India lose to Pak 3-6 in Champions Challenge in Salta Argentina

Indian went down to Pakistan by 3-6 last night in Champions Challenge 2009 in Salta, Argentina.

The match was broadcast LIVE on Ten Sports. No doubts, it was Pakistan all over the place most of the time.
From the very begining, Pakistan made their intentions clear.
6 defenders and a awesome pass to Rehan Butt in the 2nd minute, Butt found the gate between Adrian's feet. This put India on defensive right away.

Few minutes later, getting a PC, they way Mahadik converted in the 8m, showed a lot of promise from Indians. But in the 1st half, thereafter, it was always Pakistan in control most of the time.

It was a treat watching Rehan Butt 2nd goal from the right of the net. Although he was very well marked and equally covered by Goalkeeper, the way he smacked the ball is nothing but insolence. His 2 goals are exemplary of his mercilessness and arrogance.

On the contrary Indians frontline lacked that confidence and Pakis were never desperate while defending either. There were moments when Indians were charging quickly towards to the Pakistan's D, but Pakistan defense line had their role defined crystal clear.

With a PC conversion by Sohail Abbas, it was 3-1 and Pakistan's shoulders were high as the players went for a lemon break.

The 4th goal scored by Haseem Khan was another one that must have made Pak fans jump from their seats.

Towards the last 10m, the Indian defensive looked tired. This was evident by the way Dhananjay Mahadik conceeded a short corner to Pakistan.
Few minutes later, as the score read 4-1, Prabhjot Singh hit the ball on the defender's foot, earning a short corner for India. The style of his shot outlined the state of Indian team, i.e. desperate. Diwakar Ram didn't make any mistake and the score was 4-2.

At certain moments, it was interesting to see that India was very much in attack and in control of the ball in the striking circle. But what came to Pak's rescue was their flawless man to man marking at this time.

2 defenders, 2 forwards, goalkeeper lying few yards away from the goal post, and 1 defender acting as a goalkeeper and Rehan Butt's brilliance was the scene at the time 5th goal.

Compared to the past, Indians passing was much better and there were no empty slap shot on the top of the D. However, Indians looked defensive and were edgy doing that. Pakistan, certainly, outplayed India as far as energy levels and capacity to cover the whole ground is concerned.

The gaps between Indian defensive line and the linksmen also was huge at times.
The interesting aspect of the the match was the number of Field Goals that Pakistan netted during this match; 4. Whereas, India got all their 3 goals from Penalty Corners.

All in all, Pakistan go into the finals with their heads high and blooming confidence levels. Let's see how they fare against the Black Sticks.

Here's the most interesting aspect of this tournament. 6 teams qualified for the Champions Trophy. These teams happen to be World's top 6 teams.
Champions Challenge has 8 lower ranked teams. Here's how they rank.

7th Pakistan
8th New Zealand
9th Belgium
10th Argentina
11th Canada
12th India
13th China
15th South Africa

Now, see the line up of Champions Challenge finals: It is Pakistan v New Zealand; very much in line with the FIH rankings.
This means India stands 9th or 10th in World Hockey. The same is true for Argentina.
So, more or less, didn't FIH rankings predict the results of Champions Challenge?

Clueless..

Five Players boycott national camp in Pune

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_five-players-boycott-national-camp-in-pune_1312645

Click the above DNA link and read for yourself.

The report is about Indian Men's Hockey team practising in a camp at Pune.

Now, here are the certain ways I can read it:

1) The players who were not selected for Champions Challenge Trophy in Salta, Argentina, will feel humiliated if they attend the camp, hence they bunked it.

2) They didn't get selected hence they are cribbing about the things they don't like there.

3) They were too egoistic in their approach. They feel that they can't learn from someone who is teaching them the basics which 'they think' they are very good at.

In no way, I believe that Brasa is dictatorial. Also, the report is using certain facts to one's convenience.
It indicates that, incidently, Brasa's tiff with Sandeep Singh was followed by Sandeep Singh's departure from the team. Point to be noted here is Sandeep Singh has been declared unfit based on medical reports and will not even play the World Cup. Forgot playing the Champions Challenge.

