Our Cape Town teams, the Cobras and Stormers kept their fans happy for another weekend, with victory over their opponents.

The Cape Cobras won their 4 day match against the Warriors to take the Supersport Series for the second year in a row!

Well done Cobras!

Add that to their T20 victory and it might be stating the obvious that our cricketers have had a fantastic season.

The Stormers aren’t doing too badly themselves. Still unbeaten this season in the Super 15!

A few ‘knowlegeable’ people thought they would come undone against the Sharks in Durban.

Who can blame them, as the Stormers/Western Province have often lost the plot in Durbs.

But not this time!

They were their new usual selves. Consistent, disciplined and confident.

Beating the other SA teams is always fun and doing it against the Bulls and Sharks is extra fun.

Well done to the Stormers! Long may this run of good form continue!

Oh my hat!

So there I was, enjoying some excellent SA batting in during the first test match SA vs India. I looked up at my tv screen yesterday only to see a profile picture of Jacques Kallis looking rather different.

His hair! Was my immediate reaction. Did they use an old photo I wondered.

And then when he scored a century Hashin Amla ran his gloved hands over Kallis’ head. Possibly indicating that the Proteas dressing room was amused by the hair saga.

It looked a bit like a toupe, mind you. But is likely hair implants.

Maybe the new hair will help Jacques Kallis to his maiden test double century?

Before:

Now:

Who said Formula 1 racing was boring?

Me for one!

I used to love it back in the day when the late Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were furiously duelling for supremacy.

Then came the boring years with Damon Hill and co. And watching Michael Schumacher win race after race may have been fun for Ferrari fans, but for the rest of us…a snoozefest.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso briefly brought F1 to life with their duel for the number 1 spot at McLaren.

That was sorted far too soon, because Alonso went to Ferrari!

When Jenson Button, World Champ and all, signed with McLaren, we expected a few more fireworks.

According to some reports, the two are not bestest buddies and so far their rivalry hasn’t really put to the test. Even if they did go on holiday together recently.

But that’s not the case at Red Bull. They have two drivers within 5 points of each other on the F1 log.

And they seemingly chose a favourite. Sebastian Vettel.

The team took the front wing off Mark Webber’s car and gave it to Vettel. This was meant to give Vettel the edge in the race.

Webber however won Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone and apparently quipped something to the tune of “not bad for a number two driver” to his technical team at the checquered flag.

He had more to say on the matter at the press conference.

Nine more races left. This should be fun!

WTF is wrong with the IAAF?  Not to mention Athletics South Africa?

Nearly an entire year after Caster Semenya was banned from running in IAAF sanctioned events, she’s been told she can run again.

What does this mean?  It takes a year to test whether someone is male or female? Or that female athletics is that murky. 

Because as soon as Semenya got herself a team of lawyers, the IAAF and ASA suddenly became careful with their statements.  Suddenly the Australian media who broke the story were deafening in their silence.

It has been said that if Caster Semenya was banned, it would open a can of worms since many other current female athletes would provide uncertain test results.

However they’ve deliberately put the spotlight on the 19 year old athlete and filled her life with innuendo and lies. 

Were they trying to break her so she would quit athletics because they were afraid to make a decision?

At least Caster Semenya handled herself very well over the last year. 

It’s the athletics administration bodies and the media, especially the Australian media, that should be ashamed of themselves.

Have mercy!

Check out this cover of Vanity Fair with Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba posing in a feature about the 2010 Soccer World Cup – taking place right here in good old SA.

As a Liverpool supporter I feel a bit disloyal checking out the Chelsea and former Man United player…but to quote someone on another forum….dang!

Here are a few others:

From L to R: Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan/Ghana), Landon Donavan (L.A Galaxy/USA), Kaka (Real Madrid/Brazil) and Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan/Cameroon), Pato (A.C Milan/Brazil)

News from within the IAAF has again leaked via the Sydney Morning Herald. The same journalist who broke the story initially.

The newpaper alledges the IAAF initiated tests concluded that Caster Semenya is a hermaphrodite.

Meaning she has external female organs, but no ovaries or womb.

Instead she has male testes that produces high testosterone levels.

It has been reported that the IAAF have unsuccesfully tried to get hold of Semenya through Athletics SA.

So someone in the IAAF leaked the medical records of an eighteen year old to the media.

What a disgrace!

And that applies to the ASA who obviously must have been aware from the start that not all was well with the Semenya results.

It is said she will be allowed to keep her World Championship 800m gold medal, but another one will be given to the athlete who placed second.

Apparently, Semenya will be allowed to compete in IAAF events after she has the testes surgically removed and receives female hormones for two years.

