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 Readers, S&T is injured. Nothing to do with sharks in Cape Town over Christmas you’ll be relieved to hear (apparently coconuts cause more accidents than sharks anyway so if you happen to see a suspicious-looking coconut in the street, we suggest you step well away). Nothing either to do with stray darts at the 2005 PDC World Championships in Purfleet this December/January (well done Phil 'The Power' Taylor on winning world title number 12). No indeedie. Severe bruising to S&T’s shins was caused through leaping forward into seating at Old Trafford, home of the world’s richest soccer club, Manchester United, following the final whistle on 8 January 2005. The reason? An incredible scoreline of 0,0 due to S&T’s hallowed team Exeter City, 94 places below Manchester United in the English soccer tables, putting in a sterling performance and holding the Premiership giants to an unexpected draw, rather than the expected thumping. Bearing in mind Exeter City has spent many years on the brink of financial ruin (despite – or is that because of – a visit by popstar Michael Jackson a couple of years ago), the trip to Old Trafford was enough to swell the club’s coffers considerably and therefore joyously. And Manchester United’s trip down to the real St James’ Park for the replay on 19 January will further boost finances – as well as Devonian pride – considerably. Well done lads. S&T will be rubbing arnica into our bruises over the next few days through misty eyes. Or perhaps rubbing mist into our arnica through bruised eyes. Heck, we are too happy to care!
Cape Town Robots But back to South Africa – a place that S&T knew we would like when we were greeted by ‘Warning Robots Ahead’ signs at regular intervals on the highways and byways of that fabulous land. Visions of HG Wells-style tripods striding over Table Mountain came to mind – but alas, the ‘Robots’ in question were actually speed cameras. Nice of the South African government to warn us to slow down though.
The England cricket team were doing jolly well in other parts of South Africa while S&T languished on a sun lounger in Cape Town, winning the first test and drawing the second (only because of failing light – see also this month’s Infostrada databox). We had planned to nip over to Port Elizabeth for the first test before finding out it would be a six hour drive there and back (Robots permitting). So we watched it on TV instead. We were on holiday after all.
Ironically, the day S&T left our lovely hotel in Cape Town, the England cricket team arrived at the same hotel – and then promptly got thrashed in the third test. Obviously if we had stayed, England would have won or drawn. We will be writing to the England Cricket Board to suggest that we accompany the team to all test matches in the future. And of course the Caribbean-based Cricket World Cup in 2007. Sigh, pass the Factor 30…
In terms of the great synergies between cricket and technology, S&T was delighted to receive the following comment from one of our readers recently. “Cricket is in many ways pretty advanced in terms of technology,” he writes. “They didn't hold back when it came to the development of the white woollen sweater and then the new-fangled sleeveless versions which have become de rigeur in recent years. The latest technical development is, of course, the on-field sweater stand. The cricket umpires federation is fiercely opposed to such innovation as, over the years, they have become accustomed to accommodating bowlers' sweaters around their own waists and are worried that, in the light of the development of Hawkeye, advanced light meters and other technologies, this is really their last useful function. I suppose they could always hand the drinks round.” Love it. Even though we think he is just having a bit of a josh with us. No, really. Cheeky monkeys South Africa really was fantastic though and a trip back for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is an S&T must. That’s if we aren’t living there by then that is.
Some of the slightly more unusual sports that S&T encountered in South Africa were Ostrich Riding (we weren’t tempted – have you seen how big those chickens are?) and Kloofing – which is the noble sport of hiking, boulder-hopping and swimming in rivers on mountains such as Table Mountain. S&T did actually walk down Table Mountain, ‘walk’ being used in the loosest sense of the word, being in fact more of a ‘crawl while trying not to plummet to a sticky end’. Scared is too basic a term for the emotions S&T went through over those three downhill hours.
Also scary at times were tales of local wildlife. (We did go on a vineyards tour which presented us with the opportunity to stroke an ‘optional cheetah’ in between downing large vats of wine. Personally though, S&T only gets out of bed to stroke a ‘definite cheetah’).
Baboon dodging had become something of a pastime in a small resort called Pringle Bay that S&T happened across when the road we were following suddenly ran out. Deciding that this was definitely a sign to stop and have a fluorescent strawberry milkshake (with sprinkles) at a small café (being the only drink actually on offer), S&T was regaled by the locals with tales of how baboons regularly maraud through the café, helping themselves to plates of cake and the like, in a manner that can only be described as downright cheeky. Because baboons are a protected species and somewhat vicious when filling their faces, (putting S&T in mind of some of its relatives at Christmas), the locals at the Pringle Bay Café can literally only make a speedy withdrawal and watch while the pesky primates help themselves to the week’s provisions. No wonder there was only strawberry milkshake on offer. The baboons had probably finished off the Cappuccino weeks ago. Come to our conference! We cannot promise you any baboons at the inaugural Sport and Technology: The Conference on 4 March, nor strawberry milkshake (unless you put in a very special request), but we can promise you a brilliant day out of the office at BT Centre in the company not only of S&T, but also the industry’s leading lights in sports technology-related matters. Sponsored by our broadband streaming buddies at BT Rich Media, the conference will mostly be of the panel-based flavour, steering away from reams of PowerPoint presentations and monologues so that we can all indulge in a thoroughly good old heated debate (or four). The intellectual equivalent of course of a right old royal knees up (although if you stick around for the evening cocktail party, S&T may treat you to a bit of Robotic dancing if you are lucky).
The morning sessions will concentrate on all matters that are new media related, while in the afternoon, technology at live events and technology sponsorship will be discussed.
This will be THE opportunity for you not only to listen to and interact with the experts about the issues that are affecting our industry the most, but it will provide an invaluable opportunity for you to network with your peers in a very exclusive environment. That’s because, due to space restrictions, we really can only have 170 of you lovely readers along on the day, so make sure you book your places while stocks last. Don’t leave it too late and then come crying to us because you can’t get in. We’re not very good with tears, particularly our own (especially when watching ‘Born Free’). Check out the conference details on www.sportandtechnologyconference.com (pithy, we know) and don’t miss the conference of the year, or you will live to regret it. (Cue theme tune from The Godfather).
And on that blatant yet fervent plug for our own event, S&T would like to wish all our readers a very splendid 2005! Rachael Church – Editor
Do you have a penchant for indigenous wildlife? Or do you think furry critters are a ‘nice-to-see’ rather than ‘must-see’ holiday experience? If you have any comments or feedback on this article or any of the features in S&T, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please e-mail your comments to editor@sportandtechnology.com.
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