The Shadow Of Death

troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark, would have been 80 years today, if he had lived long enough to fulfill his great potential as one of Hollywood’s finest leading men.
But the cultural icon died when he was just 24.
On September 30, 1955, Dean was driving a Porsche 550 Spyder, with his mechanic Rolf Wutherich in the passenger seat, to Salinas, California, for a sports car race when a car, moving in the opposite direction, encroached into their lane and slammed into their vehicle.
Wutherich was thrown out of the Porsche, on impact, while Dean was badly injured and the dashing actor was pronounced dead on arrival at the Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital.
Hollywood mourned the death of a superstar whose life had suddenly been cut short, at such a tender age, and Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
He remains the only actor to receive two posthumous Oscar nominations for acting.
Dean might have died in 1955, three years before the world got to know of a football genius called Pele when Brazil won their first World Cup crown in Sweden, but his influence still lives on.
The world has always wondered what Dean would have achieved if he had lived longer.
His tragic death, at such a young age when he was starting to make a big impact as a leading Hollywood actor, boosted his value as a superstar and two years ago, South African investment Allan Gray brought Dean on the screen again in an advert that captured the imagination of the world.
The advert is an imagination that feeds on the world’s questions, which have always followed Dean’s death, and is built on an imagination of what his life would have been like had he not died in that car crash at 24.
Technology was used to bring Dean back to life in the advert and he is shown receiving an Oscar, protesting against the Vietnam War and also doing some humanitarian work around the world.
Then there is also the scene of that accident in a Porsche, just like what happened in 1955, and Dean emerges from the wrecked car and, as the dust clears, he is shown drawing a deep breath.
Suddenly the advert comes to an end with the message that captures its soul – “Given more time, Imagine the possibilities.”
The advert was shot over 14 months, with a cast of 300 and a crew of 150, and the Dean character was played by a mechanic from Cape Town, Des Erasmus, who underwent two months of training to play that iconic part.
Make-up, prosthetics, body doubles and face replacement all helped bring the legendary actor back to life for that role.
Allan Gray is a South African investment management company whose business is to help investors build wealth over the long term and the company says it seeks to earn the trust of its clients by providing superior long-term investment performance, outstanding client service and holding itself to the highest ethical standards.
The company’s clients include individuals, retirement funds, insurers, trusts, companies and foundations investing in Southern Africa.
Allan Gray felt touched by James Dean’s death, almost 50 years down the line, to use his influence, and the tragedy related to his death, to find a relationship with the company and send the big message to their clients – “Given more time, Imagine the possibilities.”

