It was one of those moments. The British would say: “Ah, bless.” In South Africa, that translates to: “Ag shame.” Reading about the welcome the German women’s soccer team received in Frankfurt on Tuesday gave me a lump in the throat and a few small tears down my cheek. They were being celebrated for having […]
Sport
Posted inSport
It’s official: 2010 won’t exist
There has been much talk lately of trademarks in light of 2010. My view is that Fifa has gone slightly bonkers on the whole subject … a year is, after all, just a year. But yet virtually every single iteration of the year has been trademarked and protected by phalanxes of lawyers (is that the […]
Posted inSport
Centre stage
For quite some time now, debate has ebbed and flowed over the value of Francois Steyn to the Bok cause and the position best suited to maximising this value. There is no question that he can add value — young, big, fast, precocious, he seems to have it all.
Posted inLifestyle, Sport
Humour-writing instruction — part one
The second-most-popular question I get asked is: “When you sit down to write, are you consciously trying to be funny?” (The most popular is: “Why do you keep embarrassing yourself writing rubbish on a platform such as Thought Leader when you could be using it to write something meaningful that adds something to public debate? […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Sport
No sporting chance
South Africa’s newly licensed pay-TV operators are going to find themselves playing catch-up in the sporting arena, because MultiChoice has all but taken them out of the game. Sport equals big money and with three pay-TV broadcasters set to enter the market, the stakes are going to get much higher. Most pay-TV players or analysts […]
Posted inSport
Perfection. The story of one set of tennis
I have never been one for team sports. I prefer the lack of ambiguity associated with individual sports. Mediocre players can still make a living by hanging on to the coat-tails of superior teammates. I feel I must mention Michael Vaughn at this point. Enough said. I love the idea of two competitors locked in […]
Posted inSport
A tale of two captains
“Pakistan, five runs short of World Cup glory; Sharma to ul-Haq — spoons it over the wicketkeeper’s head … SREESANTH TAKES THE CATCH AND INDIA ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS!” Or something like that. A fantastic end to a classic final that brought down the curtains on the Twenty20 World Championship 2007. South Africa and cricket […]
Posted inSport
McLaren may yet be banned, warns Mosley
F1’s espionage saga involving McLaren may not yet be over, Max Mosley has warned. Fearing infection by Ferrari secrets, the FIA president said inspectors will enter the team’s working factory before its 2008 car is allowed to race. “They could be banned for 2008,” he clarified to the Daily Mirror. “If there is serious evidence […]
Posted inSport
Give ’em the finger, Steyn!
My faith is restored. Francois Steyn’s citing for biting has been thrown out by the IRB. Hell, yeah. I mean, the whole thing was a farce to begin with. Surely he could not have been that stupid. It’s not like he was risking just the World Cup, no matter how huge that is; he would […]
Posted inSport
The intriguing Mourinho is gone
Jose Mourinho is gone — at least from Chelsea football club. But what an impression he left. The figure of the histrionic, hirsute and handsome man in a grey Armani coat remains etched on our minds. Let’s get this straight from the outset, I support Arsenal. His leaving is, in a way, liberating; those who […]
Posted inBusiness, Sport
Sepp Blatter is wearing no clothes
I hate to be the one to say that the emperor is not wearing any clothes … but, the emperor is not wearing any clothes. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa has become overhyped to the point where ordinary South Africans are being duped and are headed for financial disaster. Let me say, though, […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
Why is cricket still a white preserve?
If anyone asks you what you think of our national cricket team, reply with Gandhi’s famous words about Western civilisation: it would be a very good idea. Fifteen years after this country re-entered world cricket after apartheid, its cricketers took the field against New Zealand the other day with precisely two black players out of […]