Cut the bull

The unfortunate incident of the microphone maniac at Securicor Loftus is symptomatic of an approach to rugby in South Africa that has been skewed for some time now.

As embarrassing as Rian van Heerden’s manipulation of the stadium’s massive speakers was, he was merely responding to a phenomenon that has increasingly taken hold at big local matches – i.e. that fans require entertainment other than the game itself.

Thus it is natural that he is unrepentant and that he feels he has done nothing wrong. He is the embodiment of the fan let loose on the public address system and he behaved in exactly the way he thought he was meant to.

The upshot has been that the Blue Bulls, who possess the country’s most knowledgeable rugby fans and whose off-field hospitality (as opposed to their on-field hostility!) has always been gracious to a fault, have been severely compromised.

Such things belong in bars or the repertoire of stand-up comedians but the fact is that the kinds of excesses we heard from Van Heerden, and whoever at Loftus it was who decided that it was funny for the Bull’s mascot to parade an inflatable sheep with a protruding carrot, have been coming for some time now.

It is a direct result of stadium administrators losing sight of the fact that what the fans want to see is a team that performs on the field and that they do not give a hoot for skydivers, drum majorettes, zulu warriors, gamboling gymnasts and the titillation of nymphets in bubble baths.

It is an American phenomenon, where a game of gridiron can take many hours to complete, that stadium managers and rugby administrators have copied but you would never find the like of Manchester United and Arsenal, two of the most successful professional sports teams anywhere, descending to these kind of side-shows.

They understand that the key attractions at Old Trafford and Highbury respectively are the players themselves and the success they achieve.

You might find the occasional fan-related promotion but the pomp and circumstance is saved for occasions such as the FA Cup when, it has to be said, the prologues are always restrained and dignified.

Campaigns such as SA Rugby’s “My Blood is Green,” – which attracted general mirth at last year’s RWC because of the connotation that something that turns green is rotten – and the prevalence of immature adults playing with radio controlled cars to bring on the kicking tee – instead of ball boys who would be greatly enthused to be performing the task – are also indicative of this distorted focus.

Added to this there is the mood created by increasingly parochial newspapers, who have turned their reporters into supporters with laptops and have long since eschewed the virtues of fairness and balance, and radio stations with their shock (ing?) jocks who have little knowledge or understanding of sport and seem to think that the primary aim of any big event is to encourage much swilling of beer.

There is obviously a mood among South African fans that our teams are hard done by (referees) and generally victimized, and this might well be so, but the blame lies with the former administration of SA Rugby who compliantly smoothed over issues such as the Japie jibes and swept poor refereeing under the carpet rather than taking a difficult and potentially unpopular stand.

But it will not do for South African fans, encouraged by blaring yobs with amplified voices, to behave in an indecorous manner. No matter what is done to us we must maintain our sportsmanship while our pride should come from the victories our teams score on the fields of our history-steeped sports citadels.

For a start let’s tone down on the booming music, gag the microphone egotists, drain the bubble baths and, a pet hate of mine, get rid of the radio controlled cars – but most all let’s get winning again.