It’s game day here in South Africa as in a few hours the Springboks will take the field for their second test match against the British and Irish Lions at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld, home of the Blue Bulls, and which arguably represents the Afrikaner heart of Springbok pride.
last night the pubs were swarming with red-clad Lions fans whose confidence in their aquad is matched only by their confidence in their currency, despite the fact that the Lions have not looked stellar for most of the trip. The team practiced at sea level for the past week, leading some to wonder if the highveld altitude won’t prove too much for the tourists. Meanwhile the Springboks hope to play a full match, as last weekend they sprinted out to a strong lead before barely withstanding a brutal second half onslaught from the visiting side. If the Springboks win, and I suspect they will (my prediction: 35-19), and if the traveling horde of Lions supporters are true to their word, my drinks tonight will be paid for in full.
My friend Josh got in the other night and we have been enjoying Melville. Tomorrow we will hop a flight to Cape Town for a few days there. Today we will find a place to settle down and watch the big game. That is if my friend can manage to stir himself from his coma.
On a more somber note, it has been interesting to watch the response to Michael Jackson’s passing here in South Africa. Even as Jackson became more and more of a ghoulish cartoon character in the eyes of most of the world, he continued to be a larger-than-life figure to many South Africans whose devotion to him continued as if Thriller came out yesterday. There is more than a hint of mawkish sentimentality to some of the tributes to the King of Pop, but also a good deal of genuine emotion devoted to a man who embodied the hopes and dreams, and perhaps not a little escapism, of millions during South Africa’s ugly 1980s.