It was a bit of an issue deciding what to write on this week. The insipid Pakistan-West Indies series meanders along its inevitable path. Pakistan have cruised against a limited and motivation challenged West Indies, easily winning the series. Pakistan have blooded some youngsters and to them it has been a good learning experience. Misbah has been steady as a rock in the batting. Ajmal seems to be bowling in an indecipherable code, so futile has been the West Indians’ attempts to negotiate him. The IPL is going along, but unfortunately, the cable operators have decided not to show it. But then, its hype and hyperbole are rapidly becoming passé. There seems to be no feeling of identification with a particular team, just an orgy of boundaries and sixes performed by superbly talented athletes. But then so is professional wrestling.
One thought of writing about football. The sport has its fanatics, but this scribe still has not unraveled the mysteries of the sport. Twenty two players go at each other for an hour and a half and one team wins by a goal or two. Or the match is drawn. Too much action for too little reward. This drawback in what is a superbly athletic sport was identified by the sport’s authorities. One remedy that was considered was to increase the size of the goalposts, until they realized that it would cost almost a billion dollars to change the goal posts in Europe alone. The idea was quickly shelved. Perhaps a better idea might be to do away with the off side rule. Now that would create just the right amount of mayhem. Baseball or cricket? Then there is American football played with the funny looking ball with conical ends. This sport, if we can call it that, is like two ancient armies meeting in battle.
The athletes are behemoths, clad in armour that would make a medieval knight cringe. The games last three hours and the teams proceed to beat each other into a pulp. At the end, the players, the referees the numerous coaches and the fans are all on the verge of nervous hysteria. The game is played only in the USA with an occasional foray into Japan and England. The Super Bowl is, inevitably, known as the Super Bowl, just as the Baseball World Series., although Japan, Cuba and South Korea might have some issues with the latter name. The baseball season is well under way and ESPN is showing NY Yankees games. It is a measure of the organising and promotional ability of the American sports organisers that they can so successfully promote a sport where tobacco chewing, chaw spitting athletes with a billy club in their hands proceed to hit and miss repeatedly at a ball thrown at them by a similarly tobacco chewing pitcher.
The pitcher has to hit an imaginary strike zone between the batters knees and his chest. Since batters are of different sizes, the strike zone varies and invariably there are fights over strikes and balls, pitches that have hit inside the zone or out. The most exciting part of the game is when the manager of one team comes out to argue with the umpire over such an issue. The two stand nose to nose, with the manager scuffing mud on to the referees shoes and tobacco juice on his clothing. Sometimes all the players join the fray and there is a free for all, known popularly as a bench clearing brawl, with the spectators cheering their sides on. There are nine innings and at the end of the seventh is what is known as the seventh innings stretch. When spectators rise to stretch their legs and buy the inevitable hot dog and cola.
Baseball players are known to sign foe astronomical figures, amounts that would make an IPL cricketer blush. The stadiums are invariably full of spectators who have paid up to $100 for their ticket. So, perhaps, comparing the two bat and ball games, cricket is the more civilized sport. More action, more runs and less fights. Cricket wins on points. French Open beckons: And then there are the two universally popular sports, golf and tennis. Golf’s Wimbledon, the Masters has just finished, while the French Open and the terre battue of Paris’ Stade Roland Garros beckons for its king, Rafael Nadal.
Nadal has been on his usual early summer tear, sweeping all before him. There has never ever been a more dominant clay court player than Raffa. Not Borg, nor Vilas. It will take Novak Djokovic at the top of his form to stop Nadal on clay. Or perhaps Robin Soderling with his bludgeoning serve and ground strokes.
Djokovic has not lost a match this year, which is a record, so deep into the season. But he has not yet imposed his world beating form on the red clay, a surface that stifles the pace and power of the best players. But Djokovic is at home on the surface, having learned his trade in Barcelona.
The first meeting on clay between Nadal and Djokovic will be the most eagerly awaited event of the tennis year. It could be a defining moment, a harbinger of if and when Djokovic can dethrone Nadal.
Djokovic is a superlative athlete, faster even than Nadal and Federer. He has an impenetrable defence and can attack when need be. Nole, as he is known, will be the player to beat this year. The Germans are coming, in women’s tennis. The female side of the game has been suffering from a lack of star value. The Williams sisters are sidelined with personal issues and injuries. Wozniacki is unconvincing as number one. Clijsters is perhaps the best at the moment. But there is no rivalry a la Graf-Seles, Evert-Navratilova. Until now. Julia Goerges the attractive young German announced her arrival with a win over Wozniacki in the final of a WTA event. A tall athletic girl, she hits fearlessly from all around the court.
Then there is Andrea Petkovic the current German number one. Like Goerges, she is almost six feet tall, athletic and hits the ball a ton. Both girls are star material, good looking, with personalities to match. No one can ever replace the great Steffi Graf, but the pretenders have announced their presence.
