Ard Matthews messes up the National Anthem

In a special programme organised and co-ordinated by Supersport last night, the Springbok Squad to do duty at this years Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, was announced. Does the occasion warrnt an hour's worth of televising? In this bloggers humble opinion, no! It just doesn't help stretching it that long, more time is spent beating about the bush, and akwardly handling the starters, instead of getting to the meaty main course that is the announcement.

ESPN made a similair blunder last year airing an hour long programme when star basketball player, Lebron James, announced he was switching teams. When really a short press release form his parking lot would have had the desired effect.

The problem with this drawn out process is you are forced watch as presenters bungle through meaningless interviews, and invariably ask you to phone in and vote on the matter at hand. The format is flawed, and having it live only adds to the general dis array.

Which brings us to the anthem bit, why? This isn't a game, we don't need to sing it, the only reason it was sung was because someone, realised they couldn't fill the allocated timeslot with all the fodder, that was planned.

In steps Ard Matthews, a familiar face to those who were into the alternative South African scene mid to late nineties when the band Just Jinger was at it's zenith. Great jams too, I listened to some of their music and it was truely and still is top class.



Oh Oh... one line in, and already the cracks are staring to appear. "Holy Shit he's laughing it off... Okay now he's apologising, alright calm down, I think he's gonna ask for a do over, and compose himself. Come on Ard!".. Oh shit, Ard doesn't know what the fuck is goin on. Man the nerves are working their shit on him today." Hang on a minute, composure gathered as soon as he gets to the Afrikaans part, and right through to the English. I feel a rage building up inside of me.

Twitter is abuzz, Everyone taking shots at Ard, but I choose to worry about the glaring weaknesses in the squad instead, let me sleep. I wake up to read that Ard is sincerely sorry over the incident the nerves got the better of him. I look at the people I follow on twitter a broad spectrunm of this countries demographics(that means mixed) The dark half is up in arms, the light side seems to be cutting Ard, some slack. John Smit himself, say's its about how you finish not start. I mull this over as I eat my oats and muesli.

I've heard Ard sing on many occasions, even live, and he doesn't strike me as the sort of guy who'd forget his words. Then I hear he's on John Robbie's 702 Show. I listen in, he's apologising profusely, "saying "he understands that to some it may have been insulting, and those who feel that way, are well entitled to that feeling, but he hopes he can get it through to you that it was purely nerves."

When you hear Ard break it down like that, you empathise, but I've got a gripe with all these twitter/facebook and internet thugs, who wanna act all tough from the safety of their keyboard.

In a country burdened by the all too fresh scar of apartheid, issues such as this will always boil down to race, as my good co blogger put it, that train is never late. I'll tell you why balck people hopped on the race card real quick on this one.

This Hybrid anthem which, incorporates xhosa, zulu, sotho, afrikaans and english. Is the great compromise from people who were under the yoke of apartheid, and it's inherent language policies. To this day, at any place where the anthem is sung, a mojority of white peole mumble through the black parts, then belt out the parts that roll easier off the tongue.

This is a slap in the face, a country where the black people have made major concessions. In order to accomodate the very people who would seek to opress them were it not for international pressure. Far too often we've acquiesced in the spirit of nation building only to have the other half, ask us to take a step beyond the halfway point they promised they'd meet us at. So when a white guy, blups his way through the black part then "finishes strong" on the white part feelings wil be hurt, and I ask that the black guy be allowed to pull out his race card this one time.

I got nothing against Ard, but people need to know that for others it goes a little deeper.


no ill will Ard.


L.G

L.G