Which side of the cup does your passion lie?
by Jackie Tran Van
Whether you love it or hate it our national game will draw passion from within you.
The lead up was such that the hours until kick-off were counted down with precision by the media.
How has it come to be that our news programmes, the place we go to find credible reports of what’s happening in our country and the world, has become yet another avenue for rugby to saturate the nation?
I am absolutely certain the people who wanted to know how many hours until the Rugby World Cup 2007 kicked-off,
already knew. And in fact could probably tell you how many minutes and seconds as well.
Everywhere we look, there’s rugby.
It feels as if rugby never leaves our screens these days. What with the Air New Zealand Cup and the Super 12, no, 13 wait…what number are we up to now? Then there are test matches and international tours, under 19 and 21 world cups, grassroots rugby and secondary school tournaments…when does it end? Are we being completely saturated by a spor
t that some obsessive fans have claimed is the national game?
But how many of our fine citizens are really THAT enthusiastic about the game?
I used to be a huge fan of rugby and the All Blacks especially; I have the Christian Cullen doll to prove it. But with the constant bombardment I soon grew tired of it. This may come as a shock to some of you but…there are more sports than just rugby.
But, it’s not just games anymore.
Rugby has taken over every possible broadcast medium you can think of. It’s even taken over ads for crying out loud!
That’s right people…you can’t watch an ad break without some kind of All Black’s merchandise popping up on the screen. From Weet-bix to Burger King to Mobil, they’re everywhere.
It is difficult for me to comprehend this obsessive behaviour and need to know everything about the game. I mean there’s a rugby channel. Can’t we just have replays of All Black games on TV3 and the rest on the rugby channel, which is dedicated to all things rugby?
I drew the line when an entire news report was dedicated to watching the All Black’s train and flit about on sunny French beaches. If I wanted to see man-love, I’d rent the movie.
If it’s light entertainment viewers want on the news, why not give a report on what gaffe our favourite US President has made this week. And can it not be said that the state of finance companies in New Zealand deserve a bit of coverage?
TV3 has a dedicated team of reporters going to the cup. Seven altogether - including three ex-All Blacks. Is this over-kill? A waste of resources? How can they possibly justify sending seven people to comment on this event? The coup in Fiji didn’t get this much coverage. At least it’s not on the tax-payers dollars (for once).
So, after all that, where does your passion lie? Are you for it? Or against it?
I just want to win the tipping competition at Tiff’s workplace. Those bloody Argentinians have upset everyone though, getting through to the quarters.
Go the plucky Roumanians. Oh, that’s right, they didn’t win a game. Damn!