Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category
by Amy on Apr 25th, 2013
In his article about Kevin Davie’s book Freedom Rider: 10 000km by Mountain Bike across South Africa, Sean O’Toole writes that, “Davie’s narrative is littered with details that alert us to the difficult bodily labour he undertook, one that he argues is linked to our ‘encoded’ ancestral ability to hunt by endurance.”:
There are few rural spaza shops in the Eastern and Western Cape, according to Kevin Davie, although they are plentiful in the provinces of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
While pedalling up, down and around the fortress-like mountain range that dominates most of these provinces, a range of “crushing beauty” known as uKhahlamba in isiZulu, Intaba Zokhahlaba in isi-Xhosa, Maluti in Sesotho and Drakensberg in Afrikaans and English, Davie would often stop for a drink, usually a Coke.
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by Amy on Feb 20th, 2013
Jacana Media has shared a flipping preview of Freedom Rider: 10 000km by Mountain Bike across South Africa by Kevin Davie.
The preview comprises the foreword by David Waddilove, the founder of the Freedom Challenge, the prologue by Davie and part of the first chapter, which includes photographs showing the diverse riding conditions that Davie encountered during his journey across South Africa.
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by Amy on Feb 8th, 2013
The Mail & Guardian has published an extract from Freedom Rider: 10 000km by Mountain Bike across South Africa by Kevin Davie. In the extract, Davie lists the people who he admires when it comes to endurance sports, and discusses why they do what they do. He talks about finding out why the ability to run, or endure extreme physical conditions, was actually a basic building block of humanity:
Some years ago I read about The Great Dance, Craig and Damon Foster’s documentary, which filmed Karoha, a Kalahari Bushman, as he ran down his prey. I tried to track it down, and made enquiries on and off, but without success. Then I found it on YouTube and was fascinated by this exploration into another age. I have run 11 Comrades marathons and wondered whether I could claim to have run down that many kudus.
In the meantime, Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run popularised the idea that the ability to run, sometimes covering great distances over many hours of exertion, is one of the basic building blocks of humanity. McDougall writes that distance running gave us the ability to run down our prey; it ensured that we both survived and thrived. “We were born to run; we were born because we run.”
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by Amy on Feb 6th, 2013
Jacana is pleased to invite you to the launch of Kevin Davie’s Freedom Rider: 10 000km by Mountain Bike across South Africa.
Davie will be at the Delta Environmental Centre on Sunday 10 February from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM to discuss his mammoth journey, share some of the best photographs taken along the way and sign some books.
See you there!
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by Amy on Feb 5th, 2013
This is riding minimalism, the rider carrying all his requirements without any back-up vehicle.
Freedom Rider is not only an adventure story about an epic bike ride in extreme conditions but a foray into the histories and cultures that have made South Africa what it is today.
When journalist Kevin Davie started riding his mountain bike in remote, wide-open South African spaces he found himself on a 10 000km journey that tested his courage and determination through blizzards, lightning and hail storms as well as forty degree heat. Each successive expedition seemed to lead to yet another hidden corner of the country that beckoned to Kevin and his bike.
On his journey, Kevin completed the Freedom Challenge, the Spine (the Drakensberg from end to end), the Ride to Rhodes and the Ganna (Beitbridge to Cape Town). Two of the longest rides, 5 000km in all, are ridden solo.
This is his story – why athletes push themselves to rise to the challenge of extreme sport – as well as an account of the country and the incredible warmth and support from locals who reach out to help in so many ways.
About the Author
Kevin Davie has a passion for endurance sport and in addition to his exploits on the bike has earned his green number (10 finishes) at the Comrades and has completed 23 Dusi canoe marathons, including four each with his wife Lucille and son Dillon. As a journalist he was a Nieman Fellow in 1995/6 at Harvard University and divides his working time between the Mail & Guardian where he edits the business section and Wits Journalism at the University of the Witwatersrand where he teaches financial journalism.
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by Amy on Jan 16th, 2012
Jacana is proud to announce the launch of The Blue Book, an in-depth history of cricket in the Western Cape:
This book provides the first comprehensive and complete history of Western Province cricket and the Cape Cobras in the 121 years from 1890 to 2011. It goes beyond any similar sports history in South Africa to date, to reveal the rich history of cricket in a region with the longest tradition of playing in the country and the continent.
Based on decades of painstaking research, it overturns old, exclusive ‘official’ accounts of the past and introduces us to a wealth of new material about players, clubs and matches that were previously ‘off field’.
With its 20 000 cricketers, part-owned Cape Cobras franchise and the famous 123-year-old Sahara Park Newlands Stadium, the Western Province Cricket Association has inherited the oldest tradition of cricket in South Africa.
About the Authors
André Odendaal is Chief Executive of the Western Province Cricket Association and Honorary Professor in History and Heritage Studies at the University of the Western Cape.
Krish Reddy has painstakingly recovered much of the lost statistical records of black and non-racial cricket in Natal and South Africa. He is the author of The Other Side: A miscellany of black cricket in Natal, and co-author of Blacks in Whites: A century of cricket struggles in KwaZulu-Natal. The UK-based Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians chose him as their Statistician of the Year in 2007.
Andrew Samson is a statistician with a particular interest in cricket. He has contributed to the Mutual & Federal SA Cricket Annual and Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack since 1994. He was official statistician for the ICC World Cup in 2003, ICC World T20 2007, ICC World Cup Qualifier 2009 and ICC Champions Trophy 2009.
