Sideline Sid - Sports blogger Sideline Sid is a local sport fanatic. Not only is he a classic rugby bloke but he has views, opinions and knowledge on all sports played in the Bay of Plenty.

Without even trying the Western Bay of Plenty has put together a holiday sporting calendar is possibly the best in the country.

There are now a number of iconic local events, which have put their stake in the sand, on their individual sports calendar.

One of the longest running events opens the holiday sporting extravaganza. The King (and Queen) of the Mountain, which traverses the beautiful and majestic Mauao, has been running for as long as I can remember.

A couple of days later is the surf breaker triathlon, which over the years has attracted the best in the country. The Mount tri was one of the first in the country to showcase the best in the sport, and in the early days during the 1980s, used to attract large crowds to catch the action.

Another long running event is the New Year's athletics meet at the Tauranga Domain. Over the years Olympic and world champions have taken part in the annual twilight event. This year the undoubted highlight was the appearance of Olympic 1500m medallist Nick Willis.

The abbreviated forms of cricket and rugby took centre stage at Blake Park on the weekend. Twelve-thousand people (over two days), who came to the Bay Cricket Oval, proved that the ground deserves to become the country's next international cricket venue.

Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Lou Vincent and a myriad of the best cricket players in the country, thrilled the large crowds, with the smash and bash of the Twenty20 HRV Cup.

Sunday was a good test of the parking capabilities of the Blake Park surrounds, with the BOP Rugby Sevens and the HRV Cup, in action on the same day. Unlike many city sporting venues in the country, there, little more than a 5-10 minute walk from car to gate.

Like the cricket, many of the best sevens players in the country came to what has effectively become the North Island Sevens championship. With a large crowd on hand, the Bay of Plenty team thrilled their supporters when they beat the defending titleholders Counties Manukau in the championship decider.

A feature of the Bay victory was the never give up attitude – coming back when Counties took the lead on several occasions. The final had the appearance of a real David and Goliath battle with the Counties tall timber up against a team of Bay whippets.

Ruki Tipuna, who has returned home from Wellington, was majestic as he scampered around the field, with local speedsters Toby Arnold and Matt Hodson getting amongst the try tally on the day.

This week sees another of the iconic holiday sporting events with the Half Ironman taking place.

My only concern with the holiday sporting programme is that they appear to be marketed as individual events, rather than promoted under the banner of a Western Bay of Plenty holiday festival of sport.