http://theball.tv/2010 Be a Fan of The Ball Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:15:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en "You can't talk about football in Mali without talking about Salif Keïta" -- Kassoum Keïta (no relation) from DHL Mali. Salif Keïta is not just famous in his native Mali, he one of Africa's footballing legends. In 1970, he became African Footballer of the Year, the first person to be awarded the ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/17/salif-keita/ 12.6529503 -7.9864821 It has been a long day of meetings with dignitaries. We haven't eaten all day and ready for some food and then sleep. We get out of Kasim's car. Phil and Kasim head for the restaurant to order dinner. Lagging behind with The Ball, Andrew sees two children on the intersection ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/16/serendipity-bamako-style/ 12.6529503 -7.9864821 We are off on yet another visa escapade. At the Burkina Faso embassy, we are met by stares from the receptionsists so icy they could power the air-conditioning. "Fill out these forms", they say. Unexpected disinterest in The Ball and our story. Oh well, you can't win everytime. Resigned to our task, we ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/16/visa-training-ambassadour-extraordinaire/ 12.6529503 -7.9864821 The emblem of the MFF at the entrance to the MFF Phil has been practising a song about The Ball called "This ball is our ball" based on Woodie Guthrie's famous tune for the people of the United States: "This land is our land". He performs it for the first time ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/15/malian-football-federation/ 12.6529503 -7.9864821 Kadi from DHL is our designated driver and translator for our press conference with the Minister of Sport and Special Olympics. Her boss, Djelika, reminds her that punctuality is vital on this occasion. Kadi is, she freely admits, prone to tardiness -- join the club, Kadi. To her credit, she arrives ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/12/ensemble-instrumental/ 12.6529503 -7.9864821 We have been in the DHL office all afternoon copying footage onto hard drives, writing for the blog, taking pictures with the DHL staff and The Ball. Our time in Senegal is coming to an end: an overnight DHL cargo flight awaits us. We are properly hungry by now so ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/11/dakar-to-bamako-via-mauritania/ 12.6529503 -7.9864821 A collection of random moments in Dakar. We're about to leave for Mali, but wanted to post these to give a flavour of this football-obsessed city. No, you don't understand -- it's my ball! Children watch a game of table football Beach football is everywhere The sun sets on The Ball's time in Senegal Next ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/11/around-dakar/ 14.6473684 -17.4462891 So what do we do when we're not chasing round on one footballing mission or another here in Dakar? We take a stroll along Ngor beach and enjoy the relative cool of the late afternoon. And play some football, of course! Andrew with the mascot his son Pauli gave him The temperature ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/10/relaxing-on-ngor-beach/ 14.7450027 -17.5115204 We hone our diplomatic skills as Special Olympics Senegal organise a visit to Dakar's City Hall. Dakar's City Hall We're beginning to understand that, this time round, The Ball's journey is more than just an exercise in "happy-go-lucky" serendipity and has a more serious element to it. Meeting the children at the ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/10/a-diplomatic-mission-in-dakar/ 14.6473684 -17.4462891 Dakar is on a peninsula and is said to be the nose of Africa and that Africa breathes through it. We take a morning ferry from Dakar to Ile de Gorée -- an island off the coast of Dakar -- with Mademba Mbacké, Directeur des Programmes Special Olympics Senegal. From ... http://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/03/09/ile-de-goree/ 14.6685057 -17.3996677