Ticket sales have been an issue and the hoteliers claim to be bitterly disappointed.
It might well be that football as a sport is big globally, but not here. And even if it is big, at the women's level it's not a massive spectator event.
Anyway, it also hasn’t stopped the obligatory upset over a number of haka that have been attempted or performed by various overseas teams.
We seem to specialise in upset these days. Sam Cane trips up a pitch invader and the next thing you know he is being investigated and he is on a zoom saying sorry and handing out All Black jerseys
Then few foreigners arrive, have a crack at a haka - cue more upset.
When people do things wrong, whether overtly or mistakenly, it is not the end of the world. It is not news and it doesn’t require a series of so-called experts to be rolled out with various lines of condemnation.
It is one of the outworkings of the bandwagon that we have found ourselves on in the past six years.
Once the Māorification of New Zealand got enhanced, endorsed and promoted by the Government, Māoridom and all its various facets have taken on a new importance.
And, dare I suggest, a new level of condescension and arrogance.
I think we can be charitable enough to accept that the haka, if it is known overseas, is of some level of fascination to foreigners.
They talk of the war dance, of the Māori dance. We have seen it in commentary from Americans on All Black tours.
I remember being on American radio trying to explain there are in fact different versions of haka and it is not just a one-stop shop haka. That blew their minds.
So, given that, when someone has a crack, I'm not sure we need to invest the time and energy on all the upset we have seen this week.
Would it be nice if everyone who touched the rich tapestry of Māori and culture were fully versed? Of course, but it's not realistic and we should know that.
Sam Cane probably shouldn’t have tripped up a fence jumper, but then having done it, he certainly shouldn’t have handed out freebies.
And we certainly shouldn’t have made more of any of this than it deserved.
Which is basically nothing.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
We seem to specialise in upset these days. Sam Cane trips up a pitch invader and the next thing you know he is being investigated and he is on a zoom saying sorry and handing out All Black jerseys
Then few foreigners arrive, have a crack at a haka - cue more upset.
When people do things wrong, whether overtly or mistakenly, it is not the end of the world. It is not news and it doesn’t require a series of so-called experts to be rolled out with various lines of condemnation.
It is one of the outworkings of the bandwagon that we have found ourselves on in the past six years.
Once the Māorification of New Zealand got enhanced, endorsed and promoted by the Government, Māoridom and all its various facets have taken on a new importance.
And, dare I suggest, a new level of condescension and arrogance.
I think we can be charitable enough to accept that the haka, if it is known overseas, is of some level of fascination to foreigners.
They talk of the war dance, of the Māori dance. We have seen it in commentary from Americans on All Black tours.
I remember being on American radio trying to explain there are in fact different versions of haka and it is not just a one-stop shop haka. That blew their minds.
So, given that, when someone has a crack, I'm not sure we need to invest the time and energy on all the upset we have seen this week.
Would it be nice if everyone who touched the rich tapestry of Māori and culture were fully versed? Of course, but it's not realistic and we should know that.
Sam Cane probably shouldn’t have tripped up a fence jumper, but then having done it, he certainly shouldn’t have handed out freebies.
And we certainly shouldn’t have made more of any of this than it deserved.
Which is basically nothing.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
3 comments:
You are always on the mark Mike, in regards the Haka who was it that said copying is the highest form of flattery. As we see more and more upset Maori because some one attempts a Haka maybe it is time it was consigned to an exhit case at Te papa, after all how many of our sporting people are 50% or more Maori.
Isn't imitation the best form of Flattery?
When our young sports teams travel overseas, I'm sure they have a go at local dances. Teams visiting New Zealand get subjected to endless Maori welcomes and must wonder what happened to our European/Christian heritage.
Maori activists can't have it both ways - people get vilified for appropriating any Maori culture or trying out a haka, but then Maori culture is being forced on us and our school children, whether we want it or not (and by law).
Children at the local primary school, where there are no Maori, but many children of Asian heritage, have to do kapahaka etc at the expense of their own European and Asian cultures.
How do overseas news handle the cannibal war dance being performed at funerals, weddings, court appearances, welcomes, supposedly friendly sporting contacts etc?
If NZ can host beach volleyball (female) I might consider travelling to see the associated haka.and game. I have no knighthood to consider.
Post a Comment