Tagged...again

Rules:

Link to the person that tagged you—this would be Tiffany.

Post the rules on your blog.

Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

My 6 non-important quirks (What? Don't you guys know enough about me already??):

1. Whenever I visit a new country, I seek out the local chocolate. I almost failed in Spain, because they cleverly import almost all of theirs from Switzerland, France or Belgium, but I did succeed eventually.
   Another interesting search was in Holland. I didn't know if the Dutch made chocolate, so I asked my host, Jos. He said there was a good brand called Droste, and that it was made in his hometown. I wrote down the name and went looking for it in the supermarkets. I found a box, bought it, and subsequently found it to be delicious. The sequel: I now notice that practically every airport Duty Free shop that I pass sells Droste chocolate.
   (PS: American chocolate is useless.)
2. I have over 25 shot glasses from Hard Rock Cafes around the world, almost all of which were bought by me. The three that weren’t (Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Singapore) were from places that I had previously visited. That’s the rule: only from places that I have visited. A friend of mine went to Lisbon on holiday and offered to buy me a shot glass, but I declined her generous offer as I’ve never been there.
3. I haven’t owned a car for the past five years. In fact, I’ve only driven on two occasions since 2003. Give it up for public transport in Europe and Asia (and a smaller carbon footprint pour moi)!
4. I became a fan of the San Antonio Spurs without knowing where San Antonio even was. Actually, I became a fan of David Robinson during the 1992 Olympics and decided to support the team for which he played, which happened to be the San Antonio Spurs. Good decision.
5. I will hardly ever print on one side of the paper. If the printer has a duplex setting, I will use that. If it doesn’t, I will feed the paper by hand so that I can print on both sides of the paper. My little way of giving some love back to the trees.
6. I seem to enjoy movies set in France. Charade, To Catch a Thief, the Pink Panther movies, Ronin, The Transporter…heck, I even started to like Mr. Bean after watching Mr. Bean’s Holiday ("O Mio Babbino Caroooooo…").

And now for the good part: tagging people. Well, I'm tagging people without checking if they've been tagged previously or not. If you have, now you have extra reason to get on with it. I tag:

• Alina
• Bobbie
• Christy
• Dave
• Erica
• Jill F (This is the closest I could get to F)

8 things that made 2008 great

As we prepare to consign 2008 to the history books, I look back on this year with mostly fond memories. Despite the awful happenings around the world (continued terrorist activity in the world, natural calamities and a huge economic crisis caused by pure greed and hubris), there were some reasons why my 2008 was great.

In alphabetical order:

