Injuries ----> Comebacks...

The big talk of the town right now are mostly related to injuries of many key players all around the league. (Apart from the teams struggling to capture the eighth seed in both conferences). We've seen the likes of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Tracy McGrady, Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Zydronus Ilgauskas, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Andrew Bynum, Amare Stoudemire, Jameer Nelson, Allen Iverson, Carmello Anthony, Josh Howard, Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Al Jefferson, Caron Butler, Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Leandro Barbosa, Kevin Durant, Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler and many more key players fall to the injury bug during the course of this season.

So who am I gonna share a bit on. Yup, it's gonna be "Agent Zero" himself - Gilbert Arenas. Arenas is very much talked about player. Right from his 6 year 111 million $ contract with the Washington Wizards right to the devastating knee injury he suffered that took it's toll on two succesive seasons, not to mention the 3 surgeries it tooked to fix his knee. But now rumour has it he's almost ready to return. But questions will be raised. Is he ready? He rushed into a return once before and the results were disastrous to his knee. Even if he is ready will be himself again? The Wizards management along with its fans would certainly hope so. Gilbert Arenas is no ordinary player. And to recover from this disastrous season where they find themselves firmly entreched at the bottom of the east they need something special. Arenas will probably not play a lot with his return. Probably 10 mins here and there. The important thing for the Wizards will be to ease him back in, slowly and steadily. The Wizards can take solace in the fact that they expect to have their fully fit team available next season along with a lottery pick in the draft. So the Wizards (should) have a line up with Arenas, Jamison, Butler, Haywood along with the youngsters who have picked up a lot of experience this season plus the early draft pick. Impressive. To say the least. This team will be a force to reckon with. But for that "Agent Zero" must be his own special self.
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To vote or not to vote... (Bah! cliche)...

Everywhere I go I here compaints. " The shiv sena did .......... ", "Raj Thackeray is a %$^#% $#$%#@$", "Congress %#$%ing #$#@$#$", "BJP ^$#$$##@@!#@#". Yes yes I say, curse on. Thats all we're good for. Little do we realise - the fact that they even have the chance to affect our lives is because of us. the dumb*** people who vote for them (or worse, those who dont vote at all).

There are two kinds of people. The ones who vote. These are the people who bring your leaders into power. These are the masses of people who make (un)educated decisions and vote for candidates. Of course I do feel for them. Hardly any to choose really. It's either a local rowdy/goonda or a film "star" who just wants the power. So I guess you an cut them some slack because their choices are usually pretty limit.

It's the second kind I hate the most. The ones that don't conform to their patriotic duty of voting and then sit and cringe about how our leaders are no good. I mean come on!! It's not like you lifted a finger (literally) to do something about it!!! What right have you got to whine. (Here I'd like to add that I unfortunately fall in this category. It's not my fault. I'm Indian by blood but not by the law.) But anyway here's my message to you people. Get your ****ing a** off your couch and get to your respective polling booths. After that you are free to cringe, whine all you like. All I can say is this. Remember that every drop makes a mighty ocean (Too many cliches today dammit). Do it for your country. Continue Reading »

Dedicated to my mentor and dear friend...

Happy birthday Vandith!!!!!!!! Have a great day and year ahead... Continue Reading »

SPREE Pure Sport??

What is Sport? More importantly what is “pure” sport? Is pure sport just another tagline? Or is it indicative of something much bigger?

There is a saying: “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” Its a saying comprising of two sentences the first of which i agree with. The second? Not so much.

Sport is not about going up a dias and lifting a trophy. It’s not about being the best everyday. (Right here I feel I sound like the loser talking :P. Anyway…) Sports is about something far deeper. Something inbuilt in us by mother nature. Sport is about passion. It is about desire. It is about belief and a whole bunch of other things.

So what makes sport “pure”. You will get a whole bunch of answers for that. Some would say when the outcome of any game is decided by sheer ability alone. Some would say when a game goes right down to the wire with one team sneaking away with a victory right at the death. Yes, these are some of the awesome things that happen in sport. But it’s not what makes for “pure” sport.

“Pure” sport to me is in fact when a player walks up to a hurt opponent and helps him to his feet. It is when a player can overlook a bad refereeing decision and carry on with the game without complaint. It is when at the end of a game the two teams walk toward each other and congratulate each other. THAT is “pure” sport.

So is this all I expect from SPREE?? Oh no of course not! I want to see mouth-watering clashes just like everyone else. I want to see monumental battles and game winning plays. But most of all I want to see people enjoying their favourite games. Whether it be cricket, football, basketball, tennis, badminton, table tennis or any other sport I want to see love for the game. It’s that love for the game that is more important than any trophy or medal you can ever win. Love for the game breeds sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is the key to “pure” sport. So is SPREE 2009 going to be about “pure” sport? I would honestly love to hope so.

