# The New Zealand Olympic Basketball team -They're ...umm... a little different **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 16, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027 "2004-08-16T01:52:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/21 "2004-08-18T11:09:51Z")
Hehehe. Me too **Ice**! Lets see those Aussies do somthing rather then lean on each other. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/22 "2004-08-18T11:21:26Z")
The Haka is pretty awesome to watch. I had the pleasure of a very drunken Stu Wilson flyin gon several different herbs and spices do the Haka solo in a bar in Melbourne around the World Cup. Then I got to see the All Blacks two days later do the Haka against IIRC Italy. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/23 "2004-08-18T11:48:48Z")
Stu Wilson was always a loose unit. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/24 "2004-08-18T12:19:27Z")
Iā€™m going to be controversial here, but I donā€™t buy this haka nonsense and I donā€™t know why other teams play along with it. Yes, I know Iā€™m being grumpy and its all in good fun. I just donā€™t understand why everyone who plays NZ is obliged to start the game according to _their_ own special rule, especially when theyā€™re not playing at home. Thereā€™s having friendly competetive relations between teams and then thereā€™s letting them take the mickey. I donā€™t know of any regulations in any sports that say you have to stand around like a collection of spare parts while the opposition waggle their fingers in your face. Yet apparently everyone is obliged to do it when playing NZ, or face being called bad sports (or, even worse, scared) because itā€™s _traditional_. So hereā€™s a tradition for you NZ. You line up here doing nothing and looking foolish, while we stand over there, throwing rocks at you and shouting things about your mother. Thatā€™s how _we_ traditionally warmed up before a confrontation. Donā€™t know about you, but itā€™d certainly set us up nicely for the game! Or how about we say its the same rules for everyone? Do what you want, but donā€™t expect the opposition to play the stooges to _your_ warm up. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/25 "2004-08-18T13:14:14Z")
Fair call, but we have been doing it for a bloody long time now. If you wanted to protest you should have done 80 yrs ago at least. It has become tradtion now. The NZ public defintely expect it and all our regular oppenents know it will happen. No one ever said Morris dancing, Aborigninal spear chucking or even the deadly bagpipes were illegal. The haka has been part of NZ sporting participation for a long time, if you have no response that is your issue. Part of being a Kiwi is seeing the haka. More fool you for letting it happen. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/26 "2004-08-18T13:24:41Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > No one ever said Morris dancing, Aborigninal spear chucking or even the deadly bagpipes were illegal. I just got the disturbing image of an Irish team riverdancing before a match. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/27 "2004-08-18T13:29:25Z")
Now see that is the Ireland-NZ prelim I want to see. Unsettling but ethnicly appropriate šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/28 "2004-08-18T15:02:26Z")
Has anyone told **Terminus Est** that he gave of photos of the New Zealand _Rugby_ Footballl team ? **calm kiwi** , as our cultural attachĆ©, will you accept my thanks for the very , ahem, ā€œesthetically pleasingā€ topless version of the haka that your rugby sevens lads treated us to _after_ victory over the English\* in Bordeaux this year ? There was no other reason but to reward the crowd, one ā€˜performanceā€™ in front of one stand and then they crossed over and di it again for the other stand so that everyone had a chance to see. The crowd were mesmerised and, appart from the All Blacks themselves, the stadium was silent. \*Sorry **Futile Gesture** but you beat them the following weekend and at the moment Wales donā€™t even _have_ a sevens squad ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/29 "2004-08-18T15:13:15Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#): > > Has anyone told **Terminus Est** that he gave of photos of the New Zealand _Rugby_ Footballl team ? Yah, I realized that right after I had posted. Still, no one seems to have noticed until know. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/30 "2004-08-18T15:52:52Z")
Obvioulsy theyā€™re all more polite than me šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/31 "2004-08-18T20:39:05Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#): > > Has anyone told **Terminus Est** that he gave of photos of the New Zealand _Rugby_ Footballl team ? > > **calm kiwi** , as our cultural attachĆ©, will you accept my thanks for the very , ahem, ā€œesthetically pleasingā€ topless version of the haka that your rugby sevens lads treated us to _after_ victory over the English\* in Bordeaux this year ? Bugger! I didnā€™t look at the links or I would have been rude šŸ˜‰ Topless Hakas are a very fine thing. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/32 "2004-08-19T03:13:14Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Bugger! I didnā€™t look at the links or I would have been rude šŸ˜‰ > > Topless Hakas are a very fine thing. ā€¦if only the Silver Ferns would do a topless Hakaā€¦ :: dreams :: ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/33 "2004-08-19T03:27:43Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Just out of curiosity, do many Maoris have a problem with sports teams, especially those mostly made up of a bunch of white guys, performing the haka? I think itā€™s a really cool tradition, but I always imagine some Maori sitting in front of his television cursing the bastards who are using his cultural tradition to intimidate a bunch of gawky basketball players. ā€¦no, Maoriā€™s donā€™t have a problem with ā€œwhite guysā€ doing the haka, its just the done thing over here. Iā€™m half Maori and half Samoan, and actually its an honour to see any New Zealander, be they Maori, English, Tongan, or Chinese, perform the haka. The haka that you normally see performed on TV is Te Rauparahaā€™s haka, his history can be found here: [http://history-nz.org/rauparaha.html](http://history-nz.org/rauparaha.html) Different tribes and different schools have their own hakaā€™s, I attended Rongotai College, where we had our own haka, that the whole school learnt. There is nothing more awesome than watching 500 people performing a haka in unison, I tell you. And yes, people from other cultures perform the haka as well-its amazing how well certain aspects of Maori culture have intergrated into New Zealand societyā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/34 "2004-08-23T22:15:13Z")
Having seen the photos, Iā€™d love to see the _haka_ performed. In a way, it brings American pro wrestling to mind. Seriously: WWE and ECW both employ a lot of flash and intimidation tactics, and I can see how the _haka_ would work in a similar fashion. One question, though: Do they do it before _every_ game? If so, doesnā€™t that kind of reduce the impact when they do it at crucial games like the Olympics or World Cup? ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027/35 "2004-08-23T23:29:39Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > I just got the disturbing image of an Irish team riverdancing before a match. Iā€™d think a sword dance would be more appropriate. And you know Riverdance is the name of a traveling show with various dance forms, not a form in itself, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-olympic-basketball-team-theyre-umm-a-little-different/260027.md?page=1)