The triumphant Springbok rugby team has demonstrated an extraordinary talent for winning in recent months. It has shown a determined flair, a focused exuberance, that has come like rain to the parched sporting hopes of the hinterland. But more importantly, it has proved that a coach needs to coach.
While Jake White busies himself growing back some hair, he has earned the right to carve this motto above his dressing room mirror: “I told you so”. The Springbok coach has earned instant celebrity status by guiding his team to the Tri-Nations trophy merely by keeping his own counsel and backing his own judgement.
You’ve got to love this guy Jose Mourinho. The new Chelsea boss, who guided Porto to supremacy in Portugal, just doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. With Roman Abramovich’s open chequebook at Chelsea, he has no choice but to achieve European dominance by next May.
Gabriel Heinze, Manchester United’s costly yet elusive off-season signing, is running the serious risk of causing irreparable damage to his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson after the latest breakdown in contact between the Argentinian international and his increasingly irritated manager.
The lure of Old Trafford is simply too strong for most players and Sir Alex Ferguson invariably gets his man. Should they edge nearer to Everton’s valuation of Wayne Rooney ahead of the closure of the transfer window, the 18-year-old will surely be wearing a red shirt by the time he has recovered from the metatarsal fracture sustained at Euro 2004.
While a breakneck Arsenal overtake rivals in the record books, let’s hear it for the slowcoach. Even in his youth Dennis Bergkamp did not specialise in outstripping opponents and now that he is 35 the Dutchman is more suited than ever to being the still point in a side of incorrigible sprinters.
Imagine that you juxtaposed photographs taken in the late Eighties, one of Ronald Reagan, the other of Frank Williams, one showing an intense scowling figure, the other a light-hearted joker. Eminent historian Frank Mclynn indicts the dour and ruthless head of the Williams team.
The Vereeniging Kart Club played host to the third round of the Firestone/Bridgestone National Karting Championships on August 21 and 22. Those who trekked out there were treated to a red-hot display of racing. A full programme provided for non-stop action.
Once upon a time grand prix racing stood for glamour, risk and thrills. Its heroes were men of courage and style who drove into the mouth of danger without flinching. No one knew or cared how much they were paid. Their fans were happy to sit in long queues on their way to the circuit. That is no longer the case.
The past week has seen a flurry of feminist presidential activity. President Thabo Mbeki is emerging as a leading new man — the term to describe that individual who has seen the light, found his feminine side and can walk the talk as well as change the nappies. It’s never too late for a brother to find his inner woman and not too early to anoint his chosen woman.