Awesome

Nadal fans.. Stats.. What stats are u talking about ???

2010-09-18T12:49:00.011+05:30

Saturday Sept 11th was by far the worst day i had in a long time... and just for one reason.. Federer losing.. It was all set for him to go and play against Nadal and reassert his supremacy, he had been playing great tennis and hadn't lost a set, but then that Joker from Serbia did something he had never ever done in his life, he fought back and rest we all know.. he went on and as expected lost to Nadal in the finals......

and then it started...

Some one said "Nadal is greater than Federer", some where else "he has won more titles by age of 24"..., to add on.... "he will overtake Federer.. soon "........
Sports is the most fascinating topic to debate on, believe me, more than recession or Intel vs ARM....
Of course i wanted to say something back.. but it is tough when the opponent has won the last 3 grand slams and is on a roll...but then it stuck me.....

What stats are they talking about..

Every one talks about this being Nadal's time and how he is going to go on and break all the records Federer has set.. but hasn't Nadal been playing professional tennis since 2001.. why are all Nadal fans hypocrites and make it sound as if he has won 9 titles in 3 years....

Let me give a few stats... Since Nadal won his first Grand Slam in 2005, he has gone on to win 9 .. Federer in the same time has won 12( 2005 to 2010).... well greatest of this generation does not mean year 2010 alone people.. it refers to years not a single year....

Now the one which every Nadal fan boasts upon.. Head to Head.. Nadal 14--Federer7...
If ever stats don't say the truth .. it is here....
Nadal is the greatest clay court player of his generation and Federer the greatest on all the other courts.. of those 14 Nadal wins , 10 have been on clay , where as Federer won 2... so on the remaining it is 4- 5 to Federer.. not just that they play each other on Grass once a year, so unlike Nadal running up victories on dirt , Federer never had a chance to pay back...and on the hard courts he could not even make it to the finals... Yeah last 2 years he has won against Federer on grass and hard court.. but i would love to see what happens when Nadal is 29 and is playing in the French Open..

Another point where Federer outclasses Nadal is his total dominance over his peers... look at the record Federer had from 2004 to 2007, he won 3 grand slams , in 3 out of those 4 years,Not only that in year 2005 , he had 3 losses all year, in 2006 he had just 5!! No better example of dominance than this...
Nadal did it once and the effect .. well i guess people do live in the moment...

Well i am pretty sure if a Nadal fan reads this he will come up with his arguments and i will go ahead and prove him wrong, and this saga will never end.... but my article has to...

To sum it up, In a generation where facebook, twitter and youtube rule the planet , the greatest compliment to Federer is, it is his game on the tennis court which has fetched him more viewer ship and not a music video with Shakira....

My Top 15 Sporting Moments of the Decade

2009-12-21T07:03:00.030+05:30

Phew..... Finally finished...DDR2 was 5 times tougher than this.. my VLSI frens would understand that it means that writing this article was not an easy job. This has been the toughest blog i have ever written because when it came to pick 15 moments in the world of sport this decade i would always remember, i just could not choose between so many of them. Then the Tiger Woods controversy happened and i was forced to decide that should i let his character come in the way of his sporting achievements. To an extent i feel i did get biased (against him) but that's an argument for the next time.
Before i jump into the list, just a heads up. There might be moments you might not relate to or find irrelevant but these are moments i cannot forget and after all this is my blog :P :P so just bear with it.

So without further ado i present my 15 favorite sporting moments of the decade in the descending order.

15. Federer's return against Djokovic US Open 2009 Semifinal.

No better way to start the list. Federer undoubtedly has been the greatest athlete of this decade and this shot summed it all. Like many shots he had hit through out his career this again left many breathless and it would have been tough to decide which one to put but when the Great man himself calls it his greatest shot then it ought to be in this list.

14. Arizona winning world series in 2001..

I don't know how many of you would be able to relate with this... but this easily is among one of the best world series ever played... that it had Yankees playing in it in the same year 9/11 happened added more to this story. The world series had it all, some of the best pitchers of all time, the greatest closer and all of them had their parts in the deciding game 7.

You have got to read this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_World_Series

13. Laxman's 281....

He may not smash the ball like Sehwag or Dhoni, but when in flow he is one of the classiest batsman India has ever produced. I definitely need to add some thing here.. for all those who always take his place for granted in team India, just look at his record over this decade and see the number of match winning / saving innings he has played. You just dont notice him for he does not show emotions like Ganguly or smash balls like Sehwag, he does it in a way which is reminiscent of every one who is from Hyderabad.. stylish and classy.

12. Lance Armstrong and his victories in Tour De France.

Lance was a close second when it came to choosing player of the decade. He not only won the Tour de France, the toughest race on planet a record 7 times, barring once or twice he always decimated his opponents on the toughest stages of the race, in the mountains.. He will always the steroid cloud over his head, but he was never found guilty..even after 100's of tests...... May be it is time for people to accept his greatness and treat him on par with some of the greatest athletes this sport has ever seen.