A (mostly) kept New Year Resolution: I had one resolution last year—don’t complain. About anything. That was it. And it was a tough one to keep…at times. What I discovered was that once I got going with not complaining, it became easier not to do so as time went on. There are too many petty things that we allow to get in the way of enjoying life, things that can be taken care of quietly, without having to make a fuss. True, there were one or two things that caused major annoyance (well, just one, really), but the resolution was only fractured most of the time and broken just once (most of the whining was internal, except that once, and that was by e-mail, but feel free to contradict me if you thought otherwise). It’s amazing how the capacity to be patient increased over the year.
Blogging: It was about a year ago that I serendipitously discovered a stranger’s blog that I really enjoyed reading (thank you—you know who you are), and, over the past year, I’ve discovered and re-discovered blogs from old friends with whom I’d lost contact for the most part. It’s been great getting back in touch with all of you, even if it is mainly by leaving comments on your blogs. Which reminds: when you drop by to visit, please do say hello by leaving a comment.
Friends, old, new and forgotten: Travelling, blogging and Facebook have yielded some memorable new friendships this year (CMP, B&R G, G&V G, JH, LNS, SH to implicate just a few), rekindled a plethora (C&B I, CF, DH, H&J D, I&A R, KH, M&Y K, TS, T&J T, to give a few examples) and helped me get back in touch with people lost in mists of time (HS, KLH, SCB and TC had all been consigned, regretfully, to the nostalgia shelf until Facebook lent a hand). And, of course, I'm grateful for those whose friendships maintain their consistent nature over the years (ALM, ANM, AMW, ELM, MAO, NP, RGW, S&S R, et al.: thanks for continuing to put up with me). It’s not too much of an exaggeration to state that, at present, I have Grade I friends on every continent of the world (now that P&F DW have moved back to their native South Africa), and possibly most time zones of the world, too. Thank you all for contributing so positively to my 2008.
Indian sport: Undoubtedly, 2008 was the greatest year for Indian sport in my lifetime. Normally we are more chumps than champs, but this year produced plenty of winners for a change. Abhinav Bindra won our first Olympic individual gold medal, while Sushil Kumar and Vijender Kumar (not related to one another) added a couple of bronzes; Vishwanathan Anand was crowned World Chess champion; Pankaj Advani won the World Billiards Championship; Jeev Milkha Singh won golf's Asian Tour Order of Merit and attained a top-10 finish at the PGA Championships; Mary Kom won a fourth successive gold medal in the womens World Boxing Championships; Saina Nehwal won the women's singles at the World Junior Badminton Title; and the Indian cricket team has hopefully started a trend by socking it to the hitherto unbeatable Australians (even the South Africans, notorious for their emotional fragility against the Aussies, are hammering them in style right now).
Olympus E-510: At the end of 2007, I bought myself a long sought-after digital SLR. And while I am nowhere near as proficient with it as I would like to be, I’ve managed to take a few decent photos with it so far this year. Parasailing: I’m not usually one to do adventure sports like para-sailing, but I was in a strangely devil-may-care mood during my trip to Goa in October. What a great idea! That was F-U-N! What’s next?!
President-elect Barack Obama: I have no idea what kind of President Barack Obama will be. He may be viewed with the same historical significance and affection as the previous President from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. Or, he may be deemed as disastrously incompetent as the last guy. I very much doubt, however, that he will be irrelevant, as he will face the biggest economic crisis in 75 years. Whatever he does, or does not do, in office, though, ought not to take anything away from the fact that he will be taking office at all. His was a masterful campaign, a triumph of optimism and brilliant organisation. (Bonus: the way Steve's daughter Sariah says "Bwack Obama" is beyond cute. It happens about 7-9 minutes into the video. Enjoy the rest of the cuteness, too.)
Twerp that I am: In the gloom that was Chennai during the rain of Cyclone Nisha and the horror of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, there was time for serious reflection. It first helped me realise what a twerp I’d been not too long ago. And then it yielded a startlingly clear picture of what I want to achieve in 2009. December had more purpose than the previous eleven months combined.

So, what made ’08 great for you? For those of you with blogs, consider yourselves well and truly TAGGED. For those of you without blogs, leave comments.

A little healing

There are few things that unite Indians. We are a diverse people united by a sense of...actually, I'm not even sure what is our national characteristic. One thing that most of do share is a love of cricket. We as a nation love the game. Some of us even been known to watch all five days of an international Test Match.
Yes, I said five days. Watching a Test Match is akin to watching someone paint. It takes a while to figure out what the final picture will be, and, as Test Matches often end in draws with neither team winning, most of them are like watching someone paint the side of a house: they have form and function, but I'll be blowed if I'm going to hang them in a museum of fine art. Every once in a while, there are genuine masterpieces, that remain etched in the memory long after their completion.
The Indian cricket team has always had some wonderfully talented players who are among the most admired in the world. The problem has always been that, like the country as a whole, the total was less than the sum of its parts. Until the millennium.
From about 2000 onwards, India has become a far more consistent, scrappy team, ready to go toe-to-toe with the best of them. In fact, India are the only team not to have a losing record against the all-conquering Australians in this time frame (in fact, I think we lead them 7-6 since 2001). In October we beat the Aussies 2-0 in record-setting style, and we looked forward eagerly to the visit of a rather unsettled England side in November-December.
The English arrived. And they got hammered in the One Day matches. Five matches played, five thumping Indian wins.
And then came 26/11. Suddenly, cricket didn't matter. For once. For a few days.
As a nation we were shaken, even more than usual due to the brazen nature of the terrorist attacks. We needed healing. Now. The healing that only cricket can give Indians (you have to have lived here to know this is true). Most of all, Mumbai needed this, because Mumbai has always been the capital of Indian cricket.
The English, understandably, returned home as the tour was disrupted. And then, incredibly, the team returned to India to re-start the tour. The venue of the first Test Match was changed to Chennai from...Mumbai. In a magnificent gesture, the English team donated half their match fees to a fund set up to aid victims of the Mumbai attacks.
As if blessed by the fates for their generosity and bravery, the undermanned English dominated the first three-fourths of the match. An upset win seemed on the cards. India fought back on the fourth day. The English nosed ahead on the morning of the fifth. Then, Sachin Tendulkar played the greatest game of his record-breaking career (which is saying something), and took India to a historic, cathartic win.
It had to be Sachin, a son of Mumbai. For those hundreds of million Indians for whom cricket is a religion, Sachin is a god. And aren't the gods supposed to provide healing?