The report says that there is a growing discontent within the team over the coaching methods adopted by Brasa.
Fair enough; as always, there will be players on the other side.
It will be unfair to judge Brasa's methods before his methods go through a thorough time test.

7th Women's Asia Cup 2009 Day 4 Results Pool Table

Some more updates are available on the website.

http://womenshockeyasiacup2009bangkok.blogspot.com/

The Points (Pool) Table, Fixtures, Results are updated as well.

7th Women's Hockey Asia Cup 2009

The following site will track all the developments,news, results, fixtures, pool standings and table of the 7th Women's Hockey Asia Cup, 2009, in Bangkok, Thailand.

http://womenshockeyasiacup2009bangkok.blogspot.com/

India beats Canada 6-0 in 7 Test Series

In the 7 Test Series, India beat Canada 6-0 thereby registering a comprehensive victory in 7 match Test Series between India and Canada hosted by Canada from 10th Oct to 24th Oct 2009.

1st Match: India Won 2-0 Tushar Khandkar(FG), Sandeep Singh(PC)
2nd Match: India Won 4-3 Dhajanay Mahadik (2PC), Mohammad Amir Khan (FG), Shivendra Singh (FG)

3rd Match: Draw 4-4 Sandeep Singh (4PC)

4th Match: India Won 2-0 Vikram Pillay(FG), Rajpal Singh(FG)

5th Match: India Won  3-1 Danish Mujtaba(FG), Sandeep Singh(PC), Sandeep Singh(PC)

6th Match: India Won 3-1 Shivendra Singh(FG), Sarwanjit Singh(FG), Shivendra Singh(FG)

7th Match: India Won 3-2 Prabhjot Singh(FG), Gurvinder Chandi(FG), Tushar Khandkar(FG)

Congratulations to the whole team and their coach, Jose Brasa!

Source: http://www.fieldhockey.ca/

I love Indian Hockey Players but...

I am deeply saddened by something that has happened recently with regards to my Hockey life.

I heard from unreliable sources, that a lot of people are upset with regards to my not-for-profit efforts in the field of Hockey. Reason, is simple: They wonder and doubt what makes me come to Hockey.

If I say, I love Hockey and that's what makes me do work and spend for Hockey -> Is percieved as, I have some hidden agenda.

Who am I? I am just another simple looking face in the crowd. I am an ordinary man in Bangalore. By his (whomsoever created this World) grace, I have things that a person of my age can dream of having.

Apart from that, I just love Hockey. But it doesn't end here. I dream of a future where children of today grow up tomorrow and feel a pride in saying, 'I love Hockey.' I don't want my children to be like the way many of my friends are. Many people in my circle don't know about Hockey. I want to change this tomorrow. I want to see a better tomorrow.

Now, what do I get? The question is simple, but if one can understand, the answer is simple too. And the answer: A happiness of my face which not many people have today.

Now the criticism and apprehension come from none other than former players, whom I respect enormously. I have seen their videos and their games. They were the best and some still are, even today.

However, I saw the darker side of their characters. I realized how ordinary human beings they are that they feel ignored and threatened by my efforts in the field of Hockey. Remember, not more than 200 people know me all over the World.

These people are the ones whom the whole World knows and loves. The media writes about them. Hence, the city, the state and the country looks up to them. They are award winners.

They say when they, who are the official lovers of the game are not involved in such activities, then who am I?

I am saddened to say, we have very less role models in the Hockey fraternity.

With a very low state of mind, I have to say, I am a fan of all such players but only of their on-field activities.

However, one thing even this low state of mind knows -> Criticism makes a person more strong in what he wants.

I will pursue my vision of tomorrow, this time with added passion.

Should Government help Indian Hockey?

Disclaimer: By this blog, I am not targetting any individual. I am targetting a mindset - the mindset of getting things without 'earning' them, the mindset of recognition only in India and not abroad. By no means, I intend to dishonour any awarding systems or awards such. I respect each and every player or individual who ever made it to the playing-11.

