FIFA is Here!

Well, my Previous Post was a little too monochromatic and dull, so here's something that's more fun to talk about. Football! Real Football. I used to find it weird to use the word "Soccer". Sounded too American. But I kinda got used to it and now find it weird to say Football because I'm not sure the other person took it as Real Football or American Football. Ah crap! What confusion...

The Beautiful Game is back! It was almost on the brink of disappearing from my life. I kinda revived it after buying a Football at a WalMart store. I stepped out quite a few times to bring back that old flexibility into my legs, give some passes, some crosses, a few shoots. It's fun playing on "Grass" at last! Even the virtual side of the game came back into my life with the PC FIFA. It's fun too...

The final straw that had to get me obsessed with the game I'm already obsessed with, is the FIFA World Cup 2010. Thank God there's something out there on TV to watch. Not that I have a TV but there's something out there somewhere (on the internet) that I can finally watch and enjoy. After its start, some big teams with big reps have faltered in performance and that makes it only so much more exciting. I'm hoping to have a great month ahead at least with the Football matches..

This time, I've decided not to support any team in particular. Just saying...

The Run Fest

I'm definitely not a fan of Cricket. Being born in a country where Cricket is more of a religion than just a sport, I'm blatantly out of place, but when its a matter of country pride, I can't step back.

Yesterday was one of those days when I let my heart rule. I found myself sitting at among the highest seats of the Hyderabad International Cricket Stadium from where the view was like those 360 panoramas that we see of stadiums, watching the 5th ODI of the India Vs Australia Series. All this was thanks to Raj Kiran who kindly managed to arrange for the tickets.

While the 'inside' of the stadium was all fun, getting there was a mega-task. My friends parked their vehicles at my home because of the proximity to the stadium and their intention to avoid that huge traffic build up on the Tarnaka-Uppal road. We had to walk down the 1.5 KM distance to the stadium and find our seats. Sounded simple. But it wasn't. After walking all the way towards the Eastern side of it, we were told Gate 9 is on the other side. So we walked the half the perimeter around and only landed at Gate 7. When we asked again, we were told to go 'round a hill' to find 9. Round a Hill! I knew this place well because at the time the stadium wasn't yet so popular I used to learn to drive my car in these roads. And they weren't exactly what one would call roads. This was the back end of a colony in Habsiguda which ended at the foot of a rocky hill. Walking up and down these roads is more like a mini-trek. Cursing every stone and bush we came across and trying to think only of the fun we would have at the end of this long walk, we went 'trekking'. Finally, after doing nearly 3/4th perimeter (We could have done 1/4th and landed at the same point if we knew where to go!!!) we came around the hill and landed at Gate 9.

Once in, everything changed. We forgot all that we went through and get absorbed into the match. The Aussie batsmen were having a Run Fest down there and every ball seemed to be landing in the audience. The crowd was very participative and very patriotic but appreciative too. When Marsh completed his century, there was a good resounding applause for his effort. The runs just seemed to flow effortlessly. I was told this pitch is a very high scoring pitch and the rate at which the Aussie batsmen were scoring, it was getting obvious. Go down, buy a drink and 30-40 runs are added. The bowlers seemed incapable of taking wickets and we just watched silently occasionally clapping for this and that. Soon the scoreline read Aus: 350 runs. A decade back 350 was impossible to score. Now a lot more than that is possible.

We hunted for some food during the break. And I hunted for a camera which I obviously didn't have. The sunset behind the stadium looked awesome and I desperately wanted to click a snap. I had only my MotoRazr V3i in my hand with a 1.3MP camera with what I call 'beginner's' options. None of it helped me in any way so I just succumbed to the situation and clicked a few. I also managed a 3-photo Panorama with Natarajan's HTC touch (the image at the start). These were what I could click.








After the break, the Indian batsmen descended and now we realised the potential of the crowd. They were screaming themselves hoarse. Especially for Sachin Tendulkar. After scoring 7, he completed his career's 17,000 runs for which the fans erupted. It felt like the stadium shook during that 'eruption'. Little did they know that he had much much more in store for them. Sehwag's inital blast took the light away from Sachin but it came back after wickets just kept tumbling. In fact, the only one who was keeping his cool was Sachin. After Raina came things settled down a bit and the pressure eased. The 351 target suddenly seemed gettable. Very gettable. Sachin was just giving treat after treat with his flawless and super-cool, timed shots. He crossed 50. Fans went mad. He crossed 100, madder. He reached 150. The stadium was shaking now. If he went on at this pace, 200 was achievable. Where did he get all that energy from? No answer. He was so ultra-cool that sometimes if he was caught outside the line he never made an attempt to get back in a hurry. It was as if he knew the fielder wouldn't be able to hit the wickets. He ran patiently all through the game, saving energy with every step, walking where he could, jogging mostly, but avoiding to run.

Suddenly at 175 he fell. For a few seconds the crowd couldn't take it. We all expected him to play 'Start to Finish' and win the match for us. Nonetheless there was a long, tremendous applause as he slowly left the field advising the next batsman on the way. After Sachin left, hope started to ebb, and the wickets started falling faster than the runs scored. All the last wickets fell in just 15 runs and that closed the game with India just 4 runs short. The crowd just fell silent unable to accept what just happened.

The Jinx of Hyderabad still lives on. India hasn't been able to win at this new stadium ever since it replaced LB stadium. And the jinx moves to even club level with Deccan Chargers having a horrid time at this ground. I myself watched a game here that DC lost badly. I could hear funny comments about breaking down this stadium and building a new one! What beliefs! What Superstitions! I don't believe in all that, so I chose to remain silent just ruing about how badly the tailenders failed to make those 15 odd runs. But I did enjoy the match because there were so many good shots, so many sixes and fours, lots of entertainment. The game had everything in it except the home team winning.

