Sneaking away from office on a 2 hour sojourn to watch Barca play Chelski was the last thing on my mind when I came in. Afterall, for the first time during my stint at work, I had sole responsibility on a project (a teeny tiny 3 day one) and I had to have some results by the end of the day. Besides that, this was the first leg and by no means the decider. So, why go today and sacrifice the bigger one coming up in 2 weeks. AND, over the past couple of days, I had sent out 'Leaving early today' and 'Coming in late today' mails to the entire group thanks to some good weekend fun. So, based on logical reasoning, the decision to skip the match was quite simple.
Except, I forgot to account for impulses.....BANG at noon....I opened up soccernet.com on one of the lab machines and followed the gamecast. 15 mins of non-action, at the game and in the lab, I waved goodbye to my supervisor citing a NEED to eat out! What was the reasoning???
I think that the desperate need to watch this one stems from the fact that I have hardly ever got to watch Ronaldinho in a match situation. From the innumerable videos on video.google.com, it is clear that Maradona at his prime couldnt have been any better. Hence, watching him in action, orchestrate a high profile match would make up for the anguish of missing Mexico 1986, was the thought process.
The end result was favourable. Afterall, egg on Moaninho's face is always a delight. But, while Ronaldinho had his moments, he was not always on the ball, both literally and metaphorically. However, this one too had its perks. With Ro being attended to in numbers, Li'l Lio was left to play ball in the park. And Boy, he did! The sublime left foot chip that hit the crossbar is bound to have improved the quality of life of anyone that witnessed it. And now, even more so than before, I just HAVE to watch every single game of Argentina at the World Cup. How??? There's always breakfast, lunch and dinner. And hell, if need be, I'll throw in a workout too!
But first Mr.Pekerman, dont be daft. Just pick the boy!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Sachin, the PACK HUNTERS and a DUMBO
Losing a match while defending a score of 328 can never leave happy memories, can it? Surprisingly, it did, thanks to the pack that excercised its fangs.
First though is something very disturbing. In context of what is to come, let me start by clarifying that I am no Sachin basher. To say that he is a phenom is an understatement, but at the same time, I do not ascribe to the theory that he is second only to the Don. Anyway, I have never ever been more irritated with Sachin than yesterday when, after showing absolutely ZERO INTENT to find or clear the ropes while in the 90s, he tried something aggressive first ball after reaching 100. Before someone throws details of how his second 50 was a run a ball etc etc, let me make myself clear here. Sachin scored a century that was fast for any accumulator (Dravid, ever so subtly clarified Sachin's role in the team during his post-match comments). And I am perfectly happy with that. However, when we entered the 40 over mark, we were well on our way to a big score with quite a few wickets in hand. And Sachin was in his 90s at that point. Following which, he failed to deploy a single aggressive stroke until he reached 100...which is what I take umbrage at. The complete LACK OF INTENT to take risks during the slog overs when near a personal landmark. The only missing element of this often repeated episode was him receiving the MoM award, following which we could have had the pleasure of listening to his 'I did it for the team. Century does not matter after loss' monologue.
Moving on.......When I finally managed to shut down my PC at 4:30am after the presentation ceremony, strangely, I did not feel the usual quiet desperation that accompanies a loss. No doubt that the loss due to D/L method helped sooth the pain. It was 40-60 against India at that stage and I fully expected a loss. A win from there might have had more to do with the light than anything else....not that I wouldn't have taken it though.
However the bigger factor was what I saw on the field yesterday. The lack of bite in our bowling has been harped upon and there is nothing that I can add to that. However, any keen observer and follower of Indian cricket would/should have noticed something strange about our off-side field yesterday. Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina manning backward point, extra cover and mid-off was a sight for sore Indian eyes. It was a thrill, a dream come true and a lot more to watch these fellows stop every single ball hit their way with outrageous dives on the unforgiving surface at Peshawar. For years, Harsha Bhogle has spoken about how the fielding unit needs to act as the 6th bowler. Yesterday, our 6th bowler was as outstanding as Mohammed Asif, and that is saying something! Long live our pack hunters !!!
Last, Inzi has many many strengths, however, my undying support for the Indian team censors me from talking about that. Hence, I will talk about his faults. He might be a lot as captain, but a smart one, he IS NOT. No event more than the one where he failed to take the extra 30 mins on the 4th day when needing about 30 more runs to win against NZ highlighted that. Yesterday, he went ahead and provided further ammunition during the presentation ceremony. When Ramiz quizzed him about his dismissal, he rambled on about how he could not understand the reasons for his dismissal while comparing and contrasting it with his wrong dismissal at Faisalabad against Eng. Inadvertantly, he turned out to be very funny while showcasing a lack of brain. The rules of the game are very very simple. Unfortunately for Inzi, so is the rule of life, 'Batting ability times Brain is a constant'!
