EPL - A Review of the Season!

The football season is over and champions have been crowned - some clubs regaining their glory after a very long time and some buying their way to glory! Yeah, that's right! Money plays a huge and critical role in football these days!

EPL was very interesting last season with Chelsea becoming only the fourth team after Manchester United, Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers to be crowned champions since the Premiership was started in 1993-94, if I remember right.

Ever since Blackburn won their title in 1995, the Premiership title has always been either with ManUtd or Arsenal. But this time, Chelsea has managed to outgun the Gunners and bury the Red Devils. They became the Premiership Champions thanks to Roman Abromovich, a modern Kubera. Roman took over Chelsea two seasons ago and thanks to the huge spending, Chelsea took away the Chief Executive Peter Kenyon from ManUtd and then began attracting a lot of good footballers with the lure of money!

Chelsea had performed well in the previous season, finishing second behind Arsenal and exiting in the semi-finals in the Champion's League. But this clearly was not enough for Roman and consequently, Claudio Ranieri was sacked as coach and Mourinho, who had just won the champion's league with Porto was brought in. A few more expensive players were brought in but the key to their title was the work done by players like Terry, Lampard and Cech. The players brought for huge amounts of money did not make much impression though. Mourinho kept shooting his mouth and got into a lot of trouble with the game's law-makers and his alleged illegal approach for Arsenal's left-back Ashley Cole resulted in a huge fine for both himself and Cole.

Chelsea started well but there were lots of 1-0 victories. Meanwhile, Arsenal continued their impressive run and was nearing a record 50 unbeaten games. Champions a couple of years back, ManUtd was going through a horrible phase with most of their first-team players out with injuries and managing just a draw in a lot many games. For ManUtd, it looked like that was the end of their title hopes! But they still had pride to play for.

Date: October 24, 2004

Venue: Old Trafford

Match: ManUtd vs Arsenal

Arsenal, on a 49-match unbeaten run in the league, was playing away at Old Trafford against ManUtd. A win or a draw would mean accomplish a 50-match unbeaten run and achieving this in their arch-rival's ground would just be the icing on the cake!

For ManUtd, it was a matter of pride and prestige. They had been playing rather badly compared to their rivals but they had to beat them that day! It turned to be a very physical match and an apparent trip by Campbell on Rooney inside the penalty-box resulted in a penalty!

As Ruud van Nistelrooycame forward to take the penalty, I was reminded of the ugly scenes the previous season when Arsenal players roughed up Ruud after he missed a penalty. Luckily, Ruud scored and he buried his demons from their previous league match. ManUtd went on to beat Arsenal at Highbury too during the return leg and completed a successful double! Unfortunately, they finished third behind Arsenal in the league and lost the F.A.Cup final on penalties.

Chelsea was going great guns both in the domestic league and the Champion's league. Arjen Robben and Frank Lampard were impressive with their form and though the strikers weren't doing well, Chelsea managed to win their first domestic title in 50 years apart from winning the Carling Cup by beating Liverpool in the finals but lost to them in the semi-finals of the Champion's League. (More about the Champion's League in my next blog.)

In a thrilling final match day of the season, Southampton, Crystal Palace and Norwich city were relegated to first division and West Brom managed to stay up for one more season in the Premiership.

More than a month from now, the new season will be starting. Clubs have already begun to strengthen their squads by bringing in new players. But a new imbalance has been created in the market because of Chelsea's money power, and their arrogance that their riches could buy any player they want was dealt a blow when they couldn't get any of the world-class strikers they wanted, including the likes of Henry, Adriano, Eto'o, Shevchenko, Torres, Trezeguet. With the summer transfer window still open, there is still a lot of time left for the clubs to buy or sell players.

Watch out for some interesting facts about football later!

Are you Cricket-Crazy?

What is it about cricket that is able to capture the attention of a billion people?
I am also one among the billion fools who watched cricket, a game played in just 10 countries. In India, people are foolish enough to call cricket a religion and it took me some 20 odd years to understand that sports is not just about cricket, a non-Olympic sport and there is something more to it. The 'Olympics', the ultimate stage for sportspersons to exhibit their talent and superiority is a farce to most Indians. Who would watch those games that come every four years when an important India - Bangladesh cricket series is going on?

When I watched the Greece Olympics last year, I was astonished at the passion, enthusiasm and competitiveness among the sportspersons from all over the world. Of course, all years of intensive training goes waste if you are not able to win a medal. But people just want to perform at the highest level and prove themselves.

