Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

[Stan_Savljevic]

Book review

Book of the week: Olympics: The India Story Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta HARPERCOLLINS RS 695 PP 505

By K. Arumugam

Getting adequate funding to send Indian teams to the Olympics used to be a tough business. When Charles Newham, who was involved in mobilising funds for the 1932 Indian Olympics hockey team to Los Angeles, approached Mahatma Gandhi, then in talks with Lord Irvin in Shimla, the Mahatma's' response was blunt: "What is hockey?"

Clearly, the disconnect between polities and sports in India goes back a long time. But as authors Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta argue in this pioneering and long awaited book, sports did, at one point of time, stand for nationalistic sentiments, especially in the pre-Independence era. Referring to the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games, the authors show how Jawaharlal Nehru and Indonesian President Sukarno vied for the title of 'Emerging Asian Country' that used sports as a tool.

Another startling fact is revealed. At the opening ceremony of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Dhyan Chand-led Indian Olympics contingent did not offer the Nazi salute - the Americans being the only other exception. There are many such revelations and anecdotes that should keep any Indian sports and sports history enthusiast enthralled.

"Olympics: The lndia Story" is a bag of facts, much of them sourced from the International Olympic Committee's archives at their museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. The first 150 odd pages, in particular, are replete with little known, lively and telling details presented in an enchanting manner as the authors map the early years of India's Olympic Movement. Indian hockey, the Asian Games, the profiles of India's Olympians and the impact of television make up the bulk of this gripping narrative.

Sir Dorabji Tata, founder President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in 1927, funded India's contingents both for the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. But soon, he decided to step down and stuck to his guns despite repeated entreaties from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The reason? He was 70 years old and felt it was time for someone else to take over. A fine example, surely, for our present-day sports parasites who cling on to power for decades.

Not surprisingly, since the sport fetched 11 medals at the Olympics for India, hockey dominates the Indian Olympic story. However, there is more information on the origin and growth of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) than on the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF). For the IHF story, one has to rely on IHF Vice-President C.E. Newham's personal account.

One feels that the 1926 Indian tour of New Zealand merited more emphasis, for it was this tour that was the motivation for the 1928 Amsterdam beginnings of our Golden Age of Olympic gold medals. Why India excelled in hockey during those glory years is still a mystery As much is the mystery of why Jaipal Singh, the first Indian Olympic hockey captain, walked away before the semifinals.

But the book firmly asserts in line with my own earlier finding about Hitler not ever having met Dhyan Chand at Berlin. The story of the Fuhrer offering the Indian hockey wizard a post in the German army is a complete cock and bull story. Unlike the parts of the book dealing with Olympic movement, the chapters dealing with hockey revolve around known sources, mainly books by players and officials. The manner in which all the material has been brought together in a lucid manner is where the book scores.

As much as the authors emphasise that the introduction of synthetic playing surfaces is the sole reason behind Indian hockey's decline, there are equally valid arguments against this theory. In particular, clueless coaches and antipathy towards the import of knowledge as exemplified by the recent Ric Charlesworth hulaballoo - have resulted in the fall from grace of Indian hockey.

As far as the larger picture goes, regional bickerings have effectively killed Olympic sports in India. The painstaking reconstruction of a seven-year feud between the IOA and Indian Swimming Federation officials is an eye-opener However, hockey's case is different. The succession war between 'North' and 'South' following Ashwini Kumar's exit in the 1970s is just an aberration. Olympics: The Indian Story, by virtue of its depth, dimension and erudition opens up numerous debates and fresh areas of research - besides being a delightful read.

K.Arumugam is co-author of Great Indian Olympians

Clicky
In other hockey news, four coaches from India will go 2 beijing to watch the other teams play. And strategize from there on. Lets see.. K Arumugam also claims that there is a lot of internal feuding in IHF and Ajitpal Singh {whom he brands as a KPS Gill clone} has taken over and thrown away Aslam Sher Khan to do KPS' bidding. He also has no nice words for Balkishen Singh, the former star of Indian hockey, who is against furrin coaches in general. Esp against RicC. Arumugam has fond feelings for RicC, so his opinions have to be taken with a pinch of gravy. But the funny part is there is some truth to what he claims, as in, there is no bloody news about IHF these days. What are our national players doing? Are they practicing, if so for what tournament? Are they on a break, and if so, for how long? WTH is going on, I have no clue.

Ever since the IOA handed over Indian hockey's charge to an ad-hoc committee, people have been expecting overnight changes, but newly-appointed selection committee Chairman Ajit Pal Singh said the process will take time. "It has been only three months since we have taken the charge, one should not expect overnight changes. It's a lengthy and time taking process." Ajit Pal said. "We have to form many committees and then coach, trainer, physio and other support staff has to be appointed. After that we will hold a meeting with all concerned persons and then only I will be able to tell you whether Indian hockey is going in right direction or not. Let us first draw the roadmap," added the World Cup winning captain. {And it takes three months to draw a roadmap. Jeezus H christ.}

He also said that the ad-hoc committee in charge of the game was open to suggestions from all quarters. "We are open for suggestions. We will take opinion from former players, experts and media as well." In an unexpected move the ad-hoc committee has replaced Aslam Sher Khan as the Chairman of the selection panel with Ajit Pal. However, the newly-appointed selection committee chief does not want to read much between the lines.

"I was one of the members of the selection panel. Aslam will continue as a member. There is nothing like ego clashes. We have to work together to bring back the old glory of Indian hockey." Asked about his priority, the former centre-half said the first and foremost need is to prepare an annual calender and training programme for the players. "We don't have a systematic training programme for our senior and junior players. We will chart out a national and international calender. A pool of upcoming players has to be created." opined the veteran.

"My priority would be to bring transperency in day-to-day functioning. So there will be no scope for complaints," he said. Although, the selectors are emphasing on youth, the selection committee Chairman reiterated that the doors of the national team are not closed for old players like Dilip Tirkey, Gagan Ajit Singh or Arjun Halappa. {That only means it is closed from the decoding of the message.}

"Now all selections will be purely performance based. Whoever performs well, will get a chance. Doors are not closed for anyone. There is no criteria of old and new," said Ajit Pal. India's failure to qualify for Olympics after 80 years hurts him no end, but he is optimistic about the team's chances in 2012 London edition of the Games. "We could not qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years. It hurts me but it is a harsh fact and you can not undo it. Let us forget the past and start afresh. "I am sure that we will not only qualify for the London Olympics but will be a strong medal contender as well." he said.

