Chipolopolo: The Story of The Copper Bullets

I Just Couldn't Resist The Temptation To Write A Piece on the just concluded african cup of nations and the sweet fairytale victory of the zambian nation football team who are affectionately called "CHIPOLOPOLO" by football loving zambians. it still sounds so unreal, unprecedented in every sense, but I guess the "alleged" offer of free service by the nations casual sex workers was great motivation, LOL.
In a football sense, zambia isn't even considered one of the traditional african football big names. before when you say zambia, and their FA president the great Kalusha Bwalya (former african footballer of the year) comes to mind, yes the famed class of 1993 was seen as their greatest ever team, but the class of 2012 led by general (sic?) Chris Katongo have successfully laid their ghosts to rest.
The failure of some of the traditional big names of african football like nigeria, algeria, egypt, cameroon and south africa (who have about 15 trophies in between them) to even qualify for the continental show piece indicated that this was no ordinary tournament. the performances of the host nations Equatorial Guinea and Gabon made for a very exciting tournament, it was colourful and free of any major controversies. the first lady of gabon was a prominent spectator seen at many of the games usually in a gabon jersey and cheering her team on as well as also supporting other teams.
When the chipolopolo defeated one of the pre-tournament favourites, Senegal in one of the tournaments early matches, little did we know that it was a sign of things to come. the zambians tore up the pre-tournament predictions.. Ivory coast's star-studded (ageing) golden generation failed to win once again, Ghana never really got out of gear one, and senegal, with several strikers who have been scoring for fun in various european leagues, could not even manage one win. some of the players we expected to light up the tournament disappointed us, the senegalese forwards, niang, ba, cisse and sow let their country down, Adel Taraabt didn't show up for Morocco, Asamoah Gyan struggled for fitness through out the tournament as well as several other players. the likes of Michael Essien missed the tournament as he was deemed not fit enough after being our for about 8months with injury. AC Milan's Kevin Prince Boateng opted to retire from international football with the pleading of ghanians fell on deaf ears, ironically, he was struck by a mysterious injury which lasted the duration of the tournament.
Mali Who Came Third (defeating Ghana in the third place play off match) were missing a couple of their regular players like Mahmadou Diarra, momo sissoko but seydou keita still managed to get them past a group that contained ghana and guinea. they weren't given much of a chance but still managed to get to the semi-final were they lost to ivory coast by a lone Gervinho goal. the zambians went undefeated in the tournament, winning their group and making it to the semi-final where they faced mighty ghana. a quarter final place the least expected from the zambians as they were knocked out, via penalties, by the super eagles of nigeria in the 2010 edition of the african cup of nations. after the match, the zambia coach, Herve Renard was asked if he would like to coach nigeria by the press and he said he would trek from zambia to nigeria to take the job if it was offered to him. The Nigerian FA laughed off his interest claiming he was inexperienced (also cos he wasn't a big