Let’s get a few things straight before you think of lynching me for this.

Firstly Sepp Blatter reminds me of Tony Soprano, he runs a very well organized crime family (true every now and again he needs to, figuratively, kill off a few people but which mob boss doesn’t?) , he makes masses of money and people around him are too shit scared to replace him.

Secondly I believe in abuse during sport. I like the aggression, the rivalry and the passion it promotes BUT, an enormously big BUT, (Kim Kardashians ears are burning) never ever should any form of abuse be racial. If my opponent is a **** then he is a ****, not a black, green, white or orange ****, the word **** should carry enough weight to be abusive. If comments are ever based on race either positive or negative in a sporting environment or not – THEY ARE GENERALIZATIONS, RACIST AND ARE UNNACCEPTABLE!

Good now let’s get on with my defense of Sepp . . .

The man runs an exceptional business, whether crooked or not, he consistently delivers to the football watching community on such a big shiny platter that it gets our mouths watering! He has made a few puzzling decisions on video reffing and goal line technology but if you look around the sporting world these decisions are not out of place in baseball, basketball and football.

So to his comments . . .

We live in a time where every sound bite is recorded and sent around the world through social media for every person on earth to comment on. With that amount of coverage at some point you will slip up, you don’t have to do it target=”_blank”>EVERYTIME like Mr Joe Biden, but you will at some point say something that can be interpreted horribly or taken out of context!

Sepp said ‘things get said on the field in the heat of the moment, as long as players shake hands after the final whistle its fine’. Do I believe he was referring to racism, not really, he was referring to the abuse players give each other in general he just happened to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.

He came after John Terry parading as a nazi in Chelsea blue ( target=”_blank”>see the video later), then Luis ‘cheating little bastard’ suarez being charged by the FA for racist comments against the epic and stoic Patrice Evra. Even Tigers former caddy getting pissed with all other caddies got caught for referring un-lovingly to Tigers black ass.

Before we could clarity Rio jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, as did the ever moronicly narcissistic Piers Morgan and somehow Tokyo Sexwale became the center piece of Blatters rebuttal . . .

The world was in an uproar calling for the head of the world’s biggest crime family’s (FIFA) head. The man who has focused on anti-racism campaigns trying ACTIVELY, not just talking about it in the press, to stamp out racism and at the first stumble of words we don’t even let the man explain himself, we merely jam a pointy white hat on his head and demand he step down.

 Fortunately he has more back bone than that and his response to calls for his resignation of ‘Why should I?”  are just Blatter old school classic.

The bottom line is racism has no place anywhere, let alone in something that is designed for the joy and entertainment of billions of people.  The man who is in control of football apologized profusely for his comments (even if they were taken out of context and then blown out of proportion) and that should be the end of it!

Players get on the pitch and shut your mouths (or twitter thumbs rather), coaches have enough shit keeping their jobs without the unnecessary distraction and let the officials get on with punishing those archaic idiots who believe its ok to taunt someone based on their race!

AS you may know by now, STM is not a big Proteas fan! So when we were invited into their locker-room for a chat and a drink we pleasantly DECLINED and sent someone who is a fan! Here is his story!

This is our man on the ground!

The Protea’s had a locker room function at Kingsmead where Graeme, Jacque and Boucher were on hand to answer questions first about the locker room experiences and then general questions. The function was interesting as it gave some insight about personal off the field antics as well as the opportunity to ask questions which one does not hear at your post match presentation. One particular interesting point was that Shoaib Akhter, with his flailing hair was agreed to be most revered fast bowler according to the three Protea’s batsmen. While it was with much laughter that Graeme Smith was apparently slower then Paul Harris in the beep fitness test.

The function also conveyed that the Protea’s future could indeed be rosy, much to the protest of Protea critics. So much so that there is reason to believe that this side could be the side to rid the chokers tag.

Its with Gary Kirsten at the Helm which should provide the team with a much needed cool mindset and experience in big match situations, having already coached the Indian side to a world cup victory. Allan Donald as the bowling coach is another great asset, having been the coach of New Zealand when they sunk the Proteas in the last world cup. Graeme Smith jokingly mentioned that Donald’s impact has already been felt with the amount bouncers being dished out at net practices.

