I'm happy to admit I never watch Formula 1. Ever.
Last week, I did. The kids were watching cartoons of course, so I fired up the computer to watch the US Grand Prix.
"Umm - what is this?" asks my wife.
"Formula 1! Brendon Hartley's driving in it. He's a Kiwi!"
I know there would have been sports fans right across the country doing exactly the same thing, and they will be again tomorrow when Hartley lines up in the Mexican Grand Prix.
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, and Brendon Hartley is giving us a reason to watch. I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping he gets a full time drive with Toro Rosso next season - not least fans of motorsport who yearn for the recognition some of our extremely talented drivers deserve, but don't receive. Part of the reason they don't is the perception that anything below Formula 1 is a lesser product.
Well for the first time in 30-odd years we do have a driver at the elite level of motorsport, and Hartley's got me hooked.
Let's face it - who doesn't love watching a Kiwi at the summit of their sport? Right now, we seem to have more than we've ever had before. I don't think New Zealand sports fans have ever had it this good. Have we ever been represented this well at the highest level of truly global sports?
How lucky are we that young basketball fans can turn on their TV every other day and watch Steven Adams killing it with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA? In just a handful of seasons, he's already played with a string of All Stars - Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George - and striking up a strong on-court relationship with MVP Russell Westbrook. He's brilliant, he's hilarious, and he's putting little old New Zealand on the map in the US.
Only a couple of weeks ago, we had two All Whites captains - Winston Reid at West Ham and Chris Wood at Burnley - marking up against each other in an English Premier League. This is the domestic league watched by more people around the world than any other. Coupled with two of our other stars - Marco Rojas and Ryan Thomas - playing in the Dutch Eredivisie, I can't recall New Zealand having such a strong representation in top European leagues.
Of course Lydia Ko is one of the biggest names in women's golf, and we have Danny Lee and Ryan Fox flying the flag for us on the PGA Tour and the European Tour.
Earlier this year, George Bennett made history winning the Tour of California, and he gave us a genuine vested interest in the Tour De France before he was forced to pull out in the closing stages.
Virtually at any time, you can switch on the news and read, watch or hear about these awesome Kiwis doing amazing things in the biggest sports on the planet. All of this at a time when we're utterly dominating the one sport us Kiwis really care about. The All Blacks are two-time defending World Cup winners, and on track to make it a three-peat in 2019. When have you ever been able to say that before? Never!
So what do you think? Have Kiwi sports fans ever had it this good?
Andrew Gourdie is a Newshub sports reporter/presenter and host of RadioLIVE's Sunday Sport from 2pm.
