Talking Sports like gals do shopping

I’ve just read the article of the Indian media hailing the little master for his brilliant 200* yesterday against my poor proteas & ofcoz the question rose again: Who really is the greatest batsman ever, Sir Donald Bradman or Sachin Tendulkar?? For me,& I’ll say it again, FOR ME it’s a no brainer: It’s the little master, the great Sachin Tendulkar!! & my reasons are simple: He’s scored more runs than any other batsman.. EVER!! He’s done it for an unbelievably long period & he did it in my time..

Now before the aussies bite my head off, averaging 99 in 52 test matches is unbelievable, unheard of in this day & age & I hate to say this but I don’t think anyone will come even close to that ever again!! But these days sports is not just about numbers.. It’s about making these sportstars gods among men, its about making money, its about getting bigger, stronger, faster!! I follow the NBA basketball in America vigorously & if you ask the average sportsguy to the most fanatic NBA fans who the greatest basketball was to ever play the game, 60 – 80 % percent of them will tell you it’s Michael Jordan & they’ll probably be right. But here’s some quick stats for you about this all time great.

- His highest score in a game: 69           All time is 100 by Wilt Chamberlain

- Career average: 30.81                         All time is 30.85 by Wilt Chamberlain

- Championships won: 6                         All time is 11 by Bill Russell

- Career points: 32 292                          All time is 38 387 by Kareem Adbul Jabbarr

But you see it wasn’t just all about the stats, because MJ almost single handedly put the NBA on a global scale in the early 90’s with how the NBA marketing themselves around him.

It’s really a pity that Chamberlain, Russell & Jabbarr didn’t play in Jordan’s era just like it’s a pity that Bradman didn’t play in Tendulkar’s era. But they didn’t and I guess that’s what it comes down to. Who played in your era.. The Master played in mine & that’s why for me, and I’ll say it again, FOR ME he’s the all time greatest batsman ever!!

Im outy

Ps: Interesting fact: Cricinfo listed the 58 all time highest scoring ODI’s yesterday., Tendulkar leads the pack, featuring on the list 5 times & in 4 of those he scored 160 plus.

I read an article earlier this week that Jean de (devil) Villiers might or will return to SA at the end of his season with Munster. At first I had a big smile on my face followed by a very big frown.. Obviously I’ll be ecstatic if he returns but will he come back to Cape Town & if he does, what happens to the young & talented Juan de Jongh?? Speaking as a fan of WP & the Stormers, I would put Jean & Jaque in 12 & 13 anyday of the week & twice on weekends because I’m a big believer that they’ve been SA’s best centre pairing the last 5 or 6 years!! & what an opportunity it would be for the young de Jongh to learn from the best ey!! & I even haven’t mentioned the bosch’s, des fountain’s etc just waiting in the wings.. I wonder what will happen to these guys & how long will they be content with being the backup guys??

I can just see how the sharks are smelling blood in the water & will probably make a bid on either de villiers, de jongh or des fountain because lets be honest, their centres has been.. uhm.. whats a good word here.. uhm.. solid I would say but not eye catching like your de jongh’s, olivier’s n even meyer bosman.

So if I was WP, I would take back Jean with open arms like the father did his long lost son because a player like him don’t come around that often. I’d rotate the centre combinations as much as possible with de Jongh coming from the bench & starting the odd game because he is still young & got a bright future ahead of him. Des Fountain is the main concern for me though because it looks like WP doesn’t know what to do with him. Whether he should be a wing or a centre & his injuries is helping him either. Great things were spoken of this guy a couple of seasons ago so I for one would still like to see him around. And of course another very important factor to consider would be resting the Bok players & this will be a perfect opportunity for the young guns to strut their stuff especially with World Cup next year.

In my eyes, the Springboks can only benefit from the Devil’s return.. & so can WP & the Stormers!!!

