The 2011 keo.co.za awards
6 Dec 2011
JON CARDINELLI and RYAN VREDE rate the real winners and losers of the 2011 season.
THE HEROES by Ryan Vrede
The Irresistible Force - To watch Schalk Burger live borders on a spiritual experience. His work-rate can only be fully appreciated when you watch him effect a tackle then spring from the ground as if it were strewn with scorpions, track across the field and make another, then another and yet another. There is nothing elegant about his ball carrying, but what it lacks in panache it makes up for in power which is fuelled by a deep determination to cross the gainline. He was outstanding at the World Cup and has yet to show signs of a drop-off in potency. Thank God. The Springboks are significantly less formidable without Schalla.
Rocking Rookie - Jaco Taute is an excellent prospect and has the makings of a Springbok. The Lions fullback plays with a healthy disregard of failure, a trait I last saw as strongly exhibited in a young Frans Steyn. He will be central to the Lions’ Super Rugby cause in 2012. Franchises with better prospects of Super Rugby success are sure to be suitors in the coming years. The Lions have to secure his short-term future if they are serious about significant advancement.
And now for something completely different - Israel Dagg plays Test rugby with the freedom of kid on a run out with mates in the local park. There are players I’d pay to see left on the team coach, then those, like Dagg, who somehow justify the mind-blowing ticket prices for Tests. He has a complete technical skills set and the temperament to amplify his threat. But, like the greats, he has something in reserve – that indefinable quality that ‘x-factor’ doesn’t completely do justice too. The try he crafted for Ma’a Nonu in the World Cup semi-final is a prime example and was the most sublime piece of individual play I’ve ever seen live. He will be, at least, as good as the great Christian Cullen. He is my Player of the Year.
Bloody Legend - Richie McCaw’s foot was held together by hope and steel during the World Cup. Doctors had advised him to miss the tournament, explaining that there was no way he could endure the pain the injury would cause. They said the strong pain killing injections being administered wouldn’t dull the sensation of him tramping on needles everytime he put pressure on it. They said he would cause further, potentially permanent, damage. He said ‘thanks’ and set about confirming his status as the most decorated captain in the game’s history by lifting the Webb Ellis trophy.
#thatawesomemoment - For those fans with an appreciation for the theatre of the game (as opposed to the morons who chant ole ole ole) the All Blacks’ Haka in their pool match against France at Eden Park was breathtaking. The stadium fell silent and Piri Weepu’s call to prepare for battle was clearly audible. Then the super-charged collective challenge put to France reverberated around the stadium in a way I’ve never experienced. ‘Wow’, best encapsulates the magnitude of that moment.
Ground breakers from broken ground - Many of the Crusaders players were affected directly and indirectly by the earthquake that ravaged Christchurch early in 2011. It destroyed the AMI Stadium, forcing the Crusaders to play the bulk of their home Super Rugby matches in Timaru and Nelson. They travelled more than any franchise in the tournament, spending time on the road while family and loved ones who were rebuilding their homes and indeed their lives. Few gave them a chance of making the semi-final given the gruelling travel schedule they endured to get to Cape Town. Yet they won and then came desperately close to what would have been one of the great sporting achievements in history. We always knew they were big on talent. Now we know their hearts are equally sizeable.
THE VILLAINS by Jon Cardinelli
In the category of Dimwits in Denial, there were some strong contenders: the Springbok supporters who said Bryce Lawrence was solely to blame for South Africa’s early World Cup exit, as well as the South African journalists who joined the ‘Blame It On Bryce’ campaign instead of facing up to a less parochial reality. In the end, there is only one King of Calamity and in his last year in charge he stood head and shoulders above all the other candidates. Peter de Villiers has refused to admit that the Boks have been in decline since late 2009. The senior players have enjoyed too much freedom which has contributed to the creation of an insular culture rather than a progressive one. Unsurprisingly, De Villiers has maintained his stance that nothing was ever wrong and will be reapplying for the head coach post. Denial thy name is Divvy.
The Immovable Object – John Smit will be remembered as one of the greats of the South African and international game. In the context of the 2011 World Cup, however, he will be remembered as the man who stood in the way of Bismarck du Plessis. The best hooker in the world was in a foul mood towards the end of the tournament, as promises that he would start in South Africa’s big matches were broken. Smit also broke a promise made to the Boks in 2010 when he said that he would stand aside when it was clear that his best days were done. That time came and went long before the global showpiece.