Clicky

Same as in football, we have this..

The National hockey championship may be a much shorter, keener affair if the ad hoc committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) studies the recommendation of the Olympians with due seriousness. With the Indian Hockey Federation bursting at its seams with 39 full members and around 15 associate members, the Nationals were always long-drawn and cumbersome, leaving the federation with few choices as the number discouraged states from hosting the event.

Olympians at the IOA meeting on Thursday said the very concept of associate members, conjured up by the federation around 13 years ago at an entry fee of Rs 5 lakh, diluted the National championships, making it far more club-centric than it actually was. The Olympians felt that by restricting the Nationals to the states and the four institutional members - Services, Indian Railways, Indian Airlines and Combined Universities-the IOA would only strengthen the state teams. "Right now, no state is keen on the Nationals," said former goalkeeper AB Subbaiah. "With their cream taken away by the associate members, they are forced to field their B or C strings. With the associate members gone, the states would automatically get back their best players."

[Stan_Savljevic]

How many of us know that we do have a functioning kabaddi team? I have to figure this from the yawn webpage, sick. Same with hockey news. I have often found reliable news about Indian hockey on Baki webpages. WTF is wrong with our sports journalists???

The Indian kabaddi team will start their tour to Pakistan from Monday when they arrive at the railway station here. The visitors will play six international matches during the tour.

Schedule:
Match 1: In Multan on Aug 7
Match 2: In Chisitan on Aug 9
Match 3: In Pakpattan on Aug 10
Match 4: In Faisalabad on Aug 12
Match 5: In Islamabad on Aug 14
Match 6: In Islamabad on Aug 16

Clicky

[Stan_Savljevic]

As expected, Anand wins. I just wish he had gone for a win in the third game also. That would have shut these bozos in chessbase for a long while. For all the fondness that Magnus has earned from Oiropean commentators, he is just too 6-7 years too young to be the a serious contender for the world championship. Sorry the truth hurts. Anand had to sit around being the contender for what 8 years or so. As long as the big Kman was around, the Aman could nt get much done. Thats how chess history is written, in 1 line. And as long as the Aman, the Kman and the Tman are around, the Cman cant get anywhere near the crown. Thats how "his story" will be written.

Also, as expected Myanmar loses and will face India in the AFC challenge cup. I hope India wins as expected and faces DPRK in the final and beats them.

Again, as expected, Rajyavardhan Rathore will lead the Indian contingent at Beijing.

Local hockey news

The MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament, which could not be conducted last year, is being revived, and will now be held at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium from September 3 to 14. The tournament committee, consisting of members from the Murugappa Group and Madras Cricket Club, has obtained permission to go ahead with the conduct of the tournament from the ad hoc committee.

The event, much to the chagrin of the hockey community in and around Chennai, could not be held last year owing to the difficulty in getting the dates from the Indian Hockey Federation. The tight schedule of competitions and training of the national teams came in the way of the tournament authorities maintaining the continuity of the event, the only competition in the region offering the highest prize money. Efforts are now afoot to get the best possible national level teams for this year’s tournament. It is gathered the ad hoc committee has also promised to look into the request of fielding the national junior team which retained the Asia Cup at Hyderabad recently.

Clicky

RicC writes in s2h

Amongst the things required in a top class programme are:
1. Long term work contracts for all the staff working with the national teams. These staff should be full-time.
2. Freedom for the coach to employ staff (including some foreign experts), plan the match programme and lead a transparent selection process…A highly qualified Hindi/English translator for example would be essential in my case as I would wish to learn the language as quickly as possible.
3. Development of sophisticated documentation, video and analysis processes so that all information remains in the hands of the national programme.
4. The resources assured to play 30-40 matches a year and expeditiously purchase equipment that is needed to effectively prepare and play.
5. An independent administrative capacity with the team to ensure the above as the IHF left no such legacy. The programme would be coach led but backed up with an efficient manager to handle off-pitch details.
6. An assured programme base from which to work and freedom to get the team together to prepare properly. Not necessarily always at a SAI camp.

Fair enough.

Unfortunately, these matters were all passed over and when I again saw the women’s team arrive in Rotterdam without a head coach, manager or video analyst it was clear that there was little will to proceed in my direction. My resignation was then promptly submitted as advisor to Indian hockey.

What I see about RicC from his verbose complaint list is that he is just one of those furriners who is completely out of touch with the Indian administrative system. He expects things to move super fast in India, facilities provided to him at the drop of a hat etc etc etc. The problem is in the cultural gap. Most Injuns have gotten accustomed to all the bureaucratic delays and whine less. Being a furriner and a one that comes from a system where demands are met at the drop of a hat, he has no patience for what happens in India. The worst part begins when he goes around complaining vociferously to dhimmedia-waalon. Unfortunately, such behavior has no tolerance in the Injun administrative circles and he was promptly told 2 get lost. Case closed. And when he was promptly told 2 get lost, they cut his paycheck too. What he assumed was that he would be paid till his contract was cancelled in written language. So he accumulated a bunch of expenses in travel which he expected to be reimbursed, and which the IHF has said it wont pay cos he accumulated em after he was cut off.. Nice try he is going to get his cash back, even if he whines a gazillion times 2 the dhimmedia.

