Sportsmanship

This is a topic that comes up time and again, and it gains furore at home only when India is at the receiving end, never ever, nobody raised hell as much as they did when the Men in Blue were in Australia when Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth. The real essence of the term is lost as it merely becomes a retaliation when a particular group of people are harmed. So this topic might even seem highly unlikely for a lot of people, well it isn;t because if you had watched the ODI between England and New Zealand where the Kiwis sneaked a 2-1 lead in a thriller, it wouldnt be irrelevant. It's Euro fever all over and the only demonstration of sportsmanship on pitch seems to be kicking the ball out of play when an opponent player is injured well no one raised the hell when Carlos Tevez was hounded by monsters from the Chelsea side in the Champions League finals for putting the ball out of play to give Chelsea back the possession which Chelsea had ben doing throughout the game which ofcourse rightfully resulted in Drogba's sending off. Yet what's the point, yes George Elliot was adjudged run-out in the recently concluded ODI by umpire Mark Benson after Collingwood refused to reconsider the appeal... Yes you read it right reconsider the appeal, as Elliot and Mills set off for a run, Elliot collided with Sidebottom the bowler and struggled to make the crease and then Bell ran Elliot out and the English made a successful appeal against a batsman who was struggling with injury.

Oh good lord! What has this game come to?? This is the same game where Courtney Walsh on seeing Miandad run out of his crease time and again before the delivery asked the batsman whether he should remove the bails which still stands tall as the greatest example of sportsmanship in the history of the game.

Money, the driving factor, a win is just accompanied by money, and we want the win at all costs to enjoy the money that the win provides us with....Why is it all so materialistic? Can the administrators spare a thought and bring on a cap on the winnings, the amount being pumped in by sponsors and the salaries??
Will we ever see those days when a fielder in the outfield clearly tells the umpire whether it was a four or a six, a batsman walks if he has nicked the ball and a fielder is clear as to whether he has taken a catch or dropped it ... I just wish we do

Srini

P.S: Adi dont say THAT is sadly the World!

If at all we could lay our hands on some old Economics Textbook, it would still classify nations as developed, developing and under developed and then later on with the sweep of reforms, the countries were classified under two heads only developed and developing with all the under developed and developing nations coming under the developing category. What is this development actually? What does it signify? Does it actually matter as to what state the people live in or what matters is only the green that the country has deposited with the World Bank or various other financial institutions.
Its been a month since I stepped into the swanky new terminal of the Doha International airport with newer terminal coming soon behind the present airport and from the airport as we drove past flashy office buildings in the Old Airport area, and to home finally the only thing that I could think of was, "Wow! This country has got richer." A look at all those buildings lining the Airport Road would really trigger that response from anyone, more so for me who had seen this place last prior to the Doha Asian Games when probably barrels of money were pumped in to make this oil rich country look rich reflecting its state. I had earlier read somewhere that Qatar has one of the largest GDP's in the world and is one amongst the developed countries of the world. So what do we expect? A high standard of living for all its people, terrific infrastructure and life like nothings there to be lost, its all to be won. This was exactly the impression that I carried until one fatal trip changed it all and made me ponder over these questions or rather one look at the by products of development and it leaves us in distaste.
An old garage had been rented out, a fleeting look from the outside makes it look like a warehouse or something but then the real picture inside, it is home, home for around 20-30 Nepali workers. Old villas divided into rooms and home for 10-20 Indian workers. It is this part of the population that constitutes a major chunk of the people that reside in here - Migrant Workers. These are the very souls that contribute loads to the prosperity of this so called developed country and where do they live in, in dingy garages and pathetic buildings. If this is what is the standard of living of a major chunk of the population, what is the use of that high GDP ... these are the people whose hardwork results in that high GDP, results in all the Riyals and yet these are the people who live the poorest lives. So what is development?? Which is a developed country? Where the people live in comfort or where the dollar flows without any hindrance??

The South End of a North Facing Horse

A New identity from the erstwhile Srini Thinks...
I decided enough of Thinking and as I initiated the search for a new title for the blog...I came across this...an absolute masterpiece from Kamal in Dasavathaaram, proving his undisputed stature as the King of Slapstick that he shall remain forever.

I would love to put up a notice along with this change that the title doesnt necessarily mean what it actually conveys, it just goes on to state that the confessions will not be confessions as such but continue to remain as stupid and silly as they ever where...

Srini

P.S: Bagda, changed the address for u :)

Doha Vignettes

Busy with managerial duties in FIFA and Football Manager and havent got anything write up on and feel so nutty...ok its time to decimate the Chelshits now...yeah back 3-0 Rooney and Tevez one apiece and Cech adding insult to injury there :D ... wonderful time really flies here in Doha between 12noon and 1 am. Especially that 6 hours that I have set aside to play these two wonderful games nevertheless, I get dreams of automatically simulated games between Utd and some unknown opponent where I end up losing always *sniff sniff* ... Oh yeah, I did sell Park for 13million dollars to some "Halli" South Korean Club who have names like the Busan Bear Cubs and the Pyong Pang Pink Panthers :P and got Van Nistelrooy back to United for a paltry 7 million pounds :) ... Yep i forgot, Mario oh Mario, the good old game, I finally managed to get past 3-4 and now am stuck in 4-2, the impatient me is unable to get past this level because of the slowish nature, my nature gets the better of me here :( ... Nice debates were building up though, thanks to Ananth, Sid, Bulb, PS 18 and all you muppets in the Man Utd Community in orkut, throwing up some dumb topics and some good debates in the Utd community and ofcourse who can forget Ananth and Sid, those days of IPL with promotion of talent, demolition of reputation and ofcourse The myth of superstardom ;) ... and i do manage to catch something of this city, nothings changed though in these 2 years that I have been away, its all the same only thing is these fellows have found a way to finally make the big guns spend some of their money - hiking the prices of everything in here ... they used to be so cheap last time around :( ... And yeah on a parting note, I live very close to a US Air Base which is apparently on top of the Al Qaeda hitlist in Qatar and I love the way these guys fly their F 16's especially when they dont want to let them rust :D ... Utd v Norwich in the FA Cup Finals now and RVN's first game in the starting 11 too ;)
Bbye
Srini