Flop of the Year – In another example of the Bok selection shambles, De Villiers announced two weeks before the start of the World Cup that Morne Steyn would be his No 1 flyhalf. It came as a shock to many, including Butch James who had been told by the coach that he would start the big matches in New Zealand. Predictably, Steyn’s limitations on attack and frailty on defence cost the Boks, and his supposedly dependable goal-kicking game was anything but flawless.
Dinosaurs must die – Tobie Titus and the other freemasons at the Western Province compound have had the final say on the Cape Town Stadium issue, and woe betide anybody that brings this topic up again. When it was announced that Saracens would be playing Biarritz in a historic European Cup game at the Cape Town Stadium in January, Titus blew a fuse, stating that Newlands is the home of rugby in the Western Cape. Eventually Saracens decided to move the game back to England, and so Capetonians will miss out on the chance to watch the best of Europe slugging it out. Bizarrely, the Saracens team will still be coming to Cape Town in January for some R&R and to conduct a few coaching clinics. God, we have some useless administrators in this country.
…and while we’re talking about WP, a special mention must be made of the player management at the union. Peter Grant will enjoy a second stint in the Japanese league and miss the Stormers’ pre-season yet again. Just a couple of months after Lionel Cronje had been snapped up by the Bulls, the Stormers started targeting other young flyhalves like Burton Francis. The biggest management bungle, however, relates to a promising centre and an established international midfielder. Johann Sadie left Cape Town because Jaque Fourie was expected to hold a monopoly on the No 13 jersey in 2012, but just last week Fourie confirmed that he would be moving to Japan for the next two seasons. D’oh!
Daai’s (Nie) ‘n Try – Ahead of the 2011 league match between the Stormers and Crusaders, a mass contingent of Cape-based Crusaders fans mobbed the open training sessions. Some of the fans claimed to be connoisseurs who favoured the Crusaders because of their brand of rugby. Others said that their reasons for supporting a Kiwi team were rooted in South Africa’s segregated past. What escaped both groups of supporters was the fact that the Crusaders held a reputation as one of the more pragmatic teams in the tournament, and that the Crusaders were a predominantly white side. Fortunately we will enjoy a break from this deluded bunch next year, as the 2012 league match will take place in Christchurch.
Daai’s Nie ‘n Ref – Did Bryce Lawrence take one two many relaxants before the World Cup quarter-final match between Australia and South Africa? Lawrence adopted an ‘anything goes’ attitude towards managing the breakdown, and consistently avoided penalising either side in this facet of play. In the end, it was the Aussies that adapted best. Last week, Lawrence was honoured with a referee award in New Zealand. Perhaps there aren’t too many professional referees to choose from in Kiwiland, or Lawrence is in fact, as once suggested by Peter de Villiers himself, the son of IRB referee chief Paddy O’Brien.
Union in Turmoil – The chain of controversial events that characterised England’s World Cup campaign read like the script of a Will Ferrell movie. Dwarf-tossing, hotel-staff harassment, senior team members cavorting with mystery blondes, drunk junior players diving off moving ferries… all that was missing was a KY jelly wrestling match and Lewis Moody streaking through the quad en route to KFC. The rugby was also beyond ordinary, and unsurprisingly some important changes have since been instigated at RFU headquarters.
The Frank the Tank award – The colourful behaviour of the England squad paled in comparison to that of Zac Guildford post the World Cup. Bleeding from the head and naked, the All Blacks winger stumbled into a family restaurant in the Cook Islands and proceeded to clout a couple of patrons. Reports of this incident were succeeded by news that Guildford had verbally harassed a Cook Islands athlete, also while he was heavily intoxicated. Will Ferrell and co do come up with some madcap characters, but would struggle to dream up a fighting nude rugby player who also cruises the streets on a hired scooter shouting obscenities at young women. Crazy.
By Jon Cardinelli and Ryan Vrede
313 Comments
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7 Dec 2011, 10:52 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-249: There’s a difference between Civil Disobedience and Rioting.
I fully support the right of people to protest (in their own way) issues that they have a problem with. This includes peaceful mass action.
the London riots were everything but that. They were just an excuse for thuggery and opportunistic looting.
Many of those culprits are already sitting in jail.
As they should be.
You can say what you like about the root causes, but i don’t buy it in this case. It was carefully planned overreaction by certain interest groups to fan the flames in the name of their own causes, which had very little to do with the original incident.
