Desicritics Category: Sports: Athletics

In a Land of a Billion

Blokesablogin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:05:54 EDT

My husband decided to celebrate my birthday in a most "un-Indian" fashion. The usual visit to the temple followed by an Indian restaurant high-calorie dinner was substituted by a crazy trip down the American River in a yellow raft! We went white water rafting for the first time! Response from family and friends ranged from incredulity to happiness. A few wanted to know what it was like.

This foray into an adventurous life broke new grounds (waters?) in our family traditions. I could well imagine the experience of Lewis and Clark as they went on an expedition to chart a way to reach the Pacific across the continental US.

I wondered what made the average Indian who comes to the US, adventurous as a student but who morphs into this staid, serious, married professional preferring to reduce the risk factors in life. This train of thought led me to the current status of few competitive Indians at the Olympics.

Sports, by definition, demands taking risks. Until the very end, we can never be too sure who will win. Of course, if the film Jannat is to be believed, cricket matches are mostly fixed and the underworld money speaks in above-the-board activities of the sport. Hence the huge financial support for that game in our country. Given the connection between Bollywood, cricket and moolah, it can well be believed.

For the most part, life in India is a matter of survival for many. Necessity forces skills onto her populace. These skills are not for excelling. They are meant for survival. Be it at the work place or school or leisure, skills are mainly honed more for what purpose they would serve for our survival rather than being "moved by passion" to excel in a certain field. Skills with innate talent is only half the way towards achievement.

Hand in hand with skills go strategy. Here is where we miss out on taking a shot at international contests such as the Olympics. As a nation and as an individual we fair very poorly in this. Be it working towards clearing the 10th grade exam to getting into a 'good" job, very few use strategy. Most slog it out. Strategy is where America leads the way. It is systemic and highly developed into an art form.

If you look at the way the athletes are trained in America, it is in strategy as much as in skill. The Chinese excel for the same reason. Strategy ensures that it is reproducible. We had a P T Usha who "almost" missed the bronze in the '84 Olympics. But we never systematically trained people to achieve and improve upon her performance. Of course the highly bureaucratic process of gaining government sponsorship makes up for all the "strategizing" on the athlete's part, leaving very little for the sport.

At a more subtle level, there is much we need to work with our self image. We are very good critics. We are poor "newsmakers". Some of the best opinion pieces and editorials are written in the Indian press. Very little original work comes out of it. In the US, the publishing industry thrives on original work. People care two hoots for "others' opinions". This deep rooted sense of self worth manifests in the sports arena.

The ultimate "winner" is one who knows his skill is matched with strategy. Gone are the days of the "innocent" Olympians who were amateurs. Professionals have entered the arena enforcing higher standards of strategic excellence. It is time to create a strategic plan to get our talent "showcased". The greatest edge India can have over the rest would be the dispassion as demonstrated by Abhinav Bhindra. That attitude coupled with the rest will ensure a gold mine of medals.

Photo Essay: Sunfeast World 10K Run

Tanay Behera — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:15:50 EDT

For a moment forget the regular kvetching that one hears in various sources of news and media regarding Bangalore's woeful infrastructure issues. Keeping aside all these daily resentments, everyone rushed to the Kanteerva Stadium on a bright Sunday morning.

But what for? To be a part of the Sunfeast World 10K run, this is an international annual event, and was organized in India for the first time. The Sunfeast World 10K was touted as the richest 10K runs with total prize money of 150,000 USD up for grabs.

The event comprised of six races: World 10K Elite Men, World 10K Elite Women, Senior Citizens run (4 KM), Wheelchair event (4 KM), Open 10K Run and Majja Run (5.7 KM). Since the event was slotted between 6AM and 10:30AM, the city police authorities had made punctilious plans for minimal diversion of traffic during the four-hour marathon which saw active participation of around 20,000 people.

When I reached the spot around 7:30AM, preparations were in full swing for the Senior Citizens run which saw an impressive crowd of 700 plus participants. Most of senior citizens were aged above 60 but the energy and the exuberance that they displayed, quashed the roar of helicopters circling the stadium. Harmony, an NGO organized the senior citizens run. Each of the participants was given a T-shirt by Harmony and once they were dressed, there was a wave of uniformity at the starting point, very similar to a sight when children assemble in schools for morning prayer before classes commence. The highlight of this race was the high energy level of the senior citizens making them feel as if they were still in their teens. Jokes were cracked, few laughs were shared and there was an infectious air of camaraderie among these people who came not only from Bangalore but also from different parts of India.

Oprah Winfrey once said running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it. This was the kind of perseverance exhibited by a group of steel-willed people. Braving the heat and the dust, the handicapped persons maneuvered their wheel chairs, reflecting the true spirit of participation.

