The sin of Schadenfreude
18 Feb 2013
MARK KEOHANE, in Business Day Newspaper, writes South African rugby should be about hope and not hatred.
In Canberra a South African rugby celebration continues to grow in excess. In Port Elizabeth this Saturday a celebration unrivalled in the unified history of South African rugby should also be about excess.
But individual and team triumph will be torture to a resentful audience. The freedom fighters are apparently the terrorists and Schadenfreude will be the champagne of choice when the Southern Kings play the Western Force in their Super Rugby debut.
The majority of South African rugby supporters have expressed their hatred for the Kings. Hate is the word that has constantly been emphasized, with bloggers delighting in supporting anyone who will be playing against the Kings. There is so much hatred, in especially the perceived failure of Luke Watson, who will captain the Kings this season.
It is a hatred so many white South Africans in the rugby community felt – and feel – towards former SA under 21 captain Clyde Rathbone when he moved to Australia and played for the Wallabies.
This hatred was extended to 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White when he left South Africa last year to coach the Brumbies.
Watson’s crime was to criticize Afrikaners in 2007 and to say they controlled South African rugby. The blasphemy was to say he never grew up in a household that celebrated the Springbok jersey, and it was seen as a symbol of oppression. He told a group in informal discussion he loved the idea of playing for his country, but the Springbok jersey, in its traditional guise, was something he could vomit on given the historical association it held from his up bringing.
He was subsequently trialed, condemned, convicted and sentenced within sectors of South African media and society, as the sinner without a soul.
These same individuals also prayed to God for their own redemption for being vulnerable to daily mistakes in life choices. These same people are oblivious to the contradiction and hypocrisy.
Watson has publicly apologized to Afrikaners for his words. He has said he would have articulated his thoughts differently had he been more mature. He has said he wants to be a part of all that is good about rugby and South Africa. He said he was used as a political pawn and his move to England, where he captained Bath for two seasons, made him realize just how much he was used by politicians and how he allowed himself to be used.
He has said that in hindsight he would have done so many things differently. He has said sorry.
Watson has spoken of the privilege and responsibility to live in South Africa and to be leading the pioneers of Kings rugby.
The young Watson, schooled to oppose the Springbok jersey, is very different to the Watson of today who makes his own choices and wants to make a contribution to the life South African rugby and South African society as it is, and not to helping end what once was.
Apparently youngsters can’t make mistakes, can’t admit to them and can’t expect any forgiveness if they happen to be Luke Watson. They can only expect continued hatred from those whose joy is defined by another’s perceived failure.
In a unified South African rugby community, the division has never been stronger. How sad for those unwilling to forgive and incapable of celebrating change, be it in a view or in an action.
How sad for our rugby that so many have voiced their pleasure at the prospect of foreign team stuffing up the Kings. What betrayal to a young group of South African rugby players.
Port Elizabeth, this weekend is the greatest story in South African rugby’s youthful unity, but when the parents (SARU) can’t celebrate the first steps of the child they bought into this world, it can’t be expected of the haters not to indulge in Schadenfreude.
Clyde Rathbone’s comeback from injury, depression and a dark place in his life is a celebration, as is White’s wonderful influence as coach of the Brumbies.
They are South Africans, as is Watson and the Kings, but those unaffected by their respective choices, triumphs and mistakes, detest them for these choices, triumphs and mistakes.
Euphoria for so many within South African rugby is proportionate to the relative failure of others.
It is as if they can only be successful if another fails.
Resentment ravages redemption and Schadenfreude is the stimulant when it is the sin in our rugby – and society.
905 Comments
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18 Feb 2013, 16:29 pm
@Nikita-543:
hahaha…
you asking me what roles you played…?
i wasn’t privvy to what went on behind office doors…
18 Feb 2013, 16:30 pm
@The Rangerman-549: Oh heaven forbid, One injury and they will be screaming off the roof tops that they are playing their C team
18 Feb 2013, 16:31 pm
@@whistle@blower@-436:
its real, WB
and its sad really because truth be told they are actually a good team capable of playing great rugby if only they believed it in their hearts.
fear and the mental scars of choking has driven them to insane despair.
now all they are capable of is low ugly stuff and ‘anything for the win’. if you watch their games the MO is to either on the one hand suss the opposition and attempt to play it on the back of their skill and if not able they quickly descend to outright cheating or to employ an ugly and cynical procedure of targeting 1 or 2 key players for serious injury.
if plan A does not work they rapidly revert to plan B.
@@whistle@blower@-447:
ja, the story is pretty cool. i will look out for the doccie.
