Rugby, for someone who doesn't particularly like rubgy
I'm not gonna say that I hate rugby but I also don't love it. I think a fair way to explain my position towards rugby would be indifference. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to join in on the celebration and excitement that is the Rugby World Cup... and despite the fact that I don't even understand what the hell is going on half the time, i still enjoy it.
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I was sitting at home playing some Witcher 3 when a guy i know who insists on calling instead of texting to let me know that today there was a couple of big matches on in the quarter-final of the Japan Rugby world cup. I am not completely unknowing of these things... i knew that the event was going on but I didn't really pay much attention to it.
Don't get me wrong: I love sports but I am American, and whether you think it should be the case or not, rugby has a following about as strong as regional badminton tournaments, or maybe lawn darts (actually lawn darts, if it wasn't illegal, would probably be considerably more popular.) It simply isn't part of our culture and I would say it is extremely unlikely to become part of it anytime soon.
However, I live internationally and a vast majority of the people who also live over here (other than the Thai people, of course) are not North American. There is a high representation of Australians, English, South African, and to a much lessor degree Kiwis (people from New Zealand.)
I'm standing under one of the TV's
Therefore, when an event comes along such as this world cup, we can expect a packed house at the local pub despite the fact that they are NOT supposed to be selling alcohol during these hours.
There is a simple trick to enjoying a game that you don't know anything about: Ask and don't be a jackass just because you don't like / understand the sport.
I had a great time today because while I understand the basics of the game, a lot happens that I have questions about. Since a lot of these guys grew up playing the sport, I was given some really enlightening answers and no one tried to demean me for not knowing the answers myself.
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For one thing, i love the Haka. I am forever curious why the Kiwi's are allowed to do this before every game but no other team gets an opportunity for an intimidation display. Has any other country ever asked for an opportunity? Why do the people from New Zealand get special treatment? Don't get me wrong: I find it wildly entertaining and I think the rest of the world does too and that is likely why it is allowed.
Today we saw two matches basically back-to-back. It was England vs. Australia (the mix in this pub was about 50/50 between the two nationalities) and afterwards it was NZ vs. Ireland. There are zero Irish people here and only one Kiwi, but since the All Blacks are likely favorites to win the entire tournament (as they tend to be) I think everyone stuck around to see what was bound to be a very one-sided thrashing of the boys in green.
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I left once the All Blacks were up by 20 points before the half. I don't think it is terribly likely that anyone comes back from that sort of deficit very often, and certainly not again NZ.
So basically, i think that it is actually a great idea to sit down with a group of people and attempt to enjoy a sport that perhaps you don't know a great deal about. I have personally done this with Formula 1, Moto GP, rugby, cricket, and even gaelic football (which is now my favorite sport.)
There have also been times where European friends accompanied me to the Super Bowl and trust me when i say that they also had a ton of questions, many of which i did not know the answer to.
I feel as though sport(s) can be celebrated by everyone if they just have an open mind and are willing to stop comparing apples to oranges or insist that a sport is stupid just because they don't happen to enjoy it. You can have a great time and actually learn something. An added bonus is that you can have some drinks with some people that are going to be very happy if their side wins as well.
So the next time a big event is coming on at the local (especially if you are traveling) I strongly encourage you to get out there and see what it is all about. I truly feel that most of the people in the world are friendly, and even if you don't understand the game there are likely to be people that will explain it to you.
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no matter who wins, this is an exciting 45 seconds or so
If you do enjoy NFL, do yourself a favor and do not try to make any comparisons between the two sports unless you are doing so in jest. You are very likely to be attacked by the "rugby players don't wear all that body armor" argument that is so common it is exceptionally boring. Go ahead and shout out "touchdown!" when one team scores a try and see if it gets any laughs. It does for me but then again, i am bigger than most people and am actually really approachable and friendly. Just roll with the punches and enjoy a bunch of really big dudes who are running more in 80 minutes than you have in the past 4 months.
Am I excited about the next rugby match? No, not even a little bit. However, i am excited about hanging out with good friends and having a good time, regardless of what is on the TV... and I plan to do it well into the future.
@tipu curate 3
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The Haka is a Maori tradition and from my knowledge Western Samoa or Samoa is the other team that does this war dance as well. Rugby players do wear protective clothing underneath their jerseys now and the older players think they have gone soft lol.
gone soft.. haha. There was a guy in the NZ Ireland game that had his head busted open and he went off the field for like 2 minutes to get some stitches and then was back in the game with a headband on.
I know it is crazy. We used to get stitched up in the changing room depending how bad it was. If it wasn't too bad it would be bandaged up and sorted out after the game. A flesh wound isn't an injury in terms of coaching staff and the adrenaline covers the pain. Funny enough I did a post on the Haka last night explaining it's meaning as it is not just a war dance.
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On steem?
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On steem?
Self proclaimed community watchdogs are actually hacking and stalking people.
This group https://steemit.com/@steemspeak is ran by https://steemit.com/@fyrstikken, They are hacking people that enter this discord server https://discordapp.com/invite/sqxV63P . Once you are hacked they profile you long enough to know all of your activities. They introduce workplace gangstalking visits and bring it to your attention cleverly and discretly so only you get it. They are very covert and tricky with everthing they say and do in this server. Some claim to have worked for or are working with the FBI and the NSA. Mixed with decomisioned traders and coding criminals, Its a scary mix of creepy people and thier intent is to drive you crazy and deplete everything you have ever aquired in life, even your freedom.
My hacking started with them introducing ransomeware that has options, dump my coin or delete my system drive. They acnowledged this to me in the server as it happened.
This hacking and stalking is done so they can manipulate the target to pump and dump for them. Threating and Making victims wear head phones, so nobody in your household can hear thier dramitization towards you. In 2017 this server was sidemarked as a drama show for entertainment purposes only as en excuse to say whatever they want all the way down to killing a politician. They have a server side command called "hey asshole" making a promt come up instructing everyone to wear headphones. They want everyone wearing headphones so nobody in your vicinity can hear them mess with you. Fystikken says its because of "mic feedback" but once your a target you get exactly why they make eveyone wear headphones.
With headphones on they subliminally direct victims with very low suggestive whispers mixed into their radio shows music. Combine this with them being able to manipulate their own individual outputs sound volume, which they control on the server side, they can pick what individual people hear and what at any given time. They decide who you hear on the server and change the volume controls for them. They can make some really low or off for those trying to investigate. They control who hears what and know who is who.
This team will find absolutely everything they can about you prior to using thier sugjestive and threatning program. They Introduce pictures that mean something only to the target, inducing paranoia while they watch and listen thru all of your circumvented devices. They are very aware of what makes you tick. They know your work schedule and use it for work stalking along side of this. I received multiple threating letters to my work and home addressed to my screen name from this group.
Fyrstikken tells people to sell their houses to buy crypto then dumps it on them. He has done many pump and dump scams. Quatloo being one of the first I witnessed and was done multiple times thru 2016 and 2017 them. It should be investigated for fraud. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=655793.0
My wife and I tried to watch a couple of matches over the past couple of weeks and we were so totally confused. I think I am starting to understand the game a bit more but I know there is still a ton I need to learn. I think it is interesting to watch and I think it would probably be even more fun if I knew all the rules and terminology.
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