Following the Dream

I remember playing every kind of sport we knew how to with my brother in our backyard while growing up as kids… We had a lot of fierce battles in our time and although he won most of our Test matches and derbies, I like to think I was stiff competition for him despite being 4 years younger.

 For some strange reason though, when I think back to those contests, I remember us doing it just like they did on TV. We went all out. If we played cricket Tests, we had pitch reports, pre-match interviews and commentated throughout the game. If we played football we’d have pre match build up discussions and analysis, interviews with coaches and star players. We did it all. I’m sure we could’ve taught the SABC and Supersport a thing or two. We were really good at it.

Growing up, I had this dream that I’d grow up and play cricket for the Proteas or football for Ajax Cape Town or rugby for the Sharks. I was a young boy from a small town in the Eastern Cape with no idea how big the country was or how many little boys wanted to play professional sport when they grew up. I thought my brother and I were the 2 most talented kids anywhere because we dominated against the other kids in our street. Give me a bike; I’d leave any other kid eating my dust. I might have even had dreams of being a motorsport champion. No one could tell me I wasn’t good.

But somewhere along the way, probably in high school when I discovered girls and parties I might have realised as good as I might have been, I wasn’t the most talented kid around and that I wasn’t prepared or motivated enough to put in the work and sacrifices some kids were making so that they could reach the next level and make it in pro sports later on. However, one dream I kept firmly was making a success of myself in the media. It wasn’t part of the original vision, but it was such a big part of our adventures, it became one of the dreams that took up a big part of my life.

This past week, that dream came true. Monday the 31^st of March marked the official beginning of my career in broadcasting. I took up the position of sports anchor on Kovsie FM’s afternoon drive show, the Vodacom Drive from 3 to 6pm. I wouldn’t be foolish enough to believe I’ve made it now, but it’s been a great start. The rush of being on live radio and being with an incredibly talented group of people is more amazing than anything I could’ve imagine in the backyard at number 10 Tafelberg Road, Bergsig. I think to myself, if this is how it is in the beginning how much more sensational can it get?

One thing though, I’m so thankful for those many days I spent playing with and against my brother. I wouldn’t have loved sport as much or been doing what I do now.

 

Imagine if…

Imagine the Premier Soccer League had a progressive club owner whose single-mindedness stretched beyond running his team with autonomy and cared to make a meaningful contribution to developing South African football before making money out of the game. I reckon if I was a football club owner in the PSL, I would get my accountants in, get my books in order, do my research, prepare a knockout proposal and then make a call to Abu Dhabi, to the owners of Manchester City, inviting them to invest in my club.

The Manchester club has launched an ambitious project where it aims to create a network of football clubs based in the world’s most iconic cities. In the past week it was announced that a Man City led consortium had purchased Australia’s Melbourne Heart Football Club. The deal sees City acquire a controlling 80% stake in the club and National Rugby League outfit Melbourne Storm the remaining 20%. It is a similar agreement to the one City entered into in May 2013 with the New York Yankees to secure ownership of the newly formed New York City Football Club who will join the USA’s Major League Soccer when it expands in 2015.

The Man City CEO said they chose to branch out into those two cities because both have a strong sporting culture and it helps that both clubs are in emerging markets as an important attribute of this project is to be successful both on and off the field. The MLS has developed into one of the best league outside of Europe and is able to attract quality players and football has great potential for growth in the States. So too with the venture into Australia and the Asian market which City hope to infiltrate. 

On the field, NYCFC have already hired one of the best young coaches in America as their manager and begun scouting and recruiting operations and the expectation is that they will have a strong line-up when the 2015 season starts. Having a new and powerful club with the ability to attract players of high calibre will undoubtedly increase the quality and strength of the MLS. Melbourne Heart on the other hand is currently in last place in the A-League standings having won only three of their 18 games this season. Their sale has come with the pledge from City that they will improve youth coaching and teams as well as the senior squad which already has a few coaches in the League predicting they will be genuine contenders next season.

It should be evident then why having Manchester City buying into your club would be an attractive idea for club owners over here? City would bring a wealth of resources both on and off the field, would help to develop our coaches and talent; and the buzz generated by City investing in South Africa would create interest from, among others, the locals who mainly support international football. And again, like with the MLS and A-League, having another strong team that can seriously challenge for title honours will improve the standard of the PSL.

