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Rabble Rousing Random Ramblings by S Jagadish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
National outrage over Queen Elizabeth skipping New Delhi Commonwealth Games
Why is the media working itself up into a lather over Queen Elizabeth not turning up for the Commonwealth Games?
We shouldn't even be having such an event in the first place. All evidence points to white elephants left for future generations to pay for. We're probably still paying for 1982.
Heck, we don't even need a grouping called the Commonwealth! If you take a look at the list of member countries, by and large, it is a seriously inconsequential list!
Labels: commonwealth games, delhi, elizabeth, queen, sports
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A few days ago, I read a news report in 'The Hindu' about serious differences between India's defence forces and various other agencies, including the Urban Development Ministry, over construction of a dedicated war memorial for Indian soldiers.
Keep in mind that India Gate was built to commemorate martyrs of the British Indian Army. So really there's no memorial to honour soldiers who died fighting for independent India. The difference of opinion essentially centres around where the monument should be located.
The first thing that struck me after reading the report was why everyone was assuming that the monument needed to be in Delhi in the first place! It's not as though a majority of the martyrs were born in Delhi. Why couldn't the memorial be constructed in any other place in India? What's the need to be so Delhi-centric.
It's certainly not something new. With a few exceptions (the only two that come to mind are the Calcutta Metro and the frequency with which Delhi hosts international cricket), most events are Delhi-centric. Television in India started off in Delhi. The only 2 Asian Games in India (the inaugural one in 1951 & the 1982 one) have been held in Delhi. Ceremonies & parades during Independence day & Republic day are always held only in Delhi. In the last decade, India has played 11 Davis Cup ties at home, and 6 of these have been in Delhi when there are [probably] much better venues at other places, including Chennai & Bangalore.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games is in Delhi, and I shudder to think of infrastructure lying waste like it was after 1982. The first Formula One Grand Prix race in India will be in Delhi in 2011. India's venue proposed for the 2020 Olympics is Delhi.
Why can't we spread the love? Why should the Supreme Court only be in Delhi? Why should the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sessions only be held in Delhi?
That said, sometimes it is useful. Imagine if, as an extension of this extreme Delhi-focus, the netas and the babus insisted on INS Arihant being rolled out from Delhi on the grounds that the submarine could go take a dip in the Yamuna!
Labels: commonwealth games, delhi, federalism, ins arihant, kargil, memorial, sports
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For your own sake, wake up and fight back, Pakistan
I've never been a fan of over-emphasizing the power of sport, despite being a fan of several sports & sports teams. Hence, we need to see the terrorist attack in Lahore on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in perspective, as a diplomatic & political issue to be handled between the governments of those two countries and more importantly, as a display of what the terrorists can do, or are allowed to do. The focus should not be on the cricketers being targets. Those in the bus could well have been bob-sledding players, for all the terrorists cared. Indeed, it is likely that those behind the attack picked the Sri Lankan team "because they were there", to use a quote that George Mallory allegedly used. The purpose was to demonstrate an ability to attack at will. We don't yet (and probably never will) know who was behind the attacks.
Yet, when Pakistan sneezes, India catches a cold. When an event of this nature occurs, the implications are larger. For years, Pakistan's political, diplomatic & cricketing establishments have been saying that cricket will never be targetted by terrorists (as if it is acceptable that the target is something else!). When there was debate on India's tour of Pakistan in 2004, I wrote
India's refusal to tour Pakistan because of political considerations and terrorism in J & K absolutely baffles me. It allows Pakistan to accuse India of mixing sports with politics. India's official stance against playing in Pakistan should be that it cannot risk sending its players and citizens to a place where there is a VERY big threat perception. With Ganguly and Tendulkar being targetted by the Lashkar-e-toiba for kidnap, who is to say they wouldn't strike in "home" territory? I know there're sceptics among you who say. 'Ganguly le le, Kashmir de de' or even rejoice at the fact that the allegedly non-playing captain's absence finally offers scope for Yuvraj/Kaif to play or India playing an extra bowler. Thats rather frivolous.Last December, after the Indian government announced that India's tour of Pakistan in 2009 was off, I wrote
The point is that we should not tour Pakistan. Purely for security reasons. Nothing else.