Check this link:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/surfer/archives/2009/09/harsha_unplugg.php
Harsha Bhogle has a point. A person of his calibre anyway can't just simply blabber anything.

The thing that bothers me, all the while, is the dependency of the whole system on the Government. For everything that went wrong, Government is responsible. Government is not taking care of development of Hockey, Government is not providing the facilities, Government is not taking care of health and care, players future, and the list goes on.

I actually feel, we need a scapegoat and we have picked "Government" for that.
Many Hockey players pursue sports like bread and butter. They don't study, they just play Hockey with the eventual dream to play for the country. They play finally, get themselves a Public Sector job through Sports Quota (remember, it comes irrespective of qualification) and then keep blaming that company itself (read it, Government) for various things that go wrong in their professional lives.
It doesn't stop at that. When they don't get assistance when they expect, you know who you can blame!
Answer me a question: You played and only played all your life. If you ask me, you had fun through out. You pursued "your passion". How come you can ask Government for freebies in that case?

When it come to awards, our aim is only to get Government recognition, i.e. Arjuna Award. That is what they fight for, year after year.
I beg your pardon, there are other awards as well, remember FIH Player of the year?
Not many think about this is evident from the fact that not many know when and where Champions Trophy is happening, because India is not playing in that. Our knowledge of International Hockey is below average.
Leave aside International award, Indian Players fail to make it to FIH All Star Hockey team either every year. If not the saving grace by Dilip Tirkey, (that too in 2007) Indian players don't even feature anywhere close to that list.
Can you blame the Government for that as well?
India doesn't win any major tournament that's a different (and debatable) topic but shouldn't Indian players feature in such lists? Fair enough, the coach, the system, the Federation is all screwed up but why doesn't your name go beyond Arjuna Award?

But somewhere we think small and we contend with small things. And then, when, one wins Arjuna Award or a Dronacharya Award it is sufficient to pave his way with the Government (officials) and we all, being title obsessed ( e.g.: My visiting card may read: Shashank Gupta, xyz Awardee), start saluting an Arjuna Awardee and treat them as demi-Gods.

We have to think big, only then we can achieve that. One thing I know, for sure, is big things are not achieved by dependency on a State, it's achieved by creating a system that's not dependent on freebies and continous non stop grants...

Jose Brasa does well with Indian Hockey

Jose Brasa did well to keep the expectations of Indian people low. He stated clearly: This tour is to give the team the exposure of new techniques rather than winning.
Here's what they did:
India v England, Birmingham
First Test: Lost 1-3
Second Test: Won 3-2
Third Test: Lost 3-4
England won the series 2-1
India v Belgium, Braxgata,Boom
First Test: Lost 3-6
Second Test: Won 4-3
Third Test: Won 2-0
India won the series 2-1
India v Spain, Terassa, Spain
First Test: Lost 8-2
Second Test: Won 1-0
Third Test: Lost 4-5
Spain won the series 2-1
India v Netherlands, Amsterdam:
First Test: Lost 3-5
Second Test: Draw 3-3

Current FIH ranking is as follows:
Spain - 3
Netherlands - 4
England - 7
Belgium - 9
India - 12

Getting beaten by Spain 8-2 and then making a comeback of 1-0 is no joke by any means.
Beating England in the test series is not that simple. The same England was nearly invincible in Chile Olympics in early 2008. So, I give points to the Indian coach here as well.
India has met Belgium in Azlan Shah as well. So, beating a better ranked team is surely a morale booster.
However, the pleasant surprise comes with Netherlands. First Test lost 3-5. NOT BAD! .. and 2nd test, finishes 3-3. Netherlands is one of the tuftest teams of contemporary Hockey.
I will peacefully believe that Jose Brasa is not doing that bad at all.
I hope and wish this momentum keeps going on.
Well done, Mr. Brasa! Keep going on like this!