First though is something very disturbing. In context of what is to come, let me start by clarifying that I am no Sachin basher. To say that he is a phenom is an understatement, but at the same time, I do not ascribe to the theory that he is second only to the Don. Anyway, I have never ever been more irritated with Sachin than yesterday when, after showing absolutely ZERO INTENT to find or clear the ropes while in the 90s, he tried something aggressive first ball after reaching 100. Before someone throws details of how his second 50 was a run a ball etc etc, let me make myself clear here. Sachin scored a century that was fast for any accumulator (Dravid, ever so subtly clarified Sachin's role in the team during his post-match comments). And I am perfectly happy with that. However, when we entered the 40 over mark, we were well on our way to a big score with quite a few wickets in hand. And Sachin was in his 90s at that point. Following which, he failed to deploy a single aggressive stroke until he reached 100...which is what I take umbrage at. The complete LACK OF INTENT to take risks during the slog overs when near a personal landmark. The only missing element of this often repeated episode was him receiving the MoM award, following which we could have had the pleasure of listening to his 'I did it for the team. Century does not matter after loss' monologue.
Moving on.......When I finally managed to shut down my PC at 4:30am after the presentation ceremony, strangely, I did not feel the usual quiet desperation that accompanies a loss. No doubt that the loss due to D/L method helped sooth the pain. It was 40-60 against India at that stage and I fully expected a loss. A win from there might have had more to do with the light than anything else....not that I wouldn't have taken it though.
However the bigger factor was what I saw on the field yesterday. The lack of bite in our bowling has been harped upon and there is nothing that I can add to that. However, any keen observer and follower of Indian cricket would/should have noticed something strange about our off-side field yesterday. Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina manning backward point, extra cover and mid-off was a sight for sore Indian eyes. It was a thrill, a dream come true and a lot more to watch these fellows stop every single ball hit their way with outrageous dives on the unforgiving surface at Peshawar. For years, Harsha Bhogle has spoken about how the fielding unit needs to act as the 6th bowler. Yesterday, our 6th bowler was as outstanding as Mohammed Asif, and that is saying something! Long live our pack hunters !!!
Last, Inzi has many many strengths, however, my undying support for the Indian team censors me from talking about that. Hence, I will talk about his faults. He might be a lot as captain, but a smart one, he IS NOT. No event more than the one where he failed to take the extra 30 mins on the 4th day when needing about 30 more runs to win against NZ highlighted that. Yesterday, he went ahead and provided further ammunition during the presentation ceremony. When Ramiz quizzed him about his dismissal, he rambled on about how he could not understand the reasons for his dismissal while comparing and contrasting it with his wrong dismissal at Faisalabad against Eng. Inadvertantly, he turned out to be very funny while showcasing a lack of brain. The rules of the game are very very simple. Unfortunately for Inzi, so is the rule of life, 'Batting ability times Brain is a constant'!
Sunday, February 05, 2006
The emptiest of BOWLS
I sit here in front of the TV, with SuperBowl LX on. I sit here with a sense of detachment that I usually reserve for politics, stock news, work.....actually, pretty much anything that isn't sport. I sit here forcing myself to watch the game and see how it works. I sit here watching it only to avoid looking like an idiot the next day at work. And I sit here for 5 mins flat. That's it. I give up. I don't know what it is about this game, but I just dont care for it.
It was easier when I was living within a coterie of fellow FOBs. But now, living all by myself in the corporate world, I can't help but wonder why someone like me, who watches snooker without understanding the points system, who watches golf without completely understanding the technicalities of the game, can't watch this simple sport of throw and catch that unites the US of A. Hell, I even watched Pakistan bat during the two 'snoreathons'!
So, why do I have such indifference towards this sport?
Let's take the makes-me-feel-good excuse first. The absence of skills in the players. From what I gather, plays are typically s-p-e-l-t out by the coach during the indeterminate number of timeouts available. And then the quaterback has the task of throwing the ball to someone that is free. Throw in about 40(?) others running all over the field and Bingo! you have Amercian Football!!! Okay, that was simplistic, but I repeat that the game lacks any special skills among the players. Anyway, that excuse would be the perfect riposte when I find myself fighting against the crowd, only if I was not someone that would watch a well packaged television show showing 2 imbeciles take each other on in a high stakes NFS game !!! I would still use this reason though ;)
Am I totally against all American sports? Let's delve into this. I used to watch a lot of basketball during the Chicago Bulls dynasty. I even used to get up early morn on Sat and Sun during the finals. Over a period of time, I have lost interest in that sport though. My fascination for Ice Hockey begins and ends with THE MIRACLE. Why baseball when there is cricket? :) That leaves AF. Due to the small sample size and the conclusion that that leads to, I decide to widen the horizon and look beyond sports. What about American sitcoms? Friends, Everybody loves Raymond, Home Improvement and now, Becker mean that I have only about 21 hours a day for the other essential activities :). What about American movies that show that they are the saviours of the world? INDEPENDENCE DAY Baby! Need I say more? Okie...What about the American President? hehe...That's got nothing to do with American, does it? So, I honestly don't think that I have any sort of a mental block.
