Blue Bulls vs Canterbury Crusaders

For the first 35 minutes, and the last 10 minutes; The Crusaders absolutely dominated The Bulls. They forced the Bulls to make mistakes, dominated possession and it was mostly one way traffic. In those 45 minutes, the visitors scored most of their 30 points, to the hosts' 6.

A final push from the Bulls before half time, resulted in a penalty score, narrowed the half time deficit. After the break they came back a team possessed, scoring 20 unanswered points. For the 30 minutes, they were unstoppable; but then things went wrong as they went back to losing possession, and making stupid mistakes. But despite the last desperate moves, more than a couple of minutes past the final horn, the Crusaders still came 2 points short.

Actually, it should have been a comfortable victory for The Crusaders. But the reliable Dan Carter missed 3 kicks, 2 fairly easy ones too. And that was the difference.

Wingsuit Flying Video - Wow

Bungee jumping is a rush, hang gliding is rather sedate - but wingsuit flying combines the two to something insane; especially in the hands of Jeb Corliss. This YouTube video is simply insane. I want to try it, but I think it is far from being commercialised (and hence, safe and accessible).

FWC 2010: Uruguay v Ghana

As Gyan stepped to take the penalty on the last minute of extra time, the ground was in ruptures; willing for him to convert, and "make history". It was a well deserved place to be in - except for the first 20 odd minutes, where Uruguay definitely had control; Ghana played really well, and looked the better team. They seemed to be running harder, trying harder, and playing better.

It would have been well deserved - Ghana were the best African team this year. And it's not only because they got to the quarter finals. They played better than the Nigerians and Cameroonians - and they handled the loss of their star player better than Ivory Coast. They did scrape by in the group stages, but played each match to win.

Sadly it was not to be - and despite the consolation from his team mates; I think everyone knew it was not going to be Ghana's night after his miss. Gyan was devastated after the penalty shootout, so much that he was almost carried off the field by his teammates afterwards. And the Uruguaians carrying Suaraz (who deliberately handled the ball to stop a certain goal) in celebrations after the penalty shootout rubbed salt into the wounds of the near 80 000 Ghanaian supporters (there were about 85 000 people in the ground, and except for a small section of Uruguay supporters, everyone else spotted red, black and yellow).

The world cup in South Africa, has been a great success in most respects. Every one of the visitors I have spoken to have loved their experiences. A Canadian family I met on the bus to the stadium was gushing about how much they have enjoyed their travels in South Africa; a traveller from, I think Malta (or one of the mediteranean Island countries) was looking forward to his first game drive in the Kruger on Sunday while the Australians on the bus to Sandton were very complimentary about the service they had recieved in their hotels and guesthouses (although they thought the Metrobus system could have been done better in terms of ticketing).

And the fans, have been very colourful - as per the photo below. I had great seats yesterday, 8 rows (actually 6 since, the first 2 were blocked out) from the corner flag - allowing me to get some really cool pictures of the game.

FWC 2010: Argentina v Mexico

Sunday's match was the most competetive and most exciting match I have attended at the World Cup so far. This time, I went with a friend and his family using the park and ride at Gold Reef (allowing us to see Germany's thrashing of England) - though I think this was a lot less effecient when compared to the bus system I used for the previous game.

One of the great things about the World Cup, is the array of colourful fans that attend the event. There are off course the supporter clubs, this one being from Argentina, but there are also the stunning sombreros etc. Certain footbal traditions such as the toilet paper rolls being thrown on to the field have also been transported to South Africa - although they were cleaned up pretty quickly. So it is not only the export of the vuvuzela to the wider world - but also the import of various fan regalia.






Drums and celebration using drums are nothing new in football, and the Argentians were in high spirits after the game (and apparently it carried on inside!). Though I think the medley of drums and vuvuzelas at the Ghana v Serbia game was a lot more interesting!



Maradona has been criticised a lot, although he has succeeded well so far. But no one can really criticise his involvement at training. In the warm up before the game, he was very much involved in training with the players - instead of standing back and barking instructions. Maybe that is one of the factors behind his success?





Tevez's first goal was clearly offside from where I was perched - but that didn't stop any celebrations from the Argentians around me once the goal was given by the referee - although they did seem to accept it was offside once it was inadvertantly shown on the big screen; leading to the players' protests. But this also showed how easy it would be to deploy television replays as part of the game in large tournaments. The entire process took less than a minute; and big screens ensured that it was fair and easy for every one to judge.


