Runit craze should be nabbed in its infancy

Otago Daily Times

23-05-2025

Dumber than the film Dumb and Dumber, the 'Runit' craze is crass and brainless.
It's the new 'sport' where two people run at each other to 'dominate' the collision. On every level, it's stupid.
No wonder there's been an outcry as it reached these shores this week. No wonder neurologists are appalled. It does not require much in the way of brains to know this activity is wrong.
Runit started recently in Melbourne, endeavouring to ape the collision impacts of rugby, rugby league and American Football. It describes itself as the world's fiercest new combat sport.
Unsurprisingly, participants are sometimes knocked out, although Runit feebly claims that's a possible side effect and not a feature, unlike other combat sports.
Runit also touts the vetting of participants, the presence of doctors and strict rules.
Legitimate sports have been recognising the dangers of repeated head knocks, head injuries and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). Various protocols, stand downs, and rule changes have been introduced.
Yet, this raw, crude pastime surges in popularity, attracting many millions of online views. This week, Runit hosted competitions in Auckland, attracting big names, and rival organisations had plans.
Run it Straight 24's two events in South Auckland were cancelled after it failed to secure a venue. A clip from one of its Australian challenges is dumbfounding in its horror. A big crowd, including scores of children, cheered as a contestant was knocked out. He twitched on the ground in an apparent fit.
Up the Guts NZ was entering the fray using a Jonah Lomu image in its advertising. Sickeningly, it claims the event will raise mental health and suicide awareness. Instead, it's more likely to cause long-term mental distress, given the connection between repeated head knocks and rapid head acceleration and CTE. CTE is linked with dementia and mental health deterioration. Its event today was also cancelled, the organiser citing the backlash to Runit.
Up the Guts has under-18s, light heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions. What could go wrong? Let's injure teenagers as well.
The presence of prominent sportsmen is deeply disappointing. Runit matched former English rugby league star George Burgess against rugby's Nemani Nadolo, a former Crusader.
Sporting stars in New Zealand and Australia are associating with Runit. It reflects poorly on them.
After preliminaries this week, the NZ finals in June boast a $200,000 first prize. The Runit league will later move to the United States, Saudi Arabia and Britain.
New Zealand Rugby has condemned it, and rugby league should do likewise. Players and ex-players should be discouraged from any role in supporting events.
Brutal MMA (mixed martial arts) and boxing already feature in the sporting world. Both, like Runit, appeal viscerally to basic instincts. All three are invitations to brain damage. The rise of another harmful combat sport is distressing.
Runit and its counterparts have been labelled dumb. That hits the mark.
★★★
On to a genuine sport and more on the "misuse" of words.
A "despairing cricket tragic" in an email let loose a bouncer (bumper in older parlance) on "nab" as used by ODT sports journalists and others for "take", as in "he came on to bowl and nabbed Smith's wicket".
"Nab only means to catch a thief or to make a theft.
"Why can't they simply use 'take/took' or use precise language such as 'bowled' or 'had Smith stumped' or 'had Smith caught in the gully'?"
From the Collins Dictionary, the first two meanings, "to arrest" and "to catch (someone) in wrongdoing", agree. The third, "to seize suddenly; snatch", perhaps provides a little wriggle room.
The dictionary's list of examples includes two from football, goals being nabbed rather than scored.
This is another example of words changing meaning and language losing precision. Nab has swung a long way from its 16th to 17th century use as thieves' slang.
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