To be(at) or not to be(at) !

I don’t think a national sport would have been abused anywhere else on the plant the way Hockey has been managed in India. Even cricket in West Indies and Zimbabwe would be dwarfed by the sorry state of affairs in Hockey India.
Hockey in India has become a football which gets kicked by people who don’t know an iota of sports and games let alone hockey. The legacy left behind by the big names (who have made us proud with the 8 Olympic golds- which unfortunately has become a part of our folklore) is witnessing something which is an all time low. Guess, the infighting during KPS’ rein was not enough. HI was created out of a sheer farce and what followed its creation has become a ludicrous thing. Am sure many hockey lovers in India would hand their heads in shame for the fallen grace of the game. The current young brigade is immensely talented. But the only thing that’s eluding them is a good management of the admin affairs. But what in offer now is yet another dirty politics surrounding the control over the game’s administration. The ongoing series in Europe has taken a backseat and hockey lovers in India have been forced to wait to see the outcome of the much-awaited polls. An 83-yrs old Vidya Stokes ( for heavens sake let her do what people at 80 should do) locking arms with one of the best in his trade that the game has ever seen- Pargat Singh. Well, i have no idea how good or bad administrator Pargat Singh would turn out to be. But even a 4th grader would say who is what. And guess what- I am just told that the govt’s guideline on age limitation has also been violated. God bless these Indian politicians. They are awesome in humbling even Napoleon. Poor hockey lovers like us have to bear with some more dirt slinging before we get to see or hear about the team’s performance. Such has been the impact of the game’s administration. Wow (hockey) India wow!!!

Aaall izz well...

Sadly its curtains for the soccer extravaganza now. With Spain emerging as the king of the game for at least until 2014, many analysts, critics and gurus have been left scratching their heads. Btw, what went wrong? Well, for me- nothing. Am glad that the better team of the day has won. And it was the case for most of the matches played in the land of rainbows barring few heart-breaks like Ghana-Uruguay match. Like for Paul, the whole football world was split down the middle for Suarez. May be, his million-$ celebration after Gyan missed the stroke did not go down well with many. Any ways, thats past now. I just hope FIFA feels it a serious business to amend or introduce some rules. With many high points like Higuain’s hat trick, Ghana making to the last-4, brave shows by teams like NZ and North Korea, etc., this edition will also down to history as one with many forgetful things. But then, don’t we say this after every edition? Lolz...........Paul the unlikely hero will now be provided z+ security. Hope we get it to India some day. Thats a great business idea. Kuchh ho na ho, it will make lots and lots of money. Am sure there wud be a beeline stretching a lightyear to get Paul predict people’s lives here. Less to say abt our Netas, the better. On a personal note, I am very happy for Spain and I would have been equally happy if the Dutch team was to be crowned. Such is the impact of the game.....

Aaall izz well...

Sadly its curtains for the soccer extravaganza now. With Spain emerging as the king of the game for at least until 2014, many analysts, critics and gurus have been left scratching their heads. Btw, what went wrong? Well, for me- nothing. Am glad that the better team of the day has won. And it was the case for most of the matches played in the land of rainbows barring few heart-breaks like Ghana-Uruguay match. Like for Paul, the whole football world was split down the middle for Suarez. May be, his million-$ celebration after Gyan missed the stroke did not go down well with many. Any ways, thats past now. I just hope FIFA feels it a serious business to amend or introduce some rules. With many high points like Higuain’s hat trick, Ghana making to the last-4, brave shows by teams like NZ and North Korea, etc., this edition will also down to history as one with many forgetful things. But then, don’t we say this after every edition? Lolz...........Paul the unlikely hero will now be provided z+ security. Hope we get it to India some day. Thats a great business idea. Kuchh ho na ho, it will make lots and lots of money. Am sure there wud be a beeline stretching a lightyear to get Paul predict people’s lives here. Less to say abt our Netas, the better. On a personal note, I am very happy for Spain and I would have been equally happy if the Dutch team was to be crowned. Such is the impact of the game.....

Paul the Octopus

I am sure most Germans would be vying for Paul's blood now. They would not have taken Paul so seriously when it predicted Germany's loss to Serbia in the league stage. But Paul shot to limelight after it went to the box with the other box having England's flag. Then it became the darling when it ignored the in-form Messi and co. But now ??? AM quite sure Vuvujelas and Jabulanis are not making headlines any more....After the white and black brigade lost to the Euro champs, Paul would have become a villain of sort. poor thing..Come 11th and we would have the new champs crowned. A big game on cards. Am certainly luking fwd to it. Honestly I never expected this orange-roja battle. One is in the final after 32 yrs and another a first-timer in the biggest match in 4 yrs. This makes the grand finale a very interesting prospect. My limited competencies don;t allow me to sit down and do a postmortem of what has happened in the rainbow land until now. However, I have really been chasing the news on Paul's million $ predictions quite eagerly. Every time we would talk abt law of average catching up Paul which in fact is not something to happen as yet. Villa and Sneijder would also battle for the golden boot.Now we have 2 days to rest before getting glued to espn on 11th. oh oh- we also have a match in between to decide who is placed 3rd. Btw, do we even care to remembers who comes 3rd !!!!!