What I wouldn't do for this man...

Entering the current English Premier League season, Rafa Benítez was working on a few unwanted streaks in the EPL. In his previous four seasons as manager of my beloved Liverpool Football Club, Rafa's teams hadn't a) beaten Manchester United, b) beaten a Steve Bruce-managed team, or c) scored at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea (and naturally, hadn't won any of those matches). Nothing suggested that Liverpool would end any of those streaks this season either.

Let's recap the events of the season so far:

a) 13 September 2008: I was making my way back down the Nilgiri hills from Ooty. Meanwhile at Anfield, Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-1.

b) 18 October 2008: I was taking a rather sombre and melancholy walk around Koregaon Park neighbourhood in Pune, trying to sort out a few things in my head. Meanwhile at Anfield, Dirk Kuyt scored a last-gasp winner as Liverpool beat Steve Bruce's Wigan 3-2.

c) 26 October 2008: I was enjoying the hospitality of an old family friend in Goa, feasting on his wife's delicious Goan prawn curry and chicken shakoothi. Meanwhile at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool ended Chelsea's 86-game home unbeaten streak, 1-0.

Sense a pattern? I'm out of town, Liverpool end a dubious streak. And of course I take all the credit. However, if Rafa expects me to head out of town everytime Liverpool have a tough match...I'll, um, think about it.

This is true love - you think this happens every day?

;-)

Unsung hero

I just read this article that just goes to show that not all sportsmen are dumb jocks who can think about no one else but themselves. Nnamdi Asomugha, you are a hero.

Thanks, Shanks

When I was almost five years old, my family and I moved to Birkenhead in Merseyside, just across the River Mersey from Liverpool. I suppose that was around the time that I started to recognise that there was a world outside my family and friends, and most of my earliest memories of childhood are from that period.

One of the first things I recognised was football (no, it's not "sah-ker", it's football - you use your foot to kick a ball; socks play no more part in the game than any other), and living on Merseyside, I had two choices of teams to support: the blue of Everton or the red of Liverpool. (Technically speaking, living in Birkenhead, I also had the white of Tranmere Rovers, but let's not be silly -- the Lilywhites never had a chance as they are historically rubbish.)

I chose Liverpool. It wasn't too difficult a choice. They were the new European Cup winners, their star player, Kevin Keegan, was a ubiquitous pitchman for all sorts of products, and Liverpool players littered England's national squad (never mind that the national squad was pretty pathetic back then, even by today's low standards).

The first 14 years of my relationship with Liverpool Football Club were beautiful, with League, FA Cup, League Cup and European titles galore, the deeply ugly scars of Heysel and Hillsborough notwithstanding. Life hasn't been quite as rosy since then, but days like Istanbul 2005 and Cardiff 2006 have provided plenty of smiles.

