Dana Johannsen: Be a sport about Cup apathy

All Blacks fans. Photo / Getty Images

It’s tough for non-rugby loving folk right now, but there’s no need to be a prat about it.

Rugby World Cups have a strange effect on this country.

Every four years our national obsession with rugby gets turned up several notches to the point where even Pam at the local florist is suddenly an overnight expert on not only the All Blacks, but All Things World Rugby.

That's why you've got to feel a little bit for non-sports fans during the World Cup. Not in a condescending "how terrible you can't grasp the drama and excitement of rugby's pinnacle event" kind of way, either. It must genuinely be tedious to not be able to nip to the watercooler without encountering someone wanting to enthusiastically debate the merits of a Nonu-SBW midfield combination. It would be like being a Jehovah's Witness at Christmas.

But there's a certain section of the non-sports-loving population that it is impossible to feel sorry for -- those who wear their ignorance like a badge of honour.

You know the ones, they generally use terms like "sportsball" and "sportsing" with a dismissive tone, and believe their lack of interest is a pointer to their intelligence and sophistication.

We've all heard the following line in one form or another: "Oh, is there some kind of big tournament on at the moment? Didn't realise."

Lately I've even heard people compete with one another to demonstrate the depth of their rugby disdain.

"I don't even know the rules!"

"I wouldn't recognise Richie McCaw if I passed him on the street in his All Black kit."

"Richie McCaw? Who's that!? (chortle, chortle)."

What are they hoping that I, and others, will think of them?

Maybe they're expecting I'll pause and reflect: "Ah, here's someone who clearly has more lofty ambitions than the enjoyment of sport; they're probably too busy composing a collection of soon-to-be-published essays on post-existentialism."

Most likely I'm just thinking, "Prat".

There's nothing wrong with being uninterested in sport. For some, the whole idea that people invest time and emotional capital in what are essentially games is ludicrous.

But apathy or even antipathy towards sport is not cause for celebration.

Just for a moment play out a similar scenario in another field. "Oh, is there a play on tonight? Macbeth? Nah, never heard of it. Shakespeare? What, is he like good or something? Well, have fun watching your make-believe-world thingy."

How many admirers of the arts do you think are going to walk away from that conversation thinking, "Yeah, that person really showed us what's what"?

Exactly.