Looking back over the past sporting year, I feel a little like the Grinch does about Christmas – not very charitable.

It wasn’t a very good one, although there were a few rays in the darkness.

Wayde van Niekerk broke through to win 400m world championship gold in Beijing. Bright, fresh-faced and bold, he epitomises everything that’s good about South Africa. The pity is that athletics doesn’t enjoy similar standing in SA, thanks largely to an administration that operates as if in quicksand.

The other feel-good story of the year was the emergence of fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. Our cricket has looked tired of late, but Rabada is fast and invigorating; just what the game needs.

His 6/16 against Bangladesh in July was the best-ever ODI return for a debutante, and he became one of just two cricketers to get a hat-trick on debut. As statements of intent go, you don’t get better.

AB de Villiers was similarly determined. In January, his astonishing 100 off 31 balls, a world record, gave rise to the sports banner of the year: “Float like a butterfly, sting like AB.”

Touché.

But the 2015 upsides came with inevitable downsides. The World Cup was a miserable experience for the Proteas. The big, ugly gorilla refused to get off their backs and they went down the plughole in a desperate semifinal defeat to New Zealand.

“Was that the worst you’ve felt on a cricket ground?” De Villiers was asked.

“Yes,” he said unequivocally.

As ever with such things, all wasn’t as it seemed. Politics, lies and denials swirled around team selection.

The dark theme continued with the revelation in late May that the SA Football Association paid $10-million to host the 2010 World Cup – but denied it was a bribe. Officials and politicians were spotted scampering to the hills in great haste. No-one emerged from the imbroglio with any credit and the dark stain remains. In true SA fashion, the suits pleaded ignorance and the shame washed off in double-quick time. No-one was remotely embarrassed, much less fired.

The one lot to take responsibility, a very un-South African trait, were the Springboks, who suffered their most humiliating defeat in history when Japan beat them at the World Cup. For that reason alone, Heyneke Meyer had to walk the plank.

Despite our horror, we had to concede the match energised the World Cup and gave rise to heart-warming scenes of grown Japanese men in tears and others embracing disbelieving fans decked in green and gold. Some even formed a guard of honour for Japanese fans to march through. Screw the politicians, we draw our hope and salvation from moments such as these where even the shattering reality of defeat inspires warmth and camaraderie.

The tournament also confirmed the international retirement of Jean de Villiers. If only our political leaders had such magnanimity, class and elegance.

Durban was the scene for the best knockout of the year when Junior Makabu took a pasting from local man Thabiso Mchunu, only for Mchunu to drop his guard in the 11^th and get sparked with a thunderous left hook.

Best fight was between two little guys: Hekkie Budler and Simphiwe Khonco. They threw leather furiously for 12 rounds and warmed the hearts of fight fans everywhere.

Wimbledon threw up a classic back-and-forth battle with Kevin Anderson trading with Novak Djokovic in a game for the ages. The occasional South African lost, but how our hearts swelled at his fighting attitude.

Racing mostly overseas, Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh continued their excellence, Le Clos winning the 100m butterfly at the worlds and Van der Burgh nailing the 50m breastroke world record and the World Cup title.

Even now, five months after their debut at the Tour De France, Team MTN-Qhubeka’s crusade through Europe still hasn’t received enough plaudits. Their achievement in going head-to-head with the big guys was remarkable; they even cracked a stage win on Mandela Day. Disney movies are made of this.

Finally, tweet of the year by local golf writer Barry Havenga: “LPGA player Brooke Pancake signs sponsorship deal with Waffle House chain. If she played in South Africa: Brooke Pannekoek.”

Bravo! – © Sunday Tribune

 

 

SuperSport is hauling out the big guns for the international cricket season with top analysts, the latest technology and unprecedented camera numbers designed to take broadcasts into another realm.

Former nemesis Michael Atherton will be joined by countrymen Ian Botham, Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight and David Lloyd in the commentary box.

The local contingent will include Pommie Mbangwa, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, HD Ackerman and Kepler Wessels, among others, with Mike Haysman and Michael Holding offering international perspective.

Test matches and ODI’s will each benefit from the use of 34 cameras, the most ever, with four super-slomos and two ultra-motion cameras.