Suddenly the action shifted to inside the stadium because the World 10K Elite Men/Women had entered the final stage. In a closely contested run, Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea bagged the 1,50,000 US Dollar Sunfeast World 10K title by completing the marathon in 27:51 seconds just three seconds ahead of his rival Moses Kipsiro of Uganda. The women’s section witnessed the rarest of rare photo finishes in any 10k run, with both Grace Momanyi of Kenya and Elevan Abeylegesse of Turkey, declared joint winners. The complete results can be seen here.

There was cut throat competition in the Open 10K run which had large groups of amateur runners, trying their level best to live up to their own expectations. Few ran, few jogged and rest others just walked in the spirit of sport.

Everyone was indeed up and running. It was a place where the east met the west while running.

The most delightful aspect was to see each one run irrespective of caste, creed, color, religion, sex, age, language, region, etc.

There was one single motive to be a part of the excitement and ebullience.

The Majja Run as the name signifies (majja means fun) merriment was the epicenter of frolic and liveliness. Though the distance to be covered for this particular race was only 5.7 kms, what separated this one from the others were the variety and the diversity. There were runners turning up in varied costumes with powerful messages, banners and placards.

Few celebrities like Dino Morea, Rahul Bose, Charu Sharma and Vijay Amritraj had the crowd screeching as they made their appearance for the Majja Run. Everything here resembled a mini-carnival and fancy dress competition. Girls with different attention-getting dresses very much like the Indianized version of IPL cheerleaders attire.

Someone even put on special clothes to appear princely, like the mighty Tipu Sultan.

The one that surpassed every other costume in terms of ingenuity and colorations was the Ravana attire. Participants were pulled in towards this individual dressed as Ravana to take a few snaps in the midst of the race.

There were lots of groups and voluntary associations such as Parikrma, Harmony and others who all came under one umbrella 'Bangalore Cares'. This aggroup participated in the race for a number of causes such as children welfare, greener and pollution free Bangalore, togetherness, etc.

How can an event of such extensive magnitude and variety happen without the support from corporate and business sponsors and advertisers? Well of course there were some sponsors from a wide spectrum. DHL was the logistics partner and it participated in big numbers, with few of the team members having flown from Mumbai. To name a few, Nike was the running partner, Kingfisher, the airline partner, Radio Mirchi as the radio partner, Manipal Cure and Care, as the medical and health partner, etc who passionately supported the cause and diversity of the World 10K experience. Steve Young, General Manager, Nike Inc., Asia Pacific Region, had flown in from Portland, U.S., to participate in the Sunfeast World 10K run. CNBC-TV18 was media partner and it brought the event live to millions of Indians on that day, to the television sets from 7AM onwards, along with a potpourri of other coverages and programmes related to this the event.

All in all, it was a well organized event with got an equally receptive reactions from all those who participated for this run. This race put Bangalore in the map of conducting with dynamism and zings a global marathon. More so, it was a testimony to the fact that multiple goals can be achieved through sports and citizen’s active participation and above all how sports are a social leveler.

In this huge ocean of human beings, I could see some human faces which pulled my attention like a magnet pulls pieces of iron. There was this elderly woman selling ground nuts who was a bit perplexed to see a sea of people just running, a very new site from what sees in her day to day life.

This man was also confused to see this sudden wave of sneaker lovers on an otherwise traffic struck road.

But one of the most satisfying moment in this entire event running with my camera was to capture this bubbly toddler, who had come with her dad and brother (if you can see, the young brother is just hidden from the father) to be a part of this race. She was giving poses which to me meant, 'Daddy isn’t allowing me to run or crawl this year, well next year I would be there to tip toe with other people'. That's a smart and emotionally charged expression, so I and my fellow Bangaloreans would wait for you, sunshine girl, till we meet again.

The rest of the pictures are in this album.

Santhi Soundarajan: Sport, Gender and Suicide in India

Amrita Rajan — Sun, 9 Sep 2007 04:19:32 EDT

Just a few months ago, Santhi Soundarajan was the butt of late night jokes on American television and the subject of outraged editorials in Indian newspapers as the Indian woman athlete who failed a gender test.

While details are scarce and confusing, news reports have it that shortly after Soundarajan won the silver in the women’s 800 metre event for India at the Asian Games in Doha last year, she failed a routine (but not compulsory) test carried out by a team of doctors (including a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist and internal medicine specialist). Their consensus? Soundarajan “does not possess the sexual characteristics” necessary to qualify as a female of the species.

Perhaps it was the outcome of Games officials seeing an Indian win a medal in a sporting event and thinking, Now what’s wrong with this picture?

Levity aside, this past week, Soundarajan, now stripped of her medal (featured above, first from left), made the news again when she was admitted to a hospital in her native Tamil Nadu for attempted suicide. Well, there’s a shock for Chief Minister Karunanidhi - apparently a shiny new plasma TV and a check for a few lakh rupees isn’t a magical cure-all for having your life turned upside down.

