Taking it to the ‘Max’
The weekend is upon us and that means sport, sport and more sport.
A COUPLE of seasons ago, Glenn Maxwell garnered an inordinate amount of money at the IPL auction, but there was a sense of ‘who’s this guy?’ being hyped up by the Aussies. How that has changed. He is hitting it so far and so straight that he could win a long driving contest on the golf course.
The interesting thing is that he isn’t a monster like Chris Gayle or Kieron Pollard. Yet he smashes it easily as far. Maxwell’s success so far has seen the King’s XI Punjab climb to the top of the table.
The way he batted against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings that other night was quite unbelievable. He made David Miller, SA’s biggest hitter, look like Kepler Wessels playing for a draw.
Okay, not quite, but you get the idea of the impact ‘Maxi’ is making. Looking ahead, the King’s XI play the Royal Challengers Bangalore today (Friday) at 4.30pm. You can expect more fireworks.
In football, the English Premier League is drawing to a close. Manchester City just need a draw against West Ham and the title is theirs. However, if they lose and Liverpool beat Newcastle, then it will be a Red celebration of monumental proportions. Manchester United fans are in a predicament. Some feel sorry for Steven Gerrard after all his years of faithful service, yet others cannot bear the thought of Liverpool gaining another title. They don’t like the idea of City winning either, but it seems to be the lesser of two evils for them.
Andre Agassi has come out and said that he reckons Rafa Nadal is the greatest tennis player of all time, with Roger Federer in second place. It’s possibly too early to tell and one should wait until they have finished their careers to make such a call.
As far as Grand Slams go, Rafa has been seriously top heavy at the French Open, winning eight times, but not so good at Flushing Meadow (twice), Wimbledon (twice) and Down Under, only once, where Federer has a much wider spread, although only one win at Roland Garros out of his 18. My vote is for the Fed. Beside, his mother is South African!
On the rugby field, the Sharks have an interesting encounter with the Brumbies in Canberra tomorrow morning (11.40am SA time). There is some extra spice to this game as Jake White coached the Brumbies for a few seasons (leading to a resurgence) but is now with the Sharks as they fight to win the title for the first time.
