Sachin is having my dream vacation visiting Europe and catching sporting action in between :-(
SRT At Wimbledon.
SRT At French Grand Prix (F1).
My dream vacation.
On another note, when Sachin is declared fit for the next series, at whose cost will he figure in the XI (Uthappa in the squad - and Rohit Sharma in the XI?).
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Indian women’s 4x400 relay team qualifies
Search Terms
As I was looking at stats of my IPL blog, I was surprised to see that "csk gossip" was something someone searched for and got to my blog. I had no posts on gossip on the individuals and teams, so I was looking to see which post lead people to my blog and I think it is this post where I ask the media not to speculate so much and make a mountain of a molehill! And please note, I am the wrong site to come for gossip - unlikely to know anything unless it is on the first couple of pages of the google news or on TV and not likely to propagate it.
I found that people searched for "Captain cool Dhoni" and variations of "dhoni coolest captain" (not sure if cool is in the context of his style or his demeanour) but they brought a smile.
So I decided to check out this path further (too much time on my hands?) and I typed dhoni in the text box and google offered me the following suggestions.
dhoni wiki (sounds good)
dhoni euro cup (tsk, tsk..., but will let it go)
dhoni 183 (sounds good - a genuine cricket fan)
dhonixpress (fine - an unofficial fan site)
dhoni's official website (sounds good)
dhoni's house in chennai (non-existent - maybe people are checking real estate prices - or maybe checking which properties they can't afford?)
dhoni cricinfo (sounds good)
dhoni with deepika (stale news - not sure if there was anything there to begin with. If you are searching for gossip related items - please be more current).
But the single most funny was
dhoni milk
If google is suggesting the above, it means that many, many people must have searched for it. If you were searching for "dhoni milk" what are you looking for - the secret of his energy (that should be boost) ? It is indeed worrying that so many people have time to search for dhoni milk and are interested in it.
PS: I checked Yuvraj's and Dravid's as well - Yuvraj's has variations of sixes in the suggestions and the only odd one for Dravid was "Rahul Dravid brother" - no idea if his brother was in the news for anything - so in terms of India cricket Dhoni has the oddest search phrases.
I found that people searched for "Captain cool Dhoni" and variations of "dhoni coolest captain" (not sure if cool is in the context of his style or his demeanour) but they brought a smile.
So I decided to check out this path further (too much time on my hands?) and I typed dhoni in the text box and google offered me the following suggestions.
dhoni wiki (sounds good)
dhoni euro cup (tsk, tsk..., but will let it go)
dhoni 183 (sounds good - a genuine cricket fan)
dhonixpress (fine - an unofficial fan site)
dhoni's official website (sounds good)
dhoni's house in chennai (non-existent - maybe people are checking real estate prices - or maybe checking which properties they can't afford?)
dhoni cricinfo (sounds good)
dhoni with deepika (stale news - not sure if there was anything there to begin with. If you are searching for gossip related items - please be more current).
But the single most funny was
dhoni milk
If google is suggesting the above, it means that many, many people must have searched for it. If you were searching for "dhoni milk" what are you looking for - the secret of his energy (that should be boost) ? It is indeed worrying that so many people have time to search for dhoni milk and are interested in it.
PS: I checked Yuvraj's and Dravid's as well - Yuvraj's has variations of sixes in the suggestions and the only odd one for Dravid was "Rahul Dravid brother" - no idea if his brother was in the news for anything - so in terms of India cricket Dhoni has the oddest search phrases.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
T20 Champions League Mess
Note the above is not to be confused with the Champions Trophy mess which has to do with security in Pakistan and non Asian teams and players threatening to pull out of the ODI champions trophy (though the Asia cup is held there this week and the same security concerns exist for the Asian teams).
The first Champions League is expected to be held in India in September with teams from South Africa, India, Australia and England/Pakistan. I find the tournament inherently flawed. It forces players to play against another team they represent and probably played an instrumental part in both teams' success.
For example, Albie Morkel will be able to play for either South Africa Titans or the Chennai Super Kings (and he had good performances for both of them). Lets say the IPL forces him to play for CSK, will that be fair to him or the Titans? Then the titans will not be able to put the best possible team and will not be a "champions" league.
Lets take the reverse scenario, CSK losing out on Morkel, Hayden (who prefers to play a tour match :-)) and Hussey who will prefer to play for Australia, Western Australia and CSK in that order. The CSK team will be one of the weakest instead of one of the strongest.
Playing against a team you represented in the same year and will represent in the next year, must rankle a little bit atleast for the players? Financial compensation will not be enough.
I am not going to talk about the ICL-English counties issue (but that is a mess as well).
I think it is time that the "Champions League" concept was reviewed. Any examples of this in any other sport where you play against your own team?
The first Champions League is expected to be held in India in September with teams from South Africa, India, Australia and England/Pakistan. I find the tournament inherently flawed. It forces players to play against another team they represent and probably played an instrumental part in both teams' success.
For example, Albie Morkel will be able to play for either South Africa Titans or the Chennai Super Kings (and he had good performances for both of them). Lets say the IPL forces him to play for CSK, will that be fair to him or the Titans? Then the titans will not be able to put the best possible team and will not be a "champions" league.
Lets take the reverse scenario, CSK losing out on Morkel, Hayden (who prefers to play a tour match :-)) and Hussey who will prefer to play for Australia, Western Australia and CSK in that order. The CSK team will be one of the weakest instead of one of the strongest.
Playing against a team you represented in the same year and will represent in the next year, must rankle a little bit atleast for the players? Financial compensation will not be enough.
I am not going to talk about the ICL-English counties issue (but that is a mess as well).
I think it is time that the "Champions League" concept was reviewed. Any examples of this in any other sport where you play against your own team?
Wimbledon :match fixing?
Just reading about this news makes me so sad. Can there be no sport/no event untouched by doping & match-fixing scandals? Tennis stars who qualify for the Wimbledon, must be decently paid, why should so many sportsmen throw matches?
This post is about the measures that sports authorities are taking. I am all for harsh penalties and life-bans. But most sports authorities practice double standards - Azharuddin has been banned but is invited to an event to "honour" the 1983 World Cup winning team. I used to be a huge Azhar fan, but there are no two ways about this - he was found guilty and therefore does not warrant any further recognition (unless he is proven innocent).
The measure I find most odd is the locker room ban (tennis is also restricting it to players and coaches). I don't think Shah Rukh should be in the dug-out/dressing room not because it gives an opportunity to corrupt players but simply because it should belong to the players. If the match-fixing was happening in the locker room, why can't you have a hidden camera and a sting operation? Are they serious that the first time a player is broached is in the locker room? Can't they very well contact them well before a match and outside the premises? What is the logic behind restricting the locker room access?
This post is about the measures that sports authorities are taking. I am all for harsh penalties and life-bans. But most sports authorities practice double standards - Azharuddin has been banned but is invited to an event to "honour" the 1983 World Cup winning team. I used to be a huge Azhar fan, but there are no two ways about this - he was found guilty and therefore does not warrant any further recognition (unless he is proven innocent).
The measure I find most odd is the locker room ban (tennis is also restricting it to players and coaches). I don't think Shah Rukh should be in the dug-out/dressing room not because it gives an opportunity to corrupt players but simply because it should belong to the players. If the match-fixing was happening in the locker room, why can't you have a hidden camera and a sting operation? Are they serious that the first time a player is broached is in the locker room? Can't they very well contact them well before a match and outside the premises? What is the logic behind restricting the locker room access?
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