This is a long and enduring relationship. I've never been tempted to end it, even during the dark days of Graeme Souness's tenure as manager. They would have to do something quite despicable for me to ever turn on them. Having said that, Liverpool (and sports in general, I hasten to add) don't mean as much to me now as they did as a little child. I'm more likely to kick a table leg when they mess up than throw myself on the bed crying (as I did when I was 6 years old).

I was inspired to write this post after reading an article I found last night on Liverpool's official website giving details of a book that has been recently published researching why LFC are the choice of so many British Asians, from back in the 1960s, even in areas closer to other major clubs.

The most common answer: legendary manager Bill Shankly. Shankly turned a club living on past memories in the 1950s to one that was feared and respected by all by the end of the 1960s, but he did so by creating a family atmosphere not just within the club, but with the fans as well. These things resonated with Asian immigrants, who have a traditionally strong sense of family. I've seen old television footage of fans being told in 1974 that Shankly unexpectedly had resigned as Liverpool manager: they could not have been more shocked if they'd been told a beloved family member had just died. They loved Shankly that much.

Shankly pre-dates my relationship with Liverpool, but we do share one common bond: Shankly's nickname was "Shanks". So was mine.

College Football Team Most Likely to Make 2008 a Great Season for Us at Shankar-GPS (CFTMLTMTAGSFUAS)

It is time at last to reveal the CFTMLTMTAGSFUAS. This is a prestigious title, and one that has been decided after a lot of careful thought, plenty of long-nurtured prejudices and random throwing of darts at a map of the United States.

Ladies and gentlemen...before I name the CFTMLTMTAGSFUAS, here's a little background.

I've always had a passive rooting interest in an SEC team, only that team changes every few years. I started off with the Florida Gators in the 1990s, because I liked watching the way they played on offence, and it was fun to see them try to get to the very top. Then they won the national title, soon afterwards Coach Spurrier left, and I switched allegiences (I can do that--I've never been to school or lived in SEC territory, so I'm an outsider) to the Louisiana State Tigers, due to my love of Cajun food, and the fact that my craziest driving performance was in downtown Baton Rouge (but that's another story). Like the Gators, LSU were knocking on the door of greatness for quite a while, and then they broke through and won two national championships in relatively quick time, so it's not as much fun anymore to root for them.

It's time for another switch. The formula is pretty simple: we need a once-great programme, now on the cusp of greatness again, and with a pretty good reason for me to like them.

Ladies and gentlemen (if any of you are still around), presenting the Shankar-GPS Great Hope for a Great College Football Season in 2008, the alma mater of Herschel Walker, the greatest college running back of all time, theeeeeeeeeee GEORGIA BULLDOGS!



Well, big whoop. They are ranked #1 in all the pre-season polls, and QB Matt Stafford is a prime Heisman candidate, and RB Knowshon Moreno was SEC Freshman of the Year in 2007. So it's not a stunningly bold pick.

Still, the Bulldogs have yet to take the final step under Mark Richt. They ended last season at #2, but their schedule this year has two real stinkers (at LSU and at Auburn) and plenty of banana skins in between. But I think that the Bulldogs are due, and that Uga will barking a lot between the hedges in 2008.

Ring the Bell, Dawgs!

The Fall wishlist - the Collegiate edition

I love College Football. Really, I do. Not only are there so many more teams to despise, but, also, because I've been to so many schools, there are so many more teams to love. Let's get rid of the negativity first in the First Shankar-GPS Football Wishlist - Collegiate Edition.



THE TEAMS I HOPE LOSE EARLY AND OFTEN, WHOSE SLEEP IS INTERRUPTED BY CATS FIGHTING OUTSIDE THEIR WINDOWS AND WHOSE STAR PLAYERS ARE STRICKEN BY INGROWN TOENAILS



In no particular order:

1. USC Trojans (Pac 10)

2. Texas Longhorns (Big 12)

3. Ohio State Buckeyes (Big 10)

4. Michigan Wolverines (Big 10)

5. Florida State Seminoles (ACC)

6. Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC)

7. Miami Hurricanes (ACC)

8. Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12)

9. Boston College Eagles (ACC)

10. Tennessee Volunteers (SEC)



Now, for the good stuff.



