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
Pages: « 1 … 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 [22] 23 » Show All
21 Feb 2013, 19:41 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-1050:
Put it down to progress or whatever they want to call it.
Got my tickets for tomorrow night, so looking forward to an evening filled with blue, interspersed by a couple of us in Stormer jerseys.
21 Feb 2013, 20:00 pm
@nortierd-1051: Go you good thing!
21 Feb 2013, 20:05 pm
@nortierd-1051:
There’ll be more than a couple of us. The Stormers over ran the Bulls last year. On the field and in the stands. We will make our voices heard.
Will be at Trademarx before the game. And more than likely afterwards as well.
21 Feb 2013, 20:09 pm
@I am a stormer-1053:
Cool, hope we get the same result as last year.
21 Feb 2013, 20:18 pm
Watching Luke on Boots & All.
Is it just me, or does he look more like a prop than a flank?
21 Feb 2013, 20:36 pm
William Booth laying into the SAPS on Sky News! Calling them useless in investigating cases!!
21 Feb 2013, 20:38 pm
I had a look at the Sarie archives earlier and saw some letters that Oscar’s dad and brother wrote to him back in 2009.
Quite touching.
Carl became very protective over Oscar which would explain his behaviour in court and elsewhere. My heart goes out to this boy who overcame so much in his life.
But we need the truth now. A young lady lost her life and no stone must be left unturned.
I still suspect that an sms triggered the whole thing which resulted in a bizarre/crazy chain of events with a diabolical result. Those events must be reconstructed and every decoy refuted until only the naked truth remains.
That will be the only fair outcome.
21 Feb 2013, 20:40 pm
@nortierd-1055: got your widescreen set to 4:3?
21 Feb 2013, 20:40 pm
Some damning statements by Booth…and you basically can’t disagree with him.
21 Feb 2013, 20:45 pm
Disgraced,corrupt Commissioners;corrupt police officers,planting evidence like fingerprints on crime scenes,detectives not properly trained etc etc . Not a good picture at all.
21 Feb 2013, 20:54 pm
@Dilligafrican-1058:
21 Feb 2013, 20:55 pm
Facinating, your courtrooms look like chaos…..!!
21 Feb 2013, 20:59 pm
@nortierd-1051: Enjoy the occasion and good luck for your team!
Extremely difficult game to call though and maybe the only edge can be given for home ground advantage…
21 Feb 2013, 20:59 pm
Not having a jury means that all is reavealed before bail is granted (or not), no worries about jury predjudice!!
Then world and his wife look on with interest/horror!
21 Feb 2013, 20:59 pm
Now, where can I look for some inspiration for my superbru pics?
21 Feb 2013, 21:05 pm
@carol-1062: And I’m sure Shrien Dewani is just loving this!
21 Feb 2013, 21:07 pm
@carol-1065:
Well, you will be picking the Bulls? Or not. Remember, support with your heart, bet with your head.
21 Feb 2013, 21:17 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-1066:
Another ‘popular’ man in CT!!
21 Feb 2013, 21:17 pm
@I am a stormer-1067:
I am picking…..
21 Feb 2013, 21:18 pm
long pause to build the tension….
21 Feb 2013, 21:18 pm
Speaking as a Blue Bulls supporter, I will be picking…..
21 Feb 2013, 21:18 pm
Farkit, I have to pick the Stormers!! lol
21 Feb 2013, 21:22 pm
@carol-1072:
What a girl! Now that wasn’t so difficult. I will now be shouting louder than ever. For all the Bulls fans out there betting against their team. That’s the ‘bru for you.
21 Feb 2013, 21:23 pm
@carol-1072:
Good pick
21 Feb 2013, 21:26 pm
@I am a stormer-1073:
This is what has made me a hugely sucessful player in the past!!
Forget team loyalty, this is a different animal…. Some of you boys are just too emotional and really struggle to pick against your team!!
superBru is not about who you would LIKE to win but who is LIKELY to win on the stated occasion!!
21 Feb 2013, 21:58 pm
Ok Superbru and fantasy league picks in!
Sometimes I wonder why I bother though.
