Chitty-Chatty Bang-Boom

With notoriety being bestowed upon the elite in any, if not all, sporting codes, we drift. Lines blur when Jonty Rhodes discusses golf with Jean De Villliers or Tiger Woods discusses Platonic relationships with Gary Player. Is it not true that some players have what we have dubbed "The X-Factor"? Yet in a sporting universe where boundaries are broken as often as the South Easter blows Cape Town a loving kiss, we find that we still maintain the affection of a love born in our hearts, in our spirits. I know that no matter how far Manchester United fall from their former glory (almost broke-out in song
there...could murder the creator of the catchy "Glory,glory man united"...such a catchy song for a team I find very difficult to find favor with...call it antipathy..), Gary Bailey, whom I had the pleasure of meeting and found to be a great guy, in spite of his footballing allegiance , would still support until his dieing day (whats with me and songs today? I blame Paul Roos Gymnasium and their need to make us first years sing "Bachelor Boy" to the Rhenish Girls High dormitories...memories).  its our faith, love and dedication to our teams and player which gives them the X-Factor. They thrive on the beautiful potion of pure God-given talent mixed with some measure of good fortune and their genetic anomalies, couples with the belief and love we feed them. I often wonder, would they have evolved to such levels had we all found Strictly Come Dancing of better value? I can see millions of woman screaming "YES!!!" to Strictly dancing whatever, and millions more telling me to be quiet because they watching 50 Shades of Grey (or reading it, but lets be honest, men aren't the only ones who are visually umm...awakened?). The question a summon is simple...What is the X-Factor and where did the beautiful thing come from?

We look at many examples of persons like Usain Bolt, Sachin Tendulkar, Lionel Messi, Babe Ruth, Mohammed Ali, Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus...and the list go`s on. What makes/made them great?
The formula is more perplexed than we ever imagined, and no people, the answer is not always drugs. I honestly feel that its the passion, born deep inside, a fire lit and left burning beyond the words of failing persons along the road these amazing people traveled. Passion and persistence. Persistence through the storms, through the pain-barriers, through the ups and the downs, persistence on a level that few can fathom. Passion, persistence and belief. Belief in sun when all called for rain. Belief in themselves, belief in their abilities, in their nature. Belief in their passion and persistence. To take a leaf from Mark Twain, they were told to strike while the iron was hot, but those with the X-Factor, they made the iron hot, by striking. Those are traits I really do admire and I believe we all do.

Speaking of X-Fator, Mario Balotelli finally scored for Liverpool as they over-came a buoyant Spurs team. Chelsea built on their lead by beating Aston Villa while Manchester City, and Manchester United, scraped late draws against weaker opposition. I will blow the candle and say that I will be more scores and results orientated in future articles, this was just a random column that inspiration necessitated. Just remember, sport isn't everything...its just religion.