Terry Sarten: Knighthoods not appropriate for ABs

An All Black knight would not be appropriate.

It is very satisfying that the team won the final game and have brought the World Cup home to New Zealand but offering knighthoods for this would be wrong for a number of reasons.

Firstly, because the PM is talking it up it is taking on the taint of a political appointment. It may suit the National Party to be seen alongside the WRC victors basking in their glory and hoping some of it will rub off on their standing in the polls but this is simply a PR stunt. If they had not got to the finals we would never have seen a beaming John Key drinking beer with them in the dressing room. This is possibly one of reasons that Richie McCaw has been sidestepping the issue with all the finesse he displays on the field. He is wise to avoid becoming a stage prop in the theatre of political whims.

Secondly, international rugby is a professional sport with all the money, marketing and hype that goes with that. The nation has been hoodwinked into a patriotic fervour for a game that is now big business with little or no connection with the sport at grassroots level.

The All Blacks play hard but they play for money. They are professional sportsman and a knighthood would simply mean joining the ranks of people who have received the honour for doing what they are paid - often very large sums - to do as part of their jobs. Generally knighthoods go to business people, politicians, successful athletes and entertainers, many of whom have done very well in their chosen field but have never done anything heroic.

We do acknowledge bravery with awards but when was the last time a fireman, nurse, policeman or doctor was given a knighthood for working with risk every day in situations where lives depend on their skill? A group of very large men being paid to crash into each while chasing a rugby ball down a field could not be considered heroic or to have contributed to saving anyone's life.

When Team NZ won the America's Cup and Peter Blake became a sir there was much hoopla but on the matter of earnings there was silence. Which is strange - the inducement of huge salaries is considered a fair reward for winning in big business. They are perceived as a major incentive to perform that encourages success yet the same rationale is not mentioned when it comes to success in some professional sports, even though the maxim of earning by winning is the same.

On that subject it is always fascinating to hear the reasoning behind why CEOs need massive salaries and bonuses. Apparently these incentives are needed to boost performance but those same people are never interested in applying similar logic by providing bonuses to their lowly employees. I gather the huge CEO salaries are meant to reflect the measure of corporate responsibility. If the CEO makes the right decisions the company increases profits. Taking this financial measure into a more mundane realm but following the same logic, for every potential suicide or domestic violence death prevented, the police officer or health worker should get a bonus because just one of these fatalities costs the economy an estimated $2 million - but that's never going to happen.

-Terry Sarten is a writer, musician and social worker. Feedback: tgs@inspire.net.nz