When it comes to assessing sports administrators, one must assume that every single one of them starts out in officialdom as a giant douche bag (GDB). Then it’s up to them to prove otherwise.
Without a shadow of a doubt, there’s a GDB (or two or three…) at the bottom of the Wanderers fiasco between Cricket SA and the Gauteng Cricket Board. Whoever is wrong or right, Cricket SA were undoubtedly offside when they stripped the Wanderers of its international status. Why kick the fans in the teeth if, and I repeat IF, the Gauteng GDBs are out of order? Maybe we fans should hit back and boycott the England tour matches.

Did the GDBs of Cricket SA think the fans would pay money to buy Wanderers tickets so they could watch Graeme Smith v Andrew Strauss, or watch Gauteng CEO Alan Kourie push his pen?
For some unfathomable reason sports administrators seem to think they’re the most important people on the block. I believe a good sports administrator shouldn’t be praised, or given some hero-like status – the reward for doing their job should be not getting criticised or fired. A sports administrator can either be a GDB (the most common case) or a back-room person who stays out of the limelight.
In all my years as a sports reporter, I’ve never seen a single sports administrator win an Olympic medal, a Rugby World Cup, an ICC Champions Trophy, an African Nations’ Cup or a world boxing title (although I’d like to see GDBs take a few punches).
I have been fortunate to interview many famous sports stars. Yes, some of them may have been arrogant, and others may have been notorious for behaving like Prima Donnas at times, but at least these are people who have achieved great things in sport. Gary Player, Penny Heyns, Brian Mitchell, Roland Schoeman, Morne du Plessis, Ryk Neethling, Wladimir Klitschko, Jonty Rhodes, and even loud-mouthed Floyd Mayweather were all perfectly pleasant. Sure, I know Penny better than Mayweather, and I can say without a doubt that she is one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met.
By the way, have you ever wondered why the administration of golf seldom seems to get bad publicity? That’s because the PGAs are effectively run by the professional golfers. They effectively hold the power over the administrators, and they could vote incompetent officials out if they wanted.
Surely this should be the way forward for soccer, rugby, cricket and many other sports which are run by GDBs!
Times Online opinion poll on http://www.thetimes.co.za/sport/news.aspx?id=118989

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