Thanks for the N.H. Stadium debacle
Paddy Lewis17/02/2010 11:25:00 a.m.
NICE to see the fruitbats who turn up at most world events to disrupt things didn’t let the side down during the first couple of days of the Vancouver winter Olympics.
The Olympic Resistance Network smashed a few windows, had a couple of marches, and so on. According to the Associated Press reports, “The ORN is an umbrella group for many causes… ranging from environmental concerns to economic issues (including) native Indians who want to reclaim their property (“No Olympics on Stolen Ancient Land”) and those angry over the amount of money spent on Olympics as opposed to public housing (“Homes Not Games”).”
In the run-up to the Games, they have also blocked the toilet pipes in three McDonalds restaurants as a protest. Ahem.
Some people call them bludging communists. OK, so that was me. My omnipresent question with groups like this is, doesn’t wearing Nike running shoes defeat the purpose of fighting the Man? I’ve often wondered why this lot, most often seen at anti-globalisation protests, wear the shoes. Is it some kind of point?
Anyway, they tend to get wound up and go through violent or obnoxious channels to make their point.
In New Zealand, we just ring talkback or kick the fence. As I was waking on Saturday morning, I listened to a screed of complaints about the Super 14 opener at North Harbour Stadium pour out of the radio.
For those who came in late, the Stadium forgot to a: let people with tickets in, b: open a beer and food stand for 20,000 attendees, c) imbue their security staff with any humanity (or brains), and d: generally had a SNAFU.
Unlike protesters all around the world, our lot would have had a wee moan to the person next in the queue, might have yelled at an official, or even cried.
One bloke, Marcel van Dijck, wrote about it on twitter. Good for him. No smashing windows required. Just vent online.
While this repressed anger, expressed online and via talkback, might end up causing us health issues, we should perhaps be grateful the Great Stadium Ticketing Debacle happened now.
Overseas fans aren’t quite so backward in articulating their rage. I can’t see French fans, having travelled thousands of miles and spent thousands of dollars, twittering that they can’t get in to a French World Cup match because North Harbour management can’t find their arse with both hands.
The tournament services boss for the Rugby World Cup said 5,000 volunteers will ensure rugby fans are looked after at matches.
I wonder if that assistance extends to giving them a leg up over a fence if their pre-paid ticket isn’t available? Or waiting in line for a beer and a pie because the fan wants to watch the game? Or helping hold the security guard while the fans beat the shit out of him?
I’m not sure I’d be volunteering. Would you want to be outside the ground, clearly identified as a target, when the ticketing system breaks down?
I’m not entirely convinced of the tourism benefits of the RWC in the long-term. What we can be assured of, however, is that if anything like the Great Stadium Ticketing Debacle happens during the RWC, we will have a fight to beat the bad press.
The polite but repressed approach Kiwis traditionally have to deal with isn’t what we will get from angry visiting fans. Still, on the bright side we’d never have to fork out to host a major event ever again. The last thing we need is to end up on the ORN’s radar.
The Olympic Resistance Network smashed a few windows, had a couple of marches, and so on. According to the Associated Press reports, “The ORN is an umbrella group for many causes… ranging from environmental concerns to economic issues (including) native Indians who want to reclaim their property (“No Olympics on Stolen Ancient Land”) and those angry over the amount of money spent on Olympics as opposed to public housing (“Homes Not Games”).”
In the run-up to the Games, they have also blocked the toilet pipes in three McDonalds restaurants as a protest. Ahem.
Some people call them bludging communists. OK, so that was me. My omnipresent question with groups like this is, doesn’t wearing Nike running shoes defeat the purpose of fighting the Man? I’ve often wondered why this lot, most often seen at anti-globalisation protests, wear the shoes. Is it some kind of point?
Anyway, they tend to get wound up and go through violent or obnoxious channels to make their point.
In New Zealand, we just ring talkback or kick the fence. As I was waking on Saturday morning, I listened to a screed of complaints about the Super 14 opener at North Harbour Stadium pour out of the radio.
For those who came in late, the Stadium forgot to a: let people with tickets in, b: open a beer and food stand for 20,000 attendees, c) imbue their security staff with any humanity (or brains), and d: generally had a SNAFU.
Unlike protesters all around the world, our lot would have had a wee moan to the person next in the queue, might have yelled at an official, or even cried.
One bloke, Marcel van Dijck, wrote about it on twitter. Good for him. No smashing windows required. Just vent online.
While this repressed anger, expressed online and via talkback, might end up causing us health issues, we should perhaps be grateful the Great Stadium Ticketing Debacle happened now.
Overseas fans aren’t quite so backward in articulating their rage. I can’t see French fans, having travelled thousands of miles and spent thousands of dollars, twittering that they can’t get in to a French World Cup match because North Harbour management can’t find their arse with both hands.
The tournament services boss for the Rugby World Cup said 5,000 volunteers will ensure rugby fans are looked after at matches.
I wonder if that assistance extends to giving them a leg up over a fence if their pre-paid ticket isn’t available? Or waiting in line for a beer and a pie because the fan wants to watch the game? Or helping hold the security guard while the fans beat the shit out of him?
I’m not sure I’d be volunteering. Would you want to be outside the ground, clearly identified as a target, when the ticketing system breaks down?
I’m not entirely convinced of the tourism benefits of the RWC in the long-term. What we can be assured of, however, is that if anything like the Great Stadium Ticketing Debacle happens during the RWC, we will have a fight to beat the bad press.
The polite but repressed approach Kiwis traditionally have to deal with isn’t what we will get from angry visiting fans. Still, on the bright side we’d never have to fork out to host a major event ever again. The last thing we need is to end up on the ORN’s radar.
