10 Reasons why Football is better than Cricket

10 Reasons why Football is better than Cricket
I found this interesting and thought of sharing it...read on.

Swimming body bans suit as Kenya's own burst his twice...

FINA, the international swimming federation has banned the swimming gear from all competitions from next year. This is due to the number of world records that keep breaking even before the previous ones have been recorded.

I would beg to differ with that thought since in as much as the costume aid the swimmers in setting new times, the sport is highly technical and prone to close times. The swimmers train hard and the times we see are as a result of this. When some official steps up to say that some piece of synthetic cloth is making a difference, they are in short looking for excuses.
Our very own Jason Dunford burst his suit twice yesterday and had to contend with a borrowed from our 'friendly' neighbours Uganda to compete in the 50m fly. Goes to show why you can't sever ties with your friends...
So now what will the pool swimmers look like ?

Will you Pass the Test, Zooming Zuma

Oh Lord, please tell me I'm dreaming ...

After hosting the Confederations Cup with a measure of success, South Africans have decided to provide the first real test for Pres. Zuma and his government. This is even glowing credits from FIFA's big boys led by Sepp Blatter.
First it was the striking stadium workers. Given that South Africa has some real discrepancies in the income ranges and also has an expensive labour force, this was bound to happen sooner or later. Construction workers are no exception to this.
Secondly, a growing expatriate population especially from the Zimbabwe, and even as farther up as Kenya has seen the local populace become rather uncomfortable with the opportunities that these 'foreigners' get and the monies paid.
Another issue, is the 'over-promising' that the ANC politicos made during thier campaigns to retain power. Some 500,000 jobs were promised even as the economy was starting to reel from the recession that was bound to land on their coast. Funny that that promise has now been rescinded.
This is a very precarious position that the 2010 WC hosts put the rest of Africa in. With the foreign media jumping at any opportunity to get at the insecurity concerns of the country,it will take a lot of PR and serious restructuring of the security agencies. The local citizens also need to know that they have the chance of a lifetime hosting this magnanimous tournament, and are jeopardising future contenders for international events in Africa.
Your excellency, Zuma Jacob, over to you !
Check out this blog for more info...

Controversy brews in Brazilian Samba (pensioners) Kenyan trip

As we had earlier reported, it's true the Brazilian football team was making a trip into Kenya. The ONLY small bit in the fine print was the fact that these were the retired players. This has led the Football Kenya Limited management to cry foul and claim they are not in need of 'tutoring' lessons from the Brazilians.
I would seek to entertain a different point here by the fact that, in all fairness, we can't call up the first team of the current Brazilian national team. It's way beyond our league to even try thinking of. The best we could get is a pep talk with a select side.Their main players are already in Europe preparing for the upcoming season while the others are back in South America as their national league continues (-:
You may need to know that their sponsors are very specific about such friendlies and what value will arise from it. It has to make commercial sense and not just some patchwork of a game. Planning my friends, planning !

As such, we can start with the older brothers who would offer invaluable experiences to the Kenyan boys. You never know, we could even have one or two left behind to offer technical expertise to the national team management ( that is if German coach allows it...)

Eat humble pie FKL ! You too ambitious thinking of hosting such giants while you're still sorting your backyard.

FYI- Brazilian Team makes Nairobi Trip

From unconfirmed reports, we learn that the Brazilian football team will make a brief trip in the country starting Tuesday/Wednesday and a dinner planned for the Safari Park Hotel (at Ksh.5000 per plate). We will give you more details on the trip once the itinerary is confirmed.

Odumbe's ban comes to an end- any comeback ?

One of the harshest bans ever slapped on a Kenyan sports personalities comes to an end next month. All who loved the Kenyan team which conquered the cricket giants in 1996, we all remember our very own Maurice Odumbe.
OK, the jury is still out there as to what happened between him and the book-maker. That his lifestyle had suddenly become flashy did not help his case much. What I found hypocritical was the fact that a West Indian player had been caught with a book-making offence even caught on camera but the ICC banned him for only 2 years.
Well, the ICC might not really love our Kenyan cricket officials and may have wanted to make an example of our gifted cricket brother. Maybe they may have even conspired to kill any inspiration that he may have had, you know the team's Achilles' heel? Who knows maybe that's why we have seen such deteriorating standards in the game since our cricket players are scared of stepping on the wrong coals.
Anyway enough of my hearsay, Odumbe's ban officially ends on August 4th as he marks his 40th birthday. Shall we see one of the best cricketers to grace our cricket grounds back on the crease? The cricket World Cup is next year and you never know. Only time will tell.
Additional info from Coastweek.com

Coke makes a detour into Basketball (or is it coming back home?)

After enjoying a 10-year hiatus, the Spriteball is back ! This time the round of events being sponsored by Coke once again to the tune of KShs. 40 m, will seek to scout for basketballers to attend ' Basketball With Border's camp in South Africa.
With Coca-Cola regional office trying to save face after the embarrassing stadium saga that caused quite a ruckus, they have decided to take a slight turn into a dying sport.

