Awesome Day

What a great day. Hayley and I went to our second service at Hillsong Church Cape Town and had a wonderful time there. It truly is such a blessed experience and I am so lucky to be sharing it with my gorgeous wife! We feel like we truly belong and if it is God`s Will, we`ll spend a lot more time there.

We then went for a drive down the coast and stopped for lunch at Houtbay. Fish and chips at Mariners is an institution in this family!

We ended the day having a braai (barbeque) at home and this was the sunset we enjoyed from our patio.

What a wonderful day spent in God`s Presence...

Graeme Smith

Firstly, let me put it out there. Up until a few months ago I was not a Biff fan. I thought he was an egotistical control freak. The way he handled himself and the stories emanating from the local press made it easy to dislike Biff.
This all changed a few months ago. I read an indepth interview by Neil Manthorp where the real Graeme Smith came across for the first time. This article explained a lot for me and made a whole lot of sense.

Graeme or Biff as he is known, took over the proteas at the tender age of 22. A young man who had to jump into the deep end and take a struggling SA side to England on his first tour as captain. That tour to England was (until yesterday) Biff`s finest. He scored 2 double hundreds in consecutive tests and made a ton of runs.
BUT, the tour also established him as a brash youngster on the world stage. His tactical nous was questioned by all the pundits, his comments to the press scrutinised and his relationship with other international captains became strained. Stephen Flemming once mocked Graeme by mimicking him in celebrating a catch. Nasser Husain called him "whatsisname".

The Graeme Smith who has been leading the Proteas the last year or so has not been the same kid who took the job at the tender age of 22. The Biff who has been the leading the team has turned into a tactically astute captain, probably one of the best in the world today. A man who is at ease with both himself and his place in the team, a leader who men happily follow due to the example he sets. When we were teetering on 90/4 yesterday who did you want to bat? I only wanted one man there cos I knew if anybody had the stomach for a fight it is Biff.

What transpired yesterday was one of the best innings ever witnessed in international cricket. Biff`s 154* was an unbelievable effort when seen in the context of the match and more importantly the series. The odds were certainly stacked against him. No team had ever scored more than 280 to win in the 4th innings at Headingley. Monty Panesar was spinning the ball a mile from the footmarks. Andrew Flintoff was bowling with everything he had. The pressure was immeasurable. South Africa won the test and the series because one man had the grit to take it upon himself to win. He did not stand back and confronted the English team head on. They were the ones to blink, Biff never wavered.

Biff came full circle when Michael Vaughan called his innings "one of the most special ones you will ever witness" and said that Biff deserved "all the praise that was going to come his way". Big words from a losing captain. Big words from a captain who was to resign the next day.

Today we are a very happy nation. We have tasted a series win in England for the first time in 43 years. That is older than I am! One man`s courage made it all possible.

When the cricket transmission went back to the studio last night, Robin Jackman couldn`t talk due to the emotion he felt. Tears welled up in his eyes and he was speechless for a few seconds. Keep in mind that Robin played test cricket for England and then see the significance in the emotion he felt. He looked like a proud father.

Biff, I am sorry for doubting you. Enjoy the win and the adulation because to coin a phrase "you deserve all the praise that is gonna come you way".

Signed

Your Proud Fan

Happy birthday to an awesome boy!!!

Tomorrow is Nicholas Joynt`s birthday. Nicholas is my sister Monya`s son and he turns 6 tomorrow. I can`t believe how time flies!

Nicholas is the coolest little man. He has given up his ambitions of playing rugby and has now focussed his attention on Martial Arts! I`m sure he is gonna kick some major Kiwi behind one of these days. Mind you, Monya is raising him as a pacifist, so not so sure what the Martial Arts will be used for. Self defence is my guess but then again, what do you defend yourself from in New Zealand?

Whenever we used to phone him on his birthday and ask him what he wanted it was always the same thing... A Surround Sound System.... This from a 3 year old! I think he spent too much time with his Dad.

I was very fortunate to see Nicholas when he was a toddler. I`ll never forget him always come running -and by running I mean crawling very fast - when I was on the internet to Hayley back in SA. I just heard this panting noise drawing closer and closer and then he appeared arms outstretched to get on my lap and play with the computer, just like his Dad (hopefully he`ll get better rhythm than said Father when he grows up - see post on Brian, the Legend). It drove me up the wall!

He has grown into the most awesome little boy. I have been fortunate enough to see him on 3 different times during his life. He is the softest, sweetest little man who really cares for other people. Monya and Brian did a wonderful job in raising him. Monya told me about a little boy in Nicholas`s class who is a bit slower than the rest of the kids. He is obviously a bit different than the other kids and therefore is not really a part of any groups of friends. But, Nicholas is this young man`s friend. Nicholas was the only boy invited to his birthday party a few months back. This came from Nicholas`s teacher, so it`s not a made up thing by an overly proud parent or uncle!!!

So Nicholas, I hope you have a wonderful day and that all your dreams come true!

Lots of love, Faffie and Hayley

The elusive 200 Club - Part 2

I was wrong....