Hawk-Eye’s UltraEdge technology for DRS will be utilised for the entire tour by England, which takes in four Test matches, five one-day internationals and two T20 internationals, starting on Saturday and concluding almost two months later, on February 21.

Hawk-Eye’s UltraEdge is the first technology to be independently tested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC). UltraEdge combines Hawk-Eye’s ultra-motion cameras with audio from the stump microphones to definitively show whether the ball has hit the bat. The high-frame rate cameras are able to differentiate more clearly over sound created by bat, pads or clothing.

All the tour games will be broadcast in High Definition with both English and Afrikaans commentary. Afrikaans commentators include Fanie de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Shafiek Abrahams, Kotie Grove and Jeremy Fredericks.

SuperSport will also make liberal use of augmented reality to add substance to its analysis.

Moreover, the traditional lunchtime show will make use of many of the experts, thrashing out prevailing cricket issues and the game at hand.

With partners Cricket South Africa, SuperSport is looking to make the 2015/16 international season one to remember. Haroon Lorgat, CSA chief executive, said: “SuperSport is one of the best broadcasters in the world and an institution that South Africans can be very proud of.  With their professionalism and quality coverage they have set a high standard which our cricket loving public thoroughly enjoys. Long may this continue with CSA as partners.”

World takers include 10 Sports (Middle East and Asia), Fox (Australia), BSkyB (UK and Europe) and Willow TV (US and Canada).

Tour content can also be accessed via SuperSport’s CatchUp and VOD services.

https://youtu.be/GWSh8Hjq_7s

Bloodbath.

This was the word a sports marketer uttered when I asked him how the wobbly South African economy would affect sport.

It’s history now that the Rand nosedived in the wake of recent political shenanigans. In Dollar terms, South Africans are 25 percent poorer than they were a year ago. That’s catastrophic.

Already major sponsors have begun to squirm and re-evaluate their positions. Some cricket franchises remain unsponsored and the effects of Absa’s withdrawal from rugby are likely to be volcanic.

Any local sport that includes foreign participation will be hurt by the crumbling Rand.

Golf is one such sport.

Think of the aspirant golfer who earns his European tour card. Unless he’s a ready-to-go superstar, he’ll live on the margins – if he can afford to hit the overseas road at all.

European so-sanctioned events like the Joburg Open and Tshwane Open will be particularly hard hit. Already expensive to host (at around R50-R60-million a time), the Rand cost of prizemoney will hit the roof. Not forgetting that appearance fees are also paid from time to time, always in foreign currency.

Some sponsors, like Nedbank, buy forward, but not all currency appreciations can be factored in. Everyone feels it.

Not forgetting, it works in reverse, too. Ernie Els is the all-time top earner in European golf with tour earnings of over €30-million. That’s a staggering R490-million.

The effect of the Rand’s pummelling will be no less painful for rugby. SA teams that travel for Super Rugby will have to pay more to do so. The money must come from somewhere, so the pressure will run through the entire sport, especially with the bulk of local unions struggling to make ends meet.

The annual costs of running a Super Rugby franchise are staggering, which partly explains why the Kings are struggling to keep the lights on.

Teams like the Sharks used to periodically employ marquee players like Frederic Michalak and Olivier Roumat. They spiced up the local scene but came at a cost. Don’t hold your breath on any of the local franchises doing much overseas shopping now, not with the Rand bleeding.

Cricket will start to feel the pain too. Securing Kevin Pietersen for a couple of local games recently was a coup, but he wants his pay in Pounds. Sponsors have to break the bank to meet the demands. Not many will.

Local tennis has already hit the wall. Our first-class tour events were sold off long ago and local tournaments are bread-and-butter affairs with few frills. The idea of flying in a star or two is fanciful. Local prospects will have to satisfy themselves watching their heroes on television.

Boxing is another sport that gets blown out of the water by heavy currency fluctuations. Top-level imports from the UK or the US dried up over 10 years ago, although officials (referees, judges and supervisors) from these countries must still be hosted for local tournaments.

Promoters also pay sanctioning fees in Dollars to the likes of the WBC, WBA and IBO, which they do through clenched teeth.

Top local promoter Rodney Berman says he won’t compromise on the standard of fights he puts together, but said he would probably seek to put together more appealing local matches where the fighters are paid in Rands.