name), how different things could have been. After the 2010 world cup debacle, nigeria chose samson siasia to lead the eagles but they failed to even qualify for the continental showpiece (guinea beat them to the sole ticket in their group). I'm sure herve renard would not only have qualified for the nations cup but also won it easily. if he could do it with zambia, he can do it with nigeria. In the semi-final match, the zambians beat the ghanians against all odds, the west africans had more star names, pedigree as well as a lions share of ball possession during the match but zambia managed to convert one of their few chances and held on to win and set up a final contest against cote d'ivoire. this was ivory coast's second final in recent years, it was another chance for their ageing star-studded golden generation to win a piece of silverware. the ivory coast team contained players who played for some of europe's biggest teams such as Didier Drogba, Yaya & Kolo Toure, Gervinho, Salomom Kalou, Emmanuel Eboue, Cheik Tiote, Arthur Boka, Bakari Kone, Kader Keita etc it was not just not meant to be as they managed not to concede a goal through out the duration of the whole tournament and yet still missed out on the trophy, they lost 8-7 on penalties to the inspired zambians with Didier Drogba (missing a PK in the normal 90minutes), gervinho and Kolo Toure missing spot kicks.
the final was played in libreville, gabon and it had a sort of effect on the zambian players as their coach told them earlier in the tournament that the stadium was close to the spot where the national team of zambia of 1993 perished. the team were on their way to senegal when the plane had technical faults and crashed into the atlantic ocean. the current zambia FA president, kalusha bwalya only missed the flight as he had to make alternative arrangements to get to the destination. when didier drogba missed the spot kick in the 70th minute, the players must have sensed it was their day after all
The team had pledged to return to Libreville and win their first major trophy to honour those who died in the crash.
The zambia team dominated the tournament awards, with not less than five of the zambian team being named in the team of the tournament, the goalkeeper was named the goalkeeper of the tournament, "General" Chris Katongo was named the player of the tournament while emmanuel mayuka walked away with the top scorer gong. the ivory coast team was awarded the fair-play team. this triumph has been described as the best achievement in zambias sporting history. the zambia coach then thanked the FA president, kalusha bwalya for giving him a chance when no one knew him and the FA president responded saying Mr Renard was welcome to stay for as long as he wanted.
this is a real life fairy tale of epic proportions in which the young, unknown (and underrated) Zambians held their nerve and beat the favourites Ivory Coast. they showed all that we love about the beautiful game; strength, passion, sacrifice, discipline, commitment, grit, determination, focus, team spirit (the image of coach renard carrying an injured player to join in the final celebrations was amazing), leadership, fair play and more. In these days in which football is in the news for the wrong reasons, racism, match-fixing, cheating, diving, selfishness, players refusing to follow coach orders, inflated pay packages, inflated egos; the chipolopolo of zambia showed the whole world what real passionate football was, that's why we love the game.