11. Deccan Chargers winning IPL

My " in ur face " moment (to few of my frens) of this decade. Oh i was able to say so many things to so many people after Deccan " Hyderabad" Chargers won the IPL in it's 2nd edition. After being humiliated by finishing last in the first edition and listening to so many people, revenge could not have been any sweeter for me.

10. Zidane's Goal in Champions League final...

Great players always perform on the biggest stage and Zidane has never disappointed his supporters on the biggest platforms.He had not won Europe's most prestigious club tournament before . He corrected that record and that too in some style, scoring one of the best goals of the decade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crDzasp1-60

9. Federer versus Sampras... 2001 Wimbledon

How many tell me how many would have thought that Federer would go on to do what he did over the decade...? I bet he himself would not have dreamed of this...
The match was in all ways passing the bantam of greatness... Hewitt and Roddick did win here or there but it was just matter of time...

8. The Fist Pump by Dravid Adelaide Dec 2003

In lot of ways it marked the beginning of an era in Indian cricket. Winning against one of the greatest test teams of all time and the Greatest of this Generation signaled a new beginning for Team India. Many more victories would follow, on bigger stages, but maybe none more significant than this one in Australian summer of 03.

7. Goran's Wimbledon triumph 2001.

The most emotionally charged Wimbledon ever. British wanted Tim Henman to finally win it and he came ever so close. Many more wanted Pat Rafter to win after losing 2 finals but when Goran won it finally that year there was not a single soul there who was not happy that the man from Croatia finally won it all.

6. Federer's No. 15

Not only was it a great match that we tend to forget because of the larger effects of Federer victory, this match had great moments all along. Right from the first shot till Roddick's speech at the end. If you have not heard that then here is the link.. starting min 4.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT1zmkltTCU

And as far as Federer goes, for the Greatest Athlete of this decade, the moment which finally put him a level above the rest and a confirmation (as if it was needed) of him being the greatest player to have ever played the game of tennis.

5. Michael Phelps 100m Butterfly , Aug 16th 2008

Well there are certain things u just cannot describe . U just cannot explain the emotions, the intensity that was attached to this race. Michael going for his 7th Gold to equal Mark Spitz and the rest was history.

Watch it unfold..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3paiELa7mA

4. Usain Bolt Olympic 100 meter Final 2008 Beijing

Track and field has never been my cup of tea. I have never really cared what happens on it and my sentiments might be shared by the majority.
All this changed after the 100 meter final dash in Beijing. The steroid ridden sport not only found itself a savior but the sport itself found a superstar it was longing for.

3. 20-20 World Cup win in South Africa

There can be very few things, in cricket for an Indian, better than watching India beat Pakistan in a world cup elimination match , let alone in the finals of world cup 20-20. For the level of excitement this match had, the twists and turns along the way, the jubilation midway, the near ecstasy of defeat and then finally the thrill of victory, and to be able to watch it with all ur hostel frens in a small packed room, made this the greatest cricketing moment i have ever been part of.

2. Nadal versus Federer July 2008

How could this not be the No.1 moment. Well i need not write much about may be the greatest match of all time. The Bull from Mallorca finally got the better of the artist from Swiss but not after treating everyone who watched that game live to some of the best shot making tennis has ever seen. That the match lasted for 5 sets and lot many hours and the quality of tennis never decreased , not only cemented this games place as the greatest of this decade but also this rivalry as rivalry of the decade across all sports and across all teams.

1. Sampras's 2002 US Open Victory.

Yes this was the greatest sporting moment for me this decade. His struggle for the early part of decade had been well documented and all had written him off entering into what many thought, based on his struggle, his last grand slam ever. And what a last Grand Slam did it turn out to be. Not only did he defeat, "the new guys" Tommy Haas and Andy Roddick on the way but his greatest victory came against his greatest rival, Andre Agassi.

Sampras never played again and walked of the court as a Champion. It was a privilege to have been able to watch him play for even though Federer came along in real quick time and made many forget Sampras in a hurry, the emotional journey Sampras took us on during this Grand Slam, etched this moment as the Greatest Sporting Moment for me not only for the decade but may be for all time.

Well there you go.. Done it.. Well do let me know if i missed out on a certain moment..

See you all in the new year..

Happy New Year...

Why i love to be called a Hyderabadi...

2009-06-13T12:39:00.006+05:30

An article not on sports , on my blog, has as much possibility as Federer had of winning French Open with Nadal in the draw, but since that has happened , for a change i have decided to write on some thing else ...

So here we go ...

There is no bigger topic of debate which has concerned me more than this.....

Being called a " Hyderabadi "

Before some of u start bashing me on talking about being an " Indian " first and not going to regionalism, lemme clarify, this has nothing to do with nationalism and more to do with my love for the beautiful city that ' Hyderabad' is ....

I was born in Delhi, lived in north india till i moved to Hyderabad in my 5th standard, and even though i left the city in 2005, my love for it has never changed a bit...

Enough of background stuff, lemme get straight to the point...

