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, 12:47 pm
testis compositum
Product Description
Indications:
For the temporary relief of symptoms
associated with male sexual weakness such
as; Lack of stamina, nocturnal emissions,
and male hormone imbalance.
20 Feb 2013, 12:47 pm
@ryecatcher-341: HYPOCRITE MUCH
20 Feb 2013, 12:48 pm
@bokfan1-347:
You actually read “The Article”.
I’m impressed Bokfanny. Very Impressed.
20 Feb 2013, 12:49 pm
@cane-350: He admitted it himself….in an attempt to convince us it ‘isn’t him.
He was bust like Lead investigator Botha.
12:33 – Karyn Maughan tweets: Roux is destroying Botha. This is like watching a baby seal getting clubbed.
20 Feb 2013, 12:49 pm
@cane-353: impressed he could read or that he had the attention span to finish it?
20 Feb 2013, 12:49 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-345: Thing is I think the Defense are playing their cards prematurely from a trial perspective. They are giving the prosecution a good idea of how far their game is behind, and they will be much tighter in the actual trial portion. They are trying to refute stuff just to get bail, when in fact they are pointing out potential holes in the prosecution’s case and giving them time to fix it.
Kind of like a practice match where you show the opposition all your fancy moves.
20 Feb 2013, 12:49 pm
Interesting that Sl never mentions the fact that they are talking about him on rt.He normally shares that info with his mates on rt.puma and sharkie forever basically the only sharks fans who intensely discusses sharks related stuff together.Give it up Tyrone !!
20 Feb 2013, 12:53 pm
@stormersboy-356:
Well spotted.
20 Feb 2013, 12:53 pm
Sheez I go away for 30 mins and the gloves come off.
Defence wins matches – AC
20 Feb 2013, 12:54 pm
309 MZmaori has this whole debacle spot on – gd knows why anymore coverage is wasted on this oke when the tragedy has already occurred
I suppose there’s a slim chance he’s telling the truth but everyone knows its a load of horseshit but I suppose that’s what one has to do make up some kind of passable bullshit story to fit a ludicrous set of facts
But how is a bloodied cricket bat even remotely explainable – what a fkup. Absolutely insane.
20 Feb 2013, 12:55 pm
@Transformation-351:
Oooops.
This is going to get messy. Very messy.
20 Feb 2013, 12:55 pm
@Transformation-351: You mean like Rhino Horn??
20 Feb 2013, 12:57 pm
@cab-360: The defense has asked Botha if any of the evidence is inconsistent with Oscar’s version of the events and he conceded that it was not.
Big ouch.
20 Feb 2013, 12:58 pm
@stormersboy-356: Oh indeed. And the state are still keeping their cards very close in terms of information and evidence. Remembering that Ballistic evidence is the key here, in terms of legs on or off. And those tests still being carried out etc.
The witness not a train smash, as they will simply move the trial to the estate (when the witness is on the stand at the high court) and simulate events from that day, to see if what the witness heard was probable or not from the distance etc.
So the state can still regather and recoup their losses here, BUT honestly: The SAP, and Botha more specifically, have been poor….very poor. This is a setback for the state, even in a bail hearing. He didn’t even do some of what is: Basic scene of crime 101.
Very sloppy, very sloppy indeed.
20 Feb 2013, 12:58 pm
@victoriabok-8: Hahahaha sies vir jou – maar dis n snaakse post.
Wat is die hele storie met Keo en die dwelms ens.? Baie mense noem dit op die blad en terg hom, maar is daar waarheid in die rumours of nie?
20 Feb 2013, 12:59 pm
@stormersboy-363: yeah, but has Oscar’s version actually raised a legally valid defence?
20 Feb 2013, 13:00 pm
The quasi testosterone herbal supplement is a red herring (not literally). Athletes are always looking for an edge, if it’s not testosterone and it’s not illegal or banned then it’s irrelevant.
All it’s done is show that the prosecution haven’t been nearly thorough enough.
