Screenshot courtesy: ESPNWow! And to think that I always thought that the Ashes was cricket's best known rivalry ;)
(P.S: Guess the significance of the post was not very clear. My bad. I posted it not because of the headline, but because of the location of the headline. This was on ESPN's US homepage and finding cricket mentioned there was a pleasant surprise. In the time I have been here, only once before have I seen this first hand. That was a couple of years ago, when Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays of the Day featured Chaminda Vass plucking a catch out of nowhere on the ropes, a shot that would have gone for six otherwise. However, I have to mention here that with the amount of TV access that I have had in the past few years, it is possible that I have missed some other references, though I never fail to watch Sportscenter when possible.)
17 comments:
It is the greatest rivalry but what a change...now no team (except Australia at times) cows India down....no situation is frightening enough. Its awesome to see India play likeit is supposed to be played. Fantastic. Dravid seems to be keeping up the good work started by Ganguly that of being an aggressive captain.
ESPN Star seems to have mixed up political rivalry with sports rivalry!..i still believe that the Ashes is the greatest clash in cricket!
enna da cricket pathi romba naala ezhudhalaye nu paathan.... ezhudhitanya ezhudhitan....
Me: Ellam maya..
Vikram H: That was NOT ESPN-Star, but THE ESPN, as in the ESPN here in the US. The emphasis is not on the headline, but the fact that cricket made the main page!
Gato: Dravid was always aggressive, it's just that it's a different "agressive". Not the "tear my shirt off and wave it in the air" aggressive, but the cool calculating version of "aggressive"!
It's sad that Dravid-Sehwag pair could not beat the world record of the highest score!
The Ashes series,over the past decade at least, has had hardly any interest cricket wise. Compare that with some of the REALLY gripping matches India and Pak have played over the last decade. Even notwithstanding the political stuff, Indo-Pak is definitely cricket's pinup poster.
And of course ESPN US has woken up to cricket. Mee laanti vaallu akkada cricketo raamchandra ani edusthunte ratings get affected.
:)
?! Enduku? Meeku cricket lo interest leda?
Hardu/?!: In spite of what i have up on the "about me" section of this blog, my Telugu is limited to a few "Ela unnaru, baghunnara" types along with a few lines like "Naa dhaari, raha dhaari" type of punch lines from thalaivar movies dubbed in Telugu. Oh wait, ya, I listen to some Telugu music as well, pretty much Chiru numbers, just so that I can shake a leg! So, pliss excoos!
?!: Ummm, ain't that because of the "war-like" euphoria generated by the media? I remember words like "Jung", "Aag" etc thrown up by the likes of ESPN-Star etc. to hype up the matchup. I am not sure that people other than desis and expat desis watched these matches. And the false picture is shored up even more by the strength in numbers. All this adds to a sense of desparation in the players, the thought that they will be lynched upon losing to their "mortal enemies"!
Hardu: It is only you, me and a few sorry bastards in the media, who have already started coming out of the woodwork now, that are going to worry about the lost chance. Sehwag is not gonna lose sleep. Like the second day, when he went off at the close having made a unbeaten 96. Someone asked him if he will be nervous while getting some sleep, he seemed surprised at the thought and replied with a "why would I be nervous?". In some ppl, this question would be equated to a show of false bravado, but people like Sehwag and Afridi don't really care neither for the past or the future and that is refreshing.
Mahadevan: Sehwag can do it. If anybody could, it would be Sehwag. At the same time, it cannot be Sehwag, since I don't think he is swayed by the thought of a record till he comes to it. A lot of ppl, including Sachin will plan long term (i.e from halfway through an inning). But with the likes of Sehwag and Afridi, its ball to ball at the best. And there is also this small the problem. The mathematical probability that every single bowler in the attack will break down is next to impossible. Happens only once in a lifetime and I think it already happened in this one.
Frankly, cept for last year, the Ashes sucked. All the innings defeats and hundreds of run defeats. It was pathetic.
Yeah, the media did hype Indo-Pak "war hysteria" up. But the series did have its gripping moments.
And if you see Ashes (or Eng-Aus) over the last decade vs Indo-Pak, the sheer quality of competition is largely evident the latter.
