Monthly Archives: April 2017

The buds of future rugby glory are all around us

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TThe magnificent St John’s College backdrop, where many of SA rugby’s finest aspirants were on display.

Ass a committed rugby tragic, I wasn’t in a happy place six months ago.

The Springboks were a mess and England were on the up. Things could hardly have been worse.

It wasn’t just that the Boks were losing to teams like Italy. They were aimless, clueless and hopeless. Some claimed they were the worst Bok team to ever tour. Perhaps they were.

Yet if we thought the Springboks were a portend of things to come, we couldn’t have been more wrong. There’s a vibrant, passionate attitude among our Super Rugby teams, even as the axe hovers over two of them. There’s invention and conviction in how they’re going about their business.

We even saw two outrageous acts of legerdemain that may yet prove to be a watershed in both attitude and style. Dillyn Leyds’ famous no-look reverse spin pass has already been hailed as one of Super Rugby’s most sublime moments – and it’s known a few.

Do yourself a favour, though, and dig out the clip on YouTube of Lionel Cronje’s extravagant circus trick against the Western Force. I had to watch twice to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87tbNgAy-fo

It’s gorgeous moments like these, when you see the straitjacket kicked to the kerb, that give massive hope. Neither Leyds nor Cronje would figure among the best in their positions, but they’ve embraced the magic coursing through the SA game.

But it’s beyond the high-profile games on TV where good things go on too. I spent much of last weekend attending two of the three big schoolboy rugby festivals in Joburg.

The boys gave it their all wherever I looked. Structure seemed secondary to playing by instinct and there was less kicking than usual. Penalties were run, chances were taken. The big crowds lapped it up.

I ran into Sharks staffer Michael Horak, who was checking out the quality of the play. “Talent for days,” was his remark, enthusing over the high standards. He also popped into the Kearsney Festival and thus got a good sense of the national picture with schools from all provinces in action.

Durban High School took on Grey PE in the final game of the St Stithians Festival and it was encouraging to see 11 black boys in the starting XV. If these are the buds on the Springbok tree, just imagine how the game might thrive in a few years.

Down the road, Parktown trotted out with 10 black boys, seven in the pack alone. These things ought to not matter, but this is South Africa, so they do. The point is that they played with steel and swagger and all we saw was a team that wanted to win. There was nothing lightweight about them either, one of the boys weighing in at 116kg and standing 2,01m tall.

So to Monday night and the final of the Varsity Cup, played at the University of Pretoria. There must have been a fair amount of beer served up for the mood among the massive crowd was buoyant and they responded with good cheer to an entertaining final that the hosts won.

UUnencumbered by contracts or the pressures of being professionals, the students played with a rare freedom

Unencumbered by contracts or the pressures of being professionals, the students played with a rare freedom that contributed to a marvellous atmosphere. Duitser Bosman and Francois Pienaar, the architects of the tournament, have created something very special.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, in Kwazakhele in the Eastern Cape, the first match of the all-new SuperSport Rugby Challenge took place. For many in the township, this will have been the first time they slapped eyes on elite-level players in the flesh. If this interest can be nourished in a tournament designed to stretch into the far reaches of SA, imagine the possibilities. There may be another Solly Tyibilika or Siya Kolisi among them.

Of course, this isn’t to say the Boks won’t be white-washed by France or smashed in the Rugby Championship, but it gives insight into a world beyond the pampered pros; a world that is thriving and virtuous. The Springboks might sit atop the totem pole, but it’s in communities and at schools and varsities where passions first take hold and where dreams are given sustenance.

We mustn’t ever forget this. – © Sunday Tribune

 

 

Tribute to Nick Durandt

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He could have stepped straight out of the pages of a Rocky movie script.

Loud, brassy and foul-mouthed, Nick Durandt was a larger than life character whose colourful presence loomed large over South African boxing. With his lurid tattoos, jewellery and ever-present bandana, he was a caricature of every cliché in boxing. He got up people’s noses with his smack talk and aggressive swagger, but there was no-one more passionate, determined or loyal than the 53-year-old who was killed in a bike crash in the Free State on Friday.

He ‘retired’ from boxing 11 months ago, but the truth is that he could never stay away. The dearth of local tournaments and the struggle to secure sponsorship and support had quelled his enthusiasm, but, even so, he stayed close to the sport. He still attended tournaments and was a mentor to his eldest son Damien, making his own way as a trainer.

