It’s 2012 and here comes the London Oympics, but what about Olympism – the reason the Olympics exist? Olympism was founded by the ancient Greeks. They actively encouraged citizens to develop all of their physical, moral, intellectual, cultural and artistic qualities. London’s St Pancras Station The Olympic Games celebrated this with the Olympic [...]
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Goal Celebrations – Rage Or Joy?
Roger Milla’s samba with the corner flag, Peter Crouch’s Robot Dance or Pele leaping into the arms of other players with the biggest grin, or this goalkeeper’s extraordinary celebration or, this fan singing and dancing and inspiring a stadium, or perhaps this 19 year old jockey’s unbridled joy as he wins the 2011 Epson Derby* [...]
A Virtual Tour of the Newest Stadium in the Oldest Venue
The oldest international rugby venue in the world, Lansdowne Road, and its brand new 51,700 all-seater Aviva Stadium opened its doors to the world on Saturday 31 July 2010. Here is my virtual tour as I sat in awe of this wonderful new stadium. One wonders what historic moments in rugby and football (soccer) will [...]
He missed 3 penalties in one match but never gave up.
He missed 3 penalties playing for Argentina against Colombia. He scored a goal in the next game. He broke his leg while celebrating a goal for Villa Real. He scored a goal from inside his own half. His injuries kept him out of football twice for 6 month periods. His 200th goal for Boca Juniors [...]
We knew we were part of the universe of footballers (Part 2)
(Continued from Part 1 where a wonderful BBC World Cup short documentary revealed why football is so important in South Africa). As the Robben Island prisoners’ football league, the Makana Football Association, blossomed, the imprisoned players realised how important football was to them (for reasons that will surprise you). The MFA is said to have [...]
We knew we were part of the universe of footballers (part 1)
The World Cup is up and running. Teams are swapping shirts, shaking hands and some nice celebrations (so far the South African’s opening goal celebration is top of the ‘joyous goal scoring celebrations chart’). So far so good. Just a few divers who were publicly shamed in front of worldwide tv audiences as the referees [...]
Where Are The World Cup Sportsmanship Heroes?
As hundreds of millions of us sit down to a feast of football, who will stand out as a real champion of football? Who will light up the World Cup with a smile (remember Pele’s smile) instead of a raging roar of aggression? Or maybe a dance (Peter Crouch’s Robot Dance or the 42 year [...]
3 Wise Frenchmen Ask for Replay
Frenchman and Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, says “France should offer a replay – which I support personally. We want to beat Ireland properly.” French captain Thierry Henry says a replay of the World Cup play-off with the Republic of Ireland would “be the fairest solution”. France’s former superstar, David Ginola, said “there is no pride [...]
Suspending Animosity: The Football Shirt Swap
I came across this lovely article by Ethan Armstrong about swapping shirts after an intense battle. He was amazed by the ritual and thought it so special that he wrote about in on his blog. Never may we lose this tradition. I have another question for you: Why do some players now, when asked to [...]
Lions Tour Ends Honourably
I was personally thrilled to see the Lions win the third and final test match with the Springboks. And mathematically ……….. score more points than the Springboks over the three test matches – sorry Springbok fans – I can’t resist the stats. Fantastic series and congrats to the Springboks on winning it overall. In fact, [...]
