This weekend marks the beginning of the season for the National Rugby League - which is not to be confused with Rugby Union or Australian Rules Football or Football or Soccer - even though they are all referred under the blanket category of "footy". I'm not quite clear on the exact differences between the sports, but Rugby League is my favorite. This is based entirely on my personal observations that Rugby League has more blood shed and dropped trousers per 80 minutes of play than any other sport.
Rugby players are without question some of the toughest athletes on the planet. In yesterday's game between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the newly formed Gold Coast Titans, two players collided in a gushing spray of over-oxygenated blood. Play was not halted as their respective trainers rushed onto the field with a roll of tape and simultaneously wrapped their skulls. By the time the action had moved back to their end of the field, the players were back in the scrum, violently ripping at the shorts of the opposing team.
Knowing little about the 16 clubs that comprise the league, I have little empirical evidence upon which to select a team for which to root, thus I am obligated to make a decision based solely on nomenclature. Most of the clubs have tough, masculine names. Many of the mascots invoke images of violent animal death (or at least visceral discomfort): The Sharks, The Tigers, The Panthers, The Broncos, The Eels, The Bulldogs, The Sea Eagles, The Roosters (OK...this one is questionable). Some of the mascots are a bit more abstract, but none the less conjure images of rugged endurance: The Knights, The Warriors, The Cowboys, The Storm.
And then, there is my absolute favorite!
The South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Everytime I hear their name, my brain overflows with visions of pastel-colored bunny-shaped breakfast cereal. A rabbit isn't exactly the sort of animal that strikes fear into the hearts of men. Even if they didn't wear red and green striped socks, how seriously can you take a team whose mascot nibbles grass and procreates to excess? In a contest between a psychotic dog and a timid rodent, who would you endorse? But they're not just Rabbits, they are Rabbitohs...what the hell is a rabbitoh??
Well, there is just no doubt as to my new favorite team.
Go Rabbitohs!
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3 comments:
ha ha! I had the same thought when I first heard of a rabbitoh: what the hell is that? Turns out it's..a rabbit! Yup, just another crazy Aussie word. Rabbit-ohhh! :-)
I refuse to support anything owned by Russel Crowe, though. So go Eels! *g*
I was told that a Rabbitoh is an old term for blokes who used to hunt rabbits and bring them into town on a large stringer to sell at the markets. Even still, that is not an especially fearsome concpet. How dangerous is it to hunt rabbits? Now a grizzlyoh on the other hand...
I can think of one or two things belonging to Russel Crowe that I would mind supporting...on my chin!
Just thought I'd let you know - rabbitoh is tougher than it sounds. The rabbitohs were men the men who sold rabbits during the depression, when people couldn't afford any other meat. They stood on street corners shouting "Rabbitoh". The tean colours are green and red. Green is the butcher's aprons, red is the blood of the rabbits.
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