“Aye, There’s the Rub!”

The Southwest African country of Namibia has been finding itself in
entertainment, as well as sporting news. 

I am actually old enough to remember the TV series "The Prisoner", starring
British actor Patrick McGoohan,  from 1967. It's a series that had cult
following for years. http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/   Like any older
TV series that enjoys a cult status following, somebody had to come up with the
idea of doing a remake. http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/

The reason that I bring all of this up, is that in the 2009 remake starring Sir
Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel, a good chunk of the filming took place in
Swakopmund, Namibia. From the show's web site, Sir Ian McKellen wrote an entry
in his blog discussing the second largest city of Namibia.
http://blogs.amctv.com/the-prisoner/2008/09/ian-mckellens-blog-3.php 

I have to say that after seeing the show, It's a very striking area with it's
large, white sand dunes, and A-frame German architecture. If nothing else, I
hope the show gives a shot in the arm to the Namibian tourist
industry.http://www.namibiatourism.com.na/

As some of you could tell from a recent posting, I really do have a soft spot in
my heart for Namibian rugby.This respect comes from how much courage
they displayed from
the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where they were just in a killer group with France,
Argentina, Ireland and Georgia. In their best match of the RWC, Namibia gave
Ireland all they could handle in a 32-17 loss. That was a game where the
Namibian forwards created wave, after wave of attack to punch in a couple of
well earned tries.

  I saw the Namibians hold out for a ridiculous time against the Pumas at
 the
Stade Vélodrome in Marseille , before the floodgates finally opened and the
Pumas won in commanding fashion 63-3.
http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/fixtures/round=100/match=10098/report.html

Last week in Windhoek, the Namibians stamped their ticket for the 2011 Rugby
World Cup in New Zealand, after grinding out a 22-10 victory against Tunisia.
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3891_5730884,00.html

That's the good news for Namibian rugby. The bad news is that the Namibians find
themselves once again in a "group of death": South Africa(that is a LONG road
trip to play a next-door neighbor), Wales, Samoa and Fiji will make up pool D
along with the Southwest Africans. A bad luck of the draw, but after what I saw
in 2007, the Namibians will certainly bring their best against the Boks, Welsh,
Samoans and Fijians.