Random Stuff

Well, it's been a long time since I wrote anything. The reason for this was partly because of a paper deadline. But, the other main reason was that the topic I had planned to write about last week became a very hot topic and there were articles about it all over the place - the role of technology in aiding the umpires in cricket. Basically, I had read an interview of Simon Tauffel on Cricinfo just a few days before the Bangalore Test. In that interview, Tauffel had said that the role of technology should be limited else it would devalue the skills of the umpires. Bah! Can anyone think of any worse excuse?!! Who the hell cares for the skills of the umpire - do people flock to the stadiums to watch the players or to admire the "skills" of the umpires! I had planned to write out a rant about this, but just then Sehwag@Bangalore happened and there were thousands of such rants about umpiring all over the net. So, here I am a writing a post a week later than planned ...

One ludicrous article that caught my article last week was the piece on Cricinfo which compared James Franklin with Wasim Akram after he took a hat-trick against lowly Bangladesh. I have no idea what the writer had in mind! Anyway, speaking about hat-tricks, here's one interesting fact that was mentioned in the "Ask Steven's" column on Cricinfo this week. Basically, there has been an instance in which the 3 wickets of a hat-trick have been claimed in 3 different overs. It took me quite a while to even think of a situation in which this can occur!! Anyway, such a hat-trick was claimed by Merv Hughes against the Windies sometime towards the end of the 80s. I guess I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to think about how this could occur! ;-) On my friend Sumit's request (for all those dim-witted readers), here's a link:
http://plus.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/OCT/072425_COL-ASKSTEVEN_18OCT2004.html

Sumit has also been doing some research of late about the fourth-innings average of the leading batsmen in cricket. The main conclusion has been that both Tendulkar and Lara suck big time when it matters the most. Both average around 35 in the 4th innings. The leading batsman in this is Hayden, followed closely by Dravid. This analysis was motivated mainly by the stats recently posted on Cricinfo about Damien Martyn's performance in the second innings in the subcontinent. For those who haven't read that article, he has scored 4 centuries in the sub-continent, 3 of which have been after Australia had conceded the first innings lead.

I guess we have had enough of cricket for now. The other spotlights in the week that passed by have obviously been Boston's comeback against the Yankees and Arsenal's defeat at the hand of (or should it be the foot?!) ManU. The first has the potential of breaking Boston's 86 year old barren run and the other broke the Gunners' 49 game unbeaten streak. Actually, the NLCS slugfest between the Astros and the Cardinals also featured a superlative performance by Carlos Beltran, though for a losing cause. Midway through the series, Beltran had scored 8 homers of 8 games in the post-season, tying the record for most home-runs in the postseason. As expected, Barry Bonds was the sole owner of the record previously.

Other than performances of sportsmen, the other highlight of the week was the introduction of models as ball girls at the Madrid Masters. Don't know how fast this will catch up at other tournaments, but it certainly seems to have the marketing potential to be included in the Slams soon! There's soon going to be competition for Sharapova and the others on the court!

F1 fracas

Formula1 has more or less become a joke this season. Other than victories by Trulli and Raikonnen, it has been a sweep by Ferrari this year. Even though Michael seems to have got bored and cooled off, the Ferrari domination continues in the form of Barrichello. In light of this state of affairs, I read an interesting statement recently. Now that Ford has decided to pull out of F1, some reporter asked F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone whether they would instead introduce 3 cars each for the top 3 teams - Ferrari, Mclaren and Williams. His reply was "Why not! We'll hand over the whole podium to Ferrari now!". :))

The MLB post-season has begun, and the Yankees have lost their first game. However, I'm hoping we get to see a Yankees-Redsox final. After their miserable season this year where they just managed to avoid 100 defeats (Yes, for the record, they did have 99 defeats this season!!!), the Mariners finally had a special weekend with Ichiro breaking Sisler's 84 year old record on Friday and an emotional farewell to Edgar Martinez on Saturday. I don't have much hopes for them for the next season too ....

Anyway, the highly anticipated blockbuster between India and the Aussies here. Will the Australians finally break through the "final frontier"? Let's wait and watch, and ofcourse enjoy!

Cheers,
Harsha

Rooting for Tiger

How I wish I was at this stage of my life 4 years ago. Not because there was some unsolved problem at that time on which I fancy my chances, but because that was when the storm called "Tiger Woods" was sweeping through golf. Looking at the way Tiger is playing currently, it's tough to get a clear picture of the extent of Tiger's domination at that time. Consider the raw facts of his performances in 2000 - wins the US Open by 15 shots, wins the British Open by 8 shots and wins 3 of the 4 majors - Phew! Winning a major by 15 shots - that's pretty much unimaginable for me atleast. Even Els has admitted that back in 2000, whenever he teed off with Tiger, he was just competing for the second spot. He knew he had no chance of coming anywhere near Tiger.

Now, coming back to the present, all that seems a fairytale. Tiger has won just one strokeplay event this year. He hasn't been anywhere close to winning any of the majors (Ok, he came a wee bit close in the British Open but ended up making bogeys at just the right times!). He not only got dethroned from the No. 1 ranking a couple of weeks back by Singh, but he is also on the verge of being replaced from No. 2 if Els wins the ongoing Amex World Golf Championship where he is leading after 54 holes. On the whole, it's certainly a sorry state of affairs considering the heights of 2000.

I usually tend to support underdogs and hate sportspersons who dominate their sport - prime example: Michael Schumacher - but seeing Tiger struggle over the past one year has somehow given him a humane touch. As I have not had the privilege of watching Tiger's exploits in 2000, all my analysis for his downfall has been from what I have read. According to my sources, the main reason for Tiger's domination back then was that his swing carried much farther than anyone else. But now the sport is filled with power-hitters, all of whom can give the ball a mighty whack and easily outdo Tiger. It was appalling to see even the Ryder Cup rookie, Paul Casey's swing go farther than that of Tiger! I don't know whether this can be attributed to the development of golf equipment, but from what I've seen over the past year following Tiger both on TV and online is that his driving accuracy back in 2000 must surely have been better than what it is now. Nowadays, more often than not, his swing off the tee ends up in some bushes way off the fairway and it's quite an achievement in itself that he still manages to save par on most occasions. What pains me the most in this whole affair is that Tiger still doesn't admit to being in a slump. He keeps pointing to the fact that he still manages to finish in the top-10 almost always and his record of 'most number of consecutive cuts made' is still going on and on. However, after the dizzy heights that he went to in 2000, obviously we expect making the cut and then finishing in the top 10 as a formality for him. Anyway, I for one am certainly hoping that he makes a return to form next year and gives Singh, Els and Lefty a run for their money. Come on Tiger ...