Sportsmanship is in transition

Matt Goss of Australia (a sprinter with the Orica-Greenedge team) was docked 30 points in the Green Jersey competition of the Tour De France yesterday for "cutting off" Peter Sagan while bolting toward the finish line. What I saw was a brief little shimmy to the left which could have been down to the effort Goss was putting in to accelerate. Peter Sagan saw it as otherwise. So did the referees. As usual this incident sparked off a heated debate in cycling circles on a topic which has become common to sporting circles. Where does sportsmanship end and where do governing bodies interfere?

All sports are governed by sets of rules which take years to frame and always seem to change with the times to adjust to new events. But there is this strange set of "unwritten rules" that always intrigued me. This strange set of ambiguous moral "follow-if-you're-a-good-person" set of rules. Sportsmanship.

Don't get me wrong. I think as a person you should always do the nice thing. Sportsmanship is something I completely believe in. If an opponent on the basketball court should go down with a hurt ankle, I'd like to think, I'd instantly stop play and alert the referee. However, the next person may not believe or do the same thing. There, lies the problem sportsmanship faces today.

Cricket has this whole abstract "Spirit of Cricket" concept that the ICC have tried to promote and enforce. How has that panned out? Not very well. Should a batsman walk? Subjective. Why is it okay for a batsman to stand his ground knowing that he's out but not okay for a fielder to claim a catch he knows pitched in front of him? Why is it okay for players to scream obscenities on the field of play, often visible and audible to the entire world, but not okay for a batsman to hit back a critic with a hand scrawled note saying " Yeah Talk Nah".

Cycling is another sport ridden with a lot of sportsmanship based "unwritten rules". Slowing down if there is a major crash to allow riders back. Not attacking a rider when he has a mechanical problem (Like when Contador attacked Schleck 2 years ago). Fabien Cancellara was met with mixed reactions for this.

Football has seen a drastic increase in diving. FIFA has tried to crack down on it, but to be fair to them, it's a ridiculously hard job with players getting better at it. Play acting is another absurd part of modern football. Flopping has waded it's way deep into the NBA culture. Tennis saw Tomas Berdych refuse to shake Nicolas Almagro's hand after the game because he smacked a ball at his body in the pursuit of a point.

In this increasingly cut throat world of sport, "sportsmanship" is evolving. Every incident involving a "breach of sportsmanship" now leads to a huge debate, where both sides always seem to have valid points. Take Dhoni recalling Ian Bell for example. MSD was well within his rights to run Ian Bell out. But as Sourav Ganguly argued, the precedent set could be damaging for the rest of the series. Valid points, both sides. 

That's what makes this concept of sportsmanship so complex. There are ways to discourage it. Diving footballers could be retrospectively punished. Cricketers could be banned for claiming bump balls. But that just raises the important "where do you draw the line" question. This is why I believe sportsmanship cannot be enforced. It can't be imbibed in professional players and athletes.

If sportsmanship is to survive it has to be part of the culture of athletes growing up. Kids should be told what is right and what is wrong. Unfortunately, there are two problems even with this approach. 

Number one, How would you define “good” and “bad”? Most of our judging of sportsmanship is based purely on gut. Everyone is different in this world. So it's not necessary that everyone feels the same way about every event. 

Number 2, the stakes are getting higher and higher in sport. Manchester United, for example lost out on 17 million Euros simply because they failed to make the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. With such huge stakes, is it fair to expect a high degree of sportsmanship from a player while he's under so much pressure to deliver victory?

I think these two fundamental questions need to be answered if this complex and abstract concept of “sportsmanship” is to survive. One thing, though, is for sure. Sportsmanship is not what it was 20 years ago. And it will not be the same 20 years hence. The World of sport and it's inhabitants are evolving at a rapid rate. It will be interesting to see what becomes of sportsmanship in the process.

The valiant Mr. V - Tommy Voeckler

There are sportsmen who make things look extremely easy - Sachin with a cover drive, Kevin Durant doing his thing or an Alberto Contador gracefully dancing up a uncategorized climb. Then there are sportsmen like Thomas Voeckler.

When Tommy gets up a tough climb, you feel his pain. When he gets out of the saddle to push himself to the limit, your calf muscles start to hurt. When he flashes that victory smile, you feel a sense of relief that his pain is done for the day. And yet, he comes back for more - over, and over, and over.

