Just for once, let’s forget about the megastars. Sure, the Real Madrid pair of Michael Owen and David Beckham scored two of the goals in England’s 3-0 friendly win over the world’s 71st-best side, the Ukraine, on Wednesday night. But the real star of the show at a worryingly empty St James’s Park was Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Sri Lanka haven’t been cricketing rabbits for a decade, but still, as the South Africans poked through the ashes and cinders of the Test series, one couldn’t help recalling a certain Pythonian fuzzy bunny, one moment grazing sweetly in a pasture, the next tearing the throats out of screaming knights errant.
Lincoln Allison’s provocative article “Are drugs really that bad?” forces us to interrogate existing paradigms regarding drugs and sport against the backdrop of a spate of positive tests. Doping is banned because it gives an athlete an unfair advantage; it has significant health consequences; and it violates the spirit of sport.
Are drugs really that bad?
Avi Yehudai’s white Fiat Punto is splattered with shrapnel and his daughter’s bedroom has been destroyed. Cracks are visible in the walls of his house and its front needs rebuilding. His house, situated among the manicured streets of the Israeli town of Sderot, was hit recently by a Qassam rocket, fired from the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, 5km away. Fortunately the house was empty.
Malawi’s High Court this week sentenced a senior civil servant to six years’ imprisonment for corruption. Former Petroleum Control Commission general manager Dennis Spax Kambalame was found guilty of taking a 000 kickback from a British-based company, Hamble Energy.
President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma knew this week’s Great Lakes Summit in Dar es Salaam would give them a headache. Nights of sleepless negotiations with a backsliding Tutsi minority take more than a couple of aspirins can mend. Last week’s outbreak of violence in Burundi has thrown a curve ball at talks in Tanzania and threatens a resurgence of terrorism in the region.
The twinkling shine of the Olympics came in a different form for Llewellyn Herbert who got engaged to Pretoria model Letitia Roets at the home of Greek ambassador Jannie Momberg at a private party in Athens on Thursday night. ”Now I’m relaxed, smiling and happy,” said Herbert after placing a diamond ring on the finger of Roets.
Right now Springbok coach Jake White is probably cursing the vagaries of a fixture list that has taken the deciding match of the 2004 Tri-Nations to Durban. That is because in 1998 — the only time South Africa won the tournament — the conclusive contest was at Ellis Park.
Roland Schoeman, riding the medal wave at the Athens Olympics, continued to make a strong impact on swimming competition at the Aquatic Centre on Thursday night. Though the men’s hockey and women’s beach-volleyball teams lost, South Africa’s Olympic sailor, Gareth Blanckenberg, moved up in his event.
Venezuela’s presidential recall referendum last Sunday is one event among many in what has been a turbulent period for this oil-rich country. This recall vote signalled, at least, a departure from the illegality of the past attempts at change. Whether it ushers in a period of peace, prosperity and democracy for the country remains to be seen.