Christmas gifts for our top teams

By now you must have heard the high-sounding Christmas jingles that are playing all over the place, signalling the start of one of the most important holidays on earth.

Some companies have already closed for the year while for others it is just a matter of time before they send their employees on recess.

But here at For the Love of the Game, our shop is still open until we do a ritual that we started last year, for the love of sport. This involves dishing out Christmas gifts to various teams in accordance with their performance in the year.

Let us start with the sevens rugby team. The wounds this team has inflicted on its fans are still wide open and tears are still rolling down the cheeks of many.

That Shujaa can be mauled like a novice walking in a forest he cannot manoeuvre in is one of the biggest tragedies of this year. The rugby team has gone to the dogs, particularly towards the end of this year.

Last year for their lacklustre performance, For the Love of the Game awarded them a ram for Christmas. This year the rugby boys get nothing for Christmas because of the embarrassment in Dubai and South Africa. In fact, the players and officials would each get a stroke of the cane for becoming a national disgrace.

The second on the list is Harambee Stars. Last year For the Love of the Game gave Stars half a bull for winning the CECAFA championships.

The team got the bull for turning things around the last minute after maintaining an impressive losing streak for the better part of the year. This year they have been silent to the point that one may think Gor Mahia is our national squad.

Bringing glory

For losing with a narrow margin in several friendly matches, Stars get a chicken. Athletics team is third on the list. The nature of the team makes it hard to put a score on their performance as a whole since several athletes had a fruitful year bringing glory to this country while others flopped and the unlucky ones were caught up in the doping labyrinth.

For this performance, the team gets a full bull that they are free to share amongst themselves depending on how each one has performed.

The national women’s volleyball team is the next in line. For the umpteenth time, the team sparkled in the continent but failed to impress on the global stage. Well, it is not their mistake, I hear, because they operate under meagre resources. For their consistency, the team gets a goat for Christmas, from a chicken last year.