7 Dec 2011, 11:09 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-249: You must be having a laugh.
So the police have a (deservedly) poor rep in the UK. So they shot and killed Duggan during an arrest. So a lot of people have lost faith in them and are angry.
But what in the name of fck does that have to do with thousands of kids smashing shop windows and helping themselves to flatscreen TV’s, Nike trainers and iPhones? Nothing, is the answer you’re looking for. These were just common, garbage variety thugs. Criminal kids. Thieves. And they are cut from the same cloth as SATAWU or NEHAWU or whatever-the-fck-WU looters who raid people’s shops and stalls, and burn down people’s vehicles and property in the name of “protest”.
And if you disagree with this, then you have a shitload of political growing up to do.
And just a little not on your man, Mark Duggan – he was a known drug dealer and a member of a well-known Tottenham gang. His uncle was also a gang leader. And his cousin was recently killed in a gang shooting. The police went to arrest him to stop his planned revenge killing. So whatever went down when they stopped his car, it’s not like they removed a sweet little angel from society.
7 Dec 2011, 11:50 am
@Gunther(gunther)-215: ROFL. There goes my bronchitis spillage…
7 Dec 2011, 11:55 am
Re the London riots. Suggest people read the report that’s just come out on the causes. It’s insightful.
7 Dec 2011, 11:56 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-252: @stormersboy(stormersboy)-251: really fellas, why latch on to one of the examples of protest that have occured in the rest of the world this year alone? not convinient?
7 Dec 2011, 12:01 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-255: Because MiniShwarma had the nerve to call the Liondon riots “protests” aimed at changing one’s situation. Go check, he mentioned them first.
7 Dec 2011, 12:08 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-255: it was a DA march mostly.
it was certainly not an anc march was it? considering the anc are the ones promulgating the bill?
cosatu cant have been a large part, nothing was broken.
7 Dec 2011, 12:16 pm
@Ryan(Ryan)-205: before jumping on that jet ski would you first deal with rangerman’s racist comments in posts 188 and 190.
7 Dec 2011, 12:30 pm
Reading Ryans opening sentence about Schalk, I get the impression that his trip to NZ is the first time he’s actually attended a rugby stadium, certainly not when Schalk was playing, and he assumes the rest of us haven’t either.
7 Dec 2011, 12:33 pm
@mvk(mvk)-258: they werent racist man, re-read them until you go blind.
i didnt think that word was negative until Dawn took offense and then i promised her i wouldnt use it again.
capiche?
7 Dec 2011, 12:34 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-257: really? are SANEF the DA? are the Right@Know Campaign people DA people?
tl tl tl.
Azapo, COSATU were as vociferous as the DA in opposing this bill, relax charlie
7 Dec 2011, 12:35 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-260: you were smart enough to put the spaces inbetween so that it is not blocked…clever ranger
7 Dec 2011, 12:39 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-261: uhm…….right now who do you think the members of sanef vote for suzy?
azapo? who the f cares what azapo do, they were wiped out by the mk youth in the townships in the ’80′s and couldnt organise a pi ss up in a brewery.
as for cosatu, like i said, not enough damage for them to have been massivley involved and they eat from the same swill as the anc.
surely their cadres are deployed in parliment? how did they vote re the secrecy bill?
haha, why does it make you so upset that the da led a march?
oh ja, because they is white ergo they dont march. right?
7 Dec 2011, 12:41 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-262: ****** is banned too, see? m o nk ey, harmless word.
j a p as well.
di ck?
ba b oon
ni g eri an
f u k
etc etc
cmon man, rather tell me why “whiteys” isnt banned?
7 Dec 2011, 12:43 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-260: i need to applaud you for your inventiveness!technically,the way you play around with that word,such a word does not exist in the english language.
7 Dec 2011, 12:44 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-263: you mean Mathata Tsedu and Mondli Makhanya vote for the DA? another one of your pie-in-the-sky claims… tl tl tl
you reckon Ferial Hafajee is member of the DA?
“upset”? hehehe…scarecrows don’t work my china
7 Dec 2011, 12:45 pm
@mvk(mvk)-265: which word?
7 Dec 2011, 12:48 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-266: they surely do now transie.
if they didnt already at the last election.
calm down man, i am just one man transie
7 Dec 2011, 12:50 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-266: transie i am thinking of attending the PE sevens to see how my EC rugby brethren are coming along and to cheer the blitzbokkies.
shall we have this argument over a beer?