Would City be interested in buying into a South African club? I think so. They have been here twice in the last five years on preseason tours; they have had a chance to experience what we are capable of producing off the pitch and the level our clubs are at on it. This past preseason they lost 2-0 to Supersport United and narrowly beat Amazulu 2-1 and in 2009 they lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates. We have iconic cities in Joburg and Cape Town both with rich sporting history and culture and if there was anywhere to invest in African football it would be in SA. We have the richest and arguably strongest league and certainly the most watchable and as a product can compete with international leagues.

However, it would take a bold, ambitious owner to even think about making a call and asking to talk to Man City’s representatives. Our club owners aren’t always forward thinking and it seems to me that many like things the way they are. They enjoy having nobody to answer to way too much to give away their power.

SA Athletes Paying The Price of Egos and Free Overseas Trips

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, South Africa had a 20 year old sprinter in the final of the 200m sprint event, lining up alongside the likes of Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Christophe Lemaitre, Wallace Spearmon and Warren Weir. He only came in 8^th place that day but, with all things equal, it’s not hard to imagine that young man winning a medal at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. However, because of boardroom bungles, Anaso Jobodwana could be in the colours of the USA and not the green and gold South African vest and I would cheer loudly for him!

This past weekend, Athletics South Africa was suspended as a member the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) with immediate effect. It’s all a dirty affair. It is no secret that ASA has not been the best run organisation in recent years. In fact just over 2 months ago, its board incurred its first suspension by ASA owing to financial problems and infighting which led to an attempt by board members to impeach ASA president James Evans, which was later, ruled unconstitutional.

Now depending on what else you might have read on the situation and who you choose to believe you might be inclined to take the side of Sascoc as news came to light over the past few days that ASA is running out of funds, so says Zola Majavu, a well respected advocate who was appointed by ASA as an administrator. He was summarily dismissed after the decision that Sascoc made and has had undisclosed criminal charges lain against him by the ASA president. However ASA still has the support of the IAAF. Gideon Sam has been displeased with the IAAF’s stance and has likened it to Sascoc’s legitimacy as the sports authority in South Africa being denied. In other sections of the media, Sam, along with Sascoc, has been labelled as bully on a power trip. Graeme Joffe, a popular sports journalist formerly with CNN & a fierce critic of Sascoc and its leaders has called this suspension a ploy by Sam to have his cronies elected to the ASA board. So far, for my mind, this smells like a pair of 12 year olds sitting in a hostel dorm room counting who of the two has more pubic hairs. It would be very comical except that this seemingly petty squabble involves adults.

And what of the athletes, the most important entity in this whole equation? Almost no mention has been made of them. Well they, along with the organisation and its board, are suspended too. Sascoc has really gone all out to prove what a mighty force they are by proclaiming that no ASA athletes will be included in future Team South Africa squads for the Commonwealth Youth Games, Commonwealth Games, Anoca Youth Games, All Africa Games, Olympic Youth Games, Olympic Games and the World Student Games in which Jobodwana was due to participate in 9 days’ time. Sascoc has also cut funding and support for ASA athletes who were identified as potential medal hopefuls like Sunette Viljoen and Godfrey Mokoena by Sascoc's Operation Excellence (Opex) programme. Since when did any of our athletes represent ASA and not South Africa?

When athletes have to suffer at the hands of the administrators who are supposed to be protecting their best interests, such as in this case, it becomes clear that sporting matters have been thrown out the window and all that is at stake are egos, expense accounts, free overseas trips and the like. Self interest is at stake and it’s hindering South African athletes quite possibly for many years to come. Our athletes cannot improve or become world beaters with consistently competing in international events or getting funds for costly resources and training. And what is to motivate youngsters to take up track and field seriously when no South African athletes get to compete against the best because of the suits?

If this was an athletics matter, Sascoc would suspend the ASA board and take away their funding but continue to help the athletes. They say the suspension could be over in a couple of months but what damage would have been done by then? What will Jobodwana think of when someone from the US athletics body promises him near unlimited funding, facilities and every resource he needs in order to compete for them? Will he be thinking loyalty or will he be thinking about a great opportunity to become the best in the world? If I saw him at the next Olympics with the letters U-S-A across his chest, I would be happy for him and I wouldn’t find fault with his decision, would you?

