What a fascinating season of fluctuating fortunes this 2007 F1 cahampionship was!!!. In the end, for all the hype and attention that the supposedly two McLaren divas attracted, an "ice-cool" driver who doesn't talk much, snatched the championship from under the feet to win a thorughly deserved Drivers championship. The driver who came close twice but made a few mistakes and also had some bad reliability finally wins his 1st World Driver's championship. For all the talk about Lewis Hamilton's rookie season and a two time WDC in the McLaren's, Kimi is an absolutely deserving champion because he has won the max # of races (6), has been the strongest driver from the French GP onwards and above all, has one point more than his rivals.
I have admired Kimi ever since he made his debut with Sauber. He had a real inferior car in 2003 but ran Micheal Schumacher all the way to the end. In 2005, but for some reliability issues, he could have won the championship but had to settle for the second place. He had a listless year in 2006 and finally made the move to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro to replace the man, the legend, the 7-time Driver's champion Micheal Schumacher!!!!. Those are biggggg shoes to fill and obviously there was lot of pressure on Kimi to perform well. Barring the season opener in Australia, he was completely overshadowed by the two McLaren drivers and his own teammate Felipe Massa.
As always, people started talking about how overrated he is and is going to get creamed by his team mate etc etc etc. Added to this was his excuse was that he was still getting used to the new spec Bridgestone tires and many experts were of the view that he being a great driver should not come up with such lame excuses etc. But all along, you never saw Kimi talking back against all those who questioned his talent, the money he is earning, etc etc. He simply believed in himself and stayed focussed. I had attended the F1 in Indianapolis this year and my thought when I got out of the race was that I saw the most inspired Kimi this season, the Kimi of Mclaren days who used to push as if there is no tomorrow. He came fourth but I was certain in my mind that we were going to see a Kimi revival from the next race.
And boy was I right!!!. Kimi put in unbelievable races in France and Britain and since then, barring the DNF in Nurburgring, he has been the most consistent performer among the top 4 drivers. He has had 5 victories and has been on the podium in all other races. His racing in wet in Japan and China was sublime and helped by Massa in Brazil, managed to pull off an amazing victory. He did drive beautifully in Brazil and finally won the championship by one solid point.
And after the race, the world saw Kimi smiling a lot for the first time. A huge monkey must have been off his shoulders. I personally had a view that he might end up as a great driving talent never to win a WDC but he did make it and I was thrilled beyond words!!. yes, it is still not guaranteed with the McLaren appeal set for November 15th, but in my view, the Kimster is the 2007 champion and a thoroughly deserving one too!!!!!
He talks very little, smiles even less but when it comes to his driving he is soooo good that he makes his fans talk a lot and smnile even more!!!!
November 3, 2007
October 5, 2007
Politics Politics...everywhere
The word "politics" sure sends a sense of anger and dismay in most people's minds except the ones who actually play "politics". It creates disharmony, jealousy, disilluision etc. Unfortunately, politics exists everywhere, in sports, educational institutions etc etc etc. At the time of writing this blog, two issues are burning in my mind. One is with sports and the other one is with "politics" in my state of Karnataka.
Let me deal with Karnataka first. The state is being taken to the cleaners by one Mr Deve Gowda. I got mad when I saw the BJP party executive Rajnath Singh address him as "Gowdaji". DG is the last person that deserves respect in my book. God alone knows how he became the Indian PM and then used to hop in to Bangalore every weekend creating traffic jams everywhere. Once he was kicked out from there, he set his sights on the state politics, accumulated wealth enough for 3 generations, criticises Mr Narayanamurthy of Infosys about land grabbing, disowns responsibility for his son's withdrawal of support to Mr Dharam Singh's govt and within few days supports the same son in forming a govt with BJP in an arrangement that allows the two parties to have the CM position for a period of 20 months each and then goes completely against the arrangement. He is an absolute disgrace and still continues to call the shots. When will people realise that its time to kick "Gowdaji" out of politics once and for all. He calls himself "Mannina Maga". If he is true to his title, he should then quit the "Mannu" and go elsewhere. No wonder his sons Kumaraswamy and Revanna for all that they talk, end up acting like their dad. This is nature unfortunately!!!....And poor BJP fell into the trap set by "DG" to fulfil their ambition of ruling Karnataka. Wonder what one Mr Yediyurappa must be thinking...so near yet so far......how can you trust anyone in politics and if that certain other one is "DG", you must be insanely out of your mind to trust him. But hey, the lure of political power ruins everyone's thought process and its easy to corrupt the political minds because they are already at a very low level
