Commonwealth Games-New Delhi 2010

AbhishekD · Post by **AbhishekD** » 11 Oct 2010 23:00

So how many gold hopefuls do we have now?

Looks like boxing did not live upto its expectations. Mostly bronze medals. Boxing flatters to deceive again

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Oct 2010 23:01

catty remark - she could lose some fat off that soft belly

gagan narang has two more events left I think...

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 01:54

3 indian boxers are in finals
ogogo needs to get thrashed by his northern irish opponent

singhaji, good spot on the pacific islanders, they also have major martial culture and very warlike tendencies
natural fighters, took to rugby very easily

AdityaM · Post by **AdityaM** » 12 Oct 2010 02:05

were Vijenders judges indian?
Vijenders on tv news saying that we still continue to be scared of brits. Says how can u ask us to get gold when you are so scared of them..or something to this effect.
I hope he is not further penalised for disagreeing with the judges. hate to see him miss the Asiad

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 12 Oct 2010 02:15

Tanaji wrote:Apparently Sania Mirza motorham lost... and at the press conference blamed mosquitoes on the pitch.

Look like she is taking her hubby seriously in the wrong departments of Pakiness.

She may be right. In the highlights shown here in massa, there were swarm of insects around her. It was quite visible with the floodlights.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 12 Oct 2010 02:29

Tanaji wrote:Apparently Sania Mirza motorham lost... and at the press conference blamed mosquitoes on the pitch.

Look like she is taking her hubby seriously in the wrong departments of Pakiness.

Haven't you heard?
Ek macchar aadmi ko hijda bana deta hai!

archan · Post by **archan** » 12 Oct 2010 07:26

But she is an aurat!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2010 08:31

the martial 'head-hunting' culture of pacific ocean island nations did not arise immediately after they made those epic voyages from the bigger landmasses and settled into the smaller islands. for a few houndred years there were enough resources to keep everyone happy and good old growth timber to make their 777-200LR canoes.

but eventually population pressure let to ecological devastation in the island territories which led to shortage of resources and
political turmoil with islands even 5 miles long having bitterly fighting warlords. trade relations to outlying settlements broke down
and these essentially became marooned because they lacked the good timber to make canoes themselves. this is how easter island , pitcairn island and other smaller settlements eventually shrunk in population, became cut off from larger islands and all died out. when the mutineers of the HMS Bounty landed, the pitcairn island was unpopulated but plenty of old tools and signs of settlement were found, including a stone quarry.

in the bigger islands, shortage of food sometimes led to cannibalism which swept into even digging up buried corpses to get protein. somehow the bigger islands held on at much reduced std of living for few 100 more yrs until european explorers in ships opened the trade routes in the pacific again.

all this from jared diamond's Collapse which is a fascinating book.

in modern times look for a photo of the border between Haiti and Dominican republic. haiti is totally deforested and poorest in
western hemisphere.
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article ... velopment/

forest conservation in japan started 100s of years ago and inspite of so much population, today they have good forest cover - allegedly 70%

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 12 Oct 2010 09:10

Singha wrote:for rugby kind of bullish sports, the pacific islanders used to have the best natural physique - years of open ocean swimming, canoeing and a diet rich in pig meat and seafood! but small population and financial issues gates their progress. these are people who were making 2-3 week open ocean voyages in low slung tree trunk sailing canoes over 1200 yrs ago....takes serious balls to do that. the kind of people who landed and lived in easter island after 3000km journey.

Indeed, people from American Samoa have been extremely successful in the NFL taking into account the nation's tiny size. They are now recruiting in nearby islands as well.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/ ... 7706.shtml
http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2010 09:15

I recall a old article in SciAm that anthropologists studying the very strong forearms and bone density of aleutian islanders had traced it to their ocean canoeing, which has a peculiar sunken wave piercing DDX type shape below the waterline.

sum · Post by **sum** » 12 Oct 2010 09:45

AbhishekD wrote: Looks like boxing did not live upto its expectations. Mostly bronze medals. Boxing flatters to deceive again

Honestly, am not too sad about this since we seem to have developed this big team which consistently boxes its way about quarters in most events unlike one man shows earlier.