Every one loves their city, and i am not gonna argue on that, and neither am i here to brag about why 'Hyderabad' is better than ur city, which i am sure of and which u are not gonna buy...
So here are my reasons for loving Hyderabad...

1. Accent :

" kya miyan kya karre....." " baigan bataan nakko karo ".....,
Well there is no city in India which has the hindi accent the way Hyderabad has, it's unique, it may not be old school hindi but tht's wht sets it apart, believe it or not, people love it!!!!

2.

The People :

City is what it's people are..It's name and fame are built around it's people....True that we may not have the history that u can associate with a city like Delhi or Bombay, but the people here compensate for all those things....

They aren't cocky as people from India's 2 major metro's are and neither are they regional bounded like the people of the 2 other metro's.. Simple, helpful,down to earth and humble. I am trying to use the best possible words to describe my people, and if u don't believe it you can look at the famous son's and daughter's of this city..

1.V.V.S Laxman
2 P. Gopichand
3. Harsha Bhogle
4. Azharuddin
5. Sarojini Naidu

and so on....

It is easier to choose the names of these stars and prove my point but if any of u have been to Hyderabad or have met any one ( ahem ahem :P :P) from that city then u might know this anyway...

3. Deccan Chargers..

Don't ask me to rub it in..we have the best team in India's most watched and most followed sporting event of calendar year..and for the year 2009 we won it.. till then shut up and let us bask in glory.. don't talk about past and don't tell us what might happen in 2010.. we live in present so talk about now!!!!!!!

4. Chandra Babu Naidu

Till Narendra Modi burst onto scene post Godhra events, no regional leader had more national importance than he had..... When Bill Clinton came to India they gave India's so called " silicon valley, bangalore" a miss but not Hyderabad..I came to Hyd in the year Naidu came to power in A.P( i think the way he worked i should use Hyd not A.P). There was no necklace road, no Hi Tech city, not a great airport.. The city could be compared to a beautiful girl in a very ordinary dress.. he glamorized it..........

He was the most talked about politician of this country in the last decade and he set a benchmark in terms of I.T and technology which C.M of other states hope to match!!!

There are many more, food, the HI Tech City..etc etc but to wrap it up. the final reason

5. My Heart...

Before you think out of the box and try to ruin the emotional part of the blog which may tilt you towards the concept of hyderabadi, just stop.. i am not talking of love and stuff here.....

I love being called Hyderabadi because thts my identity and thts where i still relate to despite not living there...

I think of the great times i had with my frens from school and college... the evenings i wandered to IMAX with Nag and Harsh for... lets say bird watching...
The cricket matches outside Shanti Apartment or football discussion(where i was totally hopeless!!!)

It's nostalgic... May be repeating again and again that i am a 'hyderabadi' keeps those memories vivid in my heart...the memories of a lifetime which i don't wanna forget....

An Age for Sport Lovers....

2009-06-08T03:42:00.008+05:30

Just a few hours after Roger won his 14th Grand Slam and that too the French Open( more on that in coming days!!!!) to tie the Sampras's record of 14 Slams, a certain Stanford alumni scripted a sensational comeback to win yet another golf tournament, this one, the prestigious Memorial. If you are not into golf the first person you would have still guessed must have been Tiger and you are damn right!!!

If a poll is conducted by sports lovers across all ages and across all generations, to choose the best sporting era, the present one would win hands down....

If you think Roger and Tiger are the only 2 reasons for that then go ahead and finish this article....
Yes every era has athletes who raise the bar to new level, who challenge themselves to scale peaks which have never been scaled before, but this era is different..

Jack's record looked invincible till Tiger came along, Federer and Nadal have been more dominant than even Andre and Pete or Borg and Mcnroe were together..., Sachin is irreplaceable and so would be his records...

Lightning never strikes twice and it will take years before some one like Usain Bolt emerges again, Phelps has reached where no swimmer ever reached,Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbaeva has literally scaled new heights in every single tournament she has entered, Tom Brady is no Dan Marino but he is not very far from that either.. Lebron maynot be Jordan when it comes to winning titles or finishing but the way he has progressed who says he might end up better than him when he retires in another 15 years!!!.....and i have not even included Michael Schumacher and Lance Armstrong the most decorated athletes of this generation...!!!!!

Phew!! I never thought i might come up with these many names when i started this article about 2 hours back...but hell yeah this sure is the greatest sporting era of all time...

We are lucky to be part of this era, and for a sport fanatic like me this quote from Lebron James sums it all up

" I'm just thankful for every day that I wake up."

The Day i dread of...

2009-03-08T10:45:00.010+05:30

As i was having my dinner tonight discussing about Sachin's knock with Warren, i asked him a question absolutely unrelated to the happenings of the day...

What when Sachin retires?

"Oh many people are gonna cry, it's gonna be some thing u have never seen ", was his reply...

As we egged him on to reach towards a 200, and then the disappointment of him getting retired hurt, i forgot our little discussion.....