THE TEAMS WHO I HOPE MAKE TO THE BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (BUT I WOULDN'T COUNT ON IT)



This time I will go in order, from the least likely to have a good season, to the most likely.



6. Southern Illinois Salukis (Gateway): We can be sure the Salukis won't make a BCS game as they play in the FCS or whatever Division I-AA is called these days. When I went to school in Carbondale, they were rubbish. After I left, they became mediocre. Once I left the US, they became pretty hot stuff, advancing deep into the playoffs almost every year. This year it will be difficult as Head Coach Jerry Kill has left to coach the Northern Illinois Huskies.



5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Independent): I spent two fabulous falls at Notre Dame in the mid-90s, and I just loved the place. Too bad things didn't work out for me there academics-wise, but at least the football back then was of a pretty high standard. Unlike last year when the Irish managed to lose to Navy for the first time since Roger Staubach's Heisman Trophy winning year at Annapolis. I expect another mediocre season in '08, but the Irish are too much a part of me to stop me from hoping for a booster dose of the luck o' the Irish every Saturday.



4. Texas A&M Aggies (Big 12): Similar story to Notre Dame, with me having spent two glorious falls in College Station, but producing an equally lacklustre academic performance as at Notre Dame. The Aggies reached the Big 12 Championship Game both those seasons, but haven't smelled the game since. After the steady, but unspectacular, R. C. Slocum years came the Dennis Franchione Reign of Error. Now, Brett Favre's former head coach, Mike Sherman, comes along to try and return the Ags to their roots. We'll probably lose more than we should, but I'll settle for a return of the Wrecking Crew defence.



3. Oregon Ducks (Pac 10): I need a team to root for in the Pac 10, and until UCLA sort themselves out, Nike U is my rooting choice. The Ducks seem to come so close to doing something significant almost every year, and yet, somehow, they manage to muck it all up. Still, I live in hope that Mike Bellotti's guys will one day win the Pac 10 and give those blasted Trojans something to think about.



2. BYU Cougars (Mountain West): A third straight MWC title for Bronco Mendenhall's men will be hugely popular in my circles: I have more friends in the BYU system than any other university. And if the Cougars can come through undefeated, they will surely be able to gate-crash the BCS for the first time. The BCS is the worst cartel in American sports. Only teams from the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac 10 and SEC make it, unless someone plays out of their skins and has a fantastic, undefeated year. The double standard is just so...un-American. For that reason alone, people should hope the Cougars make it.



And at Number 1...tune in tomorrow.

The Fall wishlist - the Pro edition

When I moved to the US in the Fall of '93, it took me all of a fortnight to get fully immersed into American Football, or just "football" as they call it. I chose my teams rather arbitrarily, but have stuck with them through thick and thin (mainly thin, I'm afraid) ever since.

Since I left the US in early '04, I've not been able to follow the game with quite the same intensity as before, owing to the fact that kick-off time in the US usually coincides with bedtime in Asia. However, I still follow the results, and still root for my teams.

As my teams often have rotten seasons, I find it is also important to have two more categories of teams: the nice teams, i.e., teams you don't mind winning, and the stinkers, i.e., the teams you really want to lose games, have their players suffer from severe dandruff and and the coaches/owners of which teams you would like to see slip on a banana skin and plunge headfirst down a flight of stairs. (Childish, yes. But most sports are a bit childish.)

With the start of the 2008 American football season rapidly approaching, everyone and his uncle has a Football Preview of one sort or the other. I am handicapped because all my opinions are based on prejudice and what I read on espn.com.

So, rather than present to what I think will happen, I present to you what I hope will happen in the First Shankar GPS Football Wishlist - Pro Edition.



THINGS THAT WILL MAKE A STUPENDOUS SEASON:

1. The Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl.

2. The New England Patriots lose the Super Bowl or AFC Championship Game (heck, any game), preferably on an interception returned for a touchdown with 2 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter.