Am sure that losses here will make the boxers concentrate even more on their training/technique ( else they might get complacent winning in "smaller" tourneys like CWG). Am also sure that we will now move on to the next stage wherein the consistent entry into quarters every time will slowly turn into consistent showing till finals also...

This is how all the powerhouses of today have come up!!

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 12 Oct 2010 10:24

31st CWG gold for India as Annu Raj Singh and Sheena Sindhu win in 10m pistol

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 12 Oct 2010 10:29

Lalmohan wrote:suranjoy gives bradfordistan's haroon a real hammering 9-3 in the end

Aha, Haroon is the younger brother of big mouth glassjaw Amir Khan! Turns out equally big mouth younger brother was not selected in the England squad and competed for Pakistan instead. He's now whining on Twitter on how England were robbed of a bronze medal because he wasn't selected. Shame he didn't get KO'd.

Vivek Raghuvanshi · Post by **Vivek Raghuvanshi** » 12 Oct 2010 11:27

Who’s the real racist?

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comme ... racist-948

.....Finally, come to Schoeman’s remarks. The simian comparison he made was not very different from the manner in which Sunil Gavaskar, writing in his book Sunny Days, described a rambunctious crowd in Kingston (Jamaica) during the fourth test between India and the West Indies in early 1976. Led by Michael Holding, the hosts bowled menacingly and aimed for the batsman’s body. The crowd seemed to love it, in the manner of a Coliseum throng egging on blood-hungry gladiators.
Was Gavaskar racist — or was he just angry at the perceived unfairness of it all?
That aside, at sports events Indians tend to be terrible keepers of spectator etiquette. In 2004, this writer travelled to Athens for the Olympic Games. A doubles match involving tennis stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi got Indian fans particularly excited. A joint secretary of the ministry of sports, in Athens on a taxpayer-sponsored junket, got so carried away that each time an Indian player raised his arm to serve, he screamed, “Go Leander, Go Mahesh; Come on India!”
It happened two or three times, with all four players on court turning in the direction of the screeching middle-aged Indian. Eventually, it was pointed out to Mr joint secretary that spectators were expected to maintain complete silence while a player was serving or during a rally. The cheering was to take place strictly after the point. There was a certain difference between a tennis match and a football game. The epithets used to describe Mr Joint Secretary that day in Athens were far worse than “monkey”; and they were all the work of fellow Indians.
A fourth recent fracas arose during the marchpast of nations at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. A Doordarshan commentator described an African contingent in a strange fashion: “Here comes Malawi. It is in Africa. It is one of the world’s least developed countries”.
Predictably, the high commission of Malawi protested. Doordarshan’s director-general wrote back offering an “unconditional apology” and insisting the “derogatory” description was “unintentional” and “inadvertent”. There wasn’t even the remotest suggestion, let alone self-admission, that India’s public broadcaster had been racist. Neither was there any question of the government of Malawi boycotting the Indian high commissioner and asking New Delhi to punish the Doordarshan commentator.
Given this, why is India’s establishment so prickly when comes to claiming offence from white nations in the Commonwealth? Is it exhibiting some deep-seated psychological inadequacy? That nagging suspicion just refuses to go away.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 12:14

there is accidental insensitive racism, and then there is methodical intentional racism
i dont think the south african monkey comment was meant to be racist, but white south africans typically grow up in a sub-racist atmosphere (these days) as opposed to a fuly racist atmosphere their parents grow up in. epithets like 'monkey' have racist connotations, but may not have been meant - we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. in the same way, the malawian comment comes from ignorance, not intent.
the australian press however... i think the comments were intentional

i am getting increasingly annoyed with sally pearson, her attitude exemplifies the worst unsportsmanlike attitude of australians. there is a poll in the Sydney Morning Herald on her... please go and vote, its open for another two days.