-

Mawande Mateza

Follow me on Twitter @Mawandinho

Side note: Anaso Jobodwana completed his second year at Jackson State University in Oxford, Mississippi in May this year. He ran a best time of 20.13 in the 200m this year and placed fourth in the NCAA National Championships. He also ran a best time of 10.10 in the 100m.

South Africans in the NFL

Gary Anderson Trading Card

South African sports fans may not recognize the name Gary Anderson readily but he could possibly be the country's most successful sporting export and certainly the country's finest contributor to American football.

Anderson was born in Parys in the Free State in 1958 and raised in Durban. Upon completing high school, his family moved to the United States. His father, Douglas Anderson was a professional soccer player in England before moving to South Africa. Gary played soccer and cricket at school.

Newly moved to the Pennsylvania in the States, Gary decided on a whim to compare kicking a soccer ball to kicking a football similar to the ones in the NFL, at a nearby school. He was spotted by a local coach who was acquainted to Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil who invited him to try out with the NFL team. Anderson was offered scholarships by 4 colleges whose coaches attended the Eagles' trials. He chose to attend Syracuse University because they agreed to let him play both soccer and football. He scored 19 goals in his first 2 years at Syracuse for their soccer team before devoting himself completely to football.

Mr Automatic in action for the Steelers.

Anderson was noted for his high levels of concentration in the professional game which he attributes to playing cricket as an opening batsman in his school days. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 1983 NFL draft before being cut from the squad which led to him being signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was nicknamed Mr. Automatic at the Steelers owing to his remarkable kicking accuracy. He is noted as a pioneer for accuracy in the NFL. His career success rate for kicks at goal stands at 80.1% which is the second best in NFL history.

Anderson played in the NFL for 23 years, phenomenal considering that the average NFL career spans 3, 5 years. He is one of only 3 men including Morten Andersen and George Blanda to have played in over 300 career games in the NFL. In 2000, he became the highest points scorer in NFL history and his record of 2434 points stood until 2006 when it was broken by Morten Andersen.

Gary and his wife, Kay, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Anderson spent 13 years at the Steelers before playing for 4 other teams in his career including the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans. Amongst his long list of achievements is the perfect season he achieved with the Vikings in 1998 where he was successful with all 94 of his kicks in the regular season, a major contributor to the Vikings' record of 15 wins and only one loss in the regular season that year.

Anderson was named in the NFL Team of the Decade for the 1980s and 1990s and in 1983 was named as the Steelers Most Valuable Player for the season which is almost unheard of for a kicker. He has one of the highest accolades that can be bestowed to a player in any sport in that the number 1 jersey that he wore for the Steelers has been retired in his honour.

Anderson's career is the stuff of legends. He was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame which in itself is huge considering that only 1 kicker in the history of the NFL has been inducted in the hall of fame. Anderson retired from football in 2004. He maintains ties with his homeland; he was in the country during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and still maintains a heavy South African accent.

Two other South Africans have played in the NFL. There is the story that goes around that legendary Springbok flyhalf Naas Botha played in the NFL. He was invited by the Dallas Cowboys to try out for their team as a kicker. He played in a couple of exhibition games for the franchise dubbed America's Favourite Team but in the main he was unsuccessful in his trial and was not signed on by the Cowboys and spent the majority of his time in the US playing rugby for the Dallas Harlequins which he led to the 1984 USA National Club Championship.

Jerome Pathon at the New Orleans Saints

Cape Town born Jerome Pathon played wide receiver in 99 NFL games and scored 15 touch downs in his career spanning 8 years with 3 teams the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. Most notably, he was drafted by the Colts in 1998 along with Peyton Manning. He last played in the NFL in 2005 and is currently a coach at the University of South Florida.

Linebacker Ezra Butler had a less spectacular career in the NFL. He was signed by the Saints in 2011 after unsuccessful stints on the practice squads of the 49ers and the New York Jets. However he did win two championships with the Las Vegas Locomotives who play in the minor United Football League.