Turning to the second event, FIA is turning Formula 1 into an absolute joke this year. First, they penalize McLaren Mercedes for possessing Ferrari documents but let the drivers go free and then in the recently concluded Japanese GP at Fuji, in what was a rain filled race, they penalized Vettel ( a 19 year old talent) for running into Webber's car and ruining both their races( were running 2nd and 3rd at that time). If people carefully observe Lewis Hamilton's antics behind the Safety Car, he is as guilty as Vettel for causing the accident. But all is well because you can't touch Hamilton and politicise this year's Drivers Championship( yeah politicise!!!) and he goes scot free. Then Vettel's team gets a You Tube video showing Hamilton's antics and boy o boy the Stewards call for a hearing and investigation, just to show the world they mean business....in other words just playing "POLITICS". Then came the amazing, mindblowing, enlightening decision from FIA. They not only clear Hamilton but also cancel Vettel's penalty. What does this mean? Is this to save Hamilton and not " politicise" the drivers championship or are the FIA so so stupid that just in the sapn of 5 days, they realised Vettel was not wrong because their golden boy LH was also doing something similar. And the best part, Formula One Management(FOM) takes away the video from YouTube. It is sheer disgusting politics in F1 where there is lots and lots of money flowing. The poor supporters and fans are the ones to suffer..not the FIA, not the FOM, not the drivers and definetely not the teams.
Anytime, anywhere when money and politically influential people team up, it is sure disaster for the common man. In politics, its the common citizen and in sports its the spectators who favor one team over another, have endless discussions and arguments with friends but at the end of teh day the players with high stakes( the politicians and the Sports authorities) do not care as they are eager to satisfy their needs. It is such a shame but unfortunately it is true!!!!
Let me deal with Karnataka first. The state is being taken to the cleaners by one Mr Deve Gowda. I got mad when I saw the BJP party executive Rajnath Singh address him as "Gowdaji". DG is the last person that deserves respect in my book. God alone knows how he became the Indian PM and then used to hop in to Bangalore every weekend creating traffic jams everywhere. Once he was kicked out from there, he set his sights on the state politics, accumulated wealth enough for 3 generations, criticises Mr Narayanamurthy of Infosys about land grabbing, disowns responsibility for his son's withdrawal of support to Mr Dharam Singh's govt and within few days supports the same son in forming a govt with BJP in an arrangement that allows the two parties to have the CM position for a period of 20 months each and then goes completely against the arrangement. He is an absolute disgrace and still continues to call the shots. When will people realise that its time to kick "Gowdaji" out of politics once and for all. He calls himself "Mannina Maga". If he is true to his title, he should then quit the "Mannu" and go elsewhere. No wonder his sons Kumaraswamy and Revanna for all that they talk, end up acting like their dad. This is nature unfortunately!!!....And poor BJP fell into the trap set by "DG" to fulfil their ambition of ruling Karnataka. Wonder what one Mr Yediyurappa must be thinking...so near yet so far......how can you trust anyone in politics and if that certain other one is "DG", you must be insanely out of your mind to trust him. But hey, the lure of political power ruins everyone's thought process and its easy to corrupt the political minds because they are already at a very low level
Turning to the second event, FIA is turning Formula 1 into an absolute joke this year. First, they penalize McLaren Mercedes for possessing Ferrari documents but let the drivers go free and then in the recently concluded Japanese GP at Fuji, in what was a rain filled race, they penalized Vettel ( a 19 year old talent) for running into Webber's car and ruining both their races( were running 2nd and 3rd at that time). If people carefully observe Lewis Hamilton's antics behind the Safety Car, he is as guilty as Vettel for causing the accident. But all is well because you can't touch Hamilton and politicise this year's Drivers Championship( yeah politicise!!!) and he goes scot free. Then Vettel's team gets a You Tube video showing Hamilton's antics and boy o boy the Stewards call for a hearing and investigation, just to show the world they mean business....in other words just playing "POLITICS". Then came the amazing, mindblowing, enlightening decision from FIA. They not only clear Hamilton but also cancel Vettel's penalty. What does this mean? Is this to save Hamilton and not " politicise" the drivers championship or are the FIA so so stupid that just in the sapn of 5 days, they realised Vettel was not wrong because their golden boy LH was also doing something similar. And the best part, Formula One Management(FOM) takes away the video from YouTube. It is sheer disgusting politics in F1 where there is lots and lots of money flowing. The poor supporters and fans are the ones to suffer..not the FIA, not the FOM, not the drivers and definetely not the teams.