Once out of the stadium, it was that long walk back home and this time thankfully, I knew the shortest route out with no confusion. These guys wanted to spend more time outside but it was getting too late and we decided to call it a day.

And with that, the long day-night ended. It was already the next day by the time I fell asleep...

Of Brain And Brawn

When Honda fell and became Brawn GP, I assumed, "Here's another team which will simply disappear into the back of the grid". And when I saw the colours, I was even more astonished. White and Florescent Green? I would never have chosen that combo for a Racing Car. The Team Drivers: Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. I just couldn't make head or tail of this bizzare story. Big drivers, new team, no sponsors, what was going on?

It felt funny to see a new team being born out of another team's ashes. I didn't know what to expect and I decided to let things unfold and I'll make my assumptions later. And off went the season.

Jenson Button snatched 6 out of the first 7 and that was when I realised never to underestimate any F1 team. And following closely behind was Red Bull Racing. Another team I never expected to be finishing so well. Where were the biggies? Mc-Laren Mercedes? Ferrari? Hamilton? Raikkonen? All of them were just side-swept by the Horsepower and Brainpower of Brawn. Though Button didn't manage to win later, his inital burst gave him enough to be Champion. His first, his team's first, every thing was a first. Brain better than Brawn? Maybe it's time to re-write that little sentence.

It was one heck of a season in the end, though my favourite Ferrari could manage to finish only 4th in the Constructor's. Force India did manage to win some hearts by grabbing a few points. And what preceded that? A sentence from a big guy, "F1 is not a sport!". Force India's tiny fistful of points ensured that the rest of F1 critics in India kept their mouths shut. After seeing what Massa went through, no one would dare to call F1 a not-so-physically-demanding sport. And with the hope that F1 comes to Delhi, it would be another boost for the sport in India where 99% of the One-point-something Billion don't believe in the existence of sports other than Cricket.

The new races were pretty fun to watch. Suddenly Asia seems to have become a hot spot for F1. The Singapore night-light race was awesome to watch. Wish I could get one chance to sit in that giant Merry-Go-Round and have a 360 view of the circuit! Abu Dhabi was breath-taking in all ways. Unique to the core. Built on a man-made island. Day-Night Grand Prix. Scariest Pit lane exit I ever saw. Scary to the viewer, nightmare for the driver. Awesome structures in and around the circuit. Ferrari Theme park!?! Someone pinch me!

Yeah, even when Button won the Championship, I was like, "Someone pinch me". This whole season was quite a blast for me. I did miss a few races either due to the stupid cable connection or my own ignorance. But in the end, whatever I saw, I enjoyed.

Next year seems to be more promising. BMW may be out, but others are coming in. And Korea is hosting. And come 2011, the Indian GP is getting ready. Things have only just started to change in F1, may the change continue.

Jinxed Again!

Now this is getting pretty frustrating here. I'm no fan of 'cricket', but I did take a strong liking to the Twenty20 Format of the game and I've always been supporting the Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad for obvious reasons.

What's more? The stadium is at a walkable distance from my house! Though I haven't had any great interest to go there and watch, I've keenly followed the DC matches on television. Its hardly difficult to notice the pattern emerging with the DC team after watching 3 tournaments played.

The IPL-I turned out to be a choker for DC. The best team on paper, the worst team on the field. And they confirmed it by finishing last. They lost matches on their home ground, in front of their home crowd. Wow, so much for being a DC fan!

IPL-II lands in South Africa due to security reasons and DC makes Magic look as simple as parlour tricks! The rest of the teams were left groping in the darkness blindly after encountering the Gilly Storm. DC won it though there was an equal competition from RCB (2nd from bottom last year. How ironical!!)

Champions League T20! Come on!! IPL sounds so strangely familiar to EPL, that I was taken aback, quite literally. I didn't know sports copy sports even if it has to do with just naming. And now comes Champions League, just like the world famous UEFA Champions League. And the organisers admit having used a similar concept. Similar? Call it a mirror image! Big teams from India, big teams from around the world, all under one roof. "Hell of a competition", I thought. DC starts off with a loss. The venue? Hyderabad. Could they break the jinx at least in the next game? The final chance to stay alive? Conveniently, NO is the answer. The jinx stays alive, kicking DC out of the competition. The only Indian side to be knocked out. So much for being last seasons Champions huh? Great!

Yet, I would obviously continue to support DC. Winners or losers, home is home. DC is home. I used to wonder, how teams in the lower divisions of the EPL could manage huge crowds of fans when teams like ManU, Chelsea, Real, etc were grabbing fans from all over the world. Now I understand. It's not about supporting the best team. It's Home that matters. No matter how bad or how good, you'd stick to and protect your Home. And your Home will stick to and protect you. Pun or no pun, that's the truth.

Ironical India

What a phrase to utter! One side we have open-minded geniuses who stop at nothing to achieve what they wanted to achieve. In the same country we have these narrow-minded weirdos who cannot say if the chauffeur driven super-luxury cars they own are German made or Italian but try to talk down what humans experience in a Formula One car!

The other day I came across this article where some guy claimed 'Formula One is not a sport' and that these races are not a test of the human strength! Damn that guy! We are talking about 300+ speeds and accelarating/decelarating forces of close to 5G! Call a 'highly athletic' runner and ask him to endure an hour of gruelling Formula One racing. In 10 laps he would start puking and would start complaining of all kinds of pains in his neck, back, etc. Drivers sit and race, but the sitting itself gets so tough when you realise you'll come out a few Kilograms lesser than when you started the race! One thing we must learn is not to compare 2 things that are so blatantly different. One more thing is, one must not blabber crap when half the world is all ears.

