Sport Matters

The ultimate. . . This old man, who dressed up for the race, feels young at heart running the 90km Comrades Marathon. The 2014 edition runs on Sunday THIS is Comrades Marathon week, as the 2014 edition of the big roadrunning event takes place on Sunday. This fact alone is lost on the imagination of the wider population of the country. Comrades is no longer in the hearts and minds of South Africans, from children to the elderly, as it used to be. Sunday is just three days away and yet the once powerful Comrades spirit is not lingering in the air, and there is hardly any discussion going where people meet, on the radio, social media, nowhere. In the days gone by the discourse around the favourites and the prestige of the race itself would be reaching fever peak these last days ahead of the big day. What went wrong? Perhaps the general mood of our society has changed in the past decade that things which used to be held in high esteem do not matter anymore. Could it be that we are ...

Since the miracle by Simon Magakwe last weekend when he broke SA's 26-year-old 100m record, a sense of believe has been sparked that similar achievements in South Africa could be realised in roadrunning this weekend. The targets are the two course records at the 56km Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, which like the old 100m mark, had been up for grabs since the 1980s. The men's record of 3:03:44 (1988) has stood as stoically as the character of its holder, the late Thompson Magawana, while the women's mark of 3:30:36 (1989) is held by the legendary Frith van der Merwe. Two Oceans' 2014 edition on Saturday in Cape Town has additional appetiser of R1million for the winners who set the new course records, and Van der Merwe expressed confidence in a statement on Tuesday that her record could go. She remembers how an incentive of a car spurred her on to a "comfortable" victory 25 years ago. "The car was enough to motivate me, so the R1-millio...

Destroyer. . . Firmin Ndombe Mubele of AS Vita Club scored the hattrick which ended Kaizer Chiefs run in 2014 CAF Champions League. Mubele starred for DR Congo during the CHAN tournament in SA in January. The early fall of Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United in 2014 CAF competitions served to highlight the shortcomings of South African football in the international arena. Complaints about referees notwithstanding, we just don't know how to prepare for the game at this level. Orlando Pirates had a brave run last year in the Champions League, losing to Al Ahly in the final. But even then, Pirates were not a dominating force but just managing to scrape through mostly on the away goal rule until the Egyptian giants brought it to an end.  Once again, SA clubs were eliminated early, mostly due to poor preparation. After relatively pleasant trips to Windhoek and Maputo in the earlier rounds of the Championship, Chiefs came unstuck in Kinshasa, losing 0-3 to AS Vita of Congo. Re...

The future. . . Ayabulela Magqwaka, the captain of the SA under-20 team. Why was he not considered for Chan? I suspect even the Safa executive does not know him, but that's how clumsy South Africa has been with football development. His name is Ayabulela Magqwaka. In case you are wondering what's special about this name, he's the national captain for the under-20 team. So what? He led from the front in Lesotho where his team won the Cosafa Youth Cup, beating Kenya 2-0 in the final. Kenya was playing as an invited guest to strengthen the competition. Magqwaka scored one of the goals in the event which took place in December. Subsequent to his exploits in Maseru, a week later his team Ajax Cape Town offered him a contract which promoted him from the team's under-19 squad to the senior team. He was signed with his national teammate, Rivaldo Coetzee, with whom he won various youth titles playing with the Ajax Cape Town Youth Academy. Magqwaka has had a well paved...

Ever since Floyd Mayweather's trip here was announced by the South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula I have been wondering about the purpose of the controversial boxing champion Floyd Mayweather's visit. Well, I am not in the dark anymore because "Money" has said it himself: "I don't know why I'm here but it's good to be in Africa." Of course it's good to be in Africa, despite all the troubles the continent experiences and you got to love Mayweather for his honesty in this instance. Mbalula has brought to the sport minsitry, which for a long time had been stagnanted by his predecessors. However, the trouble with "Fiks" are two main distractions to his mission:  his love of the party and obsession of for US celebrities. If Mayweather is here to inspire somebody - youth or boxers - then he does not come fully equipped for that task. This was seen by his late arrival at the Dube Boxing Club in Soweto today. He visibly thr...

Man to watch. . . Abdoulaye Sissoko, left, shows why he's the man to mark when Mali meet South Africa today. Sidibe, Traore, Sissoko, Diarra, Coulibaly. . . these are the names any Mali football team is likely to have. Mali players are characteristically lanky and muscular. They play in a semi-professional league which is largely based in the capital Bamako, with very little organised football in far-flung regions of the massive country. Given this usual background about Mali football, what's there to fear for South Africa ahead of their Chan 2014 fixture this evening? Well, Mali beat Nigeria 2-1 in their opening match, and their tactical aptitude and aggressive approach were a delight to watch in that match. Does this now mean restless time for Bafana Bafana? It should not be. Mali is not Bafana's problem, self-doubt is what limits the host team. Fair enough, it was Mali which kicked South Africa out of the Afcon 2013, at the quarterfinals. Ironically, SA is h...

Talk of the town. . . The talented Quinton de Kock is not part of the SA Test team against India and yet he is the talking point. The whispers and groans about Quinton de Kock continued at the Wanderers where the first Test between South Africa and India began without glitches earlier today. The Proteas took  two early wickets as the visitors bagged 70 runs at lunch. As was the case in the run-up to the match, the absence of the young run machine De Kock continued to rub South Africa's cricket fans in different ways. While there are those confessing understanding for the reasons De Kock was excluded from the Test team after a memorable showing in the ODI series against selfsame, others feel they were shortchanged. The talk about De Kock being young and inexperienced at this level of the game is not far-fetched. Though I don't have a fiery quarrel against this sentiment, I do not, at the same time, support it. The paying fans at the stadium, more so this time of the yea...