Indian Hockey goalkeeper Baljit Singh may loose his eye

It's a sad and very unfortunate news.
While training in Pune, 2 days back, Baljit Singh, got hurt in his right eye, really badly.
He was rushed to AIIMS, Delhi, and there, he has undergone operation. The doctors have not given anyone any hope of his vision being saved.

With absolutely no comment on anything apart from my concern for him, I wish and pray that he recovers with minimal damage to his vision. I feel sad and bad for him...

No medal, then fun for what?

'A widow has no rights to involve in anything that gives her happiness.'

'A kid who flunked in his/her exams should spend all his/her time in exile.'

and what follows is obvious:

'Our Hockey players are not entitled to any fun'

Why? Because they always loose so they shouldn't do any activity that gives them relaxation or happiness. They should be lying somewhere in one corner and are, possibly, expected to weep on the condition of Hockey.

I am not claiming this but this is what I read from a comment on a website where one picture showed Indian players involved in stress-busting activites and the comment read something like, 'how can they .. when they never win a medal..?'

OK, I just wish they don't do anything like that. That will, surely, bring a medal...right?

It's the thinking of such comment writers that is biggest impediment in the revival of Hockey.

India crashes out of Asia Cup 2009

Yeah, it's sad, unbelieveable and highly unfortunate.
That is all it is, I feel.
But one disease that haunts Indian Hockey is that of severe criticism from Hockey fraternity.
People who were shown the door at one time, are eveready to comment how the current defeat could have been avoided by doing something in the past.
Guess what Joaquim Carvalho has to say about Asia Cup 2009 loss? - An unfit team, espacially, senior players, is the culprit.
It perpeptually looks like people are waiting for the current coach to fail.
This is what I remember about Carvalho. People kept mum till the time India won under his coaching. No one kept quiet when India lost Olympics Qualifier, Chile 2008.
I am sure Mr. Carvalho would have felt bad about the loss and would have felt further sad about
the criticism that followed.
But how better Mr. Carvalho is from anyone else who ripped him apart after that disastrous tour, is anyone's guess!

There is another fact that needs attention:
China are no more minnows. Doha Asiad 2006 Gold Medal was not a fluke.
Pakistan will not always be as weak they used to be when India met them last time.

When India crashed out in Chile qualifier, there was a conspiracy theory that FIH had framed the Qualifier in such a way that it became difficult for India.
I am wondering there must be another conspiracy theory that this time, in Asia Cup, too, India was placed in a more competitive pool. Hence, the conspired outcome!

Dr.Deepak Seth-Bombay Gold Cup Review

Bombay Gold Cup Review

by Dr. Deepak Seth

I cannot help but write about this tremendous opportunity that I was afforded.
Allowing this resident Californian to witness hockey at the local level, that translates into the fare dished out at the current edition of the Mumbai Gold Cup.
I was lucky enough to observe many of the matches & would religiously make the trek to the BHA ground to be amongst the few spectators watching the competition. AND HERE ARE SOME OF MY OBSERVATIONS. As is my habit I will start with the positives & then dwell on the innumerable negatives,

POSITIVES
1.I saw an incredible captain, in Dhananjay Mahadik, not only, because his was an all round brilliant performance worthy of a captain, the defensive stops & policing of important players, his superb PC conversions as drag flicker for his team, his outstanding passing, confirming without doubt that he is decidedly the best pure passer in India, (something that our country desperately needs), not only because he won the “player of the tournament award”, an affirmation by others of this writer’s impression., if there were an award for an assist leader, he would have won it handily.
MORE IMPORTANT THAN ALL THIS WAS HIS BARKING OUT INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS TEAM FROM ANYWHERE ON THE FIELD & HIS TEAM RESPONDING TO THEM.. It was fascinating to watch this performance from a true leader, who showed an incredible vision of the game & how his team should take advantage of the situation as it was evolving currently on the pitch. His continuous cajoling of his team to play faster, his calling of plays, his encouragement to younger colleagues to press, press & press, & as a result engineer a turnover of the ball for his team, WAS A TREAT TO WATCH, CULMINATING IN HIS BEING INSTRUMENTAL IN HIS TEAM WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
Yet it is indeed a crying shame that this youngster is not our national team captain, let aside not even being on our national team, Even no less a person than Dhanraj Pillay has acknowledged his exploits for his Army team of no star studded members, yet propelling it to win championships despite having competitors with veritable India teams in them, like Air India, Indian Oil, PSB & BPCL. He does video capture & analysis, does all the brain work, for his team, leads by example. He has been recognized by independent German writers as the most impressive player for his 1st Division playing German Club T G Frankenthal. He is currently the only Indian player playing in Germany, yet our own sports writers & selectors are blind to his extraordinary skills, both on & off the pitch.