Another local promoter was recently bemoaning how a single return ticket for a Colombian boxer cost R37 000. And he flies with a manager and trainer.

Major TV rights are purchased in Dollars, so the pressure extends to broadcasters here too; they can do far less with their Rands than a year ago.

Local sports research expert James Monteith predicts that we’ll start seeing budgets decrease over the next 18 months. He explained that many companies like Barclays (Absa) already have budgetary pressures. Typically, marketing and research budget gets cut first.

Sponsors can’t immediately cut contractual spend, but they can cut their leveraging budgets. This means that while they sponsor an event, the advertising, campaigning and activations around the events will be cut.

Without the ability to extract full value, will they stick around when contract renewal becomes an option?

Times are tough. Powerless, all we can do is suck it up. – © Sunday Tribune

 

They came in the dead of night to steal whatever they could.

When they were done, the thugs had plundered a big-screen television and a cellphone.

Worse, their victim, Banele Sindani, lay dying, having been shot in the stomach while his horrified 12-year-old daughter looked on.

Another victim, another day in South Africa.

Sindani had once lorded over this country’s Olympic movement and, separately, athletics. Never less than controversial, his passion for sport was nonetheless immense. He was well-known around town and most recently was in charge of the Soweto Marathon.

He’ll never preside over another race or chair another meeting thanks to his faceless killers and their cruel, bloody hands.

South Africa is a murderous country and Sindani’s slaying a fortnight ago was one of thousands in 2015. No-one is immune to this slaughter and it’s a reality that gets more acute when you consider how many of our sportsmen have met gruesome ends in recent years.

The only difference is that their profile inevitably lead to headlines, political grandstanding and media conferences.

This was the case when Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was gunned down in Vosloorus last October. Think about that for a moment. The captain of this country’s national football team shot and killed by more faceless low-lifes.

The cops came, a big reward was offered and promises were made of finding the killers. A suspect was arrested, then released. More promises, more failures. The criminal justice system itself is half-broken; our hero’s murderer still roams the streets.

Months earlier Rob Meek, an old acquaintance, was murdered at a beach house in Port St Johns while heralding in the New Year. Rob had two claims to fame: he was a world-famous urban designer and a celebrated sailor.

Armed men wearing balaclavas shot him and ran away. Four men were arrested, last appearing in court in October. The case was postponed and the accused remain in custody.

Think about Meek’s death, too. He was a proud South African who strode on the international design stage. Killed, in a moment of madness, for what exactly?

Just over three years ago we woke to the news that former heavyweight world champion Corrie Sanders had been shot and killed during an armed robbery while celebrating a family birthday in Brits.

As the shooters unleashed a hail of bullets, Sanders shielded his daughter, getting killed in the process.

It was a savage end to one of our most naturally talented athletes and confirmed South Africa’s status as a country where life is cheap and guns are plentiful.

Fortunately his three killers were all arrested, bringing about calls for a return to the death penalty. Instead, they were sentenced to 43-year jail terms, effectively crushing their own sad, demented lives.

These aren’t isolated incidents. Three months ago two local boxers were murdered within days of one another. Lwando Molwana died on the dirty streets of the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi in the Western Cape. He was shot almost exactly 10 years to the day after former world champion Mzikisi Sikali was stabbed to death for his cellphone in Uitenhage.

The same week Molwana met his end, Boitshepo Mandawe was stabbed to death in a shebeen in Soweto. Mandawe had famously given world champion Chris van Heerden two memorable fights, but the man known as “Gangster” also had his dark side. He ran with the wrong crowd and finally paid the ultimate price when he crossed the wrong person in a place he should not have been.

No less horrific was the death of former cricket international Tertius Bosch 15 years ago.

He died young, aged 33, of suspected Guillain-Barré syndrome, but for years rumours swirled that he had been poisoned by someone close to him. Twice his body was exhumed; the second time various poisons were discovered. There was insufficient evidence to make a case, but the prevailing view remains that he was murdered.

Each of these examples is devastating and confirms how brittle daily life is. There will be more, too, the grim price of living in South Africa.

Somehow we plough on, trying to banish these horrors from memory.

It’s all we can do. It’s all we must do. – © Sunday Tribune