Last year I watched in near shock as Pierre Rolland pulled Tommy Voeckler up with him on the Col du Galibier, a ride, that ensured that Voeckler retained the yellow jersey. A young Andy Schleck had mounted one of the most memorable and audacious attacks you would ever see from a cyclist. The experienced Aussie, Cadel Evans had delivered a gutsy (and eventually tour-winning)  ride that single-handedly made sure that Andy didn't get too far ahead of the field. Yet despite all this, one memory remains. An exhausted Voeckler with his arm around the young Rolland. The scene was such that it would have been completely understandable if Voeckler fainted immediately after (he didn't).

That in essence sums up Tommy Voeckler. He's not got the most pretty looking stroke on the bicycle. He won't make you go ooh when he gets out of his saddle like the disgraced Alberto Contador might. His "labrador-like" tongue (as @saddleblaze wrote recently) sticking out doesn't go well with the dinner you're eating. He isn't even like Rafael Nadal, whom you look at and know can keep on running forever. Instead, Thomas Voeckler always looks like he's an old auto running on fumes, desperately trying to compete with the BMW that just whizzed by him. Yet, there he is, winning a stage at the Tour De France.

Tommy Voeckler is one of the most popular cyclists around. One of the most popular in France. And it isn't hard to see why. Voeckler is the kind of underdog athlete you always want to see do well. The French of course expect him to do well in his home tour. But that pressure only stacks the odds against him even more. And yet he somehow finds a stage win here and a stint in the Maillot Jaune there. It warms the heart.

In the age of increased professionalism and scientifically designed training methods, athletes and sports-persons of the ilk of Thomas Voeckler who often seem to be portraying a dying duck while they seemingly pull off miracles are a dying species.  It's getting harder and harder to find true underdogs to cheer for. So when you find one, enjoy him.

"Heart" is often spoken about in American sport. The courage and the willingness to fight with everything you have. Nobody signifies that more valiantly than Tommy.

Kevin Durant - The NBA's unique superstar

Game 5 of the Western conference semi-finals against the mighty Lakers. He nails a three. The lead balloons beyond the reach of the Lakers, beyond the reach of Kobe Bryant. The most beautifully innocent smile (in the NBA at least) breaks across his face. Kevin Durant, on his way to taking the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the NBA finals.

The NBA has always been a superstar-centric league, starting way back from the days of Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Jerry West and (slightly later) Wilt Chamberlain. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird reinvigorated the league before a certain Michael Jordan stole the show. Look around the league, and you will see stars everywhere - Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, Derrick Rose, Tim Duncan, etc etc etc. Yet none of them, are anything like Kevin Durant.

Karan Madhok (@Hoopistani on twitter) wrote this piece on how Durant is the last universally loved player in the NBA. Dirk Nowitzki for example, though an extremely like-able character, has always elicited doubt in the minds of certain groups of fans, who called him "soft" and so on. Till date, I am yet to hear of someone having a bad word to say about KD.

But no, that is not what I wanted to write about. Kevin Durant is a unique personality. Sure. But his game is something extraordinarily unique. Yes, being a 6'11'' tall Small Forward in itself is unique. Yes for such a tall player, to have such a good handle on the dribble is impressive. But that isn't what I'm trying to get to either. Kevin Durant, makes basketball look easy.

Over the years, I've watch so many different stars grace the game. Whether it was Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Wade or even Rose, they all have one thing in common, the ability to make your jaw drop. Quite frequently, Derrick Rose will drive through the lane, contort his body, get off a layup and make you wonder "How? How did he pull that off". Kobe goes through these phases where it doesn't matter if 3 people have their hands in his face, he still makes the bucket. LeBron transforms occasionally into an unstoppable beast. Wade slashes and drives like his life depends on it.

Watching Kevin Durant in action, in contrast, is like watching a ballerina in a break dancing group. Amidst the chaos and the physicality of an NBA game, the man stands out for his grace and agility. That's not to say he isn't a physical player. You can't play basketball without being physical. But Durant makes everything look graceful. Whether it be a nonchalant 3 point dagger at the death of a game, or a ferocious dunk on the break, Durant makes it all look beautiful. Makes it look easy.

