Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 19 Aug 2008 08:22

Anju has fouled all her first three attempts in qualifying. I hope the qualifying event is a 6 jump affair. Else its a heart breaker.

updated: think the qualifiers have only three attempts. That means her journey is over at Beijing. Bad start..

again: so whats left now are 1) the 2 boxers, 2) the wrestlers, 3) Sharat kamal in TT, 4) the 4x400 womens relay team

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 19 Aug 2008 08:26

atleast in shot put it was 6 tries. iirc in long jump also but people skip a few if they
do well and are confident.

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 19 Aug 2008 08:28

Talent, Training, Technique, Technology, you need all of them to compete at this level. Even by olymic standards, Bejing olympics has raised the bar still higher.

Jamaica is the new home of sprinters, and will continue for some time to come.

I loved Natsia's performance! Too good.

India is faaaar away from giving a serious competition at this level, let alone win handsomely. It's never too late to start.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 19 Aug 2008 08:29

Singha wrote:atleast in shot put it was 6 tries. iirc in long jump also but people skip a few if they
do well and are confident.

I am seeing a "standings" page with q against qualified people's names. That, I guess, seals it. I may be wrong, but very little hope, afai see.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfiel ... dings.html

updated: this seals it. the list for the finals

http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfiel ... index.html

later: the last woman had a jump of 6.60 m. Anju's season best was way way lower than that. She must have had a ginormous jump to get to the finals. Fouled out is even more terrible than did nt cross 6.60.. anyway.. she gave her heart and soul for this, kudos to that. Also to George Thomas, her coach and husband. They shed buckets of sweat without being in the limelight. All power to Mandeep and the 4x400 quartet. They are enormously good, lets see if they enter the finals. All fingers crossed after that. They have the potential to enter the finals. I have nt seen much news abt Mandeep's hamstring so far.. The DDM have been covering everyone except her hamstring, what a pity, given that Mandeep is the key to any hopes of medalling in athletics. Turrrible, as Bark-man would say.

more:: surprising that tatyana kotova also did nt make the finals..

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 19 Aug 2008 08:32

none of her 3 attempts were legal.
check here. http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/I ... #ATW061902

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 19 Aug 2008 08:45

Yogeshwar lost his bout to the Japanese wrestler.

Vivek Kumar · Post by **Vivek Kumar** » 19 Aug 2008 08:58

If I'm not mistaken, I saw legendry Kartar Singh in Dutt's corner.

Repechage round is scheduled for about 6 hr from now.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 19 Aug 2008 12:10

There WAS a rowing school near Alapuzha. I remember the news that the Kayaking team were given some Canoeing equipment, and the babu barked "what is the difference, all are rowing onlee" or something like that. Also, some oars broke and there was no replacement etc.

We are very good in screwing up things, in multiple and very ingeneous ways. Like, "the coach selected THAT kid over MY kid. So, I use my cousin twice removed to hold the file with the request for equipment at the big office."

My guvermand can't even do the basic services (that are essential and only a govt can do, like national and civic security, emergency management, public infrastructure etc). What should I expect from them on something like sports? Some poor kids are getting some advancement in life in a trickle. I am happy with that. I gave up on Olympics/Shilimpics a long time ago. I neither jump with joy when the odd bronze comes around, nor cry when the 'wishfuls' swallow the speech and fall down.

bart · Post by **bart** » 19 Aug 2008 14:40

Very interesting article:
http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/aug/19flip.htm

Baljeet · Post by **Baljeet** » 19 Aug 2008 19:57

ASPuar wrote:These guys have come through a lot. Its incredible that theyve reached even this far, and kudos to them.

I was ashamed.

There is nothing to ashamed about. Shame is on India as a nation, pompous officials, corrupt Netas. If we had our way, we will put a b****t in their head ask questions later. I hope they get ruined just like they ruined this raw talent.

When you listen to the smarmy DD commentators saying things like "Hes done all that was expected of him" with supercilious smiles on their faces, it makes my blood boil.

These psuedo sports experts aka sports commentators are like vermins. These boys have overcome incredible odds to accomplish their feat. Every day training under tin roof in soaring tempratures of Haryana, water clogged roads, running in desert quick sand, eating chana and nimbu paani for nutrition. Shame on this nation.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 19 Aug 2008 20:36

Father of one of the boxers work as a Bus Driver for Haryana Roadways who hasn't got his pay for last 3 months. (he himself claimed on TV).