AbhishekD · Post by **AbhishekD** » 12 Oct 2010 12:47

Given Indian standard, the organization of the games were fantastic. We did a very good job, but as we aspire to become world beaters and claim to be get the High table in the world. According to those aspirations we come up very short. The comparison with Beijing Olympics though not entirely right will always happen. The Beijing organization was methodical, path breaking and refreshing. The Delhi organization was cliched, stereotypical and pedantic. The message was not refreshing, the opening ceremony indeed further reinforced the Indian stereotype of slothful, inefficient system and the Games Village again reinforced the message of the dirty streets and chaotic traffic in india.

Given this background the western media coverage to some extent was fair, but again there is an inherent racism in the coverage, such as concerns about health, security, safety was exaggerated and not warranted. The focus of preparation and delays also. But overall India needs to buck up and learn from the mistakes and move on and resolve to develop a better system for conduct of large scale events in India

amit · Post by **amit** » 12 Oct 2010 13:30

AbhishekD wrote:The message was not refreshing, the opening ceremony indeed further reinforced the Indian stereotype of slothful, inefficient system and the Games Village again reinforced the message of the dirty streets and chaotic traffic in india.

This is an interesting line of thought. Could you elaborate on this, that is why you think the display of Indian culture and what we are (as opposed to what we wish others to think us to be, aka the Chinese) during the opening ceremony was slothful and inefficient?

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 13:31

^^^ the drummers didn't jump high enough!

sum · Post by **sum** » 12 Oct 2010 13:32

Gagan Narang finished fifth in his event ( was paired with Hari Om singh)!!!!

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 12 Oct 2010 13:54

I think we must make a distinction between "racist" utterances-like the simian like hooting at some European football stadiums when ethnic African footballers were playing and excessive cheering for one's side-call it "jingoism".As long as one is not denigrating the opponents,all is fair.We sometimes see a lot of booing from the home crowd when an unpopular visiting footballer is playing at the ground,but this is considered acceptable and par for the course.

Here is a bewildering account of what actually happened with the Women's 100m.Who has really won finally?

Commonwealth Games 2010: the most complicated 100 metres final in history
Five days after the starter's gun fired, it's still not clear who is the women's 100m Commonwealth sprint champion.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... story.html

Xcpt:

October 7
England's Laura Turner and Australia's Sally Pearson false-start in the women's 100m final. Only Turner is disqualified because, according to officials, "her reaction time was the quicker."
Complaining that noise from the stadium had been distracting her before the start, Turner refuses to leave the track. She is allowed to compete in the final under protest - meaning that if her protest were successful, her position in the final would stand.
Turner finishes last as the race is re-run, while Pearson wins easily. Ecstatic, she completes a tearful victory lap, draped in her national flag. In a post-match interview, however, Pearson lets slip that she - not Turner - had "twitched first" to trigger the initial false-start.
As a result, England Athletics call for Pearson to be disqualified - which would bump England's Katherine Endicott, who finished fourth, into third.
After reviewing the tape, officials judge that Pearson could not have reacted to Turner's false start because of the tiny time-gap between the two sprinters' starts - so Pearson is disqualified and Osayemi declared the winner.
Pearson gets the bad news her way to the winner's podium. "That's not right," she tells the press. "I'm just numb right now. I was walking out the medal ceremony and then I was called back." Mike Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, apologises for the "communications blunder."
Damola Osayemi, now occupying the gold medal position, thinks that justice has been served by her victory: "I don't know why they allow people to participate in the competition if they cannot follow the rules."

October 11
Osayemi is provisionally suspended after failing a drug test. Her sample contained traces of methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant. If her 'B' sample also tests positive, Osayemi will be stripped of the medal.
England's Katherine Endicott now looks set to be an unlikely silver medal winner - after finishing fourth in the race - and Bertille Atangana of Cameroon will take bronze. Natasha Mayers of St Vincent and the Grenadines is in line to be crowned her country's first ever Commonwealth champion.
All of which means that only two runners officially finished the final without winning a medal. Since Mayers herself was banned for two years for doping in 2005, Toea Wisil of New Guinea and Tahesia Harrigan of the Virgin Islands must be feeling even more unlucky.

amit · Post by **amit** » 12 Oct 2010 13:56

Lalmohan wrote:^^^ the drummers didn't jump high enough!