The elusive 200 Club

Jacques Kallis is a fine cricketer (or cricketeer if Don King is to be believed). He is a true legend in the making. Probably the finest, or very close too the finest all-rounder to ever play the game. I`m sure Sir Garfield Sobers would have something to say about that claim but this is my blog and Sir Garfield is not a subscriber.

Kallis averages in the high 50`s with the bat and the very low 30`s with the ball. He has scored more than 9600 runs, more than 150 wickets nad has taken many magnificent catches. The complete cricketer you might say.

The one blemish on his record is the absence of a double ton. The magical 200 mark has eluded him his whole career. He had the opportunity many years ago but the captain declared when JK was on 189*. I am sure he was given ample time before the declaration came but he didn`t accelarate at all. He probably thought a 200 was just around the corner.

Well, it wasn`t. That happened almost 10 years ago and still, no double.

I feel though that that is about to change. Kallis has been well below his usual standards on the current tour of England. He has a high score of 13 in the current series. Now anybody who has followed Kallis knows, that is not something that is going to last. He already showed glimpses of a return to form in the warm-up to this test. Scores of 55* and 70* is proof of that.

So, I am making this statement in the company of all 3 my loyal readers (you know who you are).

Kallis will make a 200 during this test if he gets a proper batting chance and if the weather does not interfere.

Big words I know but then again only 3 people will mock me if I`m wrong....

Brian, The Legend

Today is my brother-in-law Brian`s birthday. Brian is an absolute legend and his love for Wimpy burgers is well known. Unfortunately he lives in New Zealand so Wimpy burgers are also just a distant dream for him.



These photos were taken during my families last visit to SA in 2004/5. We had an absolute ball and the memories will last forever. They were not digitally manipulated in any way whatsoever......





Brian doing one of his famous dance moves.....
















Brian and the love of his life.......







Hope you have an awesome day, we love you and miss you terribly....

My dream "To-Do" list

Everybody who knows me, knows that there are specific things that I want to do during my lifetime. Some I have been fortunate enough to do and some will probably have to wait a bit longer.

My To-Do list includes sporty things like seeing Man Utd play at Old Trafford - The Theatre of Dreams, enjoying a Boston Redsox game at Fenway Park, watching Roger Federer play anywhere. Or musical things like seeing Collective Soul in concert etc etc. It`s a long list and I won`t bore you with the details.

Some things I will never get to do though, like seeing Eric Cantona play, watching Elvis in concert (don`t laugh!) and seeing Bob Skinstad reach his TRUE potential (I did get to play golf with him, thanks Andre!). Bob is still a LEGEND!


Sitting here though, it suddenly dawned on me how many of the items I have been able to cross off my list.

- Watching the Boks play the All Blacks at Newlands and beat them - Check, August 2005 (and being there to see Andre nail a spectacular dropgoal which in the end was the difference between winning and losing)

- Watching WP play at Newlands - Check, 2008

- Watching Man Utd play - Check, 2006 AND 2008

- Seeing Ryan Giggs, a true United legend, play - Check, 2008

- Seeing Counting Crows in Concert - Check 2008

- Seeing Live in concert - Check 2000 and 2006

- Seeing U2 in concert - Check 1999

- Going to New York - Check 2007

- Watching the New York Knicks play at Madison Square Garden - Check 2007

- Running my first half marathon - Check June 2008

The latest dream "To-Do" came true on Sunday. It was always a dream to go to Hillsong Church in Sydney. Well, I did the next best thing and went to Hillsong Church Cape Town and what an AWESOME experience. Hayley and I were truly blown away by the passion for God. We are really inspired to be the best Christians we can be.

Looking back at the list, it is amazing how blessed I`ve been to have so much of it become reality. What makes it even more special is that I have shared most of it with Hayley. When you get married your dreams are not your own anymore and I am very blessed to have a wife who share my passions.

So, here`s looking at making a lot more dream "To-Do`s" come true.

God`s Country

Even during times of stress and worry, there is always the beauty of God`s Creation. This was the sunset tonight, it made even the biggest worry seem small in the greater scheme of things...

The Cape truly is God`s Country. He took His time when He created it....

2:07:51

Yip, I did it. Finished my 2nd half marathon and ran a pretty decent time. I actually beat my previous best by almost 17 minutes!

It`s so awesome to see and feel the progress. I went past the 10km mark in under 60 minutes and felt really strong towards the end. Only problem was my previously mentioned left knee which gave me hell from about the 5km mark. This slowed me down quite a bit and I am sure that if it gets better, I`ll be able to go under 2 hours, easily. I did go to the physio yesterday and she diagnosed 2 problems. ITB and a problem with the lateral ligament. Let`s hope it`ll be sorted quickly.

But besides those little issues, the running is going really well. My average heart rate for the race on Saturday was 148, which was very good. Consider that my average heart rate for my first 2 km run was 185!!!! That shows how my level of fitness has improved. Of course there is a long way to go. If I can get my knee sorted, I would like to do a marathon but I fear that is in the future. For the time being I am happy with my progress.

I suppose I can now call myself a runner? I have always felt like an impostor. Doing my 3km in the beginning surely made me feel more like a walker than a runner!

But that is in the past, for now I am a runner and part of the running community. A great place to be.