sport and the new faith on the pitch

Sport tells a lot about the soul of at least the men of this country. I would think that winning or loosing, flags our commitments and deepest loyalties. Mine is WP/Stormers, Kaizer Chiefs and Man U and of course all South African national teams. I mourn for our Bafana Bafana, I hope all the best for Peter De Villiers, I want Greame and the boys to bliksem that 'water-pommie', Kevin Pietersen and the rest of the British empire- for the sake of our forebears, at least. But it's also about the way sport is run, the culture of it, that wins our hearts. Watching the Euro 2008, in bits and pieces, I could not help but think of one huge religious event- the singing, the kerkklere, the emotion, the prayers around the pitch, on the pitch, the sense of power, the sense of loss. it allways fascinates and amuse me when Bakkies Botha runs on the field, get down on his one knee and say a prayer. What does he pray for ? 'God give my right hand strength to beat those All Blacks into submission, use my hands to 'klap' them, for your name sake, I thank you Lord. Amen'. It's almost a new secular spirituality that re-invents the traditional spaces and articulations of faith. It's there and its real, whatever our positions on it. Maybe this post is an attempt at purging myself from the guilt for the time I spend in the presence of Supersport, I don't know. So as our new soccer coach states, because he was born in the same day as Jesus Christ, we should expect a miracle... and nothing less then a mirackle will let us qualify for the Angola AFCON.