Love
K.Annamalai.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sorry..temporarily out
The author of this blog is writing a book on sports..till then there will be no updates..Please put up with me for the time being..
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Well done America
America had an opportunity to right the wrongs of their forefathers. A deeply divided nation in 1776, compromising the core beliefs of humanity by recognising 5 votes of every black as equivalent to 3 white votes (Refer: three-fifth compromise-1787); A nation which threw a black women out of a bus in Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat; A nation which reserved the darkest corners of every place by the colour of the skin; A nation which allowed women to elect their representatives in 1920, 149 years later than their male counterparts.
This nation founded on the core principles of equality and liberty produced outstanding champions time and again who spoke against this injustices, fought against them with all their might and finally gave up their hope and life. They can now sleep happily in their graves, for their nation has finally spoken with a unified voice.
Gone are the days, when black men were separated from their loving family and sold to bidders based on their genital size or body build, the moment the slave bringing ship’s reached the shores of America.(Refer: Bill Bryson-Made in USA)
Gone are the days when the Olympic champion Jesse Owens had to eat outside the stadium, for his stadium canteen in America was reserved for whites.
Gone are the days when Abraham Lincoln had to deliver a “Gettysburg masterpiece” in fewer than 400 words to make people understand –“white is not might; Equality is might”.
When Barrack Obama delivered his superb victory speech to millions some 2 hours back, a grateful nation stood watching with a tinge of remorse and guilt. He spoke not with a single voice but by a million voices which were silenced till now and when Rev. Jesse Jackson, the first black man to run for primaries 20 years back, stood watching Obama’s victory in Chicago with tears rolling down his cheeks, the nation cried along with him.
Americans were given a life time opportunity to speak “this greatest nation which was build from scratch by calloused hands will not make the mistake of their forefathers”, they grabbed it with their two hands and made this an unforgettable day, a day to remember for all blacks killed and maimed; Butchered and raped.
Let us wish Barrack Obama for his win, and the American people for wrestling back their long tarnished moral superiority to lecture others.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The best and the brightest.
The wimbledon final,finaaal to be precise, has thrown up a new deserving champion Rafael Nadal.Few moments come in our life, that we can confidently recall to our grandchildren as historic.This should be right up there.It showed us what tenacity can do, when you don't have abundant talent with you.It also showed us Great champions are not mass produced, but finely crafted with an extra special gear.True the match went on for 4 hours and 48 min, not even once allowing our mind to think about the impending dinner.Almost every audience there would have got the feeling they are infact seated round a boxing ring, not a theatre.
But,are we writing obituries for Federer too early..............
Every sporting champion has got a defining moment. Muhammad Ali standing up to a fierce pounding by Joe Frazier in Manila; Michael Jordan, sick and weak and shooting out the lights in the playoffs; Pete Sampras vomiting on court, legs rubbery, still winning in the 1996 U.S. open;Dravid fighting cramps and self-demons at Eden Gardens;Lance Armstrong conquering cancer in his hospital room and for Roger Federer it is on 6th of July.This moment would be the catalyst he is searching for the past few months.
Not many can come back from 0-2 down, especially against a guy who doesn't know fear and with history heavily weighing you down.Federer was simultaneously fighting Nadal on the court and Bjorn Borg off the court.Furthermore his forehand and backhand had lost their precise calibration for the past year and the half. But the only friend of him, that gave him company all through the match was his potent serve.Whenever he was in trouble he summoned it and it obeyed like a dutiful servant.In all he hit 25 aces, 89 winners.Yet the scoreboard read 4-6,4-6,7-6,7-6,7-9.He would be disappointed for sure but Federer would understand that the better guy on that day won.What remains memorable even after 60 hours is Federer saving the second championship point of the match in the fourth set with a backhand winner inches of the baseline that would have made the builder of B-52 bomber going green with envy, for the shot's accuracy.
Pete Sampras in the 1995 Australian open was a remarkable story in never underestimating people playing at this level.In the quarters, he was 2 sets down and staring at the barrel against Jim Courier.Before the start of the match his longtime friend and coach, Gullikson, had collapsed in the locker room suffering from brain tumor and rushed to hospital.When he was a break point down and unable to focus, in the third set, a fan called out,"come on pete,do it for your coach".Sampras started crying and served out an ace to close the break point.He won that match and he subsequently lost to Agassi in the finals.Anyway he won that elusive cup in 1997..After losing the 1996 Wimbledon, Sampras came back and won it for four continuous years, 1997-2000.
