Friday, March 27, 2009

Here comes F1!

After reading the reports coming from Albert Park in Melbourne it appears that the Ferrari-McLaren-BMW troika might be whacked by the smaller teams, including one that really didn't know that would take part until a few weeks ago. I know this post has nothing to do with the media but I've been watching Formula 1 since 1995 when Star Sports started airing it and I really do love it. I have a new new big-ass LCD telly, and I've bought a few cases of Carlsberg (and I know that means that I am indirectly funding Rafa Benitez' attempt to buy David Villa - I'm on a sports trip right now, aren't I?) to begin the season. Good fun coming up!
PS: Discovered that Mail Today has a print run of 1.32 lakh, quite impressive numbers for a paper that is a couple of years old!

2 comments:

probir said...

It is already stale news that the second season of IPL, the biggest cricket even of India will be held in South Africa. May be after what happened in Lahore on March 3, one cannot criticize the decision hardly as the security of cricketers is a matter of serious concern. It is quite obvious that when the general election in the country will be under way the government will have to take care of the security of the citizens. Nothing can be bigger than the election in a country. Kolkata Knight Riders’ owner Shahrukh Khan has said the same thing. But, what about the spirit, the electrifying atmosphere?

From the very first match of the tournament last year, IPL had come up as a great package of entertainment and game. Colorful jerseys, rocking music at the stadium and attractive cheerleaders had taken the event to a whole new level. South Africa is much better than India, as far as infrastructure is concerned. No doubt, the tournament will be organized in a much better way in that country and as there is no threat of fundamentalist groups, the body shaking of the cheerleaders will be much ore enjoyable, but alas on the television screen. The cheer of the crowd will never be the same because nowhere else in the world, people are so crazy about cricket as we Indians are. Some one has rightly said, In India cricket is not just a game, it’s a religion.

Will Sachin Tendulkar enjoy the moment of stepping into the field with his bat in South Africa as he does while playing in Wankhede? Will it be the same for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to hit a spectacular over boundary in a South African field and doing that in India? No it can’t be. Definitely they will get some appreciation for their performance, thanks to the Indians who stay there. In fact the season 2 of IPL is a great gift for the NRIs. It is a golden opportunity for them to watch their national cricket heroes closely. But will they be able to turn the atmosphere of the stadiums electrifying as people of Kolkata do in Eden Gardens?

To be very frank, IPL in South Africa will be ‘no match’ to its first season. But yet, something is better than nothing. We must take the fact in a positive spirit that at least the tournament will take place. Yes it will be a little bit disappointing to see our national cricket heroes playing in comparatively quiet atmosphere but if we see it from the security’s point of view, it is not very harsh. We will certainly not like to see our cricketing heroes lying on hospital beds with bullet injuries just for the sake of entertaining us. We can’t even allow thousands of people to lose their lives for blasts or terrorist attacks in stadiums. Had IPL been played simultaneously with the general election in the states, one could not have ruled out the possibility of such a tragedy. So for the sake of our lives and the security of our cricket heroes, we must make this sacrifice with smiling faces. So lets say “NRI friends, this year we give it to you. Enjoy!”

kaushal said...

Its time to switch gears buddy..Star sports gives the worst coverage on F1.better switch to BBC