Given More Time, Paul Moyo Can Only Imagine The Possibilities

THE good old man Paul Moyo cried for his son, Benedict cried for his brother, Bekhi cried for his father and we all cried for a football colleague whose tree of life had been uprooted just when we thought the real journey to greatness had begun.
At 39, Benjamin Moyo was about six years older than Jesus Christ, at the time he was crucified and, from now onwards, Good Friday, will assume a new meaning for the good old man Paul Moyo and his family.
From now onwards they will remember Good Friday, not only for its global significance in the Christian world as the day when Jesus Christ was crucified to pay the ultimate prize for our sins, but also as the day that Benji died.
He wasn’t swept away by a tsunami but, in the still waters of a swimming pool at the Sungano Motel in Shurugwi, he met his fate last Friday morning in a drowning incident that remains shrouded in mystery with more questions than answers emerging from the tragedy.
Time will probably provide the answers and, certainly, heal the wounds.
But all that we can do at the moment is mourn with this football family in their hour of grief and remember a man who followed his father, into the game, and appeared set to become a success story in his chosen profession as a coach.
I didn’t know Benji, personally, the way that I know Moses Chunga, Lloyd Mutasa, Charles Mhlauri, Luke Masomere, Lloyd Chitembwe and all the young crop of coaches who now dominate the local football landscape.
But you don’t need to know Jose Mourinho or Sir Alex Ferguson, personally, for you to either value their qualities as super coaches who came from another planet or dismiss them as opportunists, who just happened to be at the right places at the right time.
Football, by its public nature, makes it easy for us to analyse its artists – either the players who produce the magic on the field or the coaches who play around with the tactics – and the more that we are exposed to them the better that we seem to understand them.
So we can appreciate the work that Fergie is doing, even though he works 10 000 km away from us, and we can analyse the work that Mourinho is doing, even though he works in another continent and in another country where they drive on the right and when they say muchas gracias, it means thank you very much.
What is clear is that Benji was not a legend like Sunday Chidzambwa because Mhofu cast his name in success with several league championships, taking his team to the Champions League final and taking his country to the Nations Cup final for the first time.
Mhofu became a legend because he did things that other coaches had found to be Mission Impossible and taking that rag-tag Dynamos team to the Champions League final in 1998 was as grand an achievement as we will ever see from a local coach.
As each year passes by, and Dynamos move farther away from the Champions League final to such an extent that they can even be a sorry bunch of misfits who can be knocked out in the first round as happened this year, Mhofu’s achievement in 1998 assumes its real significance.
Critics have questioned whether we are right to celebrate coming second when other countries can only celebrate the gold medal.
When you are a country that spends 23 years trying, and failing, to qualify for the Nations Cup finals, when you are a country that only produces three players good enough to play in the English Premiership, when you are a country that is usually ranked between number 80 and number 130 in the world, I believe there is reason to celebrate second place.
When Brazil wins the World Cup, it’s not something that will shake the globe because it’s something that we expect and that they have done it five times so far just goes to confirm our expectations.
But for a country like Zimbabwe, it’s qualifying for the World Cup that is the success story that will shake the globe and, because the general expectation is that we will not be successful as a football country, defying the odds and reaching the Champions League final is an achievement good enough to turn the coach who masterminded it into a legend.
Mhofu is a legend because he has the success to back that and Benji was not a legend because he was just starting a journey, having gone back to school to rediscover himself and equip himself fully for the challenge, which he was hopeful would take him to greatness.
Mhofu is turning 60 next year and has spent the best part of the last 30 years creating his legendary status.
Benji was 39, a cool 20 years younger that Mhofu, and he deserved the benefit of doubt that, given more years to live, he would certainly have turned himself into the super coach that he wanted to be and, crucially, for which he had sacrificised so much.
Given more time, Imagine the Possibilities!
His brother Benedict declared, even as tears choked every word that was coming from his mouth, that Zimbabwe had just lost its future national team coach.
It’s hard to believe otherwise.

Why Benji Touched Our Lives

We cried for Benji during the Easter weekend because we felt the full impact of the tragic manner in which he died, at the young age of 39, and we all said how could this happen to such a pretty good guy.
Benji was not as outspoken as Moses Chunga, the guy who divides opinion among the fans and journalists with his frank appraisal of situations and was so brutally honest, about the poor state of Zifa’s financial situation when he was the Warriors’ assistant coach, he even chose ZTV to make his point.
Benji didn’t turn himself into a newspaper columnist, as others have done in the past, to try and preach his gospel and convert those who were questioning certain things about his coaching methods and decisions.
Benji didn’t hit the newspaper headlines for having a string of extra marital affairs but, away from the public spotlight, he was raising a young family that fully understood its father’s commitment to turn himself into a super football coach one day.
Even when he got his Uefa B Licence and became one of the most qualified Zimbabwean football coaches, Benji didn’t pick up the phone and call The Herald or The Chronicle, from his base in England, to tell them that he had found his wings.
His story, where he sold everything that he had worked for, just to ensure that he funded his coaching course, spoke volumes about his commitment to becoming a super coach and would have produced some fine reading, for the newspapers, had he decided to tell it.
But Benji kept it to himself, because the qualifications were for a certain purpose, and what was important was what he would do with the teams that he would coach, the players that he would guide, the lives that he would touch and the results that he would get.
He was a proud man, because he believed in himself, and the tragedy is that his story has been closed, just when the first chapter was being written, just when he had set himself on the journey and just when, after years of toiling, he was now ready to explode.
Benji coached before he came to FC Platinum, having stints at Amazulu and in Swaziland, but there is always a feeling that the real business of his chosen profession was going to start this year, now that he was armed with his coaching licence and now that he had come back home to prove himself.
He didn’t do badly, for a man coaching a team that was assembled largely by the management, and two wins in three matches – with the only loss coming against Dynamos at Rufaro – was certainly a good start for the coach and it was always promising that the best was on the way.
Sadly we will never know what could have happened and, just like that Allan Gray advert that brings back to life James Dean, we can only bury our thoughts in that defining message – “Given more time, Imagine the possibilities.”

