THE Brits - who hate to be associated with mediocrity - will vehemently deny it, but the truth of the matter is that the FA Cup, once one of the premier soccer events on the international sporting calendar, has in all sincerity lost its gloss
The FA Cup final used to turn the iconic Wembley Stadium in London into a kaleidoscope in May of every year as soccer fans from all corners of the globe converged into the giant arena to watch inimitable soccer greats such as Ian Rush and John Barnes turn the football pitch into a theatre of football wizardry.
Mzansi's professional administrators used to suspend local soccer fixtures to allow themselves time to watch the best that was English football. The whole world came to a standstill when the final was staged.
The spark is now long gone. Some of the Barclays Premiership club managers don't take the competition seriously anymore, preferring to field second-string teams for the competition's matches and preserving the best line-ups for the more meaningful league title race or the prestigious European Champions League.
Camp Nou, and not Wembley, is the place to be these days if you want to witness soccer action from the top drawer.
Watching FA Cup matches has become a painful and dull affair.
Something has gone terribly wrong! That's perhaps the reason some of the tournament's most vociferous detractors are derogatorily referring to the FA Cup as a "f. up". We can hear you, sir!
Linguistically injured
Iranian deputy foreign minister Hade Soleimanpour was scheduled to jointly address a press conference with his Mzansi counterpart, Ebrahim Ebrahim, after his short visit to the country last week.
But the media conference was cancelled at short notice.
The reason? Soleimanpour - who is sought by Interpol in connection with the bombing in 1994 that left 85 people dead in Argentina, where he served as an ambassador - said he "didn't feel comfortable with the media because his English is bad", according to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
He need not have been worried.
Take Orlando Pirates head coach Rudi Krol, who is from Holland; and his development counterpart Augusto Palacios, a South American, for example.
Both men know they are linguistically injured, but they enjoy the media limelight even though they know half the time we don't understand half of what they say.
Feeling left out
Still on the issue of language, Guluva has for a long time now been waiting for the release of Ain't Seen Nothing Yet's local government election CD.
We all need some cheering up from time to time, especially at a time when the debating arena is clogged up by depressing issues of race, cronyism, nepotism and so on.
The CD finally landed on Guluva's desk a few days ago, and he has never felt so left out by the party.
The titles of the election songs - all 12 of them - are in isiZulu/isiXhosa (nine) and English (three), languages that Guluva is not comfortable in.
It is worrisome that the CD's executive producers - Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu (both isiZulu speakers) and Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula (isiXhosa speaker) - have neglected other languages, such as Xitsonga, Tshivhenda, Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana.
If they had cared to check, they would have discovered that there were 11 official languages in Mzansi.
E-mail Guluva on: Thatha.guluva@gmail.com
FA Cup definitely half empty
THE Brits - who hate to be associated with mediocrity - will vehemently deny it, but the truth of the matter is that the FA Cup, once one of the premier soccer events on the international sporting calendar, has in all sincerity lost its gloss
The FA Cup final used to turn the iconic Wembley Stadium in London into a kaleidoscope in May of every year as soccer fans from all corners of the globe converged into the giant arena to watch inimitable soccer greats such as Ian Rush and John Barnes turn the football pitch into a theatre of football wizardry.
Mzansi's professional administrators used to suspend local soccer fixtures to allow themselves time to watch the best that was English football. The whole world came to a standstill when the final was staged.
The spark is now long gone. Some of the Barclays Premiership club managers don't take the competition seriously anymore, preferring to field second-string teams for the competition's matches and preserving the best line-ups for the more meaningful league title race or the prestigious European Champions League.
Camp Nou, and not Wembley, is the place to be these days if you want to witness soccer action from the top drawer.
Watching FA Cup matches has become a painful and dull affair.
Something has gone terribly wrong! That's perhaps the reason some of the tournament's most vociferous detractors are derogatorily referring to the FA Cup as a "f. up". We can hear you, sir!
Linguistically injured
Iranian deputy foreign minister Hade Soleimanpour was scheduled to jointly address a press conference with his Mzansi counterpart, Ebrahim Ebrahim, after his short visit to the country last week.
But the media conference was cancelled at short notice.
The reason? Soleimanpour - who is sought by Interpol in connection with the bombing in 1994 that left 85 people dead in Argentina, where he served as an ambassador - said he "didn't feel comfortable with the media because his English is bad", according to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
He need not have been worried.
Take Orlando Pirates head coach Rudi Krol, who is from Holland; and his development counterpart Augusto Palacios, a South American, for example.
Both men know they are linguistically injured, but they enjoy the media limelight even though they know half the time we don't understand half of what they say.
Feeling left out
Still on the issue of language, Guluva has for a long time now been waiting for the release of Ain't Seen Nothing Yet's local government election CD.
We all need some cheering up from time to time, especially at a time when the debating arena is clogged up by depressing issues of race, cronyism, nepotism and so on.
The CD finally landed on Guluva's desk a few days ago, and he has never felt so left out by the party.
The titles of the election songs - all 12 of them - are in isiZulu/isiXhosa (nine) and English (three), languages that Guluva is not comfortable in.
It is worrisome that the CD's executive producers - Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu (both isiZulu speakers) and Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula (isiXhosa speaker) - have neglected other languages, such as Xitsonga, Tshivhenda, Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana.
If they had cared to check, they would have discovered that there were 11 official languages in Mzansi.
E-mail Guluva on: Thatha.guluva@gmail.com
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