I'm back

Am finally back to the surface after having gone underground for the past four weeks putting fight for a paper deadline. As expected, the number of hits per day on this page has been steadily falling. Hopefully with increased activity, I will get my reader base back :)

Anyway, there doesn't seem to be anything really interesting going on around. The Super Series was clearly a dud (I can't believe we actually bought the package to watch that stupid match!). Alonso winning the championship has pretty much been a certainty for most of the season. Nothing great has been going on in tennis - the only event to await is the Masters Cup; hopefully we'll see someone challenge Federer there. Out of all the possible options, the Challenger Series seems to have been the only event that invoked some interest over the past month. So, it doesn't look like I really missed out on anything significant.

The only thing I missed which I'm not sure would have been exciting or not is the baseball postseason. Only yesterday did I come to know that both the Yankees and the Redsox had been knocked out, and today on SportsCenter I learnt that the World Series (what a misnomer!) is going to be fought out by the Houston Astros and the Chicago Whitesox. Maybe I'll catch a game or two of that series.

An interesting development has been the introduction of a new dress code in the NBA. The league has instituted a new code of conduct that whenever the players are not on the court, and are representing the league, they have to be in "Business Casual" attire. Which basically means, they need to wear either a suit or a full-sleeve shirt, be dressed in proper trousers and wear decent shoes (no sneakers, flip-flops, etc.). What makes this even more debatable is that they are not allowed to sport any medallions or pendants that are visible from outside, and use of headgear/headphones off the playing field is banned too. For a precise outline of the new regulations, go here. The first thing that comes to mind on reading this is that it's aimed at restricting the black players in the league, who clearly form a significant majority. And, unsurprisingly, the players too have voiced their opinion that these regulations are clearly racist. Even Tim Duncan, who is almost always diplomatically correct, has termed this "a load of crap".

I personally don't think these stipulations will last for long. One can understand regulations to curb violent outbreaks like what happened in the infamous Pistons-Pacers match last year. But, what's the point of restricting the player's apparel?!! The only reason I can see is that the NBA is afraid that seeing the players in their ridiculous attire (which happens to be normal for them :)) puts off people and so lose interest in the game. If anyone can think of any other reason, please do let me know. Anyway, like Duncan, I too feel it's a load of crap because all that the fans care for is that the games are of high quality. It's not as though I'm gonna put on the TV before a game, see some player dressed shoddily and so, turn it off! Who the hell cares what they wear off the court? Let us see how long this ruling stands and how many of the players get penalized for not abiding by them (I'm sure there are going to be many :)). Anyway, right now, can't wait for the season to begin!

Cheers,
Harsha