My side of the pitch featured 3 goals, and I did manage to capture Higuain catching the stray pass from Osorio, on his way to the goals.

There are not that many games left in this world cup, and my last live game is tomorrow, where I hope the Ghanaians finally beat the Uruguayans.

South Africans Supporting African Teams

While waiting for the game to start, C, the diplomat, had asked a very interesting question - are South Africans genuinely supporting African teams like Nigeria, Ghana etc. or is it a hype made up by the media? It is a very pertinent question - South Africans of late have had a history of xenophobia, and some of our fellow African brothers have less than stellar reputation (Nigerians anyone?).

In some respect, support for Ivory Coast because of Drogba, or supporting Cameroon because of Eto'o is not surprising - but would we support Ghana without Essien, and what about Algeria?

I was at the FIFA Fan Park at Mary Fitzgerald square in Newtown last night for the screening of the USA v Ghana match; and I found that there is genuine support for the Ghanaians. It did help that they played great football - but the true nature of support can be easily ascertained when fans heckle the referee for legitimate calls going against "your" team, show despair at the opposition's goals etc.

Last night was a great game, and yes, South Africans are behind Ghana. And I am looking forward to their match against Uruguay on Friday night.

FWC 2010: Brazil v Côte d'Ivoire

Soccer City is an amazing stadium - not only beautiful at night, but also really good organisation (even with the inevitable disorganised South African queues at the security check points). Very spacious, it really defines what sport stadiums should be like! And with a near full house (over 95% attendance), it was an absolutely amazing atmosphere.



The Brazilians truly dress up for the occasion, and while Zakumi draped in a Brazilian flag was a stuffed doll, there were people dressed in various animal costumes, a fan dressed as a Mexican wrestler cum super-hero and a whole lot more. And there were plenty of replica world cup trophies; leaving no doubt on the expectations that the fans have of their team.



The game itself was high scoring, and with the red card for Kaka, featured a bit of everything. But the Ivorians were mostly outclassed - not in their ability to stand up to the Brazilians, but in two crucial areas: bad defending (and communication at defence) and even worse passing. Countless opportunities were lost where the pass was just too strong, and the striker or wing just not being able to get to it in time. There was also some rather bad decision making in terms of passing to the wrong player or not striking or passing the ball when there seemed to be an opportunity.





This is the only Category 1 ticket I bought for my games, and had an amazing view of the game; which also allowed to take some nice pics. I really enjoyed the Soccer City experience, and look forward to my next two matches there.

FWC 2010: Cameroon v Denmark

Ultimately, this ended up being a fairly depressing night for African football, as one of the best African teams on paper, became the first team to crash out, without scoring a point. It had started so well, but Cameroon fluffed so many chances, they trully did not deserve to win.

It was a great game from the Danish perspective, and the Danish fans were a great bunch (I was surrounded by them). They played better football overall, and had some very fast counter attacks.

Loftus, was once more, not full - and yet again it seems mostly to be the hospitality sections. Maybe Loftus, being the stronghold of the Bulls, just has too many hospitality suites and not enough standard seats; but empty seats are not good signs regardless.

Supporter Clubs

One of the impressive aspects of the FWC, is the "Supporter Clubs". The temporary dimplomat from Saturday explained, that there are a number of supporter clubs in Europe, especially Germany, who go round the world watching football matches. The supporter clubs rank up "points" on the games they show their banners at - although he was unsure of what the points entailed.

Grosblie, is one of those prominent clubs - but there are a lot more - and they certainly lend an interesting dimension to the experience.

FIFA Fan Park

I decided to go watch the Spain v Switzerland match at one of the FIFA Fan parks; and had initially decided on Innesfree Park in Sandton. However, the parking arrangements for the fan park is convoluted, and not exactly welcoming - so decided to head to the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown instead; where parking is literally round the corner.

The Fan parks are well set up, with plenty of food and beverage stalls; as well as various other smaller stalls selling clothing, DVDs (bliksem DVD is an awesome concept), crafts etc. The atmosphere was festive, and despite the bitter cold; people were thoroughly enjoying themselves. There was also some DJs and dancing during the half time break on the stage.

FWC 2010: Serbia v Ghana

Match 8, Serbia v Ghana, is the first of my 5 FIFA World Cup Games, and took place at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. One of the standout achievements of the World Cup so far, has been the organisation - which has run almost like clockwork. And it was evident at Loftus. I used the park and walk and not only was it easy to find and navigate to; but getting out was a comparative breeze. From getting into the car, to reaching home (about 35 Km away), it took just over an hour - and about 30 minutes of that was in the parking lot. As a comparison, it took over an hour, just to get out of the parking lot at Carnival City! Even then, suggestions can be made - like starting to fill the parking lot from the front; so first arrivals get better spots.

