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Archive for June, 2010

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June 14, 2010

Why we should all cheer for Bafana Bafana

By Dave Briggs

  

For the record, I have not, yet, seen Invictus. Apart from Morgan Freeman botching Nelson Mandela’s accent, I hear it’s a grand, uplifting film about the hopes and dreams of a reborn rainbow nation as realized through the South African rugby team.
 
I am, however, fervently cheering for Bafana Bafana (Zulu for: The Boys, The Boys), South Africa’s soccer team, despite the improbable odds against them and despite the fact watching soccer is about as much fun as airline travel.
 
My mother is South African. I have two aunts, two uncles and three cousins and their families that have lived there all their lives. Despite what you may have heard about white South Africans of English origin, my relatives are wonderful people who happen to live in a magical and troubled land. We are all quite close despite the distance.
 
The World Cup has rarely interested me, but I’ve been surprised with how captivated I’ve been by this one on a cultural level. Likely, my interest has been piqued by the fact South Africa is the host nation. But there’s also something to be said for finding a rooting interest in a country or two, mostly on the grounds of family heritage.
 
Here lies the real value of the World Cup, particularly when your own country isn’t in it — finding something within yourself with which to identify.
 
In our house, with Canada about as proficient at soccer as Brazilians are at hockey, that means South Africa comes first — with a myriad of “second teams” claimed by my wife and three children for a host of plausible and inexplicable reasons.
 
Surely, we could do without those annoying plastic horns, the vuvuzelas, which sound like an incessant swarm of bees. Yet, despite talk of them being banned, there’s something to admire about mirthful South Africans winking as they claim them as part of their cultural heritage, basically telling the rest of the world to shove it.
 
An old Marxist professor or two or mine would say all this sports stuff is an opiate for the masses. But I believe sports have the power to unify, to transcend. If so, few places need victory more than South Africa in the post-Apartheid era, which has been plagued by crime, AIDS, political scandal and socio-economic upheaval of the highest order.
 
Vuvuzelas or not, I would love to see them celebrating in the streets of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Soweto. I can’t begin to comprehend what winning the World Cup might do to unify a divided nation, though I’m not naïve enough to believe it will cure serious ills.
 
For the moment, anyone who roots for the underdog, for the best storyline, surely appreciates the implication of an unlikely victory by the South African side.
 
For me, it goes much deeper. Bafana Bafana is part of my tribe.
 
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June 11, 2010

Gaynor golfers unfazed by rain

By Lauren Lee

Gaynor golfers unfazed by rain

For many golfers, there is nothing worse than an afternoon spent drudging around the course in soggy, saturated golf shoes while buffeting winds turn solid hits into struggles for par.

 

On June 9, the golfers taking part in Clinton Raceway’s seventh annual charity golf tournament overlooked such minor discomforts and turned out in droves to support a man who continues to face major challenges.

 

Since the fall of 2008, Gerry Gaynor (above, with wife Michelle) has been battling a brain tumour. The long-time horseman from Goderich, ON underwent surgery last November to remove the tumour and has faced many months of rehabilitation at Parkwood Hospital in London, ON.

 

Despite the rainy forecast, more than 130 golfers showed up for the event, held at Woodlands Links golf course in Clinton, ON, which also featured a dinner and silent auction.

 

By the late afternoon, the participants were treated to a better-late-than-never appearance by the warm sun and quickly dried out before dinner — when Gaynor and family, joined them.

 

All told, the tournament helped to raise more than $11,000 for the Gaynor family. The funds were raised not only through the golf portion of the day, but the silent auction, hole-in-one contests, hole sponsorships and dinner.

 

The tournament was just one of several big events for Clinton Raceway in 2010, the track’s 40th year.  On June 20, the feature races will be the Central Huron Stakes Finals, while July 4 marks the day of the official 40th anniversary celebrations. The track features live racing action every Sunday afternoon (post time 1:30 p.m.) from now until Sept. 19, 2010.

 

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June 10, 2010

Saturday will be a telling night

By Dave Briggs

  

The latest installment from my weekly Guelph Mercury column…
 
Before Saturday night is over, fans of the sulky set should have a much better idea which horses will be favoured to win Canada’s richest harness race.
 
With the $1.5 million Pepsi North America final set for June 26 at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, this weekend brings a couple of major prep events for three-year-old pacing colts.
 
This Saturday at Mohawk, 31 horses will compete in three $100,000 divisions of the Burlington Stakes — 25 of them are eligible to the NA Cup.
 
The same night at the Meadowlands Racetrack the $500,000 New Jersey Classic final will go to post featuring the best New Jersey-bred sophomore pacing males, four of them are Cup-eligible, including elimination winner All Speed Hanover.
 
Click on the words “Guelph Mercury” to read the article in its entirety.
 
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