Anytime, anywhere when money and politically influential people team up, it is sure disaster for the common man. In politics, its the common citizen and in sports its the spectators who favor one team over another, have endless discussions and arguments with friends but at the end of teh day the players with high stakes( the politicians and the Sports authorities) do not care as they are eager to satisfy their needs. It is such a shame but unfortunately it is true!!!!
September 28, 2007
T20 victory celebrations.... and Striking hockey players....and Fickle minded media & public
What an eventful week this past one was. On one hand the whole of India was celebrating our teams victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup tournament held in South Africa. Not one person in the entire wide world expected Team India to be champions. But they did play wonderfully well as a team and deserved the victory. The whole media went berserk as did various governments competing with each other to announce cash prizes to the winning members of their respective states. Wow!!!! we do have a lot of money to spend on people who are already stinking rich with their endorsements and match fees. I cannot understand one thing about this. Yes they did our country proud and we ought to thank them for their performances but just announcing lakhs of rupees as awards.....are you kidding me??. On the same token, why not announce cash awards to the Indian Hockey team who won the Asia Cup and Indian football team for winning the Nehru Cup.
What makes these players achievements any lesser?. I almost fell down form my chair when I read that the Indian Hockey Federation(IHF) president Mr Gill announces a cash prize of Rs 1000......oh yes Rs 1000 for every goal scored. Wow!!!!! what a magnanimous gesture. He sure will do well if he learns the importance of zeros from the BCCI president or variosu state governments.
Its a pity that in the same week when the Indian cricketers were praised to the sky, had a celebratory drive from the airport and a huge presentation at the Wankhede stadium.....[and please pay good attention to the picture....The winners were the cricketers but the members in the front row of the dias were BCCI officials and Maharashtra ministers], there was disturbing news that the Indian hockey players were planning to go on a hunger strike for the stepmotherly treatment meted out to them. Agreed cricket is fascinating and captures the attention of millions of people in the country but look at other countries where all sports coexist and no wonder Australia for example are excellent in cricket, soccer, hockey and any other sport. Why cannot we the public and media treat all sports equally. It has been this way for a long long time and any hope that victories like Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament, Asia Cup etc changes the mindset of the public .......unfortunately no!!!
Another place where the public and media need to change their mindset and become more mature is in reacting to wins or losses. So as soon as Dhoni captains India to a triumph, Dravid, Sachin and Saurav are targetted. And media conducting polls as to Do we need the holy trinity etc etc......what nonsense. Agreed, young performers are the future but they need to be groomed well before being thrown in the wild. Because if they are thrown in the deep and tehy fail, because of the fickle minded public and media just prey on them and some pelt stones at their homes etc.....Why can't we have a balanced approach to their victories or defeats?.
The same Dhoni's house was attacked when he failed in a few games and now he is forgiven. Dravid's house has been attacked. Every sportsman has to go through highs and lows. So if Team India fails against Australia, dont kill them, with some experts questioning their attitude, etc. And please for god's sake stop with all the competition about which government comes up with a higher cash award. Let us treat all sports equally. Our hockey team won the Asia Cup and the soccer team won the Nehru cup. They too deserve our appreciation and admiration for their stupendous achievement. .
Hail team India in hockey, football and cricket. They are all gifted sportsmen in a land of billion. Let us encourage them all without a heroic treatment for cricketers and a stepmotherly treatment to other sports. The media sure has the biggest role in creating this awareness among the public
What makes these players achievements any lesser?. I almost fell down form my chair when I read that the Indian Hockey Federation(IHF) president Mr Gill announces a cash prize of Rs 1000......oh yes Rs 1000 for every goal scored. Wow!!!!! what a magnanimous gesture. He sure will do well if he learns the importance of zeros from the BCCI president or variosu state governments.
Its a pity that in the same week when the Indian cricketers were praised to the sky, had a celebratory drive from the airport and a huge presentation at the Wankhede stadium.....[and please pay good attention to the picture....The winners were the cricketers but the members in the front row of the dias were BCCI officials and Maharashtra ministers], there was disturbing news that the Indian hockey players were planning to go on a hunger strike for the stepmotherly treatment meted out to them. Agreed cricket is fascinating and captures the attention of millions of people in the country but look at other countries where all sports coexist and no wonder Australia for example are excellent in cricket, soccer, hockey and any other sport. Why cannot we the public and media treat all sports equally. It has been this way for a long long time and any hope that victories like Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament, Asia Cup etc changes the mindset of the public .......unfortunately no!!!