The Last Time I Saw Benji

When Rufaro welcomed FC Platinum for that midweek clash, the first league match in the capital for the Premiership moneybags who had shaken the league by buying virtually all the best players, there was an understandable sense of expectation inside the old stadium.
The expectations among the Dynamos fans that their team, having lost its first two league matches to Kiglon and Motor Action, could finally bounce back in style by inflicting the first defeat on the league’s richest team.
The expectations among the CAPS United fans that FC Platinum, who ran onto the field in a green-and-white kit that brought a touch of home for the Green Machine supporters, could make it three defeats in as many games for their bitter rivals at Dynamos.
The expectations among the Dynamos fans that their team could show Benjamin Marere, who left the club under a cloud at the end of the season, that while they didn’t necessarily have the financial muscle of FC Platinum because they didn’t own a mine, they had a tradition of success that could certainly not be bought by 30 pieces of silver.
The expectations among some FC Platinum fans that Marere would be so influential, during the match, he would show Dynamos that they were wrong to treat him like a slave, given his talent, whose pregnant wife could be pushed out of their rented premises because his employers couldn’t pay his rent.
The expectations among some of the neutrals that this would be the game that would finally show everyone in the domestic Premiership that the balance of power had shifted, thanks to the financial muscle of the newboys, from the capital to Zvishavane where the next champions would be created.
The expectations, among some of us, that we would finally see a game of real quality.
Of course, Marere had a poor game that day as he crumbled under the weight of the abuse that was dished by the Dynamos fans who booed every touch that he made and, to his credit, Benji the coach, realised that the winger had to be pulled off for his sake.
And, for the sake of the team.
Of course, we never saw the classic that we had hoped for and Dynamos won 2-0, the only time that the Glamour Boys have scored in the league this season, with Martin Vengesayi scoring and Desmond Maringwa getting the insurance goal at the end.
FC Platinum were by no means outplayed that day, although Dynamos deserved their victory, and what really touched me was the composed and professional manner in which Benji, the coach, handled himself throughout the game that afternoon.
This was the big game, and it comes once a year at Rufaro, but Benji never tried to hijack the limelight that comes with suddenly playing a game that is being covered by 30 journalists as compared to the two games at home, which they had played, which had only one journalist – Paul Mundandi.
Even on the occasions when the referees got their call wrong and what was supposed to be an FC Platinum throw was given to Dynamos, we didn’t see Benji going overboard and throwing tantrums in the direction of the match officials.
Even when his players got it wrong, we didn’t see him shouting at them but, rather, we saw him calling one by one to the line and, like a true professional, engaging with them and trying to make them understand that they could have done better.
He put Norman Maroto on the bench, which I felt was a brave move, and showed that he was in control of his team and, after Charles Sibanda had scored in two successive matches coming into the game against Dynamos, it was understandable to give him the benefit of doubt.
When the game ended, he never told the journalists that he had lost because Joel Ngodzo was away with the Under-23 team in Botswana for an All-Africa Games qualifier, because this certainly wasn’t a man who could find refugee in lying to his conscience.
Instead he just said that Dynamos had played better, at key occasions during the match, and they would embrace the defeat, work hard on their shortcomings and hope to play a better game and get better results in future.
Very professional!
I didn’t know it then that was the last time that I was going to see this coach alive and, as I reflect on this tragedy for the Moyo family, I can only bury my thoughts in Allan Gray’s advert, which brought James Dean to life, and soak in the message – “Given more Time, Imagine the possibilities.”