In my opinion, the Indian government's decision is right, for the simple reason that India's cricketers would be sitting ducks in Pakistan given the huge potential for terrorist groups there to seek revenge for being banned. I know a lot of folks would say this robs fans of the chance to follow an eagerly awaited series, but that is secondary. The safety and security of cricketers should be the priority.To me, there is no difference between a Sri Lankan cricketer's life and an Indian cricketer's life, or indeed a Pakistani cricketer's life ... or indeed any life (cricketer or not!). Pakistani security personnel died while fighting the terrorists. Ehsan Raza, the reserve umpire for the Pakistan-Sri Lanka test at Lahore is seriously injured. Had India toured Pakistan, it is likely that the attack would have happened much earlier, rather than until three days to go before the series ended. India's government evidently believed that its citizens' lives were significantly threatened in Pakistan. Sri Lanka's government did not think so, for whatever reasons.
Yet, the very fact that an apolitical group became a target means that Pakistan needs to seriously introspect on what it wants to be a decade, 25 years or 50 years later. I use the word "Pakistan" in a narrow sense, and exclude its politicians, government, intelligence, defence & strategic establishments from the list. I refer to the aam aadmi. Do they want to be a failed state in 5 years time? Do they want their country to be seen as the source of global terrorism? Do they want to live in denial of the bare facts - that their government & related establishments (defence & intelligence) have pursued terror as an instrument of policy since independence, that the government has no control over nearly half the country, that the economy is in shambles even as political one-upmanship threatens to destroy "democracy"? The result of these policies is very evident from the situation Pakistan finds itself in.
Pakistanis missed a great opportunity to carry out a clean-up and produce a new generation of leaders after Benazir Bhutto's assassination like I fervently hoped.
Although her death is a sad event and condemnable, in a warped sense, I hope this is the beginning of a clean-up of Pakistan's political system. The country desperately needs a new generation of leaders.Bleating that "Pakistan is a victim of terrorism" is just plain nonsense, when the truth is that "Pakistan is a victim of terrorism that it actively fomented".
Pakistanis deserve much better. Wake up, smell the coffee and fight back, Pakistan! Not for India's sake or the world's sake. For your own sake!
Labels: cricket, pakistan, sports, sri lanka, terrorism
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While it is but natural that we're elated at Abhinav Bindra winning an Olympic gold medal, it has to be seen in perspective. Michael Phelps, by himself, has 11 golds - the highest of all time. He's targeting 3 more in this games.
Do you realize the scary part? He is 23 years old. That is positively scary. It means he will (if he's still motivated) compete for another two Olympics at least! India has a total of 16 medals at the Olympics to date. Phelps has 13, and will draw level with India if he achieves his goal of 8 golds in the Beijing games! Think about it - one sportsman has as many medals as an entire country.
Yet, I keep hearing this chant of "One billion people and we can't win a medal" (Ok, now it should change to "One billion people and we win just one gold medal"). That chant doesn't make sense. Not all one billion are good at, or can afford, elite sport.
Elite sport is such that in a nation of 1 billion people, at most 100 of them would qualify as world-class sportspersons. The fact is that of those 100 sportspersons, only between 5 and 10 are truly champion material. Elite sport most definitely isn't something where the number of people taking up sport will directly result in better quality performances.
Think about it. If the IOA aims to ensure that India wins 2 gold medals at the 2012 Olympics in London, are they better off targetting 1 billion people and asking all of them to jog, exercise & stay fit? Of course they're not going to do that! It is a different matter though that the IOA will plan for 2012 in 2010.
Yes, awareness amongst the general public does raise the profile of the sport, which is the primary reason for the success of cricket. India's cricketers haven't exactly been world #1 either. Wins in multi-nation tournaments and overseas have been sporadic and infuriatingly in contrast to the players' ability. But where cricket scores is the fact that the BCCI was able to successfully rope in enough sponsors for tours & tournaments, ensure good quality coverage of these games and slowly raise the profile of the game. They did get lucky too, with some brilliant players simultaneously raising their game to great heights.
