An Open Letter to The Foreign Media in South Africa

Here is a great open letter to the media in South Africa
http://www.supersport.com/football/blogs/peter-davies/Open_letter_to_our_Foreign_Media_friends

A View from South Africa: The Brazil vs North Korea Game

Here is our first report from South Africa by our on ground reporter Dianne Russell

Night in Brazil!

          The Set Up
I’d been excitedly looking forward to Brazil’s opening night and I was NOT disappointed!  Not only was the game fantastic, but the vibe at Casa Little Brazil, which has taken over the Sea Point Civic Centre in Cape Town for the next month, was incredible. 

We paid R60 (about $8.00 Canadian) cover charge each, and as soon as we walked through the door, we knew it would not be a waste.  Just inside the entrance lay a man-made beach made from authentic Cape Town sand!  Beyond the beach was the auditorium, where we found bars, food, a live samba band, a DJ booth and of course, a huge TV screen.  More incredible than the ‘things’ we found were the PEOPLE.  The place was pumping with crazed Brazilian fans decked out in all variations and combinations of their yellow and green fan gear, and instead of walking from place to place, everyone danced – just as I imagined Brazilians would do!  Before the game started, we were treated to three bedazzled and befeathered female dancers (one Brazilian and two South African) shimmying and gyrating around a lone, topless gyrating Brazilian male.   Did I say topless? and gyrating? sigh...

The Game
Up to the balcony we climbed, claiming a perfect row of seats with a terrific view of the screen.   Vuvuzelas were paaaaarping – yes, BRAZILIANS were happily blowing vuvuzelas to the samba rhythms, shaking their booties as if the vuvuzelas had always been part of their football tradition!
 As we were in a Portugese-speaking crowd, the broadcast was also in Portugese, which was a bit challenging for us English speakers.  This did, however, make for a very unique experience.
Because I lived in Korea in the late 90s, I can recognize the sounds of Korean words.  When the Brazilian broadcaster was speaking, I could make out the names of the North Korean players, even when mixed in with the Portugese.  This is what the game sounded like to me:
“blah blah blah blah vuvuzela blah blah Ji Yun Nam blah blah blah Kaka blah blah blah vuvuzela blah blah blah Kaka blah blah Kaka blah Kim Yong Jun blah blah Hong Yong Jo blah vuvuzela blah blah Kaka blah...etc.”
BTW, Kak means ‘poop’ in South Africa...sorry all you Kaka fans, but it’s true!

Anyhow, as everyone knows, North Korea played incredibly and put Brazil to the test.  North Korea worked so bloody hard that when they finally scored a goal, all the Brazilians stood up and cheered for them!!!  How classy is that?!?!  It gave me yet another reason to want to go back for the next game (as if the food, booze, samba and hot ‘topless and gyrating’ Brazilian guy weren’t reason enough!).
After the game, the dancing broke out once again, and the sounds of samba continued well into the Cape Town night.  Viva Brazil! 
http://dirussell.com/

TODAY IS YOUTH DAY IN SOUTH AFRICA

This is the shot that was seen and heard around the world 34 years ago. The photo was taken by Masana Sam Zema at a youth protest of the forced use of  Afrikaans / English 50-50 mix language being taught to them.

June 16, 1976 blacks student had a walkout at school and marched toward a rally at Orlando Stadium.  The rest of the story is history. Accounts vary as to the numbers of deaths (ranging from 200-600), but there were an estimated 1000 injuries on top of that.

I remember seeing that photo on the front page of the New York Times, a few days later and it shook me to my core. I said to myself "WTF...they kill their own children?" The world outrage was immediate.

But that school uprising was the beginning of the end of apartheid and I was so happy for South Africa to see it go. I cried tears of joy when Mandela was elected president and now we all celebrate the growth of a nation with the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP!

PS: The boy who died in that photo is Hector Pieterson and there is a wonderful memorial in Soweto for him including the very photo of the above image!

Chile Won Over Spain?

Wow! Sometimes the hype is too much and hard too live up to.  It was a great goal!

ITALY JUST GOT SAVED WITH 1-1 TIE OF SLOVENIA VS NEW ZEALAND

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky New Zealand! They scored a late goal (last 30 seconds in additional stoppage time) that tied the game with Slovenia, leaving all 4 teams in that group with 1 point each. Great news for Italy!
Portugal and The Ivory Coast are now playing (1st half so far no goal).


We wait for the Brazil vs North Korea match this afternoon. Our on the ground blogger, Dianne Russell will bring us photos & news from Casa Little Brazil in Cape Town South African! According to Dianne and I quote "the pavillion has an indoor beach, bars, food, dancing, live music, and best of all, a live broadcast of Brazil's first game (against North Korea) on a huge screen! With over 5,300 Brazilians visiting Cape Town, this will be the best party in the city".   That should be colorful and we look forward to seeing a photo journey of this experience!