The game was rowdy - as can be expected. Not only was there the buzzing vuvuzelas, but also a range of drums and trumpets - mostly from the Ghanaian supporters, who easily outnumbered the Serbian supporters. And the team showed appreciation - not only greeting the fans after the match around the stadium; but also before the beginning of the match.

Ghana played the better football throughout the match - they seemed to be a lot faster, a lot more skilled and more hungrier to win. That said, this only seemed to apply to the 80% of the pitch - the moment they came to the 20% near the Serbian goalpost, their passing strayed, their shots were wide and the headers were off mark. That said, Ghana was quite unlucky(or Serbia was very lucky) in having two attempts bouncing off the goalposts. The score of 1-0 reflected correctly that the better side was Ghana, but while both sides had plenty of chances, neither actually got to scoring in the field of play.

The stadium was surprisingly not full although most of the free seats seemed to belong to boxes; which probably means that there was a huge number of hospitality seats that were not sold. I wonder if FIFA does fireside sales to drive up attendance for poorly sold matches. It was a great experience, and am looking forward to my next match on Saturday, Cameroon v Denmark, also at Loftus.

Super 14 Final

Rugby in Soweto - not as novel as last week, but still an incredible experience. One of our key security suppliers invited a colleague and myself to the final, and it was an incredible experience.

It was not only the setting - but the atmosphere outside the ground was also quite impressive. The locals really took it to heart, and well, tried to make a few bucks also by offering "secure parking"; often with signs in Afrikaans to help, such as the offer of "koue biere vir Blou Bulle".

Orland Stadium is actually very impressive, with excellent view of the field. The "big screens" are rather small, but apart from that, it is an excellent stadium for sport watching; with an incredible atmosphere. And the vuvuzelas, really trumpeted; mostly blown by the rugby supporters themselves; as opposed to being blown by locals. Given this, I think it is highly hypocritical for rugby authorities to ban vuvuzelas from their stadiums!

The game itself, while good rugby, was marred by the Stormers consistently giving away penalties, within kickable distance from the posts. That more than anything else gave the Bulls the victory. And while it can be debated whether the Stormers were denied a try; Bulls did, overall, play a better game.

But the standout memory of the afternoon occurred on the way to the game. About a KM away, while waiting in traffic, one of the guys needed to go to take a leak. So he and his friend jumped out, and went to the toilet at one of the houses on the side. Later, he commented, any other suburb in predominately white communities, this would be unheard off - even if it was in the neighborhood of Loftus or Newlands! And when they came back, a French girl, also jumped in. She was a reporter for a French radio station, and spent some time interviewing us of what we thought of the event and our experiences so far. Just before the stadium, she jumped out, probably to interview more people!

Bulls vs The Hurricanes

Went to see the Bulls vs The Hurricanes, courtesy of one of the vendors I deal with at work (in their shared box). I had always heard of the great atmosphere in Loftus; and even though it wasn't full house; it was a very supportive crowd. The rugby itself was rather uninspiring for most of the game - with a few flashes of individual brilliance here and there. It wasn't a great game to be honest; and the Bulls struggled a lot with basic errors throughout the game.

What was really interesting was the allowance of letting the crowd onto the field after the game (and ceremonial duties were concluded). Small games of touch rugby started all over the ground, and this is perhaps one of the reasons the Bulls have such a fanatical home support. After about 20 - 30 minutes, the security staff slowly cleared the field; and the stadium slowly emptied.

Sharkcage

My first visit to the Shark cage in Durban (ABSA Stadium, formerly known as Kingspark) was a bit underwhelming. The rugby was rather patchy, with handling errors galore. And despite the limited choices in getting a ticket, the stadium was not at all full ... and the atmosphere could not be compared to a full Newlands for example.

It is however very easy to see how the stadium can be overwhelming - the stands are very steep and even down a few rows, there is a feeling of being in the spotlight, surrounded by people - I wonder how the players feel.

Hopefully, next time I go there, the stadium will be full, and the game will be a lot better.

Oh, the new stadium for 2010 next door is quite stunning!

Back on the court

I had not played badminton since I left Cape Town, and it was great to play once again. Yesterday, I went to the Wanderers Club (next to the cricket staidum), and they have nice facilities and the people are quite friendly. It is quite far for me though - about 25 Km drive in each direction ... so need to see if I can find an alternate venue.