7 Dec 2011, 12:52 pm
ryan,we need to remove scum like rangerman from posting on this well respected blog.it’s in your best interest mate ,otherwise you might as well kiss that jest ski goodbye when the website gets wrapped up in legal matters because of scum like rangerman.
7 Dec 2011, 12:52 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-264: relax, i’m not calling you anything let alone a racist
hey sparky, so you disagree with the professor who wrote that article, in your miond white folks protest/demonstrate all the time?
7 Dec 2011, 12:56 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-268: ho hum
and you know this how?
you’re right you’re only one man, stop making assumptions
7 Dec 2011, 12:56 pm
@Michael(mikeybrass)-253:
I think Ryan has hit me with a banning order for it.
7 Dec 2011, 12:57 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-269: great! will be there like a bear both days.
7 Dec 2011, 12:57 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-271:
sparky? LMAO!
listen up lofty, i couldnt give a toss what “most black people” or “most white people” do capiche?
that was my point.
i care what individuals do because if the kuk hits the fan, no band of whiteys is gonna ride in to save me.
my family or a bunch of randoms might.
@mvk(mvk)-270: wrapped up in legal issues?
7 Dec 2011, 12:58 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-273: Gerald “fingers” Bacher
Majola plays victim, says Ali Bacher also got big bonus
SIPHO MASOMBUKA and CHUMANI BAMBANI | 06 December, 2011 23:4217 Comments
Cricket SA CEO Gerald Majola told the Nicholson Commission yesterday that the organisation’s board had failed to familiarise him with the Companies Act Picture: HALDEN KROG
Cricket boss Gerald Majola yesterday broke his almost two-year silence on the game’s bonus scandal, in which he has been deeply implicated, by casting blame in several directions.
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Majola took R8m in bonuses
CSA never ceases to amaze: iLIVE
Nicholson inquiry hits snags In his defence, a sometimes emotional Majola claimed that his predecessor, Ali Bacher, had taken a R5-million bonus after the Cricket World Cup of 2003 in South Africa, thereby creating a precedent.
Bacher has challenged the claim.
Majola, the CEO of Cricket SA, was appearing before the Nicholson Commission which is investigating the financial affairs of the organisation.
The commission, headed by Judge Chris Nicholson, has focused on R4.5-million in bonuses paid to Majola and other members of his staff following the 2009 staging of the Indian Premier League in this country. Majola was paid R1.75-million.
Majola testified that, when South Africa hosted the Cricket World Cup eight years ago, Bacher and others shared a bonus of R9-million for organising the tournament, with Bacher pocketing R5-million. At the time Bacher was the managing director of the United Cricket Board (the forerunner of Cricket SA) and tournament director of the World Cup.
Majola also told the inquiry:
?Former Cricket SA chief operating officer Don McIntosh had been responsible for assigning the bonuses from the IPL; and
?The board of Cricket SA had not familiarised him with the Companies Act, which he has been accused of violating.
Majola, who was accompanied at yesterday’s hearing by two lawyers and members of his family from Port Elizabeth, said the bonus scandal had been a strain on him and his family.
He also told the commission that he and former Cricket SA president Mtutuzeli Nyoka had “never been friends”.
“The fact that we grew up together does not make us friends.”
Nyoka, who was twice ousted as president of Cricket SA during Majola’s term as CEO, has also been Majola’s main accuser. He has called Majola a “liar” on air.
Majola said yesterday that had he been familiar with the Companies Act, he would have disclosed his bonus to Cricket SA’s remuneration committee. This omission is at the root of the inquiry. Majola said the board should have alerted him in writing to the provisions of the act.
“I would have done things differently if I was familiar with the act. What happened is undesirable and we should take responsibility for what has happened.”
Majola insisted that the board and the remuneration committee were aware of the bonuses and that he had merely forgotten to disclose the bonus in writing.
He dismissed as “unfounded” Nyoka’s claims that he had denied receiving the bonus, saying he had shared the schedule of bonuses with Nyoka. He said: “I do not know what motivated him or what was his [Nyoka's] agenda for making unfounded allegations.”
Majola told Judge Nicholson that McIntosh had determined his bonus. McIntosh had also determined his own bonus.
Majola said he was unable to explain a letter to McIntosh informing him that he [Majola] had negotiated bonuses for the IPL tournament.
When Judge Nicholson pressed the point, Majola said: “I honestly do not know what to say, but everybody who received a bonus would have received the letter.”
?Approached for comment on Majola’s evidence, Bacher denied that he had received the lion’s share of a R9-million bonus after the 2003 World Cup, but admitted to receiving R5-million, which was part of a retirement fund.
