Hillary Commission?

Michael Posted: 25 January 2008, 12:19 PM   In the aftermath of Sir Ed's funeral, various commentators have suggested fitting memorials. The one he wanted most was to keep the work of the Himalayan Trust going. Another suggestion which I prefer heaps more than naming physical things like mountains after him, is to return the name of the government's sporting agency to "The Hillary Commission". I don't know the background behind the change to "SPARC", but out here at the sporting coalface it just looked like a reorganisation for the sake of it. You know, like the funder-provider split in roads, and two decades down the track they are saying we have to bring the funders and doers back together. Privatising the power system, running hospitals, these things are as fickle as fashion. If we saw fit, we as a sport could express our wish through a decision at the AGM, and conveyed to the Minister of Sport. Other sports might well do the same. Anyone think this has any merit? PS The Hillary Commission/SPARC used to have a slogan "Making sport happen..." Wouldn't be at all surprised if Ed rang them up one day and said, knock it off, it's us bastards out here that make sport happen.   Dave Posted: 29 January 2008, 8:32 AM   While I do agree that it is appropriate to commemorate Sir Ed I wonder whether renaming SPARC back to the Hillary commission is the way to go. For a start I feel that Sport and Recreation New Zealand is a appropriate name as it has a stronger implication of what the organisation is about and secondly rebranding is an extremely expensive ordeal to go through and shouldn't be undertaken lightly. Just look at the recent Auckland city council revamp for an example of how wasteful this process can be. So good thought process but I don't quite think that SPARC is the organisation to rename.