In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, LeBron James huffed and puffed his way to 30 points, using his strength to get to the rim. Wade struggled. Bosh struggled. At the other end, in the second half, Durant was unstoppable, only it didn't appear so. When Battier, LeBron and even Haslem blocked his path to the basket, he'd nail the jumper. When they tried chasing him off the three point line, he'd put the ball on the floor and glide to the basket. When both paths were unavailable, he'd pick out an accurate, perfectly thought out pass, to the right man, at the right time and create a basket. Little wonder that OKC (incredibly) converted on 22 off their last 29 possessions. But Durant didn't go about it like LeBron James would. He wasn't defying the laws of physics. He wasn't making incredible shots. Heck, if you didn't glance at the box score you wouldn't know he'd scored more than 30 points. Why?

The NBA has trained us to look for the incredible. We are fed with dunks, buzzer beaters, powerful blocks, behind-the-back passes and so on. Eventually it turns out that it's the players who make these highlight reels the most are the biggest stars in the game. The league thrives on players who make things look incredibly hard and pull them off. Then there is Kevin Durant. A man who sometimes convinces you that you could play like him. A man who's almost nonchalant with his play. A man who thrives on simplicity, effectiveness and a knack for incredible efficiency. Sure, he has a few highlights to his name, who doesn't? But, rarely does he seem to be defying any fundamental laws. Rarely does he seem to pull off the incredible. He is like a graceful dancer, trapped in the 6'11'' frame of a basketball superstar. That, to me, is why he is the NBA's unique and graceful superstar

Rahul Dravid - The Gladiator, The Warrior, The Legend

In about a day (assuming that Rahul Dravid is actually retiring) the internet will be inundated with tributes to one of the greatest players this game has ever seen. The majority will call him "The Wall", "The unsung hero" or any such demeaning phrase.

"The Wall" should be the nickname given to a Mark Richardson (New Zealand), an Alistair Cook (England) or any player in a similar mould. Dravid was much much more than that. We have all at some point or the other delighted in his delicious cover drives, those cracking square cuts and those gorgeous flicks through the leg side. For a man with a reputation of being a plodder, it is easy to forget that the great man once hit a 22 ball 50 against New Zealand, and hit 3 huge sixes in his one and only T20 international. In short, "The Wall" is perhaps the most unfair name ever given to any player in the history of the game.

Has Dravid been an "unsung hero"? Some of his big hundreds have indeed come alongside another batsman scoring bigger and more attractive runs. But does that diminish the value of those hundreds? Of course not. In most of those innings where Dravid was supposedly overshadowed, the innings at the other end would probably not have happened if Dravid didn't fight and stick around. Simple as that. For example, without Dravid's 180 (batting at number 6) there wouldn't be a Laxman 281. So to say that Dravid played "second fiddle" or that his innings was "overshadowed" in such instances is merely an insult to the greatness of those innings.

Dravid will forever be remembered as our colossus abroad. For years and years while the rest of our batting line up struggled to cope in the bounce of Australia, the movement in England and the combination of both in South Africa, Dravid was our gladiator, dodging the lions, smacking the wolves, surviving and keeping us in the game. A gladiator. That was what he was.

Dravid forever embodied the true spirit of a team sport. In the ODI format of the game Dravid was frequently shunted up and down the line up as per the team's wishes. Somedays he would be at number 3. Some days at number 6. For the sake of the team, Dravid even adorned the wicketkeepers gloves to ensure that Ganguly could play 7 specialist batsmen in his teams. In essence Dravid was probably the key factor behind India's success under Ganguly in ODIs. In tests, Dravid opened, played at number 3, batted at number 5 and 6 as per the whims and fancies of the management of the time, never with a semblence of a complaint.

He captained the side graciously and slipped out of the role when he felt the time was right. In the era of sledging, abuse and "mental disintegration", Dravid was a always a welcome presence from the game's gentlemanly past. World over, Dravid has earned the respect of his peers, officials, old timers and the youngest of fans, for his honesty, hard work and distinguished behaviour on and off the field.

Tomorrow, in all probability, the gentleman born in Indore and raised in Bangalore will address the media announcing that he has walked out to the pitch in Indian colours for the last time. It should be a moment of great sadness for all us Indian fans. Not just because it is only a matter of time before we lose the sight of the likes of Dravid, Sachin, Laxman on the cricket field. But simply because a great man has ended his career. According to Virat Kohli Sachin has carried the hopes of a billion people for a very long time. He is right of course. But somewhere, down the line, Sachin had a lot of help. And a lot of it came from the blade of Rahul Dravid.

Let us not call him "The Wall". Let us not call him an unsung hero. Rahul Dravid was a warrior on the cricket field. The trustworthy hard working and talented general on the field. He retires tomorrow, not as an unsung hero, but a living legend. That is his place in Indian cricket.