Humans have always been known to transcend barriers. All these achievements have been possible because of an urge and determination to do it. If we keep aside things just because they are too expensive or they might end up being a form of entertainment rather than sport, then we would still be creating fires out of striking stones and riding bullock carts. Imagine Twenty-20 cricket without its pace and 'entertainment'. Would it have succeeded? Sport is Competition, Competition is Speed (in racing, that is), Speed is Entertainment and Entertainment is Money. It will pull audience whether you like it or not.

For that reason, Formula One is watched all around the world (one of the few 'sports' that actually achieved this) and with much enthusiasm. India with a huge population definitely adds huge numbers in the viewership of F1. And with such huge numbers of fans I am sure a race in India would pull enough crowd even if the ticket to watch it costs a hell lot of money.

But what do I hear around me? Frauds. Scams. False allegations. Crap. Suddenly F1 is being made to look like a villain in front of these so-called 'human-athletic' sports. When were 'athletics' given real importance in India anyway? A country of 1,000,000,000 won it's only first Individual Gold Medal for Shooting in 2008. Where were athletes and athletics then? If our authorities are really supporting and funding those 'real sports' so well, its rather shameful because we don't have an ounce of proof of that. The tiniest countries with entire populations less than a single Indian city have won enough praises in the form of medals. And here we are, talking about 'real sports', like we know about damn thing about 'real sports'.

The recent comments made about F1 really brought my blood to boiling point. Something in me personally wanted to hit back at such wild statements. I atleast hope someone from the F1 world would hit back. As if on cue, the F1 world did hit back. And hit it did, so hard that I feel pretty satisfied right now.

Giancarlo Fisichella's Pole postion on Saturday and his Second Place earning the first ever points for Force India clearly was the moment of the week for me, keeping aside Manchester United's win over Arsenal from 0-1 down. Like the rest of the season, everything about this race was unpredictable. Though Fisi couldn't really hold on to the first place, he held on to the second. With a Red Bull car that showed so much potential this season, it should have definitely been very hard for Fisichella to maintain the gap. Moreover he finished just 0.9 seconds out which isn't bad considering the KERS factor. However, the worst thing about this is I never watched the race, thanks to my sad cable.

But I did notice something strange aftermath of the race. Indian news channels went berserk with this news. Agreed the team is owned by an Indian and stuff, but what's the need for all that frenzy? People jumping about like it all happened because of the Indian element. The only 'Indian' thing I found was the name because the team is owned by an Indian. I feel deja vu with what happened after Slumdog Millionare. (People criticizing the way slums were shown and other people feeling proud like Rahman won all the oscars that day!) Anyway, this is a non-issue for me. I was delighted to see Mallya's team driver come second and Ferrari take the first place. That was all that mattered. On the other hand, I'm pretty excited to see Fisi race for Ferrari, though that would mean Force India might have really had a one-off podium finish.

So one side we have people in India stamping F1 down, cutting it off as a bud, before it even kicked off here, and the other side we have people stretching it beyond breaking point just because of the Indian connection. Both extremes are extremely ironical considering the fan following in India which is oddly concentrated. (Certain people consider it their religion, and yet most don't know such a 'Sport' exists) But stories like these are too common to even talk about so I'd better put a stop here. Such debates can go on for ever without a proper solution, and by then the expensive racing phenomenon might even get extinguished... though I hope not.

The Rogue Spring

I was busy watching the Qualfiying session of the recent Hungarian Grand Prix and suddenly I see Felipe Massa slamming into the wall. It didn't look serious to me until I saw the slow motion replays that showed a spring from Barrichello's car slamming into Massa's helmet. And the noise of the engine after that? Scary! The way he drove straight into the wall was plain terrible. When the stretchers and helicopter came, I knew the race was over before it even started for him. I continued to watch the replays recounting how much worse it could have been if those safety measures weren't in existence. Inspite of attempts to make the sport safe, Massa was badly injured. The news that came the next few days was quite disturbing, especially when they speculated that his career might be in jeopardy.

One week into the accident, 'The Rogue Spring' that started it all, springs in a huge surprise! Michael Schumacher replacing Massa! I couldn't believe my eyes, my ears, nothing.. Never did I dream of Schumi coming back after a freak incident like this. The most unpredictable thing just happened and I was confused whether to be delighted or depressed. While on one hand it meant Schumi would be back on the track (something that people would kill to watch after he retired), on the other hand it meant that Massa was still not in a position to race.



And at the same time, news of BMW's exit also started flying around. Over the last 2-3 years so much has changed in F1 that it gets a little difficult to accept more change. Things are just happening lighting fast. Massa injured, Schumi in, BMW going out, all within a week. What more are we expecting? Schumi winning in Valencia? Woo. That would be a treat to watch, won't it? Though I would call it a miracle if it happens. Surely even for a legendary racer it will be tough to come back so suddenly, especially after just recovering from a biking accident. Though it's true he's been hanging around the team all the time, the race track is something else. It's mad, and aggressive and real and merciless...

Yet, nobody is expecting Schumacher to pull of miracle come backs. Everybody just wants to watch him race, watch him doing his thing. At a time when F1's future is in doubt, he came in like a 11th Hour Samaritan. The viewership was steadily decreasing after Schumacher left. I myself missed almost 2 entire seasons though the problem was with the cable operator and nothing to do with my declining interest in Formula One. Yet I did notice a certain fall in general interest around me. And now, Schumi's comeback has been pretty well publicised. Most of the world that watches News on a daily basis would have known that he's racing again, even if it is only a few races. What more does F1 need now? They might as well win back most of the viewers and the coming European Grand Prix might end up getting maximum viewership.

