Lucky Sithole
LUCKY ON THE BALL: Elton Jantjies would have done well to heed the warning of Jim Clark from about sixty years ago about being a star. “Don’t believe what they say about you in the newspapers,” Clark said.
Jantjies probably didn’t say it, but implied in his behaviour in the business class section of that international flight, was the cry of the supremely arrogant: “Do you know who I am?!”
James Adams, Jantjies’ agent from In Touch Sports, did not quite confirm the above statement but he allegedly said, “it was only a light”. As if Jantjies was in some kind of danger, he also said: “Elton is okay”. That must be a great relief to Elton’s concerned following.
In his media release, Adams writes: “We believe the incident was unnecessarily heightened.”
Really? Is it okay to break things in aeroplanes? Is anybody allowed to do that or does it help to be a drunken Springbok rugby player?
Perhaps Jantjies accidentally brushed his whiskey glass against the fragile light and it shattered, or perhaps he threw a mighty tantrum and crushed the light in sheer anger. The reader must decide.
Of course, this is not the first time that sports stars have dived head first into the salad bowl and come up with egg all over their faces.
Watching the video of a tearful Aaron Smith speaking about his “huge mistake” after he spent some time in an airport toilet with a beautiful young woman, you have to accept that he was truly sorry.
Sorry about what happened, or sorry about getting caught out? Who knows, but there is genuine remorse. At least the All Black scrum half didn’t say it was just a quick bonk in the airport toilet.
There are, of course, more tragic examples of sports celebrities stepping out of line. (There are publications, electronic and otherwise, that have survived for decades on dishing the dirt, the dirtier the better.)
Mike Tyson never admitted to raping an 18-year-old teenager even after spending three years of a six year sentence in jail.
Throughout his trial, OJ Simpson maintained that he was innocent. He also maintained that the incriminating glove found at the murder scene was not his and at the end of the protracted trial he was declared innocent.
The joke that lingers (and is not the truth, of course), is directly after the judgement he went to the prosecutor and said: “Could I have my glove back, please?”
The less said about Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren the better.
There are many on-field exploits that serve as reminders that sports jocks are not necessarily little angels in little colourful shorts.
Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup Quarter Final against England remains an all-time classic.
As doping scandals go, Lance Armstrong must win the yellow jersey. Doping is not a new thing. As long ago as 1928, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) was the first international sport body to ban the use of doping and cycling has always been at the forefront of drug scandals.
But the way Armstrong played the media – and every sports lover in the world – about what a great guy he was, was what the fans resented the most.
Seen in that context, perhaps Elton Jantjies’ agent is justified in saying that it was “only” a light. On the other hand, the sporting fans might be hoping for a bit of humility there somewhere. What are the chances?
Since this piece was written, additional information has come through about what really happened on the plane. Updates on Scrolla.Africa.
