Who said talking about sports is pointless?

Thirty years ago, the quickest means of speaking to someone was via the use of a telephone, with perhaps a letter being the best personalised way to contact someone across the globe.

The status quo today is extremely different. The Internet (with that capital “I” rightly letting us know how important it is) has changed life as we know it. This is because it has changed the way we communicate with one another. Cave drawings represented the peak of human communication during the days of the Khoisan, and language, plus the medium to transmit the “message”, has evolved at a frantic pace since then.

An example: The magazine I work on features a 70/30 split between English and Afrikaans. Now, since my Afrikaans is at the standard of a drunken bandicoot, we use a translator to ensure that all the Afrikaans content is above board and reads as it should. We have been using the same translator throughout the rugby season, since she does a great job. Where is she based at the moment? The answer: Canada.

In the past, I would have had to find someone else to help out my Anglo-dependent lexicon. Thanks to the Internet, not any more. Granted, there is a massive time difference of something between 6-8 hours, but on the bright side I don’t feel bad sending her work towards the end of my work day, since I imagine Suzan smashing a cup of coffee to start her day at the same time.

Before the Internet became the source of instant information gratification, we relied on TV and the printed press to supply us with the “expert” opinions on the weekend’s up-and-coming sporting action. Though the experts on the tube and in the paper are still very much out there, the rise of the online revolution has seen the creation of a new class of sporting fan: the blogger.

Yes, there are those reputable websites that claim to have the very best in sports writing on the web. However, I’ve recently got involved with a start-up website in the US that claims the exact same thing, and do you know how they found their writers? By simply trawling the Internet for quality writing on free-to-post websites such as the BBC’s 606 (some very amusing stuff there), and the place where I posted for practise, BleacherReport.com.

This very content that you are reading now is part of the blogging universe. Sports Leader, as an example, is a forum where those who post (“us”) get to interact with you (“the sports fan”). My previous post on SL saw me make a rather dodgy prediction about the results of the two Absa Currie Cup semi-finals. Since I got it very wrong, someone posted in the comments section that he believed I knew nada about what I was talking about.

Though everyone hates criticism, today’s modern journalist or reputed sports pundit should play an active role in encouraging discussion on the topic at hand, even if they don’t like what is being said. In the past, the sporting masses can be compared to a person with no mouth but only eyes and ears to absorb everything that is thrown their way. No longer is this the case with the modern sports fan not having to listen to a commentator they hate, read a columnist they don’t like or watch a TV programme they think was sabotaged from the start. Freedom of choice is the new wave of sporting discussion and the fans are getting involved. If you go to Keo.co.za, cricinfo.com or rugby365.com, debate is alive and kicking. The article below this one on the tabs menu is a reader blog. Power to the people!

The only downside (if it is seen that way) is that some rather retarded comments and some absolutely kak writing is also now available for our consumption. But hey, it is a necessary price to pay to ensure that sports fans around the world are guaranteed their right to freedom of expression and the opportunity to debate their favourite past times. Besides, if a stupid comment is made, their usually is a backlash of epic cyber proportions comparable to Millwall-West Ham chain-whipping fight outside Upton Park on a cup-clash-sodden-Tuesday.

It’s a whole new ball game out there. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, because if you are player-hating right now, you are reading the wrong stuff. The Internet is the land of sporting opportunity and with the online format now even moving into the realm of broadcasting previously reserved for TV, with England’s World Cup qualifier against the Ukraine being the first match that England fans could only watch on the Internet, the game of sports broadcasting and sports journalism is changing.

If you are a good writer, and have some wit about you when marketing yourself and reaching the people you want to reach, you don’t have to go to university and get a journalism degree. Often it’s just window dressing anyway (but a whole lot of fun finding those drapes).

What you do need is a laptop that purrs like a feline hopped up on catnip, some quick fingers and some inspiration which is everywhere. Walking down the road and you see a man eat a roll? Bam: Schalk Burger eating Fourie du Preez alive comes to mind (credit to him for getting up and having a smile on his face … definitely will not fekk with FDP if he gets jolly by being nailed by a battering ram).

Go forth. Read. Argue. Write and reply. If I can do it, anyone can (and does). And you never know … if you do it right, you can make some dosh out of it. And who said talking about sport was pointless?