Durandt was never a boxer himself, but that never limited his ability as a trainer. He travelled overseas often and made it his job to learn from the best. Among those he spent time with were Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya.

Who knows what they made of the brash South African?

Durandt incorporated something from everyone into his own regimen, a regimen that was grounded in supreme fitness. His fighters might get found out for technique or skill, but no-one was ever fitter. He worked his fighters hard and if they didn’t like it, he’d show them the door.

One of his favourite methods was to slap his fighters hard between rounds in fights. It was uncomfortable to witness from ringside, but Durandt didn’t care. He did whatever it took to fire up his boxers.

He was a walking contradiction. Knowing full well boxing’s appetite for hype and drama, he would curse at opposition camps and let fly during press conferences. Many didn’t approve.

Yet he was also known to lend a quiet ear to people in the boxing community who had problems. Once, during a visit to his Norwood gym, he handed me a pair of gloves for my eldest son.

TThe mask he wore most often was that of a flamboyant figure who had to dominate whichever environment he found himself in

He could be sweet and generous and thoughtful, but the mask he wore most often was that of a flamboyant figure who had to dominate whichever environment he found himself in.

His record as a trainer was staggering. Having initially learned at the knee of former Empire champion Willie Toweel, he branched out on his own. Success came quickly and world-class fighters like Phillip Ndou, Cassius Baloyi, Jacob Mofokeng, Sugarboy Malinga, Moruthi Mthalane, Hawk Makepula, Zolani Tete and Silence Mabuza were drawn to the excellence he helped foster. Las Vegas, London and Joburg were all conquered.

In 2001, rank outsider Hasim Rahman asked to use his city gym to wind down his training for his heavyweight championship fight against Lennox Lewis at Carnival City. Durandt was one of those in Rahman’s corner when he shocked Lewis with a devastating right hand that knocked him out in the fifth round.

In many ways, it was quiet redemption for the controversy that threatened his entire career in the 1990s. He was caught in a racism scandal that erupted when a taped conversation full of racial slurs was leaked to the media. It was undeniably racist, but the irony was that Durandt adored his black fighters, most of whom he kissed moments before they squared off.

It cost him his gym, his house and, finally, his marriage. Many of his black boxers stuck with him; others did not, threatened by those close to them not to associate with the controversial trainer.

Durandt uncharacteristically went to ground and quietly worked his way back. Those who knew him knew he had a filthy mouth, but he was no racist. He had made a stupid mistake and admitted to it.

Within five years he had rebuilt his empire, the row all but forgotten as his conveyor belt continued to deliver champions at a remarkable rate.

A product of the streets, he naturally gravitated towards characters who lived hard and fast. He owned a tattoo shop across the road from his old gym and for a while hung out with former boxer Mikey Schultz’s crew. More recently, he was president of the Crusaders motorcycle club, a role he seemed to thrive in. It was a role he cherished; the bikers loved him.

In recent years he took to packing a pistol, which he often took with him to business meetings. Needless to say, the men in suits were seldom impressed.

Durandt lived fast and, perhaps inevitably, he died fast too. He was a giant of the fight game and a man whose passion attached itself to every little thing he did.

Rest in peace, fighting man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black lightning for SA athletics’ greatest day

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Even now, 245 days since Wayde van Niekerk lit up the Rio night, not enough seems to have been made of that magnificent triumph.

With a run that touched immortality, the South African exploded into the public consciousness. Olympic champion. World record holder. Athletics legend. All in the space of 43.03 glorious seconds.

I mention this because Van Niekerk lit a fuse that continues to burn brightly. Next weekend, in the nondescript town of Potchefstroom, eight sprinters will line up for arguably the most significant 100m in South African athletics history.

Until three years ago, no local sprinter had ever cracked the 10-second mark. On Friday, four of the starters will have done so, Van Niekerk among them.

It reflects a staggering upswing in standards, more impressive given that Athletics South Africa isn’t known for its vigour or strategic thinking.

Almost all the marketing for next weekend’s national championship has taken place on social media where Van Niekerk has baited his rivals in affable fashion, threatening to clean up. The sub-theme has been an attempt to fill up the stadium to ensure that the local heroes receive the support they deserve. Crowd-sourcing indeed.

