So close yet so far, yet again!

Watching Sachin bat last night was a blast from the past in more ways than one. It was batting at it's sublime best and something only Sachin can conjure with alarming regularity for opponents and rapturous joy for his legion of fans.

But the most disturbing aspect of the game was that none of the so called future of Indian cricket decided to show up and give him support. Suresh Raina had a shot at redemption and blew it in the most embarrasing and predictable manner. How many more years is he going to do it alone? I knew something special was on the cards when Sachin took the catch on offer of the last ball and threw it down in disgust. Probably at the amount of runs leaked by the bowlers and the catches dropped by his 'younger' teammates and the enormity of the task facing him individually. I am sure he knew then that he would have to do it all by himself all over again.

If the rest of the team have any shame they will ask him to take a rest and win the last 2 matches for him. That's the least they can do after his mammoth effort last night. Or maybe Sachin will himself take a rest and transfer the burden he has carried for near on 20 years onto the rest and let them feel the pressure for a change!

Grand Slam Tennis on the Wii

I am hooked to this game. Can't get enough of beating the legends in tennis in your own living room. There is a certain thrill to being able to play your heroes in the comfort of your living room and in the biggest tournaments in the world.

Read a review online about the toughness of the game for players and how it's very difficult to beat the stars in the game. I tended to agree with the review till I was beaten black and blue by a girl from the UK while playing online. That sure got me playing it a lot more and now I pretty much beat everyone at my level.

Can't wait to play that girl again!

R.I.P Gopalakrishnan Miss

Yesterday was a sad day. Woke up to the news that one of my teachers had passed away last month.
Gopalakrishnan Miss was among the first teachers to engage me in class. Can't remember any other teacher doing it. I was a back bencher throughout school and too few of the other teachers bothered with us.
All that changed one fine day when Gopalakrishnan Miss and Khurana Miss strode into our classroom and stood at the doorway staring at me intently and whispering away. My mind was in a tizzy. What had I done now?? As it turned out, I was being specced out to play a part in the inter-school drama competition. I was duly selected, not that I had much choice in the matter.
Looking back, I realize now that, that instance probably had a huge part in my future development in life. I started believing that, I was not the useless piece of flesh and bones, I thought I was and was actually capable of doing something with myself since others obviously saw some spark in me.

As it turns out, I turned out OK and the drama competition was shelved because Indira Gandhi was assasinated. Thank you for the belief Miss.

Didn't know I liked MJ so much...

Tuesday night was a strange one for me. Had an early morning class to attend at the gym and knew I had to get to bed early but I was stuck in front of the tube watching the memorial well into Wednesday morning. I just could not get up till the whole service was over. A lot of my older friends ridiculed the guy and asked me why I liked the guy so much. I don't know, honestly.

Till the 25th of June even I didn't know I liked MJ and his music till a friend called and told me about his passing. Since that day, I have been listening to his music and memories from my past have been flooding back. All of which reinforced his role in my life in a strange sort of way. Part of the reason to want to sit and watch the memorial was a way of getting closure I guess.

How much of a role he played in our lives was apparent the next day when every friend I asked said they were sitting and watching the memorial too!

The dream run ends

It had to happen sometime, just didn't expect it to happen at the one tournament you didn't want it to. Dhoni and his boys are out of the T20 WC before the tournament even got started. There are many who'll say it was coming. I was among them, but like an eternally optimistic Indian fan, I thought my gut feel was just that and far away from what would happen. But gut feel does come true more often than not. Fatigue, cockiness, determined opposition teams and lack of technique all combined to show India the door. Like the last time this happened to an Indian team, I hope this time too, it starts another run of ruthless wins and success. I hope Dhoni doesn't chuck the job in a huff.

Everyone forgets, especially the media that MSD is still a novice at this job. he just had a brilliant run which has ended. That is not the end of the world though. The fans need to be a bit more patient and the team will bounce back under Dhoni. I am sure this will make Dhoni an even better captain than he is already.

Federer fans vs Rafa fans...

Finally, mighty Federer did what he could not do the last 4 years. Win the French open albeit without having to beat Rafa. That job was adequately done by Soderling who finally ran out of steam. As expected, the final was an anti-climax after a fairly upset filled tournament.

That's what happens when the players in a slam final are any other pair than Fed and Rafa. Rafa is still the only one who believes he can beat Federer and he does. No one else believes they can beat Federer which shows them up to be fairly ordinary competitors when it matters most.

But what I cannot understand is the preoccupation with belittling Rafa's achievements that Federer fans have. Even Rafa agrees that Federer is the best player there is but that doesn't stop him from beating Federer. So a little consideration from Federer fans while discussing or dismissing Rafa would be decent. A friend recently said, all Rafa does is to get the ball back over the net. How naive and shortsighted can you get? If returning or retrieving balls is all Rafa does, then surely the rest of the field would have found out a way to negate that advantage by now?

Some facts that Federer fans refuse to see or don't want to acknowledge

1. Rafa has won all of his Slams beating Federer in the finals or the Semi-finals.
2. Federer has won just 2 of his slams beating Rafa since his emergence as a contender.
3. The great man himself said "I knew the day Rafa won't be in the finals, I will be there and I will win." He almost admits to not being good enough to beat Rafa at Roland Garros.

That should be reason enough to show some respect.

Rafa lost at Roland Garros!!!

Well, it had to happen but no one expected it to happen this year. Almost everyone predicted a Rafa cakewalk in the finals. But then sports usually has a way of showing up pundits when you least expect it to. No wonder millions across the globe follow sports fanatically.

Everyone is making excuses for Rafa or gloating in his defeat but the man himself is as classy as can be. He didn't make excuses and I don't think he ever will. That's why Rafa and Federer are two of a kind. This slam, if he wins it will not be as highly valued by Federer I think. He will take it though, no question about it but in his mind he would want to win one more beating Rafa cause he knows that the best player n clay is Rafa at this time.

While his fans will despair, he will plot his Wimbledon defense fresh from some unintentional rest. Vamos Rafa!