Leading the life of a recluse and unemployed, this was the first anybody had heard of her since the results of the gender test were revealed. Although she has denied all allegations even in her weakened state, her doctors insist that she swallowed “veterinary medicines” in a bid to end her life. A few thoughts:

When somebody tries to commit suicide and you’re called to attend to them, kindly keep the details of your patient to yourself. The place for a doctor attending a high risk patient is by that patient’s bedside, not confirming the particulars of the case to whichever reporter that’s on the phone. She’s already been through a lot if she’s tried to kill herself, she doesn’t need your tuppence to help her that last remaining inch over the edge, alright?

Secondly, why is it that we’re only hearing about her now and in these circumstances? Immediately after the scandal broke there was a lot of stuff written up in the papers about the smelly state of affairs in Indian sport, especially women’s sport. Months and one successful sports movie later, everything is very Chak De and all the righteous indignation is about media coverage.

This is what really bothers me about the Chak De phenomenon. I loved the movie unreservedly and I agree with the point that so many have raised i.e. that our famous obsession with cricket has slowly strangled all other sport in India. I even agree with the argument that publicity has a lot to do with the popularity of a sport. Look at spelling bees, for example - I mean, spelling bees for crying out loud, people! All it took was one bizarre documentary full of kids going crazy under parental pressure and hey, presto! Memorizing the dictionary is now a sport and you can catch it on ESPN (funny post).

But coming back to Chak De, very little of the focus seems to have shifted to underlying point driven home relentlessly with everything but a sledgehammer throughout the movie: the apathy and downright criminal negligence on the part of the government authorities and officials who run Indian sport and the deep rot that has set into the “system”.

I’m not a sports fanatic so I’m sure I’m missing out great big nuances somewhere but it seems to me that everytime I see India lose yet another sporting event, I’m sure to find someone somewhere saying something along the lines of: Indians aren’t big on sport. These people are either expressing themselves very badly or else I grew up in an entirely different India because it's often appeared to me that every single Indian I know, from my mother on to the little kids across the street, are positively sports mad. In fact, I have always felt like I was part of some despised minority because I lack a mania for sports.

Additionally, I went to a school that sponsored talented kids enrolled in programs with the Sports Authority of India. In return for tuition, room and board at a school that many of them would otherwise have been hard pressed to afford, SAI required them to make full use of the track field that the rest of us used mainly for football or dodgeball and the like. So I know there are kids out there who’re not only willing to make sport their whole life but are incredibly eager to do so, not least because it paves the way to a better life for a number of them as Chak De pointed out.

In any case, it defies simple logic that anybody would believe that "Indians" as a whole are uninterested in sport - if nothing else, then just numerically speaking, we are looking at one billion people; are you telling me not even a fraction of that number feel the spark of sportsmanship in their bones?

Others have tried to make the case that we’re not naturally built for sport unlike, say, the Australians. On the face of it, that sounds like something that’s true. Except for two things:

A) if one needs to be built like the Australians to win medals, then why are the Chinese sweeping everything in sight recently?

B) you can work on your physique to a great extent. That’s why God invented dietitians and gym machines. I assure you the Australians are well aware of the existence of both.

So we have the talent, some of it recognized, perhaps even celebrated - and forget winning medals, we’re up on charges of doping and failing gender tests? I know I’m not the only one who thinks something’s not adding up. From time to time, I even get to read the thoughts of various former players about the (dismal) quality and conditions of training available to athletes in India. Unfortunately, these articles only seem to make the papers after we’ve lost at yet another event and that too rather badly. I don’t know whether this is an editorial decision of the newspapers or whether humiliation is the only ink that gets the sports writer’s pen working, but I would have thought that the time to pay attention to the deepening abyss that is Indian sport, especially Indian athletics, is now. Before it gets any worse.

As for Soundarajan, she has always insisted that she is a woman. And seldom mentioned in any of the press briefings about her is the fact that she was cleared of any “deliberate wrongdoing” and might be a hermaphrodite due to a rare chromosome condition:

Dr. P S M Chandran, Director (Sports Medicine), Sports Authority of India, says: “There are hermaphrodite, pseudo-hermaphrodite and all these groups are there. There are certain syndrome diseases - Turner Syndrome, Klenfelter Syndrome all these. When you examine the chromosome you will find that it doesn’t fit into a ‘pukka’ female or male group. So it is an aberration to the normal picture. So that’s why they call it a syndrome, some type of a medical problem.”

What really made me mad when reading that report, however, was a casual bit of information that one of the cretins from SAI tossed in there: these are “symptoms which she has been diagnosed with before”. So everybody knew and they just sat on that information and let her take that test in Doha?

Bear in mind that Soundarajan is not just an Indian woman athlete who’s failed a gender test; she’s an Indian woman athlete from a small town in Tamil Nadu who failed a gender test. Even if hers is the best small town in all of India, it’ll still be a small Indian town and as such, she’ll always be that curiosity piece that gets whispered about.

So to sum it up, here’s a small town girl in her mid-twenties who’s never done anything in her life but run and she chased her dream all the way to the victory stand… only to have everything, including her gender identity, taken away at the end of it. And all of it went down at an international sporting event. She didn’t step off that ledge; she was pushed off it. And everybody looked the other way.