And the dhimmedia had finally found someone who is willing to talk to them and do chai-biskoth, even if it had zero bearing on the runnings of hockey or the management of players. They were all getting an insight into the man who was supposed to be the king-maker of Injun hockey. And they were delighted at the close access, which hitherto had not been provided to them. Super-elated they went around praising the credentials of RicC, super-expanding on his CV to the sdre Injuns etc. And now that their hero has been dumped to the cooum that he came from, they are torn apart by their love for the game, and professional access. So bottomline, you will see more whinefest about how great Injuns could have been etc etc. We did nt need this foisted prima donna in the first place cos the cultural gap was too great to have been overcome and for RicC's resources to have been maneuvred constructively for the express purpose of betterment of Indian hockey. What we needed was a silent coach like John Wright, what we got was a Greg Chappel. I just hope they appoint MK Kaushik as the head coach asap. And bring in someone more responsible for the womens team and junior team. The womens team has been foundering so bad these days. MK sir should have no problem handling the senior team as many juniors have started graduating into the senior team now. The door is closed for 29+ folks like Halappa, Gagan Ajit etc. This is the time for folks like Sandeep Singh, Diwakar Ram etc.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Glowing article about Somdev Varman. Having seen many a slip between the cup and the lip, I will just keep my cards closed on his case. Time will tell if he is the real beacon for Injun tennis. What I am sure is that he will readily accept the charge to handle the Injun davis cup fistfight against Romania, if offered that is. That looks like a mere formality at this stage given that Rohan, Prakash etc are all MIA on clay courts.
Clicky

In the midst of all this din, the main crikkit news gets sided.

India's one-day and Twenty20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Monday conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, making him only the second cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to be bestowed the country's highest sporting honour.

RG khel ratna is the top sports performer award in India. So we better respect the award, at least.

India’s Karun Chandhok finished a creditable fourth in the feature race of the GP2 series at Hungaroring (Hungary) on Sunday. The 24-year-old started from fifth on the grid but could have finished higher had he not been forced into a spin by a slowing car ahead of him that caused his engine to stall.

[Singha]

if we say its post 1990 gen (SRT), then Dada, Kumble, Sehwag & Dravid deserve it more than
a newbie like Dhoni.

or perhaps as a dinosaur I always root for the oldies...old soldiers who did not receive their
due from a ungrateful nation.....whose bones guard the windswept passes leading to the
indian plains in eternal watchfulness....the last guard.

[pradeepe]

if we say its post 1990 gen (SRT), then Dada, Kumble, Sehwag & Dravid deserve it more than
a newbie like Dhoni.

or perhaps as a dinosaur I always root for the oldies...old soldiers who did not receive their
due from a ungrateful nation.....whose bones guard the windswept passes leading to the
indian plains in eternal watchfulness....the last guard.

Very true. Dhoni is the future and has shown great promise. But more deserving would have been the old guard. But compared to the real old guard, the above group have had it much much better. They peaked as Indian consumerism was rising and have reaped much of the benefits - and deservedly so. But When Singha puts it like that one has to just leave it and admire the words as they flow... .

[Singha]

Kumble for instance has been involved in nearly every battle we have won...all he has got is a traffic
point named after him on MG Road BLR and that too is under assault by metro construction..the board is
gone now.

[sum]

So,another couple of days and we will start battle to get into the medals tally!!!!

All the best to our athletes out there...

There is nothing more satisfying(and goosebump elicting) than to hear the antional anthem play in front of 1000s of foreigners with an Indian on the podium...

I recall tears in my eyes(almost) in the last olympics when the anthem played due to Col.rathore's silver!!!

Hope we get to hear our anthem multiple times(esp when its in Chini land)

[Rahul M]

if we say its post 1990 gen (SRT), then Dada, Kumble, Sehwag & Dravid deserve it more than
a newbie like Dhoni.

or perhaps as a dinosaur I always root for the oldies...old soldiers who did not receive their
due from a ungrateful nation.....whose bones guard the windswept passes leading to the
indian plains in eternal watchfulness....the last guard.

well SRT did get the Arjun (more than once IIRC) and also the rajiv khel ratna.
RD and SG got the Arjun awards but I do remember that the NDA govt. was extremely reluctant to give Arjun to SG during his more deserving years (late 90's early 2000's) since he was considered to be close to the left, which is not wholly untrue btw.

[sum]

was extremely reluctant to give Arjun to SG during his more deserving years (late 90's early 2000's) since he was considered to be close to the left, which is not wholly untrue btw.

First time am i hearing anything about SGs political leanings!!!!
How is it said that he is close to the left other than the fact that he butters up to the ruling class (which might be needed when someone is very famous)?

[Singha]

he is close to dalmiya but its silly to bring politics into these matters.
arjuna or bharat ratna are not the prostitutes of the dogs in power at any given moment.

[Rahul M]

was extremely reluctant to give Arjun to SG during his more deserving years (late 90's early 2000's) since he was considered to be close to the left, which is not wholly untrue btw.

First time am i hearing anything about SGs political leanings!!!!
How is it said that he is close to the left other than the fact that he butters up to the ruling class (which might be needed when someone is very famous)?

well, that is about the only point. his family has a successfully running business and has to be close to the ruling party for obvious reasons.
e.g in the last CAB elections his brother snahasish was a trusted lieutenant of ex police commisioner prasun (of rijwanur rahman fame), who in turn had the blessings of left.

singha, what you are saying should be the ideal case, it is not the ground situation, as you are well aware. btw, he has turned against dalmiya, apparently because dalmiya has been spreading rumours about his brother. you may note that GoWB has also opposed dalmiya in favour of prasun !

anyway, I don't care as long as he scores with the bat.

[Vikas]

Do they in Olympics play national anthem of countries winning Silver and Bronze ?

[Vikas]

Did anyone watch recently released movie "Shaurya".
In the movie, KK menon gives a lamba-choda bhashan on muslims in the end, but the producers/directors shied away from using the word Muslim and instead used "Quom".
What is with these people.If you want to make a hard hitting movie , then go the whole nine yards. Why leave certain things to the imagination.
That movie was a poor imitation of "A Few good men" is a different story and was a cheap shot on IA.

[Stan_Savljevic]

As expected, one more whinefest from RicC with my comments for fun. RicC's storyline would be equal to the Brett Favre story, if India == west. We have all the elements: A famous guy with unique blackmarks, a sob story, a prima donna at that, a reckless administrashun, feeling shortchanged, mutual ill-will etc and more. Drama, entertainment, hype etc etc.

But alas, the sdre Injuns know an actor when he sees one Thank goodness.