Abhinav's achievement needs to be used as a motivating tool for the top 100 sportspersons. I've watched some of the interviews he has given to the news channels and he seems so bloody calm and composed. Based on what he says, he prepares very well and does his job on the day, without bothering about the end result, since that's not something he can control. Under that cool & calm exterior is obviously someone who was seething at not doing well in two successive Olympics. But, he didn't let the frustration get to him. That's why he's the man of the moment.
Labels: abhinav bindra, gold medal, india, olympics, shooting, sports
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IOA announces withdrawal of India's IOC membership after Abhinav Bindra wins gold at Beijing
In an unprecedented move, Suresh Kalmadi, President of the IOA since 1996, announced that the Indian Olympic Association would be withdrawing from its membership of the International Olympic Committee.
Mr. Kalmadi's announcement came in Beijing, shortly after Abhinav Bindra won India its first ever individual gold medal at the Olympics. Mr. Kalmadi was quoted as saying
We won a bronze in 1996 through Leander Paes and in 2000 through Karnam Malleswari. In 2004, we won a silver, thanks to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Now, we have won gold. The progress is fairly obvious.
I had a frank discussion with the IOC board about instituting Diamond and Platinum medals for higher achievements, but the IOA's request was rebuffed. Having won gold, there're no more challenges. Since there is now nothing more left for India to achieve, we do not see any point in participating in the Olympics henceforth. However, all athletes who have been picked for the current games in Beijing will get to compete. Thanks to Abhinav Bindra, there's so much less pressure on them now to win more medals!
I congratulate the honorary officials of the Indian Olympic Association, our Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, the MLAs from all the states, the National Rifle Association of India and the various officials of the Olympic contingent in Beijing for this achievement. Since our various sports federations and committees have proved that we can produce Olympic gold medallists, I am pleased to announce that the elections to all federations have been postponed by 25 years.
Labels: abhinav bindra, gold medal, india, kalmadi, olympics, shooting, sports
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I'm just back at my desk, aghast at a few folks watching a snooker game on TV. I can't really differentiate between the various cue sports. So I'll assume it was a snooker game. Maybe it's just me, but I can't figure out what's so interesting about watching a cue sport.
What're the other games/sports that you can't bear to watch on a TV or as a spectator at the venue - for any sort of reason? I'd pick cue sports, chess, golf, equestrian, rowing [all of them boring] and WWE/WWF (professional wrestling) [gross].
What about you?
Labels: sports
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More proof that the Olympics are a waste
Last year, I pointed out how reports indicated that the 2004 Olympic Games had drained the Greek economy.
It is apparently now obvious that the huge sports complexes and stadia built for the purpose of hosting these games are now lying totally useless and uncared for because the Greeks do not know what on earth to do with all these structures. I'm fairly sure Delhi's Asiad Village built for the 1982 Asian Games is/was also in a similar situation!
Please, let us ensure that we develop our infrastructure regardless of whether we will host the Commonwealth/Olympic Games or not. I am now convinced that there must not be any connection between the two! Of course, it really does not matter too much to me on whether we actually win medals or not.
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Overemphasizing sporting achievement?
Nitin's first para in his post on letting Pakistani students into IITs and IIMs finally forced me to put my thoughts down here. I've somehow not found the spark to write about why I think sporting achievements are overemphasized. But anyway, here goes.
Here's the rhetorical question. So what if 1.1 billion Indians cannot win an Olympic gold (now that we've got the bronze and silver out of the way)? Winning or losing at the Olympics, cricket or hockey World Cups etc. really shouldn't mean a thing. Does the whole country become morose if say Tata Motors or Reliance or Infosys fail to win a sizeable international contract? No. So why be so besotted with sporting failures and successes?
Surely there're other more important things for a country, especially a developing one, to achieve. Frankly, I believe that the Rs. 104 crores which has spent by the government over the last 3 years on various sports federations could have been put to better use in opening more educational institutions & primary healthcare centres, providing better drinking water to the public, improving the roads etc. I know 104 crores will not be enough to attend to all these issues, but there has to be a start somewhere. Factor in the money doled out to these associations in the last 58 years and the number would certainly be substantial. If these sports bodies are not delivering quality products, in terms of world-class athletes, why have them operate in the first place?
