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Monday, September 24, 2007

T20 Blues!

1st of all Congrats to team India for pulling off such an amazing victory! It was a nail biting finish and one of the best finals i've seen in recent years. For the better part of last 10 years its usually an affair which had the Aussies running riot through the opposition and making even the best teams feel that they are freshers being ragged by seniors in a engg college hostel.

I had the wonderful opportunity to watch today's match with my sister, dad and a few of his friends. It has been a long time since my dad and i watched a match together. Today it happened mainly coz he was suffering from a bad tooth ache and he couldn't go to see the dentist because it was raining hard. So he got 3-4 friends of his @ home to watch the match and have what any mallu does on such occasions, have a few drinks! (Thy don't require a particular occasion, anything from birth of a child to divorce would do for a mallu)

After India won the toss and decided to bat, the ungles @ home decided that India needed a total of atleast 200 to win. Some even said 250 isn't enough coz guys like Sreesanth are in the team. So they made their predictions and when India had its openers walking onto the field it was an uproar from the ungles and this time my dad was th 1 who said "aara e puthiya payyene pidichu opener aakiye, athum finalil". It was a concern that i too shared. I didn't understand the logic behind team India's decision to send a debutant batsman to open the innings that too in a WORLD CUP final! With a lot of murmuring from the CROWD @ home, the men started the innings and when Yusuf Pathan hit the 1st six of the Indian innings, the crowd @ the Wanderers @ Jo'berg and that @ my home cheered along as if Yusuf were the next Sachin.

This went on and on until the Indian innings finished with 157 on board. The Ungles who'd said 200 wouldn't be enough were now putting India's chances of victory next to impossible. They were now predicting how soon the Pakis' would wind up the game. Again came the predictions which defied logic. They began to throw in numbers at will and i heard 10 overs, 15 overs and the like. Finally they all settled on 15 overs. When Uthappa grabbed Hafeez' wicket one person suddenly said "Indiaku chelapol jeyikaan saadhyatha und". The others went on say its not gonna happen.

Usually its me and my sis who have the debate about how India will win or who'll take the next wicket. But this day it wasn't supposed to be so! These ungles were all in high SPIRITS and the KICK was showing its full effect now! Dad then said India will have a good chance if 2-3 wickets fall within the 1st 5 overs. Now Sreesanth came to bowl his 3rd over and it was a riot of runs. The bowling figures were 4,6,6,4(or was it 6,6,4,4?) and when the ppl @ home saw this. They brought back their old predictions of pakis walking away with the cup within 10 overs. Imran Nazir was cracking shots like anything and it was all the more fun to watch the AGGRESSIVE Sreesanth get hit like that.

Even though it was anyone's game even now, the ungles @ home had the urge in them to support the Pakis. Then came RP Singh's next over and walks home Kamran Akmal! It was really a treat to the eyes watching Akmal's stumps fyling away and him walking away.

Like this it went on till the pakis were @ over number 16 and needing 54 runs from 24 balls. In came bhaji and he was hit for 3 sixes in that over and again the ungles who were silent for a while after the regular wickets from Irfan Pathan, started to murmur that Pakis will win in the next over. To help their cause Dhoni sent in Sreesanth to bowl and the very 1st ball is hit for a 6 by Tanvir. All of Sreesanth's aggression is flowing down his face as sweat. Ther's no beating the pitch(Mallu's read THARA standards) antics by him this time even when he got the wicket of Tanvir in the last ball of the over.

Now comes the crunch, 20 runs required from 12 balls. Dhoni sends in his trusted RP Singh and Singh does his best by taking Gul's wicket and giving away just 7 runs. Now came the last over where the pakis needed 13 from 6 balls and had just 1 wicket in hand. I thought Dhoni will entrust the last over to Bhaji as he was the experienced bowler, but instead he chose Joginder Sharma, the new kid. Again the ungles @ home murmured, "Dhoni innu mudi vettendi varum". That comment was proven right whn Sharma got hit for a 6 by Misbah. He had the strike now and Pakis now needed jus 6 runs off 4 balls. The ungles @ home started to pack up saying Pakis will win definitely and then came the wicket of Misbah and guess who took the catch "Sreesanth".

And @ the end of it all, one person said "Enthokke aayalum India nallonam kalichu"

End Result : Awesome game Dhoni & lads. Good commentry ungles @ home. Bad day for me and my dad!