Lambasting the Sports Authority of India for the mess that Indian hockey has become, former Technical Advisor Ric Charlesworth on Tuesday claimed SAI never wanted to employ him and called for privatising the national game in order to bring back its lost glory. Charlesworth described the country's administration as a "minefield" of bureaucrats and said their increasing interference in the sport was a worrying factor. {Thank you, but that is India. If you dont like it, you gotta get out, or be forced out, the way you were.}

"Corporatise hockey in India, that's the best way to put in place a professional structure," Charlesworth told reporters. {Not gonna happen in the immediate, near or long-term future. Not gonna happen as long as there is an IOA. Sorry, your wishes are like bakis' oft-repeated kushmeeeeeeeer de de.}

"Priorities in training programme should be decided by the coach and not by some bureaucrats. Three years ago I gave then IHF President KPS Gill a comprehensive programme, saying if you implement this India will rise by one spot yearly in the world rankings and by Beijing Olympics you will be placed world number 4, but unfortunately he never took it seriously. {Cos your stupid plan was unrealistic. One day you say, it will take India at least 4 years to be consistently ranked in the top 3, and then you also claim to be ranked 4 in 6 months! What kinda bullcrap you feeding the media, sonnie?}

"All the support staff of the team needs to have a proper contract," he said. {Well, thats job security. You can seek it, in India job security exists as long as you do your expected job instead of probing a gazilliion things. Thats common sense.}

Charlesworth, who had left the country in a huff citing inadequate working and living facilities beside non-payment of his bills, returned to India to get his dues cleared from the SAI before leaving for Australia on Wednesday. {Bye bye, no bills cleared, not gonna happen.}

Charlesworth admitted that he was "disappointed" to leave the job. {Yea, you maybe. But I am happy to see you leave.}

"One good thing is that Indian media is interested in hockey and transparency to the media is very essential," he said. {Yes, but the media is interested in you, not hockey, as such.}

Particularly critical about SAI's conduct with him, he feels it never wanted him to get involved with Indian hockey otherwise it would not have kept on deferring the date for signing his contract. {True enough, it did nt. You were foisted on the IHF by the FIH and its apparatus in the name of Vision Indian hockey. Our vision plans differ quite distinctly.}

"I think its mischievous because there were some people who did not want my association with Indian hockey. I started to work in India from December but signed my contract only in March after the Chile debacle. {Not some, many. As I said, you were foisted upon us at a time of low for Indian hockey. And you came with an agenda. And left with one. Sorry truth hurts.}

"SAI kept on deferring the date. Had Chile debacle not happened the contract signing wouldn't have materialised and I would have left earlier," he said. {Thats true. No chile, no RicC.}

Charlesworth was appointed by SAI on December 2007 but signed a contract only in March 2008 after India failed for first time to qualify for Olympic Games.

Charlesworth claimed that till now he had received only one payment from SAI and that too in June, six months after his formal appointment, adding that he was not certain about his pending arrears as the SAI officials are not responding to him. {Thats because FIH promised to pay you a significant portion of your paycheck. And then conveniently shifted you to us. When that game plan became obvious, so did your fall.}

"In March, I signed the contract only on the condition that all my arrears would be paid, but they paid me only an amount in June. They still owe me a lot of money but neither they are answering my mails nor calls. {They wont, dont waste your time. They are on strong legal ground btw. If you wish, you can sue em at the Indian courts. But alas, you wont. Cos you are whining to the media to get a sympathy wave. Unfortunately, not many in India care about hockey, let alone the bullcrap crocodile tears of a few media-waalon.}

"I don't know how will I recover my money but the Indian Olympic Association is talking with the SAI people in this matter." {You wont. Chai-biskoth as usual.}

Charlesworth, who was sent to India to revive hockey, said he would not submit all his assessment reports until he was paid his dues. {Revive my ass. Assessment, who cares about yours beyond a point. The issues with Indian hockey are clear. Any commonsensical observer can figure things. Shove your assessments up the backside.}

"The reports are the only basis on which I am bargaining with SAI. But I have submitted all my 10 reports to the FIH and till now I am sustaining on the money I received from them," Charlesworth said. {Ok, so what?}

About his experience in the country, Charlesworth said he was aware about the hardships, but he still took up the assignment because it appealed to him as a challenge. {Prima donna, this is the best sign of one.}

"I took up the India assignment as a challenge as I always knew it would be very difficult. But eventually it turned out to be even more difficult than I thought. {Yea, lol}

"I am disappointed to leave, but there was no point in staying as advisor when my suggestions were not accepted," a dejected Charleswoth said. {rotfl}

"My main problem was putting in place a proper programme. You need to have some continuity, you need to be structured. Whatever you do, you need to have a system in place which is sympathetic towards local people." {Sympathy in India is real, unlike your fake sympathies of the west.}

He said the main reason behind the decline of hockey in the subcontinent, especially in India and Pakistan, was that instead of working towards rectifying their mistakes, they try to put the blame across after a debacle. {Heh heh, did nt you do just the same now. Found excuses as to why you left. Same same, puppy shame, no?!}

"It is pretty clear now that India and Pakistan are out of top six. First thing they should do is to accept their mistakes and not make excuses and then go about rectifying the grey areas and that's why I was here." {They will do it on their own bidding. Your advises are non-sequitur to that, at least now.}

"India still has more resources in the game than any other country by a long way, but the support for the game is sleeping and dying in some places. The hockey administrators now need to revive them," Charlesworth said. {True, so what.}

Charlesworth is the front runner to take the charges of Australia senior men's team after fellow Barry Dancer's retirement. {Good riddance. The Ozzies deserve you and you deserve the Ozzies.}

The former New Zealand Cricket's high-performance manager also emphasised on the training modules of the players and said adaptation to the modern day techniques was essential to compete at the elite league.