As Muhammad Ali famously said"Champions are not made in gyms.They are made of something else.You need both will and skill to win, but the will is more important than the skill".Of course Federer knows that and the humble man had already made a statement, "...please judge me after the U.S. open".Federer would come back strong knowing that he has got quite a few mouths to shut and should i tell you that we will have a lot more July 6ths if Nadal can show the same improvement he has shown.
But,are we writing obituries for Federer too early..............
Every sporting champion has got a defining moment. Muhammad Ali standing up to a fierce pounding by Joe Frazier in Manila; Michael Jordan, sick and weak and shooting out the lights in the playoffs; Pete Sampras vomiting on court, legs rubbery, still winning in the 1996 U.S. open;Dravid fighting cramps and self-demons at Eden Gardens;Lance Armstrong conquering cancer in his hospital room and for Roger Federer it is on 6th of July.This moment would be the catalyst he is searching for the past few months.
Not many can come back from 0-2 down, especially against a guy who doesn't know fear and with history heavily weighing you down.Federer was simultaneously fighting Nadal on the court and Bjorn Borg off the court.Furthermore his forehand and backhand had lost their precise calibration for the past year and the half. But the only friend of him, that gave him company all through the match was his potent serve.Whenever he was in trouble he summoned it and it obeyed like a dutiful servant.In all he hit 25 aces, 89 winners.Yet the scoreboard read 4-6,4-6,7-6,7-6,7-9.He would be disappointed for sure but Federer would understand that the better guy on that day won.What remains memorable even after 60 hours is Federer saving the second championship point of the match in the fourth set with a backhand winner inches of the baseline that would have made the builder of B-52 bomber going green with envy, for the shot's accuracy.
Pete Sampras in the 1995 Australian open was a remarkable story in never underestimating people playing at this level.In the quarters, he was 2 sets down and staring at the barrel against Jim Courier.Before the start of the match his longtime friend and coach, Gullikson, had collapsed in the locker room suffering from brain tumor and rushed to hospital.When he was a break point down and unable to focus, in the third set, a fan called out,"come on pete,do it for your coach".Sampras started crying and served out an ace to close the break point.He won that match and he subsequently lost to Agassi in the finals.Anyway he won that elusive cup in 1997..After losing the 1996 Wimbledon, Sampras came back and won it for four continuous years, 1997-2000.
As Muhammad Ali famously said"Champions are not made in gyms.They are made of something else.You need both will and skill to win, but the will is more important than the skill".Of course Federer knows that and the humble man had already made a statement, "...please judge me after the U.S. open".Federer would come back strong knowing that he has got quite a few mouths to shut and should i tell you that we will have a lot more July 6ths if Nadal can show the same improvement he has shown.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Are we ready....
08/08/2008 08:08:08 a.m.
What does the above date and time tells you?....
For the uninitiated it tells us excatly the time at which olympics will start..so what...it also tells us "Be ready to face another year of embarassments"...one billion one medal..huh..,even my street watchman can run better..,why is your country's entourage more than the olympic participants..? can we tell them that we got a system that sucks(for want of a better word)..oh please dont forget to tell them that most of the ministers would be there,should i tell you the reason that almost all committes are headed by the present and the former ministers...please tell them that our hockey team is already kicked out this year, so no stories about our glorious 1930's.
When somebody asked the great American skuller, Tiff woods, why he should be given an opportunity in the 1984 olympics,he replied"...because an olympian stands alone" ... Natalie Du Toit who has qualified for the 10 km open water swimming in Bejing olympics in one leg, can perhaps tell us why Olympics is so special or we can ask her South african compatriot Oscar pistorius again a man without two legs, running on prosthetic legs why he is so desparate to attend this Olympics..their answers would be in the lines of "this is where i belong.."
