Friday, October 28, 2005

Men will love this (its about football)

Okay, this is so far and away from anything in my blog that it is destroying what little cohesion I was trying to maintain.

To all those out there who think Texas, being a red state, lacks diversity and culture, I give you this!

Trinity High School in Euless has a large population of Tongans on the team. They perform the "haka" as a way to unite the team.

Don't worry they okayed it with the Tongans in the community.

What you can't see in the video is the head coach blowing on the conch shell to begin the chant. But picture in your mind the head football coach of your high school. Now picture him, before a football game, blowing on a conch shell and that should be funny enough. (I have friends that coach high school football, and I've already had to pick myself up off the floor--twice--from laughing so hard.)

Here is what they are saying:

Ka mate! Ka mate!
Ka ora! Ka ora!
Ka mate! Ka mate!
Ka ora! Ka ora!
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru
Nana nei i tiki mai, whakawhiti te ra!
A, hupane! A, kaupane!
A, hupane! A, kaupane!
Whiti te ra.

Translated as:
It is death! It is death!
It is life! It is life!
It is death! It is death!
It is life! It is life!
Behold! There stands the hairy man.
Who will cause the sun to shine!
One step upwards ... Another step upwards
The sun shines!

Not sure what the hairy man that causes the sun to shine has to do with football.* But when you think about it, what do baton twirlers and homecoming mums have to do with football?

The "It is death! It is life!" Well, that pretty much sums up high school football in Texas. It is death, and it is life.


*Perhaps it has something to do with the officials, but considering the crowd, we probably don't want to know what it really refers to.

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