SA Rocks

With the 2007 Rugby World Cup (RWC) upon us I think it’s only appropriate to remind everyone of this:

The Springboks were the first team to win the Rugby World Cup on debut – the 1995 World Cup

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I am very saddened and upset that SA is playing Zim in the cricket.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that the Zim cricketers are not to blame for the state of Zim but still. I think that it’s time we took a stand against big bad Bob. One of the only ways this will work is if international pressure is placed on the country and all spheres of its interaction with the international world.

Cricket is a part of this and sports in general should be a large part. Look at how much SA suffered in apartheid thanks to international bans.

What are your thoughts?

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I made the fatal error of waking up at the crack of dawn (literally) to play a round of golf yesterday. It might have been 6am and the tee off time might have been 7:15am but it was an amazing feeling to get on the course that early.

Let me explain why. I have heard from many people that winter golf in many places in the world is almost impossible. Not in SA let me tell you. Today was a beautiful day with mixed weather all in one day.

The day began with frosted fairways and a chill in the air. As things progressed the frost on the grass melted and the sun started to shine. By midday the course was magnificent and the weather was perfect. In the middle of winter we were playing a game of golf in T-shirts. What a pleasure. That is why SA Rocked for me yesterday. Joy.

THIS IS WINTER!!!

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The Discovery/702 Walk The Talk is officially over. And it was phenomenal.

There were close to 40 000 people who walked across the board, that includes the 5KM, 8KM, 20(ish)KM and 40(ish)KM walks. Throughout the walk I tried to do a walkthrough podcast that explained what the team and I were up to, what we discussed, saw and heard. However much of it wasn’t really useful as the noise was too much. Much of it I have strung together and will be releasing tomorrow as the 5th SA RocksCast. Lookout for that one!

For now let me take you through the day:

The instructions suggested that all “athletes” arrive at the venue 2 hours before the start of their walk. That meant that we were at the start very early. The event was so well organised that almost all of the 5KM participants were ready and waiting to start about 45minutes before the start was scheduled. Brilliant.

The spirits of the participants was extremely high and everyone was keen to have a bit of a stroll and a good time. The only issue that I had with the start was that the commentary from the 702 DJs was a bit too loud and in your face. This was quickly resolved after the start as we moved past Jenni and Aki and took it all in our stride. By that I mean a slow stride.

This event is such a joy for various reasons, one of these reasons being the lack of competitiveness. No one is there to win because there are no winners. Everyone receives a medal at the end and we all felt like winners. I was accompanied by a very small but well equipped team of 5 (include myself). I put this first event down to experience. Next year I hope to have a massive team consisting of more than just SA Rocks T-shirts that get lost in the crowd. I was thinking something along the lines of overalls for next year, painted or dyed in a lumo-green colour!

While minding my own business and enjoy a lovely stroll I bumped in to Steve Waugh. Can you believe it? What a great testament to the event and our lovely country and beautiful city, to have the ex-Australian cricket captain taking part! (On a side note, I hear that Steve now lives in SA, how’s that for choosing the better of two countries?)

Once we carried on it dawned on the SA Rocks team that there were thousands and thousands… and thousands of people taking part in the walk. We participated in the 5KM walk which was more than enough for our fist go. Everywhere we looked there were happy, contented, walking, talking and bubbly people.

Eventually we hit the 4KM mark and were pleased to see it. We walked for just over an hour (approximately 1hr 15mins) which I thought wasn’t too shabby. After reaching the finish line we were quickly handed medals, ushered to the party area and walked through to our cars. The event was so well organised that within 20 minutes we had walked to our cars and made our way away from any and all traffic.

I would like to thank the people who supported the idea, who walked with me today and all the people in JHB (and elsewhere) who took part. I can’t exactly tell you why I was so proud and contented to take part in the event but I can tell you that it was worth every step.

Obviously there is more to tell but I don’t want to bore people so I suggest taking part next year, checking out the photos in the SA Rocks group and listening to the podcast tomorrow!

