The stars shine down on sport were aligned on the day The Sunday Independent launched its first edition. The Rugby World Cup final on June 24 was chosen as a momentous day to bring out the first copy.
The Springboks and Madiba made it as momentous as you could wish for, providing a glorious win for a new nation and giving birth to the name “Rainbow Warriors”.
Rugby dominated the front and back pages on June 24, with the sports editor, the late Rodney Hartman, writing both leads from Ellis Park. As ever, his copy was perfect, his tone capturing the gravity and wonder of the moment.
The Sindy’s sports department has always valued the power of good writing and layout.
Pages would be planned days in advance, there would be debates and arguments over leads and the use of pictures. Rodney was our leader in those early days, with his deputy, the late Gavin Schmidt, one of the sharpest production men in the business.
I was working at The Star and began at the Sindy as part of the subbing team in 1995, recommended to Rodney by Gav. It was the best education a sub-editor could wish for.
I remember Rodney bringing a photo of a young spin bowler into the office on a Saturday afternoon, calling us all to have a look.
John Hogg had taken the picture, as I recall. It was of a player who looked to be having a fit at the crease, his arms and legs contorted in the strangest of angles. It was Paul Adams.
It was used as the lead picture. Not long after, Adams was picked for the national Test team.
Injury Times is perhaps the longest-running sports column in South Africa, going strong 20 years now. In those early days, contributors had their name put at the bottom of the column. Getting an insert in Injury Times was considered quite the achievement. It was silly, bitchy, but always funny.
We had two deadlines on the Sindy, and after the first had passed, at 7-ish, a cricket bat and tennis ball would come out for the traditional post-deadline office cricket match.
Rodders spun it wickedly.
All played. We broke a few light fixtures and annoyed the hell into the news desk, but they dared not stop us.
When Rod was poached by the Sunday Times, Gav took over as sports editor, and when Gav emigrated, I was given the job by the then editor John Battersby. Luke Alfred became my deputy.
The paper was a joy to work on because of the writers and subs. We believed we had the best sports department in the land and we never stopped pushing hard. There are two awards of appreciation in the Sindy editor’s office but we didn’t work for those. It was about being the best paper.
One afternoon, we got wind that Louis Luyt, the SA Rugby Football Union president, was going to resign and that Rapport had the story exclusively. We could not get any official confirmation. Rugby writer Liam del Carme was on his way to Bloemfontein to cover a match. One of Rapport’s rugby writers let slip to him the story was true. We moved fast.
Within an hour, Barry Glasspool, the Star’s rugby writer, had called us. He had spoken to Steve Tshwete and got him to say that Luyt resigning was “better than winning the World Cup”.
That became the front-page lead headline the next day.
So many good people have come and gone through the Sindy’s sports department.
There is not enough space for all their names but they had one thing in common – they cared deeply for the paper.
We wanted to be the best. We often have been over the past 20 years.