Another place where the public and media need to change their mindset and become more mature is in reacting to wins or losses. So as soon as Dhoni captains India to a triumph, Dravid, Sachin and Saurav are targetted. And media conducting polls as to Do we need the holy trinity etc etc......what nonsense. Agreed, young performers are the future but they need to be groomed well before being thrown in the wild. Because if they are thrown in the deep and tehy fail, because of the fickle minded public and media just prey on them and some pelt stones at their homes etc.....Why can't we have a balanced approach to their victories or defeats?.
The same Dhoni's house was attacked when he failed in a few games and now he is forgiven. Dravid's house has been attacked. Every sportsman has to go through highs and lows. So if Team India fails against Australia, dont kill them, with some experts questioning their attitude, etc. And please for god's sake stop with all the competition about which government comes up with a higher cash award. Let us treat all sports equally. Our hockey team won the Asia Cup and the soccer team won the Nehru cup. They too deserve our appreciation and admiration for their stupendous achievement. .
Hail team India in hockey, football and cricket. They are all gifted sportsmen in a land of billion. Let us encourage them all without a heroic treatment for cricketers and a stepmotherly treatment to other sports. The media sure has the biggest role in creating this awareness among the public
September 23, 2007
Rahul Dravid, a Perfect Gentleman
There was not much fanfare as always associated with this person. Whether he is on the field or away from it, he never attracts much attention. And his call to quit the Indian team captain''s job was exactly simple and dignified without much hue and cry. Yes, it did cause a shock among the nation's many cricket fans and all the cricket experts who always have suggestions for others but can never take up responsibility on their own. But in the end I feel that the man himself must have put a lot of thought into that decision just like the way eh prepares for his game. Was this a good call from Dravid or wasn't this particular shot not timed well??
As always, there are going to be people who agree and others who just have to criticize Rahul for anything he does. For example, consider the fact that India won the test series in England after 21 years......yes 21 loooong years and what were the critics saying, Oh Rahul should have imposed the follow-on and gone for 2-0. But then anything could have happened and India might have been struggling to save the game and every ardent fan knows how we play under pressure. SO where was the big hue and cry for him not imposing a follow-on. Also, he just wouldn't have taken the decision on his own. It would have been a collective decision.
Secondly, there are a lot of experts in Indian cricket who did nothing worthwhile when they had an opportunity but when its time to criticize others, oh yeah..they are the first in line. I guess this has been the problem with Indian cricket. Too many self proclaimed experts who are of the opinion that Rahul is very defensive. Now, does aggressiveness mean sledging opponents or taking your shirt off and shout at your opponents. Thats what majority of the country believes. But I feel at the end of the day, it is the W or L that counts, not how many times the captain claps or encourages his teammates. Tell me how much more can you tell a certain Mr Agarkar how to bowl and yet this person is a constant in the team. Surprising is the fact that not many comment on his performance but oh yeah Dravid is very very defensive!!!
Finally, the Selection committee chairman should not comment on what a captain should do or not do. His job is to select the team. Period. What the skipper and his team does is their prerogative.
Agreed Rahul could have improved a lot & become a great skipper but being the thinking cricketer he is, he called it quits just after winning a series in England after 21 years. That calls for a lot of guts and self belief and above all total selflessness. There are too many nonsensical people running the Indian cricket. Rahul surely does not wnat to be dictated to by these people. In a way, Team India needs Rahul the Wall for his batting skills and the man has the sincerity to realize his batting contribution to the team is going down and gives up the captaincy, which many clamour for!!!. Unbelievable!!!!!
Hats off Rahul. You( and your good old pal Kumble) are probably the most dedicated and disciplined cricketers India had seen in the last ten years. You sure are the perfect role model for many youngsters. Let your bat do the talking once more and silence the many many armchair experts of Indian cricket!!!
As always, there are going to be people who agree and others who just have to criticize Rahul for anything he does. For example, consider the fact that India won the test series in England after 21 years......yes 21 loooong years and what were the critics saying, Oh Rahul should have imposed the follow-on and gone for 2-0. But then anything could have happened and India might have been struggling to save the game and every ardent fan knows how we play under pressure. SO where was the big hue and cry for him not imposing a follow-on. Also, he just wouldn't have taken the decision on his own. It would have been a collective decision.