2. the umpiring was top class, each & every one of them. Great control, good decisions very few challenges by players, some of which were entirely genuine, where an adequate explanation for the reason for the call or non call would have been sufficient.
3. My next image is of the Army Team, disciplined, fit, plays modern hockey, half backs going up in support of their forwards, fast, with of course a tremendous captain, I did not see any hard hits from their full backs, restarts were quick, modern & efficient, as was their PC Battery, I am beginning to see elements of modern hockey slowly creeping in to their culture, a direct benefit of the voracious appetite of their captain to imbibe knowledge from all over the world. IT IS FITTING THAT THEY WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP, THEY WERE THE BEST TEAM ON VIEW!

4. A little player by the name of Mangesh from Southern railway, all of 20 yrs old, who has incredible off the ball running skills, good ball control & dribbling skills, was a thorn in side of all the teams, including the above mentioned Army team, in fact he single handedly won 2 PCs for his team against them. He is completely tireless, a ball of energy & plays the lone striker role superbly. To me he is a dream player for a team who need to play counterattack, or take time off the clock particularly when leading. WHERE ARE THE SCOUTS & THE SELECTORS , THE VISIONARIES & HOW MANY SUCH TALENTED GEMS ARE WE MISSING FROM LITTLE TEAMS ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY. Is he on our < 21 team No Sir! He probably does not have the right connections, or no scouts have looked at him. Yet in my book he would be a very useful player, & his stamina is incredible.
5.the superlative trapping of the Indian Oil team, the fact that they come together 10 days before a tournament aka Australia. Hcky Team, yet continue to practice in their respective cities, yet put up a tremendous show.
6.The defensive grit of the PSB team reminding us of the teams of yester years from Punjab, like Punjab Police & BSF. It is again a tragedy that we cannot find any defensive minded players from this great state, though scouting for a speedy sardar would be crucial.
7.the play of old war horses Dhanraj Pillay & Sabu Varkey, an essential & much needed guidance for the youngsters,
8.PC striking rate of Gursewak Singh was fantastic, even against the Army. It astonishes me that India cannot give this guy a looksee, after all his proven, past, exploits for Western Railway.
9.THERE WAS NO DEARTH OF GOAL SCORING THROUGHOUT THE TOURNAMENT.


NEGATIVES

1.There were hardly any spectators in the stadium, which is a crying shame. It certainly did not do justice to the tremendous effort & skill that was on display, in all aspects of the conduct of the tournament, from the players to officials to announcers to ceremonies to the officiating. India hockey fans, for a game that is played even now with such tremendous skill, where thrills abound at a breathtaking pace, where a group of diehard players ,officials & count on your fingers, fans, brave innumerable odds, including the suffocating & senseless pressure of cricket mania, to plod on, to work & take part in the game they love & are not afraid to stand up for it , you are worthy of being disappointed.
2.Lack of old players, SCOUTS & SELECTORS, so how will you find the Mangeshs’ of Indian hockey, if you do not see any games.
3,No TV cameras, do not tell me DDR that even Coorg, Chota Nagpur & Punjab have no interest in hockey. I do not believe you.
4.Very little combo play from any team in fact I did not see any team put together a string of 3 consecutive passes amongst their team members. Every time there was a combo play it created danger for their opponent. IN fact Western Railway took the lead from such a play but lost their game 1-9.
5.Too many hard hits down the center of the pitch that were difficult to control.
6.Too little communication on the pitch except Mahadik & Mangesh.
7.Tactically most teams were poor & rolling substitutions were inadequately utilized, to give players a much needed rest.
8.Changing direction of play depending on the traffic clogging the field, trying to find the open man in order to create a numerical advantage, was deficient.
9.Too many touches on the ball allowing the opponents to recover, too many mistraps, except for Indian Oil.