20 Feb 2013, 13:01 pm
“We’re in terrible trouble” says junior prosecution official leaving court.
No shytes.
20 Feb 2013, 13:01 pm
@John Galt-359:
Even when it’s undeserved 
20 Feb 2013, 13:01 pm
@cab-360:
Does the Bloodied bat actually exist?
If so………………………………………….it is the “coup de grace” that will end this charade.
I understand SA does not have a Jury System.
This too will aid the Prosecution.
20 Feb 2013, 13:02 pm
@stormersboy-367:
Should never have entered it as evidence.
20 Feb 2013, 13:02 pm
@cane-353: Not sure if you are confusing me with someone else, but I read most of the articles on this site.
@the curse-355: You obviously didnt read the article d1ckface, because it speaks about trolls growing up. This means you.
for an old, bitter, washed up c#nt you really can act childish. Just sitting on this site all day, waiting for a comment so you can take a sideswipe at someone.
Get a girlfriend and leave yr flat sometimes.
20 Feb 2013, 13:03 pm
@stormersboy-367:
Bizarre…you can inject testis compositum, it is supposed to treat premature ejaculation and erectile disfunction.
But Oscar is a very healthy 26-year-old?
20 Feb 2013, 13:03 pm
363 do what’s the explanation for the cricket bat – this whole thing has unfortunately become a soap drama but I suppose justice must take its course. Horrendous stuff , another incident to give credence to removing guns from a gun-toting culture.
20 Feb 2013, 13:05 pm
@Angostura-366: In terms of pre meditated murder, yes possibly.
The state has to be careful now, if they go for broke, they risk losing everything in terms of charges. He’s certainly guilty of causing her death, most likely in a negligent and therefore culpable way. he admitted as much himself.
What that means from a criminal case perspective remains to be seen.
Remember, earlier this year a taxi driver was convicted of murder for jumping a rail crossing and causing a collision with an oncoming train. The state argued that he had to have considered the possibility that the scenario would happen and therefore is guilty of murder and not culpable homicide. I don’t agree with that at all but the courts did find him guilty.
20 Feb 2013, 13:05 pm
@cab-360: Well how much blood is there on this “bloodied cricket bat”?
That can be a very emotive title for something that can be relatively mundane. Like if he cut his hand trying to break the door (on the wood) then there might be some blood on the handle. but in the interests of selling newspapers, they will call it a “bloodied cricket bat”.
This is a hypothetical example, but you know what I mean. The press is very good at making extreme statements -this site has some great examples of this
20 Feb 2013, 13:05 pm
@bokfan1-372:
I was just being silly Bokfan.
Not one else seems bothered with “The Article”.
It’s all Oscar.
20 Feb 2013, 13:07 pm
@WP-Forever-373: Well if it encourages the production of testosterone in any way then it will most certainly have beneficial affects on training and performance. The same way eating lots of protein will.
20 Feb 2013, 13:08 pm
@stormersboy-375:
What you are referring to is extending dolus eventualis to qualify as intent for the purpose of murder.
If I throw a hand grenade over a wall and I do not know if there are people there, I do not intend to specifically kill someone. However, I should naturally foresee the very likely possibility of someone being there and that the resulting explosion would kill that person, and if I still proceed, then that qualifies as dolus eventualis which our criminal law has held to be enough for intention.
Intent is a vital element of murder.
20 Feb 2013, 13:08 pm
15. Hennie Daniller, 14. Willie le Roux, 13. Johann Sadie, 12. Robert Ebersohn, 11. Raymond Rhule, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Piet van Zyl, 8. Philip van der Walt, 7. Lappies Labuschagne, 6. Frans Viljoen, 5. Francois Uys, 4. Lood de Jager, 3. Lourens Adriaanse, 2. Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1. Trevor Nyakane
Substitutes: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Coenie Oosthuizen, 18. Waltie Vermeulen, 19. Boom Prinsloo, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21. Elgar Watts, 22. Ryno Benjamin
20 Feb 2013, 13:08 pm
@Angostura-366: We will have to wait for the trial…..
