There’s a truth that can’t be spoken

Admit it.

There is a part of you that desperately wants Donald Trump to win.

It’s the sheer curiosity of it. Personally, I’ve been saying since day one that I support him. Just for the comic value a Trump presidency would bring. But for even those of us who are less concerned with the funny side of one man ending Western society as we know it, there must be some part inside somewhere that just has to see what would happen.

You see, human nature is like that. Sometimes we are so desperate to know what something feels like, looks like, tastes like. Most of the time, sanity prevails and we step back from the abyss. And then at other times we give in to temptation. That’s when we end up with 5 Police Academy sequels, Carel du Plessis as Springbok coach, or Brexit.

Experiencing the unknown though, does not necessarily have to be a negative assault on our senses, let alone a threat to our way of life. Sometimes we can be blessed with seeing something quite so extraordinarily beautiful that we dared not have dreamed it possible.

Cue the Proteas magnificent 5-0 series victory these past couple of weeks. Not only was this series win built on some really entertaining stuff with bat and ball, but it was a total hammering of the evil yellow ones. This was more than an added bonus. The first time ever Australia have been blanked 5-0, in any format. A truly amazing feather in our green suffering caps. And let’s be honest, no one saw this coming. It genuinely warmed the soul.

You see, an expat’s relationship with his country of origin can be a complicated one. Yes we have moved on, but we still tend to care very much about what’s going on. And lately the news from SA has not exactly been good. The universities are burning down, the Springboks are determined to commit suicide, and Jacob Zuma is, well… well he just is.

So it’s nice to turn on the TV and see the stadiums we used to visit full of cheering colourful crowds. That desolate look on the faces in the visitor’s dressing room as it slowly dawned on them that 371 in the 3rd ODI would not be enough was priceless. Who cares that they say that this is one of the weakest Australian teams in recent history. That alone is reason to celebrate.

So I really am sorry to do this, but I feel I must. It’s just my sporting dna that condemns me to never be truly happy. But there is something I feel we’re all thinking and that deep down we all know to be true.

This doesn’t really count.

Yes it feels nice, and it’s certainly fun to watch David Warner score over 170 in a dead rubber and still lose. But let’s be honest, if these same two teams, on current form and current strengths, met in a crucial world cup knock out, what would happen? The thought doesn’t even hurt anymore it’s happened so often.

I’m not taking anything away from this achievement. It’s been awesome to watch. Truly impressive. I’m just saying that context matters, and in context this does not matter very much. Perhaps we have become too conditioned to think in four-year world cup cycles, but those tend to be the memories that stick over time.

So let’s enjoy this for what it is, not more.  It won’t come round again anytime soon. And how much the average American voter would like that to be so!

GPF