China trains its athletes right from the young age, Cuba has got a system where sports is as important as anything,America pumps money into sports like a madman bitten by a dog, Russians are supremely gifted, Europeans don't play sports to get a college seat or a government flat, naturally medals chase them, Australians work ethic is like our long forgotten high school timetable...how are going to win medals against them?....
Danraj pillay once famously remarked "even when the national anthem is played, before the hockey match, we are 1-0 down"..Australian hockey team practices 1000 penalty shoot outs per session but we change our hockey coach in the olympic village (remember 2004)..there is no point in blaming our athletes because we produce them,we pamper them,we throw them into the dust bin finally...
More than the pumping of money,Government support, countries succeed because their society demands excellence, there is no place for quitters...even a guy who plays smart street basketball is widely appreciated in american streets,Australian school children pack sports kit and if there is space keep books in their school bags,we keep books and if there is more space, more books...every Australian streets conduct week end marathon 's and we don't even watch it on tv..unless or otherwise the culture changes, olympic medal winners would be a rare species in Indian sport...
Rememeber every athlete is ready and raring to go..Michael phelps, the American swimmer is armed with a new powerful speedo suit as well as "a powerful dream" is ready to test the human possibilities,the Chinese Liu Xiang, the reigning 110m champion hurdler has already promised a gold medal for the chinese people, the Russian gymnasts are licking their lips in anticipation,the Jamacian athletes are so restless for the olympics to start...so do we have a chance against the powerful athletes amid our ocean of negatives...yes if our athletes can remember the simple words which appeared in the TIME magazine sometime back...
"Through birth or circumstance, some are given certain gifts, but it's what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion."
These words were written by Weihenmayer ,the one and the only blind person to conquer Mount Everest....
What does the above date and time tells you?....
For the uninitiated it tells us excatly the time at which olympics will start..so what...it also tells us "Be ready to face another year of embarassments"...one billion one medal..huh..,even my street watchman can run better..,why is your country's entourage more than the olympic participants..? can we tell them that we got a system that sucks(for want of a better word)..oh please dont forget to tell them that most of the ministers would be there,should i tell you the reason that almost all committes are headed by the present and the former ministers...please tell them that our hockey team is already kicked out this year, so no stories about our glorious 1930's.
When somebody asked the great American skuller, Tiff woods, why he should be given an opportunity in the 1984 olympics,he replied"...because an olympian stands alone" ... Natalie Du Toit who has qualified for the 10 km open water swimming in Bejing olympics in one leg, can perhaps tell us why Olympics is so special or we can ask her South african compatriot Oscar pistorius again a man without two legs, running on prosthetic legs why he is so desparate to attend this Olympics..their answers would be in the lines of "this is where i belong.."
China trains its athletes right from the young age, Cuba has got a system where sports is as important as anything,America pumps money into sports like a madman bitten by a dog, Russians are supremely gifted, Europeans don't play sports to get a college seat or a government flat, naturally medals chase them, Australians work ethic is like our long forgotten high school timetable...how are going to win medals against them?....
Danraj pillay once famously remarked "even when the national anthem is played, before the hockey match, we are 1-0 down"..Australian hockey team practices 1000 penalty shoot outs per session but we change our hockey coach in the olympic village (remember 2004)..there is no point in blaming our athletes because we produce them,we pamper them,we throw them into the dust bin finally...
More than the pumping of money,Government support, countries succeed because their society demands excellence, there is no place for quitters...even a guy who plays smart street basketball is widely appreciated in american streets,Australian school children pack sports kit and if there is space keep books in their school bags,we keep books and if there is more space, more books...every Australian streets conduct week end marathon 's and we don't even watch it on tv..unless or otherwise the culture changes, olympic medal winners would be a rare species in Indian sport...
Rememeber every athlete is ready and raring to go..Michael phelps, the American swimmer is armed with a new powerful speedo suit as well as "a powerful dream" is ready to test the human possibilities,the Chinese Liu Xiang, the reigning 110m champion hurdler has already promised a gold medal for the chinese people, the Russian gymnasts are licking their lips in anticipation,the Jamacian athletes are so restless for the olympics to start...so do we have a chance against the powerful athletes amid our ocean of negatives...yes if our athletes can remember the simple words which appeared in the TIME magazine sometime back...
