Why winning isn’t everything
20 Feb 2013
MARK KEOHANE, in his Business Day Sport Monthly column, says we live in a miracle country and it’s time we started appreciating the miracle of sport.
Sport is entertainment and it is also about effort. A fixation with just the result is going to lead to a lot of heartache.
It wasn’t that long ago when South Africa wasn’t allowed to compete internationally. Familiarity breeds contempt and irrationally so.
Feel good about the joy of indulging in the performance of South Africans, who are among the best ever produced in their respective codes.
We put huge pressure on our performers to produce every time, but the fans and the media have as much of a responsibility in their performance post match.
We also need to grow up and show some perspective to the effort of the individual or team and give credit to the quality of the opposition. There are times when they just are better and they actually win and we actually lose.
For those who are inspired to live in this country only when South Africa wins, take some responsibility for your own emotions. Similarly, don’t blame a poor SA performance for your depression. No player is losing deliberately and no national player should be subjected to the hate and vitriol published on Twitter.
It sickens me that people can actually feel a justification in the abuse and believe they are owed something by the player and that the player has a responsibility to ensure their happiness. The abuse is disgusting and can never be justified. There is so much to applaud and there is a generation of South African performer that is the best ever produced in this country. What a privilege it is to watch them at their peak.
Look beyond the need for a winning result and imagine South Africa being in sporting isolation. It is pathetic how fans think players are there to instil nationalism. Go do that yourself and start enjoying the sport and keep perspective.
There is life the next day and sport always gives your team or the individual a chance to get it right or to flop.
It is an honour to play for one’s country, but it is not a crime to lose and supporters need to take their insecurity and deal with it.
In the days of isolation we never played anyone and never lost. So we allowed ourselves to believe we were the best in everything. The reality is we are not the best in all things sport and that does not deserve the crassness I read on Twitter.
I get irritated with a lot of our sports media coverage, especially in newsprint. It is always all or nothing, as if every win defines the miracle of this country and defeat brings the possibility of doom. Inspire me with a solution instead of repeating what I saw on television 24 hours earlier and what I have read on the Internet a day earlier.
The media is more guilty than the fans in the buzz and the blowout. I have been as guilty as anyone at times of my career so I certainly don’t preach from a pedestal of purity, but rather from a place of apology.
The daily sports media though need to get a grip and invest in some perspective.
An example was the Proteas ODI series defeat against New Zealand. The Proteas did not play well but the game was apparently in crisis after the series defeat and the euphoria of being the best Test team in the world a few days earlier was an afterthought.
The hysteria was excessive, just like the condemnation and ridicule of New Zealand’s tour only a few days earlier. Appreciate the players and the fact that it’s not you out there on days when all is failing save the potency of the opponent.
There’s an added spice when you know you are watching a performer unrivalled in their field and at the peak of their performance.
The South African bowling attack gives me that sense of awe. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis evoke a similar emotion and Graeme Smith is just never going to get the reward for his effort. No other Test captain in the history of the game has achieved as much.
Smith, having gone past 100 Test matches as captain, still has his doubters. Give him a break. There is a serious projection of insecurity and delusion among many of the South African fans in the way they react to the players.
A guy like Smith must be judged on how he plays and not for how his gum chewing may irk you. It is massive what he has achieved yet there are so many who burden him with not wearing enough flags on his T-shirt and not being proudly South African.
This is sport. Nationalism looks after itself and it can’t be all taken from the player’s performance. We owe the player the simple courtesy of a dignified interaction that does not start with an attack on his mother’s hair colour and outright abuse.
Grow up you trolls or inspire with your cleverness.
Oh, and one last thing, why the obsession with having to feel the need to retire great players at the start of a season because they are supposedly blocking the path of a 21-year-old?
Give the more mature form players the necessary respect. They’ve earned the right through performance to a bit of loyalty. Our rugby players offer the promise of silverware in Super Rugby but the enjoyment must also be in the performance.
Bafana, in African soccer’s big bi-annual one, were brave and belligerent in a tournament I hoped they could win but never quite had the conviction to believe it was possible. They lost in the quarter-finals on penalties, which was a cruel yet also a dignified exit for the hosts. Dignified in it allowed us to dream of what could have been without confronting the reality of what would most likely have been had they advanced to the semi-final or final.
Bafana played with passion and the support of a nation was a boost, but there are limitations to the current side and the desire to associate with success should also not be confused with the expectation that if they don’t win a tournament they have failed.
Equally our Super Rugby teams.
– This article first appeared in the March issue of Business Day Sport Monthly, which is distributed FREE with the newspaper on the second last Friday of every month.