Father of another boxer was seen cutting the fodder for his buffalos., and he says that he will continue to support his son and all three Boys are like his sons as they often come to his house and practice at a closeby "Akhara". Akhara for Boxers!! that's first.

Karkala Joishy · Post by **Karkala Joishy** » 19 Aug 2008 20:52

All said and done, we have not made much progress in the sporting arena. Bindra is an out-lier but his achievement is solely due to his efforts and his family support. Nothing to do with the GoI which will rush to claim credit.

Long way to go.
I thought Akhil would get at least a bronze, hope the other Kumars get something home.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 19 Aug 2008 21:49

So Leander resigns as "non-playing capitan" of the DC team. Somdev is brought into the team in lieu of Rohan. And the three-headed pole of Rohan. Prakash and Hesh gets reduced to two.. Looks like Somdev is being groomed to take over the squad. The best thing to have happened in terms of logic from the officials. Rohan and Prakash had shown no signs that they would take us to the world group stage, anytime soon, playing one great match followed by one cheap one and so on for ever and ever. So Somdev gets his chance. Nice. {Now will the ATTF disband?!}

I am keen on looking at the north-east media to see how they react to this news. Baichung and Somdev would have undone so many of the hare-brained policies of our babus in the seven sisters. {But Sikkim was never an issue anyway, it was only the other 6. Thats why I feel Kunjarani Devi missed a great chance at integrashun dhamaka. Had she won the medal, which she was supposed 2 have, single handedly she would have done better for this country than Malleswari or anyone else ever did.} But for every one of that, we have one more in the form of Monika Devi to peg it back a bit. One step forward, perhaps two back.. Sick, but logic sometimes escapes a vast majority of us. Why wont the ss folks feel alienated from mainstream Injun society when they see all the games SAI has been playing on MD? I know the weightlifting team as such is tainted and stupid enuf to get caught a gazillion times, but that should have invited a zero-click-ban {So 2 speak} of just banning the whole team and explaining it nicely, instead of playing chicanery and acting profusely biased towards the AP girl. All the message it sends to the ss is that AP > ss. Sorry thats what gets reinforced. A thousand mutinies not for nothing.. We are like this onleee.

Perhaps when a crikkitir from the ss can compete for places in the T20 team, things would like real bright I guess. That would clinch the mother of all whinefests in India's favor.

Added later: This news is administrative matter noos.. Noos, anyway.

Now, there is a progress. One of the worst kept secrets is out. The war has commenced. And we have the first information. JB Roy pitches in at the ring. The younger brother of Subrato Roy, moghul of Sahara empire, is the man who has enrolled his name for the fight. He enters the race for hockey’s hotseat, the IHF chair. He did not say it in so many words, but his action speaks clearly for what is being transpired in the corridors of power..

In Roy’s move, we see an insider is pitching in, and he is a business man. It is a good augury that a member of business community is in the fray unlike in the past when only bureaucrats and police folk considered hockey their property to own and command. They never gave anything to hockey, but only gained from it. To that extent, Roy’s entry is a welcome news. But it is politics and who knows what is in the store? Unless the rival party is not known, it is difficult to say final words on the matter.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 19 Aug 2008 22:12

Sharat's game in another 10 hours.

Baljeet · Post by **Baljeet** » 19 Aug 2008 22:14

SBajwa wrote: Akhara for Boxers!! that's first.

In chaste Haryanvi Hindi, training facility are called akhara. We tend to associate akhara with wrestling only.

Vivek Kumar · Post by **Vivek Kumar** » 20 Aug 2008 02:07

Men's Flyweight (51kg/112lbs) Boxing

Jitender Kumar (India) vs. Georgy Balakshin (Russia)

08/20/2008 07:16pm EST, USA
watch on http://www.nbcolympics.com

Vivek Kumar · Post by **Vivek Kumar** » 20 Aug 2008 02:11

Men's Middleweight (75kg/165lbs) Boxing

Vijender Kumar (India) vs. Carlos Gongora (Ecuador)

08/20/2008 08:46pm EST, USA
watch on http://www.nbcolympics.com

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 Aug 2008 03:04

From Deccan Chronicle, 20 August 2008

Caption:

Sports minister M.S. Gill speaks with badminton star Saina Nehawal and national coach Pullela Gopichand in New Delhi on Tuesday. The minister did not recognise Gopichand at first.