Secondly, there are a lot of experts in Indian cricket who did nothing worthwhile when they had an opportunity but when its time to criticize others, oh yeah..they are the first in line. I guess this has been the problem with Indian cricket. Too many self proclaimed experts who are of the opinion that Rahul is very defensive. Now, does aggressiveness mean sledging opponents or taking your shirt off and shout at your opponents. Thats what majority of the country believes. But I feel at the end of the day, it is the W or L that counts, not how many times the captain claps or encourages his teammates. Tell me how much more can you tell a certain Mr Agarkar how to bowl and yet this person is a constant in the team. Surprising is the fact that not many comment on his performance but oh yeah Dravid is very very defensive!!!
Finally, the Selection committee chairman should not comment on what a captain should do or not do. His job is to select the team. Period. What the skipper and his team does is their prerogative.
Agreed Rahul could have improved a lot & become a great skipper but being the thinking cricketer he is, he called it quits just after winning a series in England after 21 years. That calls for a lot of guts and self belief and above all total selflessness. There are too many nonsensical people running the Indian cricket. Rahul surely does not wnat to be dictated to by these people. In a way, Team India needs Rahul the Wall for his batting skills and the man has the sincerity to realize his batting contribution to the team is going down and gives up the captaincy, which many clamour for!!!. Unbelievable!!!!!
Hats off Rahul. You( and your good old pal Kumble) are probably the most dedicated and disciplined cricketers India had seen in the last ten years. You sure are the perfect role model for many youngsters. Let your bat do the talking once more and silence the many many armchair experts of Indian cricket!!!
September 14, 2007
Stepneygate.....oh what a shame!!!
So after two rounds of hearings by the World Motor Sports Council(WMSC), Mclaren are found guilty of posessing and using information about Ferrari cars (F2007), setups, designs for the 2007 F1 championship. All along, Mclaren seemed to deny that they had this 780 page dossier containing Ferrari information. Firstly, without going into the details of this dossier, just being in possession of the documents deserves penalty, a big one for the fact that they did accept that they did posess the documents. However, like many others, I was stunned when FIA let them off with just a serious warning. This is like a thief saying " I went in to a house to steal but did not find anything good in there and walked out without stealing". That is the most bizarre and ridiculous ruling I have ever heard!!
Ferrari were clearly not happy with the verdict(obviously who will with such a ridiculous ruling??) and it was quite clear that this issue was not going to die down. And quite rightly so, the World Sports Motor Council (WMSC) called the teams for a second hearing and then came the decisive blow to Mclaren. They were booted out of the Constructors championship but according to me, the transcripts reveal the fact that Alonso and DeLaRosa knew about the information and that is violation of rules too and the drivers need to be booted out too. But to my surprise, the drivers can continue to compete for the drivers championship. This is insane!!!
Let me explain why I feel this way about the ruling. McLaren's contention is that they never used the Ferrari infor on their cars. Well, having the information and just a quick glance at the info will be enough to stimulate their brains into improving their performance. They are not stupid to use the exact same parts that Ferrari have and be caught red-handed. So this is where I do not understand the WMSC letting the drivers free. I mean the transcript clearly shows DeLa Rosa discussing issues Ferrari info with Alonso. Just cannot understand the ruling. I guess the ruling comes as a big blow to Kimi and Massa's chances for winning a coveted Driver's championship. And Hamilton's counsel's plea about sport getting a bad name if drivers are kicked out is absolute rubbish. Ron Dennis still saying that they are not guilty but are bearing this fine for the sake of the sport.....oh yeah we believe you big time Ron!!!!
One thing for sure is the fact that there is so so much money involved in the sport and even more politics that the interest of the fans which flock to every race track is just not cared for. With such incidents, it won't be surprising if fans tend to lose interest in the sport. And every week, no one is talking about the race yet but it is still about the Stepneygate.......a couple of disgruntled employees taking matter into their own hands and a stupid ruling from the WMSC to penalise the team and not the drivers....very very hilarious!!!.
Hope we get back to racing for the last three races of the season but one thing is for sure, this is surely a tainted championship, whoever wins it!!!!.
Ferrari were clearly not happy with the verdict(obviously who will with such a ridiculous ruling??) and it was quite clear that this issue was not going to die down. And quite rightly so, the World Sports Motor Council (WMSC) called the teams for a second hearing and then came the decisive blow to Mclaren. They were booted out of the Constructors championship but according to me, the transcripts reveal the fact that Alonso and DeLaRosa knew about the information and that is violation of rules too and the drivers need to be booted out too. But to my surprise, the drivers can continue to compete for the drivers championship. This is insane!!!