But seriously a lot of people admire the way the Chinese do things, stuff like putting a beautiful little girl on the stage and getting her to lip sync a song sung by a really talented but not glamorous looking girl at backstage. Also things like digitally enhancing and choreographing the fireworks at the end of the show for the TV feed which went out to the rest of the world.

All this makes for breathtaking visual display and few people think of looking beyond that.

To me, this was the best opening ceremony I've seen, and I've seen quite a few around the world.

Why? Because it was grand, it was colourful and smooth. But most importantly because it was obvious that the performers were just ordinary Indian artists - not the slick, artificial Bollywood types - and they were having the time of their lives. So what if a few were out of step or that some of them fell when they were trying to stand on top of each other. Ultimately the show was a typical Indian celebration of fun, laughter and the joy of being alive (shall I also add free?). And I don't care one damn bit if any Gora or his ilk liked it or not. We are like that onlee and we've been so for more than 5,000 years.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 14:03

i have not seen any negative comments in the press about the opening ceremony itself. all are agreed that it was a great show and really showcased the warmth and friendliness of Indians

AbhishekD · Post by **AbhishekD** » 12 Oct 2010 14:34

amit wrote:
AbhishekD wrote:The message was not refreshing, the opening ceremony indeed further reinforced the Indian stereotype of slothful, inefficient system and the Games Village again reinforced the message of the dirty streets and chaotic traffic in india.
This is an interesting line of thought. Could you elaborate on this, that is why you think the display of Indian culture and what we are (as opposed to what we wish others to think us to be, aka the Chinese) during the opening ceremony was slothful and inefficient?

Well the images of India are known to the world for a very very long time. The rich incredibly diverse largely ancient civilization. The world knows this. I am nowhere saying that we should disassociate ourselves from this culture. Indeed I am very proud of this culture. But India has this image since a very very long time. Its time to bring something new. The opening ceremony just reinforced what India is known for. Nothing new, energetic or unique was shown in the opening ceremony.

It will require a great deal of creativity to show a New India. The opening ceremony though great and spectacular just continued to reinforce the image of snake charmers, saints, sadhus and incredible diversity. I was hoping for something more, newer and creative.

I probably am wrong by saying that opening ceremony perse shows India as slothful and inefficient, but the entire CWG episode shows that even though we have made great stride in the last few decades, we still are largely the same country and a lot needs to be done before we can truly leave our past behind

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 14:38

for what you want to show, republic day parade is more appropriate (IMO)

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 12 Oct 2010 14:52

From the overall feedback obtained from Indians and foreigners (as published by the newspapers), it appears that the opening ceremony was just right. I think we should keep up the good work.

amit · Post by **amit** » 12 Oct 2010 14:54

AbhishekD wrote:Well the images of India are known to the world for a very very long time. The rich incredibly diverse largely ancient civilization. The world knows this. I am nowhere saying that we should disassociate ourselves from this culture. Indeed I am very proud of this culture. But India has this image since a very very long time. Its time to bring something new. The opening ceremony just reinforced what India is known for. Nothing new, energetic or unique was shown in the opening ceremony.

It will require a great deal of creativity to show a New India. The opening ceremony though great and spectacular just continued to reinforce the image of snake charmers, saints, sadhus and incredible diversity. I was hoping for something more, newer and creative.

I probably am wrong by saying that opening ceremony perse shows India as slothful and inefficient, but the entire CWG episode shows that even though we have made great stride in the last few decades, we still are largely the same country and a lot needs to be done before we can truly leave our past behind

Regarding the organizational aspect of this CWG, I couldn't agree with you more. It was a disgrace and it is indeed a miracle and a testament to the determination and enthusiasm of the ordinary Indian sportspersons and volunteers that so far the games have passed off without a major incident.

However, I disagree with your point about showcasing India. You see the New India does mean abandoning the Old India. That's the problem with China IMO. In trying to project the New China, they abandoned the Old China and thus lost their soul.