"Through birth or circumstance, some are given certain gifts, but it's what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion."
These words were written by Weihenmayer ,the one and the only blind person to conquer Mount Everest....
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Come on Roger...
Sometime back during the peak of coldwar Sir.Winston Churchill made a chilling statement about Russia.He said "its an enigma,wrapped in a puzzle.But, there is a key to solve this riddle".The same can be said of Rafael Nadal.Seldom has the history seen one man blocking the definite path to greatness of a champion.This fellow owns a piece of land called Rolland Garros court no 1 in paris.He refuses to part with it without a fight.He fears no reputation, doesn't allow the past to dictate his future.He resembles a masai warrior, angry on being woken up from a deep slumber.The fast improving Novak Djokovic, after his semifinal loss to Nadal at French open said "This guy plays every point like the match point".
Roger Federer needs two more grand slams to tie Pete Sampras for the all time record.One French open would give him the label"The greatest".What should Federer do to grab a single French open?.Frankly he had done everything he could.He hired a clay court specialist as coach,improved his clay court volleying,perfected his drop shots.Still the result is the same...Nadal...Simply this man stands between Federer and greatness.
Federer would remember the fact that he played in three consecutive French open finals, won at Hamburg last year, lost in the finals this year.Every single time its Nadal.Federer has won a total of seven clay court titles,which is good even when bench marked against the best clay court player.
Federer can draw some pointers from our own Milkha Singh.Before the start of the 1960 Rome olympics,'the flying sikh' was considered a hot favourite to win a medal in the 400m category.When asked,rather sadly, after the finals, why he could not win a medal.He said,"When the race started i lead the pack.Then i realised i'm running too fast,i slowed down.When i was down two positions , i thought may be i'm slow and picked up my pace and to be frank i did not run it like a race".He came fourth in 45.6 sec.The man who won the bronze medal came in 45.5 sec.This 0.1 sec,mere blinking of your eyelid,was for self doubt.Everybody is prone to self-doubt.Even Nadal...So, Roger has a chance may be next year, may be the year after.Right now all he has to do is focus on the present, push his tally of Grand slams up.Also he needs to forget Ivan Lendyl's statement"Grass is for cows", tell him "Grass is for champions".
Come on Roger,the lush green lawns of Wimbledon is waiting for your magic and so are we with bated breath.
Roger Federer needs two more grand slams to tie Pete Sampras for the all time record.One French open would give him the label"The greatest".What should Federer do to grab a single French open?.Frankly he had done everything he could.He hired a clay court specialist as coach,improved his clay court volleying,perfected his drop shots.Still the result is the same...Nadal...Simply this man stands between Federer and greatness.
Federer would remember the fact that he played in three consecutive French open finals, won at Hamburg last year, lost in the finals this year.Every single time its Nadal.Federer has won a total of seven clay court titles,which is good even when bench marked against the best clay court player.
Federer can draw some pointers from our own Milkha Singh.Before the start of the 1960 Rome olympics,'the flying sikh' was considered a hot favourite to win a medal in the 400m category.When asked,rather sadly, after the finals, why he could not win a medal.He said,"When the race started i lead the pack.Then i realised i'm running too fast,i slowed down.When i was down two positions , i thought may be i'm slow and picked up my pace and to be frank i did not run it like a race".He came fourth in 45.6 sec.The man who won the bronze medal came in 45.5 sec.This 0.1 sec,mere blinking of your eyelid,was for self doubt.Everybody is prone to self-doubt.Even Nadal...So, Roger has a chance may be next year, may be the year after.Right now all he has to do is focus on the present, push his tally of Grand slams up.Also he needs to forget Ivan Lendyl's statement"Grass is for cows", tell him "Grass is for champions".
Come on Roger,the lush green lawns of Wimbledon is waiting for your magic and so are we with bated breath.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A peek into greatness
In this age of overused adjectives,"he doesnot deserve" lines, a peek into the mind of champions would serve us all better.