But hey, now she gets to see the worst moments of her life get played out on national TV with amazing clarity on her fantastic plasma set. How lucky can a girl get?

Have You Heard of The National Games?

sufferingsocrates — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 06:12:10 EST

The 33rd National Games are underway in Guwahati and they are almost over now. News about the Games happened before they began. But it was mostly about political games and not the sporting ones. ULFA plotted and executed a successful attack, just before the Games. But little did they realise that, the country has more important sports information to chew on.

This is the effect of cricket. The game, without any fault of its own, has killed Hockey as the national game and has all but wiped off interest in upcoming athletes in India. The irony of it all is that audiences will sit glued to TV sets when the Olympics begin next year. After all, it's an international event and demands some viewership. And then, the old cribbing of India's spineless performance crops up again. But until then, the common person doesn't bother about athletics. Crickets hog all his/her attention.

It is but obvious that the star value attached to a sport is what will fetch wider audiences. If not for Sania Mirza, tennis in India would have been what it was pre-Paes/Bhupathi era, inspite of Paes and Bhupathi's heroics in the slams. Sania's glam image has done what the Ramesh Krishnan could not do.

Attribute it to wider television audiences, coupled with the realisation that sports can be lucrative. Therefore, parents in India limit sports ventures in children to cricket and barely anything else. Because, they see money and security for their children there.

But the point here is not about tennis or cricket. It is about the National Games, which is all but known to be happening in some corner of India. It would be a pity if people come to know of the National Games only after ULFA terrorises Guwahati.

The media boom has a lot to do with cricket and tennis taking centre stage. The National Games is not spoken about at length, but cricket and tennis are. Everyday, I try to search news websites and channels to see where I can find the latest medals tally of the National Games. To see where my homestate Kerala fares, where Karnataka is, etc.

But, the searches have become so painful for the simple reason that news about the Games lies hidden in some corner of the website. And sometimes never to be seen even.

Before the influx of cable TV, there was only Doordarshan. The coverage of National Games was a zillion times better then. Because, the audience in India had nothing else to choose from in those days. Now though, the TV channels drive what the viewer wants to see, and all of them show cricket. And hockey finds a mention, only because of the host of gold medals India has won at Olympics. It is a pity, that the National Games now has been reduced to nothing.

The media jumps in to comment and lament the lack of infrastructure and progress in building a good stadium for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. But the media won't give coverage to the National Games, which would eventually showcase the talents to represent India in 2010. If the Games are as big as Commonwealth or Olympics the media would cover it. Paradoxical Media Coverage should I say?

While the media has fought for Jessica's and Nitish Katara's justice, it has had its own double standards, when it comes to the nation as a whole. If media promotes stardom for players and sportspersons, it has equal responsibility to promote other sports, and Indian Sports in general, to ensure that a wider acceptability is there for any kind of Sport.

It is almost as if the media makes or breaks a star. India needs more stars in more sporting fields. A good beginning would be to help revamp Doordarshan, and ensure that it is as competent and as highly watched as a NDTV or an ESPN. Of course, that means Doordarshan should telecast all national sporting events, and not keep fighting over telecasting rights of cricket matches.

The 15th Asian Games, Doha, 2006

Rohan Venkat — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 02:05:57 EST

Three days from today, HE Sheikh Joann bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Torch Relay Ambassador, will use a little torch that he's held in his hand while traveling over 50,000 km to 15 countries in Asia, to light a spectacular flame on Khalifa Tower, thereby officially opening the 15th Asian Games, Doha, 2006 . It's quite an achievement for Qatar, one of the world's smallest countries, to be hosting the second largest sports event on earth, and all efforts have been made to ensure that this only recently overhauled city is satisfactory in every way possible for the Games.

For those of you who don't know, Qatar is a tiny country of about 850,000 people, situated on the Arabian peninsula, sitting right next to it's more famous neighbours Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Rich from it's extensive natural gas reserves, some of the largest in the world, and famous for such initiatives as the WTO Doha Round, Al Jazeera News Channel, the Doha Debates and Reach Out To Asia, the country has always had a slightly more sober reputation than that of Dubai, mainly because the authorities in Qatar are not worried about natural resources, and so do not need to rely on forcible media attention to invite money into the country. Thus, Doha is being developed as the Educational, Cultural, Media-Oriented, Sports capital of the region, as opposed to Dubai's tourist, businessman, shopping haven.

The Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, ever since he took the throne in 1994, has focused on developing Qatar's infrastructure, and integrating the economy with the rest of the world, while taking care to ensure that the money is leaving by the droves, and the Asian Games is just one of the aspects of his plans for the country. Like many of other smaller Gulf Cooperation Council states, Qatar has that unique demographic feature of the region, wherein foreigners in the country, such as myself, outnumber the local Qataris, almost 3 to 1. At the present rate of development, Qatar, already one of the richest countries in the world, is expected to come close to having the highest GDP per capita in 25 years.