Supersport presenter Derek Albert’s effectively pointed out the wealth of talent the Proteas have in mentioning that the Proteas,  at the time of the function,  held the number one spot for bowlers and batsmen in the world for both One Day Internationals and Test matches, an admirable accomplishment. The number one ODI Batsmen being Hashim Amla and Test Jacque Kallies while number one ODI bowler being Morne Morkel and Test bowler  Dale Steyn.

Do you think they are seeing who can eat more cheese burgers (this is an STM comment not from the author)

In assuming the Proteas as a chokers side it is easy to overlook the teams test accomplishments over the past 5 years, with a series win in 2008 in England the first since readmission and the series win in Australia also in 2008, the first since 1970. Tests have indeed been South Africa’s favourite format, its the shorter format which to date has been the stumbling block.

A newly acquired bow in the Proteas quiver as Kepler Wessels mentions is the threat Imran Tahir offers as an attacking spinner, then there are also the additional spinning options of both Robin Peterson and Johan Botha to back up the potent opening attack of Dale and Morne, which are arguably the most deadly opening attack South Africa has ever fielded.

Its with the cool headed and experienced coaching staff,  new founded spinning options, great talents in the worlds number one ranked batsmen and bowlers and potentially the greatest all rounder –  Kallis, nicknamed ‘God’, which should provide the ingredients to getting the team over the line in trophy tournaments.

Personally I feel the victor of the shorter format games is more of a lottery than that of the winner of a test match. This is because its often one individual performance which determines the result of a game. For instance in the world cup when New Zealand beat South Africa, many would have said that the Protea’s side would have won four out of every five games vs the Black Caps, but Jesse Ryder managed to fire on that day, while none of the Proteas batsmen could respond with a similar innings of equal calibre and hence on the day the Black Caps won.

If you are not sure who I’m referring to, it would be the abused and mocked newly unemployed Springbok Rugby coach Peter De Villiers (PDV)

Now if you cast your mind back quickly to 2007, the following is what we recall. The Springboks won the world cup and Jake White became a national hero FULL STOP

What we don’t remember are the Tri Nations disasters, the 65% win ratio, the mind numbingly boring game plan of kick chase, the arrogance etc and WE SHOULDN’T. Jake took the Boks to the world cup final and all but destroyed England both mentally and physically. He spent four years building what I have written to be the GREATEST Springbok side I have ever known and he exited a well-deserved hero!

Enter P DIVVY! Massive moustaches, first non-white coach of the Springboks, team already cemented in place, team captain and vice-captain in firm control and let’s not forget PDVs voice! He was on a hiding to nothing before he even walked in the door.

I sometimes think this country is rather ironic because if you listen to 90% of government ministers speaking English you will wet your pants but we look past this because it’s not their first language (rightly so), yet the first time P Divvy opened his mouth at a press conference we tore him apart like a pride of lions on a kill!

I’m not saying the PDV is a great rugby coach, I’m not saying I’m unhappy he’s gone but what I am saying is he was never really given the chance. In fact he had pretty much the same win / loss ratio as Jake White did (around 65%) for his career and the last hurdle he couldn’t clear because Bryce ‘ F@CKWIT’ Lawrence reffed us out of the world cup and him out of a job!

I don’t claim to know the inner workings of the Springbok camp. I don’t know what actually goes on and who is right or wrong but from what I have picked up through people who have met with PDV, know the senior players and really are close to the team and the management is the following.

PDV was very well liked and respected by the team and the players, there have been contradictory reports but from what I’ve heard they really did like the guy. The senior players made pretty much every decision even on team selection (this can kill any team). Gary Gold and Dick Muir were absolute shockers (Muir almost lost us the Lions tour when he decided to replace half the team in the Durban test – thankfully there was a blood injury and John Smit cam e back on to restore faith)

There is a simple saying in sport (it’s mostly used for football but it applies well here) that say “Players win & Coaches lose”. What it means is when the team wins like say the Lions tour series, the players are credited with being outstanding and winning. When the team loses a Tri Nations series the coach is not up to standard and must be fired. It’s a fickle world coaching a national team and everyone knows this so I’m not saying let’s give the man a ticker tape parade but I think if we are really fair we would have to say that he was never given the chance to be judged.