Former Durban boy and world championship gold medalist Mat Quinn is packing his family in for a weekend alongside the track. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Quinn, who has more than a passing interest in events. His wife Heide still holds the SA 400m record for women (50.05 sec); a record that Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya will be gunning for as she aims to do the triple in the 400m, 800m and 1500m.

She’s the defending champion in all three disciplines and will doubtless draw in the crowds with her power running.

Quinn predicts the 100m potentially being the single most exciting race in SA athletics history.

The field is top heavy with class. Olympic finalist Anani Simbine sits top of the pile with a 9.89 SA best set in Budapest last year. With Usain Bolt about to shuffle off, Simbine will be among the world’s best three or four sprinters looking to claim the king’s throne.

The most intriguing participant will be the newest member of the sub-10-second tribe, 21-year-old Thando Roto, who recently became the second-fastest SA sprinter when he pulled out a devastating 9.95 sec finish in Pretoria.

PPotch, dry, historically fast and situated at altitude, will offer optimal conditions

Every inch of him is built like a 100m sprinter and although he won’t fancy his chances of toppling Simbine, he will look to shave time off his personal best.

Potch, dry, historically fast and situated at altitude, will offer optimal conditions.

The rest of the field come quickly, so to speak. There’s Henricho Bruintjies (9.97 PB), Van Niekerk (9.98 PB); Anaso Jobodwana (10.10 PB), Gift Leotlela (10.12 PB) and Clarence Munyai (10.20 PB).

For anyone who gets excited by the explosiveness and spectacle of the short sprint, the event is mouth-wateringly appealing.

Not forgetting the 200m either, where all but Roto will be in action. Jobodwana will be the fastest in the field (19.87 PB), but with Van Niekerk having serious ambition in the half-lapper, his own 19.94 sec best could be under threat. That’s marginally faster than Simbine’s best ever run (19.95 PB), so you get an idea that the 200m could also be a fantastic affair between men all wearing jet shoes.

Anyone whose tastes are a little more exotic could do worse than cast an eye over the long jump pit where Olympic silver medalist Luvo Manyonga always threatens something special. A few weeks ago he jumped an astounding 8.62m; the best in the world for eight years. To put that into perspective, the gold medalist in Rio cleared 8.38m.

He’s a very special athlete, more so that he’s cast off the demons that once threatened to swamp him. Mike Powell’s 26-year-old world record (8.95m) is in his cross hairs, a record that would ordinarily seem unassailable but for Manyonga’s potential seeming unbounded. How good might he become when he masters the deeply technical aspects of his craft?

All roads lead to Potchefstroom next week. Anyone lucky enough to be there can marvel at SA’s greatest athlete. And yet, Van Niekerk’s lightning-heeled disciples may even steal the show from him. – © Sunday Tribune

 

 

 

Bang! Crash! Wallop! Schoolboy rugby takes centre stage in Joburg

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AAction from St Stithians last year. Pic: Courtesy Wessel Oosthuizen/SASPA

Eaaster time in Joburg invariably means one of two things.

The crowds clear out for the coast. Those of us who are left behind throng to the schoolboy rugby festivals that have become such a staple of early autumn in the city.

The action is usually a welcome diversion from the problems of the day, and there have been a few, and also reinforces the virtues of the game so often absent at professional level.

The festivals are very much a family affair. The mood is buoyant, the rugby is full of earnestness and the beer tents do a roaring trade.

Because there’s so much of it – the historically big festivals are at St John’s College and St Stithians – catching the best games requires something approaching military precision.

These are usually determined by two factors: the traditionally powerful rugby schools and those who have something to prove. On Thursday, for instance, Paul Roos, one of the traditional big daddies of the game, play Nelspruit at St John’s (6pm). Nelspruit don’t have the pedigree of Paul Roos, but they are traditionally among the best schoolboy teams around.  Old boys include Duane Vermeulen and Marnitz Boshoff, so its bloodline is decent.

St John’s College

Affies versus Hilton (Thursday, St John’s, 4.45pm) could also be fun, what with Hilton’s predilection for buying players having been thrust into the open in recent months. It’s the number one issue confronting high school rugby, although Hilton are far from alone in following this dubious practice.