The Asian Games, Doha, 2006, labeled by the organisers as the "Best Games Ever" will run from the 1st to the 15th of December, although the qualifying rounds have already begun, and will feature 45 countries in over 39 different events. Starting off with a massive opening ceremony on the night of the 1st, described by producer David Atkins as 'far more ambitious in scope than Sydney', including over 7000 performers, a huge array of material built specifically for the ceremony, and tons upon tons of fireworks. To be attended by performers ranging from Jackie Cheung, Sunidhi Chauhan, Majda Nojoom and Jose Carreira, and to be attended by such bigwigs like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and of course, Sheikh Hamad himself. Having had a chance to see a full dress rehearsal for the ceremony, to be held at Qatar's State-of-the-Art Khalifa Stadium, right inside the purpose built Sports City, I can honestly say that the ceremony is a massive performance, one that will be remembered in Qatar for a very long time.

Of course, this whole month, and the past two years will be remembered in Qatar for a very long time. While the authorities are busy preparing the city for the Games, this rapid development, which many believe included grand plans that weren't carried out early enough, has spurred on inflation by relatively large numbers, never before experienced in Qatar, and also caused huge headaches for residents with the immense construction and infrastructure over hauling, many of which started early but finished very late. Of course, it's doubly difficult since Qatar is still a very young country, and so it was not a matter of ensuring everything worked well, as it might have been in older cities, but creating the infrastructure for things to work. This was then affected by the fact that many other development projects were already going on in the city, which had to be derailed by the Asian Games' plans.

Still, after all of that, the Games are here, and its time for Qatar to reveal itself to the world. The whole face of the city has been transformed to the various colours of the Games, and signs every declare "The Games of Your Life" and "Be There", and indeed, all of us here in Doha are going to be there, and hopefully, Asia will be watching as well.

Expect some sporting news as soon as the Games begin, on the 1st of December.

Budhia Singh: India Revels In A Four Year Old Marathoner

Mr Natwarlal — Mon, 15 May 2006 00:20:09 EDT

A 4 year old running 65 kms smells of exploitation and abuse, eh?

Budhia Singh, a child born in the slums and estimated to be 4 years old, has entered India's Limca Book of Records after running 65km (40 miles) and being deemed the world's 'youngest marathoner'. "Budhia's miserable background as a slum child who was sold by his destitute mother as a toddler for 800 rupees, or $18 had served to enhance his appeal and in typical bandwagon fashion had local politicians falling "over themselves to be photographed next to the child."

However, after his accomplishment and being lauded as a miraculous child and role mole model, "the country's most powerful human rights body launched an investigation into whether the spectacle constituted child abuse."

This story has many twists and turns and is interesting on many levels:

1. As a runner, I can say with no uncertainty that running 40 miles, even for an adult, is not healthy. For a child who is nearly 4 and still developing, this type of exertion is definitely not beneficial. So as to the question of whether this is injurious/abuse, the answer seems to be yes, and his coach should be stopped from doing further damage to the child.

2. Politicians were beside themselves initially trying to personally benefit from Budhia's accomplishments. These same politicians, most of whom drive by poor slum kids everyday with little regard, were quick to jump on the bandwagon when they thought it might make them look good. This type of exploitative behavior is commonplace amongst politicians in general and Indian politicians seem to have taken this to the next level but utilizing/exploiting a child for these purposes is a seemingly low even for this group. And after the human rights uproar, these same politicians have either fallen silent or changed their stances 180 degrees.

3. Budhia's case as stated seems to indicate abuse and exploitation by his coach and politicians, but ironically, it seems that his accomplishments as "India's Forrest Gump" do afford him an opportunity to thrive (albeit his coach and others will probably thrive more and this opportunity would come at a perhaps severe cost to his health) more than a typical slum kid would. A typical slum kid faces little chance of being successful while also facing daunting human rights and societal impediments which go unnoticed by the millions on a daily basis.

4. As the article that appears in the NY Times says, "The case says much about India's thirst for athletic heroes. Despite its population of 1.3 billion, India won just one silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and beyond cricket, its sporting achievements are limited."

5. Does anyone care about the Limca Book of Records?

Commonwealth Games: Reminders of the North East

Mayank Singhania — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:14:10 EST

The first Gold of the 2006 Commonwealth Games for India was won by N. Kunjarani Devi. Kunjarani hails from Manipur, one of the smallest states of India, one of our seven sisters. She is just one of a strong lineup of (non-cricketing) Indian sportspersons the North East (NE) has given to the country.

Pemba Tamang too hails from the same state as Kunjarani, and has won India gold as well. There is a long line of sportspersons from the NE. Bhaichung Bhutia, Indian football's poster boy, hails from Sikkim. So does Tomba Singh, another Indian footballer. Half of last commonwealth games' gold winning Indian women's Hockey team was from the North East.