"Training sessions in India needs to be upgraded. They were still adopting the techniques of 70's. They must realise that they will have to cater to scientific methods to compete with teams life Australia, Netherlands and Spain," said Charlsworth. {Thats euphemism for "run baby run."}

"You cannot coach on anecdotes, you need to have some reality, but here they don't have a library. When I went to Rotterdam with the women's team, I personally arranged for a video analyst but the SAI did not give the approval," he added. {Cos it costed a truckload of cash that could have gone towards the players welfare.}

Stressing that communicating with the players was a major problem during his stay here as most of them hardly knew English, he advocated the need for introducing English language course and computer training necessary for players in the camps. {Hmm, aint that a snide remark. Why not you learn Hindi?}

"Productive English language lessons and computer training should be introduced in the camps which will not only benefit the players, but also develop them as individuals. {They will improve if they have to. You dont need 2 pass advise.}

"I had a lot of problems in passing across my messages to the players, I even conducted a test in English but the result was very poor. So, I always wanted an interpreter to pass across my message to them in the correct manner," said the five-time Olympian. {Interpret your BS.}

Recounting his best experience in his nine-month long stint with Indian hockey, Charlesworth said it was getting access to the players during the Azlan Shah Cup. {Cos when a man is about 2 die, he gets his last wish. rotfl}

"My best experience was working with the players. After interacting with them I understood that they want more. People should realise their potential."

Asked whether there is any possibility of returning to India, he said, "I love India, it's a fascinating country, but I don't know what will happen in future. What I know is that I am jobless right now." {And rightly so. What is Greg Chappel doing these days? I did nt see any news about him. Did you call him yet? Please do if not otherwise.}

[sum]

Do they in Olympics play national anthem of countries winning Silver and Bronze

Do remember hearing the Indian Anthem in 04 and 96.(Didnt follow 2000 though)

[Stan_Savljevic]

Well, daal mein kuch kaala hai. The IWF is in a state of super mess now. Monika Devi, who I suspected may not be super clean after all, has gotten caught for steroids. First of all, there was this huge ruckus between Shailaja Pujari and Monika regarding who to be sent. The IWF was caught in a mess cos Shailaja lifted 12 kgs more than Monika, but Shailaja seemed to be tainted esp the commonwealth saga that she brought back {got caught in 2006}. So the IWF did the most sensible thing and sent in Monika's name. Now Monika is also caught doping. I suggest that IWF shut shop, like the mens body did. Close all the avenues. Dump the oiseaules en masse. And thats what IWF will be forced to do.

Greed for medals in the womens game has led to such a lowering of guard. Bad for us, cos our old wins starting from the 1990 Auckland CW games through Karnam Malleswari's bronze, all looks firmly suspect. I have no idea if Malleswari is also a part of this mess. Association alone is bad targeting, but heh, any athlete caught doping or associating with doping candidates firmly goes under the suspect radar. That includes all of the balco folks. Malleswari has to now do a lot more than just sit back to clear her name. But of course in India, not many have a fricking clue as to what doping is. She is still the superstar in her place. Would nt be too far-fetched if she is found hobnobbing with Chiranjeevi's new party. The onus is on the IWF, the medal winners from 1990 and up {Arumugham Nallasamy & co upwards thro Karnam Malleswari, Kunjurani Devi} etc to prove their credibility. A new dawn will arise in Indian weightlifting if and only if there is a truth and reconciliation commission. All the suspects need to assemble and vouch. Lies ==> perjury.

Of course, every other team does this steroid level abuse. They dont get caught. That is no excuse for us to follow the oiseaules. Better be medal-less and honest than run after medals and get caught. I would be happy to contribute 500$ for Monika Devi's "future safety" fund to start with. If someone has contact address for Monika, please do post here. I dont want Indian WF or its pupils to stand a chance of being accused by wada folks of anything sinister.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Also seems like Somdev Devvarman is a descendant of one of the erstwhile royal families of Tripura. They used to go by the name debbarma a while back. Anyone has an interview or more info on this.

[Suraj]

Of course, every other team does this steroid level abuse. They dont get caught. That is no excuse for us to follow the oiseaules. Better be medal-less and honest than run after medals and get caught. I would be happy to contribute 500$ for Monika Devi's "future safety" fund to start with. If someone has contact address for Monika, please do post here. I dont want Indian WF or its pupils to stand a chance of being accused by wada folks of anything sinister.

I have to disagree with this. The anti-doping system, including WADA, is not a very impartial fair-minded system. The WADAs approach to pro cycling, for one, is an example. Multiple leading cyclists who were caught at Tour de France were known to dope at the Giro d'Italia prior to it, but WADA did not have up to date tests for it.

Those that are caught are caught because:
* they were stupid
* their system was stupid and they accentuated it
* they could not keep ahead of WADA practices
* they confessed

There's no uniform mechanism to handle dopers, and various nations and entities change from heavyhanded controls to barefaced CYA. It applies just as well to the likes of PRC as to the US.

I back a professional Indian system that develops atheletes and also maintains doping control mechanisms that will prevent our athletes from being caught, and if caught, as far as possible, it happens locally and they are privately censured and provided the capability to pass doping controls.

The system, as Lance Armstrong has repeatedly stated, only requires an "I have never tested positive" response, not a solemn "I have never taken performance enhancing drugs" vow. Wanting our athletes to be clean is a great desire, but I prefer that we only focus on their not getting caught. The system is such that nothing more matters.

[Stan_Savljevic]

I have to disagree with this. The anti-doping system, including WADA, is not a very impartial fair-minded system. The WADAs approach to pro cycling, for one, is an example. Multiple leading cyclists who were caught at Tour de France were known to dope at the Giro d'Italia prior to it, but WADA did not have up to date tests for it.

Wada scream and push around depending the level of cooperation/access they get. They are pro-western is a zero entropy statement, it was a given that they would be pro-western even when it was set up. Do you think Tour de france has any credibility left?! How many here think Lance was clean, please lift your hands. Same case for baseball. What about all those hulking Amrikan monsters who go against nature and look 6'4" 300 lbs? Its a given that doping/performance enhancement is a part of the culture here. Every visit to the nearby gym, I see creatine products sold with gay abandon. I am just skeptical of all this hulking bizness.

Same for athletics, where pushing human limits is first met with acclaim and then pondering over whether athletes have been clean etc. Wada's main job is to keep those sports that are not inculcated with a doping culture away from it. Once thats secured, they can fish around and clean the other mess. In that sense, it has done an ok job. A bit unfair with the Oiropeans, yea, but then where did you think balco investigation got all the big clues from? There are many good apples in wada, some are super terrible yes. On an overall scale, wada needs sympathy for the cause it proclaims to defend.