THINGS THAT WILL MAKE A PERFECTLY ADEQUATE SEASON:

1. The Indianapolis Colts win the Super Bowl.

2. The New York Jets win the Super Bowl.

3. The New York Giants miss the playoffs.

4. The Washington Redskins miss the playoffs.

5. The Philadelphia Eagles miss the playoffs.



As you can tell, dear reader (if there are any of you left at this point), a lot of mature thought and scientific analysis has gone into the production of this list.

See you in London

It's time to say farewell to the summer Olympic games for another four years till London in 2012. Despite my scepticism about the Olympic movement since Atlanta '96, I have to admit this was a great event.

I have no comments to make on politics, human rights or Beijing's notorious air quality, but instead I want to make special mention of the athletes who made it memorable for me.

I've already mentioned my top four in previous posts: Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar, Vijender Kumar and Usain Bolt, so I will pass over them. Here are the others, in alphabetical order:

Rebecca Adlington (GB, Swimming): The Brits are a pretty miserable lot when it comes to swimming. They can row and sail better than most nations, but anything involving actually getting in to the water is a different story. Then came Adlington, who shocked everyone by winning the 400m freestyle which wasn't even her pet event. That was the 800m, which she won by breaking Janet Evans' 19 year old world record. Apparently she was motivated by a promise of Jimmy Choo shoes by her mother if she won. Must be a girl thing.

Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe, Swimming): Zimbabwe is a nation in terrible economic shape. In July 2008 had an inflation rate of 2.2 million percent. That's no laughing matter, even if you say that like Dr. Evil. The country's white community has been systematically targetted by the government resulting in terrible racial tension. For Coventry to be able to retain her Olympic gold medal and have a truly cross-over appeal in her country is amazing.

Chris Hoy (GB, Cycling): The leader of Great Britain's dominant track cycling team, The Real McHoy became the first Brit to win three gold medals at a single Games since 1908. And this was after his pet event (the 1 km time trial) was dropped from the Beijing slate.

Javier Mascherano (Argentina, Football): An incredibly biased entry here, Liverpool's Mascherano became the first Argentinian to win Olympic gold medals in successive Olympics. I believe it's Liverpool's first Olympic gold medal.

Rohullah Nikpai (Afghanistan, Taekwondo): Nikpai won a bronze medal in the men's 58 kg even in Taekwondo. That was Afghanistan's first medal in the summer Olympics...ever. And considering his country's tortured history during his lifetime--Nikpai was a refugee in Iran as a teenager due to the violence in his country--Nikpai's feat is all the more amazing.

Rebecca Romero (GB, Cycling): 2004 Olympic silver medallist in rowing, 2008 Olympic gold medallist in cycling. Now that is a pretty good career switch.



MY ATHLETE OF BEIJING 2008:

When Baron de Coubertin founded the modern Olympic games in the 1890s, he gave the famous maxim: "The important thing is not to win, but to take part."

I don't think anyone fulfils this better than the 16th placed finisher in the women's 10k Open Water swim, Natalie du Toit, South Africa flag-bearer at the opening ceremony. Read her story. Or just look at the thousand words below:



Any questions?

Major success

Major props to Vijender Kumar, who, by winning bronze in boxing (middleweight), gave India its most successful Olympics ever, with one gold and two bronzes.

Yes, our standards are pretty low.

This is just Usain!

I was so strong for nearly 12 days. My proud record of not having watched a single second of the Olympics was going strong. I was confident of lasting all 16 days without going near the TV.

Let me clarify here and now that I am following the results on the Internet, but I am not watching any of the action. If you had to watch them on Doordarshan Sports, one of India's insipid government-run TV channels, you'd avoid watching them, too. An Indian boxer entered the semis in his event yesterday, and he was interviewed by Doordarshan. It was so interminably dull and boring that we should use that interviewer as a tactical weapon: have him interview our opponents before the game and lull them to sleep. I'm telling you, we'd be unbeatable. (Incidentally, the slick sports channels show almost nothing but cricket, football and WWE wrestling. Millions of Asians think that pro-wrestling is America's national sport!)

