Shelley Bridgeman, let me explain

It was a Thursday afternoon. I had been at university for a few hours and decided to sit down at my desk and have a wee look over Facebook as any student would do.

What do I see? Well, not a lot different from the ordinary:

• A girl’s new profile picture that had racked up several hundred likes
• A cringe-worthy status that you’re not sure whether it was their mate taking over their Facebook who posted it as a joke, or if they actually posted it themselves 
• A classic Veitchy on Sport post with endless entertaining comments 
• Another post from Veitchy with a link (which has now been deleted as the comments were getting “way out of hand,”) to Shelley Bridgeman’s article from the New Zealand Herald, titled 8 reasons I’m already over the Rugby World Cup

This post particularly caught my eye, as would have been the case for the thousands of other rugby fans who stumbled across it on Thursday.

I love rugby and I’m loving this Rugby World Cup.

It’s a bit like a drug. You’re constantly happy with it and it keeps you up all night, though there are the odd inevitable moments that make you feel like crap.

However, Shelley Bridgeman doesn’t quite feel this way. Obviously the RWC drug has a hit her a bit too hard.

She’s spewing from the intake and is about to enter the state of RWC coma. Her friends are supporting her, holding her hair back as she vomits the poison out of her system.

The rest of the RWC drug-takers though – we’re having a blast. We’re dancing in the room next door and talking about how we wish she’d just be quiet and go home, as she’s obviously in no state to suit the occasion.

That’s what was going through my mind as I was reading Bridgeman’s article, too.

I appreciate that everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. Heck, that’s what I’m doing in this article – expressing my opinion. However, her opinion is the complete opposite to mine and I find it hard to take in.

The point of Bridgeman’s article was to, from a non-rugby-fan’s perspective, basically poo-poo the RWC and the unescapable public/media attention it’s been getting.

Last time I checked, rugby is our national sport and to be quite fair, we’re bloody good at it. Of the just over 13 years that World Rugby has had a world ranking system, the All Blacks have held the top spot for over 10 of those years. Of course we’re going to get excited as a country when the Rugby World Cup comes around for the first time in four years.

This tournament isn’t just about NZ though, and it certainly isn’t just for rugby fans. Everyone likes a good old feel-good story and we’ve already had one of them when Japan beat South Africa. Surely that news wouldn’t have burned the soul of those anti-RWC!

Like anything in the media-dominated time that we live in, if it’s significant enough to get major publicity, you’re more than likely going to get it shoved down your throat in the form of Facebook, Twitter, news websites and TV or whatever other media is in your life.

I’m a student. I’m not overly bothered about politics. Yet, I probably know enough to comprise a 5-minute speech about the TPPA.

Same goes with the flag referendum. I don’t choose to look up these things, but as life goes on, I just happen to come across them whether I like it or not.

It’s inevitable that the RWC is going to get extended media coverage in our country, especially if the All Blacks progress further into the tournament. It only comes around once in every four years. Suck it up. And if the All Blacks win, please don’t take any sense of pride or happiness out of it.