Legacies Live via Longevity

How pathetic are some sports teams these days? Oh you lost two games did you? you are fired! WHAT? The team had a highest ever finish last year and we won the cup. YES, BUT YOU ARE STILL FIRED!

There is far too much of this going on. In the PSL we have already had two coaches sacked this season. There have only been three league games so far. So we are losing a coach every 1 and a half games! so at this rate we will lose 20 coaches in the league this season. There are only 16 teams. We have built a culture in sport that immediate success is punished. This is a bad idea.

If the Bulls had employed this policy then Frans Ludeke would have been fired! He took over in 2008 and finished 10th in the super 14 and runner up in the currie cup. People were calling for his head, but the blue bull company said no. We have faith in this guy. There patience has been rewarded. Back to back Super 14 along with current Currie Cup champions.

Look at Sir Alex Ferguson. He was nearly fired back in 1988 after a bad start. The board decided to stick with him after much debate and we know exactly how that turned out for Manchester United. Arsene Wenger has been allowed a long term to help take Arsenal to the next level. Sure we may not have won the trophies that United have, but we are in a much better financial position, in a new stadium, with a new logo and play a brand of football that can merely be described as AWESOME! In David Moyes, Everton have the third longest serving manager. From a team who were fighting relegation every year they have become a team who are as good as any other in England and qualifying for Europe is a common occurrence these days.

In South Africa Gavin Hunt has been given a chance and he has now won 3 titles in a row. I am glad to see Kaizer Chiefs didn't do the usual thing and fire a coach after one season. I like Vladimir Vermezovic. I think Chiefs play a good mix and we have a team this year that will push all the way for the PSL trophy. Patrice Motsepe could learn a lesson from the mighty amakhosi.

In rugby we saw what backing a coach could do for a team. Jake White in 2006 would have been fired if he was a PSL coach. Yet he was given the chance and we are still reigning world champions. That was also why I feel Jake White was being a chop. When he was almost fired he got cross, when P Divvy was almost fired he jumped on the bandwagon saying FIRE HIM! I think we have a good squad and this was the wake up call Div needed. I still believe we will be a major contender at the world cup next year!

In other news, All Things Jabu didn't make the top 2 for the best sports blog, but for a newbie blog I am very grateful for the support of everyone of you! My friends at paddlesweep.net are in the top 2 and All Things Jabu proudly holds thumbs for them on Saturday night.

And lastly for today, FIFA 11 is launched next week. Pre order your copy on Kalahari.net (its a discounted price!).

Remember, Once Tottenham have one the FA Cup, turn off the playstation. 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1!!!

So until next week, look to longevity for your legacy!

JABU

The Spanish Armada Marches On!

Good day ladies and gents (here forth known as insert catchy name for followers here), on this Tuesday the 14th September. So let’s look at what’s on my mind today.
When 2010 started, there was a feeling of pure joy here in South Africa. The biggest event in the world is coming and we will be the hosts. The whole world will be watching us. The “Gees” will be amazing. This will be our year. And true, many will think of South Africa when they think of 2010, but undeniably the year of 2010 belongs to Spain. In the year that has passed we have seen some truly incredible Spanish victories and the year aren’t finished yet. Sure we could talk about the fact that there hockey women lost to ours, but let’s focus on the big things.

Spain are the Fifa World Cup champions and will hold this title for the next four years. They currently have 9 players in the top 40 of world football according to the Castrol index. They are also the Euro champions and to top off their domination of World Football a Spanish team (Barcelona) are currently the World Club champions. For the first time in my life one team is completely dominant. France in the late 90’s were great, but their club sides didn’t dominate either!

The only race that really matters in Cycling is the Tour de France. Although many of you will know my feelings on cycling and the Tour de France in specific, there is no doubting that the best extreme cyclist in the world right now is Alberto Contador. He dominated the Tour this year and deservedly triumphed in the Paris. Alberto Contador is a Spaniard.

Next we will look at the first tennis player since Rod Laver to hold Wimbledon, the French Open and the US Open at the same time. Yes it is the one and only Rafa Nadal. Pundits all over the world wrote him off due to injury plagued 2009. He has troublesome knees and will never be that good at the hard court season. He decided to re-invent his game and the now 24 year old has become the outright favourite for the Laureus Sportsman of the year. He has now won 9 majors and should he stay fit he will comfortably beat Roger Federers record haul of majors. I was never a fan, but I was amazed at his comeback this year.

The other man I would like to talk about is Fernando Alonso. I am a McLaren fan and as a result also a Lewis Hamilton fan. I don’t like Fernando Alonso. However, I would like to point out how brilliant he was at Monza this weekend. What a win for the Ferrari team. Alonso has not had a great car, yet with just 5 races left he is within a win of the leadership of the championship and the way this year is going I wouldn’t be surprised if he won this again.

In the two wheel version of the sport, Jorge Lorenzo is running away with a championship that was previously owned by Valentino Rossi. He is currently 63 points clear and is just riding through the motions of winning the championship. And would you believe it? He is Spanish!

And in completely other news, a Spanish speaking country won the Women’s Hockey World Cup! Congratulations to the Argentineans! Well done to the South African women too, except for a harsh call against India, they could have finished 9th. As the lowest ranked team at the World Cup we can surely be proud of this and build on it!