Here I am eagerly waiting for the next race, not to expect Schumi perform miracles, but just to see him race again. It's all one would ask for as of now. The rest would be history...

Memories from the Bench

It was Day 2 of our incredible run in the Soccer Tournament. We were to play the MGIT team which grew in strength compared to 2 years ago when we played them for fun. We lost 7-1 to them back then, yet I expected a better result this time as we had a well-knit team. The venue now shifted outside the local pool and we were in JNTU to play the last set of matches. The day started off early for us because of the distance of the venue from home. The match kicked off and it was more than satisfying to watch from the bench (again). We dominated the first half completely. The ball was in their court for about 90% of the time and we finally got the break-though with Chaky the star scoring after a long long break. We were ecstatic when the goal was scored and jumped around crazily. We continued to dominate the game and though a few good chances were thrown away, I felt satisfied by the way the team played. The defense still made mistakes resulting in a few scary moments but we pulled it off with a clean sheet.

 

The semi-final spot was ours and we were to play a tough team from Nizams. By then our team achieved some kinda over-night star status and had a big bunch of students and administration for support. Sadly we couldn’t live upto the promise of making it to the final after a really really hard struggle to keep a clean sheet against Nizams. The entire focus was on defense as the opponents were attacking with mighty force. We were outdone in all speed, power and strength. As an inexperienced team we had lower stamina and physically were much smaller than them which was a huge disadvantage for us. I personally know a few members from their team as we met during some of our ‘fun’ matches. Those guys could single-handedly outrun even 4-5 players at once. When I saw them in the team I knew we were in for some serious thrashing. We fought hard to keep the ball out of the goal, and actually did well. Though it paid off, we couldn’t score a goal. It was down to the penalties to decide the result. A penalties decider simply spells doom for an inexperienced side like ours and we gave up the fight there. We made a silent exit from the tournament after moving up so well. I was pleased to see the dedication from the players, and I wish I could have contributed to side.

 

But the amazing thing is we wouldn’t have even dared to dream of a semi-final spot a year ago. It was the strengthened team largely due to the first-years (mostly from Aero) that took us this far and I am sure will go much further in the coming years, though I might not be able to witness all that. It was what we were dreaming of from the first year, to play in a major tournament and go at least this far. We did it at last fortunately just before leaving, and it’s more than what I could have asked for. Long Live, my team!!

Full speed ahead !

   It was rather unexpected. It came to a point where I assumed I would never be able to touch the ball again. But overnight, things turned around. I was nearly out of the soccer team of MRCET which played only one tournament ever, at ICFAI and was crushed to a 2-1 defeat by NIFT in near darkness. Our weak players and low experience made us easy targets that ‘night’. But today was different.

 

I was somehow pushed into the team, and I begged Kamaz, the captain to place me in the reserves. Instead he gave me a place in the Subs, which is more than what I could ask for. It’s been nearly an year that I played soccer, or even touched the ball for a few minutes. And suddenly this tournament comes up and I find myself in it. It was rather unexpected.

 

It was rather unexpected. I was standing with the team. Most of the players were first years, seemingly inexperienced. It’s the first thing that comes across your mind when you see first years. I stuck to my place in the subs and stayed that way all day long. The team that I was seeing around me was different from last time (2 Years ago!). There was grit in everyone’s face. There was confidence, and nervousness and some occasional humour too. I didn’t know what to expect from the opponent teams but had a certain amount of faith in my team. After a few hours’ wait, the team took to the field, and I took a seat in the bench. It was fun watching from the sidelines anyway. Especially because it was a 20 min per half game which meant teams should hit 5th gear within a minute. There’s no time to settle, there’s no time to play around.

 

Game 1: We had a positive kick off. We dominated for 7-8 minutes and only once did the ball enter our court. That was the moment when everything fell apart. There was panic and defenders were scrambling for cover. The opponent striker from Gurunanak held the ball for a few seconds just 6 feet away from the post, looked for an empty corner, and casually took a shot. Maybe he even had a cup of tea which I didn’t notice! We gave away the first goal like the most unselfish people on earth. We had to strike back. And surprisingly enough, the attacking players kept their cool while the defense was still making mistakes. We quickly grabbed a messy finish which looked like an own goal, but two of our players claimed the last touch was theirs. So taking all versions into consideration, I think the ball touched about 5-6 players before entering the goal. 1-1 gave us some confidence and improved the movement. Soon, we were back into dominating the game after that it all looked like a breeze. We slotted home 3 more to finish 4-1 and were more than pleased with result. The next game was scheduled at 3:00 PM.