However, the ASA and Semenya could take the case to a tribunal in Switzerland and get a ruling. The same way our blade runner, Oscar Pistorius, did.

One would have hoped that by now sanity would have prevailed.  But unfortunately that is not the case at all.

Every politician and quack has come out of the woodworks to offer an opinion.  None of which is helping poor Caster Semenya.

Unless you count the R60 000 or so that the ANCYL has bestowed on her…the apparently broke ANCYL.

And what should have been a low key return, the girl’s sexuality is being both questioned and tested, has turned out into a circus.

The media – worldwide – have taken to interviewing medical practitioners in every medical field willing to give an opinion. Oh and are they ever willing!

Politicians – including this country’s president – have weighed in on the saga.  What they know about the situation could probably be written on a pin’s head.

Yet there they were at Oliver Tambo International, getting all fired up, calling the IAAF racists and generally saying nothing important.

Whether they like it or not, the IAAF were well within their rights to question Semenya’s gender.  She does after all looks and speaks like a male. 

How they did it is up for debate…the fact that this very private matter was leaked to the media is inexcusable.

The fact that Athletics South Africa knew that Semenya’s testosterone levels were three times that considered within range for a ‘normal’ female athlete makes one think that they doth protest too much.

ASA put Semenya on the world stage to be ridiculed.  They should take the biggest amount of blame for this attention the 18 year old Semenya was placed under.

Meanwhile there is Caster Semenya, an 18 year old girl who may or may not have a career in athletics.

In the end she won’t even matter – she’ll fade off stage and the politicians and media will move onto their own agendas.

I’m not in the loop with the world of athletics, so it came as a bit of a surprise this morning to hear of the controvery involving a South African athlete.

Caster Semenya is an eighteen year old 800m athlete representing our country at the IAAF World Championship.

She’s being accussed of not being a woman! Of all things.

One would have thought it would be relatively easy to test for gender- for instance:

• Does she have a penis…or
• an Adams apple
• how about a womb

Apparently its not that easy because the IAAF have brought in the services of an endocrinologist, gynaecologist, internal medical expert and a psychologist to prove whether Caster is a woman.

To illumimate matters even more, e-news showed an image of the athlete and she looks masculine to me.

This whole episode reminds me of a poem we did at primary school called The Twins by Henry S Leigh where the hapless twin laments, “…I put the question fruitlessly to everyone I knew.
What would you do if you were me to prove that you were you?”

Sooner or later we’ll know the result of the test.

Until then Ms Semenya will still have permission to race…and win gold for her country.

Like she did just a few minutes ago.

If nothing else, at least the controversy put the athlete in the
public eye. Otherwise we might have heard her name in passing on sports bulletins tomorrow morning.

Former Arsenal player and current Chelsea man Nicolas Anelka wrote a tell all book appropriately called “It’s not me. It’s everyone else.”

The book is only being published on 29 August, but already excerpts are being published.

In it Anelka talks with loathing of his former Arsenal team mate Patrick Vieira, who he blames for ending his Highbury career.

He writes about an incident where Vieira slapped Anelka in the face with his penis!

This for calling Vieira a limped wrist something or other.

(I’m still trying to picture this incident. And its beyond me.)

Afterwards Vieira received a high 5 and a “that’s why he’s the captain” from Manager Arsene Wenger. And well he should. What a feat!

Anelka was sold for hir troubles.

Funny how Anelka says he wasnt accepted anywhere he played and he played everywhere.

Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester City, Paris St German, Liverpool, Galatasary and now Chelsea.

Looks like Anelka needs to do some more soul searching or a visit with Dr Phil if he thinks its always someone else’s fault.

But a good behind the scenes gossip is always welcome. Looks like Footballers Wives was tame compared to reality in the English Premier League.

And here we thought we have problems in the Western Cape with racial problems…

Serena Williams lost a point in the French Open 3rd round on Saturday and all hell broke lose – on internet message boards!

It started when Serena hit a ball at her opponent, the Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, at the net.  Maria put her hand/racquet up to protect herself.

What happened next only Sanchez herself will know.

According to  Williams the ball hit her opponents arm which according to tennis rules means Serena should have won the point.

Sanchez says the ball hit her racquet only.  The umpire agreed with her.

Although Sanchez subsequently won the set, Williams eventually defeated her in three sets.

Afterwards Serena Williams accused Maria of cheating, saying: “I hit that ball rather hard; she knew that ball hit her.”

Of course since it’s one of the Williams sisters involved, race had to raise it’s ugly head on internet discussion boards  after the match with ugly comments directed at both Spaniards and black people.

It is amazing something small like a tennis match in Paris can elicit the same emotions as a general election in far off South Africa.