Sport Saves

New Zealand won the rugby world cup today.

When you consider that rugby is, for all intents and purposes, the only thing that New Zealanders passionately, nationally care about this achievement is a big deal. It is even bigger since their last win of the cup was in 1987 and since then, they have been known as the best team in the world in all except title.

But surely the most heart-warming aspect of this result is the transformative power that sport has for a nation that has had a harrowing year. The earthquake in Christchurch devastated lives while the recent oil spill has done untold environmental damage. A win like this, watched by most of the world will give them back some national pride and allow them to truly celebrate.

The stakes for this match were clearly high. All sports fans experience the massive highs and lows of following a team and understand that we place a lot of importance on events that are out of our control. But the events of the earthquake and oil spill were out of the control of the average New Zealander.

Clearly, they were owed this.

-The English Student

Two Everyday Narratives

English students are generally quite in to narrative. It is kind of our thing.

As I have previously mentioned, English students are also prone to over-analysis of mundane patterns. That said, two contemporary, popular narratives have garnered my attention both in the long term and short. These are, of course, sports and politics.

The narratives of sport are absolutely amazing. They can be adversarial between two or more people or teams or competitive against a form of measurement, or indeed both. The sub plots, detail and spin on these events has become big business for media and betting outlets. With good reason too, as I believe that some of the most fascinating and sincerely compelling narratives can be found in sport. This is partially, I believe, due to the involvement of the person actually watching the sport and due to the unknowability of the outcome. Fans wish to watch every match of their chosen sport, as they are very aware that any match could create a classic narrative.

Politics has a more obvious narrative, with political parties contending with each other and socio-economic issues. I have consistently found that my interest in political narratives in countries has waxed and waned depending on my proximity to the political system. At times, I feel too close to the political system in the country that I occupy. At these times, political decisions have direct ramifications for the lives of people that I know and as such, cannot be taken lightly. Indeed, politics should never be taken lightly. Despite, or indeed because of the serious of these issues I find the political wrangling of parties to be an extremely fruitful source of narrative.

Perhaps if I spent more time studying literature than sporting and political narratives then I would be more worthy of my name!

-Then English Student

Snooker - Game or Sport?

With the World Championship beginning, once again the old battle of identifying snooker as a game or sport has emerged.

The label of "game" carries the negative connotations that a certain sport is trivial. This seems to be levelled at snooker for two reasons. Firstly, the lack of physical prowess and stature required for snooker seems to place it outside the realm of sport. However, the skill and intelligence required to form and carry out an intricate snooker strategy must be considered in the same vein. One may not have to train their body, but the honing of the mind required for snooker is the same process in a different sphere.

Secondly, elements of snooker have placed it as a more elitist form of entertainment. While it is true that there is a more calm and reserved atmosphere at a snooker match, this certainly does not make it any less of a sport. The level of control and decorum is indicative of the respect between players, not a heightened level of haughtiness. But this is a false image in any case, with snooker clubs across Europe allowing people to play the sport regardless of social standing.

Overall, snooker has many parallels with sporting events such as tennis and golf and yet does not suffer the frivolity of false labels. If these absurd reasons for labelling snooker as a trivial "game" are placed aside, snooker will finally be able to take its place alongside other great sporting activities. This would expand the sport and encourage greater participation and competition.

When this years contest in The Crucible comes to a close we will have a new World Snooker Champion. I do hope that they will be rightly considered among sporting legends.

-The English Student