Shut down all these federations. People are welcome to play sports, obviously. But if they want to compete at the international level, they need to find the money themselves. I, for one, don't want my money to be spent on coaching a boxer who gets knocked out within fifteen seconds at an international event.
Once the economy shows 8% (or whatever) growth consistently over 3-5 years, the manufacturing sector is back on track, infrastructure projects near completion, roads in most areas of the country become usable, rail accidents are minimized, the national literacy level reaches a minimum of 75%, unemployment decreases rapidly and the country finally gets on the track of all-round development, feel free to revive these sporting institutions.
Can a labourer struggling to earn one square meal a day afford to buy Reebok shoes for his son? Not immediately. Perhaps, after saving up for a year. Can he buy one pair every year, for fifty eight years in a row? Perhaps not.
Read Nitin's post.
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For Sania and Narain, the big test starts now
Following Narain Karthikeyan's entry into Formula One and Sania Mirza reaching the third round of the Australian Open, Harsha Bhogle wonders if India moving away from a cricket-centric sports system?
Labels: sports
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Dempo Sports Club footballer Cristiano de Lima Jnr tragically died during yesterday's Federation Cup final at Bangalore.
A tribute to him on indianfootball.com.
Labels: sports
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Apart from Harbhajan's inclusion, the Arjuna awards had their share of gaffes and controversy with high-jumper Bobby Aloysius taking a drastic decision.
Anju Bobby George winning the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is certainly not debatable. She had won India's first ever World Championship medal last year. Her husband Bobby George getting a Dronacharya award ... well I was under the impression you gave the award to coaches who'd produced quite a few champions. Then again, Drona really didnt produce too many champions did he? Instead he ensured that Ekalavya's talent was chopped off and refused to accept that any other archer was superior to Arjuna. Rajinder Singh, who was sacked as hockey coach a couple of weeks before the Athens Olympics, gets an award! So he's not good enough to coach a hockey team in the Olympics but he merits an award? Strange are the ways of the sports ministry and the panel who selected the winners.
Labels: sports
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The Athens 2004 Olympics came to an end yesterday. India, found itself at joint 66th spot, a marginal improvement over Sydney 2000 where we were 70th - well short of the initial predictions on how this was the best Indian contingent ever and PWC's 10 medal prediction! China's sporting prowess was exhibited in full flow at Athens where they led the US on golds tally till the track & field events began. Even there, Liu Xiang won the men's 110m hurdles. They ended up at #2 in terms of golds and #3 in terms of overall medals.
I think India's problem lies in the fact that between the 1960s and the 1980s when it shamelessly copied the Soviet model of life & politics [except perhaps having a democracy], we didnt copy their sports model. The Soviet model got exported to much of East Europe and we've seen for a while how Hungary, Romania along with the countries that used to form the USSR like Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia etc. continue to produce great gymnasts, jumpers [high and long], throwers, wrestlers etc.
Instead, the only time Indian athletes go to former Soviet (or Eastern) bloc countries is when they need to "get fit" before a major tournament - the Olympics, World Championships or the Asian Games. Of course, we continue to hire coaches from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus etc. who will connive with the officials and the players to "enhance" their performances. We'll continue to have national records set in various events held in India. Yet, these same athletes will perform at 75% of those numbers when it comes to the Olympics and marginally better during the Asian Games. Perhaps its time for India to force China out of the Asian Games. They're so bloody much better than the rest, whats the point in them stamping out all competition.
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After history, it was a day of shame yesterday. Two Indian weightlifters, Sanamacha Chanu and Pratima Kumari, tested positive for drugs in out-of-competition tests. Pratima Kumari was mysteriously disappearing day before yesterday when she should have been taking part in the competition. The Indian contingent either denied knowing her whereabouts or said that she was not well. As usual, the problem cannot be completely blamed on the two sportspersons. The Indian Olympic Association will no doubt make it appear as though it is sincere about combating drugs in sport, especially weightlifting. There've been several instances of Indian weightlifters, mostly women, who've been banned for testing positive during drug tests.
