Watching Rage on Sunday Theatre, brings back the season of the Springbok Tour & I was only a youngster. My Mum's Pakeha family were rugby fans & many a midnight hour my cousins & I dragged ourselves out of bed at my Aunty's to watch my Uncle play in some All Black test in a foreign land. The rugby didn't mean much to me, but us kids being allowed up in the middle of the night to eat chips & drink fizz, now that REALLY meant something. I think the All Blacks vs France was salt'n'vinegar.
During the tour Mum's brother was high up in the Police force so it was clear what side of the line he was on. Mum on the other hand was anti-tour. Always a woman to stand up against injustice, she was ofcourse anti-apartheid. Ofcourse I was too, a product of my environment. I suppose most people at the time would've also said they were anti-apartheid, you'd be a bit of a dick not to say that.
But, the rhetoric at the time or atleast what most of the adult conversations seemed to be about, was whether or not sports & politics should mix. Personally I think it was an argument purposed to justify the tour without feelings of guilt. I'm amazed at how much rage there was when people felt like their 'liberties' & 'right' to watch rugby was threatened. Hmm, loss of liberties & rights. How ironic. I wonder what they thought the system of apartheid was. Anyway. I think I got myself confused & gave a speech at Feilding Intermediate on "Why sports & politics shouldn't mix".. with a kind of anti-tour slant. Because ofcourse sports & politics DO mix. Do we doubt that these days? Did you see "Invictus" or are you awake to the palava of the Rugby World Cup? One could be forgiven, or perhaps not, for thinking that John Key had singlehandedly brought the World Cup competition to our shores. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers money already spent or the govt fleet of cars being used to drive around the vip's etc, etc. Ofcourse sport & politics mix, John Key will be mixing it up as much as he can, maximising the opportunities in the run up to an election! Sports & Politics have always mixed & likely always will. Whether they should is another issue altogether, the reality is they do. Atleast in my opinion.
But, the rhetoric at the time or atleast what most of the adult conversations seemed to be about, was whether or not sports & politics should mix. Personally I think it was an argument purposed to justify the tour without feelings of guilt. I'm amazed at how much rage there was when people felt like their 'liberties' & 'right' to watch rugby was threatened. Hmm, loss of liberties & rights. How ironic. I wonder what they thought the system of apartheid was. Anyway. I think I got myself confused & gave a speech at Feilding Intermediate on "Why sports & politics shouldn't mix".. with a kind of anti-tour slant. Because ofcourse sports & politics DO mix. Do we doubt that these days? Did you see "Invictus" or are you awake to the palava of the Rugby World Cup? One could be forgiven, or perhaps not, for thinking that John Key had singlehandedly brought the World Cup competition to our shores. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers money already spent or the govt fleet of cars being used to drive around the vip's etc, etc. Ofcourse sport & politics mix, John Key will be mixing it up as much as he can, maximising the opportunities in the run up to an election! Sports & Politics have always mixed & likely always will. Whether they should is another issue altogether, the reality is they do. Atleast in my opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment