Africa's Footballing Exploitation

By Shane Thomas

In the opening monologue of the movie, Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise elucidates about the bristling excitement that comes with unearthing new sporting talent. Think of the anticipation that was palpable with the arrivals of Rory McIlroy, Andrew Luck or Lewis Hamilton onto the sporting scene. But the monologue comes with a warning, "There's genius everywhere, but until they turn pro, it's like popcorn in a pan. Some pop. Some don't."

The Walking Dead Follow The Script

By Shane Thomas

There is a sporting aphorism favoured by football journalists, pundits, commentators and bloggers in moments of incredulity. "You couldn't script this!" I remember the filmmaker, Spike Lee expressing similar sentiments before the final game of the epic series of matches between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees back in 2004 (for which I highly recommend you watch the 30 for 30 documentary, "Four Days in October").