 

Game 2: VNR looked like a fancy dress team with the theme being red. Each was dressed in his own favourite team jersey while trying to make sure it’s dominant colour was red. In the match that they beat the host college, we found 3 ManUtd Jerseys in the attack and a few Milan jerseys in the defense. There were 2 C. Ronaldos (we named them Left Ronaldo and Right Ronaldo) and a Rooney attacking, and they did a pretty good job living up to the reputation. Our game with them would definitely be tough. The Winter heat was dehydrating us at an alarming pace. I was again confined to the bench and watched the match from tent which did nothing to prevent the heat from the 3:00 PM sun. The tire was visible. To add to that, our poor players were made to stand in the hot sun for some high profile ‘dignitaries’ having a photo session and some weird shawl ceremony. There were 5 men who were honoured by wrapping a shawl. The Photo session was a headache, and the men were given some ‘Life Time achievement Award’ kinda thing which delayed the process 10 fold. In all this, our team took the beating from the sun. The opponents were not fully charged too, but our team looked weaker. Players weren’t charging towards the ball, they weren’t sprinting, they were almost lazing around. The defense looked terribly weak again. 3 minutes into the game which felt like 30 minutes, there was a shot from the mid-field. The ball harmlessly soared across half the pitch almost lazily and suddenly entered the goal. We were stunned. Our team was ahead. The shot of the day gave us the lead. After that, it was back to that lazy play and nearly 95% broken defense. We had a few scary moments and a few delightful moments but none of them were converted and the game ended 1-0. We won for a second time in the day, which was again more than what we could ask for. It was 4:30 PM and I could take no more of the sun. I literally fled from the place. I told just one guy that I was leaving. This is still January which is technically Winter, and the heat was worse than what we felt during summer, and the dryness rubbed salt on the injuries. Oh yeah! Injuries. Nearly 5 players were injured in various circumstances, one player suffered from cramps in his legs, and the star player raised an alarm after he started to feel dizzy, but recovered soon. The team had a positive result at the end of the day but suffered heavily from physical injuries and heat.

 

That was my day today. And though I sat on the bench the whole day, I took a severe thrashing from the sun too, it’s high time we realized the effects of Global Warming. Tomorrow’s game is at 8 in the morning, and my strength has been drained out so badly that I can’t think of collecting myself up to reach that soccer ground 30 KM away that too, early in the morning…

 

I need sleep, and it should be dreamless..

 

Long live, my fvourite game in the world.

When Ferrari was (b)eaten alive!!

Ahh! It was a sad day for me yesterday! Early in the morning I opened the paper and found a picture of Lewis Hamilton celebrating and the text under it saying Hamilton won the Championship. My mega-sad cable operator never gave me a chance to know that the F1 Championship was coming to an end. It was the paper that told me the result and brought my blood to a halt.

Lewis Hamilton winning the title in the last few metres of the race? That was crazy, but true. The overtaking in the last lap when Massa was looking forward to celebrate a well-fought Championship literally brought me down to my knees and I cursed, "How could this happen!". Suddenly Hamilton looks like a villain to me. He's awesome, but he's a villain...

What more can I say about it... it's over this year.

Europe's New Campeones

Decades passed, but Spain, with all the class and speed never made it large. They faltered every single time. They seemed to promise with new and energetic players, but never tasted success like real champions. At last, the Matadors took home something to cheer about. The Silverware of the Euro Cup.

The time zone difference forced me to miss all the matches that were played in Austria/Swiss. All I could do was hook up to the television early in the morning and find out what happened last night. I repeated the same after the night of the finals between Germany and Spain. I knew Germany would win, but longed for Spain to do so. Little did I know that I was in for a big surprise. A Spanish Surprise. The 1-0 scoreline didn't tell much of the story. My ill luck always reigned and I never got to watch the single goal that was scored. What I heard was, it wasn't a classy goal from Torres but it was the touch that made all the difference between the two sides. After a not-so-great tournament for himself, he would never forget that goal or that match. It's more of an emotion than a Cup Victory for Spain. Surely they were dying to lay their hands on any damn major Tournament that came in their way. I always considered Spain a tricky side, but they never converted that to major victories.
This Euro was exciting to say the least. It was full of surprises and the 'biggies', like France, Italy, etc. gave up too soon. Teams with no hopes turned into squads of Heroes. Remember the celebrations in Turkey?? You need nerves of steel to win a row of matches in the dying moments. Remember Russia?? The return of Arshavin transformed Russia overnight. Though the whole tournament was filled with upsets and shocks, I knew Germany would make it somehow. And they did. I expected to see Portugal in the finals again, but they left suddenly without a trace. Spain seemed to stay away from the limelight all through and showed themselves right at the end. Atleast it wasn't a final like last time, a major upset. If anything could have gone wrong for Portugal, it was then, against Greece. Though some would call Spain beating Germany as another upset, I wouldn't because the creativity and skill of the spanish players should never be underestimated. They all play for big clubs in big leagues and they know exactly when to flick the ball to the unmarked player...

As a whole, this tournament lived up to it's promise of entertaining. It's all we need in the end. I am saying this wearing a Made-in-Italy shirt depicting a German spraying Champagne against the backdrop of an Italian supercar-giant. A World Champion. You don't need to think twice to remember his name ...

The End and A Start

Oh what an experience it has been, watching through the matches of the Indian Premier League! The over-hyped event, which did live upto the hype, finally came to an end and what an end it was! The last ball decider was as nerve-racking as the Penalty Shootout between Manchester United and Chelsea on the Champions League Finals. It's been the second time within the span of a month that I have seen a great final of a great tournament. And both the times, it was the team that I wanted, ending up on the winning side. There it was Manchester United and here, it was Rajasthan Royals. It is true that the Royals proved themselves in every match after a bad start, and yet I always considered them underdogs, and it's my desire to see the underdogs win unless it doesn't involve a favourite team of mine. Complicated stuff to understand, but putting it simply, I wanted RR to win inspite of having the feeling, they might not pull off this one. But like every other match I saw of RR, they simply proved me wrong! Everytime they play a match, I watch it with interest thinking, "..today something may go wrong and the team would collapse. After all, how long can a team survive without a proper coach, without big-named players, etc...". But they never seemed to fall apart. They keep talking about those "Roles" assigned to them, and "Executing" them. These Roles seem to be Royal Roles! The team simply defied all odds and continued doing it till the very last game of the Tournament. I expected them to pull off this feat at the end of the league stage, but always reminded myself of the fact that in this format, nothing repeats like the previous. Everything is new in a new game. And RR kept themselves fit for that ever changing pattern and showed nerves of the strongest possible metal ever right till the death!!