The IOA did manage to have its way in the Sunita Rani doping issue with a total sham of an investigation relying more on technical problems with the report by the testing lab rather than trying to find out the real truth. Undoubtedly questions will continue to be asked about achievements of Indian weightlifters in the last few years, and rightly so. Our record when it comes to drug abuse, especially amongst weightlifters, is hardly worth being proud of.
The hockey team flitted between abysmal and class yesterday against Australia. In fact for a major part of the match, the two teams were more or less equal ... until with 25 seconds to go, Australia scored the match-winner. A hallmark of Indian hockey teams in the past few years has been their ability to gift the last gasp goal to the opposition in the dying moments of the game. It affected them at Sydney when Poland scored the equalizer with 90 seconds to go to end India's chances of making the semi-finals. A dispirited Indian outfit ended up at #7 then. Australia's last minute goal means that India need to win both their remaining matches against New Zealand and Argentina by huge margins and hope that Australia lose both their next two games against South Africa and Holland.
India's tennis duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out in the semis. The 5th seeds were thrashed 6-2 6-3 in just over an hour by Germany's unseeded pairing of Nicholas Kiefer and Rainer Shuettler. Paes and Bhupathi now play in the bronze medal playoff. Really, the gold medal was there for the taking with no other specialist/seeded doubles pairing still in the fray. They blew it.
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BBC Sport analyzes why Zinadine Zidane was so special, after he announced his retirement from international soccer.
Labels: sports
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Lleyton Hewitt ended Goran Ivanisevic's career at Wimbledon after he beat him in the third round. BBC Sport has a photo profile of the crazy Croat from Split. Boris Becker, who knew a thing or two [or three] about how to win at Wimbledon, writes about how hard it will be for Goran next year. Goran talks about the things he'll miss post-retirement at his post-match interview.
Labels: sports
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As the Olympic torch goes on its way around the world, there's been huge controversy related to its sojourn in India. The omission of a pantheon of eminent sportspersons & Olympians, of the calibre of PT Usha, Prakash Padukone, besides so many other names, especially hockey medallists, has definitely not gone down well with several Olympians. When you consider that Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee and Vivek Oberoi are going to be carrying the torch during different portions of the race, it becomes plainly obvious why we fail at the Olympics so often. Those who run the sports authorities don't care for the athletes, the infrastructure is totally lacking and drug abuse isn't even on the radar of the officials. How do you expect us to get medals?
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John McEnroe feels relieved that he doesn't have to commentate upside down at Wimbledon. McEnroe had earlier written in his BBC Sport column that he'd stand on his head for the entire first set of the first match he covered at Wimbledon. If I remember right, McEnroe has earlier had to eat his own hat for something he said, possibly that Agassi would never win Wimbledon? Readers, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Labels: sports
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Sport
BBC Sport looks at some streaks which arent related to Australia winning all and sundry in cricket.
Technology
With Google on the verge of filing for an IPO, the NY Times looks at the high and the mighty who own some chunks of Google and on how Google continues to infuriate the investment fraternity.
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Sport
I watched the first half of Real Madrid v Manchester United at Old Trafford. Scintillating football. Real plays at a different level. Its amazing how you have a side which has so many superstars but everyone puts their egos aside and works towards the team goal (i.e. the opposite team's goal !!). Seems like the Indian cricket team is on a similar road. While talks on Beckham's move to Madrid seem to get more Real day by day, it is hard to see how he'll fit into the team. Someone who sits on Manchester United's bench for a crucial game of this nature, how on earth would he start at Real? I woke up this morning to find that United had actually won 4-3 but Real Madrid went through on goal aggregate. I'm not sure if this is a consistent quality with English sport, but why do coaches and captains say they were proud of the boys after losing in a crucial game? Sir Alex Ferguson said this after yesterday's game. Nasser Hussain kept saying it after England got thrashed repeatedly in the Ashes. He even said it after India chased 325 in the NatWest Series final!
Labels: sports
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