Games-101

It has been a while since I expressed my quite strong views on sporting issues. While back-packing across western Europe, I had a plethora of other observations to talk about - you can read those at www.satanichide.blogspot.com (unfortunately I never reached the foothills of Mt. Tibidabo :( ) Some of my earlier writings are posted below. Hoping to put come up with a few more posts soon ...

P.S - The name of the blog is inspired by the "daag-the fires" & "Gadar-ek prem kathas" of this world ;)

Sports Journalism at its worst

Written on 17/06/07

On a cool pleasant Sunday morning, I picked up the Sunday Times to proceed with my routine activity of newspaper reading while sipping some nice filter coffee. To my utter disappointment I ended up reading one of the worst articles penned.

The write-up was intended to hype the tantalizingly poised final round of La Liga matches but the writer turned it into an exhibition of his linguistic prowess.

This led me to wonder what exactly is good writing. Is it the use of florid vocabulary or is it the expression of one’s clear ideas using felicitous but simple words? As I comprehend it, it is the later.

Being an avid sports lover I have been religiously reading the last 4 pages of the Times for quite a few years now. Most of what I find there, is plain reporting picked up predominantly from PTI or Reuters. But with the growing accessibility of the electronic media, my interest in this has waned with time. What I look for in the morning daily is articles with some interesting and insightful views. And sadly there is glaring dearth of such journalism, Harsha Bhogle’s and Ayaz Menon’s weekly columns in Indian Express and DNA respectively being the few exceptions.

A premier league fan to the core I am not one of the biggest admirers of the Spanish game. But such has been the dramatic nature of this La Liga season that it has had me transfixed to the television set for each of the screenings in the past 2-3 months. The football has not resembled the sleek passing game, which has been a characteristic feature of Spanish football but fortunately it has been a fairytale script, one which could only be written by the Almighty Himself. Such has been the exciting nature of Real Madrid's miraculous comebacks in the past 10-12 weeks that a mere listing of events using the most hackneyed of phrases and jargon would have made the article worth a read. But our author, armed with his wide gamut of adjectives and descriptives, managed to fill half a page of The Times of India, with a piece which resembled an account of the pros and cons of globalization and international inter-dependence rather than the thrill of watching the beautiful game.

The problem can be solved if sports-lovers with a good command over the English language, rather than language-lovers with some interest in sports, start playing an active role in sports journalism.

Don’t be vexed if you find this write-up foisted with unnecessary uncommon words here and there. After all I have grown up reading articles like the aforementioned one and bad habits do rub on.

EURO Fever

The opening ceremony of the 2008 Euro championships is only days away and the hype is really building up here in Freiburg, less than an hour away from it’s venue – St. Jacob’s Park. Flirting with the danger of sounding supercillous, I would say I get quite annoyed with people back home whose un-quenching passion for football sprouts after every two years (in some cases even 4). But with Germany favourites for this year’s championships, I am happy to be at the right place with genuinely passionate fans all around. I am no football-pundit but some of my audacious predictions did come right during the World Cup – like France going all the way after beating Spain when hardly anyone gave them a chance against the Brazilians and Hargreaves scoring the only successful penalty in case the 3-lions were faced with a shoot-out. So here are my views on the Euro 2008

1. Italy - The world champions are renowned for their steadfast defending. Even without Cannavaro, it will be difficult to break them down for defending is more about teamwork and discipline than individual brilliance. Their problems might arise further up the pitch. Although Luca Toni is banging goals for fun in the Bundesliga, I wasn’t impressed by his world cup performance which followed his 30-goal season with Florentina. He needs a big tournament here if he does not wish his name to be taken in the same breath as Andy Cole and Hasselbank.

2. France – They are clubbed with Italy, Netherlands and Romania in the Group of Death and will need star man Frank Ribery to be firing on all cylinders to go all the way. Most of their players, with the exceptions of Ribery and Benzema, are coming to the Euro on back of disappointing club campaigns but don’t bet against them doing a Brazil-2002.

3. Netherlands – Along with Spain, they are the traditional chokers and I don’t see them getting rid of that tag. RVN, Huntleer, Snejider and the mercurial duo of Van Persie and Robben - Van Basten is spoilt for options up front but they are woefully out of depth in the centre of the park and that is where most big games are won or lost. They will find it extremely tough to progress from arguably the toughest group.

4. Germany – They brought a nation to life with their exuberant performances in the world cup. It is said that Joachim Löw was the brains behind the Jurgen revolution and it will be interesting to see if he can deliver as the man in the hot seat. With the like of Ballack and Klose peaking at the right time, Germany go into the Euro as huge favourites.