St Albans have had a good run of late and their match on Thursday against Durban High School (St Stithians, 12.15pm) ought to be a full-blooded affair.

Look out, too, for Grey PE and St Andrews, who are both long on ambition this year.

There’s a nice spread to the games with action on Thursday, Saturday and Monday. My advice is to highlight the must-sees and then shuttle the 16km between the venues to catch the best of it.

You won’t be sorry.

St Stithians fixtures

(The College festival will also see 100 teams from South Africa and Botswana competing in basketball, cross country, football, hockey, netball, rugby, squash, and tennis on the Saints campus).

St John’s fixtures

SA rugby finally finds its star man

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TThe man of the moment: Curwin Bosch. Pic courtesy SA Rugby

Onne of the perennial hobby horses of South African rugby enthusiasts is to anoint the new Naas Botha.

It’s a game we’ve played since the 1990s on account of the famous match winner. He was a product of his time – cocky, fast and possessed with what old-time sports writers used to describe as a “siege gun” boot. Even at 19, he toyed with teams as the monster Blue Bulls pack laid waste to the opposition.

There’s a new Naas and we saw his promise as Curwin Bosch produced a heroic performance at Ellis Park last weekend. Even Joel Stransky, who could play a bit in his time, was in raptures.

TThe manner of Bosch’s play, his option-taking and his coolness under fire spoke plenty.

It’s always risky labelling a 19-year-old as the chosen one, but the manner of Bosch’s play, his option-taking and his coolness under fire spoke plenty. He was very much a kid in control, undaunted by the freight train that is Rohan Janse van Rensburg smashing into his channel all afternoon. His forwards looked after him and he responded with 19 points, the most remarkable of these from a 60m-plus goal kick that harked back to another Sharks tyro, Frans Steyn.

SA rugby isn’t in the habit of setting loose teenagers, but we’ve known prodigies through the years as players like Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies, Steyn himself, Joost van der Westhuizen and Pieter-Steph du Toit all converted the promise of their early years into substantial professional careers from early on.

Let’s not forget, too, that Pat Lambie and Handre Pollard were both handed Springbok debuts aged 20. Age is an irrelevance if the talent is there.

Another reality of the 2017 season is that the vacancy sign has gone up for the number 10 Bok jersey. Elton Jantjies is the man in possession, but it’s a tenuous grip given his hot-and-cold relationship with the job. Pat Lambie was also in the mix last season, but injury has hobbled his ambition.

Even Morné Steyn had a couple of run-outs last year, but he’s transitioned into the role of emergency call-up. He’ll always get the job done, but you wouldn’t invest SA’s 2019 hopes in him.

Pollard is supposedly the coming man, but the jury is still out on his chances this year given that he’s well into the Super Rugby season after long-term injury but is yet to produce the form that made him a must-pick player. It’s probably unfair to expect him to be firing, particularly with the Bulls sleep-walking through the tournament, and he is a proven performer. He’ll definitely be in the mix.

The story of Jantjies, Pollard, Lambie and Steyn proves how South Africa has struggled to find the perfect 10. All have their attributes, but none took conclusive ownership of the jersey last season.

Injury has also dented the hopes of another fine prospect in Jean-Luc du Plessis, the son of the prince of wings, Carel. He’s a beautiful passer of the ball and until his injury had looked the picture of pure class in Super Rugby. He’ll be a contender soon enough.

It’s still early days with Bosch and I still want to see how he’ll go on a wet day in New Zealand, with big Maori buggers chasing him down. To be sure, he’s not quite the finished article. His failed clearance kick near the end last week cost the Sharks as Andries Coetzee took the ball up for Jaco Kriel’s match-winning score. Just so long as he learns from these soft moments.

Australia has a wonderful attitude towards blooding youngsters. Because their depth is so limited, they invariably throw them in early – because they have to. It’s the sink-or-swim philosophy and most thrive.

Already the debate has begun about Bosch playing Test rugby. If I was picking the Bok XV today, I probably wouldn’t have him there. I need to first see him handle a few more big moments, including a brutal day in New Zealand when the fur is flying.

