Around rolls 1 December and it seems all of South Africa is ready for at least two things: the holidays and the FIFA World Cup draw taking place in Cape Town this coming Friday. It's really happening, the rich and the famous from the soccer playing dynasties around the world are jetting into the country to determine who will play who in the determining phases of the competition. The excitement is building!

A mate of mine remarked the other day that as the Tournament really starts reaching the final preparatory phases, he wants to get one of those giant waving hands with the number 86 on it. For our team, you know, the real underdog of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Hey, there is still time for the mellowing Benni to shed a couple of pounds. Check him here on the polygraph. Warning: some profanity and a lot of hilarity.

Cape Town is, of course, really close to one of our most famous - and previously notorious - landmarks, Robben Island. The FIFA bods out for the draw are taking the opportunity to pay the prison a visit, along with South African luminaries...who share tales of football under the fist of the oppressor in years gone by. JZ the goalie and later the referee? Seems like sport was imitating later life.

If anyone ever wondered if ZA was up to the task of getting the infrastructure in place to host the World Cup, those doubters must surely now be staring down a serving of humble pie. The stadiums are very nearly complete, with estimates putting them all at '95%' complete. Moses Mabhida in Durbs, the second to open after Port Elizabeth, put away the perception that coastal folk spend their days on the beach; the other four venues are due to open before February. That's in good time before the games begin. Even the seemingly endless work on the highways, with which city folk have kind of gotten used to, looks to be getting closer to completion.

It is nigh, the World Cup. But before we get there, most of us can just sit back and enjoy some of this Silly Season, after what has for many been a long and arduous year. A pinch and a punch for the first of the month, as they say!