A billion Salutes to the Men in Blue!

Friday, September 14, 2007

It's all about money, honey!

Tonight i got a shocking news when i was waiting for the India-Scotland T20 match to begin. The sms was from a friend and it went like this
"McLaren fined, stripped of constructors’ points"

Then came the long msg about how McLaren had cheated Ferrari and it was just because of Ferrari's technology which was brought into McLaren; that Alonso and Hamilton had been winning race after race. By now you all would have got the idea that the friend was a Tifosi.

I switched over to the news channels and was shocked to see that a record amount of $100 Million has been fined by the WMSC along with stripping McLaren off all the points in the 2007 constructors championship. The 1st thing that came to my mind was "God, now anyone can win his way through and do anything if he has the money". Yeah, that's really what came to my mind. For me the sport of Formula 1 was something that had all the excitement and adventure i enjoyed, especially since i loved driving and also was in a branch of study that involved development of these machines. I loved the flashbulb moments of pit-lane overtaking and champagne being sprayed on the fans by the winners. But all that changed with this single judgement.

For me the sport of Formula one was laid to rest today, thanks to the JUDGEMENT by the WMSC. I am not a big McLaren fan, but i like the team because they came up from struggling to finish all the races last season to leading the championship table this year. Maybe their cause was helped by the fact that they had the world champion in their side; but nowhere else will one see a rookie achieve so much even while competing against the world champion in his team.

I was shocked at the judgement because it clearly proved that when it comes to the matters of power, the team with money(read Ferrari) reigns supreme. They have an awesome record and its good when they defend their worth on the track. The dirty policy of hitting the opponent in the back doesn't suit a WORLD CHAMPION team like Ferrari. I am so frustrated because, immediately after the announcement(within minutes) that McLaren was fined, Ferrari came out with a statement saying:

“Ferrari is satisfied that the truth has now emerged”

As if they have never twisted the rules and have been the upholders of truth all their life. All still remember the 2002 Austrain GP and the 2005 US GP.

After this i was about to switch back to ESPN to check on the status of the India match, when another news in the ticker caught my eye. The BCCI has come out with their answer to the fledgling Indian Cricket League (ICL) and they call if as Indian Premier League (IPL). They are launching their own T20 league with a whopping prize money of $ 5 Million(yeah its 5 not 1 or 2). With this the BCCI plans to launch its own version of a premier league on the lines of the EPL with all features like player transfers and sponsor stadiums.The IPL will aim at mobilising corporate participation, wherein an entrepreneur will own a local cricket team. He could, in turn, buy and sell players in true EPL fashion.

With this they plan to shut down the ICL which was supposed to rope in players coz of the big bucks involved. Many domestic players switched sides because the BCCI paid them peanuts when compared to the money involved in the ODI's and Tests. This is indeed a good move, but then now the question is: League launched, but can BCCI deliver? Agreed that BCCI has taken some rapid steps after ICL's lanch and launched their own IPL. Also they have blessings of ICC and support from all the other boards. But now lies the next challenge; they have to deliver a high quality product that they have promised.


The news had another surprise when it named Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri to be part of IPL's governing council. This will bring some nice moments in news channels in coming days as Kapil Dev is heading the ICL and brings the greats in the sport on a one-on-one battle. To add another flavour Gavaskar's son, Rohan, only a few days ago signed up to play for ICL.

All these things just make me feel "It's all about money, honey!"

Monday, September 03, 2007

Tag-o-rama

Being tagged is a feeling that i don't get usually, infact i think this is my 1st tag in the blogosphere. I got this tag from Krish who got tagged by Venki who got it from Mathew, who got it from Silverine. All of them have given awesome answers to the questions and you can see that its almost impossible to reach that level of hilarity no matter how much i........ what to say "thalakutti ninnu aalochichaalum patoola". That's a long phrase that means impossible in mallu for the laymen-who-don't-know-malayalam.


The tag is to answer a set of 18 questions that aren't the one's you'll get in any aptitude/IQ/EQ or all those types. So here it goes!


1. Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it:

1st of all lemme clarify that i've got too many scars all over my body(now don't get ideas *evil girn*) that i can't pick just one particular one that easily. My latest was last week when a piece of glass got embedded in my wrist and it ended up being a place where i have 3 stitchtes now. Still my fav would be the one i hav on my upper lip, the one i got from my bike accident last april. It was a early morning accident and like all my accidents, it wasn't my fault. The guy who crashed into me(or did i crash into him) came in from the wrong side. You can read more and see more in the links.