An hour later, as i am sitting in library, supposedly to prepare for my midterm, my thoughts wandered back to the very same question i asked him...

Hmmm..Indian cricket without Sachin.. Can u ever imagine that???

To think of Indian cricket without Sachin, is unthinkable.. Across all the sports, legends have come and gone, they left a void ,but as time passed these voids were filled..
Basketball went through that phase when Jordon retired, but came along Kobe and then Lebron..
Football has been luckier with Zidane, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Messi all coming along in a quick span of time...
Ian Thorpe left, came along Michael Phelps,
Schumacher has been forgotten in the Hamilton Mania..

But when the question comes to Sachin, we are speechless..We have no answers..

Yes there have been months when he has not played for Team India, but the thought of him returning to the team was always there in the back of our minds.. You might say that it is gonna be very similar to when Sunny Gavaskar retired and it is gonna be similar with Sachin..

Well no..I don't think so....It will never be the same...

There might be arguments about Sachin being the greatest Indian Sporting athlete of his time, but there can be no arguments when it comes to who India's favorite sporting personality has been...

Tell me whose heart did not skip a beat when ever Sachin was batting.. Who was not disappointed when he did not score a century.. How many midnight discussion revolved around his innings.... Was he not the topic of discussion among ur school friends the next day of the match, whether he succeeded or not...Why does a Sachin century mean more to us than another cricketer's century?

Some where down the line we all thought he should retire because he was not good anymore..but did we ever imagine the day he finally hangs his boots before saying that...

The connection between Sachin and us is just not related to Cricket..From the day he walked on to the field in 1989 he was our family member.
His success was our success, his failure.. ours....
Can anyone ever replace ur family member.??

The answer to that question would be the answer to some one replacing Sachin..

Sachin grew with us.. He entered our lives as a 16 year old school boy, with curly hair and a squeaky voice, and he would leave as a husband and father of 2 kids. He has been in our lives for 20 years... Saying goodbye will never be easy...

Recommendations for this week..

2009-02-28T08:37:00.002+05:30

Well, with Federer taking a break of sorts right now, and nothing interesting happening in the world of sports, (well talking about use of steroids in sports is never interesting and unless Real Madrid overcome Liverpool in the second leg, i wont be following champions league too...) , so i decided to come up with few things..

I have decided to post link of few things, either songs, or articles or puzzles which you all can view or check out( if you trust my choice...!!)

Here are the list of songs you can check out :

1. Waterfall by James : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIdCjMYBHyU

2. No other way by Jack Johnson : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JxuDO7YyOA

3. Day n Nite by Kid Cudi : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3P6f2Rp5CA

4. Say by John Mayer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ0z86LmXBM

5. Favorite Girl by Marques Houston : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ctLC7CJ1oE

6. Apologize by Timbaland : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0T7_SGee4

7. Yeh Zindagi bhi in Luck By Chance : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0T7_SGee4

Well that's all for this time...next time some more things , definitely some articles..

Few Sporting Headlines you might see in 2009..

2009-01-10T07:11:00.016+05:30

A very Happy New Year to everyone.

As i look forward to another year (hopefully the last of slogging through books, of nightouts in library, of exams and tension of grades), there is one thing that keeps me going in these dark times and that is sports. So apart from waiting for USC to finally get a shot at national title, there are still a few more things i hope to see happening this year in sports.

1. A view from the top ...

Federer breaks Sampras's record of 14 grandslam titles... I know Federer is no more invincible, he is losing more in a single year than he ever had in 3 years from 2005-2007..but still there is still a lot this artist from Switzerland possess and i do see him breaking Sampras's record this year.. and guess what.. i say its gonna happen in Wimbledon... so does it mean he is gonna win 14th before that .. well yeah the french Open...now thats what some of u might say.. height of optimism...wait n watch...

2. It now takes 9.6 seconds to run 100 metres.

Usain Bolt becomes the first man to break the 9.6sec barrier.
He should have already done that had it not been for his exhuberent celebration before he had even crossed the finish line in beijing olympics, but i still believe he is gonna have atleast one race this year where he will put his head down and run for all 100 metres and when that happens even 9.5sec would be threatened.

3. Brett Favre finally calls it a day...

Well Brett would be wishing that 2008 never happened.. Starting from the playoff loss when he was still a Packer , the retirement fiasco , the agony of last few games of the season as a Jet, an endless list of disappointments...Brett is a proud individual, a great player who should realize that sun has finally set on him and this year he will..

4. It takes 200 million to win world series.

When you have 4 highest paid players in MLB on the same team, you dont expect anything other than the world series let alone the playoffs. This year the Newyork Yankees would achieve that target. CC would have a stellar 20 win season, A-Rod would shake of his post season blues and Texeira would only push him as the 2 battle in HR race...This year i see them going all the way and winning it all..

5. The Wall calls it a day..

This is the year when Rahul plays his final test match for India....I know that he can still battle it out with the toughest,he still can play for another 2 years even though there are some cracks appearing in the "Wall"..... but Rahul being the individual he is would know that when the time comes to move on then you move on.. and its always good to retire when people ask "why" and not " when".....