A vital part of sport - The Story

When you speak about romance, you think about Romeo and Juliet. You think about warm spring days, the beautiful sound of birds and occasionally a girl's lovely smile. But all these cliches ignore a simple fact. Sports fans are the biggest, goofiest and most shameless romantics in the world. No I'm not going to say date a guy who watches sports. On the contrary, they're probably the worst possible. What I do mean, is that every sports fan loves a good story. It doesn't always have to be a rags-to-riches story. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be a story per se. All it takes is a bit doom and gloom followed by the shining ray of light.

We all remember the tragedy that was the Munich air crash in 1958, where 23 people including several Manchester United greats lost their lives. We also remember United under the very same Manager Sir Matt Busby and United Captain Sir Bobby Charlton, taking United to European glory 10 years later. Why? It was a special story. A club surviving the tearing apart of their team by tragedy, recovering against all odds to cover themselves in glory. Special.

In Aakash Chopra's book "Out of the Blue", he goes to great lengths to explain the backgrounds of several of his Rajasthan team-mates. He tells tales of poverty, distress, tragedy and more. And a sports fan, I was hooked. Why? What a story! A team filled with such distinct characters, facing different personal tragedies, all coming together to succeed on the cricket pitch and lift the Ranji trophy. Special.

Jeremy Lin, of the New York Knicks is an average basketball player. At best. Yet the whole basketball world went gaga over him. Yes, he started off with a bang, but so did so many other players. Then why did this man generate so much fanfare? The story. Here was a Harvard graduate, a school not known for basketball at all. A man of Taiwanese Origin. A man of slight build, a cheerful smile and a lovely attitude. In essence, he makes for a great story. His is the story that we all play for ourselves in our head. We all want to be stars. We all want to be great at sport. Too often we have these larger than life characters in sport. Yes, sometimes they have wonderful stories behind them too. But when normal-looking average guys like Jeremy Lin (meaning no offence whatsoever to Lin) succeeds, it really makes your heart go warm and fuzzy. It's a special feeling we sports fans really love. Special

The story is the reason we love the underdog. When you have no stake in either team (as a fan), you generally tend to support the plucky underdog. Who didn't love Kevin O'Brien and Ryan Ten Doeschate sticking it to the English in the Cricket World Cup. Who didn't love watching Virat Kohli defying India's form to pound Sri Lanka to smithereens to keep them alive in the CB series. Who didn't love the Senegal football team in 2002 for showing up France and running to the quarter finals, or South Korea for making the semi finals in the same tournament. Underdogs are big part of sport fandom and are always loved dearly. Special.

When you watch "Remember the Titans", "Glory Road", "Coach Carter" or any sports movie you can think of, you always find yourself rooting for the protagonists. In fact, I am not ashamed of admitting that, the moment of victory against all odds in your average sport movie, generally moves me to shed a tear of happiness. Why? The story. The beautiful, beautiful story. Special.

We adore (and sometimes worship) the likes of Lance Armstrong, Yuvraj Singh, Matthew Wade, Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius, B S Chandrasekhar, Eric Abidal and several, several others. Why? The story behind them. We will never forget that Yuvraj Singh delivered performance after great performance, all the while struggling with a serious illness he didn't know he had. We will never forget Lance Armstrong winning the grueling Tour De France again and again and again. We will never forget B S Chandrasekhar fighting Polio to be a part of the famous spin quartet of India. They are great sports persons, with the most wonderful stories of grit and determination behind them. Special.

You needn't even look deep to find the story. Sometimes you can find a story within a single game. Take the famous 2005 Champions League final between Liverpool and Milan. 3-0 down at half time, Liverpool under inspirational captain Steven Gerrard suddenly found a gear to their game and stunned Milan by taking the game to penalties and winning it from there. You don't need a background for the game, because in this instance, the game itself was a story. So too is every single famous comeback in the history of Sport. We remember a lot of them very fondly. Comebacks make for wonderful stories. Special.

Human beings all have a little kid in them, who sometimes, just wants to be excited and made to dream. This holds true even more for the average Joe you see, sitting on his couch watching a game. We love following our sport because to us those on the field are living the dream. And when there's a lovely story in the backdrop, we love it even more. When we were kids we listened to fairy tales about princesses, frogs, horses, fairies and all sorts of mythical creatures. And as fully grown adults, we look for those same fairy tales, in the more realistic backdrop of the world around us. As sports fans, we find those moments of wonder, love and magic in the same heroes we worship day in and day out. To a game, to a sport, the story is everything.