Let me explain why I feel this way about the ruling. McLaren's contention is that they never used the Ferrari infor on their cars. Well, having the information and just a quick glance at the info will be enough to stimulate their brains into improving their performance. They are not stupid to use the exact same parts that Ferrari have and be caught red-handed. So this is where I do not understand the WMSC letting the drivers free. I mean the transcript clearly shows DeLa Rosa discussing issues Ferrari info with Alonso. Just cannot understand the ruling. I guess the ruling comes as a big blow to Kimi and Massa's chances for winning a coveted Driver's championship. And Hamilton's counsel's plea about sport getting a bad name if drivers are kicked out is absolute rubbish. Ron Dennis still saying that they are not guilty but are bearing this fine for the sake of the sport.....oh yeah we believe you big time Ron!!!!
One thing for sure is the fact that there is so so much money involved in the sport and even more politics that the interest of the fans which flock to every race track is just not cared for. With such incidents, it won't be surprising if fans tend to lose interest in the sport. And every week, no one is talking about the race yet but it is still about the Stepneygate.......a couple of disgruntled employees taking matter into their own hands and a stupid ruling from the WMSC to penalise the team and not the drivers....very very hilarious!!!.
Hope we get back to racing for the last three races of the season but one thing is for sure, this is surely a tainted championship, whoever wins it!!!!.
September 10, 2007
Federer does it again.
By now, most people have already exhausted the adjectives to describe this once in a generation tennis superstar. Never has a player dominated men's tennis as much as this genius has. Yes Pete Sampras won 7 Wimbledon's and 14 Grand Slam titles overall. But he did it over a longer period of time. What Federer has done is just mind boggling. At 26, he is a 12 Grand Slam title owner, and his first title was Wimbledon 2003. In a span of 4 years, he has 3 Australian Opens, 5 Wimbledons and 4 US Opens. And he has won the Wimbledon-US Open combination for the last 4 years. No one had accomplished that feat.
Many people still are of the opinion that he has not had challenging rivalries. Well, my simple argument is that Federer is just so so good that no one has been able to challenge him. Yes except for Nadal at the French Open, everytime he has been put under pressure, he has found answers and come out on top. The fascinating part about this year's US Open was the fact that he was never at his peak all through the tournament but yet in the end was the one holding the beautiful trophy!!!.
He definetely struggled in the first sets against Isner and Lopez but once it got to the quarterfinals, he was very focussed and hanging in there and finding ways to win. He did that against Roddick, dented his booming serves, was able to mentally slog it out against Davydenko in the semis and finally in the finals, against a fantastic player in Novak Djokovic, he somehow found answers to win two close tiebreakers and then his service was on song and was able to wrap up the match in straight sets.
This tournament showed that to beat Federer, he has to have a really really bad day at work or the opponent, no matter how great he is, has to play at double his capacity and that too for the entire duration of the match. Its not enough if they maintain a high level of play for 1 set and then fade away. Thats what most players do and end up losing the game.
Hats off Roger Federer. You have made tennis admirers all over the globe extremely happy with your game as well as your humility, conduct and personality. Sports needs more champions like you!!!
Many people still are of the opinion that he has not had challenging rivalries. Well, my simple argument is that Federer is just so so good that no one has been able to challenge him. Yes except for Nadal at the French Open, everytime he has been put under pressure, he has found answers and come out on top. The fascinating part about this year's US Open was the fact that he was never at his peak all through the tournament but yet in the end was the one holding the beautiful trophy!!!.
He definetely struggled in the first sets against Isner and Lopez but once it got to the quarterfinals, he was very focussed and hanging in there and finding ways to win. He did that against Roddick, dented his booming serves, was able to mentally slog it out against Davydenko in the semis and finally in the finals, against a fantastic player in Novak Djokovic, he somehow found answers to win two close tiebreakers and then his service was on song and was able to wrap up the match in straight sets.
This tournament showed that to beat Federer, he has to have a really really bad day at work or the opponent, no matter how great he is, has to play at double his capacity and that too for the entire duration of the match. Its not enough if they maintain a high level of play for 1 set and then fade away. Thats what most players do and end up losing the game.
Hats off Roger Federer. You have made tennis admirers all over the globe extremely happy with your game as well as your humility, conduct and personality. Sports needs more champions like you!!!