- Mawande Mateza
follow on twitter @Mawandinho

Many thanks to Ben Morgan

Len Tau & Jan Mashiani: SA Sporting History's Forgotten Men

The names of Len Tau and Jan Mashiani ought to be familiar with most South Africans; after all they were a part of the country’s 1^st ever representatives at Olympic Games when they participated at the 3^rd Olympiad in St Louis in 1904 and indeed were the continent’s first black athletes to compete at the Games. However their story is not celebrated; no facilities, awards or scholarships are named in their honour and most of what you would find on the net and what you would read about them is a little obscure. 

Background

In 1904, the city of St Louis in the United States hosted the World’s Fair, a celebration of all the different peoples of the globe. Tau and Mashiani were in St Louis as labourers of General Piet Cronje who held a Boer exhibit and a stage play at the Fair. Due to this event’s popularity, interest in the Olympics fell by the way side and only athletes from 13 countries competed n the Games. To avoid disaster and meager attendance, organizers of the Olympics opened up the event and invited everybody to participate which is how Tau and Mashiani were allowed to compete. 

Marathon

Len Tau (left) and Jan Mashiani (right)

Tau and Mashiani competed in the marathon event and finished 9^th and 13^th respectively on a scorching hot day in St Louis were half of the runners didn’t complete the race.  Records say it was a comical race; the race was won by Thomas Hicks of America in the slowest time ever recorded for the marathon at the Olympic, a record that still stands today. Hicks was fed egg whites and brandy during the race to keep his energy levels and stamina up and it widely told that Tau would have finished the race in a quicker time and finished higher placed had he not been chased by a dog which forced him to stray off the curse for several miles.  

Legacy

Tau who is recorded in some history books as Lentauw, Len Taw or Len Taunyane and Mashiani who is also referred to as Yamasian didn’t return to the country triumphantly or to any sort of rousing welcome as is the norm with our athletes and sports teams today. I was a little saddened to see that most the records and re-tellings of this almost unlikely story are from overseas stories. It seems as though history has tucked away the story these two men and in a land where we celebrate the modern heroes  legends of folklore are forgotten.

A Little Less Hype Please.

Serfontein: Highly Talented

Young centre Jan Serfontein is undoubtedly a very talented rugby player. Last year, he won the IRB's Junior Player of the Year after starring in the South Africa under 20 team that won the IRB Junior World Championship.

Prior to the start of this year's Super Rugby tournament, his potential is being talked up and some have gone as far as naming him the brightest talent in the centre position that SA has had since Danie Gerber, the great Springbok centre of the 1980s and early 1990s. That's a pretty big rap to give someone so young and also considering that over the last 10 or so years SA has had centres like Robbie Fleck, Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie.

I reckon we have to be careful in South Africa about hyping up our young players. Serfontein is still only 19 and will in all probability turn out for the Baby Boks again this year. We've also got to remember that he has minimal Currie Cup experience and hasn't got a Super Rugby game under his belt yet. Now, I am all for young talent and firmly believe in the mantra that goes "if he's good enough, he's old enough"; but we have to be responsible with our expectations. It is one thing to say a guy has talent but totally another to compare him to the greats in the infancy of his career.

We have the benefit of hindsight to point at instances of youngsters we expected so much from but didn't fulfill their potential in our eyes. In 2002, Derick Hougaard scored a record 26 points in the Blue Bulls' Currie Cup triumph that year and soon after was compared to Naas Botha. He debuted for the Boks in the 2003 Rugby World Cup against Uruguay and went on to play 7 more games in the green and gold. I would think that he is proud to have represented his country in those 8 games but at the same time i do think he would have liked to played in more games for the Boks and many of the rugby public think he could have as well. Victor Mpitsang holds the distinction of being the youngest ever South African to play in a One Day International game for the Proteas at age 18. He was compared to a young Makhaya Ntini and some said he was in fact a better prospect than theMdingi Express. He may have had the world at his feet back then, but since his debut he only played in 1 more ODI game for the Proteas. Ntini played in 101 Tests and 173 ODIs.

I don't dispute his talent and Serfontein may well prove that the hype was justified one day.
We have to manage our expectations.  I don't think it is necessary to point fingers, name names and compare youngsters to the greats. I don’t think it is helpful to the athletes we compare and it doesn’t really achieve anything other than to give us something to talk about at braais, at the pub or on social networks. There's time enough for things like that when careers have been forged and when they've built their own names.