South Africa: T Chesterfield - The Titans - Stuff myths are made of (10 Oct 1997)

10 October 1997

THE STUFF MYTHS ARE MADE OF

Trevor Chesterfield

Pretoria had barely lost its double-barrel identity and the telegraph was in its infancy in South Africa when a group of visitors from England are said to have indulged in the first game of cricket in a field just west of what was then Market Square.

It was a hard life in the 1860's: far removed from today's bustling world and electronic age which, by pressing a few buttons, allows you access to discuss events in far away places on the Internet. Certainly a long way from the days when a sedate horse and carriage ride would take you from Market Square along a track that passed Widow Hoffman's cattle compound towards the farms in the south. Rolling, verdant, rich and open. Market Square became Church Square, Widow Hoffman's cattle compound was renamed Berea Park and in the south Centurion Park was eventually developed.

We move on 127 years to an age that has a decidedly new image with its clever designs Television, through M-Net has built an added dimension to the game which would have earned a nod of approval from Dr WG Grace, the patriarch of the modern game who created his own standards and levels of excellence. He earned a better living through sport than he did from his medical practice. In keeping with modern trends and the pay-channel buying 50% of Centurion Park through Centurion Park Investments, we have new marketing strategies. There are those who feel there is a certain brash American-style hype which is better suite to sports such as gridiron, ice-hockey and baseball.

But recently there was a welcoming bash to meet the Northerns Titans at SuperSport Centurion. While the term the Titans may fit with the image of the Standard bank day/night game which, with its intensive style of publicity, it is also seen as creating an "identity." Drawn from Greek mythology, the Titans consisted of twelve sons and daughters of Uranus (heaven) and Ge (earth); their names were Oceanus, Coeus, Cirus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronos, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe and Tethys. Considering that Centurion is a Latin word, the use of ancient Greek to conjure up a warrior image is an interesting concept. But as NCU president Richard Harrison suggests it was far from an abstract one.

"The Northerns Titans name has met with approval from the players and officials of the union as well as passing public pre-testing," he said. "Apart form the enthusiastic andvaluable support of our sponsors, we also have a new business partner in SuperSport," he added.

Source:: Pretoria News