5. Spain – With the likes of Fabregas, Torres, Villa and Iniesta, they have a forward line which will be envied by the best but in Puyol and whoever plays with him, they have the weakest defence among the big boys. How Luis Aragones would have loved to take Ferdinand and Terry on loan for a month! Having spent all his professional career at the Bernebau, Casillas has great expertise playing behind fragile defences and it would take a herculean effort from him for the Spanish to be in Vienna on 29^th of June.

6. Portugal – Christiano Ronaldo is their man. Touted by many as the best player in the world, he needs to deliver in Austria-Switzerland. With Deco, Quaresma and Nani also in the squad, the Portuguese, like their Iberians rivals, have plenty of ammunition in their ranks. They also have a more than decent backline marshalled by Ricardo Carvalho. Whether they can go one step better than 2004 will depend on whether Nuno Gomes and Postiga can fill the void left by Pauletta’s retirement.

Any of these six can win the Euro but they will need things to go their way at crucial points in the tournament. It is very difficult to pick a winner from among them and so I take the easy way out and predict the underdogs.

1. Russia – I was amazed by the way Zenith St. Petersburg tore the mighty Bavarians apart in the UEFA Cup semifinals and also by how they forced the resilient Rangers defence into submission in Manchester. Zenith surely will have 4-5 representatives in the Russian team and with the tactical genius of Guus Hiddink, whose record of bringing the best out of limited resources is admirable, at the helm they are a team the big boys should be wary of.
2. Croatia – Many would say that England were downright pathetic on that rainy night in London but many visiting teams have been over-awed by the 90,000 plus Englishmen on the hallowed Wembley turf. A team which more than held its own in such intimidating atmosphere simply cannot be discounted.

Don’t be surprised to see one of these two playing in the semi-finals and remember you heard it first here!

Its about the bike

I followed the Tour De France for the 1^st time in 2004. Armstrong had won the previous 5 editions and there was a lot of hype and speculation surrounding whether he would surpass the likes of Le’mond and Indurain in winning arguably the toughest endurance event for a record 6^th time; or would age and the rigors of cancer treatment finally take their toll. Also it was the Tour’s inaugural foray onto the Indian television.

This, being my 1^st instance, I was busy amassing the jargon and various phrases used in Cycling - which involved becoming familiar with terms like peleton, tete de la course, the yellow, green, polka-dot jerseys and names like Basso and Ulrich who were suppose to be the main challengers to The Throne. But what Armstrong has to done to cycling is very much like what Jordan did to basketball and Woods has done to Golf. Most of the audience is watching primarily to know how these greats are doing, other information being just subsidiary. I was no different.

But by the time, the Tour went into the Pyrenees in the 3^rd week; I had begun rooting for Basso. Armstrong was too meticulous and consummate to be entertaining. He always knew how much energy to expend and when (which by the way is the most important attribute of a Tour winner. No one can go all out for 6 hours a day, 20 days in a row). He did not put a foot wrong throughout the 1^st fortnight. Masses have a tendency to adulate error prone celebrities, this explains why Kurt Cobain and Michael Jackson are youth icons and Armstrong was the apotheosis of the polar kind.

This was my first impression of the great Texan. But I recently read his autobiography – ‘It’s not about the bike’ and was pleasantly surprised by some startling revelations. In the nascent stages of his career, his personality and biking style were quite contradictory to his now phlegmatic demeanor. His desire (or should I say need) to subject himself to corporeal as well as mental torture was born out of a turbulent childhood. This, along with a naturally endowed, better than average physical ability, is what made him excel in most endurance sports from swimming to triathlon to cycling. At the same time, the pent up anger and frustration also led to his downfall on quite a few occasions. His lack of patience and utter disrespect for strategy were his pitfalls in stage races. This earned him the appellation of “One-day classique rider”.

This is where, as he himself cites, cancer helped him. It led to his metamorphosis from a Stage winner to a Tour winner and this was down as much to the physical aspects as psychological. As a raging young rider, Armstrong basically had a sprinter’s physique – strong, burly body capable of generating extremely high wattages and hurling the bike at velocities of 60-70kmph for short stretches. To win the Tour de France, you need diametrically opposite attributes. The Tour is won or lost in the acclivities of the Alps and the Pyrenees and good climbers have lean, light bodies almost to the extent of appearing gaunt. Post-cancer, Armstrong never regained the bulk he lost to the illness and now had the thin but tenacious body so very essential to mount the bike over the mountain peaks.