A special note towards Shane Watson: He's had the skill and control through out in all sections of the game (Bat, Bowl, Field), and rightfully deserves the Royal Crown with the Man of the Series. When his face appears on the Television screen, he seems too be radiating a sense of aggression and calm at the same time. He can threaten and joke at the same time and I am always left struck by his cool attitude...

There were incidents which shouldn't have happened but I think these incidents have actually boosted the popularity of the IPL. Yesterday, I noticed a poll that declared 92% people calling it a success, and 8% not agreeing with that. That poll itself speaks about how this event has turned things around, or even the face of cricket!

That was THE END.

And now, for THE START. The start of my month long journey with BHEL. The mini-project that I selected, was selected against so many factors. Things like hectic travel, 8am to 4pm timings, holidays gobbled up, lots of money put in, few weeks of college also unlikely, etc, all tried to turn me against this project. Yet, just for the sake of getting a certificate from a recognised Company, I had to go for it. Today was my first shot at it, and it proved to be pretty hard on me. I had a huge struggle trying to get there as early as possible. But once I did, the trees and clam atmosphere soothed me a bit.
But once into the office, it gives you a stench of the government-type offices. The lazy staff, with hardly anything to do, the unnecessary jokes, the extreme formalities, and so many other things really got to my nerves, and yet I held on! Somewhere at the end of this uncertain tunnel, there lies something valuable. The focus is on that, and the journey is being neglected. Thankfully though, the CFD Wing (my area of work), is properly Air-conditioned, with doors responding to chips in your card. The procedure to get registered took the whole morning and afternoon. It's seems to be like this: People roll in pretty late (upto an hour), then by 11am they rush for tea and chat about for nearly 1/2 hour. By 12:30 they are back for lunch. They spend an hour on that. Then, they lazily get back to work (if there was any!), by 1:30pm and by 2:30pm. they are out for another cup of tea. When they are done by 3:00, they 'work' and by 4:00pm, you can see a big line of vehicles waiting at the gate. The moment the factory siren rings, and the gates open, there is a rush of vehicles onto the road. It's like watching lazy schoolchildren dying to get out of school. All you can do in a day is, fill a form and get it stamped (if you luckily reach the office before he runs out for lunch!).

Phew! That's the life, I'm gonna live for the next few weeks. The start of this month has brought in the start of my peep into the 'Pro' World. How successfully I blend with it and get out of it alive, remains a mystery yet to be solved.

The Royal Recharge

After a tough schedule, I found some free time to watch a match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. The match was expected to be exciting because both the teams, Bangalore and Hyderabad were at the bottom of the table, nearly equal. The rush for tickets was as usual messy and somehow, we laid our hands on a handful.

It was after a long time I was visiting the stadium and the change of scene was quite astonishing. Last time I went there, the entry was free and there were no chairs anywhere on the stands. It was like a stadium in a village. This time though, all the stands, the people, the cameras, etc. made the whole thing a lot more exciting.

We were a bit late for the match due to this tickets issue, and missed the banging of Gilly and Gibbsy. They hit a few more shots and soon started falling. Within a few overs, the whole team crumbled. The score was a mere 165. We expected 190-200 judging by the way they were batting in the beginning.

The Royal Challengers came in soon and started off very slow. Due to force from friends, we shifted our place to the bottom of the stands and where some Bangalore Cheerleaders were entertaining the crowd. It was fun with all the music and dance and whistling but as the match proceeded, I could see that Deccan Chargers were on the brink of losing another match. The result seemed very obvious near the very end and they made it even more so when they smashed so many sixers into the stands where we were watching from. The last runs coming off a six was like a game finished in style and the cheerleaders went crazy by then, cheering up the crowd inspite of the loss...

As a whole, if you ignore the fact that your home team lost the game (for the 6th time!!), we had loads of fun with our voices nearly going sore due to the screaming and shouting. The audience were quite enthusiastic though the team is at the bottom, and confirmed their place there. It was worth the bucks we threw at them, especially after watching players like Vaas, Gibbs and R.P Singh coming over to the boundary and waving to the crowd... Now, after all the excitement is over, I feel sad for Gilchrist again as his team couldn't control one more game from slipping off the hands... The unstoppables (at winning) turned into The Unstoppables (at losing). Sad but true ...

Man,U are great !

The long wait is over! Manchester United finally the UEFA Champions League winners after so many years. I was waiting to see that moment but was unfortunately in Chattisgarh when Sir Alex Ferguson was busy celebrating his team's victory over Chelsea. I was so isolated back there, that I only came to know of this when I stepped into Hyderabad.

It was a shocking story to listen to! The 1-1 draw, and the extra-time, and the penalties! Every stage both the teams seemed to be neck and neck. But penalties are the sure deciders of the game. It's all down those crucial shots or saves. A tiny slip by Terry and a save from Van der Sar changed fortunes in a matter of seconds. I remember watching such a match long ago between AC Milan and Juventus where the game went down to the penalties. It gives a rush of blood that you'll be shivering on your seat. If it's the end result that matters most, then its final. Manchester United are Champions! Not just in Europe but also in England as they took home the EPL finishing ahead of Chelsea. Both teams are so close that it's things like slipping or send-offs that decide the contest. Had Drogba not been given a Red Card, things would have been different. Had Terry not slipped, things would have been different. These are really close calls and it was a few of these that sent Manchester United ahead.

