Sports & This'n'That

  It is the worst-kept secret in global sports that few numbers of Africans on the continent know the sport of baseball inside out.   In spite of that fact, though, it cannot be denied that the American baseball world series finals between the L.A Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays that wrapped up last weekend was still an engrossing and nail-biting thriller.   Before we proceed further, let me state clearly that the title-deciding baseball world series finals are always a Best of Seven Games Series, which near-constantly serve up unexpected twists and turns.   And, this series was such a scintillating and nerve-shredding watch for many reasons, one of them being the fact that the series went down to the wire before an undisputed victor could emerge.   Distressingly for Canadian baseball fans, it was the Dodgers who came out on top in a triumph for the ages.   Clearly, although the outcome of the series was heartbreaking for Toronto baseball ...

After overwhelmingly dominating men’s tennis for two decades, many tennis fans were sad to see Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal call it quits. Indeed, the sheer irrefutable hegemony of the Big Three, who are to wit: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic over men’s tennis ushered in such an unprecedented epoch of the sport that it remains unmatched in men’s singles tennis’ history. With Nadal and Federer now retired and with Djokovic presently being in the twilight of his glittering career, many hard core tennis aficionados had been worried about which players could fill the void left behind by the aforesaid undisputed living legends of the sport. However, it appears as if the fears of keen tennis enthusiasts globally were groundless. Indeed, the meteoric rise of the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz to stardom has set tongues wagging as the duo has swiftly developed a fierce rivalry. This has been plainly evident thus far this year as Sinner admirably retaine...

  With the 2024-25 English Premier League (EPL) season now in full swing, football devotees around the globe are enjoyably relishing the epic battles between the English top flight’s mammoth clubs for the greatly cherished league trophy.   In the EPL, it is well known that lowly sides can at times slay the biggest of giants as was clearly demonstrated last weekend when supposed lightweights Bournemouth edged out reigning champions Manchester City 2-1 in what was an unmistakably jaw-dropping result. So far, Liverpool has been the undisputed pacesetters in the league as the Mersey-siders continue to adapt fabulously to their new Dutch coach Arne Slot’s tactics in the club’s Post-Jurgen Klopp era.   Thus, even though these are still early days in the season, one hopes that the EPL can fully live up to its reputation for being arguably the most pulsating football league in the world.

Dear mom,  You are the most consequential person in my life and you are my firm anchor whenever the storms of life threaten to overwhelm me. Through all the ups and downs as well as the highs and lows, you have been the one constant figure in my life guiding me through all the dark troubles that have at times unfortunately come my way. So, on this especially special day, i would like to say 'Happy Mother's Day' to you mom for your ceaseless love and kindness.   

Following what has been a hugely engrossing football championship, the number of teams partaking in the AFCON Finals has now been whittled down to just two - Nigeria and the hosts Ivory Coast, who will battle it out in the final, the day after tomorrow .

The famous HAKA of the All Blacks. Photo by Stefan Lehner on Unsplash