If we look at our contingent of athletes to any international sporting event, one generally sees a lot of faces from the North East. Considering the size of the North East, these athletes have brought India more than their proportionate share of glory in the international arena. However, until the time they win medals at such events, the North East is generally absent from the national consciousness. Some people consider the commonwealth games as just a part of the colonial hangover. However the games hold much more importance, more so with India and its diversity.

Why is it that so many sportspersons emerge from the North East? Yes, the difficult mountain life makes them hardier, but that's not the only reason.

While the rest of India looks at education to provide them with a better means of livelihood, sports are considered manna in the North East. Now considering the deplorable condition of non-cricketing sports and sportsmen in India, one wonders if it's the right choice. Well, this is just an indicator of how living conditions are in the North East.

The North East is suffering from acute neglect by the nation, and this has given rise to insurgency. Just take a look at the fierce pride on the face of Kunjarani Devi while saluting the national anthem. Can one believe that her state is suffering from secessionist militancy?

The Obligatory Commonwealth Games Post

Nanda Kishore — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 05:54:08 EST

The ticket prices for the opening ceremony at the Commonwealth Games here in Melbourne are steep, to put it mildly - in the AUD $420-590 range. The games kick off on Wednesday in the hallowed precincts of MCG, and if the hype in the city is anything to go by, the price may well be worth paying for.

To give credit where it's due, Melbourne has prepared (or so it seemed to my beery eyes) pretty well for the games. What's more, Melbournians, so famous (in their own city) for their love of sport, seem to have bought into the concept of the games quite generously. Which doesn't seem all that surprising considering Australia is a bit like the First Lady of the Commonwealth, but when you consider the general lack of enthusiasm about the games elsewhere, that is an achievement. Melbourne hasn't really hosted a sporting event of great magnitude in a while, and one suspects that may have something to do with it.

All in all, it is hard to escape the seeming indifference towards the games in the rest of the world, and particuarly in the Commonwealth countries themselves, if the buzz on the web is anything to go by. In India, Rediff.com is as usual putting in its bit, but it is hardly the same kind of coverage an India-Pak series or even the Asian Games get. A pertinent question may be, are these games still relevant, now that the Commonwealth itself is a largely ineffectual organisation, a relic of the Raj?

Even if the Melbourne games are a success, the question still remains relevant in my view. For one, the games do not produce enough world class performances to elevate themselves beyond the small world. Further, there is not much evidence to suggest that the games are a money spinner the way the Olympics or the soccer world cup are - these are admittedly unfair comparisons, but then commercial considerations are inescapable. Lastly, there is the issue of hosting the games - once again, unlike those two other events, countries are not exactly falling over each other to host the commonwealth games.

The one reason I do like the games is that India usually performs quite creditably, being quite strong in shooting and weightlifting events at the level. Some of the performances at Manchester were outstanding and came as a pleasant surprise. The most notable was the gold in women's hockey, where India fended off a strong Aussie side.

The other factor, of course, is that the next edition will be held in our own New Delhi. I hope the games organising committee (whatever name it goes by) is putting its best foot forward and that infrastructure is getting a serious upgrade. The last time New Delhi had a similar upgrade was in 1982 when the Asian Games were a huge success. Unfortunately, all that work came to nothing in the years later courtesy official apathy of epic proportions. Have our boards/bodies learnt anything?

Even before the games officially have kicked off, India has had an inauspicious start, although the latest problem was an off-field affair that athletes had nothing to do. Hopefully there will be a much happier outcome by the end of the games.

The Plight Of The Woman Sportsperson

Pratyush Khaitan — Tue, 7 Mar 2006 10:37:06 EST

More than 150 Indian Bloggers have joined in to highlight the harassment of women on Indian streets.

Why should any one have to bear indignity because of the gender? I have had my women friends speak on the harassment and leering they have to go through. Not being a woman, I am not the right person to speak from personal experience on the issue. Only a woman can truly express how she feels about harassment. I am all for equality though and in that vein, am strongly behind the intentions of the cause.

In this context, I would like to highlight the state of equality (or lack of it) in sport for women. Most sports have a far less following for the women's game compared to the men's game. Tennis and athletics apart, how many games can you think of where you can recount names of women sportspeople? Do they try less or are the games less interesting to watch?

Why is there hardly a following for women's football, cricket, basketball, et all? Apart from the lack of general interest of people, the participation of women is also far behind because of society at large. Indian and Pakistani women are discouraged to play in the sun as it is apparently causes their skin to become darker, hence ugly. Men don't want to marry dark women. White skin is supposedly more beautiful.

India does not have the WNBA but the Women's Railways Basketball team has just as dedicated and sincere players. Most of those who do manage to play the game, however, have to retire way before they reach their prime. Pressure from parents and society to marry is too much to resist beyond a point. These problems are specifically worse in the subcontinent. When sports people sacrifice marriage and kids in many countries in the subcontinent, such bold decisions are looked down upon rather than being applauded.

I was watching a small segment on television which highlighted how young the current Pakistani women's cricket team is. A former captain might still have been captain if she had not married. If some one represents the country in sport, I would imagine that should be reason to be proud of. The husband should be supportive after marriage rather than rule out the woman following her passion.

