Debate: I hate Rugby

I hate rugby. There, I said it. I hate playing it, I hate watching it, I hate hearing about it. I hate our national obsession.

My dislike for the sport becomes particularly evident when they have the world cup on, or any such tournament that means I have to hear about them more than usual. Right now the All Blacks are everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

I get that the All Blacks equal lucrative advertising but for gods sake will someone tell them to stop whoring out the damn brand? The market is saturated with All Blacks related advertising. Everywhere I am hit with images of large thighed men telling me to consume powerade, coke, moro bars, weet-bix and anchor milk. Telling me to fly Air New Zealand, call with telecom, fill up at mobil, use mastercard, wear nike and listen to a CD.
Well fuck you all, I’m going to drink pepsi, use my visa to fly virgin and eat nestle. Even my friends, who aren’t rubgy grinches, have become tired of the ceaseless barrage of All Black related advertising.

However, the ads that I hate the most are the ones that carry slogans like: "We're all made of the same stuff!" "Every New Zealander's up for it!" "There's four million people on our team!" "Blood type: BLACK!”
I despise them because they insinuate that order to be a real New Zealander, I have to give a damn about rugby. No one is taking my buzzy bee away from me because I refuse to buy into the rugby culture.
These ads are also a clear example of the blind patriotism that surrounds the All Blacks.

It’s part of the little country syndrome New Zealand has. We are so desperate to make it on the world stage that we cling to anything that may get us there. We bask in the glory, on a fervent national scale, as if buying an All Blacks scarf and phoning them a damn cheer actually contributed in some way to their win. WHICH IT DIDN’T GUYS. It’s not only rugby though. How can anyone forget the way we humped the leg of Team New Zealander a few years back? (until they lost, of course)

I respect everyone’s right to like Rugby (not), and have no problem with you getting up insanely early to sit in your home or at a pub and yell at a TV. But I will bitch slap the next person that looks at me as if I have committed treason because I couldn’t care less.
Why does rugby deserve my unconditional love? They’re good at what they do but why must you become so frenzied over it? What makes it more worthy of praise and attention than any other sport? Why do you all obsesses over it while other sports are sidelined? I propose a sporting fanaticism roster. This year we all love Rugby, but next year it is the rhythmic gymnastics team’s time to shine, and after that, let’s worship a sport stacking team. “YouTube” sports stacking, because that’s something I can definitely get in behind.