As the fires were smouldering on the streets of London this past week, the true rage playing out was not be found in the hearts of the young thugs causing the ruckus — it was hidden in the souls of millions of football fans.
Yes, that’s right — as buildings were being razed to the ground across the British capital, the main cause of concern for die-hard football fans was the fact that the England and Netherlands friendly encounter was called off — talk about obsessed.
With the news that Tottenham Hotspur’s season opener against Everton being called off due to security concerns arising from the riots, things are sure to get worse.
I have heard stories of the foolhardiness of getting between an Afrikaner and his rugby but this has to be taking it to another level.
Witnessing some of the craze on social network Twitter, it is evident that news of football games being suspended runs a very close second to a death in the family.
Let’s start with a certain: Mr_Buziba who contends: “The #UKriots have done it! Now there won’t be football #EPL — this affects me personally.”
Then there is Murf7Cleverly35 who seems rather distraught: “#ukriots are a threat to the new football season…. Stop this nonsense now! Waited all summer for the season to come back!”
But I’d have to say Duke_of_Monton takes the cake: “These #ukriots are going to have MASSIVE consequences for my Fantasy Football team selection. #premierleague.”
Now, those of you who ever accused the British of lacking passion –hang your heads in shame! At least we know that the same frustration won’t be experienced back home as the PSL kicks into gear this weekend.
Eight games are going down and I’d have to say the highlights are Saturday’s clash between Kaizer Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos at the FNB Stadium and Amazulu’s quest for an away win against Sundowns in Pretoria on Sunday.
Then again, our local football is renowned for serving up some surprises — don’t bat an eyelid if we see reigning champs Orlando Pirates being humbled by Black Leopards in Polokwane on Friday night.
Back to basics for the Bokke
On the rugby field, the Springboks will be aiming to redeem themselves after a disastrous Tri-Nations tour down under when they welcome Australia to Durban in the first match of the return leg of the series.
The team will boast a full-strength squad, after 23 players missed the back-to-back losses in Australasia due to injury.
The big question there will be whether or not the returning Bokke will have enough of an impact to deliver a victory.
The likes of Bryan Habana, Victor Matfield, Frans Steyn, Butch James, Tendai Mtawarira and John Smit may look good on paper, but can they put the combined total of 810 Test caps worth of experience to good use?
The match kicks off at 17h05 and with less than 30 days to go until the World Cup in New Zealand the time is nigh for Springboks to make an impact.
South Africa B to go tops?
Moving to cricket, we might have a new world number one by the end of the weekend, as England battle India in Birmingham.
Thankfully for Andrew Strauss’s men, the riots have not affected their chances of usurping India as the world’s best Test-playing nation, as they hope to go three nil up in the four match series in Birmingham.
If they do end up beating the visitors, the English will be the best in the world — not bad for the so-called South Africa B side.
Tiger in the Woods
Lastly in golf, the PGA championship in Atlanta Georgia not only marks the final major of the season, but also the chance for Tiger Woods to answer all of his critics following a lengthy injury lay-off.
Although you’d sooner predict someone like Rory Mcilroy, Darren Clarke or even defending champion Martin Kaymer to take the honours, the prospect of Woods producing the goods after missing the US as well as the British Open leaves many a bookie’s tongue wagging.
From the South African perspective, there are enough of us in the field to stand a decent enough chance — but I will go out on a limb here, and suggest Ernie “The Big Easy” Els is due some silverware.
Either way, you’ll most certainly have some tired eyes at the office at the start of the week as coverage only gets under way at 7pm each evening — and the final round only due to end in the wee hours of Monday morning.
Happy Hunting!