6. Is Delhi Ready...???

This is one question which you are going to hear over and over again. Delhi's preparation for commonwealth games has been questioned many times and the games with just an year away the question assumes lot more importance. well as far as the answer is concerned it lies with Indian Politicians...Hopefully it wont be too late by the time they get the answer.....

7. Deccan Chargers wins 2ns IPL tourney...

Well from rags to riches.. This would be the Chargers story...After a poor performance in the first IPL tournament when they did not win a single home game, the chargers would bounce back to win it all.. and yeah this prediction comes straight from the heart...

Thank you Michael Phelps

2008-08-18T09:51:00.002+05:30

Michael Phelps was not even born when Mark Spitz set the record of 7 Gold Medals in a single Olympic.... His parents were not born either when Paavo Nurmi had perhaps the greatest Olympic any athlete had ever had...
It is so tough for us mortals to comprehend the nature of Michael's achievement.... to understand the enormity of this achievement.

Let me try and put it in a perspective.
Carl Lewis won his 9 in 4 Olympics. Paavo Nurmi won his 9 in 3. To compare his achievements with these great athletes would be unfair not only to these great athletes but also to Phelps....

He has not only shown amazing consistency in his preferred fields but also shown amazing will power and hard work to succeed in events he was not considered the best.
Phelps made his debut in 2000 Sydney Olympics, finishing 5th in the 200 metre Butterfly event,when another great swimmer of this generation, Ian Thorpe, was making waves. As a 15 year old not much was expected of him, but no one knew what was in store ahead..He tried surpassing Mark Spitz's record in the Athens games, but fell short. 6 Gold Medals, 2 Bronze.. not bad for a 19 year old... When most of the kids of his generation have many other things on their mind Phelps had just one thing...Swim ... and swim he did..
Beijing 2008 would always be remembered as Phelps's Olympics. The guy from Baltimore not only did the unimaginable of winning 8 gold medals in the single game, but has 14gold medals to his credit.. and at 23 .. no one would doubt his credentials to add to this tally in London 2012.

Beijing 2008 was a journey for me .A journey which i took along with Michael. Every evening starting Aug 10 i tuned onto TV with just one thing on my mind. To see Phelps swim, to see him take this journey of a life time... and what a journey it was...
After 19 swims , 8 Gold Medals ,7 World records the journey has come to an end... but it has been one hell of a ride....
A journey which i dont think would ever be repeated anytime soon in the future..may be it would...may be Michael is already preparing himself for one in London 2012.....till then..Thank you Michael....

The Slow Decline of a Champion....

2008-07-07T09:58:00.004+05:30

Well years down the line u may recollect 6 july 2008... as the day when Federer's days as king of tennis ended....may be not...
I am a Federer fan..no 2 ways abt tht and accepting Nadal as the new no 1 would be the toughest thing for me to accept..
Nadal has come a long way from being a clay court specialist...he has worked hard to improve his game on the grass and he deserves all the credit for his work ethic..the very next day after he won the French Open, he was playing in the Queen's London, because he wanted to win this one more than ever....he wanted to win Wimbledon..

Its a fact tht he has not done justice on the hard courts, but then again who will bet against him to change that record too...He has won the french and wimbledon in the same year..the first player after Borg in 28 years... He is the best player today .. he is the new King of tennis...

As far as Federer goes, it would be tough to replicate wht he did for year after year...( i had written tht earlier too in my blogs...).. but which road does he head too???

For the first time in 3 years, he only has one grand slam..THE US Open...which he would defend this august..and it would be tough to do so....
Time waits for no one.. and may be his time at the top is gonna end soon...but he would not go out with out a fight..he showed tht on Wimbledon after tht french debacle.....It is always sad to see a top athlete, an immortal athlete of his time going through the phases of mortality....it was same with Sampras....it would be same with Federer....
Federer has taken me on a journey of a lifetime, on some of the best sporting moments i have ever seen, his shortmaking, his grace on and off the court has always mesmerized me, i hve been lucky tht my years in college coincided with his time on the top of his game, and i was able to catch most of tht... may be his time at the top is over...
but....i still hope to be proved wrong......

The word ' Great'..... Losing its Essence in sporting field

2008-06-20T17:13:00.005+05:30

A sportsman's field is a great leveler.... Just ask Ronaldo.

It was just a month back when he was being called the greatest player in the game today.. being compared to the legends of the past..He was on the top of the world.

And look at how things stand today...

Portugal are out of Euro2008, losing to Germany, who simply outplayed and outclassed their opponents..(the scoreline gives a very deceiving picture...) and Ronaldo's credentials are being questioned.

Well i am not here to give my view on whether he being questioned is rite or wrong..I am here to just give my opinion on the use of word 'Great' by the media or in general by people all over.

