Rallying Easter

I’m standing next to a muddy road at 5am in the morning. I’m not just standing there, I’m freezing. I ran the full two miles to this junction where the rally cars had been expected an hour ago. I’d been woken up by the sharp revving sound of what I assumed to be the leading car and I did not even take the liberty to dress up. I’m still in the shorts and T-shirt I’d slept in. I’m standing next to a shrub, trying to keep away most of the icy gusts of wind and from the feel of it, I’m loosing. I’m not alone; the intersection is littered with spectators, some of whom have been here for the better part of the night. The “first” car, as it turned out was a chase car checking the road’s condition. I was in good time.

I was beginning to seriously wonder whether the organizers had reconsidered this route when suddenly, the revving rented the air again. Soon enough, bright lights broke the Easter Sunday morning’s dark sky. Still shaking, this time around with excitement; I detached myself from the shrub and edged closer to the road. Two cars were bearing down on us, the drivers making the most they could between skids, efforts which elicited loud cheers. By the time they got to the intersection, I couldn’t make out the model or numbers on their muddy frames; I was too busy scratching out a cake of mud that the leading car had sprayed into my face.

I did get home at 9 in the morning; tired and muddy, but thrilled. I’d had a pretty good show. I had been part of world rallying; cheered our local hero Shekar Mehta (who sadly died this week) and Joginder Singh as well as the greats, Juha Kankkunen and Björn Waldegård. I helped push those stuck in the mud, chased after some seemingly cautious driver urging him on and gazed at the array of gadgets in a car whose driver had called it quits.

Easter Holiday Weekend was, before this millennium, synonymous with the Safari Rally, Kenya’s premier motor sports event and the toughest rally in the world rally championship’s calendar. It was a national event. The cars were flagged off by the President, huge crowds of spectators and at times wild animals lined their route and local dignitaries met them at every stop. All the three dailies had the rally on the front pages and a running scorecard throughout the four day period. Radio and TV had regular updates and live feeds from around the country.

Sports and Commentators

I watched with detached interest the arrival of our highly successful athletes from the commonwealth games in Melbourne, Australia. For years now, we have made effort at all the major sporting disciplines but with the exception of the Rugby, Women’s Volleyball and maybe the odd skier at the winter Olympics in Turino, Italy; Kenya is pretty much a cut and dried runner’s country and pictures of arriving winners with medals dangling, receiving accolades are back to the sports pages. I was keener on the upcoming WBC Female Middleweight Championship fight between our very own Conjestina Achieng, who has a brunt, in your face approach complete with a "Tyson" look to match, and the tall American Yvonne Reis who was clearly on a charm offensive with her friendly and polite manners. It was a “Rumble of temperaments” and it generated a lot of interest.

The 10 round bout was broadcast live by the National TV, KBC, Saturday evening. The commentator provided a running commentary so I guessed he must have been doubling up for radio as well. Either way, he was a big disappointment. He came out as Conjestina’s biggest fan. Heavily biased towards her, he completely failed to give a fair account of the bout. He made a mockery of Reis’s prancing around the ring and her seemingly soft punches while magnifying the Kenyan’s own lackluster efforts. Even before the bout ended, he had already declared her the winner. Many viewers and listeners who had been won over by the American’s charm were distraught, and you can guess the disbelief on both camps when the judges unanimously declared her the victor!

As Conjestina and her angered fans cried foul, my mind went back some five years or so, to the return leg match of a world cup qualifier between the Kenyan national Soccer team “Harambee Stars” and the Nigerian “Super Eagles” held at Lagos. Good old KBC was unable to send its crew to cover the match and after a public outcry, they did arrange for a live feed from their counterparts at Lagos. That was a mistake. The Nigerian commentator had no kind words for anything Kenyan; he rubbished our players and likened our national team to a second division side. He loudly wondered how the team had made it so far into the tournament and if that was not all, he reduced our ultramodern Moi Sports Complex, Kasarani, in Nairobi where the first leg of the match was held to a “bumpy pitch.”

Although we lost the series, much of the anger and shame came from the commentators remarks. As I urge our dear Conjestina to learn from the defeat, I feel that journalists and match commentators alike should provide fair and balanced coverage, no matter which side they are on.