Mike's Minute: We get upset way too much now

One of the unfortunate side stories of the FIFA Women's World Cup is it doesn’t look to be the bonanza they hoped it might be. Ticket sales have been an issue and the hoteliers claim to be bitterly disappointed. It might well be that football as a sport is big globally, but not here. And even if it is big, at the women's level it's not a massive spectator event. Anyway, it also hasn’t stopped the obligatory upset over a number of haka that have been attempted or performed by various overseas teams. We seem to specialise in upset these days. Sam Cane trips up a pitch invader and the next thing you know he is being investigated and he is on a zoom saying sorry and handing out All Black jerseys Then few foreigners arrive, have a crack at a haka - cue more upset. When people do things wrong, whether overtly or mistakenly, it is not the end of the world. It is not news and it doesn’t require a series of so-called experts to be rolled out with various lines of condemnation. It is one of the outworkings of the bandwagon that we have found ourselves on in the past six years. Once the Māorification of New Zealand got enhanced, endorsed and promoted by the Government, Māoridom and all its various facets have taken on a new importance. And, dare I suggest, a new level of condescension and arrogance. I think we can be charitable enough to accept that the haka, if it is known overseas, is of some level of fascination to foreigners. They talk of the war dance, of the Māori dance. We have seen it in commentary from Americans on All Black tours. I remember being on American radio trying to explain there are in fact different versions of haka and it is not just a one-stop shop haka. That blew their minds. So, given that, when someone has a crack, I'm not sure we need to invest the time and energy on all the upset we have seen this week. Would it be nice if everyone who touched the rich tapestry of Māori and culture were fully versed? Of course, but it's not realistic and we should know that. Sam Cane probably shouldn’t have tripped up a fence jumper, but then having done it, he certainly shouldn’t have handed out freebies. And we certainly shouldn’t have made more of any of this than it deserved. Which is basically nothing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.