The derby magic
Apart from BB’s vintage show, it felt so good to see the massive crowd, the beautiful colour in the stands, the roaring fans in ‘Biafra Stand’ and scenes so beautiful angels would have saluted in their flight.
For a change, we forgot that we had become a ‘queue-and-wait nation’ as posted on journalists’ Namisa social network forum recently by my respected colleague Ralph Tenthani, who even joked that there are plans to change the country’s name to ‘Queuewait’ in recognition of the queue-and-wait attitude Malawians have adopted for virtually everything.
This time people queued at Kamuzu Stadium, not for fuel and certainly not for forex, but to watch the latest episode of the revived battle of giants.
The Blantyre contest might still be struggling to scale the heights it set in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s on the pitch, but it is not short on appeal.
In the old days when a mother in a family was a fan of one of the giants and the father supported the rival team, she would not cook if her team lost and the hubby could not be allowed intimacy. No shushu!! No matter what!
Similarly, the hubby would also refuse to eat when his team lost and could not have the desire to ‘perform’.
And reading the story carried in the recent edition of Nation on Sunday about Big Bullets assistant coach Gerald Phiri being confronted by his wife Gertrude, reminded me of the old days.
I have known both Gerald and Gertrude since my childhood days. Getrude has always been a Nomad and I was not surprised to read that she was bitter with her hubby after the game. He confessed that she even refused to cook for him.
These are the sights and sounds that used to dominate the battle of Blantyre in the past and it felt good that they punctuated the latest clash.
AOB: Poor, poor Manchester United—out of FA Cup — Lost 2-1 to Liverpool, Out of Carling Cup — Lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace, Out of the Champions League — Lost 2-1 to Basel, Out of the Europa League, lost 2-1 to Athletic Bilbao. Actually, I feel lucky not 2 be 1 of their fans. But not all is lost, they are eligible to compete in Nantipwiri Estate Trophy, aren’t they?
