scrape through, tie wow, shock loss and thrill win

They are saying, England doesn't deal in dull matches. That, if you have tickets for an England match, you will get your money's worth. And that they are single handedly making these early stages of world cup heart-stoppingly exciting.

Right no?!

Hamburg, Germany

Link here.

Resistance to change?

Certain things are not expected to change. Were. For people like me who watched Spanish football over the years, Raúl González and Real Madrid were indistinguishable. Over the years, the aura might have faded.. but the #7 was a Madridista. Always.

Yesterday, Raúl announced him leaving the club. This does not come as a shock, but it was news Madrid fans did not want to be delivered anytime soon.

Raúl may not the most spectacular player you would see, but the pure passion and grit that you see the left-footer bring to the game, reminds you what gutso and loyalty is. The latter, a soon-to-be forgotten trait in the game. He is a true gentleman, one who never got red-carded in his career.

It is not the end of his playing career, but so strong are certain associations between players and the teams they play for, that you could hardly believe that there is life after that. He did the right thing.. he has accomplished (almost) everything he could at Madrid and would move to Germany for the reminder of his career probably. The fans wish him the best.

For me, Raúl will always be El Siete - the legend from Real Madrid.

P.S. LeBron James, please take note how to leave a team in style.. from the true King.

P.P.S. For the last time, Hala Madrid! Raúl Madrid!

(photo updated: 8.8.10)

So today..

a South American Team will actually be eliminated! Brazil vs. Chile.

The quaterfinals already seem to be so exciting.

P.S. Would be nice to visit the Machu Picchu, pet the Llamas, fly over the nazca lines, (yes, Buenos Aires too - Go Argentina! ).. I am so into the south american spirit! :p

Angst

From the best batsman in the world, and World Champions, for a good reason.

"If that's what you think take a look at the head-to-heads and see who has got bragging rights. ODI, Tests and Twenty20. Tell me who has got the bragging rights?"

Ricky Ponting bristles when asked if England held the bragging rights following their win against Australia in the second ODI

Source, www.cricinfo.com

This weekend..

shall be a busy one.

FIFA 2010 - Round of 16.
F1 - Valencia
Wimbledon - of course.

Hopefully they'll turn the volume on vuvuzelas down by a notch.. :p

Random lines in papers and social networking sites, I paraphrase:

This world cup is like the WW-II: The French surrendered early, the Americans turned up late, Italy got defamed.. leaving England to fight the Germans!

No no no..

Please don't let him got out like this. Not in the first round of Wimbledon. Not in the centre court. Not to Falla.

Roger Federer down by 2-0.. ok, now 2-1 and still struggling..

He'll get the game back - Hope.

------------------------------------------------------

And he did it..

Long time

India-Pakistan is back. And how!

Also please note, this was a 50 over match. No Twenty20 match could be more thrilling (well if your idea of thrill is a six or four every three balls, we're not talking about it.)

I guess the only thing that didnt turn out perfect in this match was that the six didnt come off the last ball!

Now that we're in the India-Pakistan mood, why not catch up on old times? Please watch only at full volume.

Be different man, be cool

Like not watching a single match of the 2010 Football World Cup.

mind games

hmmm.

yes.

done.

ok.

World T20..

Zzz...


..



.. ZZZZ...



... wake me up when the excitement begins.

(In the meanwhile, elsewhere.. in England; reports confirm tennis balls were not used.)

not yet sold on the idea of Twitter?

Sachin (sachin_rt) is there.
I rest my case!

#EPIC

youtube #FAIL

The Final.

There's a man.. called Bhogle..

Campos Meta

Watch this space!

Keywords: Chandhok.

The National Sport !

It is rather embarassing for me to say this, but I have been a quiz enthusiast for a while now. But there was a little bit of a tale with regard to my debut.


It was the "prestigious" Maggi Quiz. I was in class 3. Like all other Indian kids, I loved cricket. So when I saw the question - What is India's national sport ? I promptly wrote down C R I C K E T.

That probably puts across the predicament Hockey faces in our great country. There were probably 2 peaks in the world of Indian hockey as far as popularity were concerned.

1. The very well marketed Premier Hockey League, with yours truly rooting for the Hyderabad Sultans.

2. Chak De India. Yes, it took something Bollywood to actually make people realise that this game actually had something to offer.


Now with some heavy duty advertising and the likes of Priyanka Chopra and Viru Sehwag associating themselves with the FIH Hockey World Cup, let us hope that their viewership and popularity goes in the right direction. Up.

So don't forget to catch all the action starting Feb 28 in New Delhi.


PS: Watch our for Prabhjot !

all rise

Here cometh India's proudest son.

The heavens aren't going to fall if that happens.

Modi also said that he was not overly concerned by the possibility of overseas players withdrawing from the event. "The heavens aren't going to fall if that happens. This is an Indian tournament; we have the key Indian players and only a few international players."

After such a statement, I might actually follow IPL this season.

Modi saab, in spite of the pure evil that he might seem, will manage to prove something if such a thing happens - that, the game is bigger than the sportsman. (Now, whether the game being refered to here is the sport itself, is another matter.)

Btw, anyone called the Bullying Helpline there yet, KP?

1st ODI, Jaipur

So, I am just wondering if the SA press is lamenting the umpiring and calling for the end of the world, coz SA lost the 1st ODI due to some contentious calls from the umpires, after that remarkable fight-back ala Jumbo (and the super dive on the boundary line in the 100th over by a certain man *grin*). #Hello-Indian-press-!

Or do they just care less? #Probable.

Also, wtf Hindustan Times!