During my time here in South Africa, I have been fortunate enough to experience some of the sports that are so prevalent in these parts. The sports aren’t as good as in the States, but it was fun to be able to witness the other side of sports. Myself and James went to a rugby game in late April with one of the student leaders at UP. I started to somewhat understand the rules of the game and enjoyed the time spent with the guys. “Our” team also won, which was fun to watch.
In May, I was able to go to a cricket game in the IPL, which is the Indian Premier League. This was a big deal, having the IPL playing on South African sole because it’s usually just played in India and some of the South African players were on some of the teams. I would describe that league as just an all-star grouping of games, where it’s all about the showmanship and entertainment than playing safe ball. The cool part about the game was one of the bowlers, or what we call pitchers, threw the ball side-armed instead of full circle overhead. (If you want to know what that looks like you can send me an email and I will send ya a link.) He is the only one that I know of that does that throw and it usually looks like he is or should be pitching in the major leagues.
I also had the chance to take three students with me to the semi-final game for the Super 14 championships. Great game, “we won”, and a great time spent with the guys and seeing how they reacted outside of their Christian little bubbles. We talked as we walked about their lives and how they were trying to live their lives out for Christ.
Good guys, good game, good times.
Quick note: South Africa and Pretoria is a meca right now for Rugby. Super 14 Champions Blue Bulls (Pretoria) — May 16th beat rival Sharks, May 23 beat Crusaders in Semi’s, May 30 beat Chiefs in Final. — The Springbok (SA’s country team) beat the British and Irish Lions three out of the four games and the Springboks are leading in the Tri-nations Championship tournament.
Through a Whisper 