“The bonus was not really related to the success of the tournament. It was brought up on the basis that I had served cricket professionally for two decades and it was found that my retirement fund was inadequate,” said Bacher.
“The bonus was partly because of the Cricket World Cup success and partly to improve my retirement
7 Dec 2011, 12:59 pm
“The bonus was not really related to the success of the tournament. It was brought up on the basis that I had served cricket professionally for two decades and it was found that my retirement fund was inadequate,” said Bacher.
“The bonus was partly because of the Cricket World Cup success and partly to improve my retirement”
the question is , who approved Ali, remco?
7 Dec 2011, 13:00 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-277: who approved it
7 Dec 2011, 13:00 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-272:
precisely.
@Transformation(Transformation)-274: ok cool, i will let you know if it happens, outside chance.
anyways, i think our tete a tete has opened up minds and helped poodle fo k kers like mvk enough for one day so i must say goodbye.
tjorts!
7 Dec 2011, 13:03 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-279: fokkof you whitey racist k unt.
7 Dec 2011, 13:04 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-273: Here’s another submit click. Maybe it’ll pay for a decent barber and not cost-cutters
7 Dec 2011, 13:05 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-276: What a load of rubbish. It was his responsibility alone to be familiar with all the relevant legislation and to consult the appropriate people.
7 Dec 2011, 13:06 pm
@mvk(mvk)-280:
whats my colour got to do with it crappo?
7 Dec 2011, 13:06 pm
@David(David)-259: Ryan’s altered state of consciousness
7 Dec 2011, 13:18 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-255: Since when has objectivity ever been applied to an argument in this place??
What’s good for the goose fella…..
7 Dec 2011, 13:43 pm
RYAN
Did you seriously ban Gunther for his Jetski comment????
Come now fella.
I though private “uitkak” emails were more your style…..
I hope not.
7 Dec 2011, 14:18 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-286: Don’t forget phone calls. Someone here a year or so ago said they received an irate call from Vrede and they left him ranting while they went to do something else
7 Dec 2011, 14:19 pm
Charming fellow. As prickly as his hairstyle
7 Dec 2011, 14:27 pm
@Michael(mikeybrass)-287: I got an Uitkak email from Ryan a year or so ago.
It was a classic.
7 Dec 2011, 14:30 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-289: really?
the nerve!
7 Dec 2011, 14:39 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-289: How incoherent was it on a scale of -1 to -10.
@Transformation(Transformation)-290: Doesn’t surprise me unfortunately. The unprofessionalism shows in his writings, unless one discounts his cut and paste skills. There is never proper insightful analysis from either him or JC. Keo can and does produce rubbish but he can also write some wonderful insightful articles. The students haven’t learnt enough from the master.
7 Dec 2011, 14:40 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-290: Yip.
I was quite bemused. I wasn’t sure if I should have been impressed or annoyed.
What I did infer was, given the relatively tame nature of my ramblings compared to some on this site, that Ryan must spend a great deal of time sending emails and not much on his writing……
7 Dec 2011, 14:51 pm
@Michael(mikeybrass)-291: Not too bad actually. Short and to the point.
No profanity. I’ll give him that.
I copied Keo in my response and he thought it was highly amusing. He suggested that I carry on “challenging” his underlings.
7 Dec 2011, 14:57 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-293: Someone must have proof-read it for him
You’re the chosen one.
7 Dec 2011, 14:58 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-292:
i must also be on that “tame” side of things as i have nver received private correspondence from Vrede 
you’re more radical than me boet.
7 Dec 2011, 15:02 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-295: Me neither. I haven’t had the honour from his Lordship Vrede.
7 Dec 2011, 15:09 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-295: Ironically It was a response to his announcement that he had been nominated for writer of the year in some category last year.
I made a remark to the effect that it must have been the “Keo Blogger who has a tux and can make the prize giving award”
It obviously offended his sense of pride.
Which is odd given the amount of stick that he gets on this site.
7 Dec 2011, 15:10 pm
@Michael(mikeybrass)-296: Yeah what can I say. I’m just a wild and crazy guy.
Not.
7 Dec 2011, 15:22 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-289: lol send it thru to me?
7 Dec 2011, 15:24 pm
@Michael(mikeybrass)-287: I know this crazy All Blacks family that also had phone calls from Ryan back and forth insulting each other. That also spread onto Facebook! Was some funny ish!
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