100 m in 5 secs??? Dream on...

Like a bolt of lightening, Usain Bolt ran his way into the record books with a double World record breaking 100 and 200 meters win at Beijing... I saw the 100 m sprint, and such was the dominance of the sprinter, that he was celebrating even before he crossed the finish line, and still managed to break the WR and his competitors comprehensively... He is the first person after Carl Lewis did a 100-200 m double way back in 1984...


A 9.69 second run... wow that sounds pretty impressive. I saw an article in TOI the other day, "100 m in 5 secs? - Not impossible", it said... well I think otherwise... yeah many people hold me as being a pessimist... but let me put some facts first...

From the past records that I have gone through, Donald Lippincott held the WR in 1912, and he clocked 10.60 seconds...
It has been almost a century... 96 years to be precise, and the timing for the 100 m sprint has not even been reduced by 1 second!!! Now thats interesting...
Well, we all know about the Theory of evolution... Humna beings are really quick to adapt themselves to the surroundings... but this adaptation has led to us being a slave of machines off late... Technology is being used more and more often to make life as easier as possible for us...
I simply believe that our evolution has stopped and its the evolution of the machines, that has begun... Even for a simple walk for a couple of blocks, the western countries have come up with a machine... Now theres no walking to the grocer and actually buying stuff, it all can be done sitting on a couch at home through internet...

Its not surprising then that the 100 m timing hasnt been reduced even by a single second.. The results that are showing up are due to extensive training (and performance enhancing drugs taken by some) undertaken by the athletes and nothing else... Without evolution, the 5 second barrier seems like a distant impossible dream... Maybe a nuclear war or global warming may change everything...

Spain at it again...

The following picture appeared as an advertisement for a courier company, which is an official sponsor for the Spanish Olympic Basketball team, in the Spanish sports daily Marca...


The entire Basketball team is seen to part the skins around their eyes, making a Split-eyed gesture, which is so insensitive for the Olympic games... Some people may even considered this as a racist remark. Two snaps had appeared, one each of the Women's and Men's Basketball teams occupying one page each of the daily.

This snap had appeared on the eve of their match against none other than China. This ad further rubbed wound in their salts as Spain beat China 85-75 in a come from behind victory that went to the extra time.

Spain had earlier been involved in similar other controversies, in which Thierry Henry was greeted with Monkey chants in a friendly match at Madrid. Lewis Hamilton was also recently been targeted with racist remarks during the testing at Barcelona.

Its not that I am supportive of China in this cause, considering the human rights violation in Tibet which they were responsible for. But still, since people consider this as Spain's golden year in which they won the Euro, the French and Wimbledon grand slams, The Tour de France, and now the olympic gold in cycling, they should had been more sensitive and tolerant regarding this.

The Guardian reports : "No one involved in the advert appears to have considered it inappropriate nor contemplated the manner in which it could be interpreted in China and elsewhere. No offence was intended by the advert, but whether the Chinese see it that way is a different matter"

Its high time the sportmen and women respect the Olympic tradition and stay away from such controversies.

Inequality in Equality

This year, the French Open for the first time is giving away equal amount of prize money for Women's and Men's Events...
Well, the thought is good.. Equality of sexes and all..
But just give it a thought... Is it really worth it??
I'm not trying to be a sexist and a Male chauvinist here.. But Ive several reasons for the same..

First of all.. Men's event can be won if a player wins 3 sets.. so the minimum no. of sets played is 3 , which many a times goes to even 4 or 5...
A Women's event on the other hand goes for a max of 3 sets... duh!!

Furthermore, the intensity that is seen in a men's event is rarely seen in a women's match... all we can hear is Grunts from the marias and the williams... but no power in their shots... and their tennis is a complete bore to watch..

All that attracts a Women's events is short skirts and style icons with bouncing balls!!! While, true tennis is seen been played in the Men's event.. amazing rallies and zealous fightbacks..