Sport and Race

It finally had to happen - an in form "player of colour (POC)" (the official term from the department of sports, honest) is selected ahead of another in form player of colour, one is upset and not being selected, the other is upset in being selected as a quota player, and both decide not to accept selection!

The problem with quotas, especially when they are set in stone, is that they become stupidly rigid. I remember, when I was part of the Western Province Badminton Association executive, we had an interesting problem in selecting a junior team - the requirement was that each team needed to have 2 POCs (one boy, one girl). There were two junior teams, and 3 girls who would be classified as POCs. But, all three girls were selected, on merit, to the A team, and there were no girls, who could be part of the B team, and were classified as a POC. I don't remember how it was resolved - but this is a similar situation.

The fact is, Langeveld is good enough to be part of the Proteas. And so in Nel. And on Zondeki's (the replacement) recent form in the domestic series - he should also be there on merit - but he will always be regarded as the quota player. That is sad, and just plain wrong.

Cricket SA could have handled this a lot better - and more importantly, could have picked a 15 man squad instead of a 14 man squad.

Cycling and Ice Skating

Yesterday (Sunday) a friend from work and I decided to go to the Ice Rink in Nuremberg. Well it was his idea actually, and I sort of tagged along ... my one and only previous encounter with a Ice Rink was hardly pleasant ... New York Central Park, about 20 US dollars and not much fun.

My friend, being Dutch, suggested that we cycle to the Ice Rink if the weather was good. After all, it was only 20 odd KM away, and he had recently acquired a GPS system so we should not get lost!

Cycling in Germany is interesting - and certainly more pleasurable than in South Africa. Since so many people cycle, the drivers have more respect for cyclists. Furthermore, most roads have dedicated cycle lanes, making it a lot safer and easier. Given that the areas around Nuremberg and Erlangen is generally flat, cycling is actually quite easy going. So apart from a few mishaps on the way back at night (when my friend, somehow managed to stray off the cycle track one or two times into the garden path next to it), it was generally an easy going experience.

As for the skating, it was certainly a better experience than my last time. I could actually walk around on skates on the ice - but not really skate. Oh well, some other time probably.

And after 47 Km of cycling, a KM or so of walking and the little skating, I was dead tired, and managed to fall asleep quite early too! I miss cycling ...

A Really Bad weekend for English Sport

After thrashing the English 36-0, their rugby team seemed to grow a spine, and led a truly remarkable recovery: beating the Aussies and then the French in the Semi Finals. And that brought upon the predictable hysteria. The already high final ticket prices (they were 700 Euros for the cheapest seat to about 2000 Euros for the really good seats at the start of the tournament) exploded, and CNN reported people paid over 8000 Euros for a ticket!

I met up with Lee who was guiding some South Africans on a VW Touareg experience through Germany, at an Irish Pub in Nuremberg, which had a whole lot of English, a few South Africans and some (confused) Germans. The atmosphere was electric, with the English singing all the way, but the game, while remaining tight, but out of their reach.

It was hardly a brilliant game, but it was an epic contest. And, it seems that 15 is the magic number for South Africa and Rugby World Cups.

Throughout the week, the British press had been talking up the weekend double: winning the Rugby World Cup followed by Lewis Hamilton winning the Formula 1 WDC. Hamilton, more or less shot himself in the foot at the start, when all his Schumaresque luck, seemed to have deserted him (although it can be argued that luck deserted him in the last race). His attempt at regaining the position he lost to Alonso at the start forced him off the track (in previous races, it was usually him forcing people off the track), leaving him at the lower end of the points paying positions. Later, a gear problem, threw him down to last place. Mika Hakinen (who was attending the race) must have been reminded of the similar incident he had in 1999, in a McLaren, in Brazil. To Lewis' credit, he fought back very well, eventually finishing in 7th place. But Kimi, who went from 3rd in the WDC to winner, drove a flawless race, and the Ferraris imparted the ultimate humiliation to Hamilton - lapping him halfway through the race. The McLarens were no match for the Ferraris, finishing over 30 seconds behind - but after such a scandal filled season, it is great the a McLaren driver did not win the WDC.

So it is great to be a South African, a Bok supporter, a Tifosi, and overall not English. To show how bad things really are - they lost 2-1 to Russia mid week, which means that there is a very real chance that they might not even qualify for Euro 2008 At least they won the cricket in Sri Lanka (but then they were expected to lose ... maybe that's their magic formula).

