Sport Matters

For the longest time the so-called Cinderella sports codes had been receiving the shorter end of the stick as far as media coverage is concerned. In the past, the argument used by newspapers to shut out the "minor" sports such as table tennis, volleyball, karate and judo, just to mention a few example, was that the space in the sports section was limited.  The editors would also claim that the heavyweights which enjoy commercial backing, such as football, rugby and cricket for example, carried too much punch power for flyweight codes. The sports editors were bluffing of course. Firstly, many of them simply did not have interest or understood the "smaller" sports, so they despised them. Secondly, the editors hobnobbed with the bossed of the big sports for opportunities of international travel and other favours, so they did their damnedest to cover those sports in the name of "that's what the readers" want. Today, newspapers have active online platforms

Quo Vadis Proteas... losing to the Netherland in a decider for a place in the semifinals of the T20 Cricket World Cup was damaging for South Africa. It was a weekend to forget for South Africa as far as international sport is concerned. First on the chopping block on Saturday were the rugby side the Springboks losing 19-16 to Ireland in Dublin. It was intense, high pressure game which the Boks could have won had their goalkicking was on point on the evening. There were two or three clumsy moments by the South Africans and such errors were bound to be punished as the Irish are not just a decent rugby but the No 1 Test team right now. There were times when the Springboks were never unflustered by big occasions far away from home and that's what the characteristic the team must retrace to command respect again.  To say 19-16 loss to the team rated top is no consolation because the current ranking does not make any team invincible. We should have won in Dublin. Sunday was double heartb