Gill to Gopi: Who?

Hyderabad, Aug. 19: Indian sport was embarassed on Tuesday when the Union sports minister, Dr M.S. Gill, failed to recognise national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand. “Aap?” (who are you?) Dr Gill asked Gopi, who had gone to the minister’s office in New Delhi along with his protege Saina Nehwal on his invitation. Gopi then had to introduce himself to the minister.

Gopi, however, played down the incident. “Initially he did not recognise me but when I told him my name he caught on and interacted freely. He said he did follow my career,” Gopi told this newspaper. Gopi may have taken the incident in his stride but city sporting circles were furious. “It’s unfortunate, a shame for the country,” was how three-time Olympian and former Indian hockey captain Mukesh Kumar reacted. He said he himself had not been recognised by the state sports minister, Mr R. Damodar Reddy. “After introducing myself, he asked me ‘Mukesh who?’ I had to tell him that I was a former hockey player, an Arjuna Awardee and a Padma Shree,” Mukesh said, adding “Even then, the response was not so encouraging.”

What were M S Gill's qualifications to be the sports minister? I know he was Chief Election Commissioner.

and

Paes quits, Misra is India tennis captain

Hyderabad, Aug. 19: Former tennis player S.P. Misra of Hyderabad was named non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team on Tuesday. The announcement followed Leander Paes stepping down from the hot seat. “It’s a great honour and a big responsibility,” Misra said. “It was a sudden decision,” he said. “But the ball had started to roll after I had fulfilled my role as manager of the Indian team for the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie against Japan in April, which we won. Contrary to expectations, we blanked them 3-0.”

It may be recalled that most players led by Mahesh Bhupathi, had refused to play under Paes. “That would have led to his decision. Paes is a team man,” Misra said. Misra said the task on hand was “to keep the players together and create a friendly atmosphere... get them to live as a family.” His next task is the away Davis Cup match against Romania, from September 19 to 21, Misra said: “It will be a tough battle as the winners will qualify for the World Group.”

SP MIshra's father was big time contractor in the late 50s and had a tennis court in his house. SP and his brother and sister were into tennis. Maybe he can bring some organizational skills to the team as the mgr.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Aug 2008 03:17

gill was speaking on TV after bindra's gold that "I'm myself a cricketer......"
cricinfo doesn't list him, meaning he was not state level.

Vivek Kumar · Post by **Vivek Kumar** » 20 Aug 2008 03:24

Vivek Kumar wrote:Men's Flyweight (51kg/112lbs) Boxing

Jitender Kumar (India) vs. Georgy Balakshin (Russia)

08/20/2008 07:16pm EST, USA
watch on http://www.nbcolympics.com

I think it should be 07:16am and 08:46am respectively on 08/20/2008, EST, USA

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 20 Aug 2008 03:39

SP MIshra's father was big time contractor in the late 50s and had a tennis court in his house. SP and his brother and sister were into tennis. Maybe he can bring some organizational skills to the team as the mgr.

Ramana sir, you may be aware of this. SP Misra is a big name in old day tennis

. These days who follows what heights India were to in the 60s and the 70s. The best anyone would remember were the crikkit matches, the spin quartet et al. Its a pity, but

In 1966, India made history by reaching the Cup finals when Ramanathan Krishnan teamed with Premjit Lal, S. P. Misra and Jaidip Mukherjea.

Added: Premjit Lall was the second Indian to reach the jr wimbledon finals. Jaideep Mukherjee was the non-playing capitan of the Indian DC team not so long back. I am sure I dont need to say much about RK sr.

Actually what the Indian DC team needs is someone who can speak for the team in one voice, without internal contradictions that give away the story that the team is not well-gelled. That purpose will get served well by anyone other than Lee as the non-playing/playing capitan. Feuding in the public does nt set the morale right, even though feuding without the public knowing also produces the same effects. We need an old man in the house to cool frayed tempers. Anyone would have sufficed, lets see if SPM does better than whats ordered for. Jaideep Mukherjee was real best at this job a while back. He could cool down whatever inimical existed between a slow RK who was waning at the end, and a fast and tempestuous Lee who was taking over the mantle from RK.