August 31, 2007
King Federer on a beautiful New York night
Roger Federer. Is he probably the greatest tennis player the world has seen?. In my opinion, I have not seen a complete player like him in the last few years which has seen greats like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and before them the likes of Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg. All these players were spectacular in their own way but I feel that Federer is just a better all round player than them. Yes agreed the competition these above mentioned names had to face was of top quality and except Nadal, not any have troubled Federer recently. Its a tribute to his fitness and quality that he has an upperhand over most of his contemporaries. So my view is that let us enjoy the show as long as it lasts.
Talking about the show, Federer was magnificent on Wednesday night. The NY crowd could not have asked for a better way to spend their evening, watching the superstar put on a scintillating show for them. His shot making was fantastic. And that overhead smash...was so reminescent of the great Pete Sampras. Yes, he did have to play a qualifier from Chile, who I thought payed very well himself. But the sheer quality of Federer's strokes were an absolute treat to watch.
It is going to be an interesting Saturday evening again for Federer as he gets ready to face the giant 6ft 10in American John Isner. But having seen Federer quite a lot, he will gauge his opponent for the first set or so and then take over. So the New york public can look forward to another FedEx performance on Saturday night. Of course they also can watch Roddick and Bake play on Saturday too. If I were to spend my money on the games involving these three, I would blindly pick Federer. He is just brilliant and a a treat to watch on any surface. He just makes tennis look so easy. I just wish tennis was that easy though!!!
Talking about the show, Federer was magnificent on Wednesday night. The NY crowd could not have asked for a better way to spend their evening, watching the superstar put on a scintillating show for them. His shot making was fantastic. And that overhead smash...was so reminescent of the great Pete Sampras. Yes, he did have to play a qualifier from Chile, who I thought payed very well himself. But the sheer quality of Federer's strokes were an absolute treat to watch.
It is going to be an interesting Saturday evening again for Federer as he gets ready to face the giant 6ft 10in American John Isner. But having seen Federer quite a lot, he will gauge his opponent for the first set or so and then take over. So the New york public can look forward to another FedEx performance on Saturday night. Of course they also can watch Roddick and Bake play on Saturday too. If I were to spend my money on the games involving these three, I would blindly pick Federer. He is just brilliant and a a treat to watch on any surface. He just makes tennis look so easy. I just wish tennis was that easy though!!!
August 24, 2007
Does Team India need a full fledged coach?
Team India successfully won a series in England after 21 years, and more importantly without a coach. Of course we do have Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as bowling and fielding coaches respectively. But the main coach who suppervises everything was absent. So this begs the question, Do we really need a coach?.
I personally feel there are two ways of looking at this issue. One is the fact that the main players are so well established and have a wealth of experience. So a youngster coming in to the team can always look up to these players like Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly etc and learn from just watching them and discussing cricket with them. Also, these players can explain things in a simpler way, a more easy to understand way. This might lead to a better bonhomie and respect among the players. So you might be tempted to feel that a coach after all is not important
On the contrary, the presence of a coach allows the captain to think more calmly about the possible strategies and also devote some time towards his own batting for example. The captain should not be burdened with too many things, especially with the amount of cricket being played nowadays. A coach can take some of these responsibilities and also can come up with novel ideas and strategies of his own.
And if this coach happens to be a high profile legend like the one we had during the WC, then another serious issue is the clash of "egos". When that happens, it is very detrimental to the team spirit. There tends to be factions within the teams and this may show up during the games too.....
So what is the best option?. Should we have a coach? Should he be one of our own or a foreign coach?. I feel that since we already have a coach for bowling and fielding, we should have a similar one for batting too and India has had a great set of batsmen for a long long time. How about some greats like the stylist GR Vishwanath or Jimmy Amarnath for example. These people have served India with distinction and have not had any controversies during or after their playing careers. Above all, the entire country and the current set of players have the utmost respect for them. I personally feel it would be a great choice instead of BCCI throwing millions of dollars for foreign coaches, we could rather use that for the development of cricket in India and also improving conditions for the paying public.....who by the way are the biggest strength of Indian cricket.
It is high time the BCCI starts thinking about this option rather than trying to fill up the playing schedule with insane number of ODIs in all corners of the world. These three coaches along with the senior players can have fantastic exchange of ideas and also most importantly maintain the teamspirit which is priceless.
I personally feel there are two ways of looking at this issue. One is the fact that the main players are so well established and have a wealth of experience. So a youngster coming in to the team can always look up to these players like Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly etc and learn from just watching them and discussing cricket with them. Also, these players can explain things in a simpler way, a more easy to understand way. This might lead to a better bonhomie and respect among the players. So you might be tempted to feel that a coach after all is not important
On the contrary, the presence of a coach allows the captain to think more calmly about the possible strategies and also devote some time towards his own batting for example. The captain should not be burdened with too many things, especially with the amount of cricket being played nowadays. A coach can take some of these responsibilities and also can come up with novel ideas and strategies of his own.
