"I guess you can't get away from it" Topic

Stephanpanzer

New Zealanders Rugby? You mean the All Blacks?

Bunch of .

Ah, don't tell them I said that. I do no want to wake up one morning to find a group Maori warriors doing the haka on my front lawn just before they dismember me for breakfast

As an afro-american gamer what do you think I thought when I was reading the "Examples of Gameyness" thread and saw this? I know that the Maori warriors are from the Pacific islands, but to use words like "All Black" in 2009.

but to use words like "All Black" in 2009.

This is simply because their jersey is, "all black" in colour, not due to skin pigmentation…

Shane

Reggie, you don't know what you're talking about, friend.

allblacks.com

<roll eyes>

Open mouth. Insert foot.

Unless of course you also believe that the Springboks team is composed entirely of antelope, and the Australian team of smallish marsupials. In which case, please accept my sincere condolences…

The English a bunch of roses!

Tally Ho!

I hate to think what he would imagine my university's team name implied … The Cornell University "Big Red" …

Wait, maybe we're being unfair. Did you mean that you can't get away from unjustified racial paranoia?

The soccer team is I believe called the All Whites.

I ain't offended.

Just because America ties itself up in knots over racial issues doesn't mean the rest of the world has to.

Well said, Stu. Combine it with political correctness and you have a very deadly combination.

Sincerely,
K

The New Zealand national rubgy team has been called the All Blacks for a long time (at least, they had been when I worked in NZ in 1979) – I met a few of the players then – nice guys

Reggie, I think you just misunderstood the poster's use of the term "All Blacks"; that's what the NZ National Rugby Union team call themselves (apparently its from their all black kit), he's not describing the race of its members in any way.

link

And the connection with the Napoleonic Wars is….?

The All Blacks are a bit like the French.

Allegedly the best team around, yet success in vital campaigns (world cups) is limited to the early part of the period before everyone else wised up….

Cymru am Byth. :)

And the connection with the Napoleonic Wars is….?

Capital of NZ is called Wellington?

…Brunswick?

Back in c. '73, the star player of the All Blacks was this white guy, a Mormon as it happened, who could kick anyone's kiester: I can almost recall his name, but not quite….

The Guard performed the Haka before each battle?

Actually it's Ull Blux, if you hear a Kiwi say it. The name derives from the colour of their strip, in the same sense as the French are Les Bleus or the Italian side Azzurri. Don't worry, Argentina, who are known as Los Pumas aren't clad in animal skins, although given their style of play, it would be quite fitting if they were.

Maybe if Americans were to play sports that the rest of the world plays, instead of crowning themselves champions in the World Series of Rounders or bum scratching, they might gain sufficient erudition to avoid such howlers. Still imagined umbrage is so much more fun. Wonder how Reggie coped with the Cleveland Browns?

Ignorance about sports played in the rest of the world is no excuse for calling them racists, or implying that they are. Check your facts before jumping to conclusions…

TMP link

Reggie, as you're an American, I would hope you'd get yourself out and support your national team, the Eagles.

usarugby.org

Rugby is growing in popularity over here (thank God) and the Eagles are certainly improving. Great sport to watch and follow.

I am, of course, exempt from shouting on the US when they play Ireland.

The Eagles could, in time, turn out to be a useful side.

If they do, look out for the All Blacks offering free houses to anyone with a talented youngster on the West Coast…. :)

The Eagles could, in time, turn out to be a useful side.

Eddie O'Sullivan seems to think so.

To reiterate – the Eagles need some US support, lads.

From the Rugby World Cup website:

The USA still has a chance to qualify for the Americas 2 qualification spot in August 2009 when they play a two-match series against Uruguay, winners of the South American qualification phase.

Americas 2 will play in Pool C against Australia, Italy, Ireland and Europe 2.

So come on, America – find a bar with Setanta Sports or another channel showing the rugby, get a round in and engage.

A bit of ing pride in the jersey now, people.

Exdigitate forthwith.

Uruguay, we'll be playing Uruguay? If we lose do they get to eat us?

Well, it turns out that you played the first of the two games last night at the Rio Tinto stadium in Salt Lake, utah.

9-7 in favour of Uruguay at halftime, but the US turned around in the second half to come out 43-9 winners.

Another win, and the USA takes its place in Pool C of the 2011 Rugby World Cup alongside Australia, Italy and Ireland.

Bad taste Jay! You crash land in the mountains and see what you revert to!

Jayzus GG,
You call getting into a pool with the Aussies, Italy and your boys a triumph.
All credit to the USA players though, they're not in it for cash or glory. That's proper rugby.
Oh yeah, Stu. You're from East Anglia man! It doesn't matter how long you've been there you're still one of us. And Bangor City have been bought by an Arab prince, at least he's a former Bangor student as well.

Bad taste Jay!

Hmm, I always heard human tasted like pork, A little shallot, sauteed in butter, reduce with some white wine …

Oh, wait that's not what you meant.

You call getting into a pool with the Aussies, Italy and your boys a triumph.