1,128 Comments
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20 Feb 2013, 14:21 pm
@nama1-446:
i knew you could do it
20 Feb 2013, 14:21 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-448:
Premeditation can still be proven, regardless of whether Oscar intended to kill Reeva or a burglar. The motive may be different but the killing was certainly intentional, it just depends whether the court sees extenuating circumstances, imo.
20 Feb 2013, 14:21 pm
@Robzim-440: exactly. we can’t have this scenario developing where people just blindly discharges their weapons upon hearing sounds .Gun laws and self-defence claims are clear as daylight under SA law.
20 Feb 2013, 14:22 pm
@S_K-447:
why are you hiding behind a new name?
20 Feb 2013, 14:28 pm
@John Galt-442:
More pertinently, who prepped him. That’s the prosecutors job.
20 Feb 2013, 14:30 pm
@John Galt-442: This has to be the sloppiest and shoddiest piece of “investigation” I have ever stumbled on.
I am very rarely quiet to the point of total silence…..this is one of those rare occasions.
Horrified.
Mortified.
And I have to ask myself this question (not to pissanyoneoff) but because we live in SA, and it’s relevant. If Hilton Botha happened to have the name, Siya Sibongile, what would reactions be? – genuinely not wanting upset anyone, just something that springs to mind)
20 Feb 2013, 14:30 pm
We need to ask Nortie if all cops are so stupid…….
20 Feb 2013, 14:32 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-456:
The only reaction from me is why even bring up the race card. It consumes you Sharks Lady.
20 Feb 2013, 14:33 pm
@David-455:
andrew harding @BBCAndrewH
“We’re in terrible trouble” says junior prosecution official leaving court.
10:49 AM – 20 Feb 13
20 Feb 2013, 14:34 pm
Cane – what’s this?
“You are a cremenous stunt.”
20 Feb 2013, 14:35 pm
@gunther-459:
If the prosecution are in trouble, then that’s good for Oscar?
Or am I being dof.
20 Feb 2013, 14:36 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-450: ja sus
20 Feb 2013, 14:36 pm
@Dawn-461:
Seems like it.
20 Feb 2013, 14:37 pm
@David-452: No question of intent. It’s the ‘unlawful’ part…..
@David-455: I reckon Nel had a rather inflated opinion of Botha’s abilities, both as an investigator, and as a witness……..?
Rule 2: Fight Club: Never make statements that you can’t back up and never ask questions you don’t already know the answers to in court.
It’s been brutal.
And now it seems Botha has a history with OP? Oh dear.
20 Feb 2013, 14:38 pm
@Dawn-461: but not good for Reeva… the victims are the last consideration in most places around the world..
20 Feb 2013, 14:38 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-456:
Valid and good question.
I, for one, am fecking glad it was not a dark person handling the investigation and f.uck up, like it seems this guy is doing..
The usual supects will now try and put the race card on YOU.
20 Feb 2013, 14:39 pm
@Mr Black-458:
You should change your nic to Mr White
I mean after all it’s the Great White shark not the Great Black shark
20 Feb 2013, 14:39 pm
@the curse-465:
No argument there
20 Feb 2013, 14:41 pm
@Mr Black-458: Nope. We live in SA. It is something that interests me that’s all. Certainly not attacking anyone. Just throwing it out there. For some reason I do think of these things and question them from time to time……..sorry if it offends you.
20 Feb 2013, 14:43 pm
@nama1-466:
Do you enjoy it more when white okes F.. Up?
20 Feb 2013, 14:43 pm
So if this Botha is fecking up Oscar may sleep at home tonight?
20 Feb 2013, 14:43 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-456:
” t. If Hilton Botha happened
to have the name, Siya Sibongile, what
would reactions be? ”
you are being unnecessary!
tltltl
20 Feb 2013, 14:45 pm
@Transformation-472:
Why?
What do you think the reactions would be
20 Feb 2013, 14:47 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-469:
It doesn’t offend me at all. It surprises me that people think that way. That was the last thing on my mind, his race, but each to their own i guess.
20 Feb 2013, 14:49 pm
I don’t understand this “intent” part.
Why would he wait until she got up at 4H00 to pee before he killed her in the toilet. Does not make sense.
Kill the person in the room during the argument and set-up the scene if you so want to kill the person.
20 Feb 2013, 14:50 pm
@nama1-466: I’ve never given muchofafuck what anyone thinks of me to be honest
I throw my thoughts out there because I often wonder if I’m the only one thinking in a certain way etc.
If my thoughts offend folk, I often apologise, but I’m still going to throw them out there.
20 Feb 2013, 14:50 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-464:
“And now it seems Botha has a history with OP? Oh dear.”
Oscars probably offered him a ride in his McLaren.
