SeriouSSpikeS

For those who watched the Kiwi 1-0 win over Bahrain on 14 November 2009 will remember the reactions of Kiwis all over the nation. There was a resurgence in enthusiasm for football (U.S - soccer) in New Zealand and a faint glimmer of possibly winning (something), but what struck me the most was the build up towards FIFA World Cup after the game. For one there was a huge cover spread on qualifying and a title that mislead readers passing-by to think that NZ won the cup. You see, football in New Zealand was never a major 'Kiwi' sport. There's almost no publicity on the All Whites or what games they play let alone screening the actual games.

NZ has two major sports - netball (bleh) and rugby (that's it?). TV is filled with plays and replays of a range of these and these only, apart from the odd cricket game here and there. So why this? Why so much pride over a win which wasn't even significant? If NZ was really a good soccer team then at least we'd see a goal worthy of catching attention, like a nice long range, set up, or maybe a bigger goal difference. These things may not seem significant but, suprisingly, it can shed some light on how strong or how well a team plays.

Sometimes, there's just too much ego and a seemingly invisible need to reassure itself even though no major achievement has been accomplished yet. For example, there was no major coverage on the FIFA Confederations Cup Spanish defeat in NZ Herald when a quick keyword search was done. The only evidence that a game was going to be played - GOING to be played was from a journalist the night before doing a quick interview with an All Whites player. Despite the fact Spain was going to kick their ass, look at this example of reassuring, or as I like to call it, diaper-ing the ego. Look at what he says when interviewed about world class striker, Fernando Torres...

"It's funny to think you are going up against a guy who is worth that kind of money, especially as I've been a Liverpool fan since I was a kid. He's world-class and if I get the opportunity to mark him, awesome."      <----ok.....

"I might say 'g'day' to him and he might have a few bad words for me if I am a bit slow to a couple of balls.    <----ok.....

"I'm looking forward to it and hopefully we have a good bit of banter. I will see how his English is going."       <----What? So everyone needs to be good at English to be as *great* as you? I mean look at the justification, the reasoning. It's as simple as this, if you suck, then deal with it. You could go practice for one. Enough of trying to prove nothing cos believe it, you suck. lol

Here's another example... 

"We have to go out there with realistic expectations but not get overwhelmed by it all. It's a mountain to climb playing Spain but it's not insurmountable."      <---- don't know which mountain you're on about cos it sure don't look that way. hahaha.

Basically, enough of this "yay NZ" and "go NZ" nonsense. Go back out on the pitch, train like nobody's business, exercise some humility while at it and please, please try not to embarrass us as much on the field. 

Watch as football popularity starts to soar again, only to return to disappointment. Let alone watching a whole bunch of wannabe-amateurs reclaiming their 'passion' for football in NZ simply cos now... "We're in the finals!" YAAAAaaaaay. Go back to rugby.

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 You can check out the link here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10578305...

I would like to take the time to acknowledge that this is the first post for SeriouSSpikeS.posterous.com! To mark this beginning I've posted something that should give you (at the very least) a moment's ponder for the day.

I stumbled across these links yesterday which I found very interesting and wanted to share with you! The first one is a website relating to Malaysians in particular.

Did you know that there is a society called Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (MACMA)? It is dedicated to a range of aims and activities. One of these is to inform and spread cultural 'reassurance' that a person of Chinese heritage can continue to, in essence - be Chinese.

There is also a huge misconception evident in Malaysia as well as Chinese culture all over the world that embracing Islam mean't losing one's cultural identity and severing family ties. No doubt, this type of 'thinking' will take ages to re-direct so in the meantime, i found another article that discussed promoting a cultural familiarity by a recent approval and building of three Chinese mosques.

At first I thought these initiatives from both links were:
1) surprising and nice to see, yet when I thought about it further it was...
2) not such a good thing.
Although the initiatives in mind were good intent, it still segregates racial parties in a non progressive and unbeneficial way. Afterall, Islam is a religion for all, regardless of caste, creed, colour or ethnicity. One could argue that these associations and mosques don't ACTUALLY segregate or separate races - the association even goes on to mention (somewhere on the webpage) that it is open to Non-Chinese Muslims as well, but having culturally attuned groups does not help nor discourage grouping does it? What do you think?

Anyway, they're still good to check out - the article:

http://egagah.blogspot.com/2009/12/chinese-style-mosques-in-3-malaysian.html 

...and the association:

http://macma.org.my/homepage/

However, my favourite video for the day was one about two Chinese Muslim families in China preparing for the Islamic pilgrimage - the Hajj. One of the men in the first family is a Chinese Imaam (religious leader) and he became one at the age of 16! The second family shares their excitement of finally going on the Hajj after a whole lifetime of saving up. Surprisingly, the Chinese government doesn't help subsidise for this hahaha =P.

My favourite part is the blend of Islamic and Chinese calligraphy - BEAUTIFUL!! Take the time to watch both as it is culturally touching, a cocktail of emotion, immense love and of course for me, close to the heart as well. =)

We, at ShexxySpikes would love to see what our friends, family and readers think, so don't forget to leave any comments, questions or thoughts on this below.