Sports? Why?

People often ask me whether I'm alright in the head. I'm constantly ranting about cricket, basketball, football and generally any sport that I can claim to have remote knowledge about. I am (to put it another way) a sports fan. 'Fan' is derived from the word fanatic. Explains a lot about our tribe doesn't it.

I've tried in different ways to explain my passion for sport. This is the best explanation I can come up with - Sports is natural. It is evolution.

Through the years, man has always been striving to prove himself superior to the next man. In pre-historic times, man walked around with broken branches and beat up everyone who stood in his way, while on his way to fetch water from the nearest lake (ok I made this up, sue me). Years later, Kings rode to war, dooming the lives of several fellow men, for the sheer drive to prove himself to be better than the opposing King. Alexander the Great travelled the world, defeating Kings in war, just to prove he was the Greatest and could conquer the world. Hitler committed the gravest of crimes simply because he believed one race of man was superior to another. The United States wiped out Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. Why did they use Nuclear weaponry? To prove their superiority to Japan and scare them into submission. Recently, we've had a bunch of terrorists in different parts of the world, killing innocent people simply because they believe that their 'beliefs' are better than everybody else's. This is the world we live in. One of violence. One of competition.

Meanwhile Sport has been evolving. From the time where Roman emperors looked on while gladiators killed each other in the name of sport, to Usain Bolt sprinting away to an Olympic Gold, sport has always been about one thing. Competition (and the occasional violence). In my opinion, it is no accident that as people have matured, morality has improved and democracy has set in, sport has flourished. Where there was once war, there is now sport. Kings, nobles and knights took immense joy in defeating one another on the battlefield through their soldiers. Today, millionaires and billionaires look on as the teams they own fight with each other on a different battlefield. One where almost all of them leave alive. Evolution.

The point I try to make, is that sport is nothing but a new medium to express the oldest natural urge of mankind - the need to prove superiority over one another.

Another reason I'm so passionate about following, watching, reading and tweeting about sport is the same reason we watch movies. To escape reality. Sometimes life is fun, sometimes life is great. But either way, most of us tire of our own lives and need to get away. Sport is that release. We madly cheer on our favourite teams. We cheer on our favourite players. They are living our dream. The dream of scoring a goal at Stretford end. The dream of scoring a hundred at Lords. The dream of scoring 50 points at Madison Square Garden. The dream of winning the superbowl. Following sport with a passion helps us feel alive. It makes us feel part of something special. It drags us away from our boring old lives and give us an immense of satisfaction.

That my friends, is why I follow sport.

The Value of the Statistical Intangible

Harbhajan Singh has been bowling flat, defensive, around the wicket nonsense for more than a couple of years now. But when people argued for his exclusion, the counter argument was the 400 wickets and the fact that his stats were on par with the so called "best offie" in the world Graeme Swann. Why then did Harbhajan Singh finally get shown the door?

Last season, to the surprise of many, OKC traded their third highest scorer Jeff Green for Boston Celtics centre Kendrick Perkins. Jeff Green averaged 15.2 points, 5.6 rebs, 1.8 assists and 0.4 blocks till that point in the season. Perkins averaged 7.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.8 blocks. Now, it is understood that a centre will pick up more blocks and rebounds than a hybrid forward. Considering that, the statistical goons would certainly laugh at OKC. Why then did OKC pull the trigger on the trade?

The answer of course is in the intangibles. What is the point of picking up wickets as quickly as anyone if you don't look like picking up a wicket on any of the other deliveries? What is the point of scoring and rebounding, if you're a leaky faucet defensively? What is the point of a football midfielder having a high pass completion rate if the majority of the passes are sideways passes that amount to nothing? What is the point of a goalkeeper making 300 saves in a season if he makes 5 howlers? That, is the problem with statistics.

The failure of statistics to truly represent a sportsman's ability and value, is sometimes dismissed as a notion of the romantics. But the problem with stats, is that a lot of things that happen on a sports field cannot be quantified. No one can state with certainty, the chances a delivery has of picking up a wicket. No can quantify the hustle and defensive leadership Kendrick Perkins brings to the basketball court. Michael Carrick's pass completion rate is quite similar to Xavi Hernandez. Yet there is no question as to who is the better player.

The intangibles in sport is what makes sport what it is. If stats could explain everything in sport, there would be no purpose of actually playing on the field would there? Long live the intangibles.