I know , the entire feminine species will run for my throat on these comments.. but facts are facts right??!!

India VS Bangladesh -- A Rematch!!!

I was returning home today in the local train, when i heard him say...

"Today is the India-Bangladesh rematch from the World Cup"...

"What??"

"Yes... India has challenged Bangladesh for a rematch.. they said they can beat Bangladesh, with the same players (though a few more weeks elder), against the same team, and at the same venue..."

I rushed home... cant miss this one ... Wow.. i hope India bt the shit out of Bangladesh.. anyways they were no better than Bermuda, i thought.. just our players having a very bad day....

All set.. tv and all turned on.. i sat on my bean bag and got ready.. this is gonna be fun!!!!

Again India won the toss and elected to bat...
The selectors had much debated whether to change the players.. but it was decided that they'll sport exactly the same team.. so here it goes...

Ganguly and Sehwag walk down the steps of the pavillion at the Port of spain hoping for a change in the history books...
Mortaza, the chap who destroyed India earlier, runs in with the first ball to Ganguly and whack!!!!
4!!!
now thts a fitting reply to the humiliation India had suffered ealier.. a boundary on the first ball!!

The next 5 balls all went to the boundary!!! 24 runs from the first over.. Cant get better than this..

Next over, first ball to Sehwag and he smashes it through the covers for a 4!!!
And the next ball Over long on for a 6!!!
Ammmazing!!

But all good things dont last forever , do they???
Next ball, he tries to smashes it again.. and volia!!! Caught at slips... sounds familiar, doesnt it??

Utthappa walks in, cracks a few boundaries and goes.. and after a short while, so does ganguly!!

Score 44/3 in 4 overs!!!

Tendulkar and Dravid start the recovery... They try to built up a partnership, a very drag of a match ensues... together they put on 65 odd runs in 20 overs before Sachin gets out (bowled again!!!)... and yuvraj walks in and out within a matter of a few minutes..

109/5 in 25 overs!! Still they can make a match of it.. Dravid was still fighting , a dogged 35!!

But then the inevitable happens... The looooooooooooooooong tail of India catches fire and gets charred to ash within a matter of 5 overs and 20 odd runs...

India ... 129 all out in just 30 overs!!!!!

The bangladeshis are jubiliant .... The Indians have buried their heads between their legs...

Can there be another twist in the tale??

Can India pull this off with a spectacular display of swing and spin bowling??

It seemed like when Zaheer gets the first 2 wickets for just 2 on the score... but that was the last and only wickets they'll get...
Aftab Ahmed and S.Nafeez , both strike half centuries and get Bangladesh thru... again...

I was distraught... I couldnt understand.. I mean what happened to Indian batting against Bangladesh??
They had just a few days back made a score of 356/4 against the World champs Australia...

Though the bowling was pathetic, i never expected them to get bundled out for under 150 against Bangladesh???!!!
After all, it was a matter of prestige, a national pride at stake... It was for my satisfaction, that It was just a fluke that bangladesh had earlier beaten India, that Indians werent properly acclimatised to the carribean conditions..

But i guess the writing was on the wall...

Im sorry India... I couldnt help u beat Bangladesh... Even on My PS2 !!!

Dida On Sale???!!

Yesss!!! U heard it right!!!

The "Most pathetic goalie for a top european side", as id referred to him in my previous blog, was put on sale by just another AC Milan fan like me, who thinks Milan are going downhill thanx to this goalie...

I can't believe this news made it to the front page of the No.1 selling daily in India (so what if it is on the top right hand corner??) ...

Apparently, Dida was put up on sale by this Milan fan On eBay , a couple of days back..
But even on eBay, noone was interested in buying this chap... After only 25 bids, His final value reached, at the time he was taken off the site, was a paltry $96.66 !!!!

Well Dida, Now that u know ur value very well.. why dont u just jerk off????

World Cup what????