What else can it be....I didn't grow up with this game? It is a possible candidate. But even among the coterie that I mentioned before, we had some avid football fans who kept pace with the Bengals even during their 1-14 season. Not to mention that I did not grow up on snooker or golf (does anyone?). But still let's hold on to this one.
Last, I have worked in a college dorm that housed the Bearcats (who aren't exactly national champions) and have experienced first hand the attitude that they exhibit. Just for clarity, let me state that their behaviour was obnoxious and repulsive (may I add that I am a pretty tolerant person). And these were college kids without a huge pay packet! I do understand that asking individuals who get adored by thousands (count me out) to show identification is akin to waving red in front of a raging bull. Plus, I also believe that working at a dorm that houses the ManU team wouldn't be all that different an experience (I still wish I could I could work there :D). So, I ask players for their playing ability and no more. Hence, this one can't be it either.
Am I any close to a conclusion here? No clear ones for sure. So, maybe it is just a bit of everything that adds up to a sizeable percentage of the apathy. With the rest reserved for the name of the game ;)
Anyway, after all the soul searching, I am happy that I am closer to the first Ind-Pak ODI by an hour. And I fully intend to watch that game with a bowl that means a lot more to me.....a bowl of Lays' Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Peppers!!! Adios.
It was easier when I was living within a coterie of fellow FOBs. But now, living all by myself in the corporate world, I can't help but wonder why someone like me, who watches snooker without understanding the points system, who watches golf without completely understanding the technicalities of the game, can't watch this simple sport of throw and catch that unites the US of A. Hell, I even watched Pakistan bat during the two 'snoreathons'!
So, why do I have such indifference towards this sport?
Let's take the makes-me-feel-good excuse first. The absence of skills in the players. From what I gather, plays are typically s-p-e-l-t out by the coach during the indeterminate number of timeouts available. And then the quaterback has the task of throwing the ball to someone that is free. Throw in about 40(?) others running all over the field and Bingo! you have Amercian Football!!! Okay, that was simplistic, but I repeat that the game lacks any special skills among the players. Anyway, that excuse would be the perfect riposte when I find myself fighting against the crowd, only if I was not someone that would watch a well packaged television show showing 2 imbeciles take each other on in a high stakes NFS game !!! I would still use this reason though ;)
Am I totally against all American sports? Let's delve into this. I used to watch a lot of basketball during the Chicago Bulls dynasty. I even used to get up early morn on Sat and Sun during the finals. Over a period of time, I have lost interest in that sport though. My fascination for Ice Hockey begins and ends with THE MIRACLE. Why baseball when there is cricket? :) That leaves AF. Due to the small sample size and the conclusion that that leads to, I decide to widen the horizon and look beyond sports. What about American sitcoms? Friends, Everybody loves Raymond, Home Improvement and now, Becker mean that I have only about 21 hours a day for the other essential activities :). What about American movies that show that they are the saviours of the world? INDEPENDENCE DAY Baby! Need I say more? Okie...What about the American President? hehe...That's got nothing to do with American, does it? So, I honestly don't think that I have any sort of a mental block.
What else can it be....I didn't grow up with this game? It is a possible candidate. But even among the coterie that I mentioned before, we had some avid football fans who kept pace with the Bengals even during their 1-14 season. Not to mention that I did not grow up on snooker or golf (does anyone?). But still let's hold on to this one.
Last, I have worked in a college dorm that housed the Bearcats (who aren't exactly national champions) and have experienced first hand the attitude that they exhibit. Just for clarity, let me state that their behaviour was obnoxious and repulsive (may I add that I am a pretty tolerant person). And these were college kids without a huge pay packet! I do understand that asking individuals who get adored by thousands (count me out) to show identification is akin to waving red in front of a raging bull. Plus, I also believe that working at a dorm that houses the ManU team wouldn't be all that different an experience (I still wish I could I could work there :D). So, I ask players for their playing ability and no more. Hence, this one can't be it either.
Am I any close to a conclusion here? No clear ones for sure. So, maybe it is just a bit of everything that adds up to a sizeable percentage of the apathy. With the rest reserved for the name of the game ;)
Anyway, after all the soul searching, I am happy that I am closer to the first Ind-Pak ODI by an hour. And I fully intend to watch that game with a bowl that means a lot more to me.....a bowl of Lays' Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Peppers!!! Adios.
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