Sport on TV

As a concept, sport is pretty simple: a competition to determine who (or which group of people) are best at a certain task, usually associated with keeping fit (well my definition anyway). When it becomes complicated, is when people are willing to pay to watch other play sport, because then sport is no longer just a competition, but it is also entertainment. Big name sports draw money to the game, because there are a lot of people who want to watch those games, because the games are a social event, entertainment event etc.

In the past few months, there has been a quite storm developing in Cricket - players are starting to complain that they are playing too much - that they will not be able to perform on their best of their abilities all the time, because it will be mentally and physically challenging. Off course administrators see it differently, as they see whinging millionaires who want to work less for more and them missing out on the goldmine that is presented by the cricket watching billion plus viewers.

What neither side is looking at however is the spectators themselves - the very people that pay to watch the game. Right now there are two international series - West Indies vs India and England vs Sri Lanka, and because of the time differences, it is possible to watch televised cricket for about 18 hours a day! During the official cricket season, it is possible to watch televised cricket for the full 24 hours. The question becomes - who is watching?

It's not cricket only after all. There is football from the World Cup, there is motor racing, there is rugby, and a few other major televised sports. But people have to work, go to school, go socialise outside watching sports. Viewer number will drop, not because people are not interested, but because there is too much for too little time. Very soon, it will be the highlights shows that will draw the crowds and not the events themselves.

So, is there too much cricket right now? Personally yes - because it is coming to the point that, at most times, I don't bother other than just looking at the overall results and reading the match (or day) reports. I do not need to be entertained for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year ... then it will no longer be entertainment.

Sport and Development

Over the weekend, the UCT Badminton Club hosted the inaugural UCT Schools Challenge, a schools only badminton competition played in a cup format. I am quite proud of the turnout considering it was my pet project, and 66 boys and girls participated from about 10 different schools. It is my pet project, and like the UCT Open, I hope that it becomes an annual event.

Badminton was once a very popular sport at UCT, and during the bad old days of apartheid in the 70's, UCT was once the strongest clubs in the country featuring a number of South African players. In fact, the UCT Sports Team of the Year trophy is called the Doug Butterworth Trophy after a past chairperson of both the UCT Badminton club and the WP Badminton Association. But being a white dominated sport in the past has meant that the sport is in dire need of "transformation" in some parts of the country. Furthermore, because it is not a professional sport in South Africa, there is very little money in the sport. This is despite the fact that it is also an Olympic sport, but then look at swimming and sponsorship and it is easy to see that money only flows to Cricket, Rugby and Soccer.

Regardless of these hindrances, badminton is a huge sport in Oceanview, a predominantly coloured community in the Cape Flats. And there are two very good reasons for this. First and foremost is Dorian James, currently one of the top four South African players (and off course a two time winner of the UCT Open ;)). His rise to the top (and also his brother Enrico) has meant that the community has something to celebrate. Secondly is the involvement of Chris James and Francois Wessels in the development of the sport in the community, pushing it in to the schools. This has resulted in even more results with virtually the entire South African U19 squad coming from Oceanview.

It is the last fact that has really inspired other kids - to see that their friends have come to the level that they are traveling around the country and overseas. In the Schools Challenge, the largest percentage of the kids were from Oceanview, and they had teams in both the girls and boys semi-finals, with one of the boys teams loosing the final is a very close deciding match and one of the girls teams winning the finals. It is in them, that the results of development can really be seen, and ultimately measured.

Black Saturday of South African Sport

If you haven't heard; Bafana Bafana are out of World Cup 2006. So, even though we are hosting 2010; we won't be playing in 2006. Bafana Bafana have had a very poor run lately, they lost in the COSAFA cup semis, they lost 4-1 to Iceland and then they lost 3-1 to Burkina-Faso. Even worse is the chance that Bafana Bafana could still not qualify for the Africa cup of Nations (also in 2006). On the brighter side, the under 23s did thrash Uganda 4-1 - the 2^nd goal (from Lewis IIRC) was an amazing display of teamwork and good finishing ... maybe that's the team we should have sent to Burkina-Faso.

Also, we lost the Tri-Nations on Saturday when the All Blacks thrashed the Wallabies. For the first 20 minutes in the second half, South Africa had hope when the Aussies fought back from 20-0 to 20-19; but then a certain sub named Dunning gave away 9 points in less than 5 minutes; and after that it was all downhill. But even though we lost; this was probably the best Tri-Nations performance from the Springboks.

Oh, it was also Sarai's b'day party on Saturday ... the aftermath of alcohol consumption is best left untold.