Fury 3

My sincere apologies if my words do not form properly. I am furious. And I do not blame myself.

I am not a boxing connoisseur. I have never been. I don't know the rule-book inside out like some of my acquaintances. I do stay up, though, to watch India compete. I still do not know what results in a point and what does not. What I know is that things are rather less well-defined in boxing than in most sports.

All I know is:

Event 1: Sumit Sangwan had a howler the other day. That's what everyone told me. People who do understand the sport and its rules. We had appealed. It was overturned.

Event 2: Vikas Krishan Yadav possibly should have lost anyway. That's what everyone told me. People who do understand the sport and its rules. They had appealed. It was accepted.

I repeat, I do not know the rules of boxing. All I know is that they are very subjective. I do not intend to know, either. All I know is that both the events should not have happened. One of them happening is a heartbreak, but can still be accepted, since umpiring errors happen in all kinds of sports.

Twice is not acceptable. It simply does not sound right. No, I'm not furious because the opponent was an American. Or because the jury was British.

My fury comes from the fact that there is no way out of this. If you win fairly, the decision goes against you and the protests go down the drain. If you win unfairly, the protests are upheld immediately.

Is there a way that we will be allowed to win in a sport that's not this subjective?

How are our boxers supposed to motivate themselves if this is how their dreams are going to end after four years of toil?

BCCI have been right all along, actually. They have actually been successful in bringing down the unfair decision count against the Indian cricket team by the sheer flex of muscles. My sincere apologies to them for being sarcastic all along.

Leander

I stayed up to watch Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan (or J Vishnuvardhan) bow out of Olympics 2012 today. I normally avoid tennis discussions (with the rather cool excuse that tennis-ball sports do not interest me). I wasn't watching tennis today anyway. I was watching India in action. Leander in action. Till half-past one in the morning.

They've been knocked out today by Llodra, and more importantly, Tsonga: people who are ranked way, way above. It was almost a case of Sharman Joshi taking on Arnold Schwarzenegger. For Leander there might not be another chance either (well, he can still have a stab at it with Sania Mirza).

Much as I have respected and admired Indian sportspeople over the years and their commitment towards the country, I have never thought that any of them would be prepared to die for the country.

Leander Paes might. He might have as well been at Kargil instead of Wimbledon tonight, taking bullets instead.

He's that relentless. We have produced many masters across multiple sports. Cricketers, lots of them. Anand. Dhyan Chand. Geet Sethi. Prakash Padukone. Saina Nehwal in the making. Shooters and archers and wrestlers in the pipeline as well.

Almost all of them have been more talented sportspeople than Leander Paes. However, there have been one aspect where he has outdone them all.

Patriotism and pluck.

Some people use their sports equipments as paintbrushes. Some other as chisels. Some as tools. Some as pens. Some merely as a means to earn their bread.

I've seen Leander Paes use it as a bayonet time and again. Even tonight. At thirty-nine.

What the...

Just as the third match of this seriously WTF series is been played, I've come across another equally, if not more, serious WTF stuff. Diego Forlan is in Kolkata right now.

Diego Forlan. The Diego Forlan. Winner of lots of trophies, including The Golden Ball at the FIFA World Cup 2010. Less than a month back. I mean, we've seen champion footballers visit the city, but it's always men who have retired ages back - to the extent that people often ask themselves "now, where have I heard that name...?"

But FORLAN? Isn't he the man of the moment? Awarded the best player in the biggest sport event in the world, already a living legend, what is he doing in a country that's currently ranked 132nd in FIFA rankings, a couple of weeks after he won that coveted award? That too with a girlfriend as ooooooh as Zaira Nara (is she in town as well? Google her, guys, she is good...)? I mean, WHY? Why on Earth? Has he really run out of better things to do?

I mean, in a solid, imposing barritone, W. T. F.????

Dirty fellows

While following Brazil vs Netherlands on fifa.com (well, there was a television set, but I love following soccer, just like cricket, on the internet along with television, especially when there's work to do) I came across something very curious:

Ten of the eleven Dutch players in the starting line-up had a yellow dot next to their names. Which meant that a single yellow card in this (or a subsequent) match would mean they'd be out next match.

And then, in the 14th minute, the only remaining player (Heitinga) was booked. What was true for ten players was now applicable for all eleven of them. Must be a stunning feat.

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PS: Brazil leads 1-0 at half-time. Any soccer match that Brazil wins is a good match, by definition.

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Edit (next morning): Grrrrrrr.