GHANA, GERMANY & NETHERLANDS ALL TAKE 3 POINTS IN THEIR GROUP

Congrats to Ghana, Germany and the  Netherlands for winning their games and taking 3 points each in their groups. A special shout out to GHANA the first African country to score in the World Cup.

Now I want to have a discussion about the brewing "NoiseGate" dilemma!

I've been discussing this since Saturday with a lively debate on Facebook, but after hearing many points of view, I'm siding with the South Africans...blow away!

Here is a view from the South African point of view

http://fredhatman.co.za/?p=3308

Sorry For the late post!

ARGENTINA WINS OVER NIGERIA

Argentina had many chances to score more then 1 goal, but as far as I'm concerned they should be happy with the 3 points for the win. Argentina has won 5 straight World cup opening games in their group. Not bad Argentina!

Coach Diego Maradone

GOING DEAF IN SOUTH AFRICA:THE VUVUZELA NOISE

The first time I heard that noise on the TV, I thought "What the hell is that noise"? I actually thought for second it was millions of bees, but it turns out to be "The Vuvuzela Horn". After this world cup, the ear doctor is going to have a field day, making lots of money from people who have hearing loss...lol!
The photo below is provided by Dianne Russell, who happens to live right next to one of the stadiums...LOVE THIS PHOTO! Those headphones are SOLD OUT!

If you would like to follow her blog

http://www.dirussell.com

KOREA WINS OVER GREECE

Korea won 2-0 over Greece in their first match, which puts them in first place so far in their group with 3 points. Argentina and Nigeria are about to play, would should be a good game (everyone is talking about Diego Maradone, one of the former great players and now head coach of Argentina team) but the match of the day is USA vs ENGLAND at 1:30PM

For more fun, check out the FIFA Widget below!

GAME 2 FRANCE VS URUGUAY

I personally found this game to be a little boring. The final score was 0-0, so each team gets 1 point. All 4 teams in group A are tied with 1 point each. SCORING RECAP: Each winner of match gets 3 points,  and if they tie or are scoreless, they get 1 point each.

SOUTH AFRICA & MEXICO TIE 1-1 IN OPENING GAME...BUT

What a game! South Africa had chance to win it in the closing minutes, but the ball hit the post of the goal and the player was alone with the shot. Um, Um, Um! Missed opportunity to be a hero in South Africa, but the game opened with a damper to it.  Mr. Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter died in a 1 vehicle car crash, after leaving the stadium for the kickoff opening concert. Whomever was driving her, might have been drunk and if that is the case, this story is even more tragic. To read more about it, click on the link http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/world/africa/12mandela.html?src=me

Photos From World Cup Kickoff Concert

South Africa is definitely in party mood and it showed in that fabulous kick off concert that just finished in Soweto. The BlackEye Peas, Shakira, Alicia Keys, John Legend, just to name a few!

THE BUD HOUSE: 32 FANS 1 GOAL

Okay this looks like fun! Budweiser is an official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP. They have an online reality show called The Bud House (3 of the bartenders were cast by my good friend Tony Miros of Cornwell Casting in LA). This is how it works:
(information below from the Bud House site)

 http://www.youtube.com/budunited

WORLD CUP STARTS TOMORROW!

It's time for the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP from SOUTH AFRICA! I know some of you could care less about soccer aka football to everyone else except Americans, but it IS the biggest sport in the world.

So for those of you who know nothing about the sport, let's give you a little lesson. There are 8 groups (A-H) with 4 teams in each group. The teams within the groups play each other. The 2 top scoring teams within the group, then play in round 16, with the 1st top scoring team of group A, playing the 2nd scoring team of group B,  then the 1st top scoring team of group B, plays 2nd scoring team of group C and so on and so on! The winners of these matches, then move on to quarter finals, then the semi-finals, with the 2 losing teams playing for 3rd place...then the FINAL MATCH (A lot like tennis, but teams instead of individual players).
This is the first time the games are being played on the African continent, which in itself is very exciting, especially for AFRICA! The cities that the games are being played in are: CAPE TOWN, MANGAUNG/BLOEMFONTEIN, POLOKWANE, DURBAN, NELSON MANDELA BAY/PORT ELIZABETH (some of the biggest matches are here, including the finals...see the 360 view of stadium below in another post), RUSTENBURG, JOHANNESBURG, NELSPRUIT, TSHWANE/PRETORIA!

The games will be broadcast LIVE DAILY on (American Schedule) ESPN, ESPN 2 and ABC in high definition! Here is the schedule of matches from ESPN for Friday June 11 - Tuesday June 15th

Looking forward to blogging with you in real time and hope you become fans of http://www.bibisports.com
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Your World Cup Hostess
BIBI

PS: I will post of list of local places in Miami Beach/Miami that will cover the games if you want to be in a sports environment with other people!

Also I would love to hear from other soccer fans around the world, so please join us!

