I am hedging my bets for the Soweto derby

An ear can get you in trouble. It can hear things it is not supposed to and you will find yourself laughing and the people having their conversation will want you to explain why you find their talk amusing.

This happened to me on Wednesday as we were watching Pirates and Platinum Stars. This was a day after Chiefs had done the unthinkable and sunk Sundowns.

A group sitting at a table next to ours were discussing the two matches. A Chiefs fan was arguing that after their performances against Masandawana, the Buccaneers stood no chance. He went as far as to say if Bucs won, he would take off all his clothes and walk home naked like a madman.

I burst out laughing, despite the fact that I remembered that our football editor Jonty Mark had also made a similar bet the week before and I needed to remind him because he had lost.

Like the most of us, Jonty had not really seen Bafana beating Burkina Faso and said if they did, he would get on top of his desk and show us the moves he used to do on the dance floor when he was younger.

I felt sorry for the guy because he seemed to have forgotten something important about sporting teams – one win does not make a team better, and one defeat does not make a good team bad.

PriortotheSundownswin, Amakhosi had been awful to say the

Sibongiseni Gumbi

least. In fact I have a feeling that the surprisingly huge number of Amakhosi fans who descended on Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night had other ideas in mind and were pleasantly surprised when their team won.

Pirates have also not been doing well although there is a slight improvement from last season. From where I stand I see another draw.

I don’t smoke at all so please don’t tell me to stop smoking my socks when you hear what I have to say. It is something I have thought of from time to time as I observe whenever the derby or any of the two Soweto giants have a big match coming up. The passion the supporters show, the things they do, the things they say. It all makes you understand that for them these teams mean everything.

Pirates’ Micho rightfully said this week that this game has to do with the country’s happiness index. This is why I have thought it would be a good idea for the clubs to take their players around the townships to see this passion for themselves, to hear the things we hear being said.

Or maybe they could document these events and play them back for the players to see how some people spend their last hardearned money on a replica shirt because they want to show their commitment to the cause of the club. I believe this would make them take this game seriously which would benefit our football.

It doesn’t help anyone that none has dominated the other in recent years. I believe this has led to the embarrassing number of empty seats in these teams’ home games.

I was happy to see the crowd at Loftus on Tuesday and I feel we need more “big games” in our league because waiting for just the Soweto derby to feel the hype is not good for the game. The game needs to grow in all aspects, not just in the boardroom.