So, I was reading the BBC's Live Olympic Text Updates yesterday when I saw that the final of the Men's 200 metres started at 19:50 Indian time. It was 19:45. Five minutes to Usain "Lightning" Bolt-time. I hadn't seen his 100 metres romp over the weekend (well, I was on a train just then), but just the reports of the show he put on that night made me regret on missing out. So I made an exception and went to the living room and turned on the television. (Thankfully, although the action is shown on Doordarshan, the commentators are not provided by them. They re-broadcast some Australian feed, which means the commentators are worth a listen.)

The athletes were in the starting blocks when I turned on the TV. Ten seconds later, the race was over for all intents and purposes, and I was left laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Bolt just stormed away from the rest of the field. The others could have caught a fish in the desert sooner than catch the Jamaican. Bolt duly broke the legendary Michael Johnson's 12-year old world record, becoming the first man to win both sprints at the Olympics in world record time.

The best part of the whole deal? While on his goofy victory lap (at one point he did his version of the Funky Chicken), Bolt was serenaded by the crowd/PA system singing "Happy Birthday" to him. The phenomenon turned 22 today.

Those of you who really know me will appreciate the magnitude of what I am about to say.

Usain Bolt is...awesome.



PS: The last time I was this impressed by a sprinter was Ben Johnson in Seoul in 1988. Please let this be nothing like that.

Photo of the Olympics

This is Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze medal for India in the 66 kg freestyle wrestling competition in Beijing yesterday. Isn't this a great photo? It was on the front page of our newspaper this morning and I can't get it out of my mind. Just look at the mixture of joy and disbelief on Sushil's face. Wonderful.

Finally!

Ok, so this is another Olympic blog post, but I can justify this one.

Earlier this morning, Abhinav Singh Bindra of India won the gold medal in the Mens 10m Air Rifle competition at the Beijing Olympics.

Woo-hoo!

It only took 112 years, but India finally has an individual gold medal in the Olympics Games. As in ever. To put that into perspective, Michael Phelps will win more individual gold medals this week than India has in history.

For a country of 1.1 billion (and perhaps another billion during the span of the modern Olympics), India really is a pretty miserable sporting nation.

So, take a bow, Mr. Bindra. Your nation thanks you, and salutes you.

PS: Take a look at photo of the guy. He looks more like a mathematics professor than an Olympic gold medallist, doesn't he?

08.08.08 8:00 pm

And now...my first (and possibly last) blog on the Olympic Games.

Are they back?

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I had my fill of the Olympics by No. 5 (for me) in Barcelona in 1992. Atlanta in '96 was putrid (I don't care what anyone says, the cauldron for the Olympic flame still looks like an empty fries container from a far-too-well-known fast food chain), Sydney was acceptable because of Cathy Freeman, and I honestly don't think I watched a minute of Athens in 2004.

So what went wrong with the old Citius Altius Fortius shindig?

Well, for one thing, it's too darn big. There are too many sports for which the Olympics is not the biggest honour (basketball, football and tennis to name just three), and they are just bloating the whole event.

And while it seems great that the best professionals in these sports are at the Olympics, I'm pretty certain that the players' clubs, who actually pay their wages, are not best pleased. FC Barcelona went to court to try to prevent their best player, Lionel Messi, from taking part in Beijing. And while they haven't said much in public, I don't think the Cleveland Cavaliers or Liverpool FC manager Rafa Benitez would be best pleased if LeBron James or Javier Mascherano tore an ACL or something.

If the Olympics really want me back (and with an estimated worldwide television audience in excess of three billion, I'm guessing they can live without me), they need to heed the advice of the late, great Waylon Jennings and "get back to the basics of [life]".

Off with tennis, football and pro basketball. Keep the Olympics for the gymnasts, the swimmers, the athletes and the canoeists. To the latter group, the Olympics is the be-all and end-all of their careers.