Im outy

Well it’s finally here!! Super rugby!! Aaah man.. feels like it’s been forever!! & just like every other season I can only see great things for my beloved Stormers!! It’s not healthy to dwell in the past but to think that we were one high tackle away from hosting the Currie cup final does leave kind of a bad taste in one’s mouth!! And that bad taste that can be removed by reaching alteast the semis of this year’s Super 14.. I read the previews of each team the sarugby.com team so comprehensively put out for us rugby fans n the way they see it come semi final time, it will be the Bulls hosting the Stormers & the Saders hosting the Brumbies. They also called the Bulls to win the whole thing. I’m not so sure about that.. & I’m not just saying it because I’m a stormer but I don’t think you can call it so clear cut & dry. I’m mean what about the Chiefs & the Tahs? & the Sharks even!! When did the Stormers, Chiefs, Brumbies & Tahs go ahead of them?? A team boasting more Springboks than the other 2 SA franchises combined.. It’s a toss huge up for me between these teams. Just a few questions comes to mind:

-         Will the real Dan Carter stand up? You know the one that was the best player (let alone flyhalf) in the world just

          a couple of seasons back. The same can be asked of the Crusaders.

-         Will the Bulls again bulk under pressure of being defending champs like they did back in 08?

-         How will Berick Barnes fit in the Tahs & can he & Beale finally step up & carry them into the semis?

-         Can the Stormers & the Sharks constantly play at a high level throughout the season?

-         Was last year just a fluke for the Chiefs?

-         Can Giteau bring the Brumbies back to the promise land with literally an Aussie pack?

We really won’t really know for sure come May now will we?? I don’t wana make any predictions like ou Pietertjie did back in 2008 but I really do think that each country can have 2 teams in the semis this year.

Back to my Stormers!! Hip hop hooray, we got Jaque Fourie & that other guy J but we lost Jean (da devil) de Villiers. Ah man, how cool wud that centre combination have been.. But lets move on shall we & look at the future in young & exciting Juan de Jongh. I still think he’s an outside centre but if I had to choose between him & Jaque it’s a no brainer really. But what a fantastic opportunity for him to learn from the best. Which brings me to my preferable backline for this season & I’ll give my reasons too:

9. Ricky January. This is tough one because Dewald has been playing really well so I’m goin for Ricky because I hear through the grapevine he is slowly but surely finding his form of a couple of seasons back. So lets give him a chance shall we.

10 – Peter Grant. With Joe Petersen responsible for kicking duties, Bash can concentrate on his role as fly half. He doesn’t have the kicking boot of de Waal but makes up for it with his all round game. In my eyes he’s the still the 2^nd best flyhalf in SA after Morne Steyn & should get ample opportunities this season to prove just that.

11. Bryan Habana. Come on, do I really have to explain this one.

12 – Juan de Jongh. For him I’ve got 3 reasons: He can learn from the best in Fourie, along with Grant & Fourie, they make a very formidable 10-12-13 & he’s too great of a talent not to play regularly.

13. Jaque Fourie. He’s not walking into the starting 15, he doing it by running hard & straight.

14. Gio Aplon.  Forget about his size, Gio just like Juan & Joe Petersen deserves to be in the starting line up for great form in last year’s Currie Cup. Besides, I wasn’t gonna just give it to Slow-mo coz of his size. Maybe Dylan des Fountain, maybe.

15. Joe Petersen. Arguably the best fullback in last year’s currie cup. Just like Aplon the only thing that counts against him is his size but solid on high balls, can kick for polls & out of hand, joins the line like few & has a nose for the tryline. What more do you want from your fullback.

Duwenage & de Waal will obviously wear nr. 20 & 21 respectively should they not start a game but it’s nr. 22 I’m worried about. You’ve got Welsch, Engelbrecht, des Fountain, Jantjes, Bosch, Cronje, Juries & I know I probably missed out on someone (oh yes, Slow-mo!!!) so I think Coetzee will have more problems with his bench than his starting 9 – 15. All in all this makes for yet another exciting Super 14 for the Stormers & just like every other year, I EXPECT great things for them!!!

I’m outy.