The rising force behind this successful team surely is Christiano Ronaldo, who has almost single-handedly gifted the 2 trophies to his team with the number of goals he scored. A huge chunk of the credit would go to him. Sir Alex Ferguson surely would be delighted and he deserves enough credit as well. It's he who has been managing the team from so many years and brought so much success. The oldies like Giggs and Scholes didn't do too much but their mere presence would send the team spirits to a new level. Rooney and Ronaldo and Tevez did a great job handling the strike force and were well supported by a strong defence (one of the best!). Overall, a deserved victory for the Champions and I hope they repeat this next year as well.

Deccan Discharged

After I put aside cricket during my school-time, I never went back to it. I decided to chuck my interest in cricket. Suddenly soccer seemed a million times more interesting than the so-called 'religion-of-India'. Is it that we love whatever we are good at and hate whatever we are bad at? It almost seems to me like that.

Yet, the recently created new format of Cricket has taken me by storm. Even the exams couldn't stop me from watching the games! And why is that? It's simply because of the activity and speed of the game. Unlike those boring Test matches where the real test is on patience and the run-rate never goes above 3, and ODIs where you gotta watch 100 overs to find out the result, the T20 is rather exciting. On my personal note, I would say this format is successful but only on the entertainment point of view. When it goes down to the test of skill, I doubt about how successful this is. Still one can debate that if T20 was considered the only format ever, of playing the game, then any other formats like 50 over matches and 5 day matches would have been highly disappointing and boring. We still gotta wait and see how the players react to longer formats once they finish this IPL season. Would they try to hit the same way as they were in T20? If they would, either they would score 450-500 runs every match or never survive to play the 50 overs at all ... And this season has been quite an unpredictable one as far as now. Every team has seen extreme highs and lows, but the Deccan and Bangalore teams have firmly maintained their positions at the bottom of the table. It's rather disappointing to see that because a look at the squads would send chills down the opponents spines, and yet they have never fired as a whole. It's either a one-man show or a 180 degree topple ... Personally watching the entire process going hay-wire, I am always left to wonder what is possibly going wrong. But since my interest in cricket was never there, it's just a stop-watch-and-go thing for me. The vast amounts of money put in and the showy stuff all have hyped this tournament beyond limits, which I don't mind because it's living upto expectation and proving certain critics wrong as well (the age-factor, the batsmen-game, etc..)

Watching Deccan Chargers being discharged in every match is bringing out more pity than hate because every match I watch, I see Adam Gilchrist extremely active and lively on the field. There is a force running through him and yet that force isn't transferring to the other players and into the team. A single source of inspiration is not enough for a team game though that could be proven wrong by Patrick Viera when he used to play for Arsenal. As soon as he stepped into the ground, the whole team played like magic. Gilly, as he calls himself, clearly is doing whatever he possibly can, but I expect the other players to do what they can do best. Half the time Gilly is advising them to do something and they end up trying something they can't do.

The Discharging story is a rather long one which everyone would have noticed by now. And it's no secret that things aren't going good for the DC team. Though what they can pull out of the next few games is a question...

The 3-1 loss

No comments from me. We were bad, and we lost. Simply putting it, we deserved it...

Favs on Song!

It maybe true that India beat Australia at Perth and made history. The surprising thing is, every time India wins something, they say it's the first time in 20 years, 25 years, 50 years, or history itself. Then what were the team doing all those years? Losing? And of course, the media hype over the win was evident with all the news channels going berserk with the Breaking News. For me, it was truly a great win (minus the media hype around it), at least judging by what the post match analysis had to say.
    So that means, India made a mark in Australia early this year. But that would have been more emphasized had Sania Mirza won against Venus Williams. At Australia!! They would have remembered 19th Jan, 2008 as the "Day when India Ruled". Mirza got off to a great start and had Williams sweating, but soon lost it. Sad Sad Sad!



    My personal favourite was however, Manchester United's win over Reading. Was an interesting match with lots of attacking play, but no one scored till nearly the end of the game. Ronaldo was the most frustrated and frustrating player with every shot of his going off target. Rooney's shots were saved continuously. Finally, when Reading couldn't hold it anymore, ManU got the breakthrough with Rooney managing to send one in with some class. Being 0-1 down, Reading tried attacking with all their might with which they almost succeeded. The fresh attack by Reading left them with only 2 defenders to stop any counter attack. Ronaldo quickly made a run all the way from his box to the other box and sealed the game to 2-0. His only shot on target was in. Great match to watch.
    But what really impressed me was ACE Untd's win over MGIT. We took back the revenge of that 7-0 thrashing and beat them 4-1. We had some good movement, which didn't involve me. I was as horrible as before with most of my work going waste. I was again frustrated and slowly, it looks like I am losing the confidence of my team-mates. I hope that doesn't happen but if my bad form continues, I might find myself on the bench. And I'm serious. Back to the match, we had 4 separate scorers, which didn't include me again. The score-line showed how we managed to open up spaces among the MGIT defenders. Overall, a good boost for ACE Untd. It was a necessary win to keep the players in good morale. Except me ofcourse coz, I think I lost my potion that gives me stamina and confidence, when I went to that Kerala Tour. Must have dropped the bottle in the sea. Maybe some Mid-East player might find it, drink it and become the next Beckham and leave me rotting... boo-hoo!!