18 Feb 2013, 16:31 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-548:
It just proves that life is not always greener on the other side.
I must say I don’t like the new SL. Far too po(light).
18 Feb 2013, 16:32 pm
have an awesome, successful and safe trip ranger…
18 Feb 2013, 16:32 pm
@stormersboy-544: That’s all good
In fact, brilliant. Might we honestly be seeing the start of a true season of rotation and ‘risk’….?
Groom………delighted.
18 Feb 2013, 16:33 pm
@ufo-551:
I know you were so Bob is your aunty then. You journalists are all the same.
Similar to bloody lawyers.
18 Feb 2013, 16:34 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-546: no, we wanted the s15 most.
and yes, the hiding we gave you was very pleasant for us, i promise you it was
@Nikita-547: well you have always got body-doubling to fall back on
@Sharks_are_gonna_get_you-550: cheers man.
ok all, i am out, aluta continua and may the force take a big rod and use it to thwack some common sense into some brokebacks that post here
18 Feb 2013, 16:35 pm
@willievz-384:
ja, the same Land Rover he tried to drive right through a 3 meter deep dam.
needless to say, it did not work
that’s almost a cool million in its moer
18 Feb 2013, 16:36 pm
@Sharks_are_gonna_get_you-552: You were the tosspot already posting the ‘long’ Sharks injury list about 80 posts back?
Guppies….. ***rollingeyessidewaysandshakinghead***
@Nikita-554: He ain’t polite…..he is aready starting to bubble beneath the marbled flesh. The little feet are stamping in a cheap version of ‘Tap Dogs’, and the heavily laden (with gold plated man chains) wrists will be flapping shortly…
All the glitters is not gold (or gold plating in his case)
18 Feb 2013, 16:36 pm
@ufo-555: thanks ufo, i hope your team make you happy, tjorts!
18 Feb 2013, 16:36 pm
@Nikita-557:
sheesh… low blow…
well i guess at least you didn’t say we’re similar to sharks fans…!!
18 Feb 2013, 16:36 pm
@The Rangerman-558:
In need of DCS already. Enjoy.
18 Feb 2013, 16:36 pm
@The Rangerman-558:
And the hiding you got from the Chiefs was very pleasing for us as well.
Enjoy the trip en stywe lyne
18 Feb 2013, 16:37 pm
@The Rangerman-558: But you didn’t win the S15…..so the Currie Cup was next…and you didn’t win that either.
Travel safe. Have a good trip.
18 Feb 2013, 16:37 pm
@The Rangerman-561:
and a great season ahead for yours bud…
just teasing about the sharks fans…
18 Feb 2013, 16:38 pm
@Nikita-554:
are you involved with sarugbymag?
18 Feb 2013, 16:38 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-560:
The fact he is dissing me explains everything.
@ufo-562:
I would never insult you like that UFO.
18 Feb 2013, 16:39 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-567:
I’m single Bakkies.
Not involved with anyone.
18 Feb 2013, 16:40 pm
@Nikita-568:
hehehe…
tender mercies…
18 Feb 2013, 16:40 pm
I have to run. Nice to chat a bit.
18 Feb 2013, 16:42 pm
Watching this with great interest.-two females taking Sharkslover apart,bit by bit. The old **** gonna explode sooner rather than later.
18 Feb 2013, 16:48 pm
@Nikita-569:
ok, i thought you might be. do you still hang out with the old ‘keo crew’ though?
if you see the guys around tell them i wont join until they get rid of the two men on the left and right hand side of the screen. its off putting to have two men looking back at me that way.
i dont like it.
you should post a few more videos seeing as Keo is short of writers, after all they say a picture is worth a thousand words
18 Feb 2013, 16:48 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-559:
He should have used a Range Rover.
18 Feb 2013, 16:49 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-556: I spoke to Alistair at today’s practice. He is well aware of the importance of entering the playoff period with a strong squad, hence his omission of Schalk, Tiaan and Juan. All of them are in the niggle stage but he won’t risk hurting them further. He did say that if this were a semi final, that Juan would have played.
Groom and Jantjies will make a great “go-forward” pair. He has not yet decided on the pecking order at 9. which is a good thing.
18 Feb 2013, 16:50 pm
@S_K-572: one is a female and the other a shemale
18 Feb 2013, 16:50 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-573:
She’s promised her boyfirend she won’t make any more videos with keo
@stormersboy-575:
Have you moved your oiffice to the HPC?.
18 Feb 2013, 16:51 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-559: for someone who likes to bang on about ‘honesty’ you are quite the farking liar!
was it a union sponsored vehicle that he was driving that day? since when has the road to SEAVIEW been classified as a DAM?