20 Feb 2013, 14:51 pm
have they done toxicology reports on both Reeva and Oscar?
20 Feb 2013, 14:51 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-456:
Me personally?
I just see him as an incompetent baffoon.
Like most coppers in this country.
20 Feb 2013, 14:54 pm
@David-477:
Is Botha trying to nail Oscar because he wrongly arrested him before?
Defence will work that angle i presume.
20 Feb 2013, 14:54 pm
@the curse-478: I’m sure they have.
But I also think these things take quite a while to get the results back.
That’s if the vials don’t go missing…
20 Feb 2013, 14:55 pm
@John Galt-479:
John, these Stormer supporters see a stupid white cop and us Sharkies see a stupid cop.
Wat more can i say
20 Feb 2013, 14:56 pm
@Mr Black-480:
The prosecution brought it up.
I think they are trying to show the magistrate that baby has a temper.
20 Feb 2013, 14:56 pm
@Dawn-471: ewe but most want oscar to fry!
20 Feb 2013, 14:59 pm
@nama1-475: Firing 4 shots into a confined space is intent to kill, when you know ‘someone’ is behind that door. It’s a 1.4m by 1.4m space. It’s excessive in relation to the ‘perceived threat’.
He intended to kill whoever was behind that door.
@David-477: He was the investigating officer when that 19 year old laid assault charges against OP a few years back. Botha admitted he believed Pistorious’s version of events back then, and the charge was squashed. He’s obviously a ‘Johnny local’ detective.
20 Feb 2013, 15:00 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-481: cheers, good start to the season for your boys..
20 Feb 2013, 15:03 pm
@the curse-486: Thanks mate, and I wish you a good one for the Blues as well.
In fact, what the He.l, I wish all teams’ supporters a good start to the season.
Except the Kinks of course.
20 Feb 2013, 15:04 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-476:
Maybe the investigating officer was just very nervous; this could be his first high profile case.
I guess it is difficult to be in their shoes. How do you maintain objectivity? If he was called out to OP’s place before, it would have influenced him no doubt. Maybe he was told to drop the charges. I think he said: it did not go any further, so he has to accept responsibility as the person who gave the instruction is also listening to what he says.
Also, as the investigating officer who no doubt rely on other parties to inform him he should take extra. Maybe say: I am still waiting for this information, because once you say it as fact you have to back it up.
Just a question: how safe is it for Oscar to be out there?
Opinions are hugely divided and there’s huge anger that he pulled the trigger on someone like Reeva.
20 Feb 2013, 15:05 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-487:
20 Feb 2013, 15:05 pm
@the curse-486: lol canberrs via jozi
20 Feb 2013, 15:05 pm
@the curse-478: Takes a while for those tests to be concluded in SA Pops. Results take ages…..I’m sure they will hurry them up in this case though, ready for trial in 6 months or so. ***yesitisthatbad***
In some rape cases, it takes years for the DNA testing to be concluded. The backlogs are rather tragic. Can’t blame the police: they can only do what the resources they have allow.
20 Feb 2013, 15:07 pm
@Mr Black-470:
No…don’t try and change the subject.
You know exactly the reason why Pedi made that comment. You, and some others, would’ve had a field day right now if the investigator was black. Don’t try and deny it.
“That was the last thing on my mind, his race,…” Oh, you already did try to deny it.
20 Feb 2013, 15:07 pm
@Mr Black-482: Exactly boet, but wait5 for it !!!! soon they will say it was us saying what they actually did,
20 Feb 2013, 15:07 pm
the ANC Women’s League want Oskido to fry in jail…
20 Feb 2013, 15:08 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-491: DNA tests take a while everywhere, was more a blood test type of thing I was asking..
was he boozed up, on recreational drugs etc? being close to valentines he may have had too much and as such could have triggered his actions?
just hypothesising though, trial by media is something Id never want to endure..
20 Feb 2013, 15:09 pm
they were here in PE at the funeral yesterday, they want him to do time.
20 Feb 2013, 15:11 pm
@Sheriff-488: ” that he pulled the trigger on
someone like Reeva.”
someone like her, pretty person?
20 Feb 2013, 15:13 pm
@the curse-495: Blood alcohol tests take months here as well………….. The reason so many drunk drivers get off scott free at times.
Drug testing, same amount of time….
I’m sure they’ll rush these tests though….6 – 12 months…..
20 Feb 2013, 15:13 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-485:
But does it not make a difference if his intention was to kill the “intruder” and that he never intended to kill his girl? Killing her instead was therefor an accident.
Just asking because this is becoming weirder by the hour.
20 Feb 2013, 15:16 pm
@gunther-312: lol.One good man
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