John MacDonald: Sometimes a ban isn't the answer

It would be very easy for me to say that the organisers of those ridiculous Run it Straight combat sport events have blood on their hands after the tragic death of 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite.  

And I would be saying that if Ryan had been involved in an official event. The thing is, he wasn’t.  

That’s not stopping other people from piling in though. There are experts saying today that we need to ban the whole thing. But I don’t think that’s realistic.  

Because for starters, banning officially organised events wouldn’t stop the likes of what happened in Palmerston North on Sunday when Ryan was hanging out with mates and when they decided to give it a go.  

So this thing’s gone nuts on social media. It involves two people running directly at each other and slamming into one another.  

The people behind it are touting it as the world’s fiercest combat sport, which is all about mirroring the extreme collisions you sometimes see happen during the likes of rugby and rugby league matches.  

You’re bound to have seen the pictures from a couple of official events held up north in the last couple of weeks.  

I’ve seen it reported that there might have been a couple of concussions and anyone who’s had a concussion will know that they’re not a walk in the park. 

I saw one of the organisers banging-on about having medical people on-hand and how all the competitors are checked before and afterwards. Nevertheless, there’s no way you’d get me involved. 

But what it all comes down to for me is those two words you hear trotted out quite often about all sorts of things: personal responsibility. Or personal choice.  

There was Ryan with his mates on a Sunday afternoon, and they thought they’d give Run it Straight a go – just for a laugh. 

Just like any other bunch of young guys, they’d seen the stuff on social media and would’ve seen the news coverage of the recent events held up north and decided to give it a go.  

A ban of any type wouldn’t stop that kind of thing happening. Tragically.   

But even though I think we’re dreaming if we think a ban is needed, there are a couple of things we could do.  

I agree with Stacey Mowbray from Headway —which is a concussion support organisation— who is saying that education could be key to trying to do something about this situation. She says parents need to sit down with their kids and talk to them about the dangers of all this.  

The other thing that I think we should be doing is to do what we can to take away some of the glamour around this so-called sport.  

For example, I think the likes of the Christchurch City Council should decline any requests to hold Run it Straight events at any of its facilities.  

That wouldn’t stop people like Ryan Satterthwaite and his mates giving it a go, but it would send a very clear message that Run it Straight doesn’t have the support of the local community.  

But I think that’s about as far as we can go.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talks. That'd be, do you know it would be.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
It would be very easy for me to say today
that the organizers of those ridiculous run straight combat sports
events have blood on their hands. Be very easy to
say after the tragic death of nineteen year old Ryan
sath of Waite. And you know, I would be saying
that if Ryan had been involved in an official event

(00:39):
a thing as he wasn't. So I can't go as
hard against the so called so called brains behind this
thing as I might like to. That's not stopping other
people from piling And though there are experts saying today
that we need to ban the whole thing, but I
don't think that's realistic because for starters, banning officially organized

(01:01):
events wouldn't stop the likes of what happened in Palmerston
North on Sunday when Ryan was hanging out with mates
and they thought, just for laugh they'd give it a go.
It doesn't sound unusually, It's what young guys do all
the time. So this thing's gone nuts on social media.

(01:21):
If you don't know about it, you maybe you've been
under a rock, but it involves two people running directly
at each other and slamming into one another, kind of
like the the collisions that sports have been trying to reduce, minimize,
or get rid of altogether. But this is intentional and

(01:43):
the people behind it, the muppets behind it. They touted
is the world's fiercest combat sport and so it's all
about mirroring the collisions you see in rugby and rugby
League AFL, all of those sports. And you're bound to
have seen the pictures from a couple of official events
held up North in the last couple of weeks, two
hundred thousand bucks on the line. I've seen it reported

(02:06):
that there might have been a couple of concussions. I've
seen some photos of people not looking too well after
taking part, and anyone who's had a concussion will know
that they are not a walk in the park. Hey, look,
I saw one of the organizers banging on on TV
about having medical people on hand and how all the
competitors are checked before and afterwards. Nevertheless, it is nutbar.

(02:27):
There's no way to get me involved. But even though
I think it's nutbar, and even though I will be
accusing the organizers of having blood on their hands if
someone dies during one of their official events. What this
all comes down to for me is well, two words,
two words you hear trotted out quite often about all
sorts of things personal responsibility or personal choice. And I

(02:54):
say that specifically because of what happened in this very
sad case up North. There was Ryan with his mates
on Sunday afternoon, thought that'd give it a go for
a laugh. Just like any other bunch of young guys
or any other young guys that'd seen this on social media,
they would have seen the news coverage of the events

(03:14):
held up North and thought we're good to go ab love.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Now.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
A ban on or a ban of any type wouldn't
stop that kind of thing happening tragically. That's that's the
fact of the matter. But even though I think we're dreaming,
if we think a band as needed or a ban
would be a good idea, I think there are a
couple of things we could do. I agree with Stacey
my Brave from Headway, which is a concussion support organization.

(03:42):
She's saying today that education could be key to try
and to do something about the situation. She she also
wants a ban which you know I'm not for don't
think we'll achieve anything. But she says parents need to
sit down with their kids and talk to them about
the dangers of all this. I agree with her that
would that would help. The other thing that I think

(04:04):
we should be doing too is to do what we
can to take away some of the glamour around the
so called sport, you know. For example, as an example locally,
I think the christ At City Council should be prepared
to decline any requests to hold run its trade events
at any of its facilities. Again, that wouldn't stop people
like Ryan Saithwaite and his mates from giving it a go,

(04:27):
but it would send a very clear message that run
it straight doesn't have the support of the local community.
And I think I'll mean not just to know what
you think, but I think that's as far as we
can go. Having said that, by the way, I wasn't
impressed with former Keibis Captain Richie Barnett when I heard
him talking to Mike this morning talk about minimizing what's happened.

(04:47):
He was saying. He was going on about base jumping
and horse riding and bike riding being more dangerous than
we don't ban those kinds of activities. Talk about missing
the point. Nevertheless, I'm not with the medical experts calling
for the powers to be to intervene and ban these
combat sports.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
For more from Cagbory Mornings with John wei Donald, listen
live to news talks at be Christchurch from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.