offside

In an article titled “World Cup robberies: Six tips for a safe visit to South Africa,” the Christian Science Monitor on June 9, 2010 offered some tips for anybody travelling to South Africa to watch the FIFA World Cup. A colon introduces either a list, an explanation, or a principle. Since “Six tips for a safe visit to South Africa” is neither a list nor a principle, the tips provided must be the explanation of the robberies. Well, Sherlock Holmes would say, there is “no combination of events for which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation.”
The reason for the CSM to compile these tips was an “armed robbery of three foreign journalists sent to cover the World Cup on Tuesday night – near the Portuguese team's base camp in Magaliesburg, north of Johannesburg.” Every soccer fan would be rather disappointed to hear that the World Cup is a one-night event. Moreover, if the cup were played at the Portuguese team's base camp, wouldn’t this give the Portuguese an unfair home advantage? Modifiers should be placed as close as possible to the modified element and the sentence be about "Tuesday night'sarmed robbery near the Portuguese team's base camp in Magaliesburg, north of Johannesburg, whose victims were three foreign journalists sent to cover the World Cup."
The first tip, not to “advertise that you are a stranger in town,” makes complete sense since “Criminals look for those who may seem fearful or unfamiliar with an area, or who may not know to take certain precautions, such as putting your wallet in your front pocket, rather than in the back pocket.” The only problem is that the writer apparently took Joyce Carol Oates's advice too literally, namely that every sentence deserves a comma after six words. In fact, the sentence above should not contain a single one.
Tip No.3 suggests to always “Travel in groups. There are areas that are safer than others in South Africa, as in any major city of the world. But you can still pay visits to historic monuments in South Africa – many of which are in older, urban areas – if you travel in a group organized by a tour operator recommended by your hotel.” It’s an astute observation that some areas are safer than other, but who would have thought that historic monuments are in older urban areas.