Johannesburg — JEAN-CLAUDE Killy, the alpine ski racer who dominated the sport in the late 1960s, said: "The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and then imitate a champion."

And if the past year is anything to go by, we can rest well this festive season knowing aspiring sports stars have been inspired.

From dethroning Australia at the summit of world cricket, boasting every trophy possible in southern hemisphere rugby and inspiring support from a sceptical nation at the Confederations Cup, SA has gone a long way to living up to a John Cleese quote: "Pound for pound SA is the strongest sporting nation on earth, and it can only be due to their beer."

But do not for one moment think it is time to relax. The man our country loves to hate, Kevin Pietersen, is on our shores hoping to inspire his adoptive nation to a Test series win after they handed the Proteas another one-day international series loss.

The Proteas have frustrated their fans since changing the cricket world order with an embarrassing one-day whitewash in England, a spectacular collapse in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup and a rain-assisted one-dayer series loss at home. But this is unlikely to dampen the booing meted out to Pietersen.

On the other hand, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior have largely escaped the vociferous booing saved for the larger-than-life Pietersen.

Graeme Smith probably hit the nail on the head when he surmised that Pietersen's treatment stems from comments attributed to him about the country, its transformation process and its people that were far from savoury.

In response, Pietersen was quoted as saying Smith was just a muppet. But what this muppet showed the world a few months ago, when his entire team crumbled feebly around him against the self-same England, is how to inspire and lead from the front.

His captain-courageous stand - cramps and all - in a hopeless cause would have brought tears to the eyes of the toughest tighthead prop - our Bok rugby captain included.

Despite criticism levelled at Smith, no one can question his ability, his loyalty and his love for the king protea on his chest and the country as a whole. And that is what you want in a captain.

We have had our heroes and our villains on and off the sporting field: Benni McCarthy has returned to save us from our addiction to fast food and Pierre Spies has proved once again that he is a direct descendant of Superman; Joel Santana is on a yacht somewhere; I have to paint a protea on my new Bafana Bafana jersey; Bafana did not concede a goal in their last two games; and Carlos Alberto Parreira thinks Brazil will win the World Cup.

A young woman obliterated the field in the Athletics World Championships only to have the people who should have protected her bungle and stumble and lie, leading to the biggest controversy of the year, the suspension of a board and the humiliation of a talented young athlete.

Francois Steyn kicked a penalty in New Zealand; Ja que Fourie scored SA's most important try of the year off the bench; Morné Steyn is a scientist; Bafana Bafana helped countries such as Iceland climb the world rankings and also held Brazil until almost the 90th minute in the Confederations Cup; and every one of our new stadiums' keys will be handed over by the end of this year - five months faster than Germany did in 2006.

We are six months away from hosting the Soccer World Cup and so many South Africans stand the risk of missing one of the biggest opportunities that will ever come their way.

Commentators say that the 1995 Rugby World Cup victory did not change this country, and they are right. But what it did do is give all of us a memory that will be ours forever. A memory of happiness, goodwill and unadulterated celebration in the streets. A memory of laughter and cheers and shosholoza that, if even for one day, gave us hope amid the monumental challenge of sewing together a torn nation.

Invictus, despite having a foreign director and actors, taps into this place deep in the hearts of South Africans. It is only a film, a story with poetic licence, but while the rest of the world can enjoy the film only we can truly feel it. It opened sections of this writer's heart that he did not know existed.

Everyone who watches this film will have their special memory ignited with a tear on their cheek or a lump in their throat that no one can ever take away from them. No matter where we live, where we go or what happens, when we close our eyes this memory is ours and no one can touch it. And we have the chance to make another one in this lifetime!

So, Bafana go into the tournament to fill the numbers, but, as our sports editor correctly pointed out, stranger things have happened. Greek soccer fans will never let the Portuguese forget that. Senegal proved it in emphatic fashion.

This is our World Cup and the players that take to the field must know that and hear it in the stands. It is our chance, no matter the outcome, to make positive memories, create something to be proud of, fill our tanks with goodwill and good cheer and make space for another special memory as we take on the next phase of reconstructing our country.

As the Irish put it, as you slide down the banister of life this festive season may the splinters never point in the wrong direction. We all know this is unlikely, as there will always be the prickly Kevin Pietersen. But deep down we love him.