Like I’ve said before. Sport is about passion, determination, strength and courage. But I sincerely hope that we remember that the most important part of sport is the spirit in which it is played. So to all teams and players I wish you guys all the best. And may the pursuit for “Pure Sport” begin!!

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PS 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My God... What an incredibly idiotic form... Here's how it looks... You have the station number and station given... Now you'd think we'd just have to jot down a preference order but nooooooooo... You have to sit and write the station number serially in order of preference... Want more? The stupid PS site doesn't allow you to enter your preference if you take longer than 20mins... Best part is - It doesn't save your data... There are a lot of times i hear about how Pilani is "better" than Goa... I'll tell you one thing, people here would be smart enough to device a better and more user-friendly form...

Now that my rants about the form are done I move on to my issue... I want to go home!!! Dammit all of a sudden Chennai has this awesome reputation and people want to go there... I know I'm a 5pointer but come on!! It's Chennai... Why would you want to go to Cancer Institute for your PS unless you live there... Dammit people... Get your priorities straight sheesh!!

Ok I'm done... Can't add anything more :|... If I don't get Chennai it'll be Trichy here i come... Continue Reading »

Birthdays...

Aah birthdays... those "wonderful" days filled with annoying songs and messy faces (covered in chocolate , vanilla pineapple or whatever)... Society brings us up to anticipate our birthday... Society also brings us up to expect... To expect a cake... To expect gifts... To expect greetings... To expect to be remembered..............

Society brings us up to be disappointed... It brings us up to expect... And expectation can only lead to disappointment... Disappointment in yourself and your peers... Birthdays are an invention... An invention to give you hope and happiness, and take it all away in one single swoop...

What is a birthday but the anniversary of the day we exit our mother's womb and enter the world as we now know it, a day our mothers went through excruciating pain to bring us to this world... Is it not a day that marks us one year closer to our death... Yes these are but a few depressing sides of birthdays... So why are we brought up to celebrate this day??? Is it the morbidity in us? Or is it teach us the value of disappointment? Ah birthdays... What a pointless invention by our glorious minds... Continue Reading »

Respect the Sport... Respect the refs...

Its a general idea in sport: "sportsmanship"... It's something you're taught as a child growing up... Give your hardest, give your best but acknowledge it when someone is better than you... And if you've ever attended any camp or trained for any sport the first thing your taught before any fundamental of the game is to respect the officials... Whether they be the referee or the umpire or just about anybody... Sadly in the recent "3ba" tournament here in BPGC that just went for a complete toss...

I will not take names... Not out of fear of "retribution" but out of pity... Because pity and contempt is all I have in me to give to them... Pity because all they've managed to out of all their actions is establish a reputation of sore losers... All I will say is this... In a tournament like this (one played purely for the fun of it and for the love of the game) such actions are unpardonable at best... I would in the words of Prashant Rao (Poppat) like to remind everyone that we are not professionals we are a bunch of noobs trying to enjoy playing our favourite game... But unfortunately there continue to exist a bunch of people (want to curse but I'll control) who basically ruin it for everybody...

I'll dwell into it a bit... Yes the refereeing was ordinary but it was ordinary both ways... While the team with the "crying" (sorry you've earned it) kept on complaining I didn't hear a whimper from the other team about the numerous carrying, travelling violations that were just ignored... Nor did I hear any whining about fouls on their players... Somehow it is you who seem to have the problem with everything... (Actually here I'd like to say one thing... More than anyone there is one player on that team who has the problem... Once again I will not name him but he knows I'm speaking about him since he's had a problem with just about every referee he's been given...)

And before I close, pieces of information for the whiner(s)... your calls for 3 second violations are simply absurd... Not even in the NBA (like our friends from PCCE calmly pointed out) are 3 second violations called as vigorously as we do here... And you say that isn't enough... You're NOT a professional and neither is anyone else on this campus... So finally here goes my advice to you... Suck it up and be a man... It's a game... Enjoy it... Don't ruin it for all of us... Continue Reading »

The title.

Ok just had to say this... For all people who think this is a blog only about basketball ....... :|.... Ever seen the movie the Basketball Diaries?? Yes I'm sorry the name is a bit of a rip-off (THAT's the part to focus on). Well anyway... How much of the movie actually had anything to do with basketball........................................................... There you go... Yup this isn't a basketball only blog so read and enjoy... Basketball noobs and pros can read and also contribute your views on basketball topics... And any other topics you're all welcome (wait i think everybody fit into both category :|... Oh well!) Continue Reading »

The NBA championship. My pick and why.

