Letter to the Editor
By Dr. Webster Musiya
The recent events pertaining to the Zimbabwe national football team are shameful and deplorable. However, what we all need right now is to move on.
One of the most important steps to be taken in our endeavour to build a respectable and formidable team, a force to reckon with, is to start afresh.
In addition to a change of personnel running the affairs of at the soccer governing body, coaching staff, etc I feel it is also necessary to revisit two crucial aspects which not only bring back bad memories but have been synonymous with dismal failure and disgrace ie.
a.) the name “warriors” and
b.) the national team colours.
I suggest we name the Zimbabwe Football Team the HONEY BADGERS.
Based on the characteristics of the said animal as listed hereunder, I think this name is most befitting.
DESCRIPTION:
The honey badger (Mellivora capensis), also known as the ratel is a species of mustelid also native to Africa.
It is a tenacious small carnivore that has a reputation for being, pound for pound, Africa’s most fearless animal despite its small size. It is even listed as the “most fearless animal in the world” in the Guinness Book of Records.
A Honey Badger’s baby is called a ‘kit’. The females are called ‘sow’ and males ‘boar’. Honey Badger group is called a ‘cete, colony, set or company’.
Implying:
Young warriors become the KITS
Ladies team become the SOWS
The honey badger has a fairly long body, but is distinctly thick-set and broad across the back. Its skin is remarkably loose, and allows it to turn and twist freely within it especially to turn on their attackers when held. It is almost impervious to arrow and spears. Even a blow from machete can’t scratch the skin. The skin protect them from bites.
Honey Badgers are very intelligent animals and one of the few known to have used tools to its benefit.
Honey badgers are notorious for their strength, ferocity and toughness. They have been known to savagely and fearlessly attack almost any kind of animal when escape is impossible, reportedly even repelling much larger predators such as lions.
Bee stings, porcupine quills, and animal bites rarely penetrate their skin. If horses, cattle, or Cape buffalos intrude upon a ratel’s burrow, it will attack them. They are virtually tireless in combat and can wear out much larger animals in physical confrontations.
The aversion of most predators toward hunting honey badgers has led to the theory that the countershaded coats of cheetah kittens evolved in imitation of the honey badger’s colouration to ward off predators. Honey Badgers have powerful jaws and sharp teeth, which powerful enough to crush tortoise’s shell.
NATIONAL TEAM COLOURS
For some reason Bafana Bafana adopted the same first colours as ours i.e. yellow and green and everyone knows that they have somewhat overshadowed us. I suggest we change to another strip obviously drawn from our national flag
e.g. red and white
Come on Zimbabwe it’s time for a fresh start!
Dr. Webster Musiya