Sports

There are 4 posts tagged Sports (this is page 1 of 1).

CWG – The Lost Opportunity

\"\"I am sure a certain Mr Modi must be smiling. Well make that two Modi’s. The first one: holidaying abroad away from the Commonwealth and IPL circus here will be smiling as the whole country and the Queen wonder what made them award the CWG 2010 to India and the second one for getting a reprieve after “the party with a difference” did the same thing as other parties and struck a deal with the ruling Congress party.

The CWG games were supposed to be India’s entry into the big league. But forget the entry. India is set to make a humiliating exit. Just what the organisers were doing for the past seven years is something worth RTIing. What is different between the first Modi and Mr Kalmadi?

Mr Modi has the enviable track record of organising one of the most successful events in the history of Indian sports. That proved that India can do it and also gave us the false hope that CWG too would repeat the success. \"\" And Mr Kalmadi is doing just the opposite. I am sure both made huge money but while delivered and how, the other has failed. The second Modi and Mr Kalmadi have a lot in common. But another post another time.

The Babu’s who run the country have been assigned the games as well. Going by my experience of their running the country for the past 37-years, I firmly believe this is a bad choice. Now these Babu’s work according to a system. And with every action of anybody remotely associated with CWG being scrutinised with a magnifying lens it will be all the more difficult for these guys to put the house in order. Not that I think they can.

Was wondering if any of the Modis could have done some justice to the event with their experience?

Comparison with China is something India should learn to live with. While the communist country used the Olympics to develop the infrastructure in the country, the thinktanks here thought it was best to have the event again in Delhi. Infact the games were a good chance for India to develop sports facilities in other parts of the country. But what have we done? We are going to have more stadiums in Delhi as if the crumbling remains of 1984 Asian Games were not enough. Now we have Delhi which already had good roads, metro, airport getting more of all these and more.

Seven years. Long enough to develop anything. The Delhi airport was ready in record 37 months (that is still not ready for use is another story). The leaders who have Delhi fixation can learn a lesson or two from their Chinese counterparts.

Imagine the same fund being used to develop facilities in a city like Bhopal (that is where I come from, so naturally but it could be any tier-II city) it would have done the city and state whole lot of good and who knows would have cost a little less and would have been ready fast. But…

Like scores of other Indians I take very little from these games. Why? Because that is how sports is treated in the country. Just what Mr Kalmadi and Co did.

The Twist

Now that BCCI has locked Lalit Modi as target, the coming days are going to be more fun. The underworld angle is really interesting. It also proves that whatever Modi had been saying all this while was true. But will we ever come to know the truth? Will those whose names are likely to come out, allow Modi to tell the truth?

What really bothers me (yes its true) is what Mr Modi has been waiting for. Here is the entire BCCI which has trained its guns on Modi and this guy is holidaying abroad. I am sure he still tweets (that is what got him into trouble) and has heard about emails and the works the modern technology has lined up. He surely can take help of that and share the stories with us.

The media will not miss a single second to record every single word Mr M says. I just wish the threat does not scare him like it does the macho bollywood heroes, and he stops short of naming the biggies who play the dirty game off the field.

Lets wait and watch.

Silence. Match in progress

Isn’t a wonder that all is calm and quiet on IPL and Lalit Modi’s front. Is it part of the agreement that the two parties have reached? Because the last I heard was the man saying he will expose all after the IPL is over.

Hello?? I am still waiting for the expose.

Otherwise also the 140 character man is silent. No Tweets. Same for Shashi Tharoor. Man the drama is missing. May be not in India but the T20 World Cup is on in West Indies (just in case you guys are catching up with lost sleep – the whole controversy will die a slow death), write something guys.

Just days after IPL watching T20 (I saw a few overs to see what do they do)\"T20was a shock. No cheer leaders no celebrities and no ad. What are these guys upto? I think Mr M should hire a jet pronto and give them a few lessons on how to run the show. What I liked about the matches was people enjoying the game with a glass of beer. Here the only person I think does that is RCB owner.

It really was a good sight to see the spectators not caged like its done in India. I am not sure about many things but this I am sure that we will never ever be able to watch the game like that. Why? Well once people start drinking who will be interested in the match?

India is finally gearing up for the Commonwealth Games. But it’s the controversy over the sports bodies that indicates that. The government did a good thing by revoking its order on fixing the tenure of the head. Like everything else this too is going to result in some drama.

I read that some politicians have been heading the bodies for 22 years. Now this is no mean task. I really would like some independent agency to investigate what this chap has been doing? Can his achievement be listed and also how the funds were used? Will any RTI activist please do the needful?

Please also find out what happened to the 140 character men. Where are they hiding?

The Game Is Not Over Yet

It will be curtains to IPL tamasha on field tonight. But the off field tamasha which took the spotlight away from the game will begin from tomorrow or may be soon after the finals end, according to news channels.

I am not a keen follower of the game but ever since Lalit Modi \"\"took to 140 words to tell the world what was wrong with Kochi, I was left with little choice. All the channels worth their airtime ad rates are reporting the IPL like nothing else matters in this country. Even the Parliament too has dropped everything else and are wasting precious public money.

I have heard really absurd queries in the past few days like why do we have ads between the balls when English Premier League (EPL) has completely dedicated match telecast. Well please study the format of the game.

The same set of people will go to any length to justify why do we have politicians everywhere? Is Sharad Pawar the only man left in the country to head the BCCI?

We, ok our dear politicians travel around the world to study the best practices adopted by various countries for toilets and transport. I am sure in the process they also manage to find out how and where to park their “hard earned” money. But has there been any study (undertaken by the sportsmen) to study how sports bodies function in other countries? Are they also controlled by politicians? What about EPL?

I am sure we have enough qualified professionals who can run IPL. This brings me back to the 140 character man. For the past three years he has delivered without fail exciting, world-class cricket to whoever likes that kind of tamasha. Now everybody is after him.

\"\"Like I said I am no big T20 cricket fan but this man has done a good job. May be he went a little overboard but he knows how to get the job done. And he could not have done it without the support of the bigwigs. Is it the bigwigs are not happy that IPL has now become synonymous with Modi? Is it that he did not share the goodies with them? Is this why they are giving cold shoulder to him?

May be, just may be his threat to reveal all after the IPL finals has worked with news of a compromise formula being worked out. S**, I was really looking forward to Monday morning and was also planning to start my day rather early and stay TWEETED to follow the 140 character man.  Will he spill the beans? Oh, Modi please do it. These guys will throw you out any case. Take them with you.

But is IPL really that big? Cricket sells in India and those who can are making big money out of it.

The tournament started on a wrong note with the controversy surrounding the Pakistan players and is ending on a more negative note.

When anything ends the next day is like a day off. May be for players but for Modi and all the media the game has just begun.