Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
My first Mail & Guardian Online project: Sports Leader
I've been at Mail & Guardian Online now for just over two weeks. I'd love to say that the first two week have been quiet, tame and took the form of an introduction to the business, it hasn't. Not conventionally at least.On my first day working with Matt and Vince I was thrown in to the deep end and tasked with setting up Sports Leader. At that point I didn't know my arse from my elbow let alone how to call up top sports personalities, intellectuals and commentators and ask them to join a platform that hadn't even launched yet. It was tough. I got bat. The success rate is very low on cold calling the sporting elite let me tell you.I made many phone calls and sent out many emails. Eventually it started to pay off. I managed to get hold of some fantastic sports people and through the help of Mr Trapido we have some fantastic rugby names on the site. There are more to come, many of whom you will know, recognise and want to hear from but more on that in another post. We have tried to be as diverse as possible when it comes to the sports that are represented on Sports Leader, the big ones obviously being Soccer (Football), Rugby and Cricket. However we are proud to say that we have many alternative and extreme sports appearing on Sports Leader.Within two weeks (or just under) we managed to sign up close on 30 sporting personalities and fans.Speaking of fans I feel I need to mention that there are some fans contributing to Sports Leader. This was a very calculated move on our behalf. No one owns sports, not even the sports people and no one can ever claim to. The people who have the strongest opinions and often suffer and celebrate more than their teams are the fans. How can you have a sporting platform without having the fans on board? You can't and we don't. What we have done is create an interesting juxtaposition of fanatical opinion from armchair commentators and practical insight from industry players and professionals, an important balance when it comes to sport.
So with this blog post I mark the completion of my first project at Mail & Guardian Online.
Investec Tipping Challenge
I was invited to join the Investec Tipping Challenge today. What a cool idea. Join a pool, make some predictions and see how you can beat in your pool.Unfortunately for those who do not like to watch rugby, this is a rugby pool. It's free, it's easy and it's highly addictive. So if you and your mates smaak some lekker Rugby then check out this Investec Tipping Challenge.
Don't mess wif my tootoo
What is with all these bloody flippin' Afrikaans adverts on TV when there is sport on? Who buys this shit? Who listens to "Don't mess wif my tootoo" kind of songs?Honestly if you cannot speak a language and write songs with correct grammar then don't bother. If you speak clutch plate the sing clutch plate, if you speak some other random language then sing it. There are those who can manage it such as good ol' Arno Carstens. But even he has his moments. I once heard him playing a concert and sound checking for it. The comment that flew out of his mouth at sound check blew me away:Arno: Nog delaaay assemblief, nog delaaay nowNic: *Jaw hits flaw, confustication sets in and beer started sinking*Now back to the TV advert issue. Why is it that the SABC thinks that only Afrikaans people listen to music and watch sport? Why can they not play kwaito, hip hop, or rock music while sports is on? Why not advertise those genres, those cultures and why not associate them with sports? Why is it that sports = Afrikaans?
Chiliboy Ralepelle - Captain
This is un-fucking-believable and makes me so proud to be South African. I just read via my RSS reader on News24 that Chiliboy Ralepelle will be the first black captain, as well as the youngest at 20 years old, of the Springboks.
That is absolutely awesome. Him and old Jake White go way back to the SA under 21 world cup winning team. Jake being the coach Chiliboy being the captain. So in fact, this is a welcome and familiar change for both.However I must ask: is South Africa not pushing their players forward too quickly? Old Jacques Francois Stein is only a young 19, Chilliboy captain at 20. Where to from here? 16 year olds? I personally think we are breaking our players in to mainstream a bit too early. They haven't hit their peaks mentally or physically and could potentially crumble and destroy their rugby careers if they aren't careful. Why not rather bench them and integrate them slowly in to the team with time and care and caution?Check out the Chumpstyle for more opinion on this topic.