I just felt the need to share this again for the benefit of those who just recently LIKED the page, and for that I will never be able to thank you enough. This book, for those in Botswana, can be bought at EXCLUSIVE BOOKS at the Riverwalk Mall in Gaborone, for all others; you can get it online or ask your local bookstore to order it for you. Thank you very much. REMEMBER THAT ONE PERSON WHO MADE HIGH SCHOOL MEMORABLE? WELL, WE HAD ONE AND HIS NAME WAS BLACKIE DAVIS KEALOTSWE ... HERE IS AN INCIDENT THAT TO THIS DAY STILL MAKES ME SHAKE MY HEAD IN AWE. Blackie had always been a loyal member of our Callies sub team. The previous year he was our number one goalkeeper. Not the very best, but our keeper nonetheless, and Blackie would always turn whatever he was doing into a memorable event. In 1986 he switched his allegiance to Santos. The move was a surprise at least to me, and I heard many years later that the reason for this switch was that when Cornmaster joined the team, and became the number one goalkeeper, and the best Callies had in a while, Blackie was relegated to second fiddle, and this was a position he could not accept thus his decision. It was a wise move it turns out, because at Santos he was the only keeper at the time and as a result indispensable - a situation that suited Blackie just fine. I would not be surprised if this had been a calculated move all along. One day there was a friendly match between Santos and Executive Cosmos. Back then the back pass rule was still in effect. That means a player could pass the ball back to his goalkeeper, who was allowed to catch the ball, and hold on to it before kicking or throwing it back into play. This rule was later abolished by the international governing body known the world over as FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association); to discourage delaying tactics by a winning team and encourage the spirit of fair play. At some point during the game, one of Blackie’s teammates, named Kaiser Osenyeng, had the ball inside his own 18 area, and thus closer to the goalposts. “Pass the ball to me,” Blackie said to him since he was sandwiched by two opposing players and if dispossessed that would likely spell disaster. “No way, I don’t trust you man,” Kaiser said much to Blackie’s fury. I think Kaiser’s response was due mainly to the fact that Blackie was known to commit juvenile mistakes as a goalkeeper. One instance many recalled was during a game last year when he could have easily caught the ball and left it at that, but with Blackie nothing was that simple. He caught the ball, and then decided to dive to make the whole thing look fancy, in doing so the ball slipped out of his hands, and slowly bounced beyond the goal line and into the net, and subsequently gifted the opposing team with a goal. Normally, a goalkeeper dove to catch the ball not catch the ball and then dive. “What? … You don’t trust me … why the hell am I the goalkeeper then?” Blackie fumed, and then proceeded to do the unthinkable - he actually walked out of the game. “Let us see who you trust to be your goalkeeper now.” Blackie was tall, sinewy, and handsome, but in his orange jersey and shorts he looked taller and almost majestic, as he slowly, and with deliverance; walked out of the football field. Upon realizing that he had the entire teams’ attention and that of the spectators - the stage was set. “Don’t you know who I am? ... I have a famous father for Christ’s sake,” he said loud enough for even people in Palapye to hear. His father was the renowned Radio Reporter Bright Kealotswe. “And to make matters worse you guys are embarrassing me in front of my girlfriend Mapholwana who came all the way from the girls’ hostel to watch me play. How dare you!” At that moment we looked around the field, and sure enough spotted Mapholwana with several of her friends talking as if nothing was happening. She was used to her boyfriend’s sudden eccentricities. He then did something that to this day still makes me shake my head in awe. Blackie actually began to declare his undying love as he walked out of the field; almost stopping the game as even the opposing players took notice. “I love you babe … it’s just you and me … you and me only babe!” he shouted as he blew her kisses. By this time I was beginning to question Blackie’s sanity while the rest of the people cackled to a point of almost falling to the ground. I heard that many girls came up to Mapholwana afterward; telling her how lucky she was to have a man who was not shy to display his emotions in public. They thought Blackie’s affirmation was truly romantic. The Santos players, among them Steven Sekute, out of desperation, crowded the goalposts as now the opposing team, realizing that there was no goalkeeper to worry about, was firing shots from all angles. After much pleading from the team, including the very Kaiser who had sparked this fiasco, Blackie gladly returned to the posts, and sanity was restored. Blackie had done it again, because none of us ever forgot that incident
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 10:01:34 +0000
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