follow @MrTuneri on twitter

Novak Djokovic Is Superhuman

On Sunday, January 30, 2012, T.V Sets all over the world were tuned in to the incredible men’s final in the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic seeing off Rafael Nadal after nearly six (6) hours of relentless, heart-stopping tennis! It was a riveting match between the best ranked tennis players in the world, it had everything, passion, hunger, blood, sweat, tears, screaming fans, strength, courage, will power. it was amazing, sometimes I grimaced as I watched both men grill each other non-stop. I could barely watch the fourth set (where nadal rallied round to win and tie the match)

'How often would the Voice of Tennis have had to deploy his catchphrases, “Oh I say” and “That’s a peach of a pass”? It doesn’t bear thinking about. There were enough peaches from Djokovic alone to fill an orchard' -- BBC Sport

20 years ago, tennis was a gentlemen’s game, nobody seemed to break sweat and the spectators toddled off between sets for a glass or three of Pimm’s.
These days playing long gruelling physically matches is the norm (the djoker played two 5 hours plus games within days enroute to winning the Australian Open). many players of that era would have frowned at some of the grunting, chest-pumping and first-clenching – the motivational tools of the modern tennis player.

[caption id="attachment_203" align="alignleft" width="218" caption="he who bares wins"][/caption]

However, like the millions watching on television, he would have been awestruck by the spectacle unfolding in Melbourne.
one news article claimed Djokovic eyed a clean sweep, he's on 41game winning streak, who'll bet against that him being the first man to hold all four grand slam titles since Rod Laver in 1969?? or even add the olympic gold? a few years ago, that was an extraordinary achievement, but following the exploits of the great Roger Federer & the marvellous Rafael Nadal in recent years, it won't be much of a surprise he pulled it off.
One question keeps coming on my mind, How did Novak become superman? I realise Federer is Uber talented (still my favorite tennis player) and achieved a lot, he's possibly the best tennis player ever. Rafael nadal just had to beat federer to become the best, he had the psychological edge.. those two dominated the game in such a way Sampras and Agassi never quite managed to do. we were expecting nothing of superhuman effort to bring down those two. But in a relatively short amount of time, it seems their monopoly has been broken, especially with the ease (or not) which novak seems to be beating nadal these days. how did he do it?
One metaphor that has been played out by most tennis commentators is the gladiator metaphor but when Djokovic was slugging it out with Nadal (or in the semi-final, when he was slugging it out with Andy Murray, in a match of equal intensity) it was the only metaphor that did justice to the beauty and ferocity of the man-to-man combat (at some point djokovic was bleeding) and the emotions it stirred.
Team sports are all very well, and have a compelling dynamic, but for the sporting purist, there is nothing to beat the clash of individual wills
At the games marking the opening of the Colosseum in Rome in 80AD, the highlight was a fight between Priscus and Verus, the two leading gladiators of the day. They fought each other to a standstill, displaying such courage and tenacity that the Emperor Titus awarded both gladiators (who were born slaves) their freedom.

“Two men fought each other, but both were the winners”

We curse sportsmen when they let us down, and understandably. But when our sporting heroes repay our loyalty with interest, we should not hesitate to show our gratitude. In a world short of feel-good stories, the script being written by the top men’s tennis players is the stuff of heroism: heroic ambition; heroic endurance; heroic passions.
Older tennis fans retain fond memories of the age of Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, but their showdowns seem insipid compared with the sheer pace and athleticism of the modern game.
A game that had previously relied more on grace than brute force grew closer and closer to boxing in timbre: raw, aggressive and physically punishing. The top players, whippet-fit, seemed to spend almost as long in the gym as on the practice court.
In the space of a very few years, we have seen Roger Federer scale unparalleled heights, Nadal eclipse Federer and Djokovic eclipse Nadal.
Like other armchair sports fans, I am already licking my lips at the prospect of the next Grand Slam men’s final, at the French Open in June. Nadal v Djokovic? Djokovic v Federer? Murray v Nadal?
What is guaranteed is a ferocious competition between two supremely fit athletes, pushing their bodies to the limit, pulling off incredible shots, giving no quarter to their opponent, trying to blast each other off the court with the power and accuracy of their stroke play – before embracing at the net, all passion spent.
Whether the next Grand Slam final takes six hours or a mere four and a half, it will last longer than any Hollywood epic – five-star entertainment, with never a dull moment, served up by a cast of two.

How often do 22 Premier League footballers give so much of themselves? Or deserve so much admiration?

Novak "Djoker" Djokovic is without doubt the man of the moment, he was recently awarded the highest honour of Serbia. the charismatic serbian who was part of the team that won the davis cup for serbia in 2010 has succeeded in putting serbia in the news for the right reasons. Novak is very jovial and is source of inspiration to not only serbians but up and coming sports men with his can-do, never-give-up attitude.

majority of this article was "control ceed" from a BBC Sport story of the same article

