The Haka

Different sports have their own peculiarities and rituals. American football players douse their coach with a cooler full of Gatorade. Ice hockey fans throw their head gear onto the ice when a home player scores a hat trick. New Zealand international rugby teams popularly known as "All Blacks" perform the Haka, a form of Maori traditional dance to gee themselves up and to intimidate opponents before the start of a game. All this 10 feet from the opponents faces, who are expected to watch the ritual.

While I have never been able to get into rugby (and I used to watch Bass fishing on ESPN in college), the Haka has always fascinated me. There have been instances where the opposing teams have tried to ignore the Haka and the All Blacks have gone on to beat them by a higher than expected score. So ignore the Haka (in the following Addidas Ad) at your own peril: