When is the right time to bow out?

This is a question that has been on my mind in the past week. You see, growing up there was a saying I always heard, quit while you are ahead. In sport in the past year we have seen the once greats Michael Schumacher and Lance Armstrong and the not so greats Brett Favre (American Football) and Jamie Carragher have all had less than successful returns from retirement.

So lets kick off with the guys who have returned from retirement and are back at the top level. Schumi, the man who i hated as a f1 fan because i support Mclaren, the greatest driver in F1 history (yes, there will always be the Senna debate, but face the facts, he has every record that is worth having!). He decided to return this year and join the German team of Mercedes GP, the same team who under the name of Brawn GP smashed all before them last year. He has been nothing short of average this year and when you hear the media start giving him acclaim for 9th or 10th. The man has fallen down the pecking order drastically! From retiring at the top of his game, where people feared him, he now battles to get into the final qualification round. The man needs to hang up his gloves and leave a memory of greatness not averageness.

Lance Armstrong is an amazing man, his triumph over all odds to beat cancer and furthermore win the worlds greatest cycling race 7 times in a row! He announced his return from retirement in 2009 and the TV Ratings for the tour de france were higher than before. He ultimately finished 3rd which was deemed highly credible with a disastrous 24th this year. I cant help but think that he should not have come back, at least not as a person who wanted to challenge for the title. Yes the exposure has raised more money for LIVESTRONG foundation who i would gladly support. But he left as a champion, he now is far from that.

Jamie Carragher recently returned from his retirement to be the england saviour in the Soccer World Cup. All i have to say is hahahahahaha. Brett Favre is an American football player who retired, but then returned from retirement to throw an intercept pass that lost a game in the Superbowl.

Bjorn Borg returned from retirement in 93, but crashed and burned. there are many more. I mean yes there are those like Justine Henin and Kim Clistjers, but there are very few. Maybe stars need to learn that life is not like the Rocky movie series. You don't come back five years later with the same magic, the game has moved on, the problem is you haven't.

The other concern that i want to raise today is when is the right time to retire. Recent articles around the web calling for Captain Fantastic John Smit (Pictured above) to retire from sport. I think John Smit still adds enough value to be in the Springbok side, i just hope that come world cup next year if he is no longer adding value he decides to call it quits.

The same question will always be posed to Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, they both have done brilliant jobs at their clubs and are the longest serving managers in the premier league. But again the both need to assess if they can still add value or if its time to call it quits. As an arsenal fan i don't ever want Wenger to retire, however, ill support his decision when the time comes.

I do think there are some players who did it right, who retired at the right time. Pete Sampras' last game ever was the US Open final. Dennis Bergkamp retired at the time when he still could be called to do a job and then called it quits. Annika Sorenstam also retired after missing a two footer that would have won her another Major championship.

Well thats all for this week, its my sisters 21st tomorrow, i hope all her friends choose the right time in the night to retire.

Until next week, keep it real, but know your limits.

JABU

WC2010 may be over, but SA is still buzzing

The Fifa World Cup may very well be over. The tourists may very well be home. The flags may very well be off the windows. The trophy may very well be in Spain. The feeling may very well be over. Wait, scratch that last one. If only one thing, the pride, which we shall here forth call the ayoba-ness, of the country is at an all time high.

Yes, this morning the Springboks suffered another poor defeat. To be outplayed by the Aussies and on top of that have some purely strange reffing, well that just sucks. But here in South Africa we have every reason to still be proud of our flag, to be proud of our country.

As you will know, this is a sports blog, so my reasons will stick very much to sport as always.

So first off lets list our reasons to be proud:

GOLF

Shrek. Louis Oosthuizen a 200-1 outside bet for the Open Championship, had perfect timing, to win my favourite major golf championship by a hefty margin on Madiba's birthday. Not only did he do this, but he had the humility to thank everyone under the sun, you may have even hear him thank Jabu for not entering so that he had a chance. Okay, so that last part didn't happen, but the boy from mossel bay has showed the world just how good the Ernie Els golfing foundation in South Africa is. Remember this is just months after the amateur lady from SA, Kelly Shean pushed the eventual winner all the way in the womans masters. 

We also should look at the stats. This year we have had 7 wins on tour. Charl Schwartzel won 2, Ernie Els won 2, Oosthuizen now has 2 and Tim Clark, the perennial second place man won what is regarded by many players as the 5th Major. We currently have 4 major winners on the circuit (Goose, Els, Shrek and Immelman) and have 3 players in the top 20. Man we are good!

SURFING

So, ill be the first to admit, im not the biggest fan of surfing. I mean i don't really like any sport where judges decide the winner and not points or whatever. But in the past had you mentioned surfing the first name that came to mind would have been Kelly Slater from USA. However this is changing, at the recent Billabong Pro (which i have read is a very big event), our very own Jordy Smith won and is now ranked as the top surfer in the world!

Athletics

She might be controversial, but since her return Caster Semenya is wasting no time at filling her trophy cupboard. 2 wins out of 2. You go girl!

We are also in 6th place out of 170 at time of writing in the world junior athletics championships. thats just amazing. Of course special mention will go to Luvo Manyonga for winning the gold medal at long jump. This with a complete lack of funding in the sport (much like my beloved hockey)

Tennis

It might be a bit old, but Chanelle Scheepers into the Round of 16 at the French open, 4 South Africans in the main singles draw at wimbledon, Davis cup imagination reignited and an all round upward curve leaves us with more reasons to be happy!

FANS

Yes for us too... just think Bafana vs Baghana at Soccer City, SA vs All Blacks at soccer city, India vs South Africa Pro 20 at Moses Mabida, a possible olympic bid and the mighty worldwide hot topic of conversation. THE VUVUZELA!!!!

If you arent proudly South African, well, Bakkies is out for a while im sure he could help with a head but!

Until then. Mzansi Forever

Jabu

The Setting Sun on the South African Adventure

So as the sun has now set on our amazing hosting of the fifa world cup, we will look back with a range of emotions. There were the highest of highs when Bafana took the lead against Mexico and the lowest of lows, Suarez, need I say more. But mostly we will look back with pride, we did it. It was here.

But as this blog is simply a sporting blog and not one to speak about politics or where to from here. I thought I would share with you my winners and losers of the world cup.

Let’s start with losers, so we get the negativity out of the way

Losers

England
I could add France and Italy to this, but they were both ageing squads who had past their peaks and had coaches to stubborn to change. England paid Capello more than any other manager at the world cup, in total they won one game; they were poor and scored a measly 3 goals in 4 games. This was going to be their year!

Luis Suarez
You all know my feelings on Suarez (just look at the last entry!). He is possibly the most hated footballer in Africa and I can promise you the first African to play against him this year at club football will go in a little bit higher than required

The Naysayer’s
“Don’t go to South Africa!”
Let me just say to those – hahahahaha
Here are some things they said
They will never finish the stadiums – they are not just finished but world class. Durban was just voted fourth best stadium in the world with soccer city and Cape Town in the top 20! How awesome is that!
You need to wear bullet proof vests – Seriously, i've never worn one, and im still here. The tourists were not scared, but comforted and welcomed!
They don’t have the infrastructure – well apart from the Durban debacle it was a full success
They will never fill the stadiums – Really? Is that why we broke the fifa world cup attendance records? Better than Germany!

Africa
As much as it was good to host the world cup, the performances of the African nations were not enough to justify any extra spots.
The continents performance reads as follows:
P20 W4 (Ghana 1-0 Serbia; Ghana 2-1 USA (aet); Ivory coast 3-0 N Korea; Bafana 2-1 France) D 6 (including Ghana – U-R-Gay) L10
The ability to win was there, but the teams just didn’t finish when it counted!


Winners

Spain
World cup winners with beautiful football. The signs are great for Arsenal then!

Paul the Octopus
Never before has an aquatic animal captured the attention of the globe so much. In fact Andres Iniesta had a fluffy octopus with him on the celebration day. True Story

The Vuvuzela
“We are considering banning it” said Danny Jordaan. The vuvuzela is now a global phenomenon. Just ask youtube about it

Technology
How was technology a winner you ask? Simple, the world cup not only enforced the need for technology, but pretty much guaranteed that there will be technology used in the future. Football, the planets leading brand, is lagging behind the likes of tennis, rugby and cricket in terms of technology. Hawk Eye, here we come!

South Africans
That’s right. South Africans. I got to see (live) David Villa, Cesc Fabregas, Asomoah Gyan (Heartbroken), Diego Forlan, Thomas Mueller, Miroslav Klose, Simphiwe Tshabalala, Steven Pienaar, Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Diego Maradonna, David Beckham and the list goes on. I saw them in my own country, I saw them for an inexpensive price, and I felt it. In speaking to an American who has been to the 5 previous world cups, he simply stated that the pride and appreciation in South Africa was amazing. He had never seen anything like it. A journalist reported after the world cup that South Africa is the worlds best kept secret!

So in leaving you today, this is my thought, I know it was here, but the legacy and history and infrastructure are still here. And will be forever. The world cup is over, the memory will never be!

Have a great week and enjoy the rugby (come on Bokke!)

Jabu

Cheaters never prosper, till they do

It was a sad day in African Sport on Friday night. The Black Stars of Ghana were attempting to become the first African nation in history to progress to the world cup semi final. And deserve it, they did! Ghana took the lead through villain incumbent Sulley Muntari, who had already been sent home for misbehaviour, firing in a long range goal that left the U-R-Gay keeper floundering. Diego "once forlorn" Forlan returned the favour with a free kick of true beauty.

The game ebbed and flowed and looked destined for a penalty shootout, however not without controversy. Ghana had a long throw in, a shot was cleared off the line before Luis "I'm a cheating @*#$" Suarez decided to cheat. Yes there are those that say he did what he had to, but that doesn't mean he didn't cheat. Were these not the same people who condemned Thierry Henry for using his hand to qualify for the world cup. Suarez was lauded as a national hero, he has self proclaimed he is the new hand of God and U-R-Gay remain in the world cup, into the semi finals for the first time in 44 years.

Now you may wonder what my complaint is. This is it, that was not the hand of God, for God is not a cheat, it was the hand of Satan.

Footballers are heroes to little children all around the world. should we not be setting a positive example to children, should fairplay not be practised, should cheaters not face sanctions? Sure some may say it is just a sport, but unfortunately its not. Football is a business, for some its even life.

The World Cup has been amazing, but has also shown us that cheating is now very much a quintessential part of the not so beautiful game! Diving has been taken to new levels with Suarez, Ronaldo and dare i say it Steven Gerrard all aiming to perfect the art of the Swallow dive!

You see, the problem is not in the cheating, its in the punishment, its in the rules. If i was arrested for murder, yet only received a R10 fine, we would say the punishment and crime don't match.

So what do i propose? well surely a change to the laws is the way to do this? Here are some of my suggestions:

• technology - please Mr Blatter, please bring technology in


• Diving - why not have a post match citing commission (like rugby) where we punish those who have cheated and give them a few games ban. surely this would lead to it stopping


• on line cheating - Red card can stay, put the player has denied a goal, not a goal scoring opportunity, for the punishment to match the crime, a goal should be given (much like a penalty try)


• Abuse of Refs - do the hockey thing, you speak to the ref (and you not the captain), you get carded. DONE!

So until next time, keep it honest rather than keeping it real

JABU