Talking about sportsmen who have come back from the brink of death brings to mind another American, named James Blake. Though his feats are nowhere as remarkable as Armstrong’s, they are not picayune either. A strikingly common trait I observed between the two was their equanimity in tense, nerve-wrenching situations. The fact that death might seem like a goliath in front of defeat has a lot to do with this and this is where their fight against potentially fatal ailments might have helped them. This is not to say that everyone comes out stronger from a disease. There must be many who have faded into oblivion and heroes like the two aforementioned ones must be given their due credit. After all it is upon the individual to turn a landmark event in his life to his benefit.

Difference Between Legends and Mortals

While watching the final day of the first test between India and West Indies on television, I heard an Australian commentator (couldn’t guess his name from his voice) argue Kumble and Ponting’s case against Warne, Muralitharan and Lara, Tendulkar respectively. He had based his arguments on the fact that Kumble and Ponting have records which are comparable with the greats mentioned above. But what he was forgetting is that sports (as well as art) and society are radically different and statistics cannot be used as Constitutional laws.

“Why isn’t Kumble mentioned in the same breath as Warne and Muralitharan or why isn’t Ponting mentioned in the same breath as Lara and Tendulkar?” was his query. Hearing such comments from watchers of the game is quite normal but what surprised me was the fact that these words came from someone who has played the game himself.

I have had heated debates on this topic with quite a few of my friends and there are a couple of points I would like to make.

Firstly, one needs to accept that some people are just born with talent and charisma and these attributes cannot be acquired by any amount of hard work. How much effect does Dravid or Ponting playing or not playing a game have, on the ticket sales or television viewership? We all know that the answer to this question in case of Lara or Tendulkar is ‘huge’.

Another thing is that players like Dravid or Steve Waugh need an occasion to shine. Let Steve Waugh walk in to bat with Australia comfortably placed at 250/3 on the first day of a test match and he will rarely impress. Agreed he has bailed Australia out of many crises but he needs divine intervention in creation of these crises whereas Lara and Tendulkar can entertain and enthrall the spectators under any given circumstances.

One point which is seldom brought to light is the ability of these greats to make playing easy for their teammates. Yuvraj Singh smashed Glenn McGrath to all parts of the park enroute to a match-winning 84 not out, on debut at Nairobi. Prior to that memorable innings, Sachin had blasted a 25 ball 39 in which he clobbered 3 fours and a six off Glenn’s first 3 overs. The question that arises is, could Yuvraj have played a similar innings but for Sachin’s cameo? The answer is ‘NO’ because I have never seen the Punjabi lad destroy the Australian seamer ever after. There are very few batsmen in world cricket who possess this virtue, Gilchrist, Sehwag and Afridi being the others but none do it as consistently as Sachin or Lara.

Another hallmark of great champions is the ease and enthusiasm with which they play the game. If you observe stalwarts like Sampras, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Ronaldinho, they have a twinkle in their eyes and innocence in their smile which ‘mortals’ can only dream of possessing.

Also it is said in dance and other art forms that the efforts you put in practice shouldn't be seen in your performance. If you are a connoisseur of cricket you will agree that while Dravid and Steve Waugh play cricket on the playground, Sachin and Lara perform the art of batsmanship on the cricketing stage

We all know how the country heaved a collective a sigh of relief when Tendulkar signaled his return to form by hitting that unforgettable workmanlike 241 in Steve Waugh’s farewell test at the SCG. My question to that Australian commentator is, would Rahul Dravid’s or Ricky Ponting’s comeback innings invoke similar responses?

This reminds me of Kumble’s comment after picking up 8 wickets in the first innings of the same Test. When queried by a reporter as to why he hasn’t performed with this consistency overseas, his retort was, “When have I got a chance to bowl with 500+ runs on the board when playing abroad?” This reply justifies Kumble’s place in the class of ‘mortals’. What he was forgetting is that Warne and Murali run through sides irrespective of the playing surface and the score they are defending.

There is no arguing the fact that players like Dravid, Kumble, Ponting and Steve Waugh are of immense value to the team they play for. But as the popular MasterCard advertisements rightly show, there are some things in life which are invaluable and these some things are the distinguishing factors between ‘the legends’ and ‘the mortals’.

I remember a poster at the GABBA which said “I came here to see GOD bat!” Do I need to specify who he was referring to? Only certain blessed ones are lucky to get such adulation from opposing fans.

These sportsmen cross boundaries of teams and nations and come to epitomize the sport itself. The definition of ‘Cricket’ to the non-cricketing world could well be a game played by Lara or Tendulkar just as we associate Cycling with Lance Armstrong and Basketball with Michael Jordan.

Having said all this, I still feel that no extent of vocabulary is sufficient to describe these geniuses. I really pity people who make comparisons like that Australian commentator and try to find faults with these heroes for they don't know what they are missing. As an avid sports lover I feel priviledged to have witnessed these ‘legends’ grace the sporting field.