you can bash @MrTuneri on twitter for this shameless work of "copy & paste" Lol

Untitled-2

The common animals who are suffering and working for the good of the farm are resisting the abrupt discontinuation of the supply of clean drinking water to the animals at the next to nothing, extremely cheap prices.
Jegi is the head of the farm, the pig who had been chosen by other pigs to rule over the farm, Jegi (who is actually one of the few animals who can read and write) was able to convince the other farm animals to vote for him by drawing their sympathy as he claimed to be from a poor background and that he had experienced the hardship faced by the common animals first hand. He claimed further to be the best man for the job as he knew how the problems of the farm could be solved.
Eventually, Jegi won the election to the dismay of some of the ruling pigs who had always been against the nomination of Jegi to lead the farm, they felt there were even more capable hands and that Jegi was inexperienced and lacked political antecedents precedents. These pigs decided they were going to disrupt the fragile peace enjoyed on the farm and were prepared to do everything to make sure Jegi left office prematurely. consequently, there were mysterious deaths as well as destruction of farm property as well as disruption of regular farm activities.
After Jegi stopped supplying the farm animals with the almost free clean water, the farm animals put down their tools and stopped all farm activities in protest! They wanted the farm leadership to revert to the old price. They were led by some disgruntled pigs as well as Fire, the explosive horse (who actually contested and lost against Jegi in the last election), Peter (a cunning fox who used to be part of the Jegi cabinet initially until his cunning ways got the better of him) and other wizened dogs, cats, donkeys and horses.
In truth, it was really unfair for the Jegi government to discontinue the provision of clean affordable water since that was the only thing the animals benefited from working on the farm. The farm was very productive despite the fact that animals worked in terrible conditions. In reality, clean water is supplied to farm (from the water corporation) in exchange for the water from the lake which occupies a portion of the farm as well as farm produce too. So the farm animals were really working in terrible conditions and getting "peanuts" in return and they were still made to pay for water that is supplied to the farm practically free of charge. That the government made provisions for the clean water to be available at subsidised rates to the farm animals is mere propaganda: politics and lies.
The farm animals cursed and cried foul, they were tired of working for almost nothing while the ruling pigs live large and got fat. The farm animals slept in all kinds of places; the shed, the barn, in the field, under the tractor, on the trees and so on while the pigs lived in the the manor mansion on clean beds, ate assorted food, drank beer without actually performing any particular farm activity.
Anytime they tried to complain, a certain dog named Shepherd convinced them that it was all in their best interest and that the pigs were doing what was best for the farm.
During the protest or strike, the farm animals remembered their heroes who fought for the independence as well as the growth and survival of the farm. They remembered Snowball, the horse Boxer and also the cats Aniku and Fangi (who fought with their lives for the rise back to greatness of the animal farm after it was almost ruined by the leadership of Napoleon).
Some elder farm animals (who were, in secret, the brains behind Jegi's actions) such as Obiji, Ibebe and Juma condemned their protege but also remarked that Jegi n his cabinet (pigs such as Noi, Mido n DAM) probably meant well and they were committed to improving the welfare of the farm animals as well as create new infrastructure such as modern wind mill, machinery, improved irrigation channels and quarters for the farm animals to stay.
Initially, Jegi's advisers told him to maintain a hardstance as backing down from the decision to remove all subsidy on water or even negotiating with protesting farm animals would make him look weak. So to save face, Jegi told the farm animals that his decision was final and ordered the attack dogs to patrol round the the animal farm and arrest or even kill off any animal that was involved in any form of anti-government protest. However, this didn't deter the farm animals as they continued with their protest.
After a couple of weeks, Jegi announced that he and his ruling council were ready to negotiate if the opposition were ready to reach a compromise. Fire the explosive horse told the farm animals that jegi had a trick up his sleeves and that the farm animals shouldn't with anything less than total subsidisation of the clean water.
The reality was that the food supplies were dwindling in the manor mansion, there was no milk and the rum was being rationed as it was very small in quantity. As a result there was a lot of in-fighting among the ruling pigs who lived in the manor mansion.
Before the day of the meeting between Jegi and his advisors and the protesting animals, the horse Fire mysteriously disappeared.
At the meeting, jegi asked what the farm animals wanted. He explained that the money which he used to subsidize the clean water (which he actually got for free) was going to be re-allocated for other projects. He also made several promises and treated the farm animals to a feast. After which they sand many of the songs of revolution during the times of their founding fathers. ( What the majority of the farm animals were unaware of was that Jegi had earlier promised the representatives of the farm animals several gifts if they could convince the farm animals to go back to work)
The horse fire could only watch the proceedings in sadness from the windows of one of the rooms in the manor mansion where he was being watched by the attack dogs loyal to Jegi
Eventually, the farm animals decided to go back to their duty posts on the farm praying for the best. However, it was clear that if care is not taken, the ruling pigs may eventually have to pay for all the wickedness, treachery and oppression and oppression.

2012 "Grammy" Awards Full Winners List

http://www.grammy.com/nominees

follow @MrTuneri on twitter