Once upon a time,a small boy in downunder used to start his daily training by writing"I will score a hundred in my debut".He got it at Bangalore in his first test under pressure. That fellow is Michael clarke.Suppose if we are to ask him "How are you able to do that?", his answer most probably would be in the lines of"I was able to guard my mind like a dutiful sentry,leaving in things that can only make me better".Greatness is a state that could be understood by anybody who skips his sisters marriage simply because he got a ranji trophy tie(suresh raina) at the age of 16, who jumped from his balcony at the age of 5 simply because his neighbour promised him a bat(virendar sehwag),waking up at 4 and riding his dear friends scooter to attend his regular coaching at the other end of a big city(ashish nehra).The common thread that links all this people is that they are able to compartmentalise the important from the trivial.How are these people able to do that?Did they got superior genes?Did they had powerful masters?These all are questions even seasoned experts might find it difficult to handle.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr once told his school going son "if you think you will not captain your school football team,just jump out.Dont waste your time".His son later turned out to be John F Kennedy,thirty fifth president of the united states.In some cases, powerful parentage might help.But,JFK was always brilliant in whatever he did.A girl born in Alabama in 1954 with no great lineage to claim and who mostly grew up in Titusville and heavily discriminated in her younger age was able to become the sixty-sixth Secretary of State(U.S.).The lady is none other than condoleezza Rice.Sometime back TIME magazine did an article on her.I can still remember an interesting line like yesterday,"As an young student rice loved both piano and basketball.She could not practise both before leaving out for school for want of time.what did she do?simple,She woke up at three and attended both the sessions and left for school".she never compromised on her love.You tube videos show Tiger Woods holding a golf club at the age of 3.What is he doing now?I hope you know the answer.Whoever we look and admire or for that matter hate(Harbhajan/Sreesanth), all we need to understand is that he/she woke up on a bone-freezing chilly morning and trained hard to chase their dreams, when all we did was fight with our mom for waking up so early.
My favourite sports columinist Rohit Brijnath once wrote "There is a glory in chasing uncertain dreams.Glory in playing with the realm of uncertainities".All of these champions did excatly that.Kipling's"What if"is a superb remainder, whenever we cross the point of no-return in criticism or appreciation.
Once upon a time,a small boy in downunder used to start his daily training by writing"I will score a hundred in my debut".He got it at Bangalore in his first test under pressure. That fellow is Michael clarke.Suppose if we are to ask him "How are you able to do that?", his answer most probably would be in the lines of"I was able to guard my mind like a dutiful sentry,leaving in things that can only make me better".Greatness is a state that could be understood by anybody who skips his sisters marriage simply because he got a ranji trophy tie(suresh raina) at the age of 16, who jumped from his balcony at the age of 5 simply because his neighbour promised him a bat(virendar sehwag),waking up at 4 and riding his dear friends scooter to attend his regular coaching at the other end of a big city(ashish nehra).The common thread that links all this people is that they are able to compartmentalise the important from the trivial.How are these people able to do that?Did they got superior genes?Did they had powerful masters?These all are questions even seasoned experts might find it difficult to handle.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr once told his school going son "if you think you will not captain your school football team,just jump out.Dont waste your time".His son later turned out to be John F Kennedy,thirty fifth president of the united states.In some cases, powerful parentage might help.But,JFK was always brilliant in whatever he did.A girl born in Alabama in 1954 with no great lineage to claim and who mostly grew up in Titusville and heavily discriminated in her younger age was able to become the sixty-sixth Secretary of State(U.S.).The lady is none other than condoleezza Rice.Sometime back TIME magazine did an article on her.I can still remember an interesting line like yesterday,"As an young student rice loved both piano and basketball.She could not practise both before leaving out for school for want of time.what did she do?simple,She woke up at three and attended both the sessions and left for school".she never compromised on her love.You tube videos show Tiger Woods holding a golf club at the age of 3.What is he doing now?I hope you know the answer.Whoever we look and admire or for that matter hate(Harbhajan/Sreesanth), all we need to understand is that he/she woke up on a bone-freezing chilly morning and trained hard to chase their dreams, when all we did was fight with our mom for waking up so early.
My favourite sports columinist Rohit Brijnath once wrote "There is a glory in chasing uncertain dreams.Glory in playing with the realm of uncertainities".All of these champions did excatly that.Kipling's"What if"is a superb remainder, whenever we cross the point of no-return in criticism or appreciation.
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