Our omissions and commissions include not having a large number of dope testing labs in India, IIRC there is just one in Bangalore. So we have one Md. Asif who gets caught here with dope paraphrenalia and gets sent to Switzerland for further tests/samples. Why is there no credibility in our labs? Do they meet standards? In Indian sports, our apparatus {IOA/babus/officials etc} are spineless 2 weed out deliberately underhand tactics with brute force. I prefer adi kollu here.

Irrespective of what Chicoms do or East Oiropeans do, we need 2 wean away all the folks who participate in pro sports from doping. Does nt buy much esp in a country like India with historical antecedents of dont care for sporting achievements. The economic factor {gains accrued with a few Arjunas/golds in Asiads/OG/CWG etc} need 2 be backed up with stringent penalties that should go along the ICL model. Ban/outcast folks who breach the rules. Push the onus back where it belongs. The onus should not be on WADA to prove non gulity. The onus should be on the concerned players to prove they are ok, thats what it always is in those untarred western-dominated sports. Even a pipsqueak of dope can tar the image of folks. Read the case of Jamaican athletes who are being forced to cultivate a wada style body cos it tars their image even though 99.9% of the sportsmen/women are clean inside the system.

More so, Indian weightlifting is a case of things gone utterly/completely/devastatingly wrong. Even in Athens games, we had Pratima Kumari and Sonamcha Chanu getting caught if you remember. You may not remember it, but at that point, when we should have been celebrating Rathore's silver, we were bombarded with repeat headlines of the 2 getting caught. There was talk that even K. Devi was not clean. Neither was Malleswari and thats why she withdrew from the finals etc. At one brush, we had 4 women/the whole system who were completely outcast from the sporting fraternity and those who were morally on a high pedestal since they had not been caught. That incident alone calls for drastic/dramatic immediate whiplash action. What we have seen so far is bungling on universal proportions. The IWF has no answers, nor does IOA. Busibodies like wada get a chance to speak only cos the fault lies right here on our footsteps!

[Suraj]

Stan, I did follow the Athens 2004 events - we even had a very long thread here in this forum then, but you were probably not a member under any other avatar then. As for Tour De France, lack of credibility of that race is also credibility lost by WADA, ASO and UCI.

My statement is merely this - we need a domestic system that focusses on ensuring our athletes do not test positive in competition or official testing. If during development and training they are provided assorted growth hormones and PEDs (with their knowledge) that's not WADA's business. Any out of competition private testing positives ought to be handled with the goal of not repeating the same in official testing.

As the likes of Barry Bonds and Armstrong show, the use of PEDs is very much in your face, with the retort of "I've not tested positive" being sufficient. We can either play the game with the same perspective of everyone else, or not make any effort at all, and not bother about the "lack of medals is ok as long as we're all clean" attitude. If we want to take up general sporting achievement seriously, it means a willingness to also do the things others do to get ahead. IMHO of course.

[Stan_Savljevic]

We can either play the game with the same perspective of everyone else, or not make any effort at all, and not bother about the "lack of medals is ok as long as we're all clean" attitude. If we want to take up general sporting achievement seriously, it means a willingness to also do the things others do to get ahead. IMHO of course.

In general, that is a good philosophy. But the case of IWF is one gone too far: Shailaja Pujari, Sonamcha Chanu, Pratima Kumari, Kunjarani Devi, S. Sunaina, Krishnan Madaswamy, Satheesh Rai, Karnam Malleswari, Harpreet Singh, Kavita Devi, Monika Devi, Edwin Raju, Tejinder Singh, Prameelavalli Bodari, Paritosh Upadhyay, Anita Kumari, Inu Rani, Ranu Mohanti, Thoinu Devi.. All have been caught in one form or another for doping. Thats just the tip of the iceberg I could uncover from open source articles doing a Ggle search. And thats just the last four-five years since doping tests have become super stringent. I have no idea how many have been brushed under the carpet. Do you want a longer list, rather I should ask, do you want to know who has NOT got caught?!

We have been fined, slapped with abuses in world sporting bodies, thrown out of competition {not as a single person thing, but the whole team} and not from some local competition, but from CWG, AG and OG where we had some semblance of decency before. We have been thrown out and we have pleaded to be reinstated. When we were reinstated, we got caught in two days time. Can you believe that story? Everytime, all I hear from SAI/IOA/IWF is we are surprised that this has gone on and we will punish the violators stringently. Surprise, my ass. Punish, my ass! Wada got pissed off when IWF reinstated Satheesh Rai recently claiming he has quit competitive sports. Why reinstated? Cos he can become the coach/trainer of others. If he is banned for life, he cant do much crap in life. Not even a services job perhaps. And wada got pissed off rightly so.

At this rate, we wont have lawyers to fight our case at wada anymore. Even if Soli Sorabjee goes there, its a case lost before its opened. Whats also worse is the officials are hand in glove in this menace. And the IOA honors the officials of IWF as chef de missions for OG, AG etc. Check the news. The Egyptian coach of the mens team left in a huff not long back saying the seniors are doping and he wanted the freedom to pick a team full of juniors. What else do you want? We can talk as well about hiding beneath the cloak and dagger claiming everyone does it, but in the context of weightlifting either we are utterly stupid to get caught again and again, or the whole culture is effed up..

I would rather these guys dont represent India and spoil our name. I dont care about 2 bit medals. When they are so utterly stupid, they dont deserve another chance. Case closed.

[vina]

Guys.. What is this Olympics sport business all about ? Is it about the "Olympic spirit" and all that nice kumbaya thing or is it a propaganda vehicle which fascist and authoritarian states like Nazi Germany, Soviet Union , GDR and now China are pushing as a statement.

At the end of it, is sport something that you enjoy and play because of that or is it something that gets done because some bureaucrat decides that the country needs to win gold medals in the Olympics as part of a bigger project

The New York Times
Printer Friendly Format Sponsored By

August 6, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
China’s Gold Rush
By MATTHEW FORNEY

Beijing

LIKE the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war, China is looking to make a statement by winning more Summer Olympic gold medals than the United States. Both countries will doubtless honor the systems that they say produce victories — Chinese authoritarianism versus American liberty.