The split between Lee and Hesh has produced the worst in Indian tennis {off-court} while their short-time union produced the best {on-court}. Their time is up, no more unions possible anymore and not required IMO. The best that Hesh and Lee can leave back to the DC team is fond memories and a fighting spirit that has been uncharacteristically absent from the DC team in the recent past. Somdev seems, looks and sounds like Lee when he burst on to the scene in 1989. Lee has the ability to channelize energies in a positive way. Hesh is the other pole who has access to the market/ad agencies et al. If Somdev can get access to the best of both, which does nt seem impossible, and we have one other good quality singles player who can win consistently, then we are all set to witness the dawn of the new world group entry.

Its time we slapped the Bakis for the H&D loss, when we got stretched by them two years back. Same for the Thais, the Koreans, the Japanese and the Uzbeks. Tennis, at least in Asia, is our bastion.. Thats how it was, and thats how it should be. This small period when we lost the plot {which also signalled the waning of the Hesh-Lee era} looks like come and gone. Its time to whack the Oiropeans now. Ilie Nastase should remember his loss to VA, and whining about the slowness of the court etc, when the simple matter was he could nt confront VA. Romania, here we come.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 20 Aug 2008 03:55

ramana wrote:We are SDRE vegetarians. However my son is on the track and field at school and the coach just eggs him on. My son will eventually make the varsity team in his school which is a athlete powerhouse in Bay area. The coach is very important. For instance school hasnt started yet but he called to check on his summer holidays and how he had been. After chit chat invited him to a run on Friday eve where all the track team alumni were running together. My son now walks on air and is practising since then.
He even looked up suitable foods for him to be on.

Ramanaji, the most important person in this story is **you**. Not the coach. Your son would not even think of looking up suitable foods or go for the track alumni jamboree if you did not provide him with a stability zone in the turmoil that is his young life. Sad to say, most of the the athletes that are made to compete in India does not have this zone of stability around them. They are fighting the turmoil full time and can focus on achieving anything only when this turmoil allows them to. And they choke when they realize that the crunch time in front of them is not just about sports, but of their own lives too.

That is why I have come to the conclusion that we need to discard the romantic vision of "Indian sportsmen surmounting the travails of harsh life in India". We need a system where the state will augment what the parents can provide. Current approach by the Indian state tries to replace the parents with some coach (or worse, a babu).

As is the case everywhere, the best of Indian sporting talent comes from all strata. But the most successful ones will increasingly come from middle class (or above). For only this class of families can provide the stability zone. Further, sports is going back to its roots as another form of mass entertainment and only those sports that can entertain, will survive. Panda will learn that lesson one day. But not before these kids have to go through intense pain and become part of a sneaky western psy-ops video.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Aug 2008 04:44

hnair, with all due respect, the idea that a person will excel in a field IFF everything else in his/her life is hunky dory is faulty to say the least. most of the category that you hope will send forth great athletes end up being softy couch potatoes.

people who do cross hurdles of life to achieve something tend to have enormous mental strength and self-confidence.
let me take an example from your list only, cricket.

hnair wrote: In reality, all the people who actually won medals for India or excelled as world's best in an individual capacity are either middle class (the best cricketers) or stinking rich (Bhindra).

true, most of our successful cricketers from the past have been upper/middle class.

Now, please note the transition of Indian cricket in terms of the people who play it.
the first generation comprised of Ranjit Singh, Duleep Singh, CK Naidu, Pataudi and numerous other nawabs and princes with almost none from the poorer classes.
the next gen had majority contribution from the middle classes, I don't have to go to names as those are well known.
Have you ever paused to think why ?
the reason is, as cricket evolved in India, playing cricket as a career was being seen as a genuine livelihood option. a clincher for the middle classes who didn't have ancestral property to support a non-paying cricket career. even then, you made a comfortable living only when you broke into the national team and up to that level you had to depend on your papa's resources, by and large.
the situation changed as BCCI increased the pay of domestic cricketers and started putting in a nationwide player support system that could look after players from poorer families.
the result is in front of your eyes, we are now the biggest talent factory in the world as far as cricket is concerned and are looking to dominate the world scene.
let us give credit to the BCCI where it is due.
and the players, let me remind you, are coming from the "darkest corners" of India to play the IPL !
w/o the support system in place, there would have been none.