I was reading the newspapers today... So went to my favourite sports section of the Times Of India.. no .. not cricket.. to catch up on the article regarding chelsea's victory over liverpool in the champions league semi final a night before... Unfortunately, I happened to read the World cup page... and then i came to know...

The World Cup Final is to be played on Saturday!!

Finally, I thought.. Finally the torture of 47 looooong days is coming to an end..

Finally, I'll be able to travel in the local train in peace, not getting to hear Cricket fans blurting out the last nights match stats..

Finally, I'll be spared of all the comments on Mandira Bedi's attire from all my female friends

Finally, Set max wont occupy the numero-uno spot on my remote, and ESPN Star will rightfully take its place back..

Finally, There will be a bit more space in the newspapers for something much more interesting and fun (read:football and F1)

Finally, I'll stop cursing ,cuz everytime i watch those f*** all pepsi adds on tv in which the kids say they'll bring the next wc home, i cant help myself from throwing maledictions..

Finally... oh.. finally... the day has come...

How im thankful to u Oh God.. that youve heard my prayers..

Thank you sooo much for knocking the Indian team out in the first stage itself.. (though i didnt asked u to get them ravaged in the way they did!!).. I was spared of all the cricketers adds being aired day in and day out on the tv..

But still some adds are being aired... Sachin tendulkar saying "Boost is the secret of MY energy"... Poor ppl from the BOOST brand.. their sales are gonna plummet like anything...
Irfan pathan asking a guy at the petrol pump.. "chauka ya chakka??" abbe chakke... pehle ek match to khel.. fir pooch chauka ki chakka... F***ing a**h**e...

And yeah... pepsi gold add.. in which a grp of kids getting their world cup jerseys stitched at a larger sizes , to b delivered 4 yrs later.. saying they'll b bringin home the next WC... I bet those kids wont b able to bring the International "GOTI" world cup.. forget cricket.. a**h***s...

The WC at the beginnin itself seemed doomed.. to be held in W Indies... the entire populatn of an island of which may fit in an eden gardens... there was hardly any full house..
To top it all it was a screwed up format... Super 8????!!! what next?? Getting in teams like sao-tome and principle, ghana, togo to play and start a super 10???!!!

For me, the WC went in this manner... The first match- West indies vs Pakistan.. yeah i actually saw that whole match.. Its the WC yaar!!

Then Bangladesh bt India and Ireland Bt Pakistan...

Arre aaj kiska match hai?? India srilanka?? do or die?? ohh... saw the first innings last 10 n indian 1st 10 overs.. tht was enuf.. India lost.. dead and buried...

Super 8s were.. Aaj kiska match?? Aus-Eng?? Aus-Nz?? theek hai yaar.. score sms kar dena...

Never knew when the semi finals happened as i was busy in much better stuff (Champions league semis).. and just got to know today that tomorrow, its finally getting over...

Australia vs Sri-Lanka..

Saw on the news channels.. they were carrying out public polls (smses costing 6rs each for answering that F*** all question.. like my D*** cares!!!), asking the "EXPERTS" their opinion.. the first expert being SABA KARIM(???!!!) Who the F*** cares man.. show me some NEWS!!!

Btw, the WC has been a real boon to many unemployed guys who cashed in a lot of moolah thru this WC... like Mandira bedi, Charu sharma, John wright... and the various "EXPERTS" on news channels like Saba Karim and Ajay Jadeja..
Arre, if our country is so full of "EXPERTS".. then y r u searching for a foreign coach?? y dont pick up saba karim and make him the coach, as he posseses this expert knowledge!!!

So tomorrow is the final.. Australia wins.. or if theres a Massive Miracle, Sri lanka..

After 6, the roads will be empty...
local trains and buses will be shit crowded at around 4-5 pm.. its a saturday anyways
the roadside stalls selling fm radios and portable speakers will be blasting away their 5 watts of speakers..
The electronic shops will be surrounded by hoards of ppl tryin to catch the match on the millions of tv screens in the shops..