2. What does your phone look like?

The most obvious answer for it would be "It looks like a phone; what else!" But since we have phones now in all shapes and sizes, and also since i've been certified as an engineer; i'd be more precise wth the specs. Its a Motorola C 168. I know you'd not even have heard of it. But then Moto used to have such things in the market and not just the ROKR's and SLVR's et al.

3. What is on the walls of your bedroom?

Sadly after the last time the house was painted mom scrapped away all my fav posters and BURNT them :(. Otherwise my walls were adorned with a mega poster of the Arsenal Football Team, a Ferrari Enzo, a Harley Davidson V-Rod and a F22 Raptor. Poye poye ellam poye :((

4. What is your current desktop picture?

Currently i've a pic of Angelina Jolie, a Close up shot of her with a sniper rifle in Mr & Mrs Smith.
Love this pic, don't know why!

5. Do you believe in gay marriage?

If they are happy and are GAY, why stop them from marriage. Even if i believe or not these things are happening. After all Elton John got a gal(is it right to say so?)

6. What do you want more than anything right now?

I'd love to have a Audi R8. Have a look and you'd want one too! Wouldn't mind a Enzo or a Huyabusa as well. All in my million dollar garage!

7 . What time were you born?

I don't remember that day very well, but mom says its a Sunday, just after 4:30 in the evening. As she always says i was born just as the Rahu Kaalam began! Things aren't too well since then @ home. Mom still says how dad didn't turn up saying that it'll happen the next day only! But then i wasn't gonna wait that long. I tried a lot to talk like the kid in Look who's talking, but just like the film no one understood the kid.

8. Are your parents still together?

Thanks to my mom and dad being totally in love with each other they haven't thought about separation.

9. Last person who made you cry?

It was watching "We Were Soldiers". I couldn't control the tear glands when the letters informing the wives of the death of their husbands were handed to them. Its a must watch film. If you think am someone who goes boohoo over senti films, then watch it and say again. Now wipe that smirk off ur face smartass!

10. What is your favourite perfume / cologne?

I never actually buy looking for a particular brand. I’d much prefer the milder smelling ones and I just can’t stand deodorants that over-power you or make you smell as if you have fell into a soap factory. For ppl in TVM, come to Kumarapuram/Medical College area and you can see guys n gals walking with weird costumes and the smell i mentioned above.

11. What kind of hair/eye color do you like in the opposite sex?

Hair-It should be Loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggg. Colour shouldn't be anything that's light shaded or my mom won't lemme marry her!

Eye Colour- Since the days of the Eye Donation Ad showing Ash's eyes with the dialog "You're looking into the green eyes of one of the most beautiful women in the world" i've had this thing for someone with green eyes.

12. What are you listening to?

Linkin Park's new album Minutes to Midnight. Half the tracks suck big time, sound more like Hoobastank or Blink 182 rather than LP. Tsk tsk

13. Do you get scared of the dark?

It would be honest to say I WAS. Nowadays i love looking at the sky on a dark night. Such nights are frequent now thanks to KSEB's infallible reputation.

14. Do you like painkillers?

I prefer rock music. They help in killing anything around when am in the mood for it and when Metallica or Iron Maiden is playing in the background!

15. Are you too shy to ask someone out?

I haven't had many foray's into that world yet. There have been times when fear has been the main reason rather than shyness. As of now i haven't got anyone worthy to be asked out around me.(Trust me my home is quite a bad area in that aspect)

16. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?

I would love to have a Chicken Tikka Masala with Parotta's along with a Lassi and Gulab Jamun for dessert. Now that's yummy isn't it?


17. Who was the last person you made you mad?

A traffic cop @ statue junction. I always have probs with these breed of people. Always have me on the wrong day and demand money for rules that i never violate. This guy happened to snap at me when i jumped a signal while a transport bus which blocked my view of the signal went right past him. Fortunately i didn't have to pay up this time.

18. Who was the last person who made you smile?

Homer Simpson. While watching The Simpsons Movie with the Spider Pig song! That's damn funny! I watch that portion everyday! This guy would even make a dead corpse laugh.(I think he's done that already in some episode)

I am tagging Abhijith, Celtic Warrior, Hari and Rahul.