Jesbass takes a hitup for the Marauders, grateful for the distraction...
***
Driven To...
I didn't want to write this article.
Honestly, I didn't.
There are other things that are just so much more important for me right now.
Like Christchurch.
My compatriots in what is known as the Garden City have been going through hell recently. A 6.3-magnitude earthquake at a depth of just 5km ripped through the city, taking with it numerous iconic buildings and a pile of bodies that seems to be growing in size every day.
Police estimates put the eventual death toll at around 240. There is barely a Kiwi who doesnt know someone who has lost something or someone.
Rugby league in all its forms, whether written or broadcast, just seems so irrelevant to me at the moment.
It isn't that I don't enjoy the game. On the contrary, my passion for our sport hasn't waned. Up until February 22nd, I was watching the 2010 Four Nations final on a regular basis.
But suffice to say, the importance of a couple of dozen footballers running around a paddock pales in significance to scores of my fellow New Zealanders having their lives taken by falling masonry.
Make no mistake: I'm not writing in pursuit of an insightful topic or to provide witty metaphorical views regarding rugby league; I'm writing purely because I need the distraction.
Hopefully rugby league can provide that distraction.
But somehow I doubt it.
Thats because Christchurch has always had a proud history within New Zealands rugby league history. Accomplished players, such as Brad Thorn, David Kidwell, and Lewis Brown found their footballing feet in the city.
So when I saw that Mark Geyer was contemplating a Legends Of League charity match, much like the Legends Of Origin charity match in February, I flicked a text to Stacey Jones to see if he knew. As it turned out, he didnt
he also didnt know my number, either, but thats a topic for another article.
Following that, I got in touch with a couple of journalistic contacts, and before I knew it, word was spreading among former Kiwis about the event, coupled with articles on national television.
I highly doubt that I had much of an impact on the situation, but it just felt good to contribute to the welfare of Christchurch, even if it was quite possibly just a placebo effect.
It is precisely that sense of distant helplessness that has only added to the emotional rollercoaster. Watching from afar and seeing regular people going through such an irregular experience is surreal. Seeing familiar locations irreversibly scarred just creates more shock, and when the reality finally sinks in, the tears flow.
2010 Kiwi squad member Lewis Browns tears flowed when he called Sir Peter Leitch the philanthropic Mad Butcher to thank him for donating $20,000 towards the recovery of his home city.
Within a few days, the Warriors back rower was back in Christchurch, travelling familiar but unrecognisable streets.
He spent most of that journey in shock, although he did explain that after his fellow Warriors told him of the earthquake, he raced home to look at the TV, accurately describing what he saw as bloody carnage.
Brown then added: Driving through town is pretty emotional. Its really close to home.
Indeed it is, and not just for Christchurch residents. Like the Kangaroos rugby league side, New Zealand has had its bubble of invincibility burst.
But the Canterbury spirit is a hardy one.
Many months from now, when the last body has been laid to rest and the last brick has been laid into mortar, Christchurch will rise from the ashes.
And that provides me with some small sense of solace.
I know that this piece of writing has been disjointed, and I know that its quality is far from brilliant. But such a cathartic release was desperately needed, despite the fact that even in a written format I havent been able to evade the emotional aftershocks of the Christchurch earthquake.
This is much more about raw literary emotion than rugby league eloquence.
But it helps to write about these things. Sometimes its more about the process than the prose.
So much for distraction, but perhaps Ill sleep a bit better tonight as a result.
***
702 words between the stars
Source:
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3468575g.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfcWraeZvcw (Warning: raw footage)