Having said that, I watched about 10 minutes of the Opening Ceremony while having dinner. The athletes were entering the stadium, country-by-country, in a seemingly random order. The BBC and CNN both state that the order is according to how many strokes it takes to write the country's name in Chinese script, but it baffles me how you can write Trinidad and Tobago in fewer strokes than Estonia in any language. China always has been a bit of a mystery, hasn't it?

Olé, Olé, Olé!

The 2008 summer of stunning Spanish sporting successes continued today on the Champs-Élysées in Paris as Carlos Sastre won his first Le Tour de France.

Sastre follows his compatriots Óscar Pereiro (who was awarded the win over a year after the finish of the race as actual winner, American Floyd Landis, was disqualified for doping offences) and Alberto Contador (who may yet lose his title at some point in the future, also for doping allegations) as winners of the most famous cycling race in the world.

I don't believe there will be any controversy in the future over Sastre's triumph as his name is conspicuosly clean in the murky world of cycling, and he is described as being quite modest and unassuming. What a refreshing change from the usual prima donnas who occupy the upper echelons of sport.

So Sastre follows the Spanish national football team and Rafael Nadal in unexpectedly winning major sporting events this year, emphatically confirming that the sporting summer of '08 belongs to Spain.

Olé! Part 2

It's déjà vu. Only last week I was enjoying a stunning Spanish sporting success (try saying that five times fast) at Euro 2008. This week is Rafael Nadal's turn to earn plaudits from me for his brilliant triumph in last night's epic Wimbledon final (emphasis on the "night" - watch the embedded video on the BBC link to see what I mean).

Rafa becomes the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon since Manuel Santana in 1966, the first man in five years to beat Roger Federer (of Hogwarts, according to Simon Barnes of The Times) at Wimbledon, and the first man to win the Men's Singles titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Björn Borg in 1980. Stats aside, it was a fantastic match. Federer may have been a bit under-par by his usually high standards, but there was no denying Nadal. The man hits the ball with undisguised ferocity, almost as if he had a personal grudge against the poor thing. Remarkable player. Anyone brave enough to bet against Spain's Sergio Garcia breaking his Grand Slam duck at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in a fortnight and complete an unlikely Spanish sporting hat-trick?

Olé!

Congratulations, Spain! Well deserved victory over the Germans in Euro 2008. For the first time in my life, my pre-tournament favourites have gone on and actually won the tournament. (That's what happens when you support England every time. This time they didn't qualify for the Championships, and I was free to latch on to another team.)

That Fernando Torres became the first Liverpool player to ever score in a major international tournament final (what a great goal it was, too) is a sweet bonus.

Old habits...

Woo-hoo! It's the final of Euro 2008 tonight. What an excellent tournament it's been. Such fantastic attacking play from every team -- even the Italians (at times).



And, of course, I am delighted that my team for the tournament, Spain, have made it to the final. I hope they beat the despised Germans...



Why?

Huh? Who are you?



Your conscience. Why do you hope Spain beat Germany?

Because Spanish striker Torres had such a great season for Liverpool last year.



So, if Torres wasn't playing, would you hope for the same result?

It's not just Torres. Pepe Reina, Alvarao Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso are on the subs' bench. And Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is Spanish.



But take away those guys whom you've never met, will you still support Spain?

Um, yes.



How many Spanish friends do you have?

None.



How many Germans have personally gone above and beyond the call of duty to help you out when you were a stranger to them?

Er, over half-a-dozen.



How many Spanish products do you own?

None.



What's the only brand of pen you've paid money for in the past five years, and where is it made?

Staedtler. And it's made in Germany.



Where does the software that you use at your job originate?

Germany.



How many times have you flown on a Spanish airline?

None.



How do you fancy another flight on Lufthansa?

Ooh, can I? I love that airline.



So, with all that, how come you are rooting for Spain to beat Germany?

Because it's Germany, dang it! I grew up in England. I root for three teams: England, and whoever is playing Germany and/or France! And I have no idea what to do when Germany play France!



* * *

Such, dear readers, is the logical mind of a sports fan.



Viva, Espana! (At least for tonight.)