Memories of the World Cup

Nik Rabinowitz - South African Comedian - talks about the USA vs England match.

Our Soccer Trip to Rustenburg

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This is a composite picture stitched together by Windows Live Photo Gallery from a dozen or so photos taken on my new Nokia 6303i phone. I took them at half time in the England-USA match at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on 12th June 2010. The match was a 1-1 draw, and quite exciting. There was a great atmosphere in the crowd, spoilt only by the insane loudness of the Vuvuzelas. Fortunately we had good earplugs so we managed to preserve our hearing and not get a headache either.
The inset on the left shows a picture of a modified Vuvuzela that has to be the longest I've ever seen. The inset on the right is Penny doing her best to drink a Badweiser beer. If you look at the details of the picture you'll notice how many VIP seats are empty/unsold, and you can also see the non-functional TV screens on the left and right of the stadium.
In spite of the deafening noise, the overpriced beer and not being able to see the replays, we had a great time. Everyone was in a good mood, and even though the US fans were completely outnumbered, their shouts of "U-S-A U-S-A" could be heard above the din, and made the mood pretty festive.
The US team played well, but didn't seem to be able to finish off their attempts at goal. They were very sporting, and acknowledged their fans at the end of the match. I'm glad I supported them and hope they go on to the next round, even if their home country has no idea how well they did.
Logistics have never really been a strong point in South Africa, and the official FIFA web sites provided no useful information on how to get to the stadium. The map in the fan booklet is laughably bad. But there is a great graphic and information provided by the "Royal Bafokeng Nation" web site. I printed it out and it is shown behind the tickets (above). As it turned out the route to Sun City is well marked, and in combination with the directions to our hotel, we arrived safely and on time to check in at the hotel.
A very helpful lady from the Rustenburg Accommodation and Tourism Association suggested we try the Sundown Ranch Hotel. I'm glad we did. The cost of the stay at the hotel was less than the cost of a single FIFA ticket. And it included breakfast for two. Fortunately we didn't have to pay for the tickets (thanks to MTN who gave two to a friend of ours) and we have avoided buying anything with the FIFA logo on it, except for the food and drinks at the stadium.

FIFA World Cup sponsors fleece their fans

If you believe the official FIFA Fan Guide, Cokes cost R8 and Budweiser beers cost R10-R20. Only this doesn't apply at the Royal BAFOKeng Stadium, where the "sponsors" choose to engage in price gouging by charging R15 for a Coke and R30 for a beer. They are sold opened, so by the end of the match there isn't much fizz left. And the beer should be called BADweiser because the only way they can get the fans to drink it is to ban all other competing products.
I took this picture of the price list with my phone, and so the R15 label under the Coke is a bit blurry. Click on the picture for a bigger view.
Do the sponsors really think they can insult their customers by charging double or triple the normal price? Does Budweiser think I will ever voluntarily buy a Bud when they left me with such a bad taste in my mouth during the FIFA World Cup? The only good thing about their beer is that it is mostly water.
I have written to the sponsors but I doubt I'll get a reply. And in case why you are wondering about my capitalisation of the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, it's because the two large screens didn't work. Befok is the Afrikaans equivalent of FUBAR and since the screens were broken the stadium deserves its BAFOKeng status.

Open Letter to Budweiser

Who to Support? England? USA?

There is a lot of weirdness going on in South Africa at the moment: FIFA and MATCH are screwing the tourism industry; Vuvuzelas are on sale for 5 times their normal price of R20; and motorists are shredding the national flag by driving too fast on the motorways.
Then there is "Zakumi San", the world cup mascot who is made in China, along with the national team T-shirts. Such is the nature of business and trade unions. I vowed not to buy anything with the FIFA logo on it, because I don't support organised crime.
But I was given tickets for the England vs USA match on Saturday, because a friend is doing temp work for the USA team. So who do I support, apart from Bafana Bafana? Do I acknowledge that my grandparents came from England and my brother lives there? Or do I support the USA team because the US needs to get a clue about soccer and catch up with the rest of the world? Of course we'll have to put up with bolshy US Secret Service people escorting Joe Biden around the place, but is that any worse than the chaos created by the English soccer hooligans? Its going to be an interesting time. Will I be able to pluck up the courage to wave a US flag? I doubt it. Why is it the English team and not the UK team? More weirdness.

More Bafana Bafana madness