So instead of pouring money into the darkest corners of India, why not pour money into building infra and self-sustaining leagues like the IPL?

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 20 Aug 2008 05:07

Rahul M wrote:hnair, with all due respect, the idea that a person will excel in a field IFF everything else in his/her life is hunky dory is faulty to say the least. most of the category that you hope will send forth great athletes end up being softy couch potatoes.

people who do cross hurdles of life to achieve something tend to have enormous mental strength and self-confidence.
let me take an example from your list only, cricket.
hnair wrote: In reality, all the people who actually won medals for India or excelled as world's best in an individual capacity are either middle class (the best cricketers) or stinking rich (Bhindra).
true, most of our successful cricketers from the past have been upper/middle class.

Now, please note the transition of Indian cricket in terms of the people who play it.
the first generation comprised of Ranjit Singh, Duleep Singh, CK Naidu, Pataudi and numerous other nawabs and princes with almost none from the poorer classes.
the next gen had majority contribution from the middle classes, I don't have to go to names as those are well known.
Have you ever paused to think why ?
the reason is, as cricket evolved in India, playing cricket as a career was being seen as a genuine livelihood option. a clincher for the middle classes who didn't have ancestral property to support a non-paying cricket career. even then, you made a comfortable living only when you broke into the national team and up to that level you had to depend on your papa's resources, by and large.
the situation changed as BCCI increased the pay of domestic cricketers and started putting in a nationwide player support system that could look after players from poorer families.
the result is in front of your eyes, we are now the biggest talent factory in the world as far as cricket is concerned and are looking to dominate the world scene.
let us give credit to the BCCI where it is due.
and the players, let me remind you, are coming from the "darkest corners" of India to play the IPL !
w/o the support system in place, there would have been none.
So instead of pouring money into the darkest corners of India, why not pour money into building infra and self-sustaining leagues like the IPL?

Rahul M,

1) I said darkest corners of India, not darkest places (as in geographical) of India. As that would be disparaging to any place of India and I would be the last one to do that. Did not know I had to be more clearer than that.

2) IPL is BCCI's success story. I already mentioned that in my previous posts (and umpteen others in defense of IPL in the past). And I strongly argued that it is a good model for India. I also mentioned that IPL model can actually groom and nurture both the poorest and the richest athlete, based on a predictable path. At least as predictable as any market driven paths are. So why am I being displayed the old "strawmen being bayoneted" act by you?

3) I did not say every middle class kid is going to throw that bag of Pringles potato chips and start winning gold. I said it will become a huge base for mid-level talent that is needed to sustain a league. In your own words a few lines later, "the world's talent factory".

4) Do not patronize me by asking to pause and think. Nor the sort of "give credit where it is due" type of usages. I do not post on such a serious topic that I did not pause and think.

Also please check my previous post on this.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Aug 2008 05:22

my sincere apologies if my post came across as patronizing, that was not the intention.

back to the point,

I also mentioned that IPL model can actually groom and nurture both the poorest and the richest athlete, based on a predictable path.

this is where I disagree, IPL can't nurture a poor athlete. It can however pick him up after he reaches a certain level in the domestic circuit. and BCCI's current system ensures that promising people don't get lost due to poverty before he gets a shot at playing for an IPL franchise.

I said it will become a huge base for mid-level talent that is needed to sustain a league.

the poorer classes comprise a much larger talent pool than the middle class, at least twice the size by any estimate. we would ignore it at our own peril.

Do not patronize me by asking to pause and think. Nor the sort of "give credit where it is due" type of usages. I do not post on such a serious topic that I did not pause and think.

I've already apologized for my perceived patronizing post. that being said, I must say you are being a little harsh on me.

btw, the "give credit where it is due" comment was not directed at you particularly, the media generally ignores this aspect and hence I thought it warranted a mention.
regards,
Rahul.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Aug 2008 07:38

sushil kumar loses the match. clearly outclassed against a very tough opponent.

update:

Men's Singles Second Round
AustriaCHEN Weixing
vs
IndiaACHANTA Sharath Kamal

kamal 0
chen 1(11-5)

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Aug 2008 08:25

For Internet vaasis, here is VIDEO link to Achanta's game: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player ... id=1359499

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Aug 2008 08:27

he has lost the script it seems. down 2-0.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Aug 2008 08:30