But I would be sorely tempted to have him on the bench to unleash him at 15 or 10 late in the game, to see how he will go as the supporting actor rather than the star man. Let’s get used to the cheers. He’ll give cause for many. – © Sunday Tribune

 

 

 

 

SA cricket gains fast unravelling

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Guest column (by Luke Alfred)

When Adam Voges burst on the scene – the verb is clichéd but appropriate – there was the quietly expressed hope that Australian cricket might have found another Mike Hussey. The ‘late-developer’ tag was given further credibility when on Test debut against the West Indies in Dominica in June 2015, Voges scored a patient 130 not out, anchoring the Aussie innings of 318 in a nine-wicket win.

Six months later, Voges was at it again. He scored 269 not out at Hobart in the first Test of the reverse series, following it up with another hundred – 106 not out, this time – at the MCG in Test two.

After his first five Tests, all against the West Indies, Voges had a staggeringly implausible Test average of 542. The Hussey comparison was looking less and less far-fetched. 

Such salad days were fated not to last. Back in Hobart for his 20th Test last November, Voges was deemed complicit in Australia being bowled out by the Proteas for 85 as they lost the second Test – and so the series – by an innings and 80 runs. It wasn’t only the fact that he failed in both innings’, scoring 0 and 2, but the manner of his dismissal that counted against him. Before nicking him off in the first innings, Vernon Philander bowled him an over of such sublime control that Voges looked like a promising under 14-A schoolboy promoted briefly into the first X1 nets so the coach could have a look. Fresh from his long ankle-injury layoff, Philander slapped Voges around before administering an overhand right of eerie perfection. It was beautiful to watch in an almost creepy kind of way.

In one morning of terror, Vern and Kyle Abbott (in the second innings) consigned a raft of very fine Aussie cricketers – Joe Mennie, Joe Burns, Callum Ferguson, Peter Nevill – to the scrap heap of history. Their selectors changed the side substantially for the third Test, which Australia won, and so began their re-building which culminated in their hearty, heads-high four-Test scrap against India a couple of weeks ago.

Lest we forget, the Hobart Test in November contained another story: one which has matured across the summer. Replying to Australia’s 85, South Africa were 132 for five when Hashim Amla was out for 47, the lead no more than nominal. This was until De Kock (104) and Temba Bavuma (74) combined for a sixth-wicket stand of 144, the highest partnership of the Test, and one which ensured the Proteas didn’t have to bat again.

So often this summer and De Kock’s class (think the second and third Tests against New Zealand) and Bavuma’s grit have shored up the South African batting. The problem is that the selectors and the brains trust have apparently been reluctant to ask why this should be so – until the third Test against New Zealand, that is, when they bravely jettisoned Stephen Cook (for me, the correct decision) for Theunis de Bruyn, the right man in the wrong position.

WWe’re now in a pickle larger than anyone has had the courage to acknowledge

The result of this late fiddling is that ahead of our next Test assignment against England in a couple of months’ time, however, and we’re now in a pickle larger than anyone has had the courage to acknowledge. De Bruyn might justify his place but he’s not an opener; contra Tom Eaton, I would argue that JP Duminy isn’t the Graeme Hick but the Shane Watson of the national side and must go for once and for all. Amla, for all his quick-handed gifts, is looking increasingly weary, a sadness which must be confronted.

Batting struggles at the top of the order mean that pressure is transferred downward. Peter Pollock’s famed “90 for five syndrome” has, in fact, morphed into the 80 for five syndrome – exactly what we were at close on the fourth day in the third Test against the Kiwis.

The upshot of all of this is that the gains of a fascinating season are unravelling before our eyes because the selectors weren’t brave enough at home against our weakest opposition of the summer – Sri Lanka. The Cook axing had about it the air of something frantic and ill-conceived. Although it was the right decision, it came at the wrong time.

There’s a further issue. The Proteas’ batting fragilities have been shored up by Bavuma at six and De Kock at seven, which is all well and good, but it means place for only four bowlers. The Philander who started the summer was considerably perkier than the Philander who finished it, and Kagiso Rabada is being over-bowled. We’ve lost Abbott and who knows how much longer Dale Steyn can run in for. Duanne Olivier doesn’t do enough – or offer enough variation – to trouble good batsmen on good batting wickets.