And Me??? I'll be at a nearby Mumbai beach.. which will be obviously sparsely crowded, with my cam, trying to capture the april sunset... a day which i'll remember forever, a day when whatever little passion id for cricket died... RIP!!

Hey, Where are u catching the Champions League finals?????


And By the way, Can anyone tell me, How Important in Cricket..... is Football???!!!

Milan let down by DIDA again

Manchester UTD 3-2 AC Milan

This was the much awaited Champions league semi-final.. the clash of the 2 european giants..

Manchester united who are leading the EPL and who had annihilated Roma in the quarter finals, were up against the resurgent Milan, who had defeated Bayern at their own home... A tough match for both the teams ... but united held the advantage as they were playing at old trafford..

The match didnt begin too well for Milan as once again, the man standing at the goal-line, the brazilian goal-keeper Dida, floundered a simple catch from a corner,which saw the ball rolling into the back of the net..
Now how many times is this goalie gonna let Milan down???

Id never seen such a pathetic goal keeper for a top european side before..

Cut back to the milan-bayern match at San-Siro.. and Dida let in two peach of away goals that nearly nailed milan's progress in the league. As seen in the slow motion, He actually shuts his eyes when the ball is struck at him... as if he's defending himself and not the goal!! The first goal he let in was nonetheless, a disaster, but the second one was the worst of all... letting the ball pass thru his near post when he is standing within a forearm's length from the post!! Now thats sickening...

Though Kaka` s Individual briliance saw Milan pull one back and then take the lead in the first half, the defence again let them down in the second...

First, Maldini was taken off at halftime cuz of some ankle injury, and later, Gattuso.. the midfielder..
With the 2 strongholds of the milan defence and mid-field gone, it was just a matter of when and how man-u would strike.. and they did in the 59th min courtesy Rooney and another poor show by the defence..
With Gilardino taken off and replaced by mid-fielder, it was apparent that Milan wud sit back and try to salvage a draw out of this.. 2-2 away, not bad at all... I dont know why Gilardino was even playing in this match.. Just saw him when he gifted away a couple of offsides and won a solitary free-kick outside the box..

But Milan paid the price for defending too deep in their half for too long as utd started to shoot from almost anywhere on the field on the "Lost soul" Dida!! Finally it came down to the first min of injury time when a fast counter by Carrick and Rooney opened up their defence, and Rooney shooting from the right hand corner of the box into the goal at the near-post!!!

Yes.. the near post again.. Dida was sleeping at the far post... and he kept such a huge gap at the near post that as the commentator rightly said, that anyone cud have driven a huge red-coloured double decker bus thru that gap!!! yea.. not the siddhus ambassador but an entire bus!!

I dont understand.. why is Dida in the team...
Milan would rather play with the goal left open without a goalie and do better with an extra defender... Or else Carlo Ancellotti might do a better goal-keeping for Milan than Dida...

And to make things worse, Dida's contract has been extended for another 5 yrs!!!!!!!!!

Drat!! will have to bear that Asshole for another 5 yrs!!

Why wasnt Kalac, the 2nd goalie played?? he had performed much better in the serie A match at the weekend when Dida was sidelined due to an injury... Ancellotti knew how dida has performed in the previous match against Bayern Munich... Doesnt he understand, hes a brazilian national player and Brazil is not known for their Goal-keepers!!!

Why dont Milan buy out a good defence and a new Goalie???

Next week, its advantage Milan for they have scored 2 crucial away goals... and all they need is a 1-0 victory that will send them though to the 3rd champions league finals in 5 years!! And if they do, i'll be the most happiest creature on this planet.. Only Dida stands in their way!!

My combo for the second leg...

-- Play Inzaghi instead of Gilardino
-- Play Nesta and Maldini(if he is fit) for the entire 90 mins
-- Play Kalac instead of Dida