Showing posts with label Sport. Show all posts

First of all, congratulations to both Kim Clijsters and del Potro. These were the most unlikely ones to win this year’s US Open. This is the one tournament that I could never get to watch. With Nadal struggling to pull up his socks in being fit, I was sure that this would be Federer’s 6th straight win. Anybody who could have challenged Roger was Nadal. But with his injury taking a toll on him, he was very unlikely to live up to my expectations. Women’s section of this game is even more complex. It’s like the Williams sisters against everyone. So, I was pretty happy that I could miss this tournament.

But alas, the one tourney I miss in the year was riddled with controversies. The “foot-fault” dispute topped the list. Oh boy, you should have seen Serena (in case if you haven’t, that is). She was almost going to trample the line umpire. Poor umpire, got up and ran towards the chair umpire for cover, when Serena started to shout at her again. This was the first time that I ever saw someone being penalized for misconduct. With 23 grand slam titles and being the 2nd seeded player, she ought to have behaved in a more civilized way. It was a horrendous was to end an otherwise great match. I felt bad for Clijsters to win the match in such an awful way. The other shocking incident – the men’s final. Who’d have assumed Juan Martin del Porto to evict Federer from claiming his US open title? But the match was – once again, top notch. A five setter again. What surprised me this time was Federer losing his cool. Both the players fought with the chair umpire over a point.

But let me come to my point of writing this post. At the Wimbledon open, a year ago, Federer was betrayed with the 5th straight title. He cried! That was the day since I started to hate him. Okay, I agree, it was a hard pill to swallow. But, yet again, this year, when he won, he cried. I hated him more. It’s like, he wins or loses, he cries. This time around, Potro, after nailing Federer, rolled to the ground and cried. Kim Clijsters, after pounding a slow return from Wozniacki, falls to the ground. Her daughter, shouts from the audience. Guess what, she starts to cry! Common, what’s happening? I have never seen any sport, in which, anyone who wins starts to cry. After watching someone playing and fighting hard to win, I can’t see them cry, as if they didn’t expect to win at all. Grow up – that’s all I can say.

Remember the good old days, when watching cricket was as if a festival celebrated? At least, that was how I used to watch it. Thanks to cricket, the 1999 world cup was when our house got the “cable” connection for the first time. And by that time, I was Dravid’s one of the biggest fans (don’t think physically when I say ‘big’. I was slim and trim then). There was one particular ad that used to be aired back then. Dravid was shown practicing batting with the ball hanging from the roof. If that was how he practiced, I did the same. I even batted in the same fashion when I used to play with friends. In bowling – Srinath. The action, same as his. That was how cricketers had an effect on me.

Once in Navodaya, although playing cricket was restricted only to Sundays, we rejoiced them. Watching the game was even more fabulous. With the whole school, in front of a 21” TV, with the grainy picture quality, the pushing and pulling to be in the front row added to the excitement. The radio that I had smuggled in, helped me to keep abreast of all the scores in the 2003 world cup. Sport meant only cricket those days. We played every game alright, but it was cricket that topped our list of priorities in games.

Even today, cricket is the reigning sport which would make me watch. Cricket has remained my favourite game and Dravid still my favourite. But it is cricket with all the zeal being eaten up. T20 sure has reinvented the game, but the excitement is what is missing. Today, as I juggled my TV channels, there were two matches – T20 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand and the other being a 50 over game of Australia v/s England. Both of them failed to ignite any sparks of interest. When I eventually watched it to avoid the grueling torture of the prime time soap operas, I had to struggle. Hope Dravid’s return to the 50 over matches would instill some fervor in me and make me watch again – and perhaps, you read again!