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 11th 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