The facts are he inherited a winning team and he was credited with turning them into a losing one – you have to ask yourself if this is a fair assessment of the mans Springbok coaching career? I would like to think it’s a little harsh (and believe me I’m the first to want to lynch a losing coach). PDV has been mocked, laughed at and abused by every rugby playing nation on earth for four years and as South Africans we sit idly by and agree – I’m a little disappointed in us all!

Even ZAPRIO who I follow religiously got this one a  little wrong!

Probably the harshest thing of all is that all failures need a scapegoat and he is the easiest one of all – he checks every box and he is the easiest to laugh off and blame on.

You need to understand two things about my family, firstly we hate to lose! Plain and simple we battle to accept defeat in any form (in fact I’ve failed to write anything on the Boks because the anger wells up too fast and strong) and second we hate being ‘cheated’ out of a win even more!

This is the note I got from my brother who lives on an island in Thailand after the loss with the simple words as a subject I’m STILL ANGRY!

I thought it was a dream this morning, when I woke up, still hazy. This was not some ‘run of the mill,’ petty unfairness, the trickery of school children, a parking ticket, or a passing over; this was a travesty, a mythical deception, a monumental injustice – Brutus slaying Caesar, Jacob deceiving Esau, another Bush being elected to the White House; it was as if Dolos the Greek God of craftiness, treachery and guile was honing his skills at Wellington Regional Stadium in New Zealand yesterday, and his target was the Springboks; just because. I thought as much when I woke up; an impossible fairy tale.

It was the same as my dream in the reports, when I checked the Internet. Australia 11 South Africa 9 – a perverse reversed distress call.

Reality bites, sure, okay, we all know that – but NOT that HARD!

Denial turned to anger. It’s hard to swallow, losing to Australia anytime, never mind LIKE THAT, in a World Cup Quarter Final. This loss covers like an unrepentant fog; it lingers like a fart in a closed, hot, and stuck elevator; it hurts like a kick, with a lead boot, in the balls.

At half time it was Australia 8 South Africa 3, inconceivably if you watched, and had your eyes open. Australia’s points were scored with disdain to conventional rugby wisdom and logic; they were nothing less than miracle points, a try from a mistaken turn over, and a penalty for South African hands supposedly in at the breakdown; fate has nothing if not a sense of irony. It was a tough ask to come back from there. I never gave the Springboks much hope of answering. They did in the second half; they came out like fire and burnt their way back. It was ball in the hand charge the bulkhead type stuff. We won lineouts, and scrums, and attacked, and ran, and scrapped; no respite, no rest, no little grubber kicks to the corner, just wave upon wave of green and gold thunder, hearts on sleeves. This is the Australian team that recently won the Tri Nations. For most of the the second half, they looked exactly the children they are, standing like Goo Goo Dolls, throwing themselves wherever they could, punch drunk, distressed – almost imbecilic. No doubt, they were up against it, that was some of the finest, and most exciting rugby I have ever seen a Springbok team play. It ought to have been, it’s the most capped side in World Cup history. It’s a team full of warriors. It’s a team full of Legends. It showed. They did not let up, not for one second.

We went ahead, deservedly I thought: South Africa 9 Australia 8.

Yes…Now…Score. I’m not sure what kept us out after that, I’m not really sure what kept us out before that; a little knock, a fifty fifty not to hand, an illegal pilfer at the breakdown, a gust of wind, some dark magic sorcery, GOD?

Then ‘another dubious decision’, as a New Zealand writer put it, and a penalty. It’s almost the only time the Aussies touched the ball in the second half, that penalty. ‘Not like this,’ I said, when that little blond faced kid kicked it over. Australia 11 South Africa 9, and that’s how it ended, I don’t know how.

‘Sometimes shit happens that doesn’t make sense,’ said Edward, an Englishman and regular at the Green Man Pub in Phuket where I was watching, as the Aussies celebrated, ‘that’s sports.’ Not gravity defying shit, I wanted to say, but I couldn’t talk, I was too gutted. I can imagine what it must be like for the Springboks. They were there, on that field; they played what we all watched – an annihilation, and now they are coming home. Australia played rugby from minute 11 to minute 17, the rest of the time they just tried to get in the way; tenaciously, I’ll admit. They survived at the breakdown, like rats, cockroaches, and small infestations of some stinking thing; a disease…I go too far, sorry, the bile rose again. It’s just a game, but anyone who loves South Africa, and rugby knows it is more than that.