And if this coach happens to be a high profile legend like the one we had during the WC, then another serious issue is the clash of "egos". When that happens, it is very detrimental to the team spirit. There tends to be factions within the teams and this may show up during the games too.....
So what is the best option?. Should we have a coach? Should he be one of our own or a foreign coach?. I feel that since we already have a coach for bowling and fielding, we should have a similar one for batting too and India has had a great set of batsmen for a long long time. How about some greats like the stylist GR Vishwanath or Jimmy Amarnath for example. These people have served India with distinction and have not had any controversies during or after their playing careers. Above all, the entire country and the current set of players have the utmost respect for them. I personally feel it would be a great choice instead of BCCI throwing millions of dollars for foreign coaches, we could rather use that for the development of cricket in India and also improving conditions for the paying public.....who by the way are the biggest strength of Indian cricket.
It is high time the BCCI starts thinking about this option rather than trying to fill up the playing schedule with insane number of ODIs in all corners of the world. These three coaches along with the senior players can have fantastic exchange of ideas and also most importantly maintain the teamspirit which is priceless.
August 23, 2007
A R Rahman, The Genius
Firstly, I have to thank a friend of mine, met him recently in Boston, whose blog inspired me to have one of my own. Thanks GK. In fact I feel its always a good exercise to write what you feel about a particular topic, just share your view with the world. So on my way back from Boston, I hooked on the iPod and started listening to the genius ARR, Hindi and Tamil. Thats when I realised that he is just an unbelievable godsend to not just Indian music but to the world of music. What stands out in spite of all is achievements is his humility. There is a lesson to everyone that no matter how high you go in life, you need to respect others and be humble.
In Boston my friend Sameer, GK and I were so hooked up with the Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera song in Swades, that I must confess that I listened to that song about 20 times on my way back. And when you are traveling back on a plane, that song made perfect sense!!!! and that has to be one of ARR's best. You can literally feel the pain in his voice. He is a fantastic singer too. He has a knack of picking songs to sing too. Whatever is the case, he is just unique.
Whenever I have had a discussion with a few friends of mine about music directors in Tamil cinema, there are two giants that stand out. ARR and Ilayaraja. There is a strong feeling in many that no one can replace Ilayaraja and ARR is just computer music and so on. Then, there is another group saying ARR has achieved so musch fame not just in India but all over the world whereas Ilayaraja is more of a Tamil phenomena, not even Bollywood. Well, my take on this is simple. Such arguments are an utter disrespect top both geniuses. Both have and will be providing music that allows people to enjoy their amazing gifts.....music. So let us just enjoy what they have provided and will provide in future. Enjoy whatever brand of music you like. Never make comparisons!!!
Thanks ARR for the soulful and mindblowing music you provide to make so many lives happy, be it your Swades, Roja or Maa Tujhe Salaam. Above all, its a tribute to the humble person in you who still has his feet firmly planted on the ground......in spite of the stupendous success you have achieved.
In Boston my friend Sameer, GK and I were so hooked up with the Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera song in Swades, that I must confess that I listened to that song about 20 times on my way back. And when you are traveling back on a plane, that song made perfect sense!!!! and that has to be one of ARR's best. You can literally feel the pain in his voice. He is a fantastic singer too. He has a knack of picking songs to sing too. Whatever is the case, he is just unique.
Whenever I have had a discussion with a few friends of mine about music directors in Tamil cinema, there are two giants that stand out. ARR and Ilayaraja. There is a strong feeling in many that no one can replace Ilayaraja and ARR is just computer music and so on. Then, there is another group saying ARR has achieved so musch fame not just in India but all over the world whereas Ilayaraja is more of a Tamil phenomena, not even Bollywood. Well, my take on this is simple. Such arguments are an utter disrespect top both geniuses. Both have and will be providing music that allows people to enjoy their amazing gifts.....music. So let us just enjoy what they have provided and will provide in future. Enjoy whatever brand of music you like. Never make comparisons!!!
Thanks ARR for the soulful and mindblowing music you provide to make so many lives happy, be it your Swades, Roja or Maa Tujhe Salaam. Above all, its a tribute to the humble person in you who still has his feet firmly planted on the ground......in spite of the stupendous success you have achieved.
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