Rugby haters thread

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 deise316 wrote:

Clarified this a few times over the years, I do not hate rugby. Or at least the game of rugby, which I find quite entertaining, I even watch a few games, most Ireland ones, and an odd Munster or Leinster one. Draw the line at Connacht & Ulster though, as the line has to be drawn somewhere. 
I don't hate rugby players, as TrAndy said, they are proud Irishman representing their country. Well, most of them are anyway, we do have a few lads with dubious connections to Ireland representing us too. That, by the way, is a dislike of rugby eligibility laws, and nothing against Messrs Stander or Payne, who are good rugby players & seem to be gents off the pitch too. The likes of BOD comes across very well in the media, Luke Fitzgerald is an articulate fella, ROG has an excellent column in D'Examiner that I read every week, and there is no bullsh*t with ROG, which I like. Alan Quinlan, Shane Horgan, Conor O'Shea and all the regular rugby media heads seem like decent fellas too. 

I do absolutely detest the all pervading influence of marketing that surrounds nearly every aspect of the sport, and mostly, when I read about rugby in the papers or online articles, I find most of it to be similarly influenced, whether directly or indirectly. Personally, I choose not to buy into what the majority of rugby media says, about nearly anything, because of this. 


In my opinion, there is a narrative running through the commentary & analysis & opinions of games, that while not as outwardly visible as that of say, the UFC, is there all the same, when you go looking for it. There are the certain themes used for games (redemption will be next week's one V England) that are adhered to at all times, there is an all accepting view of Schmidt's genius as a coach, there are articles couched in military terms (this particular one is a marketing theme & nothing else) and so on & so on. 


I don't wish Ireland to lose in any game or sport, but I'm not that much of a rugby fan that I am in any way upset when they don't win. I would feel the same way about our cricketers or our international showjumpers or swimmers or whatever. I will admit I do enjoy seeing some of these supposed certainties/themes being turned upside down in the event of a loss, that loss usually being relatively predictable. 


I dislike a certain element of our rugby fans, there is an elitist attitude about the sport from what I would refer to as a large minority of them. In this case, time usually proves they don't have much look down on, and I don't see any harm pointing out some of the above points to them here & there, usually when results don't go their way. I don't like bandwagoners full stop, regardless of the sport, and rugby has more than most in this regard. I don't care how elitist that sounds either, but I would like to think I'm fairly consistent in this regard, read any of the hurling threads in the past few years and you will see me criticising our own hurling bandwagon & the muppets that turn up for big games only. 


I dislike them more than any rugby fans to be honest, but I don't get criticised for that for some reason. Hope that has clarified that for you in some form or other. Not asking anyone to agree with me either, they are simply just me own views and opinions on the subject. 





 Have to say Deise that your posts are articulate,reasonable and wrll thought out and written,so much so that they could go on either thread without causing offence.They,for the most part, express my true views about the game ,it's followers,it's players and the way the game is marketed.Trouble I have is that I enjoy goading the Goys too much and can't stop myself from doing it