Ricky Januarie - Drink, drive and play professional rugby

Sounds like a plan to me. I am unbelievably disappointed with the officials involved in this.

Springbok scrumhalf Ricky Januarie was arrested on Sunday morning in Durbanville, Cape Town, for drunk driving.

This article was written on September 15th at IOL. Guess what? Ricky Januarie is playing rugby on Saturday for Western Province.What is wrong with society that sports people (celebrities) are allowed to go free in spite of an arrest? Surely Januarie should be suspended until his court hearing? Surely the Western Province board doesn't care that much about winning? Surely it is more important to create a sense of responsibility among the idols of SA rugby?I am going to say it again, I am exceptionally disappointed with the situation and believe that Januarie should be indefinitely removed from professional rugby. This is not his first offense either and that should be even more cause for concern. No, not in our rugby ranks. Here drunk driving is an acceptable crime. Placing other people in danger on the road is seen to be an acceptable way of existing in society. Well I think not. What if Januarie had killed someone? What if he had rammed his car in to someones wall, car, child, mother or grandmother? What then?

It seems that Ricky Januarie will be able to play the rest of the year since his driving under the influence of alcohol case has been postponed to 29 January 2009.“Januarie, who was arrested by police in the early hours of Sunday morning in Durbanville near Cape Town, has been named to play for Western Province in a Currie Cup match against Griquas at Newlands on Friday. WP coach Allister Coetzee confirmed this week that he will continue to select the player, despite the scrumhalf’s off-field troubles.” - source

But instead January walks free and gets to earn more money and play more rugby all the while, leaving a great trail for the youth to follow. Well done Januarie, well done.

Metro police breaking the law

I have a pet hate. It involves cars breaking the basic rules of the road. I am fairly rebellious when it comes to rules and regulations but when it comes to the road I think that rules are there for the protection of the masses.What breaks me even more is when the people who are meant to be upholding those laws break them. It gives me a sense of powerlessness. It makes me think that I am unable to do anything or turn anywhere when others break the rules of the road. I hate it.So when I was driving down Katherine Street the other day I decided to take a different course of action. It is possibly the worst part of my day, driving down Katherine and going under the Grayston Bridge. If you have ever done this trip in peak hour traffic you will know that two turning lanes (out of three) fast become three turning lanes with none to left to those wanting to carry on straight. This creates more congestion and frustration. And no, it is not just the taxis that do this.There are clearly drawn lines (literally) on the road that define the lanes, which goes where and what lane you need to be in. I need to go straight, not turn right. However many cars feel the need to get in to the straight lane to cut out their time waiting to turn. I get screwed, they get through.In front of me I found a metro police car who seemed to be going straight. I had a feeling he was turning right. He did. And in the process he crossed a solid white line and caused major congestion and a very dangerous situation for other drivers. As far as I know crossing a solid line is a R500 fine. Who's going to fine those who hand out the fines? There was no emergency and he didn't have his emergency lights on so I can only assume that he was blatantly breaking the law and thus allowing others to think that they can do the same.Here's the pic. Notice the indicator light on the right is on (at least he was courteous about it) just before he crosses the white line and goes through the red on top of it all.Some may say I am being petty but I don't think so. I think that if the metro police can't obey the law we are headed for some dangerous times on the road. Keep an eye out for this car, check the number plate and if you know anybody who can do some good with this photo then send on this blog post to them.