The Quest for the Elixir of Happiness

The Cricket World Cup has come and gone. People got really bleak about the Proteas losing and now it is all forgotten. Sport takes you from ecstatic ecstasy to tearful tears of tearfulness. One minute a team can look like they're going to beat New Zealand convincingly, and the next they lose. Such is the nature of sport.

I think to some extent sport mimics life in that both have these highs and lows. You get the courage to ask a girl out, she says yes, and later you find out that you have nothing in common. Or you get the job you really wanted only to find out it’s just an internship and you only get paid in beer. Or you think that you’re going to win an award for a short you directed and then you don’t and then you get bleaked out because you thought that this time you were going to win. You thought that this relationship, this prize, this job was going to take your life from average to awesome, but it hardly ever does.

I'm not saying that everything fails and life is pointless because people do get dream jobs where they’re paid, and they do marry awesome wives, and they do win best director. What I am saying is that these high points are often only short lived. We think these mini-challenges are major climaxes that will solve our problems, and we focus our lives and thoughts on achieving them. And while you might have the best job or best wife it still isn't plain sailing. There is no everlasting happy ending. Unfortunately life is work and it has its ups and downs.

My point is that we should enjoy these mini-challenges for what they are, simply steps towards a better story, not as the elixir of happiness.

South Africa vs India Test at Newlands

I was eagerly awaiting the test at Newlands between South Africa and India. People have been saying that Test cricket has been dying, that T20 is going to take over and as a true cricket-snob I was excited to see them proved wrong. I took 4 days of work and prepared for the top 2 test teams to battle it out.

The first three days were sold out, and this only helped me get more amped. I don't really know how they allocated tickets because there were still open seats, but sold out is sold out.

Overall the test was great, Jacques Kallis' century on the 4^th day to save the test was great to watch. Yelling at Sreesanth when he pulled a zap at the crowd was amazingly patriotic. Note that no bottles were thrown, I was there and none of that happened. You just can't pull a middle finger at an SA crowd and expect no reaction.

It was Smith's decision not to chase a draw that irritated me quite a lot. Instead of putting India in for a few overs on the 4^th day and try and chase a win, he let the batsmen stay on and go for the draw.

Crowds come to watch results. Crowds come to watch their team try to win. I felt a bit let down that Smith so easily conceded a draw. If test match cricket is going to retain its appeal we need to see results, this comes from groundsmen producing result pitches, and captain's being brave and going for it.

I remain a devotee to test cricket, but I fear we are losing members to the T20 dancing girls.