In the sporting world 'Great' is just not an adjective. It's an elite group to which a very few people belong. Ali, Bradman , Sobers, Pele, Maradona, Sampras, Borg, Jordan Russell,...the list is long but not endless.. for these are the people who just not mastered their field but ruled it. These athletes have dominated their respective field and to put them in the same league as the Ronaldos',the Bryants', the Dhonis' would be disrespecting them.

The current crop of sports persons are good.. but they are not great...Yet...
Just look at their record. Ronaldo has just won 1 champions league and 2 premier league. Terry has not even won anything beyond the premier league....they have won nothing for their country..... Dhoni is still not a world cup winner...Bryant is yet to deliver a NBA championship on his own.....and putting them in the same league as Pele, Beckenbauer,Jordan, Richards.... multiple world cup winners, champions in their respective field.... is taking it too far.

It is true that sometimes in trying to appreciate the essence of past players we dont appreciate the greatness in front of our eyes. Federer is once in a generation player..and his records prove it. Nadal is a great clay court player...and thats where it should end. He is yet to prove his metal in grand slams on other surfaces and till he does it, he should not be bracketed as a great player.

The mordern media has gone overboard in terms of celebrating the success of teams and individuals. Its time they realize the actual worth of their statements. Success should be celebrated but Greatness should not be delivered with out being tested.

Last week a player won his 14th grand slam... all along battling a stress fracture... He battled for 91 holes..and not even once did he deter from his goal of winning .That is greatness. Greatness is not bought overnight... There are hurdles one needs to cross, moments one needs to grab.... to be Great.....Tiger Woods did it again.. Ronaldo needs to do it some more times.......

Wimbledon 2008... Federer's Toughest Test

2008-06-19T17:43:00.006+05:30

Namaskar Junta

I had planned to write about my memories in VIT in the next blog, but then a small matter of Wimbledon came along..and when the topic is about Federer, then everything can wait( just a little while longer!!!!)...

Well the season is starting to change in London, the rains have come and they come and go with no pre announcement... The weather is usually pleasant but suddenly changes its mood....
This can only mean one thing.. its Wimbledon time...

With only a few days left, before the start of the most coveted tournament in tennis calendar year things cannot be any better...

We have had 2 different grand slam winners this year..Yes one of them is Nadal (French Open... as if u had not guessed it already..duh..) and the other one is Djokovic. Yes its true. Federer has not won a slam yet this year. He lost in straight sets to Djokovic and even more humiliatingly to Nadal in the final of French Open.

So has Federer's time finally passed. Is he no more the threat he used to be? Is he no more the champion he was for the last 3 years?

The answer is a yes and a no.

Yes, the great man is finally past his prime years. Yeah people would kill me saying he is only 26.. and still plays some of the finest shots in the tennis world... but to all those people i would like to raise another question.... can Federer finish a year with a 92-5 Win/loss record again??? And then u would have ur answer......

No for saying that he is no more the threat he used to be because he is the biggest threat to any one wanting to win a slam. He is the best player in the world ( but only just...!!), he is the best player on grass having not lost for 59 matches over last 5 years...and he has won US Open for last 3 years.

Federer has always been in his prime form from Wimbledon.. the US Open... winning both for last 3 years... and the Season Ending Master Series 3 times in last 4 years.. .. then why the whole point of him being past his prime and all....
Its the manner of his defeats, the manner in which he has looked outclassed at times, unable to deliver at stages where he delivered like no one else before him....The word pressure was only for his rivals, but just look at the French Open final again.

That is why Wimbledon this year assumes utmost importance for him. This is the great man's stage. A stage where he has given performances even Marlon Brando would have appreciated, cause Federer is an artist and his shots an exhibition of his talent. Of late, things have been slipping away. The forehand has not looked the weapon it was, and the back hand has resulted in more errors than winners.

Nadal is coming with French Open and Queen's success behind him, Djokovic is improving with everygame.....Roddick will be there again as he always been....Federer would be relishing it . There is nothing more satisfying for a champion than to silent his detractors....This time battle is in his arena.. but it will be his Toughest battle yet.....

End of an Era .... Revisting those days....1

2008-06-16T19:06:00.003+05:30

Well its been almost a year.. actually it was last Wimbledon when i wrote my last blog...and things have changed...changed they have!!!!

Federer is no more the dominant force in Tennis.. IPl has come and is here to revolutionize the game...France and Italy are no more the footballing super powers of Europe...A new Ronaldo is here, this time from Portugal.. but playing and mesmerizing in the same vein as the previous one..The sensex rocketed beyond 20000.. its back to 15.4k ( more things change the more they remain the same) .... Indians have acquired more companies .. and blah blah...... and yeah..
I became an Engineer.... if tht really matters????

Well it sure does.

It brings to an end what have surely been the most memorable phase of my life, the life i would long for in days to come. Those badminton days, birthday bashes, college celebrations....the list is endless...

Well even though the times have changed and a new life awaits ahead...a moment or two to recollect those days in VIT... those moments with friends i will surely miss a lot in 10 days time...when my new journey starts...

So till that day i would be blogging, jotting down some of the wonderful memories i have had there....so keep reading .....