I asked my cousin sometime back when an Indo-Pak cricket match was on. Why are people so crazy about cricket? He said - "It's OUR COUNTRY da! Obviously there will be passion when our country is playing!"

It was then I realized the sad situation in Indian sports. People are excited and national/patriotic fervor comes to the fore only when cricket is played. Do people even know the our national football team was thrashed in the World Cup qualifiers? How about lending our support to OUR COUNTRY's footballers during those difficult times?

"Corporate support cricket because of the interest"

Major corporates queue up to sponsor a cricket series while the national football league has just a sponsor or two. Obviously the former would be telecast as it would generate more revenues for the sports channel. The corporate would say it is because of people's interest and the wide coverage by the media that they opt to sponsor cricket, thereby helping themselves and the
coverage for their brand. So, why not corporate come forward to train youngsters who will be able to excel in their chosen sport, thereby creating enough media coverage of the brand as well?

The eternal twelfth man in the Indian cricket team some years ago, Salil Ankola apparently made lakhs just because he was in the squad but did not play many games.

Many corporates have come forward only due to the wide media coverage after Sania Mirza started to play good tennis. But there are a lot more not-so-privileged Sanias who have the talent but not the monetary support to do well in order to be recognized.

"You see, the reason why people prefer watching cricket is they excel in it. Only when other sportspersons do well in their sports will people watch it."

Ok. First of all, I wouldn't even say India is excelling in cricket with the way they are playing right now and against just five or six major cricket playing nations!

Why is there a huge disparity between cricket and other sports? You know it is definitely the media to be blamed in this regard when cricketers washing their asses makes headlines.

"Zaheer Khan, the cricketer, opens his new restaurant" - is this really a front-page news in a national daily? Don't tell me people are going to buy the daily after seeing this news item!

Another front-page news..."Former cricket captain in match-fixing enquiry."

It is a shame that many cricketers took money in-exchange for playing badly. When youngsters aren't even encouraged when they play well in some sports, here are some losers who get embarrassing amounts of money and play badly as well.

But other sports federations should take a cue from the BCCI, the governing sports body of cricket in India regarding the marketing of the sport. Cricket is able to survive only because there is a market of billion people who are crazy about the sport.

Now I follow cricket as any other sport but I have stopped watching it though I read about the latest happenings in the papers. Life is short. No more do I want to waste eight hours in front of the television gaping at those cricketers when I get much more entertainment from watching a football game for a couple of hours!

It is not that I preach to all "Stop watching cricket" but people should develop some interest in other sports as well. It is not out of hatred of cricket I say that but the frustration that other sports aren't getting as much attention!

Football - the game, the passion!

Football is undoubtedly the world's most popular game. It has been reportedly around for more than 3000 years and documentary evidence proves it was played as early as 2 or 3 B.C. as an exercise, during the Han dynasty in China.With the industrial revolution in the 19th century, people saw football as a means to enjoy and relax. Many football clubs were started and with the support of the people, became very popular and was played with high passion.

Now with the advent of technology and live broadcasts, the popularity has reached a zenith. Many football stars have emerged and they are paid in millions. But the passion pf the supporters has also led to hooliganism - supporters of different clubs fighting with each other, not even in the stadium but also outside on the streets!

I am an avid follower of the English, Spanish and Italian club football. Thanks to live broadcasts of matches every week on ESPN-Star Sports, football has gained popularity in even cricket-crazy India. In the following weeks, I'll be writing more on football, about the clubs, the history, the rivalry and the biggest tournament in the world - the World Cup.

What's the problem with Indian Sports?

What's the problem with Indian Sports?
Being an ardent sports fan, I have always been disappoited with India's showing in sports on the world's biggest stages - the Olympics and the World Championships. My views and opinions on this...

Problem --

With a population of a billion people, only next to China, India has always shown tremendous potential. But the potential has never been utilized to achieve what has always been eluding Indian sports - a world champion! While small countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Sweden shine in the Olympics, India has always flopped - a billion people and just a silver medal in last year's Olympics! Some might say - it is the enormous population that is the reason simply because the government does not enough resources to provide good infrastructure to a large number of people. Even then, some good sportspersons have emerged - P.T.Usha, Anju George, Malleswari, Beenamol are among a few.