If some one is able to defeat the social barriers, or is lucky not to encounter them, there is the financial barrier. There is hardly any money in most men's sports. The situation is far worse where the women are concerned. Despite all this, India has managed P.T.Usha and Sania Mirza. It is ironic that most women athletes in India come from poor back grounds. The higher the social strata, the bigger the taboo of a woman sports person.

The problem is global though much more in various countries and societies. The Aussie women's football team got a lot of attention when they bared all for a nude calendar. An American woman's footballer got attention when she opened her jersey in joy after scoring a goal. A Sharapova can gain attention for her grunts but not her game.

An Anna Kournikova will earn more than an Amelie Muaresmo just because Mauresmo a lesbian and not as attractive to the consumers and hence not as much in demand. Mauresmo will be number 1 in one of the follow two weeks with Clijsters likely to remain injured for the near future. But the market will not chase her. It says more about the mind-set of the consumers, the general sports fan, than any thing else. Martina Navratilova (also a lesbian) has been a pioneer for the women's tennis game in more ways than just in the tennis court but obviously, seeing as things stand, there is a long way to go still.

Sexual harassment does not even come into the picture when the women's sports are hardly highlighted. It exists. There is hardly a doubt regading that. Olympic 200 metre Bronze medalist in the 2000 Sydney games, Susanthika Jayasinghe, tested positive for drugs in 1998. A drug test which Jayasinghe accused of being rigged because of her political beliefs. She even accused a Sri Lankan politician of sexual harassment. Jayasinghe was cleared of charges and was due to participate in Athens, 2004 before a leg injury.

Was Jayasinghe guilty? I do not and cannot know. What I do know is that there are far more barriers a woman has to overcome than just those in the sporting arena. Sexual harassment is just one of the problems. It is a darker problem and hardly comes into public knowledge. Only a woman sports person might be able to say how bad the situation is.

I am proud of the women's sportspersons, specilaly those the subcontinent manages to come up with despite all the issues. I hope you are prouder after reading the current piece.

blog-a-thon 2006

The Winter Olympics: Send The Pros Home

Richard Marcus — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 09:30:18 EST

Maybe it's a Canadian thing, all that snow and ice, but I've always liked the Winter Olympics better than the Summer variety. Until recently, Canada hasn't done any better in the Winter than in the Summer games, so it can't even be put down to chauvinism.

I suppose part of it is that so many of the sports are ones that are much easier to identify with from a North American mind set. Skiing, and combinations there of, skating, tobogganing, (if you can call strapping yourself to a piece of plastic, lying on your back and going down a sheet of ice feet first tobogganing) and snowboarding are all things that anybody at home can do.

Unlike the sprinters, high jumpers, hurdlers, gymnasts, and pole-vaulters, who compete during the Summer Olympics, I have a much easier time identifying with the people who compete in the Winter games. Of course I'm not going to try ski jumping in my back yard or a triple toe loop on skates, but at least I've strapped on a pair of skis in my life and been skating.

How many of you have ever decided to go for a casual pole vault on the weekend? Or maybe chuck around the discus with some friends? It's far more likely that you've gotten together for a ski weekend at some time in your life than sticking what looks like a cannon ball under your chin, and trying to chuck it sixty or seventy yards.

It's not like the Winter Olympics are any less corrupt or commercial than the Summer games; just look at the whole fiasco that surrounded the Salt Lake City games from the organizing committee to the figure skating judging. Or any time a skier is interviewed in the winner's circle and they automatically flip their skis so the brand is facing the cameras; Nike or Fisher, equipment suppliers are the real winners in all these games no matter what the season.

Drugs and means of cheating are just a prevalent, and perhaps even more so. Blood packing before cross-country skiing races (transfusions of fresh blood that supposedly gives you an advantage somehow) seems to have been a favourite for a long time and virtually undetectable until recently. I wouldn't be surprised by anything anymore when it came to devising new and ingenious ways of cheating by athletes and their coaches to give themselves any extra edge possible.

But, even knowing all that, it still seems that there is something far less tainted about the Winter games. Perhaps it is the sheer insanity of some of the sports. Downhill ski racing may look glamorous to watch, but skiing down the side of a mountain at speeds up to 100mph and over is a really good way to get yourself killed I've always thought.

There has been many a time I've tobogganed down a steep hill, that's covered in ice, but I've never done it lying on my back, steering by pointing my toes, and not being able to really see where I'm going. That's just insanely dangerous.

In the Winter Olympics there is far more of an element of risk involved than most sports in Summer Olympics. Okay if you go out for javelin catching you might run the occasional risk, but nothing compared to what happens if you lose it completely throwing yourself into the air off a 90-metre ski jump. They not only expect you to survive, but you're judged on style points and how neat and tidy a landing you can pull off. (Wind milling your arms in a desperate attempt to maintain balance counts against you.)