Logo courtesy of Coca-Cola
This time, there seems to be some seriousness more than just the usual fun for the participating teams. According to media reports, Coke has partnered with Miles & Associates International(MAI) to have mini-camps in four towns in the country before finishing off at Nairobi.
The flagship brand for this promotion, Sprite had last year tried a similar concept with the HomeBoyz Events organisers which didn't quite catch on as the previous Spriteball event held in 1999. See previous post here.
The monies invested will be used to develop basketball courts and will involve the renovation of the Railways Club which hosts the Nairobi Basketball Association games as well as a training ground for quite a number of teams including the ladies national team.
One may hope this can awaken the Kenya Basketball Federation officials to commercialise the game. I have said it over and over that these guys need look at what potential the game has and run away it.

Spriteball in Ghana
As for Spriteball, who will be the next Kingsley Makokha or Sidney Wafula ?

Sports Personality of the Year 2009 for 2009

Kenya's premiere award gala event will this year hope to reward the outstanding sports personalities before the end of the year. This is a positive move after the previous events tended to spill into the new year making it difficult to keep track of performances.
It is also a step in the right direction since it will ensure that sports people give their level best as they seek nomination for the awards. Quite a number of the sporting disciplines have their events calendars marked alongside that of the calendar year.
Main sponsors -Safaricom-will continue sponsoring the event this time pledging at least Kshs. 7 m. This is enhancing its commitment to the development of local sports and sports events.
Kudos to Paul Tergat in line with making a worthy contribution to the sports scene while still active. A popular figure both locally and internationally, he has the unofficial tag of 'Kenya's sports ambassador'. His outfit which manages the event, FineTouch Communications will ensure the event runs smoothly as it did this year. Can't wait to be part of the event!

Cricket: Another Sad Tale as Kenya dithers again

There are times I feel like throwing the gauntlet on the Kenyan sporting scene and getting on to something else but that would be giving in too soon. The cases created by our sports managers keeps putting to question whether we are cursed just like our political side of things. Where did the rain start beating us?
As we had reported about Athletics Kenya losing out on hosting next year's Youth Athletics Championships ( I'm not convinced by Hosea Kiplagat's words saying they have a secretariat running...), the Cricket Kenya officials have allowed a similar tournament for the cricket fraternity to slip through their fingers.
They say that they were preparing the grounds and still looking for sponsors.The little work going on of refurbishing the grounds was fair enough but even more urgent was securing sponsorship funds and the lucrative media rights which would have seen substantial income for CK.
Maybe they would have borrowed a leaf from the South African officials who managed to get India to move the Indian Cricket Premier League which still attracted a sizeable number of fans and audience across the country and into the global scene.
Synergies can be developed with SuperSport and work out something along the lines of the Kenya Premier League. But then again our local cricket scene has been sidelined and seems overtaken by events and is quickly sinking into oblivion.
What sluggards do we have running this office?
As we write this, Kenyan officials are also on the lookout for a new coach after Andy Kirsten's contract came to an end. Not much achieved under him, but we managed to qualify for the World Cup to be held in Asia next year. Hmm !

Do some fans have a monopoly over others in Kenya?

Over the last few weeks, since the resumption of the Kenya Premier League, the script has not changed much especially for the former bigwigs of Kenyan football. AFC Leopards even went to the extreme of recruiting over 18 players making a complete makeover. But the effect of that is yet to be felt.
But even with the team still bottom of the table, their fans have not behaved like hooligans except of course the game they interfered with at City Stars Hope Centre Grounds at Kawangware early in the season.
Which brings me to the now infamous Gor Mahia fans...since when did it become their prerogative to think they are the only fans who can cheer? Their actions in the last two weekends leave a lot to be desired and as if KPL has no teeth, they just watch as these guys wreak havoc on other progressive fans of the game.
Since when did vuvuzelas have an official custodian? And if so when did they pay the royalties for the same? And I didn't know you can't play your drums before a game of Gor Mahia...All these actions taking place in the glare of international coverage and local security agencies?
I think they are lucky the likes of some of us are not managing football in Kenya. a TOTAL BAN of 5 games should be effected to put a lid on some of these archaic habits. These guys are living in the 19th century. Read more here

Oliech ....we gettin Arab money !!!

Kenyan's star player who has lately buckled under intense criticism for not getting his mojo back for the Kenyan national team, has decided to move back to the Arab world. The player returns to the peninsula after a disaster for a season with 2 goals for his club -Auxerre. Though he may say this deal is worth the while, SK thinks he is about to call it quits in the professional circles.

For those who follow football, the only competitive League in the Arab world is the Turkish League which has the Galatasarays and Fenerbaches which have even featured in the Champions League proper, that to me would have been a better proposal.

We all know when you use your kin as management and also when the $$$ starts getting into your head. This and the shenanigans played by local players thinking they will have the seemingly sums for life only for you to leave the game dishonourably ought to figure for this brother....but then as Busta Rhymes says it we gettin' Arab money ...