Thu, 25 Aug 2011 9:10p.m.
It's hard to stay focused on rugby at a time like this. Having a coffee at a Brisbane cafe last night I got a text no one likes to receive. "Mate," it began, "there's some tragic news. Moods has died in a surfing accident." Moods, the universal name for one of New Zealand sport's great characters. Graeme Moody was quite simply a top bloke with a quick smile, a mischievous sense of humor and a love for rugby matched by his passion for surfing and surpassed only by his adoration for Bev, his wife.
I covered my first World Cup in 1999 with Moods riding shot gun in The Dominion's rental, and while he was a disaster as a navigator he was a champion as a guide. We were together again four years later in Melbourne when his zest for life was just the tonic needed when you spend close to two weeks away from home and your first child.
There are too many funny times with Moods to recall but one has to be mentioned. In 1999 while in Sydney with the All Blacks we hatched a plan to interview the referee, Scotland's Jim Fleming. Moods wanted a clean recording for radio so was going to lead the interview including quizzing Fleming on whether northern referees like him were too old and slow for the modern game. Fleming exploded at the suggestion and as I sat there muttering about how appalling such a line of questioning was, looking at Fleming with sympathetic understanding, Moods suddenly just started laughing. Fleming was still irate as we beat a hasty retreat. A day later the All Blacks were thrashed by Australia with Fleming caning them in the penalties. I was forced to explain to John Hart how it was all Moody's fault.
I was also lucky enough to be Moody's comments man for two NPC seasons and it was a joy to see his love for the game up close. For a generation of Wellington fans he was the voice of rugby and his call when the Lions won the final in 2000 was wonderfully passionate.
When people die, especially so tragically, it's right that we eulogise what they brought to the table, their good points. Moods had many but he'll be laughing with a bit of typical self depreciation at the fuss that's being made. "I'm just a normal bloke, Jimbo", he'd have said. Yes Moo you were, but you were also a lot more than that. You were a first rate broadcaster, a superb bloke to tour with, a good man to enjoy a beer with and someone I'd always dreaded going for a run with despite the two decades you have on me.
You'll be missed Moods, from all of us lucky enough to be able to call you a mate.
Jim