20 Feb 2013, 13:08 pm
@cane-377: Aaaah gotcha mate
Thought maybe you were having a debate with someone else and replied to me by mistake.
Yeah this Oscar story is ridiculous. I am currently in India on business, and its front page news even here! There was a 30 min documentary on the story on TV on Monday night! Crazy.
Equally crazy was the story about the NZ woman who drank herself to death on Coca Cola! She was drinking 20 litres a day and had a heart attack on the toilet! WTF
20 Feb 2013, 13:09 pm
go cheetahs!!
20 Feb 2013, 13:10 pm
@grant10-380: That backline is AWESOME!
Would love to see that line up for the Boks in just 1 Test.
That backline with the Stormers forwards would be an awesome team
20 Feb 2013, 13:10 pm
370 cane that’s what I heard in the news report but who knows in that madarse publicity frenzy – if he has done this **** tho I can’t believe the fkn lies, how can anyone live with themselves after
20 Feb 2013, 13:11 pm
@bokfan1-372: thanks, your response was one of a grown up and not one of a childish troll, oh wait, Ive seen you troll plenty
pot, kettle, etc etc
20 Feb 2013, 13:11 pm
What is this Kings propaganda???????
obviously Keo has looked into crystal ball and see that the Kings
will lose very heavily this season
20 Feb 2013, 13:11 pm
@bokfan1-382:
Actually……………………………..in NZ it was reported as 10 litres.
But WTF, thats a lot of Coke.
20 Feb 2013, 13:11 pm
@WP-Forever-379: Yes, I was just saying that the state could extend the same test here in Oscar’s case.
I didn’t agree with it in the case of the Taxi driver for some reason, although on an emotional level it left me very angry.
20 Feb 2013, 13:13 pm
@cane-350: Well they happen to be wrong, and i am neither of the 3,
So in your logic?? the Sharks only have 3 supporters??
Cane you got to think a little more then that mate 
20 Feb 2013, 13:13 pm
@WP-Forever-373: And what leads to premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction? The use of ‘roids’. So the herbs are the cure for the troubles the ‘roids’ they didn’t find caused?
20 Feb 2013, 13:15 pm
@bokfan1-376: exactly .he used the bat to break down the bathroom door. What’s the possibility of the bat ended up in her blood? newspapers won’t entertain that fact because it messes up their sensational headlines.
20 Feb 2013, 13:16 pm
@stormersboy-389:
I’m a jurist by education, and I also felt it was going too far – it simply spreads the net of liability too wide.
As anyone who has written their legal principles of using deadly force test will tell you (and that includes any person with a valid firearms license in this country), you can’t simply fire your weapon, even in your own house. You have to be convinced that your or someone else’s life is in extreme danger, and even then your use of lethal force needs to be proportional to the threat.
Even if the defence proves he did not realise it was her in the bathroom, he still has a serious case to answer to.
20 Feb 2013, 13:16 pm
Actually some of the stories that come out of SA are completely batshit mad.
20 Feb 2013, 13:17 pm
@cab-385:
Exactly cab.
Who could live with themselves after this.
Murder or mistake.
Are you allowed to shoot burglars in SA?
20 Feb 2013, 13:18 pm
@WP-Forever-393: ain’t you a police reservist?
20 Feb 2013, 13:20 pm
@WP-Forever-393: I am too and agree with you 100%. He’s in trouble for sure, it is just the depth that has to be determined.
20 Feb 2013, 13:22 pm
@Sharks_are_gonna_get_you-390:
You are a cremenous stunt.
20 Feb 2013, 13:23 pm
@stormersboy-397: I told you yesterday that Oscar does not have a leg to stand on!
20 Feb 2013, 13:23 pm
@WP-Forever-393: Many seem to forget that. It’s not about who was behind that door…..
It’s his use of his firearm which resulted in the death of a human being. He knew someone was in that bathroom.
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