But China has added an interesting twist to an old cold war story. Unlike in the Soviet Union, capitalism has infiltrated nearly all aspects of Chinese life — except sports. Chinese compete like Adam Smith in the marketplace but like Vladimir Lenin in the arena.

As a result, the way Chinese experience sports is vastly different from the way that Americans do. We all know about Yao Ming and maybe a few others with colossal shoe contracts to match their stardom. But for the most part, Chinese athletes perform best in sports that few Chinese care about. This is a country without private guns but with crack sharpshooters. With few public pools but the best divers. Fencing, canoeing, women’s softball — China excels at these despite the fact that very few Chinese show an interest in them.

Why? Because the cabinet-level General Administration of Sport does its job well. It predicts which Olympic events could yield gold medals to China, allocates extra money to train athletes in those sports and dispatches scouts to locate children who fit certain sports molds. Those scouts may recruit a 6-year-old village girl with double-jointed elbows into a diving program, for instance, because a decade later she could arc into the water with a smaller splash.

That China is gaming the Olympic system to win maximum gold is not some conspiracy theory. After the Sydney Games in 2000, the government launched its so-called Operation 119. The figure refers to the number of gold medals available in individual sports with oddly high medal counts — canoeing/kayaking, for instance, has 16 golds up for grabs — in which China has traditionally performed poorly. Of China’s 32 gold medals in Athens in 2004, only four came in those 119 events. The surge in money for those events could push China to the top — at Athens, its gold medal haul was only four shy of America’s.

You could say China’s sports mandarins seek a good return on investment (maybe they’re not entirely Leninist). Their sports schools now train roughly 200,000 professional athletes, more girls than boys, with Olympic gold as the ultimate goal. In America’s self-selecting process, by contrast, tens of millions of children compete in the sports of their choice. Only the best move to higher levels, and their parents bear most of the cost. (surely India cannot have 200,000 professional athletes trained and housed at govt expense for a dozen years each and then take care of those vast numbers who dont make it in addition to the minuscule few will )

Chinese sports fans have grown up within their system, with odd effects. I sat outside Workers’ Stadium in Beijing in 2002, for instance, to watch a big-screen broadcast of China’s national soccer team competing in its first World Cup. China played that year’s champion, Brazil. Sharing the field with such a power was an honor, yet, as Brazil built toward its 4-0 victory, spectators around me booed and tossed beer bottles. Typically, they saw no gallantry in a spirited loss.

This is the result of gold-oriented athletics. The majority of Chinese have no opportunity to play organized sports that profess to teach broader values. Some lucky schools in wealthy cities have basketball or soccer teams that compete in occasional government-run tournaments. My son joined an ice-hockey team put together by a group of hockey-loving Chinese parents who pooled their money to pay for weekly rink time. With no league to play in, however, the team disbanded after three years.

Nor will civic leagues in China develop along the lines of, say, Little League Baseball. Organizations of all sizes must register with the state, which fears that any regular gathering of people, from a kayak club to a sewing circle, could grow into an anti-government clique.

Sports leagues have an especially tough time because the government considers them training grounds for the Olympics. One privately owned basketball team in China’s state-controlled professional league refused to surrender its star point guard to the junior national squad in 2004 and was kicked out of the league. (Oddly enough, the team now plays in a professional league in Los Angeles under the name Beijing Aoshen Olympians.)

The Chinese government doesn’t release meaningful sports-budget statistics, but national expenditure is surely many times greater than the $130 million that the United States Olympic Committee spends each year. This has led some Chinese intellectuals to openly question whether a developing nation like China should spend so much on something so trivial as gold medals.

But think back to the American ice hockey team in 1980 and to those resounding chants of “U-S-A!” That unexpected triumph against the Soviet Union, and the gold medal that followed, showed our American grit and had a resounding effect on the national spirit. It put “Do you believe in miracles?” into the national conversation and gave us the heavy-rotation cable TV sports film, “Miracle on Ice.”

Beijing’s leaders didn’t create a world where Olympic success means more than a Nobel Prize or good lending libraries. But they inherited it. In the coming weeks, if they can displace America’s athletes at the top of the gold medal charts and China’s people accept a system in which only the most promising athletes get to enjoy organized sports, then the rest of the world has few grounds for complaint. After all, we Americans are supposed to be the good sports.

Matthew Forney, a former Beijing bureau chief for Time, is writing a book about raising his family in China.

[Tanaji]

And in contrast with the Chinese we have this

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2008/aug/06mon.htm

The usual story of alleged doping, regionalism, "they are out to get me" stuff.

[Stan_Savljevic]

World junior chess championships on at Gazientep, Turkey. Round 5 of 13 done.

Parimarjan Negi lagging behind at 3/5. The leader is sat 4.5/5. He can and most likely will catch up. If he ends up in the top 6, he will end up gaining elos. Else he is gonna shed a lot, given that he has not climbed of late at all. In the jr womens section, Dronavilli Harika is at 2nd place on 4/5. Unfortunately, she is not gonna be able to get super elo gains even if she finishes 1 cos she is the top seed. Possible if she finishes 12/13 or something. I have no idea why she is not playing in the open section {mens} like the Chinese female, Hou Yifan. She could have gained some points. Anyway. 8 more rounds 2 go, and there will be some chaos before the final leader emerges, I believe. Is it gonna be David howell or someone Chinese this time or Negi, we wlll see.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Fifth seeds India take on Bak-e-satan in the semis of the world jr squash championship in Switzerland. The other semis is between top seeds Egypt and E-ngland. India beat fourth seeds France in the quarters. Rallying from 1 match down, Indian players Aditya Jagtap and Ravi Dixit won their respective games to take us to the semis. Ravi won 8-10, 2-9, 9-7, 9-1, 9-2 in his match. The other player is Vikram Malhotra.

