The curious case of sports psychology

Admittedly, part of the reason for even writing about such a subject is because this writer is sometimes at pains to flaunt his propensity to be seriously smart.

I reasoned with myself this week that ‘sports psychology’ has a sophisticated ring to it and it’s worth attempting to write about.

But the actual reason is that the varying ways in which sportsmen think explain a lot of interesting things. For example, last weekend saw the return of the Carling Black Label Cup and it involved more than just Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates for the first time in its 10-year history.

Mamelodi Sundowns and AmaZulu were also part of the action this time. I loved that the Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena was at his usual best in the press room, pre and post the event.

In the pre-tournament presser, Mokwena gave a compelling, Bible-inspired answer when asked for his thoughts on the unusual nature of the challenge in the tournament.

That was because of the possibility of playing the final at 5pm, just hours after playing their semi-final in the morning.

“There are things that God prepares you for and at certain moments, you’re not even aware why you’re involved in something like that.”

For example, David had to fight the bear with his bare hands and without any form of ammunition.

But that was God preparing him to be strong enough to go and fight Goliath.

But He had to put him through that experience of being involved in that type of fight so that he could overcome the other situation.

So when you say it’s an abnormal situation of playing at 9am in the morning and then at 3pm in the afternoon, I can say I’m used to this. Because I coach Black Poison sometimes on the weekends and at 9am I play the semi-final and at 3pm I play the final.

Sundowns crushed Pirates 4-0 in that final. I found it interesting especially because Mokwena’s opposite number, José Riveiro, was full of excuses after their heavy defeat.

He put their loss down to things like Thapelo Xoki’s red card and having to play the game ‘one hour’ after the Chiefs game, and so on.

I find the contrast in the ways of thinking quite telling, especially when the result of a match between the two teams is as it was on Saturday.