Gasquet....Another Federer in making?

2007-07-07T15:58:00.000+05:30

Federer was 19 when he defeated Sampras on those famous lawns of SW19, he had arrived but was he there to stay.. 2 years later we knew the answer...

It was on the clay of Monte Carlo tht Gasquet signalled his arrival, defeating Federer in straight sets.He was 19...sheer coincidence...may be...

Gasquet posseses the game very similar to Federer and so also has been there journey. The same single handed backhand, may be the best shot in the game at the moment,the same easiness in their styles. Even Federer acknowledges tht Gasquet plays in a style very similar to his.....

Well strangely both have follwed a similar trend after there career defining victories...Federer did not make it past the first round in 4 of his next 7 slams, lost in the first round of French Open, the year when he won it all at Wimbledon....
Gasquet has been in the same league. He has had to bear the heavy burden of expectations and the results just had not been there and to top it all, a first round exit this year in the French Open.Well not the best sort of preparation going into Wimbledon,only 2 weeks off after the French open.

Wimbledon 07 seems to have changed it all....and its just another coincidence tht he is 21 ryt now...

A semifinal match against Federer is his reward after a truly remarkable win against Roddick in the quaters. He has had a phenomenal tournament and its still not the end of road yet... In the semifinal( abt to begin in 10 mins!!!), he wont be entering to make up the numbers. The man from France has had his rough times but may be the tide has changed...May be its the dawn of a new super star....May be not.....Time will tell.....

Why so much fuss about Pseudo Indians??......

2007-07-06T20:59:00.000+05:30

Just a few days back, when Sunita Williams completed her remarkable journey in space,the people who were the most interested in all this apart from NASA and her family were our Indian news channels.... This brings out a question from with in....

why so much fuss about it.....??

Not taking anything away from the remarkable journey she undertook, my displeasure lies with the Indian media.....

The media has time and again potrayed the stories of these NRI's with vigour and enthusiasm, linking their Indian roots,trying to raise the countries global image.Trying to bring out any form of Indianess tht lies in them......... Laxmi Mittal, Sunita Williams, the list will keep on growing, but really the question tht arises is

why do we talk about foreign stuff when our own country is shinning?

Wont it be better to talk about our home grown heroes on a much higher scale than these pseudo Indians..... If u really want to lift the image of the country then it is better to look at facts than being fancy.......Will it not lift countries image to talk more about the Ambanis and Tata's then Mittals, whose success has nothing to do with India.

Times are changing and so is the face of our nation and its high time the media stops looking for fancy and psuedo stuffs. There is no dearth of talent in our nation and let the world know of it...........

Safin... so near yet so far....

2007-06-28T18:38:00.000+05:30

When Federer and Safin start their 3 round match tomorrow, it would be a case of so near yet so far.....This could have been
a rivalry of decade, comparisions of Borg vs Mcnroe, Lendl vs Connors would have been obvious... but then again everything does not end up as a perfect script and tht is the beauty of the uncertainity in the mordern era sport!!!!

Rewind back a few years, september 2000... a young man from Moscow virtually dismantled the greatest player to have ever
graced the game of Tennis.Yes Sampras was on a decline but he had won his 13th grandslam the very year and he was only 27..
This was Safin's way of introducing himself to the world and what an introduction it was......Safin possessed an all round game, a game which made people mark him as a future champion all the way....Not only tht he was a character, a character the game needed......

The very next year a certain man from Swiss defeated the Greatest on the very court where he had written the greatest chapters of his tennis career. That man, as if he still needs any introduction, was Roger Federer.

A rivalry in the making.... ??!!!

Well things have changed a lot since then, Federer has gone on to be the owner of 10 grandslam titles, where as Safin only 2. It has not been the case tht these 2 guys have eliminated each other in a slam .There has been no rivalry of any sort. There has been only 2 meetings in the slams between the 2, Australian open final in 2004 which federer after a tough match and a semifinal in 2005 Australian open , which Safin won, in 5 sets, 9-7 being the last set score......tht says something abt Safin!!!

A lot was expected of Safin. He still probably is the most talented guy on the tennis courts, but talent is only half the thing....
It has been a case of lost oppurtunites. Tht dreaded word if.... if only ..... Well but then again there is no place for if's and but's.
Yes Safin had a few injury issues, he was away from game for long periods but he never showed the mental strength to bounce back strong..., sometimes watching him
play it looks some times as if he lacks a certain enthusiasm..

It would be rubbish to call his career as failure, he is only 26 and has 2 grandslams, not far away from Agassi at the same age......He can bounce back and
be one the greatest champions of this game, may be he could repeat wht Agassi did after his 29 birthday, it would be great for the game and it would out Safin at a higher place among the tennis greats, the place he so deserves........

Television…Is there anything watchable on tht ???