There is no moral victory over Australia. We lost, and that is it, better to accept, and move on. ‘Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve,’ my mother always says.

The Coach has resigned. It was his only move, the last World Cup, when the team won the whole thing, SARFU or SARU, whatever the paper shufflers are now called, fired him. Must be nice for the Coach to go out on the same day as John Smit, and Victor Matfield; that’s got to make one feel powerful. Man I’m going to miss those guys standing in the tunnel, they’re not irreplaceable, no one is, but it’s close.

Over the next couple of days, the papers might point some fingers, allude to some nonsense, talk about youth, and age, wonder about game plans, some of our own (ego’s, past players, those not a part of it) might take a couple of cheap shots at the players of this team.

Don’t you do it!

Don’t you forget!

In this team were the winners of one Rugby World Cup; two out of South Africa’s three Tri Nations Championships; and all three of South Africa’s Super Rugby Championships. This team has three times been named the IRB World Team of the year. There was nothing old, or tired, or derelict about this team. On the day they were ferocious, they were consistent, they were warriors, they were as good as I’ve ever seen them play,as good as I’ve ever seen any Springbok team play. They were almost perfect. Since early 2004 this team has taken South Africa to the top of world rugby, a place we always laid claim, but never before belonged. For me it’s the greatest rugby team South Africa has ever had. It’s possibly the greatest the rugby world has ever seen. It’s a team full of names we will all remember for a long time. I never thought there was honour in losing, today I think differently.

Hail to all of you, Springboks of Rugby World Cup 2011 from the Beautiful South. I can always find fault, but I can’t fault you. You were magnificent.

PS: I wish I could be there to greet this team when they get home. I hope those who can be there turn up. I think the team might like that. I think after all the good times, they deserve it.

Thanks Paul

If someone mentions women’s rugby I doubt many people would think of a field full of aesthetically pleasing females (in a conventional, socialised point of view of course). After all, it’s a game for strong, heavy, fit people who aren’t afraid to take a beating for 80 minutes at a time on a regular basis. The end result is you have people who look like Guthro Steenkamp, and in the case of women’s rugby, well they’re Guthro Steenkamp looking females.

Fortunately the lesson we’re posting isn’t given by the pros. It’s given by some good looking individuals who’d probably die on the rugby field (yes, death would be a real possibility). So it’s not an authentic lesson and it’s not going to teach you much about the game but it’s definitely a lesson in the beauty of the human form (in a conventional, socialised point of view of course).

Go you good thing.

Thanks Kyle

I love watching the Springboks, I don’t care who they are playing, I don’t care how long the losing streak, I just love watching the Boks run onto the field and play (and most especially against the All Blacks)!

How can this not make you all tingly!

Sure there have been serious peaks and troughs since we ran out against the Aussies and Kiwis in the early 90s (SA vs the All Blacks at Ellis was my first live test match – been at as many all over the world as possible since then) but then again how could there not be.

We’ve had some shocker coaches (Rudolf & Andre), we’ve had some who were maybe a little before their time (Carel & Mac) and we’ve had some superstars (Jake & Kitch) and probably everything in between. We’ve had changes in Jerseys, logos and names and each one has brought a new smile to my face!

On Saturday though I felt I had to write about the game (which I very seldom do). You see after such a long losing streak I had a JHB restaurant / bar filled with people screaming the ‘Boks are back’, ‘they can win the world cup’ and ‘P divvy finally has a plan’. Now as much as I love the Boks (and believe me, I love to win) I didn’t feel as good as it seems the rest of the social universe felt on Saturday eve.

If we park the fact that Dan Carter and Ritchie Mcaw were left at home, which probably makes that All Black side 20% better, I don’t think the Boks really won that game. I mean, yes, the scoreboard said we did but did we really show that we are a team that can win. I saw maybe one line break in the entire game (it seems to be our average lately), I saw box kicking from Fourie Du Preez that showed every minute of his two years out of the game, I saw defensively our wingers sprinting into the AB line for intercepts and I saw a strategy that only worked in a world cup and only worked four years ago for us (that would be the kick, chase, penalty game)!