So in leaving you this week, I leave you with this thought. If you really want to win something this year, hope for luck, or alternatively get a Spanish passport!

In sport
Jabu

On a side note. Thank you once again for all the votes! Please keep voting for All Things Jabu and any other categories if you are keen! Please leave comments if you would like to see change!

Deadline day with Hockey and No Balls

What a disgrace.

Match fixing has reared its ugly head once again and the cricketing world collectively sighed that the ugly beast has not left the sport! 9 years on from Hansiegate the Pakistan players agreed to bowl no balls at certain times and above is an image of how bad the overstep was! (3 times!) The game of cricket is in shock. The sporting world is in shock. I am not shocked at all! Match fixing, spot fixing and other fixing have been a big part of the cricket world for a long time! And the sad thing is the Pakistani's are always involved somehow. Many feel that Hansie took the flak for many in 2001 and with the new outbreak of this virus it may very well be that others who avoided the axe are soon going to be staring straight into it.

Can we ban betting on cricket? I don't think so. The ICC have no control over the betting world and if the bookmakers wanted to bet on what time i would wake up in the morning, they could do with very little input from me. Once again something that I mentioned in a previous post ("Cheaters never prosper, till they do") I again think the only way for cricketers to avoid this is if the punishment is severe and harsh! Take away the one thing that makes them cheat, the sport itself. It was an easy decision to ban Hansie, why not do the same to the disgraceful Pakistani's!

I HATE CHEATING!

Onto deadline day in the footballing world, this event is like a full moon, except it only happens twice a year, but much like a full moon, more often than not it turns out to be disappointing! My mind goes back to 2006 (When the deadline ended at midnight), Arsenal and Chelsea made the surprise swap of Cashley Cole and William "now a spud" Gallas in a great eye catching deal. In 2008 we saw the deadline deals for newly found money bags getting the outrageously disappointing Robinho and Manchester United getting the lazy looking Berbatov. But with the weaker economy, the new premier league rulings and the lack of available class, the past two seasons have been very disappointing. The big news that came through is that Spurs were allowed to bend the rules and sign Van der Vaart after the transfer window, however it must be said VDV 8 million, Bebe 7 million, i hate to say it but Spurs beat United in this one! The nice news from deadline day was that African hero Asomoah Gyan went to Sunderland in the biggest transfer of the day (Which should help him overcome this) and former Gunner Hleb went to Birmingham instead of Liverpool and Spurs.

The disappointment is surely this for South Africans:
World Cup Squad (team before world cup/ team after world cup)
Khune (Chiefs/ Chiefs)
Josephs (Pirates / Pirates)
Walters (Maritzburg/Maritzburg)
Khumalo (Supersport/Supersport)
Booth (Sundowns/ Sundowns)
Gaxa (Sundowns/ Lierse)
Masilela (Macabi Haifa / Macabi Haifa)
Mokoena (Portsmouth / Portsmouth)
Ngcongca (Racing Genk / Racing Genk)
Sangweni (Arrows / Arrows)
Thwala (Pirates / Pirates)
Moriri (Sundowns / Sundowns)
Davids (Ajax CT / Ajax CT)
Dikgacoi (Fulham / Fulham)
Modise (Pirates / Pirates)
Lethsoloanyane (Chiefs / Chiefs)
Tshabalala (Chiefs / Chiefs)
Pienaar (Everton / Everton)
Sibaya (Rubin Kazan / Rubin Kazan)
Khuboni (Arrows / Arrows)
Nomvethe (Swallows / Swallows)
Mphela (Sundowns / Sundowns)
Parker (Twente / Twente)
This means that we have two players playing in the big leagues (England, Italy and Spain). Only two players play champions league (Parker and Sibaya). If we want to be world beaters we need our players to play against the best there is on a regular basis! Mphela should have gone to Birmingham, Tshabalala should have gone, Khune should have gone. I love the PSL and am an avid chiefs fan, but Bafana comes first and these players can only grow by playing the best.

A last thought on the transfer window. I really feel the window should close at the end of July, keep it open for two months. by keeping it open you change the dynamics of leagues already started all around the world and this is a problem in my eyes!

On an ending note this week. Hockey. This is a sport close to my heart. For those that don't know, i still coach and manage provincial hockey although i have now stopped playing the game. The South African women are competing in the world cup currently. They beat Spain 2-1. for you to understand Spain have professional hockey, South Africa don't. This is a great result and hopefully the ladies can continue to fly the flag as high as they do in preparation for the Commonwealth games in Delhi in November.

JABU's PICKS
2 out of 3 again last week. Here are the pick for this weekend:
The big 4 to go marching on in the US Open (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray)
Bafana to spark a frenzy in Nelspruit by winning by more than 2 against Niger
The Springboks to end the tri nations with a comfortable win by more than 10

Closing notes
Thanks to all those that nominated. All things Jabu is now a finalist for the SA Blog Awards 2010. Please keep voting if you like the blog. Or comment if you want change!

Until next week. If you are asked to bowl a no ball, please say no!

JABU