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch much of these Olympics this year except for a couple of periods of men's hockey. In the past fifteen years the only times I'll usually watch hockey at all anymore is during international events; the stuff that's played in the National Hockey League (N.H.L), and North America in general is just to boring to endure for long.

But put the game on a decent sized ice surface, where there is room to skate and make passes and it becomes something enjoyable again. It also dispels the myth that Canadians are the best hockey country in the world. At this Olympics Canada will be lucky to finish 6th after not even making it out of the quarterfinals, losing 2-0 to Russia.

What bothers me is how much media attention Canadian Olympic Hockey team has gotten. We have a speed skater who has four medals already at these Olympics; Canadian women are making huge breakthroughs in cross country skiing, winning a silver in the relay and gold in the 15 kilometre sprint; we won gold and silver in the men's skeleton, and have already exceeded out best results for medal totals at a games.

But the majority of attention is fixated on the hockey teams failure to score goals and medal. What I find especially ironic about all of this is that in the three Olympics that professional hockey players have been allowed to compete, Canada has only won a medal once.

The one medal, Gold at Salt Lake, only came about because Sweden lost in a fluke to Belarus, Russia was in disarray, and the Slovaks didn't have adequate time to put a team together. They ended up squeaking out a win against the American's who play the same style of hockey, but not even as good as the Canadians.

Hockey isn't even Canada's official national sport that, honour lies in the hands of lacrosse, yet it seems to be such a national blind spot. Any attempt to criticize the way in which Canadians play or are taught hockey is treated as treason akin to burning the flag in the United States.

All the euphemisms that are used to describe the way Canadians play hockey; willing to get their hands dirty, playing with heart, tough, and so on make it sound like skill and talent are irrelevant. Even the term for everyone's favourite type of player, power forward, implies muscle over talent. But what type of player does this end up producing?

Well, what we saw at these Olympics were big, hulking guys who had circles skated around them by faster, more talented European players. In their last three games of the tournament, Canada scored only three goals, all of them in one period against the Czech Republic, on a goalie who was having a bad game. Once he was replaced at the start of the second period the Canadians couldn't score again. If it hadn't been for the Canadian goaltender, making some pretty spectacular saves, Canada would have lost the game.

To be fair, that type of player is what's needed in the confines of the ridiculously small N.H.L. rinks where there is very little room to manoeuvre. Brute strength and the ability to run people over are much more important than being able to skate fast and pass the puck with any type of ability.

Even then, with the game built and designed for behemoths in mind, last years leading scorer was the 5'7" Martin St. Louis of the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. While people talk about how the players have gotten bigger and faster in the modern era, their speed has all the subtlety and skill of a run away car. They go straight up and down the ice, continually picking up speed, and running over all objects in its path, but can do little else.

There were eight teams in the quarterfinals for the men's Olympic hockey medal round. Canada's final standing will depend on who the losers are in this round and the next. If the teams eliminated have a better record than Canada did in the preliminary round they will finish ahead of them in the standings. I don't think it's possible for them to finish eighth, but sixth, and even seventh are very likely where they will end up.

The headlines across Canada, and front pages of newspapers, have all carried pictures of the dejected hockey players sitting on the bench as they watch the seconds count down in their loss. On the same day Canadian athletes had won four medals, two gold, a silver and a bronze, yet all it seems we're supposed to care about is one team's fortunes.

On a day we should have been celebrating wonderful victories all that was deemed worthy of reporting was a bunch of professional athletes losing a game. How do you think that makes the people who survive on spare change and usually train at their own expense feel? These guys, who make more money in a month than most Olympic athletes, who are put on pedestals by the press and subsequently the public, get more publicity by losing than others do by winning a Gold medal.

I'd be pushing for a ban on professionals in the Olympic games again. Send the dream teams home, be they basketball, hockey, or tennis. These games should be the hour when the people who strive for years to obtain the pinnacle of achievement in their sport are allowed their moment in the spotlight.

The media and the public barely recognise their existence except for these two-week periods every four years, and now even that is being taken away from them by the arrival of professionals in basketball, hockey, and a lesser degree tennis. The Olympics have fallen a long way from their original idealism, if it actually ever existed, but some essence of that still remains in the efforts of the athletes who compete and win through genuine effort, and skill.

There has been a concentrated effort to reform the Olympics. Corruption among officials is being rooted out, drug cheaters are being hunted down, (a little overzealously by Richard Pound is his desire for the spotlight) and they're even trying to make the arcane rules governing the judging of skating events understandable.

But as far as I'm concerned, if they want to keep the light on the people who matter, the athletes, they need to turn back the clock to the days before they allowed the professionals to participate. Be they the hockey players from the N.H.L. or the Basketball players from the National Basketball Association, they are a distraction from the rest of the athletes who strive and compete for their countries.

Give the games back to the people who spend their lives preparing for them, not the people for whom they are only an afterthought and something to do if they feel so inclined. I'd rather see a bunch of amateurs try their best and lose, than so - called professionals achieve the same results and steal the spotlight.