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img supplied by sagoodnews

It was the 11th stage, it was wind battered and it was absolutely unbelievably incredible. Robert Hunt, a South African, finally brought SA a Tour de France stage win.

from the MG:

South African Robert Hunter won a crash-hit bunch sprint to take the 182,5km 11th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday.

The Barloworld rider beat Swiss Fabian Cancellara of the CSC team by half a wheel. Brazil’s Murilo Fischer came home third for the Liquigas team.

I have had emails, phonecalls and family and friends bugging me to post about this (sorry I have been a bit busy, my bad). This just goes to show how incredible and groundbreaking this event is for South Africans the world over. The Cooksister emailed me commanding me to get on it since she was shouting herself hoarse when he won the stage

This is what Hunt had to say:

“I don’t think I could be any happier,” said Hunter, who came round the bend at the 245m marker and began his drive to the finish line almost immediately.

“It’s a massive victory for me, and for South Africa.”

“It was a very difficult stage, there was a lot of wind. It was not easy to win in such a crazy finish,” said Hunter.

“It is very important to me to win a stage on the Tour de France. I am speechless.”

This is brilliant news for the Barloworld team. And I must say I think that thanks must go out to Barloworld for providing the support that a South African team needs to be successful at the highest levels.

Lets just hope that the doping scandal that has been plaguing the Tour de France can be taken care of soon.

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IT’S ABOUT TIME!!! That is really all that I have to say about that.

Raymond Rahme, a JHB resident, finished third in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) that ended yesterday. He is not only the first South African, but African to reach the final table at a WSOP tournament, let alone finish in the top five.

From the WSOP website:

Though he isn’t well known on the North American circuit, the 62-year-old pro has been sweeping tournaments in his native South Africa. Rahme has finished first and second in two major events in his backyard, not to mention a fourth place finish in the largest tournament ever held on his home continent – the All Africa Poker Championship.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding the recently initiated All Africa poker tournament. This is where Rahme won his seat to the WSOP tournament.

Something I found quite amusing on the WSOP website was Rahme’s list of accomplishments (note the last one):

* Took third place and more than $3 million in winnings at the 2007 WSOP Main Event
* First African to appear at a World Series of Poker Main Event final table
* At 62 was the only senior at the 2007 championship final table
* Is married with six children

Thanks go out to my Brother (John) for pointing this news out as a whopping SA achievement. For more poker frenzied SA information visit the WSOP website.

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Action Images / T. O’Brien

I know I am really late with this but better late than…

South African Liezel Huber and Cara Black of Zimbabwe won their second womens doubles title at Wimbledon this year. What a fantastic accomplishment and to have done it twice is just phenomenal. Huber and Black won the same title in 2005.

A brief look back on previous South African contestants in the Wimbledon Championship:

Sandra Reynolds was runner up in the 1960 women’s singles tourament and also won four Grand Slam women’s doubles championships and one Grand Slam mixed doubles championship.

Kevin Curren reached two men’s singles finals and finished runner up twice! (he did manage to win four other Grand Slam titles.

Wesley Moodie won the men’s doubles in 2005 with Stephen Huss.
For a full list of Championship winners, browse through Wikipedia.

That is the best I could find, I am sure that there are others so if you know of any, please let me know!!

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Are we for or against the unifying of the national sports teams emblem?

I am personally not too phased if there is unity, but I think that the Protea should take a walk and the Springbok should swing in to the mix.

What are your thoughts, Protea or no Protea?

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Project 2010 seems to be a very valuable source of information. With many different types of relevant information appearing on the site, it is a great resource for anyone looking for stuff that would be helpful regarding the 2010 soccer world cup.

On that point, what are we calling this thing? The Soccer World Cup or the Football World Cup? It’s a tricky one because as South Africans we don’t refer to the game much as football, but the rest of the world does.

Back to the website. The design is fun but navigation is lacking somewhat. I think the idea is awesome so give it a look when you have a spare second.

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