7 other people died on that same road after not being able to correctly gauge the water levels after the storms we had last year. ffs
18 Feb 2013, 16:55 pm
@gunther-577:
Blondes shagging dwarves aren’t as popular as it used to be?
18 Feb 2013, 16:57 pm
@Sharks_are_gonna_get_you-486:
But the real Sharks replicas for R1200.,00 are not selling. Will go to Angels Tears Nightshelter end of Season,
The R49,95 ones selling like hot cakes. With a family pack for R99, 95 at selected Mr Price stores
18 Feb 2013, 16:59 pm
@Sharks_are_gonna_get_you-552: If you
are indeed Sharks Lover then welcome back .
18 Feb 2013, 17:00 pm
@gunther-574:
huh..?..
because its cheaper?
3 meters is 3 meters Gunner, no amount of skilled super rugby negotiating nous coupled with 33” tyre rims is gonna get you through that much water.
18 Feb 2013, 17:00 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-573: Bakkies they heard you and got rid of the guppy and stormer boys looking at you with loving eyes – they have added Spies and Brussow to the mix.
18 Feb 2013, 17:02 pm
@gunther-577: I’m everywhere.
18 Feb 2013, 17:04 pm
@gunther-577:
well thats a shame.
@Transformation-578:
oh, i had no idea.
in light of the loss of lives i do apologise,Transie.
with that out of the way, who’s SUV was he driving then, if i may ask?
18 Feb 2013, 17:06 pm
@RL-583:
really?
thanks RL, i’ll take a look.
18 Feb 2013, 17:06 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-553:
I will watch with interest
18 Feb 2013, 17:08 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-582:
He should have used a snorkel.
or held Lukas out the door with a straw..
18 Feb 2013, 17:11 pm
@stormersboy-575: Brilliant. Thanks for that news.
Always good when there is competition…..especially if the management encourage that healthy competition for places.
18 Feb 2013, 17:17 pm
@@whistle@blower@-587:
ja, do that.
when they play the boks i will provide you with a play by play breakdown of their indiscretions. trust me, its a little harder to believe until you see it on paper.
during the live game there’s so much going on and you are usually trying to keep up and enjoy the spectacle so will not remember for too long each individual indiscretion as it happens because you move on to the next.
but once you sit back and see it on paper its shocking really.
just their general attitude and disdain for the rules of rugby and its referees (who most times are stuck some way up their arses to begin with).
they are killing the game and its a shame.
18 Feb 2013, 17:22 pm
@gunther-588:
or asked Luke to hang onto the bonnet and aquaplaned right through it
but seriously, Cheeky takes his bible a little too literally at times.
18 Feb 2013, 17:22 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-585: lol…his
@gunther: he was with his step-son 9yr old LUKE.
18 Feb 2013, 17:27 pm
Because “Luke” is not the major issue with the Kings. It is the manner in which his father has utilized his nefarious political influence to fast track EP into the Super Rugby competition. Why did they not just wait until 2016?
Luke gets flak because people really hate his father. Yeah, he made mistakes and apologized for it. But ultimately he is still int he camp that wants to “dismantle Afrikaner influence”. And you ask why Afrikaners don’t like him or his family? Afrikaner influence is bad, but other influence is good? Seriously, Keo, you are a hypocritical ***.
18 Feb 2013, 17:33 pm
@Tacitus-48:
Jeez, only read this post now but it is almost exactly what I posted.
18 Feb 2013, 17:34 pm
@Transformation-592:
Little Luke.
18 Feb 2013, 17:34 pm
musician Johnny Clegg,
author and playwright Muthal Naidoo,
journalist Joseph Nong Thloloe, and former
rugby player and activist Daniel “Cheeky”
Watson would be awarded the silver Order
of Ikhamanga.
18 Feb 2013, 17:36 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-591:
Apparently his Disco is called Moses.
18 Feb 2013, 17:53 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-591: as i told you before the story made frontpage news in the peherald but not everyone was impressed with having cheeky waist-deep in water trying push his SUV as the first thing they see while having their muesli
just last tuesday there were 3 pictures of luke in the edition of the herald, that alone drove someone to write to the paper complaining that it is enough seeing one photo but THREE was too much
bwahahahaha
#thelife×
18 Feb 2013, 17:53 pm
Stormers team looking good! Go murder the Bulls!!!!
18 Feb 2013, 18:22 pm
@keo-15: Come now Keo you remind me now of the dominee famous for his fire and brimstone preaching on sundays while he bestow his seeninge on the nightshift gemeentelede se vroue op huisbesoek in the week.
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