Sports Quarter

As usual, when there is a holiday, there is a football match and we had one today. It was really far from home, about 20KM, near Chakradhar's house. I was determined to play this match as it was against a tough team and went there early. Again, as usual i was the first to reach the place, and found no one around. Because the ground was so close to Chakra's house, i went to his house and he just got up. I dragged him out and by then, there were a few opponent players waiting. They were from the Secunderabad Cantonment team, and were supposed to be damn good. Ofcourse, they proved it later in the match.
   When the match kicked of, we had a good game for about 10secs, immediately after that, they showed us their game and scored a goal very soon. Then there was a strong fight between both teams, but none emerged victorious. All the time, they were the better team, and due to excess power in their legs, almost every shot went out. In our case, getting a weak shot on goal was an achievement. We still need to grow up. At half time, we were trailing, 0-2, and thought there is not much left in the game. But then, I was getting late and had to rush home, half way through the second half. By then, we made it 1-2. After i left, our guys scored one goal and let in 2 more, which made it a 2-4 loss. I am not dissatisfied with our game, but again, terribly disappointed with my game. I didn't really miss out any passes, but then, i was so slow with the ball that, either the pass was too weak or it was way too far for the player. I stepped back into defence, and didn't do well there as well. Overall, it was a bad game by me again, ever since i started 3-1. I didn't score a single goal from many months and didn't make a proper pass in the last many games. I think it's my worst ever series of performances, and I can kick only myself for it.
   Anyway, the good thing about the day was, Manchester United defeated Newcastle United 6-0, with Ronaldo(3), Tevez(2) and Rio Ferdinand(1), all contributing to the win.

ACE vs ACE

If i said 2 posts ago that my game was slowly improving, then I was wrong. Today's game - ACE United (new) vs. ACE United (old) which had the new players playing against the already existing players - turned out to be a great game to watch and the worst game I ever played. Happened that Yaseen and me, were pushed into the new players' team because of no reason actually. Maybe due to lack of players in the new team. I was feeling a bit low on my energy and my throat felt dry before even starting the match.
   Well, the match kicked off very late due to some stupid cricket players (sorry cricket fans!) blocking the entire ground. We decided to play a 90 min match and stay back after the college closes. The game was great, with both teams indulging in good team work and clever passes. But when it came down to me, I was among the worst players today. First half, I got to touch the ball about 5-6 times, all of which ended up at the defenders feet. Second half, I was low on energy and played on the RWB position where i couldn't do anything other than kick the ball blindly back into midfield. I again missed out many good passes and my mistakes even cost us a goal. I felt really horrible by the end of the match, but I liked the game that others played and I must congratulate them for that. It's been a long time since I saw ACE Untd players playing with such ease and comfort. Both sides had weak defences and especially mine, with Chakradhar being able to handle 3 defenders at once and scoring. The game was atleast competitive enough and the final scoreline was 4-3, which I felt had a few lucky ones...
   There's a weird hope in me now, a hope that, all future games will be played so well, and also a hope that I must be a part of that "good game", instead of being on receiving end of hopelessness and ridicule.

ACE Undecided

I know it's been 3 posts since I posted a happy note, and this isn't one either. It all comes down to those Soccer Woes that started with my new semester. Life on the pitch has been miserable as was today's game against the Gunners. That's the team that comprises some good friends of my friend, Yaseen. A very experienced team with players that are highly skilled. My team, ACE Untd, has been having problems ever since we started a string of renovations and changes. They don't seem to be working too well.
    Today's match was a cakewalk for the Gunners. They pulled of a victory with ease. Before the match started, I knew that we will be losing this one. I was only hoping we would keep the scoreline low. We missed out on a few important defenders which quickly proved to be fatal. The passing and movement of the Gunners was extremely simple and easy. Everyone knew where the others were, and one could have closed his eyes and passed to his team mate effortlessly. For ACE Untd, the whole formation was a huge void. There were no passes in the mid and there was a complete lack of switch of play. While the gunners were coolly switching play from right to left and back with accurate long passes and lobs. Their through balls were clean and swift, and they could outplay 3-4 defenders in a single pass. That's something that can be learnt only by experience and practice.
    We MRGI students live in such a hectic world that college is what appears even when we open or close our eyes. In such a mad rush to nowhere, we miss out a few delightful things like sports, and extra-curricular stuff. This lack of exposure to sports has brought ACE Untd to a questionable situation. All team members are separated by atleast 30KM across the city and college is the only place that is accessible. A negligible 15-20 min of practice isn't practice at all. It's a difficult choice between studies and soccer. It's a difficult choice between what we love and what is important. It's a difficult choice between what's easy and what's right.
    Today ACE Untd woke up, when they should have done that a long time ago. We have realized the potential of a simple organised team. ACE Untd has but been a collection of some good players who never learnt to co-ordinate with team mates. Maybe in the near future, when we would have played a good number of matches, ACE Untd would finally become a Team.

My soccer woes

Ahh, it's horrible when you can't do what you love to do. I love soccer and I live for soccer. Yet, I am going through a rough patch and it's a clear sign of struggle. I gave a simple gap of a month due to exams and the tour. Now, when I am back on the field, the legs suddenly turn into lead and the shoes are rocks. I can't lift my leg off the ground and a snail can get there faster than me. My shots end up with the ball rolling casually towards the keeper and the passes intercepted 95% of the time. Those 1st year guys who are new to the surroundings and themselves are simply stomping all of us down and going home with 5-0, 6-0 victories. They have co-ordination and inch-perfect precision. God knows who taught them the game. Whenever i get the ball, I start sweating and wondering what to do. I cannot analyze my options and I cannot finish the move. The co-ordination and team work is horrible. Hundreds of soccer woes and no one to answer to them.
I am just hoping my rough patch will get over soon and get down to the field with a renewed confidence. It's shameful to say I am actually in the starting 11 of a soccer team...