21 Feb 2013, 22:00 pm
@carol-1075:
Well then , you shouln’t be disappointed!
21 Feb 2013, 22:04 pm
@stormersboy-1076:
Lol, I know the feeling.
Half time I’m usually spot on, but then reality sets in.
My wife usually asks me who I picked, then mentions that it probably means the other side is going to win.
Maybe I must just pick Bulls and Sharks every week.
21 Feb 2013, 22:04 pm
@stormersboy-1076:
But you’ll check your results none-the-less. If you know you’ve had a kak weekend, you just give it an extra 24 hours.
21 Feb 2013, 22:12 pm
@carol-1075:
Easy to talk as in your case there is no real emotional connection to any of the teams while for us poor Saffers it feels like high treason to pick “against” our teams.
You were also not THAT successful in the past if I remeber correctly – sort of fairly successful perhaps, but not hugely successful
@stormersboy-1076:
You can say that again- i spent nearly half an hour on the fantasy league only to discover that i was firstly over budget and then that i have made 11 transfers. At the end I just made any changes in order to “balance the books” and to get it over with.
I think it is more for the real rugby nerds- superbru is quicker and more fun, lol.
21 Feb 2013, 22:22 pm
@Robzim-1080: Exactly. Too much.
21 Feb 2013, 22:23 pm
@I am a stormer-1079: @nortierd-1078: Yes it sucks me in regardless.
Like a junkie coming back for a fix.
21 Feb 2013, 22:24 pm
@Robzim-1080:
I made some picks last week and again this week, only to find out who’s on the injured list.
21 Feb 2013, 22:28 pm
@Robzim-1080: @stormersboy-1082: @nortierd-1078:
Memo to self. “Self, remember which team has a bye this weekend.”
21 Feb 2013, 22:32 pm
@Robzim-1080:
Beat you tho!!
21 Feb 2013, 22:33 pm
@I am a stormer-1083:
I never thought rugby can be so complicated
21 Feb 2013, 22:33 pm
@I am a stormer-1084:
Yes, had to take all my Crusaders out, and filled the spots with Force players
21 Feb 2013, 22:35 pm
@Robzim-1086:
Imagine how hard it is being a coach, who to pick to start, especially a national side where it’s hard to leave anyone out?
21 Feb 2013, 22:36 pm
@nortierd-1078:
You’re wife is always right, even if she’s wrong
You should know it by now
21 Feb 2013, 22:37 pm
@victoriabok-1087:
What do the EP Kings and Oscar have in common?
Soon, both their defences will be full of holes.
21 Feb 2013, 22:39 pm
after Saturday the log will read
Kings: Played – 1 Win – 1 Lost – 0
yeeehaaaa Kings 4 Life
21 Feb 2013, 22:42 pm
@I am a stormer-1090: when the Kings attack is at full tilt the Force will be backpedalling faster than Hilton Botha gister.
21 Feb 2013, 22:47 pm
@Transformation-1092:
Are you going to the game? Should be a good vibe especially if it’s reasonably full. Now is the time for the PE crowd to put bums on seats and put their money where the mouths are. Good luck to the manne.
21 Feb 2013, 23:02 pm
@Transformation-1091: winning apparently isn’t everything.
to quote from source…. “Grow up you trolls or inspire with your cleverness.”
21 Feb 2013, 23:07 pm
@victoriabok-1089:
Yes VB
Never criticize your wife’s choices, you were also one of them
21 Feb 2013, 23:09 pm
@Transformation-1091:
If you plan to live for only one year
21 Feb 2013, 23:10 pm
VicBok
I will have a cold one on you tomorrow at Loftus.
Neem aan jy sou graag daar wou wees
21 Feb 2013, 23:10 pm
@nortierd-1095:
They do make mistakes then?
21 Feb 2013, 23:12 pm
@nortierd-1097:
If I work in the garden this time of year I just leave the beer or coke on the table, at 6C it stays cold
21 Feb 2013, 23:13 pm
@nortierd-1097:
Was laas daar toe die Bulle die CC semi teen die Cheetahs gespeel het, Duane was die beste agsteman op die veld
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