Watch out this space for follow-up news. Will be sweet if the threesome can dump Aamir Atlas Khan, Waqar Mehboob, Md Shoaib Hassan & co. Aamir is ranked 24 in the world, Waqar 165, and the other unranked. None of the Indians are ranked anywhere in the PSA rankings. Go for the weakling. Super sweet in fact.

[Vikas]

Paging Raju..

Munaf Patel back in the Indian Squad.

[Tanaji]

Paging Raju..

What for?

Munaf and Raju are one and the same. At the worst, they are close blood relations.

However, given the nature of Raju's posts, there is one very likely possibility.

Raju is Munaf's doppelganger

One must not discount the above possibility at any costs.

[Ameet]

Jeev Milka Singh is co-leader after round one of the PGA. Best of luck to him.

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/art ... 03,00.html

[SwamyG]

So there were 56 (or was it 57) athletes representing 1.2+ billion folks. Great. Simply great. Indians had stopped winning any medals from '84-'92. They won in '80 and the next was in '96. Hopefully, we come with at least 1 medal this time. There is no national interest to win medals, so we simply have to watch USA, China, Russia and others compete and win. Sports, what a joy.

[Stan_Savljevic]

There is no national interest to win medals, so we simply have to watch USA, China, Russia and others compete and win. Sports, what a joy.

Boss, just a lil more patience no?! We are like this onlee. Just hold on for a few years.

Remember the 50s-80s. Except for the hockey team, and a once-in-the-bluemoon show like the one by GS Randhawa, PT Usha, Milkha Singh, Sriram Singh et al, there was nothing to even talk about. Now we have a team that has a genuine possibility of winning. A dramatic change given the 60s and the 70s. We have medal contenders in shooting and tennis afaik. The best we had in the 60s was Raja Karni Singh and his daughter. Look at it now. Strap onto your seat belt and hold for 10-20 more years. We will not only host a OG soon, we will also regularly be expecting golds in certain events like shooting, tennis and what not.

Its not the size of the contingent for some sports have quota places. But the quality. This is the best contingent in my memory in a loooooong time, and I have been looking at contingents from 88 and up. We will be getting a cpl of golds here. And then, we can do the "Look what I told ya" stuff. Hold on. In India, change happens at an Indic pace. But it sure does happen. You have read that in 1000 places, why not spread the message 2 sports 2?

[Suraj]

The women's 10m air rifle event is over. Chinese defending champion Li Du fell apart in the final, placing fifth. Katerina Emmons from Czech Republic won gold, shooting a WR 400/400 in the qualification round. Anjali Bhagwat started strongly but fell away, scoring 393, well below her best (398). Looks like the pressure is telling on the Chinese already. Li was strongly favoured to win.

In the men's trap, Mansher Singh is currently in 2nd position after the second of 5 rounds, three today and the last two rounds plus potential shootout tomorrow:
Men's Trap Qualification - Day 1

[Singha]

we seem headed for disappointing show in shooting.

but then again nobody cares about us slinking around, so no loss of face unlike the panda

[Sidd]

http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index ... e=archieve

Having made the cut for Beijing, the foursome—Akhil Kumar, Vijender Singh, Jitender and Dinesh—are now the poster boys for Bhiwani, a new powerhouse of Indian boxing.

The underlying idea is to make Bhiwani an assembly line of boxing champions," says Roy. The Mittal Champions Trust-run by steel tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal-is already funding local boxers for their diet, equipment and foreign training, helping significantly in the medical rehabilitation of Akhil and Dinesh

[SwamyG]

we seem headed for disappointing show in shooting.

but then again nobody cares about us slinking around, so no loss of face unlike the panda

Well was watching the opening ceremony on the crap network NBC - the commentator was comparing how among the two 1+ billion population counties, India had won 15 medals and China was 200+. So face already gone onlee.

BTW, the crap network NBC could not even telecast the ceremonies live, they deferred it to garner maximum viewership.

[SwamyG]

Strap onto your seat belt and hold for 10-20 more years. We will not only host a OG soon, we will also regularly be expecting golds in certain events like shooting, tennis and what not.

What sort of system changes are you visualizing for your expectations to realize? We are not the former Eastern Bloc or China for the State to get involved so deeply. We are not rich enough as the Western countries to create a pervasive sports infrastructure through out the country. Hopefully we will have MRF Pace Academy type of Olympic academies.

[Gerard]

China has invested billions in sports. In the past 4 years they have spent 8 Billion dollars on athlete training. That is the investment required to win medals on a massive scale. They will probably exceed the medal count of the US for this games.
Obviously Olympic medals are important for their image of themselves as a nation.

[Baljeet]

SwamyG
If we are not rich enough, talented enough, and other why do we even go and participate in international events like olympics, world championships (except cricket). Is there a reason why we spend money on sports in this nation when we know for sure with few exceptions we have never won medals and future is lost cause. Why don't we just focus on cricket and forget about every other sports. Lets face it, we don't have what it takes to become an athlete, we are SDRE for a reason and it shows.

[SwamyG]

Baljeet: Good questions It looks the contingent that has landed there has lots of officials. I read somewhere that Sania's mother is part of it too. Maybe they are all bored with Kanchivaram and Dharavaram Silk sarees, and want to buy some Chinese silk sarees

Recently Rajeev Srinivasan wrote an article about the leadership issues. First we lack motivation to even create a decent vision. Only if we have the vision would we be able to do some sort of gap analysis and pursue path to achieve the vision.

We need to come out with a vision for 2012: India should get a minimum of 4 Gold medals and the total medals tally should be >=10. Then we look at the sports categories, then look at our strengths and develop talent in all the categories with the aim to get at the minimum of 4 gold medals. This needs to be a project with initiation, planning, analysis, training, practice and implementation.

I don't know if the government can do it. Now why would a private company do it - what are its incentives?

[Suraj]

It isn't merely a question of money, but systematic focus on the Chinese part. They had a project over the last several years called Project 119, which targets 119 gold medals in various disciplines that are outside the most glamourous, competitive ones (e.g. track and field and swimming), and focusses on athlete development in those. The result is they now have strong rowers and fencing teams, i.e. sports where they had no presence at all until a few years ago. It takes such a scale of effort and focus to win.