You couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. We drove into Alex and met up with the Mkhonto Eleven under-15 soccer team. Kitted out in black and white and their new boots (sponsored by Friends of Alex), they were happy, excited, and chirpy … yet disciplined, on time and grateful for the taxi that […]
Sport
Posted inSport
Blue Bulls batter Chiefs
Jacob Zuma — in the finest tradition of South African presidents confirming the support of a nation for the country’s top athletes — wished the players well and assured them that they had their countrymen behind them. Zuma magic, like that of former president’s Mandela and Mbeki before him, worked wonders at what had been […]
Posted inSport
How dare India allow Lalit Modi to travel to SA?
The Mail & Guardian on Sunday reported that the chairperson and commissioner of the IPL, Lalit Modi, had broken bail conditions and was involved in a number of troubling legal confrontations upon his return to India. My question therefore is how dare they have allowed him to travel to South Africa in the first place? […]
Posted inMedia, Sport
Here’s to a great champion who deserves more fans
He doesn’t get a lot of publicity. When he wins, again and again, it often doesn’t make the papers. As an athlete, he ranks right up there with the best in the world. He’s earned over R7,7-million, but chances are that many of you can’t recall his name. “Let’s hope,” Charl Pretorius wrote recently, “there […]
Posted inLifestyle, Sport
The cost of scoring in 2010
When millions of football fans descend on South Africa in mid-2010, it’s not just the country’s tourism industry that will be welcoming them with open arms. Never slow to miss a trick, practitioners of the world’s oldest profession will be bracing themselves for the inevitable flurry of scoring that goes with an event like the […]
Posted inSport
Fun and games for charity
Spain recently played host to a most wonderful charity sporting initiative: two teams consisting of Spanish sport heroes and captained by Iker Casillas, the national football team goalie, and Rafa Nadal, tennis hero and kryptonite to Roger Federer’s Superman. The teams participated in a number of different events including karting, indoor football and the like […]
Posted inSport
Steyn and Duminy, together in perfect harmony
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. — John F Kennedy When the walls of apartheid came crashing down in 1994 many racists predicted the end of South African sporting dominance or competitiveness in rugby and cricket, while football, which they perceived to […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics, Sport
Are we good enough for 2010?
OF COURSE, this question has been asked hundreds, if not thousands, of times. It’s been asked about our national soccer team Bafana Bafana and the answer is clearly “No!” It’s been asked of our stadiums and the answer seems to “Yes, if …”. It’s been asked of our transport “systems”, and the answer is “Possibly”. […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
Devious Shikota is merely Mbeki 2.0
Come 2009 elections, Shikota won’t be getting my vote. While their pro-constitutional rhetoric is encouraging, it’s also hard to believe. Where was Lekota’s commitment to the constitution when he was in Mbeki’s cabinet? He seemed quite happy to toe the party line when it came to Aids, Zimbabwe and other issues. It’s tempting to think […]
Posted inSport
The race that really does stop a nation
There aren’t too many other sporting events in the world that merit a public holiday. The residents of New South Wales had to turn up to work today, but office workers across the land are unlikely to be productive on the first Tuesday in November — the day when dressing up, having a flutter and […]
Posted inSport
Scrapping the Springbok emblem? “Hier kom die Blomme”
It is fairly well known that most swimmer athletes prefer to wear Speedo, not because its gossamer lightness is any different to other swimsuits. It is the deep, psychological association of great success with the brand. The Speedo company can proudly and honestly brag that 70% of swimming medals were won by athletes wearing its […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
Sorry Naas, Springbok emblem goes far deeper than that
Francis Fukuyama, professor of international political economy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, in an article entitled “The damage to Brand USA needs urgent repair”, submits that the damage to the American brand will be far more costly to the United States than the implosion of its investment banks. www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4937563.ece “After 9/11 […]