The 16th Man....never in our wildest dreams

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall."
Nelson Mandela


Tonight  I watched "Invictus" on the RSI (Swiss Italian TV). The film, directed by Clint Eastwood in 2009, features a superb Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President. This movie is a slicker Hollywood version of a story narrated by Morgen Freeman called "The 16th Man". I remember being mesmerized last year by "The 16th Man". I just couldn’t stop thinking about the impact this event must have had on the South African people.

"The 16th Man" is a documentary about the South African rugby team and how it helped Nelson Mandela write history in 1995, the year the “Springboks” hosted and won the Rugby World Cup. It is about the courage, the will power, the patience, the willingness to accept, the chance to change and about the determination of a man and his country to abolish old rules and accept the challenge.

Looking back on the Soccer World cup of last summer, seeing Nelson Mandels smiling, Rev Desmond Tutu dancing and a United South African people welcoming the World in a feeling of celebration like no other nation has manged this far, must have been an achievement come full cycle for Mr.Mandela. Finally the entire world was turned towards South Africa and NOT because of some news scandal but because they proved to everybody that they can do it. From a South African perspective (and not only from theirs) 16 years ago, it must seem short of a miracle. Thank you Nelson Mandela for showing courage and applying the will power in order to change a country and it’s history all in less than a liftime.

“The 16th Man” is DEFINATELY worth watching. Absolutely speechless to what a nation with the right leader is capable of through sports. Never in our wildest dreams......