Well, I'd fancy the US against Italy (and that's no slur on the Italians), and given our RWC '07 performance, the Eagles might have a shot against the Irish too. The last spot in the pool will be going to another European team, and the US could probably manage a win or a decent draw there. It's all to play for, if you think about it. Yes – the current Irish lineup would eat them alive, but I don't see the same Irish Grand Slam XV for 2011. Hayes, Sheahan, Horgan, Foley, Geordan Murphy – maybe even Flannery….too many miles on the clock, and a lot of injuries to be sustained in the next two Six Nations campaigns. Factor in that attrition and the Irish Grand Slam winning talent could be very thin on the ground come the next RWC.

All in all, that's really not a bad RWC draw at all for the US. They could well make it out of the pool stages if things fall right for 'em, and as you're well aware, ANYTHING can happen from that point forward.

In any case, they're not going to improve unless they get games in against the likes of Australia and Ireland.

All credit to the USA players though, they're not in it for cash or glory. That's proper rugby.

Like I said, pure passion and pride in the jersey. You have to admire that.

Buff – I support Wales at rugby, for a variety of reasons.

First, I was never into rugby before I got here. Then I realised I hated the upper vlass twits who ran English rugby. And finally it really winds up a friend of mine who is a rabid England fan.

To the extent he said if his son ever lead out the Welsh side against England he'd wish he scored three tries – and England hammered them flat…. :)

Not sure if Bangor have actually been bought yet by the Arab gentleman. But as I live enar the uni, it was odd seeing a whole fleet of limos go past, and dozens of security turn up to a graduation ceremony. No-one beforehand knew the two people cocnerned were studying here.

Pity about Bangors recent brief trip into Europe, but for football I'm a Tractor Boy through and through.!

You ought to give League a chance.. not so many upper class twits in that.. still a working mans game.

Im England til I die. No matter where I live, but I keep an eye on the Yanks, Canadians and the Japanese… I like to see them do well and I want Rugby to spread.

League is a totally boring waste of time and effort.

Only two weeks till NFL football kicks off here. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

League is a game for folk that can count to five…. sometimes. It's not a class thing, it's a watchability thing, it's dull and very few of it's players have been quick witted enough to prosper on a proper Rugby team.

Its very hard to cope with being a fan of the Cleveland Browns,I can tell you. Our battle cry is "There's always next year!"

Was it something I said?

Hey, wait a second, I'm an American and I knew he was referring to the uniform color. Not all Americans are uninformed about the rest of the world, some of us actually like Rugby.

BTW – Reggie88, a simple posting of "Excuse me for the misunderstanding" would go a long way. Americans may be uninformed about the rest of the world, but we can still have good manners and observe the courtesies.

I don't believing in lecturing. Pointing at and ridiculing are much more satisfying.

Even more horrific – the NZ basketball team are the Tall Blacks and their national badminton team are the Black Cocks. If that word is bleeped, think of another name for a rooster.

Also – the NZ cricketers are the Black Caps and the hockey team known as the Black Sticks.

League is a totally boring waste of time and effort.

Wash your mouth out and slap yourself one hundred times !!

League is an awesome game, it is "one" of our national sports down here and followed like a religion.
nrl.com

So is AFL for that matter even more so in the south of Oz.
afl.com.au

Shane

Yeah, the NRL leading sponsors of boofy blokes with really nasty sexual anger problems. AFL: aerial pingpong.

FIFA world cup, competing nations for qualification? Just about everyone. Biggest audience of any sporting event.

Rugby world cup, third only in size to the Olympics and football WC. Played on every continent, even the US has a team.

Rugby League World Cup (giggle). Two dozen blokes from Wigan, Newcastle and Brisbane and a few half hearted clowns from NZ, who couldn't get a game playing club football, let alone make a Super 14 team. League is a declining sport even in its two states. Look at the attendances.

AFL.. To have any kind of pretension to international appeal they have to mock up some half arsed end of season contest with a Gaelic football team. Risible in the extreme. Better off trying to get Truego as a Commonwealth Games sport.

So Reggie88, anything to say to Stehpanzer?

Pat

I thought one wasn't allowed to call somebody a racist on TMP?

I think implying that someone may be 'culturally insensitive' is OK though Paddy

What a fascinating modern age we live in.

To be sure. Toor-a-loora and so forth.

<Shakes head, exits Stage Left while performing a Riverdance routine>

How did all this crap start?

My son plays high school rugby here in the USA. He knew all about this team and had nothing but praise for it. This is much ado about nothing, I'm afraid.

How did all this crap start?

With one of your fellow countrymen displaying his ignorance of the world beyond mainland America. It went downhill fast, then recovered when everyone started discussing sport.

The origin of the name was a comment from a reporter back in 1905 that the team played like 'all backs' (the poncy ones who run fast and score all the tries, as opposed to the forwards who do all the graft and get little of the glory…), but was misquoted in the newspapers. The whole 'black' thing kind of became an institution after that.
And world cups are shallow tournaments with no real meaning… not like the tours of yesteryear. Professionalism has killed a lot of the magic of the game from when I was a young'un.