Reasons --
People in large cities, who are well-to-do, are more academic-oriented and see a secure job in a big MNC as their ultimate ambition, whereas, people from poor background who have always shown the eagerness to do well in sports, do not have the necessary monetary help to succeed.
Government allocates huge funds for development of sports but the various different sports committees, with their beaurocrats, gulp the funds. It shows on the lack of infrastructure and training facilties, a main reson for the under-development of sports.
The media has to be criticised for highlighting cricket as the most popular game. That has made advertisers queue up and has left all other sports behind, because no channel would show something advertisers aren't interested to sponsor. A few months back, 'The Hindu', on its front page, showed a picture of a huge cricket bat that aparently set a record for its size...is this really front page news?
Not enough importance is given to sports in most schools. Schools mainly are interested to show good results in the common examinations and do not seem to encourage sports on a high level.

Suggestions --
Encouragement of sports from a young age.
Provision of good infrastructure and training facilities aimed at improving talent.
Knowledgeable coaches and trainers should be appointed.
Other sports could take a cue from the professional way in which cricket is being organised.
More awards and monetary benefits to encourage deserving sportspersons.
Equal importance should be given to all sports by the media.
More corporates should come forward to sponsor other important sports events.

China, apparently identifies talented kids at a very young age, takes them away from their parents and gives them training for many years. They are definitely on their way to beat the United States in the next Olympics in terms of the number of medals, having gone very close to them last year.

Thankfully, Viswanathan Anand, Narain Karthikeyan and Sania Mirza are among the few individuals shining, doing India proud on the global stage but the government and other sports federations in India has to do a lot more if one needs to see India shining a lot better in the world of sports.

My Sports Heroes!

Paolo Maldini - former Italy football team captain, a legendary player at AC Milan and multiple Champions League winner

Michael Johnson - multiple Olympic Gold medallist in Athletics

Steffi Graf - Tennis Legend and one among few to have won all Grand-Slams

Micheal Jordan - NBA legend and the world's highest paid sportsperson (even after retirement)!

Lance Armstrong - cycling legend and 6-time Tour de France winner after recovering from terminal illness

Michael Schumacher - Racing legend and 7-time F1 Champion


Now, is it coincidence that most legends have the first name 'Michael'?

Good ol' days at Wimbledon!

This year's Wimbledon has just started. A few things I love and hate about the world's greatest tennis tournament...

Things I love...
The Russians - after the retirement of Graf, I thought I would never watch women's tennis, until the players from Russia and ex-Soviet Union arrived!
Serve-and-Volley - but nobody, with the exception of a few, seem to play such a game these days
The grass - the grass courts are a wonderful sight on sunny, bright days, though such days are a rarity! Sorry Mr.Lendl, this grass is not for cows.
The cameramen's lovely image capture of female tennnis players

Things I hate...
The rain - as a Chennaiite I feel jealous!
The line umpires - what wouldn't I do to be in their position when Sharapova is serving!
The grunting - Though I love women and women's tennis, their constant grunting do irritate a lot.
The Williams sisters - they may play a good game, but I am reminded of a close pal when I watch them. Of course, it is a scary thought - my pal in skirts!
Navratilova still playing women's doubles and Amelie Mouresmo playing women's tennis!

Things I miss...
The players - Steffi (though she comes to watch her hubby Agassi playing...but he's out with injury most of the time), Goran Ivanisevic (his eccentrism, his aces)
The tradition - the way the players bow to the royal box...it was actually quite funny!
The skirts - nowadays, most female players prefer to wear shorts! Where are the good ol'days?

World Player of the Year -- Football

The Brazilian great - Ronaldinho

Mad about Sport!

I am no sportsman but I am mad about sports. I watch almost every sport and there are a few exceptions too. I don't like Golf.....it is too boring to watch and I like women. I don't watch baseball 'coz I don't understand that, though I would appreciate if someone gives me a few pointers. I watch gymnastics. Well, who wouldn't like to watch attractive females in skimpy costumes! It's a pity nowadays female swimmers wear a body-suit.

I like tennis too but it can be quite scary sometimes, especially when either of the Williams sisters play. On the plus side, the Russian stars on the circuit can cause short-circuit a few hearts and also, there is our own Sania Mirza who is becoming popular not just because of her tennis talent!

I am a football fanatic. So is the entire world except of course, India and the United States. I am not a follower of women's soccer matches. However, I am not sure if they wear skimpy clothes, but if someone could confirm it, there would be an additional fan! I always wonder why U.S. alone calls it 'soccer'. And, why do the Americans call it football when the world calls it 'Rugby'? I never understand those Americans.

Anyway, you can expect to read all about the latest happenings in sports, my takes on them and blah, blah, blah...