A projection of New India can be only through reinterpreting what the Old India is in a modern context. Otherwise you lose the essence of what India is and what it means to be an Indian. I think the organizers did a very good job in hitting the exact right balance.

JMT, of course

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 14:55

the beijing ceremony showed an aggressive assertive coercive power that can mobilise armies of droids - that serves to intimidate

the delhi ceremony showed joy, spirit, warmth, delight - we are warm and cuddly onlee

amit · Post by **amit** » 12 Oct 2010 14:56

Lalmohan wrote:the beijing ceremony showed an aggressive assertive coercive power that can mobilise armies of droids - that serves to intimidate

the delhi ceremony showed joy, spirit, warmth, delight - we are warm and cuddly onlee

Lal Mullah,

Thank you for putting it in such a precise manner. This is exactly what I feel. Jai Ho!

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 14:59

now that i've felt warm and cuddly

wanted to add to singha's observations on pacific islanders:

the hawaiians had developed a weapon which was a stout curved club/blade of hardwood (almost sword like, but bigger), embedded with a long row of tiger shark teeth. anyone on the receiving end of this would have a very unpleasant day

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 12 Oct 2010 15:09

My local mallustan commie biraders are complaining that there were no islamic or christian art forms on display for CWG opening. I asked them pliss to paste a list of such art forms they want to see included. I am still waiting to hear from them.

amit · Post by **amit** » 12 Oct 2010 15:13

Lalmohan wrote:now that i've felt warm and cuddly

Now's the time to go out on a hunt, with that weapon you talked about. But what would be interesting to know is what they used to persuade the tiger sharks to part with their teeth. That would be interesting.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 15:33

my updated list of why games should not be held in Australia

1. Genocide against indigenous people
2. War crimes against Japanese POW's
3. Proliferation of alien rabbits across pristine ecosphere - destroying native habitat and species
4. Deadly snakes
5. Biological warfare against rabbits using myxymatosis virus
6. Deadly spiders
7. Baby eating wild dog packs
8. Deadly jelly fish
9. Gangs of racist murdering thugs
10. Gangs of Lebanese thugs
11. Mistreatment and human rights abuse of Vietnamese boat people
12. Serial killers preying on tourists
13. Racist yahoos shooting defenceless kangaroos using spotlights on jeeps
14. Deadly lizards
15. Participation in illegal foreign wars (Vietnam, Iraq…)
16. Deadly rodents
17. Enforced drought through abuse of natural water resources
18. Xenophobic attitude in average citizens
19. Violent and abusive police force
20. Deadly crocodiles

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 12 Oct 2010 15:37

You forgot poor air quality due to excessive mining of radio active materials. Danger to athletes' health.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2010 15:44

22, residue from atmospheric nuclear tests by the british govt
23. wildfires
24. tsunami risk
25. failed project managed on collins sub program reveals aussie weakness in managing large projects on their own
26. poor 2 lane road infra in the interior, crawling with high speed "road train" trucks ignoring all norms

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 15:47

just saw highlights of the samoa v scotland rugby 7's - totaly demolition job by the samoans!

jagga · Post by **jagga** » 12 Oct 2010 15:49

27. Racist Police
28. Racist Media

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 15:59

very physical bronze medal play off underway between england and south africa in rugby 7's
fast and furious!

england lose, but it was close

up next kiwis v aussies for gold/silver

kiwis win, giving the aussies a dose of their own medicine - the winning try scorer mocking the guy who almost intercepted him (very unsporting)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2010 17:28

Kiwis take rugby very seriously - being one of the few sports where they usually beat australia and england.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 17:39

Singha wrote:Kiwis take rugby very seriously - being one of the few sports where they usually beat australia and england.

true, and much as i love to watch the haka, i have to say that the all blacks are usually up their own musharraf's in terms of arrogance and ego. surprisingly, the wallabies are far more modest

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Oct 2010 17:48

India ladies take bronze in 4 x 100m relay

fabulous!!

and India men take bronze in 4 x 100m relay

wow!!