My worry is this Bok side has forgotten how to play rugby and as soon as you get a side with a little flair on the pitch against them (especially one with nothing to lose) like Fiji or Samoa (if you remember Fiji would have knocked us out four years ago if it weren’t for JPs try saving tackle) they may run us ragged.

The good news is Heinrich Brussouw is undoubtedly back to his best after only about  120min of rugby, Morne Steyns goal kicking looks sharp and with Bis the bus at hooker our scrum looks VERY solid again. Also, contrary to my fellow watchers on Saturday, to be able to bring on a leader of the caliber of John Smit when you are up against the All Blacks with 20min to go is a luxury few teams have in a  world cup setting.

Overall though, I think the Boks performance was one dimensional, uncreative, unimaginative and downright boring, BUT a win is a win!

Now in a world cup environment that’s not necessarily a bad thing however this seems to be the ONLY game we can play at the moment and I am a little shaky going into this tournament with a very experienced (and very old) side that can only play ONE style of rugby.

Time will tell and I hope they can keep the momentum going because after a world cup the only thing anyone remembers is who won, not the way they played. Once we have a third trophy in the bag we can look at rebuilding  a side of fresh faces and new ideas but until then LETS GO WIN US A TROPHY BOYS!

If you want to read the background to my views on cricket to start with maybe go read one or two of the articles here!

The truth is, in short, I didn’t always hate cricket but through the shocking, arrogant and unsportsmanlike way our team and management has continued to conduct themselves over the last decade, I do now, so when I saw this I couldn’t sit back and not have a go!

Now for those of you who don’t know Cricket South Africa has won less important things over the last 15 years than the Kenyan yachting team! They are rewarded financially very well (which I spose no matter how crap you are, you are still a national team and so justifies the money) while their administration is run almost as well as Somalian food stores.

So when Gerald Majola was paid double his annual salary as a ‘bonus’ by the Indians I start to get a little ‘Hansie style’ nervous. The fact that he didn’t declare it at all makes me EVEN MORE skeptical and when questioned on it he quickly gave the money back! What person have you EVER seen give a bonus back that was honestly deserved??

In short once again Cricket South Africa has embarrassed themselves by underwhelming the South African public who, believe it or not, are actually their customers!

My only sympathy goes to Gary Kirsten and his new coaching team who have to enter this chaos and try to put a trophy in a cabinet that makes Arsenals trophy count seem like Barcelona’s! 

Just so you all know by the time you read this – we will be here . . .

But just in case you think it’s going to be compete fun and games let me tell you just how serious this is!

Two teams of six men each will arrive on day one in opposing colours (red & blue) wearing our black tour blazers adorned with the ‘le Tour’ logo at the bottom, and will play Ryder Cup Style over the next three days for this . . .

Now because my fellow STMer is on this team . . .

I shall restrict the abuse on their logo but I did hear ‘pigeon sperm’ mentioned!

As for me, we are the Spartans (if you are not so bright keep looking – it’s a Spartans face AND a golfer – CLEVER HUH!)

So before you get upset that we haven’t posted anything for the next few days REMEMBER – we are on a golf course drinking copious amounts of alcohol for a number of days and nights in a row – do you really want to read the shit we would be writing anyway?

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND STMers and wish us luck on Le Tour!

This past weekend a young boy with scraggly hair from Northern Ireland call Rory Mcllroy won the US Open, his first major and his announcement to the proper world stage (yes we know he has won before but now it’s the big leagues).

This prompted me to wonder if this was the proverbial changing of the guards, so to speak, of golfing heavyweights?

Up until recently, Tiger Woods has been the king of all things golf. You know when the king dies (Jack Nicklaus, figuratively speaking of course) and then everyone shouts ‘the king is dead, long live the king’ that’s where Tiger fits in. As you all well know he has been, again until recently, the poster boy for everything golf and otherwise and he has become one of the most recognizable faces in the world, but is this time for the cataclysmic change?

Both players started very young (Tiger before two, Rory before two)! Both appeared on local talk shows

Tiger . . .

Rory . . .

Tiger could shoot 48 at three for 9-holes, Rory could drive 40m at age two. Tiger won the Junior world championships numerous times, Rory won the Junior Ryder cup and the European amateur championships while woods won the other side of the world’s Amateur contests.