As England demonstrated when they were here last summer, their stellar batting line-up demands that you bring your ‘A’ game with five bowlers. This has been a better summer than might reasonably have been expected. Faf du Plessis has brought a verve and warmth to his captaincy lacking under De Villiers and there have been new discoveries like Kershav Maharaj. South Africa have put some very good Test cricketers – think Voges – to the sword. This said, the winter is vrot with danger. For our Test side as well as the country at large.

Luke Alfred is a celebrated sports writer and a multiple winner at the SAB media awards.

SA rugby – there’s revolution in the air

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Madosh Tambwe laughs at the suggestion that he could be anything other than South African.

He was a month old when his parents upped sticks from Kinshasa and moved to South Africa, where his dad was hired as an engineer, just as the embers of the First Congo War were dying down.

He grew up in the suburbs of Joburg, played soccer at Highlands Park and tried his hand at rugby at Parktown Boys. He was lithe and quick, his 10,61 sec best for the 100m making him a devastating finisher. Rugby won the day.

Just 19, he scored two tries for the Lions in just his second Super Rugby match last weekend.

As a pro rugby player, Tambwe is firmly on his way.

MMadosh Tambwe.

Tambwe is at the vanguard of a quiet revolution brewing in South African rugby. With the country having cast off its skunk nation status in the early 1990s, it has since attracted émigrés from all over Africa. Inevitably, their offspring have adopted the cultural mores of their new homeland, some gravitating towards rugby on account of their size, their schooling or their background.

The early forebears of this revolution were players like the Sharks’ Beast Mtawarira (born in Harare), former Lions strongman Brian Mujati (born in Bulawayo), the Cheetahs’ Raymond Rhule (born in Accra, Ghana) and Kennedy Tsimba (born in Harare), who used to play for the Cheetahs.

Not forgetting Zimbabwe-born Tonderai Chavhanga, the lightning-quick wing who still holds the Springbok record for tries in a Test match, his six against Uruguay in 2005 earning him his place in the record books.

SSuch players added to the curious pot-pourri of colours, languages and cultures that make up SA rugby

A few years ago Daniel Adongo of Kenya, who spent time at the Sharks academy, passed through SA rugby with stops in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. An enormous athlete, it came as no surprise that he finally ended up with the Indianapolis Colts as a linebacker.

Not only have such players added to the curious pot-pourri of colours, languages and cultures that make up SA rugby, they have undoubtedly helped transform the game. As black players, they represent the sport in its most inclusive form, a not unimportant factor in a game that still grapples with its identity.

Happily, this development shows no sign of abating. Chrysander Botha of Namibia was born in Walvis Bay, but has played almost all his senior rugby in SA where he now turns out for the Kings. He played junior and senior rugby at the Lions and also had a season at the Falcons.

The Cheetahs have also just gained the extravagantly named Luther Banks St Charles Obi from the Bulls.

Obi was born in Nigeria, but has flourished as a player in SA where he won selection as a wing to the national under-20 squad in 2013. He scored a brace of tries in his five appearances and was joint-second in the try-scoring at the Junior World Cup behind teammate Seabelo Senatla.

On the Sevens front, Tim Agaba is one of the standouts and starred in the Olympics. He was born in Uganda.

This revolution also represents a strong counterpoint to the endless player drain away from South Africa with Europe and Japan now almost an inevitable stop on a player’s career trajectory. The players themselves may not be drawn to SA, but from the decision of their parents to seek better lives has sprung this unintended consequence.

“I don’t even think about it,” says Tambwe, whose guardian happens to be Andrew van Zyl, a Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight champion and coach of the Parktown Boys first XV. “I feel blessed and privileged the way things have turned out.”

His heroes – Anthony Volmink, Courtnall Skosan, Sonny Bill Williams and Quade Cooper – could be any aspirant’s. His place of birth matters little in a rugby context to him; he just wants to play.

For years, England was the fortunate recipient of young Nigerian talent with big Maro Itoje – born in the UK of Nigerian parents – the latest tyro off the line. Loads more, like Adedayo Adebayo, Steve Ojomoh and Victor Ubogu were born or raised in Nigeria. Given their physical characteristics, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if more headed our way.

Indeed, celebrating SA rugby’s great melting pot is a welcome departure from the usual moans and groans that accompany the game.

The revolution is at our door. Let’s welcome it. – © Sunday Tribune