Benji’s Death And The Conspiracy

Given the tragic nature of his death, it is normal that conspiracy theorists should have a field day and what should be respected is his family’s stance that they will request an inquest into his death as they try to get answers to all the questions that are flying around.
Benedict Moyo, his brother and the family spokesman, is a fiery man and I can bet my last dollar that he will get to the bottom of what happened and all the questions in his head will certainly be answered at the end.
What I don’t agree with is the suggestion that Benji might have died because of pressure from other coaches, who were allegedly going behind his back, and trying to get his job.
Believing that would be to devalue the wisdom of this man who has just left the world of the living.
That there were people who wanted Benji’s job was normal because it’s a good job and, naturally, it attracts interest.
That there are some people who want my job is also very normal because it’s a pretty decent job and, naturally, it attracts interest.
That there could have been people going around trying to get that job is also natural because that is what happens in the game of football and it’s normal that there are people who want to replace Moses Chunga, it’s normal that there are people queuing up to replace Lloyd Mutasa.
Benji wasn’t the coach who guided FC Platinum into the Premiership because that job was done by Jairos Tapera.
Benji came in, after FC Platinum had secured their Premiership status, because the team’s management wanted a better coach, with better qualifications, who could take their team to another level.
That is normal.
Noone cried foul because we all understood that it’s the prerogative of the management of FC Platinum to have a coaching structure that suits their ambitions and, since they chose Benji to replace Tapera, we saluted their choice.
Against that background I think it is rather unfortunate for Benji’s manager Omega Sibanda, who is a good friend of mine, to criticise those who wanted his client’s job and suggest that they might have applied part of the pressure that might have driven Benji to his death.
Tapera wanted to coach FC Platinum in the Premiership, having taken them from Division One, and it’s understandable he felt shortchanged when Omega Sibanda and his crew came and negotiated a contract that saw Benji taking over as coach.
But Tapera is still around and to suggest that Benji might have been pressurised, by those who possibly wanted his job as Omega appears to be saying, is like saying that Jairos handled his demotion better and was mentally stronger.
I refuse to buy such an argument because Benji appeared a very strong man, mentally, and that he scarificised everything that he had worked for, inorder to pay for his Uefa coaching licence, showed that he was not the sort of man who could be pushed down by those who wanted his job.
Benji had the best job, in terms of conditions of service, in the domestic Premiership and he probably knew that virtually all the other coaches wanted that job.
But he took it simply because he believed in himself that he was the best candidate and he was confident that he would silence the critics with his results and, after three games, he was on the right path.
The old man Paul Moyo said his son was under pressure from his employers and that makes sense.
There is a big difference between being under pressure from your employers, as suggested by the old man Paul Moyo, and being under pressure from some shadowy people who want your job as suggested by Omega Sibanda.
I believe we should just wait for the results of the inquest rather than confuse a situation that is already sensitive with our conspiracy theories and Benedict Moyo, despite all the pain that he has endured in the past week, has handled himself like a true professional during this ordeal.
Well done Bla Ben and you and me, just like Allan Gray and their James Dean advert – can only soak in the message – “Given more time, Imagine the Possibilities.”
Zvakaoma mufunge.

Chunga, CAPS United And The Mob

Moses Chunga was threatened by a militant section of the CAPS United fans at Rufaro on Sunday after the Green Machine could only manage a 1-1 draw against Black Mambas during an Easter Holiday weekend where they dropped five points in two matches.
As I was driving away from Rufaro, my car was stopped by a group of militant CAPS United fans who told me that Chunga was a joke and they would turn on me if I didn’t publish their views that they no longer wanted the coach at the Green Machine.
Of course, because it had happened, I told them that they could be guaranteed that their views and actions would be published in the newspaper the next morning.
What really touched me was that, within that group, was a boy who must have been between seven and eight six years old and he kept shouting all sorts of obscenities directed at Chunga and even had the temerity to tell me that I should include all that in the newspaper.
I said to myself this boy should be in Grade Three or Grade Four and if he can be so militant at this young age, then what will become of him when he turns 25 or thereabout.
Trying to understand why that militant group of CAPS United fans was so angry about a coach who had just picked up a point to take their tally to 10, from five matches, and retaken second spot, was taking a journey into the politics of this club.
On the surface it defies logic why a coach who has won three games, drawn one and lost one and is sitting second on the table should be subjected to such intense pressure and be threatened with abuse by the fans of the team he is trying to serve.
To suggest that Chunga has failed at CAPS United, so far this season, would be as foolish as trying to convince all of us that the Royal Wedding that we watched live on television, all day yesterday, was not a real event and Buckingham Palace will today announce that it was all a hoax. To try and suggest that Chunga has been a failure at CAPS United this season, to such an extent that he deserves all the abuse that was directed at him at Rufaro on Sunday, would be tantamount to trying to convince us that Bafana Bafana were the best performing African team at the last Fifa World Cup.
What is very clear is that even if Chunga wins the league championship, he will certainly not be accepted by that group of CAPS United fans because they simply don’t want him at their club and much of it is driven from his links to Dynamos.
It’s a tricky situation for the CAPS United leadership and Farai Jere has come out loud and clear to say that Chunga will be judged by his results and, so far, he believes the coach hasn’t done anything to warrant his dismissal.
Twine Phiri was also critical on Thursday as he slammed the emergence of hooligans in the domestic Premiership and said this was unacceptable, at a time when the league has just secured a sponsor, and the sooner that the madness ends the better.
What is clear is that Jere and Phiri, who own CAPS United, are united in judging Chunga by his results rather than being swept away by the emotional tide that is coming from the militant section of their fans.
The ball is certainly in Chunga’s court now and he can either silence those who are calling for his head, by guiding CAPS United back into winning ways, or he can give them more ammunition by losing more games in the next few weeks and slipping down the table.
It’s a pressure situation, of course, but a good coach should be able to handle that heat otherwise he should then just get out of the kitchen.
CAPS United have a team that is good enough to win the league championship but you always get this feeling that the little politics, always at play at the club, could prove a distraction and the Chunga issue is likely to decide their destiny.
Hopefully, they won’t be wondering, at the end of the season, in the true spirit of that Allan Gray advert about James Dean – “Given more time, Imagine the Possibilities.”