They both cruised through college winning team and individual honours but Rory was the youngest to turn pro and break into the Top 50 golfers in the world however Tiger was the fastest to reach number one. Both won their first major at 22 (granted Mcllroy should have won at Augusta but then really did choke) and both blew the field away with a multitude of new records set!

The list of consistencies goes on and on . . .

As far as I can tell the only difference between these two is they are 15 odd years apart. Tigers story has somewhat been written for all intents and purposes (don’t get me wrong I WANT HIM BACK to finish the story) but this kid has the chance to eclipse one of the most magnificent sportsmen I have been privileged enough to watch in my life.

Watch out world Rory has the pedigree and the past and he may just turn the golf world upside-down! As they say in the classics the train is on the same track just a few stops behind!

So there’s been a lot of hype around Rory McIlroy being the youngest guy to win the US open since 1923. Having recently taken up golf lessons I have new found respect for the amount of skill required to be even remotely as good as that. But then, we came across this video clip and if it’s real, it’s even more unbelievable. What are the odds?…

Quite the bunker shot huh?

Thanks Rich

Now if you are confused as to what FIFA do, they really run the global football world and in recent times they have been viewed as ‘the organized crime’ of football.

They host about six events a year and by far the most important is the soccer world cup – they make roughly three billion dollars from it – not bad.

But it wasn’t until I saw their lair that I realized what masterminds they are!

The office has one story above ground and SIX below ground with the center of the building being this black marble encase boardroom where all the big decisions are made (don’t forget the massive crystal chandelier above)

Then there’s the newsroom that you have to have some serious balls to ask Sepp Blatter a rough question a few stories underground in his own house!

Finally there is the state of the art work out center outside for the 300 odd employees with a few of these FIFA spec pitches thrown in for good measure!

Now tell me you still don’t think this dude is Dr Evil – I mean all that’s missing are the sharks with frikken laser beams on their heads!

I was breezing through BBC as I normally do to check who’s being bought and sold in the soccer world this time of year and which country’s dictator is being bombed when this hit me!

Now I’m seriously no tennis junkie but I did watch the Fed Vs Nadal final at Roland Garros on Sunday in HD on a rather massive TV which was truly epic and it got me thinking as much as I enjoyed that red clay in perfect colour can you imagine what the green grass of Wimbledon would look like in the epic 3D?

Now I consider myself an early adopter. I like toys of every nature and I want them first that’s just how I am so I have to physically force myself not to buy a 3D TV, and why, because MNET and DSTV can’t get their acts together to bring us 3D yet. Yeah sure theres movies (which no video store has yet)

I mean come on dudes you laid more cable than Ron Jeremy before the world cup surely, surely you can bring us 3D TV. The problem I fear is not that you cant, its that you actually don’t have to.

Think about it, what really is the difference between DSTV and TELKOM? They both were pioneers in South Africa, both have almost no competition (Yes yes TOP TV we hear you but get the bloody sport channels then we’ll talk) and they both are really crap at innovation.

Do you really think that if DSTV had a serious competitor that was pushing the future like they should be that DSTV would be as slow to bring us what we want as they really are – I seriously doubt it!

Someone (and by someone I mean a multinational) really needs to arrive on our shores and kick some serious ass because I want to be able to watch a massive 3D TV on a Sunday and see Fed kick the living hell out of that Spanish child!

Let’s get a few things out the way here first!

Firstly I used to love cricket until it was spoiled for so many reasons i cant go into. I have now gone to the point where I have called it a HOBBY, wrote articles on why I HATE SOUTH AFRICAN CRICKET and lastly reveled in their choking AGAIN.

Secondly I don’t like calling someone a coward, I think attacks on integrity are the highest form of criticism you can give someone! I very rarely call people liars, cheats or cowards unless the evidence is overwhelming and I truly believe they are flawed (yes yes we are all humans and all flawed – god loves you all– WHATEVER!)

Lets look at this plainly . . .

Smith went to the world cup with his usual arrogance as we all expected and, judging from the abuse I got during this time, I was the only one who thought we would exit the way we always do!

