Doubling up

After the huge success of the opening football match at the Cape Town Stadium, the next test comes tomorrow when the crowd limit is doubled from the 20,000 that watched the football to 40,000 for the Stormers v Boland rugby clash.

And while they are testing the stadium for World Cup readiness, I am going to use the opportunity to test the Alex for World Cup readiness.
I’d imagine that sitting watching egg-chasing with 39,999 other people might be quite an ordeal if you’re only 3¾ years old. And while I’ll take plenty of sweets along for bribes, I do have a feeling that he won’t enjoy it much. However, better to give him a chance to see the stadium and at least know what it’s like ahead of the Midwinter’s Day clash between the diving Porras and the enigmatic North Koreans.

Because even if he hates it tomorrow, he will be going along to that World Cup game – it’s always better to regret something you have done, than something you haven’t. And then, when he grows up, he will be able to tell his kids that he was there.

Note: I will also be test-driving Mrs 6000 on the new stadium tomorrow. But she went to Newlands once, so I think she’ll be fine.

Don’t miss out

It’s getting close to closing date for the third sales phase of World Cup 2010 tickets and you’d be silly to chance it and hope that you can buy them over the counter a bit later. Even though FIFA have promised to make it easy for South Africans to do just that, there’s a good chance that many of the more popular games will have sold out by the time that opportunity comes around.

The easiest way (assuming you have access to the internet) (and how are you reading this if you don’t) is via FIFA.com

You can apply for a maximum of 7 games and a maximum of four tickets per game. That’s 28 tickets. Plenty to go around, although it’s worth knowing that you will need the passport or ID number for each person you want to take along. (You will be given the opportunity to swap these people around a little later). 

Tickets for SA residents start at R140 for the first round games, although you could spend up to R6,300 per ticket if you want a posh seat for the final (that’s R25,200 if you want four). But your chances of getting them are pretty low. Which is gonna be a bummer when you’re sat at home watching England beat whoever on July 11th, but which will mean that at least you can eat in the intervening period.

If you need any further pushing as to why you shouldn’t miss out – Carlos Amato is here to help.

Utter tosh

But it’s not just the SA papers that write complete rubbish.

Step forward our old favourite the Daily Mail – describing the shark attack at Fishhoek.

Fiddling with his swimming goggles as he strolled across one of Cape Town’s most popular beaches, Lloyd Skinner did not notice anything amiss.
With temperatures in the 90s, the sand was packed with families enjoying the delights of the South African summer.
The sea appeared calm – perfect to escape the heat. But as he waded out, something terrible started to happen. A strange ripple effect circled him in the water. On the beach, people started waving their towels and shouting at him desperately.

Hmm. Let’s see what we’ve got so far shall we?

Temperatures in the 90s…

Sand packed with families…

The sea appeared calm…

Have you pictured the scene yet? And the strolling guy with the fiddly goggles?
Got it? Good.

And then let’s take a quick peek at this photo which eyewitness Gregg Coppen (who is quoted in the Daily Mail article) took 4 (four) minutes after witnessing the attack and tweeting his now infamous “Holy Shit” tweet.

Look at that beach, packed with families in the hot summer sun. And that wonderfully calm sea. Hmm.

I showed this to a colleague. He used the word “gobshite” to describe the writer, Andrew Malone.
And who am I to disagree?

There are probably numerous other inaccuracies in the rest of the article – I don’t know. With so much nonsense in the first five lines, I couldn’t be arsed to read any further.

Completely untrue and wholly without foundation

Not much good news in the cricket for England this morning, but I note that The Times is up to its usual tricks again:

Apology to Kevin Pietersen

THE Times would like to make a full apology to Kevin Pietersen for printing an article headlined “KP’s beer-flinging fury” on 6 January 2010. Following representations on My Pietersen’s behalf made by the England team management and the ECB (Eng-land [sic] and Wales Cricket Board), The Times now accepts that the article was completely untrue and wholly without foundation.

KP was out again cheaply at the Wanderers this morning.
Let’s hope he doesn’t throw any beer over the crowd again like he didn’t do last time.

Fishhoek Shark Attack

As tweeted by Fishhoek resident Gregg Coppen:

He followed that up with this:

Emergency services just arrived. It must have been a person. The shark breached it’s head out the water no remains http://yfrog.com/1dronnpj

And then this:

We are dumbstruck, that was so surreal. That shark was HUGE. Like dinosaur huge. #sharkattack #fishhoek

Then later:

Helicopters are out and looking for any trace of the remains. Shark headed off Clovelly way #fishoek #sharkattack

This after a shark warning was issued earlier in the day (via http://www.sharkspotters.org.za/)

Wow. More on this developing story later, I’m sure.

UPDATE: Middle-aged man fatally attacked by shark 20m out at Fish Hoek – victim not found (via 567 CapeTalk)

UPDATE 2: News 24 report:

Ian Klopper of the NSRI told News24 that an intensive search was underway to locate the swimmer, but had so far yielded nothing.
A white male, between 32 and 38 years old has been taken by a shark and we have not been able to locate the patient,” Klopper said.
The identity of the victim is still unknown.

Other reports suggest that the victim’s wife was on the beach receiving counselling from emergency services.

UPDATE 3: Cape Times report:

The search has been called off for the night for the body of a tourist from the DRC killed in a shark attack on Tuesday afternoon at Fish Hoek beach on Cape Town’s False Bay coast.
Divers and rescuers from the police and the National Sea Rescue Institute stood down as the water turned murky in failing light.
There has thusfar been no remains found of the man who had been on holiday in SA for a month.

And 6000 miles… commenter accuses shark spotters of negligence & desertion.

UPDATE 4: Joyanne comments that people are still swimming at Fishhoek this morning, despite the “no swimming” flags flying and the ongoing search for the remains of the victim.

UPDATE 5: News24 weighs in with headline “Shark Rips Tourist Apart”, full of conflicting information and reminding us of previous False Bay shark attack in 2005 when a diver was also “Ripped Apart”.