The West has become a total one team show. Sad but true. Ever since a certain Chris Wallace (GM Memphis Grizzlies) decided to give the Lakers a gift (God knows why) the Lakers are the top dogs of the west. But there is a silver lining. Without Bynum, they're not invincible. With Bynum there are only 4 teams in the league that can beat them: the Cavaliers, Magic, Celtics & Spurs (sorry but I don't care how old they are they're still a team that cannot be underestimated).

Of these four I think the Magic are out of it without their starting point guard Jameer Nelson. Rafer Alston is a good player but he's not in the same league. You look at the Celtics, Cavaliers and Spurs they're all injury-ridden but have still maintained top-notch records. These three teams (full-strength mind you) are the only teams that can beat the Lakers and to me the favourites are the Cavs. I'm not saying this just because i'm a LeBron fan. I have my reasons:

The Cavaliers (again injury free) have two exellent shooters in Delonte West and Mo Williams in the starting 5. What this does is it allows James to drive the hoop the way he loves to and pass the ball out on the double team. This has been something he couldnt do over previous seasons.

The bench is one of the deepest in the entire length. With the recent addition of Joe Smith the bench looks formidable with the likes of Gibson, Szczcerbiak, Pavlovic, Varejao, Hickson, Kinsey, Wright & Jackson coming of it to add to the experience of Smith.

However beside all these reasons there's one big reason why the Cavs are the favourites in my book. The Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs have been beaten only once there (with West, Wallace, Ilgauskas all injured) by the L.A Lakers. The 'Q' has turned out to be a fortress for this team just as it was last year during the playoffs when LBJ nearly took the series away from the Celtics. Only this time, they've got a capacity crowd (a bit on the rowdier side) every night baying for the opponents blood. Any team that has to win here uring the playoffs .... well sorry i just dont see that happening.

During the playoffs, to me the possibility of Cleveland winning away is more than Cleveland losing at home. And so all I've got to say is "GO LeBron!! This is your year !!!" Continue Reading »

Kobe or LeBron ...

Yes before you say anything I think LeBron James is the best player in the NBA right now. But no I don't think Kobe Bryant "sucks". He is a great player no doubt. But the people I hate are his fans. Or should i say his lovers?? Not really sure.

I'd like to dwell on the ridiculous comparisons Kobe fans make when they compare him with the King. (Ok I admit there are a lot of LBJ fans who draw up ridiculous comparisons too). So let me make my assessment here (I'm no expert but here goes).

Let me start with a simple fact. Kobe Bryant is a shooting guard while LeBron James is a Small forward. They both have different styles of playing. You would expect a guard to look for open jumpers and a forward to look to take the ball to the rim. So why is there so much talk about Lebron's jump shot. Look lets get it straightened out here. Lebron is strong and he is quick. So he uses his body to get to the hoop. Kobe Bryant who isn't as young or as strong pulls up for jump shots and is a good shooter. Period. It is not possible for a player to be good at everything. To be a good player the main thing you need is the ability to use your strengths over your weaknesses and in that regard both Kobe and LeBron are fantastic players.

I can't wait to see them clash in the Finals \m/. (Go LeBron :D)

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/GTAS-comics-MVP-couch-rage?urn=nba,149327&post_comment=1&success=1

This is a perfect description of every Kobe fan... take a look :) Continue Reading »

Dear Mr. Sanjeev whoever you are from SASTRA

On the behalf of BITS-Pilani, Goa I apologize to you for the following reasons.

1. I'm sorry you took a train from Bengaluru to Hubli and then Hubli to Goa instead of taing the direct Bengaluru-Goa trains available twice a day.

2. I'm sorry that we didn't have the navy salute you as you entered our campus and did not have a grand celebration to herald your arrival.

3. I'm sorry that you could not see the food stalls that were specially set up. I'm also sorry you did not ask for directions to our institute cafeteria and had to settle for junk.

4. I'm sorry that 10 of our college teams and 2 teams from other colleges were better than you at "2nd class kid level problems". We should have enrolled you in the 2nd grade in some school when you registered.

5. I'm sorry you chose to go to Miramar when we should have taken you by the hand to beaches like Majorda, Palolim, Baga etc.

7. I'm sorry that you speak only broken Hindi and so struggled to take taxis/buses to move to & from the campus.

So Mr Sanjeev Gopinath I am sorry about all the misfortune that we have caused. Come back next year. But don't expect anything different :| Continue Reading »