Leë blikke maak die grootste geraas, you’ve probably heard this Afrikaans saying. If not, it’s pretty self-explanatory and basically means that people with the minste knowledge on a subject often talks the most.
And social media has provided these “so-called” fans the perfect platform to beat their drum to create a toxic environment in our sport. These “discussions” often have nothing to do with sport, but almost always boil over to a political klipgooiery. Stop it, you’re not helping this country grow. And that counts for ALL the different race groups in our country.
Now that I’ve said my two cents on the subject, let’s just look at the impact these “keybord warriors” have on players.
I’d like to quote Aiden Markram after he scored a ton against the West Indies in his first day back on the job as a Test player on Tuesday.
Refresher; Markram was axed after some indifferent performances in Tests and was one of those players who suffered abuse online.
He says of his turnaround: “I’ve pretty much binned social media. Those who know me, friends and family, I’m not very good on my phone either. So I suppose it’s a blessing in disguise [to block out all the negativity]. A couple of years ago I decided to get off Twitter and not read [too much]. I suppose what you don’t read, you can’t get into.
“It’s pretty much what it is, so I try to stay away from it and you appreciate the nice things that people do say to you, but it probably doesn’t outweigh the (I don’t want to say nonsense), but the not-so-nice things that people say.
“I’m pretty much off it and it has helped me quite a bit since then.”
Onto rugby and Stormers hooker Joseph Dweba.
Listen to what forwards coach Rito Hlungwani had to say about fixing the No.2’s lineout woes.
Hlungwani said earlier in the week: “Numbers don’t lie, sometimes you know, one skew lineout and one overthrow can take away the fact that you throw 42 and only miss two.
“If I wasn’t a coach and if I was maybe a keyboard warrior or a spectator, I’d probably just look at the two missed lineouts. From our point of view he’s really done well since he’s been here. The numbers are there to show it, and the key thing is he must back himself.”
Your words, whether written or spoken, make a big impact and it is possible to make the right noise.
Just ask the Proteas women, who had a gepakte Newlands lifting them all the way to the T20 World Cup final.
The #MomentumProteas receive a heroes welcome at the @Momentum_za head office 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦#MyHero #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/tWtiyI7sDo
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) March 2, 2023
I must say, the Mother City has to be the official sports hub of South Africa, there simply aren’t better spectators when it comes to filling stadiums and making the right noise.
In the words of Laura Wolvaardt before the final in Cape Town: “I think if anything, the home crowd has helped us a bit. It’s been incredible to be out there with the atmosphere we’ve gotten at some of the games to have thousands of people cheering when we were scoring runs or taking wickets.
“I think it’s helped us quite a bit. I think obviously being the host nation, there’s always a little bit of extra pressure. But for me personally, it was really special to have all of my family and friends in the crowd.”
I almost feel bad addressing this issue in a Cape Town tabloid because it’s more of a problem in the rest of the country.
Cape fans have generally set the tone for making the right noise and should be applauded for it. Now come on SA, learn from our Cape sports fans.