0-2, and trailing 0-6 in the 3rd.

update: 2-11. Now down 0-3.
update: Look at the crawlers at this time on BRF

), oh BTW Sharath takes the 4th game, now down onlee 1-3. 3 more games baby.

update: Oh man....he was coming back well. He looked quite nervous - the exact opposite of his coach. The coach was unusually calm.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Aug 2008 08:54

Wrestling....Sushil Kumar goes down to Andriy Stadnik.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Aug 2008 09:07

From wiki, we are left with
1) 2 boxers - Vijender and Jitender
2) Women's 4x400m relay team
3) Wrestling: Rajiv Tomar (120 kg)

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Aug 2008 09:14

Vivek: Can you double check your timings for the boxing bouts? I think you might have got it wrong. You have it in the evenings. The bouts are in the evening in Beijing.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 20 Aug 2008 09:17

SwamyG wrote:Vivek: Can you double check your timings for the boxing bouts? I think you might have got it wrong. You have it in the evenings. The bouts are in the evening in Beijing.

Yes, it is at 7:16 AM EST. Vivek wrote in a corrected time later. I just verified on nbcolympics site as well.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 20 Aug 2008 09:43

ODI against Sri Lanka -- no Sehwag, no Gambhir...should be interesting!

Sri Lanka team :
ST Jayasuriya, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, CK Kapugedera, LPC Silva, TM Dilshan, KMDN Kulasekara, T Thushara, BAW Mendis, CRD Fernando, M Muralitharan

India team
IK Pathan, V Kohli, SK Raina, S Badrinath, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, RG Sharma, P Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, MM Patel

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 20 Aug 2008 10:18

12/4 SL...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Aug 2008 10:38

in boxing the lighter boxer has a tough opponent in the russian. he is 3 time
european champ and 5th in last olympics and world cup, very experienced.
a real hardcase from the looks of it.

the 75kg bout has a 19 yr old ecuadorian opponent. we have our best
chance there I hope.

Allah ke naam pe ek bronze dede baba

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 20 Aug 2008 10:47

Singha wrote: Allah ke naam pe ek bronze dede baba

bilkul....

In the meantime 33/5 SL. Zaheer with 4....jahan kuchch miley wahin khush ho lo

..ghoonsebaaji nahin to kirket, kirket nahin to ghoonsebaaji

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 20 Aug 2008 12:38

After reading SBajwa's post on weird olympic sports and Singha's gaming post, I am slowly moving towards the "there is no worser psy-ops contest than the olympics" direction. Thats as radical a change as one can envision given that I have been a frequent poster on this thread.

I am just getting a tad disillusioned cos rightly or wrongly, I cant explain why some of the sports with limited audience like the following are a part of the olympics: 1) canoeing/kayaking {with an audience only in Oiropean countries}, 2) baseball {with an audience probably only in US/Can/Latin Amrika/Korea/Jap/Taiwan -- which is on its last leg given that its off olympics in 12+ -- but no assurance that it wont be back again in 16-20+ given that Chicago is one major contender for 16+ games}, 3) beach volleyball {now how many countries except the decadent west have competitive bv leagues} 4) handball {played mostly in Oirope even though wiki says its played competitively in 150+ countries, I am still skeptical}, 5) rhythmic gymastics {ahem, see the wiki below}, 6) softball {if there are golds for baseball, why also softball?!}, 6) trampoline {can you believe it, they have a game called trampoline where they give out gold medals which carry the same weight as a gold in say 100 ms dash!!}, 7) taekwondo {as much as I dont want to include taekwondo here, I am feeling like this is one bargaining chip from the Amrikans to the Koreans that is not often easily recognized}

Wiki on handballi: Men's field handball was played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin at the request of Adolf Hitler. It was removed, to return as team handball for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Women's team handball was added at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Rhythmic gym: On November 27-29 2003, Japan hosted the Men's RG World Championship. This first championship drew five countries from two continents: Japan, Canada, Korea, Malaysia, and the United States. The 2005 World Championship included Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Russia, and USA.

So they have gold medals for games which is followed by 7 countries on the world stage, ahem.

Softball is a team sport popular especially in the United States. It is a direct descendant of baseball and the rules of both sports are substantially similar; baseball is sometimes referred to as hardball to distinguish the two (see Comparison of baseball and softball). Softball is the most popular participant sport in the United States, as it is estimated that 40 million Americans will play at least one game of softball during a year. It is played by men and women both recreationally and competitively.