Lloyd Mutasa, Dynamos And The Mob

Lloyd Mutasa was also booed by some of the Dynamos fans following the team’s goalless draw against Hwange at Rufaro on Good Friday.
After an impressive pre-season and a dream first game in the Champions League, when they beat MC Alger 4-1, it has all gone wrong for Mutasa and his men and there are some people who are questioning whether Samaita is the right coach for DeMbare.
Those people have genuine reasons to ask questions when suddenly Dynamos crash out of the Champions League, in the first round, for the first time in 30 years.
They have a right to ask questions when suddenly Dynamos lose to their rivals Highlanders for the first time in six years and, after five games, the Glamour Boys have the least number of goals to their credit.
The onus is on Mutasa, just like Chunga, to provide the answers and certainly a goalless draw at home to Hwange does not help the situation and it creates a fertile ground for those who are planning the battle to oust the coach.
Mutasa hasn’t been helped by the lack of a trusted goal-scorer, something that we highlighted two months ago, and he certainly can’t be blamed for the madness at the club that resulted in the senior forwards deciding to leave the team.
That the same challenges, which forced the senior players to leave, are emerging again at the club, with reports that Dynamos have yet to pay their players the March salaries, only goes to show that the real problem at the Glamour Boys is certainly not technical but clearly administrative.
It can’t be a coincidence that Dynamos’ poor form on the field has come at a time when the players have been waiting, without success, for their March salary and their 0-3 defeat in Algiers came four days after the month had ended and, still, there was nothing in their accounts in terms of salaries.
We don’t expect Farai Munetsi to suddenly find US$500 000 to run a club that is being weighed down by debt but, because he is the chairman, we expect him to do something to ensure that the US$300 or so that each player earns is in his account at the end of the month.
That is what leadership is all about and when leadership fails to provide such basics, it loses its credibility to remain in charge and, inevitably, critics start saying the time has come to pass the leadership baton to others.
Dynamos is a very big team but one gets a feeling that the Glamour Boys are certainly losing their way, with each passing month, and if this is not being supported by the results on the pitch, then it is being backed by the instability in their camp.
If Dynamos have become so poor that they can now camp at a lodge in Bulawayo, ahead of their big tie in Bulawayo, whose rooms had no television sets, then you know that there is something terribly wrong with the people’s team.
We raised questions when Dynamos flew out to Algeria and wondered why the Glamour Boys had to be given T-shirts, by the Footballers’ Union of Zimbabwe, to make them look like a team.
We wondered whether Dynamos have become so poor that they can’t afford tracksuits that are being afforded by every social side in this city, from Mafero Mafero to Jazz Elites, that they needed a donation of T-shirts from FUZ for them to appear as a team.
But we were surprised to see the Dynamos players in the First Street Mall, signing autographs during an official team engagement, wearing their own clothes.
Nothing, really, to suggest that they were a team.
Something just doesn’t sound right.
Mutasa appears to be a good coach but he appears to be working in a very difficult situation.
I hope Mutasa stays because, if he doesn’t, hopefully people won’t say, in true Allan Gray and James Dean style – “Given more time, Imagine the Possibilities.”

Mourinho Remains The Special One

So Mourinho had a nightmare on Wednesday as Real Madrid slumped to defeat in the Hell-Clasico showdown against Barcelona.
The Special One got it wrong to try and stop his opponents from playing rather than trying to win this match using the combined strengths of his players.
Of course, he couldn’t have gone blow-by-blow but to play 45 minutes with a shape that had noone in central attack, with Ronaldo wide on the right, at home, was a bit too much.
But one or two games against Barca do not define a coach. Last year Mourinho knocked out Barca in the semi-finals and, even after the events on Wednesday, I feel he still remains The Special One.
But you know where my money is.
Wembley, just like in 1968 when Man U thrashed Benfica 4-1 to win their first European Cup, might vibrate to a Red Devils’ rhythm next month.
Come on United.
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Given More Time, Imagine the Possibilities!
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