Travels with Chuck Blazer...: Pre World Cup Profile by Sports Business Journal

Travels with Chuck Blazer...: Pre World Cup Profile by Sports Business Journal

Stories From Africa To Celebrate World Cup 2010

It's only 3 days to the FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP from South Africa, but since this is the first ever World Cup on the African continent, I decided to bring you stories from all over Africa. Today I would like to introduce you to our first guest blogger;

Gilbert Sabinga from Nairobi in Kenya!

Gilbert will bring you stories about his tribe "The Samburu" &  and their culture in a 4 part series over the next month.

Below is his first post from Kenya!

    Samburu Background 

The name ‘Samburu’ is also of Maasai origin, ‘Samburr’, being the traditional leather bag specific to the tribe that they use for carrying meat and honey. Samburu are a proud warrior-race of cattle-owning pastoralists. The Samburu are closely related to the Maasai. Like the Maasai, they live in the central Rift Valley area of Kenya, where the climate is semi-arid. They are semi nomadic and belong to the Maa (Nilotic) speaking group of people. Their livelihood depends upon the cattle, sheep and goats they raise. They use their milk more than meat, often drinking milk mixed with cow's blood. Like their neighbors, they have to search for water and grazing land which leads them out from their homes during dry seasons. The Samburu live in huts made of branches, mud, and cow dung. Around it, there is a fence made of thorn bushes, in which the cattle are kept at night. Most Samburu still wear traditional dress. Like the Maasai, women wear colorful beaded necklaces. The number of necklaces is a sign of wealth, often given as dowry. They wear bright clothes, usually red and pink. To protect their eyes from the sun, Samburu warriors often paste their hair with ochre which creates a visor. Samburu are very spiritual people, believing and praying every day to the God called Nkai. Age determines men's social status: each man has to go through various stages before becoming a powerful elder. Circumcision marks the boy’s transition to a young warrior, while girls’ excision is carried out mostly on the day of marriage or before (usually at 16 years old).

 

History

The Samburu developed from one of the later Nilotic migrations from the Sudan, as part of the Plains Nilotic movement. The broader grouping of the Maa-speaking people continued moving south, possibly under the pressure of the Borana expansion into their plains. Maa-speaking peoples have lived and fought from Mt. Elgon to Malindi and down the Rift Valley into Tanzania.

The Samburu are in an early settlement area of the Maa group. Those who moved on south, however (called Maasai), have retained a more purely nomadic lifestyle until recently when they have also begun farming. The expanding Turkana ran into the Samburu around 1700 when they began expanding north and east.  

Language:

The language of the Samburu people is also called Samburu. It is a Maa language very close to the Maasai dialects. Linguists have debated the distinction between the Samburu and Maasai languages for decades.

 In normal conversation one who speaks one of these languages can understand the other language 95 percent of the time. But a joint Bible translation was found to be ineffective to cover both groups. Preferred word usage and some grammatical difficulties required a separate translation for Samburu and Maasai.

 The Samburu tongue is also related to Turkana and Karamojong, and more distantly to Pokot and the Kalenjin languages.

The Chamus (Njemps) people speak the Samburu language and are often counted as Samburu people. The Ariaal group of Rendille has been greatly affected by the Samburu and now speaks the Samburu language. The Ariaal number 102,000, making a total of 249,300 mother-tongue speakers of the Samburu language.

Swahili is used extensively, particularly among younger people. Swahili is the language of education and English is taught in schools. There is still a low level of literacy and education, however, among the Samburu.

 

Customs

Generally between five and ten families set up encampments for five weeks and then move on to new pastures. Adult men care for the grazing cattle which are the major source of livelihood. Women are in charge of maintaining the portable huts, milking cows, obtaining water and gathering firewood. Their houses are of plastered mud or hides and grass mats stretched over a frame of poles. A fence of thorns surrounds each family's cattle yard and huts.

Photo to the left of a Samburu Hut made of branches, mud & cow dung!   In the next posting, Gilbert will talk about marriage customs & initiations! To learn more about Kenya or to speak with Gilbert Sabinga, you can contact him at   

Address:  P.O Box 54667, Nairobi

 Email:     sabinga@gmail.com

 Cell phone:  +254722 641 059

 

The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

Wow is all I can say of the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in South Africa!


Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in South Africa

I will post the match schedule shortly!

The Soccer Studs of 2010 World Cup South Africa

Well it's June 1st and time to start world cup blogging! I'll be bringing you the games, South African history, how the game is played for those of you whom still don't understand soccer, the world's biggest sport! But I thought I would start my coverage with what the women want to know: The Soccer Hotties! You might be thinking a little lame, but who cares. The men in the sport of soccer, tend to be really good looking and great eye candy! So here are the top 15 compiled by thestar.com (including photos), Toronto edition!

Here is Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best known players in the world, but he is number 3 on the list.

Who is number 1?

Didler Drogba who will be playing for his home continent of Africa! For the full list
http://thestar.blogs.com/worldcupphotos/2010/05/meet-the-soccer-studs-of-2010-south-africa-world-cup.html

By the way these stars were on the June Vanity Fair Cover..You have to open it for the extended photo!

More news to come!