2007-06-19T19:25:00.000+05:30

Well there used to be days, when on returning home for holidays i had only one thing on mind…finally TV dekh paoonga,!!!!!
Well these holidays changed my view towards it…

As any engineering student will tell u, (and I am referring to the holiday season…!!!!) tht u basically are jobless during tht time of the year…. and things were no different for me!!!
I started of my holidays trying to find solace with my T.V, but ended up attaining Nirvana of sorts..
I finally understood why it is called an Idiot Box, and with the way its going I guess more of u will attain it soon….
Well lets say watching television isn’t the same any more…..

U switch on to sony, star and zee and wht do u find, ekta kapoor and her team of excellent voodoos crying there hell out on those typical saans bahu dramas!!! Wht or who inspires them to come up with such ideas is one thing, but wht makes me pull my hair in madness is why the hell are these programs still persuaded with… don’t we hve any more creativity left in ourselves to come out with things better than this ….surely we can have something different…. Anything ,but not these. Please!!!!

Well this has been going on for long, so I moved on to the next area of interest, the movie channels…. Well well well… wht do we hve here…
U end up watching movies, even those actors wont remember they acted in, or else the same old ones …again and again and again, I surely need to know from where do they get these movies… surely u wont find Cd’s or dvd’s of such movies!!!! Surely Collectors Item….

I was never a fan of the music channels and wont be one soon too..
The same trailers are shown 24*7 till u basically memorize the whole stuff….and with the quality of movies coming up, well lemme put it this way… u are not missing anything if u are not watching them. Anyone seen tht Aap Ka Suroor trailer,(yes the Himesh movie tht too as an actor!!!), well u hve a song dedicated to Auto walas, now thts something different, but watchable?? Well I don’t think so…

Atleast I had my daily doze of sports to look forward too….. or did I??
Ten sports and Zee sports…. Icing on the cake tht has been baked by all the previous stuff I hve written!!!
There coverage of any sporting event is awful!!! Think of champions league and I feel chill down my spine.. Man from where do they get such expert commentators.. and in cricket u end up listening to guys such as Arun Lal , Manjrekar,Rameez Raja, a never ending list…!!! And if they keep bagging rights for covering major sporting events, I guess then newspaper or net would be a better place to follow these events!!!
Not tht Espn or Star Sports is doing some thing great… Who in the world would be interested to watch India play Pakistan in an year when Indira Gandhi was our PM.
Even in case of live sports, (atleast in India) they give preference to a cricket match. Just last week when Real Madrid was playing for the title, these guys were showing us the recording of W.I and England test match…!!!!

Finally u come to the news channels!!! Well u have a variety here, abt 70 in no, in all the major languages. Surely u will have some thing over here to watch…
U end up watching things which are as exciting or interesting as Sanjay Bangars’ batting!!!!
These channels are even more jobless than us guys!!! U have the same piece of news shown 24*7 as breaking news!!! Ash and Abhishek marrying was great , but covering it live for 5 days, 24*7 , tht too every channel…. Is it not being too monotonous!!!
It’s the same old stuff.
U want creativity and they end up showing nonsense on Bhoot and yogi baba’s.
]If that is not possible at least do simple things right and don’t mess up with the facts which u are showing!!!!

Well may be they have an idea up there sleeves which I cannot understand, because in a nation where u have 70% youth, they seem to be focusing on junta that comes in 70+ age
Bracket…..

At least there was something great from this T.V experience…. I just became a little more awesome…(www.awesome-ritukar.blogspot.com ….
Founding fathers … Indian Television…
Credits ….Indian Television…!!!!!)

First Take....

2007-06-18T17:38:00.000+05:30

Well i welcome myself to the world of bloggers and it sure is an adroit business!!!!
I must say i hve been inspired by blogs of my frens(shubu's www.lifeispeaceful.blogspot.com and Prateeks' www.planetricks.com... well extra publicity for u guys.. may be i deserve something in return from u .....!!!!!)....

This being my first post, i really did not waste much time in deciding abt whom or wht to write....Sports ofcourse!!! .. and wht in sports???[:o] who else but Roger Federer.....

After watching the great man fail yet again on the clay of Roland Garros, the same old question of his position among the Champions of this game, arose once again.It would be naive of me to rate him above Sampras , Laver or for that mater of fact even Borg( whose 5 consecutive Wimbledon Titles record, Federer would be trying to match...), for greatness is not a quantitative thing....

Federer is no Sampras, the Hollow Man of Tennis world, nor is he a Mcnroe,there just cant be another Mcnroe....(those tantrums on court and Federer doing them,, u gotto be kidding me!!!), but he sure is the greatest artist to have graced this game. The King of Wimbledon title would be even more tougher to attain than winning the King of Clay title, and tht even Nadal knows...

When the ball strts rolling on June 26, Noon(B.S.T) on the courts of Wimbledon, all eyes will be
again on him. How would he react to his French Open loss?... Is he well prepared....? Or will Nadal stop him and become first man since Borg to hold both the clay and grass court grandslam titles......
We dont hve to wait for eternity to find those answers... luckily its just a 2 week long tournament(its not cricket guys.. u need not wait 2 months.. !!!!).......