In conclusion the wheels of Indian hockey towards modernity are turning but slowly, youngsters like Mahadik will be the catalysts & show tremendous promise, THERE IS NO DEARTH OF HOCKEY TALENT BUT I SUSPECT TEACHING IS AT A PREMIUM & SUPPORT OF PLAYERS FROM YESTER YEARS IS POOR

Jose Brasa is Indian Hockey Coach

This was the most awaited annoucement with regards to Indian Men's Hockey. For over 8 months, the news has been going around for Jose Brasa, the coach for 1992 Gold Medalist Spain's Womens' Hockey team, becoming Indian Men's Hockey coach.
Finally, yesterday, he has signed a contract with Sports Authority of India and has been appointed as the 'Chief Coach' of Indian Hockey (Men).
I am extremely positive that his contractual entry into our Hockey, will have an tremendous positive on the the entire sport.
I am wondering, how difficult it will be for the 57 year old and how will he sustain the Indian style of functioning! :)
One thing is for sure, first time, we have an international coach, who has coached a team to Gold medal in Olympics, in the contemporary times! (read it as, 17 years back)
Welcome, Mr. Brasa! I am positive that you will give a wonderful forward kick to this whole system.

Talk with an official

On Saturday, I went to meet a Hockey professional, who happens to be a good friend of mine.

An entirely personal visit it was supposed to be. (I didn’t know that I will be keen to write about it, after coming back.)

But, towards the end, as I was about to leave, my friend took me to certain officials and introduced me to them. He went to tell them that I am doing voluntary work for the development of Hockey.

Although I had no intentions of meeting the officials but here I was presenting what “One Thousand Hockey Legs” project is all about.

Here comes to the most interesting part:As I told that we recently concluded a Summer Camp in Pondicherry, an official (let’s call them Official 1) asked another one (let’s call them Official 2), “Do you know about it?”

Apparently, Official 2 is from Pondicherry.

Here’s the boomer.

Official 2 immediately starts off, goes on and on leaving no stones unturned telling Official 1 how we have:

1) Ignored Government schools from our schemes of things.

2) Taken help of non-technical people to run the show in Pondicherry.Official 1 was smart enough to correct Official 2, “Your approach is not the best one. They are doing voluntary work. You should first appreciate their work. Then you should sit with them and talk to them conveying things that you both can work upon. If you behave this way, they will not get back to you at all.”

I tried giving assurances like, “You can call me. We can discuss later.”

But no assurance, no counter argument could stop Official 2.May be they were looking for some brownie points with the other officials.

Anyhow, that doesn’t matter.

The answer, to those questions, from my side:

1) We do have 2 Government schools with us. To get the Government schools to tie up with us, we need to go through Director (Education). Our proposal was put to them, back in December.

2) Hockey is being taught by Hockey coaches.Honestly speaking, I got a taste (may be, very little) of what Hockey administration is about.

Later on, during a discussion, a close friend of mine, a Hockey professional, shared a few words of wisdom, “Be careful. Submissiveness is not humility, here.”

Friedrich Nietzsche quotes,

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

KPS Gill rates Azlan Shah victory of little consequence

KPS Gill, the ousted Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President who is fighting a court case after his Federation was suspended by IOA, last year, never ceases to be in news.
For larger section of newspapers, it doesn't matter what he says. For some, it still does.
Recently KPS Gill said, "This win is not worth much. There was no formidable team in competition. This win will neither help the team psychologically against top teams nor for regional competitions like the upcoming Asia Cup."

