're supposed to be in a recession. But the auction of the Manawatu Turbos rugby jerseys from Saturday's game reaped $10,075 at the Manawatu 125th jubilee dinner at Awapuni on Saturday night.

One jersey was covered in blood and all ponged, but it didn't deter the bidders. Hawke's Bay's New Zealand Rugby Union board member Richard Hunt paid $1000 for one as did former Manawatu lock and chiropractor John Loveday. A signed leather ball went for $500 and a Murray Ball original cartoon for $750.

By the way, the Turbos' win on Saturday meant they won the Kelvin Tremain Trophy for the first time.

Bowls Manawatu president Maggie May is never short of an amusing word.

Once she was re-elected at the association's annual meeting yesterday, she offered this: "I will try and do my best, again. But as the old story goes, you get more brickbats than you do bouquets."

One advantage of spending millions of dollars on artificial turfs is that they are weather-proof.

Hockey Manawatu might have had to cancel a few junior games on the grass fields at Manawaroa Park on Saturday but all of the other games over the road at the twin turfs went ahead. Every other sport went into limbo thanks to those dreadful storms taking two weeks to shove off.

Chiropractors Launch Community Program To Evaluate Children's ...

STATE – Choosing the right backpack may be one of the most important school supplies a parent can purchase for their child in regards to their health and safety. Is your child’s backpack a good fit?

The Association of New Jersey Chiropractors (ANJC), one of the largest associations of its kind in the nation with almost 2000 members statewide, believes that backpack safety is a critical health concern that needs to be addressed.

To help parents choose the right “fit” for their child, the ANJC is offering a community service program to guide parents through the process. Parents can visit the ANJC website: www.njchiropractors.com and locate a local ANJC member participating and call their office. Let their staff know you’d like to have your child evaluated to make sure their backpack is a good fit.

Every September, more than 20 million students go back to school carrying backpacks that are too heavy and pose a serious risk to the child’s well being. According to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), young children today suffer from back pain much earlier than previous generations, and poorly fitted, overly heavy backpacks are key factors. Along with back pain, improper backpack use can result in headaches, poor posture and various other health problems.

In addition to providing the community service program, the ANJC once again is issuing the following easy-to-follow guidelines to address this issue.

Backpack Safety Tips