After the world cup though something happened which I never thought I’d ever see – a national captain sending his team home to face the angry music and he disappeared into Europe for a ‘personal matter’ which turned out to be him proposing to his girlfriend!

Now don’t get me wrong, if you need to, take all the time you need to propose and start your life blah blah but when you desert your team-mates to do so it reaches a level of desertion I ever wanted to see from a  national leader.

Our national captain abandoned his people, his team and his country in its darkest time only to return and give a stuttering, stammering and pitiful apology that was clearly written by someone else. Not only that but he was so pathetic that he waited for the good news of Gary Kirsten entering the fold to mask the disgrace that he has brought to the game and to himself!

I CANNOT believe that South Africans can accept this kind of behavior and I hope the few of you that are left supporting and watching cricket make some serious noise to get rid of this fool as our captain before he brings anymore shame on an already pitiful cricketing outfit!

The week before the Reds take the field against Barcelona on Saturday night they have released their new home kit for the 2011/2012 season.

My view personally – nice, simple, classy and modern but then again they could play in clown suits and i would still support them firstly and second would buy the replica to watch in!

I must say though I do love the way Nike manage to evoke such extreme emotions with their whole marketing shpeel that goes with the new stuff!

Check out the video after the pics . . .

. . . the short answer probably is most people don’t care.

Firstly cycling isn’t exactly a major global sport (by viewers, not interest) and second nowadays I think most people have started to assume everyone in sport is cheating in some way or other.

So why do I care?

I’m certainly no cycling guru, nor in fact am I the biggest fan really outside of the Tour De France, but I am a massive believer in greatness and more specifically sporting greatness.

Sporting greatness is immeasurable mostly. It can only be measured by the feeling it gives fans, by the records it breaks and by the legacy it will leave behind but mostly by the number of moments BURNED into the back of our minds.

I’ll give you some examples . . .

Michael Schumacher’s victory at the French Grand Prix title in 2002, Schumacher’s fourth career win at the Magny-Cours wrapped up another world title for the him with SIX RACES remaining in the season, marking the earliest point in the campaign a driver had ever won the season.

Schumacher racked up an amazing 11 victories in 2002 and finished on the podium in all 17 races.

When Michael Jordan used to step onto the court no matter the game, opponents used to shiver. The reason was, the bigger the game the better he would play and the more he would dominate, destroy and humiliate opponents. He was the first sportsman I had ever watched who seemed like he was possessed by a greater power – it got me hooked.

He won unprecedented titles and he did it by grabbing his team mates and dragging them to greatness with him, by doing things like this . . .

The amazing thing is most people see a highlights reel here – the truth is most of the shots where at the final buzzer to win trophy’s. How many people do you know who can do that?

Finally there’s the more recent TIGER WOODS. He turned pressure moments into a profession (pre-fornication of course). He quite literally demolished the game of golf in his early years, so much so that course designers had to lengthen pretty much every professional hole out there.

He would either come out of the gates firing or blow past every competitor in the field, or he would lie in wait in the shadows and start to make his move up the leaderboard on the final round. It caused a reaction similarly to when you hold a blowtorch to a candle – everything around him would melt into ordinary insignificance – it was beautiful!

And he does it time . . .

after time!

After time!!!

Why do I go through these heroes?

The answer is simple – Lance is one of them. He sits at the divine sporting table with few more than twenty sportsmen and women from history and he probably more than most deserves to be there. I mean sure, Jordan didn’t make his high school basketball team, Tiger wasn’t allowed to play in some ‘all white clubs’ but LANCE HAD CANCER FOR F*#KS SAKE!

The man overcame death and then won the Tour De France more times than any other human being while uttering the words “When I feel the worst pain, that’s when I get up and push my feet into the pedals as hard as I can because I want to see the face of my nearest rival when he sees me at my most hurt fighting as hard as I can – that must destroy him”

I don’t know whether or not Lance did anything illegal BUT the fact that 500 tests later and not one positive one, or the fact that all the idiots who have condemned him have all tested positive has got to mean at least we give a man like this the benefit of the doubt!

The fact is the world needs legends – the world needs Lance and needs to believe that some people are capable of the superhuman – we need to believe that we can hang our hopes on icons without the fear that they will be destroyed – WE NEED TO BELIEVE LANCE!