And Anti; the gist of my comment was "kaaka tirupati ku ponaa govinda govinda na kathhum ?" Neenga Amrika poyitta baseballa paaka poreenga? So ESPN US recognises market potential.
Hardu, paapam Anti Telugu market poyindi.
Anti: I was just asking ?! If he was not interested in cricket. Basically was just trying to show off my telugu. :P
?!: Anti yenduku paavam? Ippudu telugu readers yevaru raaru anTana?
Did sehwag really say he had never heard abt Pankaj roy and Vinoo mankad?
-shashi
Hardu : you are guilty, not gulty ==> betrayed by paavam as opposed to paapam.
Was a rabid fan of the Indian team through darkest days, till one fateful match in Sharjah, (not the Miandad 6, I think next year) when we shamefully lost a Friday final. Had persuaded a whole lot to bunk classes despite written warnings and we were swinging till the end. (now don't even want to check records as to which match). Result ==> Bheeshma pratigya NEVER ever to get emotional about Indian cricket issues.
Anti, kavala padaadhinga. Telugu refs cheppadaniki ane konni paapalu vastaru emo!
?!: Your statement - kaaka tirupati ku ponaa govinda govinda na kathhum ?" Neenga Amrika poyitta baseballa paaka poreenga? is interesting. But my question is this - Guntur le Krishna paramathma thondrinaal, avarukku NTR jaadai ille nu, avarai "nee Krishnar illa" nu sollida mudiyuma? (Crazy Mohan ki jai!). Which essentially says that just cos I dont post about basketball and football (American), does that mean that I don't follow those sports? Actually i cant make head or tail of baseball, so there. But basketball and football, they are almost as big as cricket is (when India is playing)
And btw, naaku Telugu market koncham kooda ledhu. But nenu osthanante meeru othantara (Thanks Prabhdeva!)? And naaku Telugu refs chaala undhi ;)
Btw, I wanted to ask you this (and mebbe I did). Any significance behind the "?!" nick???? The trivia monger in me has one explanation ready, but I wanted to know if you have one.
Hardu: I know enough of Telugu to understand what you were telling ?!
Shashi: I guess he did, dude. But I can't understand why this huge fuss about it. Bedi should give some rest to his arse! God, this calls for another rant from me, I guess!
[for all you non Tams, that line about Krishna and NTR and Guntur, translates to this question - If Lord Krishna decides to show up in Guntur (A.P), would you doubt his identity just because he does not look like N.T.Ramarao?")
Anti: Thanks for the translation. I needed that becoz of my wonderful Tam. :)
?! I accept that I am not gult. I never said I was one. :P I am neither a gult nor a tam, I am a kannadiga. Anduke full mixture maatlaadtuNnaanu.
Now that the team had played well in this test, our media has nothing else to carp about.
And now u have all this stupid polls abt whether Dravid should open the innings with sehwag or not.Pen paper haath mein diye tho saale kuch bhi likh dethe hai..
-shashi
Anti : Loved that Crzay Mohan line. (
For a sports fan, ?! should be obvious. Chess notation : Dubious Move. More precisely : Dub. Mo. not easily refuted :))
Lets hear your take though.
?!: Aaaah... Chess?? Is that a sport? Mebbe it is, but its a sport that I am too dumb for. In fact my life story is this, in fact, it's "Amul-jingle-worthy" - I am too dumb for chess, but too clever not to quiz.. blah blah blah blah blah blah Amul chocolate. LOL... And so, now I will entertain you with this bit of trivia. So, as I mentioned this in our first conversation (i guess on Alpha's or elsewhere), your nick is "Hugo-esque".
The story is this - Les Miserables is out and our man Hugo is vacationing. So a few days go by and our man is shitting his pants not knowing whats going on. So he wants to talk to his publisher. But the funny part is, he is a writer known for his conciseness (or stinginess, depending on who you ask) and so he decides to send a telegram. And he sends one, probably the cheapest telegram ever - a single "?". Now his publisher turns out to be exceedingly clever/stingy/concise himself, so he replies with a "!". So our man, upon receiving the telegram finally gets the message that "Le Miserables" is a best seller! There, interesting story, no?
Shashi: Media sucks man. And that's why the world needs accountability in every sphere!
Post a Comment