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the defining sports of the Olympic Games. As of 1 January 1999, trampoline became a discipline of gymnastics at the Olympic Games. Trampoline gymnastics debuted at the Sydney 2000 Games featuring both men's and women's individual events. The Russian Federation took home two gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as Alexander Moskalenko and Irina Karavaeva were crowned with gold medals. Trampoline competitions are open to both men and women.

What is even more disilllusioning is that

Women’s boxing could make its Olympics debut at the 2012 Games in London after the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) agreed on Tuesday to lobby the IOC for its inclusion. “Weight categories for women and youth girls (will) be aligned more closely with men to feature 11 weight categories — 46kg, 48kg, 51kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 64kg, 69kg, 75kg, 81kg and +81 kg, effective from January 1, 2009.” It was also agreed to remove the scoring jury. AIBA president Ching-Kuo Wu, meanwhile, said he was happy with the ongoing Olympic boxing tournament in spite of numerous controversies over judging. “The whole competition has been clean, honest and transparent,” said Wu.

{Another one of those medal rich sports like womens weightlifting or womens wrestling that the Chinese {mainland as well as Taiwanese} are trying to game, eh?}

Other notes: The IWUF placed a bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to have wushu included in future Olympic Games, but so far did not meet with success. However, the IOC has allowed China to organize an international wushu event during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but this event is not one of the 28 official Olympic sports, nor is it a demonstration event. Instead, it will be called the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Wushu Tournament. {so the game played mostly in China is on the block now, and China is using its geopolitical space to force wushu in the future olympics}

Asian nations are currently lobbying to give the game {sepak takraw} Olympic Games, so as to attract wider audiences overseas and to give Asia a much-needed boost in the medals table - and it's only a matter of time before the region's beloved pastime takes its rightful place among other sports at the Olympic Games.

So at the end of the day, might is right. Once we have the might to force the world to accept kabaddi, kho kho etc in the olympics {cos the Oiropeans have forced their games upon us heathens}, we should rightly see our medal tally increase. Otherwise, I dont see a reason why some of these sports which are like pastimes IMHO should be a part of the global olympic movement with so little at stake and a negligible % of the world following. Its a big psy-ops that has gone awfully wrong for the west cos China is dishing out the game back to the Oiropeans by gaming the games. What a laugh riot..

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Aug 2008 13:13

well the kicker is BMX cycling is a medal sport this time! and
a womens 10km marathon swim.

very soon we will have uber-cool MTV X-Games as medal events to
"attract a younger audience" and "appeal to a wider demographic"

at a later stage maybe even cockfights, dogfights and bullfights.

the athletics world cup is probably the last bastion of the purist
worldview.

maybe even nude ladies mudwrestling and nude bodybuilding...

and today we have the worthies of TT federation internationale' asking
the ladies to wear short skirts and tight shirts rather than baggy wear.
they might as well play in thongs and topless if thats what brings the
mob in.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/olympicsN ... 1420080819

Table tennis women urged to wear shirts with "curves"
Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:40am BST

By Simon Rabinovitch

BEIJING (Reuters) - Table tennis is desperate to attract more viewers and some in the sport believe a simple enough solution exists: get the women to wear skirts and shirts with "curves".

Half-empty stands for women's games at the Olympics in China, the country most obsessed with table tennis, reinforce concerns that the sport needs a make-over to shed its fusty image.

Women players mostly wear baggy shorts and shirts unlike their tennis counterparts who dress for comfort as well as style.

"We are trying to push the players to use skirts and also nicer shirts, not the shirts that are made for men, but ones with more curves," International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) vice president Claude Bergeret said.

One player, Japan's Naomi Yotsumoto, has taken matters into her own hands. At the Japanese national championships last year, she played in a daring ensemble of her own design: knee socks, a pleated mini-skirt and a shirt that left one shoulder bare.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Aug 2008 13:27

EU nations used to their H&D 10 medals in sports like fencing and kayaking
must be horrified to see the well funded 600lb gorilla taking to all these
events like a duck into water.

Pickings are going to be lean for the H&D EU nobodies.

UK has carved out its own niche in rowing. hopefully panda will close
down that loophole by 2012