I can agree to one fact that there were not many top ranked teams in the competition. Pakistan team is already struggling with it's quality of the team. Black Sticks were the only team which have a World Hockey presence but they still are lower ranked.
However, this fact cannot undermine another fact, i.e. India won the Azlan Shah Cup. One cannot take away that credit from them. A win, be it against the minnows, is always a confidence booster. Yes, a win against some top ranked teams can give you a different level of confidence.

Had India lost the tournament (although being a fan, I never wanted that), I would be keen to hear what the critics would have to say? If they would have had criticism at that time, they can't have the same on a win! :)

Apart from that, I feel that Mr. KPS Gill ruled Hockey for more than ?13? years, he should give minimum 1+3=4 years to really assess that another administration is actually spoiling it or doing it better than him!
You can't comment on someone's performance in just a year! .. Come on, Gill saheb, let's stand by our team and, for one moment, leaving aside everything and congratulate them! :)

India wins Azlan Shah Cup 2009

After a gap of 14 years, India won Sultan Azlan Shah Cup '09 version.
India beat Malaysia in the final, 3-1.
India's journey in the tournament:
India v Egypt: 2-2 Draw
India v Malaysia: 3-0 India won
India v Newzealand: 2-2 Draw
India v Pakistan: 2-1 India won
India v Malaysia: Finals India won by 3-1.
Great news!
Keep going like this!
Congratulations to all the players and their coach, Harendra Singh.

Hockey Lesson from IPL

Question: Why Hockey is in such a state as it is today?
Answer 1: Because of Person A, Person B,.. who killed it.
Answer 2: Because of State Government
Answer 3: Because of Central Government.
Answer 4: Because of xyz State Association.
Answer 5: Because of abc Governing Body (authority).
Answer 6: Because of corrupt officials.
Answer 7: Because of self-obsessed former Hockey Players.
Answer 8: Because of impartial (read it, harsh) treatment metted out to Indian Hockey.
Answer 9: Because of no sponsors coming in support of Hockey.
Answer 10: Because of Hockey being played on turf.

Today's dailies read, after weeks of negotiation with the Union Home Ministry, IPL will be conducted in some outside country.
Reason: IPL organizers are united on the fact that at General Elections time, they all in consensus that internal security is very important. However, they don't want the tournament (and viewers) to suffer because of that.

Be neutral to both Cricket and Hockey, tell me (with reason) whom should I salute?

Don't divert my attention when India wins...

There is no better moment than to see India win a Hockey match and that too convincingly.

Yesterday, India beat Germany 2-0 with the custodian Baljeet Singh being honoured as the man of the match.

I cheered from my living room when I saw Indian guys running around after the match. One of most happy evenings for me, in the past few days!

Brilliant work, by the whole team and not to be forgotten, the coach, Harendra Singh. Somehow, I feel that Harendra Singh doesn't seem to seeing any bias between the players and just plays the one who is good.

However, I feel there is a something that our system needs to look at.

Disclaimer: I have got nothing personal to do with anyone and nor do I know the dynamics between the coach and the selectors.

My contention is simple:

Lashing back at others, does it help? You may yes, the selector has been made to shut up! The selector must be thinking how long does the victory spree last for?

So, you win, you give him one! .. and then he waits for another opportunity to give you back one. The media gets spice and it's all over the newspapers once again. Outsider fans like me, feel, "How does it ever change?"

According to me, the victory speaks volumes for itself. People who never believed in you anyway don't know where to take their faces now! So, telling them this explicitely, takes away few moments from the glorious attention that this special occasion of beating World Champions, Germany, demands.

If you ask me, the coach in the Press Conference could have talked about who have shown belief in him thereby making a positive gesture his supporters rather than bringing up people who hardly contributed anything to this victory.

Also, there is another side to it. Had someone not shown disbelief in you, you wouldn't have had the hunger and desperation to prove them wrong.

I feel and believe: The best way to treat your disbelievers is to committ to prove them wrong and then ignore them altogether. You move on and thereby, you push the whole generation to think forward and ignore what is irrelevant.