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by Thando on Dec 13th, 2010
The launch of The Vuvuzela Revolution at Lobby Books last week drew a goodly audience, collectively eager to look back at the 2010 FIFA World Cup with the trio of lawyers who authored the book. Andrew Whaley, Richard Calland and Lawson Naidoo chatted with well-known radio personality, Mike Wills, about the topic that has been so dear to the hearts of so many South Africans.
Wills said, “We haven’t had enough assessment of that remarkable time for this nation. We had so much information, so much emotion, so much engagement for so many years; and then the fireworks of the event. But since then, nobody’s been asking the questions, ‘What went right?’ ‘Why did we have such a wonderful time?’ and ‘Was it worth it?’”
Mills said it was a wonderful book and he was delighted to introduce the authors, multi-faceted, multi-talented folk who had taken an important step in trying to understand what it was all about.
The primary critical question to address, of course, was: Vuvuzela, yes or no? A good thing or a bad thing?
“There’s no easy answer to that question,” said Richard Calland, who cheerfully ignored the “spoken like a lawyer” quips from the peanut gallery. “Initially I’d have said I was against it but as the tournament went on it grew on me. People started playing it better. It wasn’t just an inordinate din and there was some melody to it.”
Andrew Whaley said he wasn’t into Shakira’s politics but he liked the official hit, Waka Waka. Naidoo said, “We have to toot our own horn!”
The authors found a remarkable use for the plastic horn while on their travels. “We were enjoying the drive from Beaufort West on the road to Bloemfontein,” said Calland. “It was the most beautiful South African morning. Clear blue sky, crisp light. Just perfect. I drove and drove. Until I ran out of petrol. But it was the sort of day when people pulled over, gave us a lift. We got to the garage, got the petrol, but getting back, we had to get the petrol into the wretched hole in the car.”
At that point the upturned vuvuzela proved the perfect receptacle. “What we then failed to do was to mark the vuvu so three days later, one of us reached for it in a moment of excitement and got a mouthful of petrol. They are versatile, but they need to be marked!”
The authors entertained the audience and fielded their questions at a fabulous event that offered all a welcome reminder of the glory of the 2010 Football World Cup.
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by Thando on Dec 6th, 2010
Idasa and Lobby Books invite you to the launch of The Vuvuzela Revolution by Richard Calland, Lawson Naidoo, and Andrew Whaley.
The Vuvezela Revolution is the definitive account of Africa’ s First World Cup …definitive because it captures not only the big questions about South Africa’ s handling of the global mega-event, offering serious and insightful answers about the legacy of 2010, but also because it reveals the vivid granularity of this beautiful country during that extraordinary month – Jabulani, vuvuzelas and all.
Thirty days that changed and built a nation … or did it?
Find out at the launch – we’ll see you there!
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by Thando on Dec 3rd, 2010
When the 2010 FIFA World Cup circus came to town it jolted South Africa out of its insular navel-gazing and roused a nation. Defying the sceptics and the Afro-pessimists – both at home and abroad – we put on a great show not just for South Africa, but for the whole continent.
The Vuvezela Revolution is the definitive account of Africa’ sFirst World Cup …definitive because it captures not only the big questions about South Africa’ s handling of the global mega-event, offering serious and insightful answers about the legacy of 2010, but also because it reveals the vivid granularity of this beautiful country during that extraordinary month – Jabulani, vuvuzelas and all.
Thirty days that changed and built a nation … or did it?
Find out in The Vuvuzela Revolution!
About the Authors
Richard Calland is a Constitutional Lawyer and political analyst. Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Cape Town and Director of Idasa’ s Economic Governance Programme, he is also Secretary-General of the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers and a founder member of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC). Calland’ s political column, “Contretemps”, has appeared in the Mail & Guardian since September 2001. His previous books include Anatomy of South Africa: Who Holds the Power? (2006).
Lawson Naidoo is a lawyer, a freelance consultant and an entrepreneur. He was special advisor to Dr Frene Ginwala, the Speaker of the first democratically elected Parliament of South Africa, Deputy Secretary to the Pikoli Inquiry and is currently Executive Secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution.
Andrew Whaley writes plays for stage, screen and radio. He travels to East and West Africa to make radio serial dramas. His play, “The Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco”, was published in the first Methuen Anthology of Contemporary African Theatre. He wrote a memoir of South African pop legend, Brenda Fassie. His latest play, “Banished”, was commissioned and broadcast by BBC Radio 3.
By night, Calland, Naidoo and Whaley run3Play Productions, an independent film company, whose debut documentary, Black Stars: An African Footballing Odyssey, was commissioned and screened by Channel 4 in the UK in 2008, and aired by DStv’s Mzansi channel in 2010. Their latest production, The Rise and Fall of a Party called COPE, is currently in meltdown – like its subject.
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by Thando on Jun 22nd, 2010
It’s just a short hour and a half before Bafana Bafana play France in their final FIFA World Cup group stage match.
At Jacana Media, we’ve renamed our company Jacana Jacana for the day – and wish South Africa’s boys all the best for the clash. Do this country proud!
Here’s a special treat for Bafana Bafana day: author Troy Blacklaws reading from his children’s story of soccer, magic and Madiba, Bafana Bafana. It’s provided courtesy Vanity Fair magazine.
Listen, and believe:
Troy Blacklaws Reads from Bafana Bafana [13:36m]:
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