Top Sports Highlights from 2012

Top Sports Highlights from 2012:

2012 is about to end. Its time to rejoice what an amazing year this has been for all the sports fans. London Olympics was the biggest sports attraction of this year, what an incredible event it was! Fans of the beautiful game had their hands full with Spain’s masterful performance in Kiev and who can forget that magical night in Munich. NBA fans found a reason to fall in love again with the King. Millions had their hearts broken by once inspirational Lance Armstrong. Roger Federer's 7th wimbledon crown gave tennis fans a reason to believe in God again and so did the NFL fans with the rebirth of the legend known as Peyton Manning.
So, here are my 10 picks in no particular order.

1. Australian Open 2012 Men’s final
This match could be best summarized by the Irresistible Force paradox. Novak vs Nadal or should I say Goliath vs Goliath. Tennis fans who missed watching the match of the year will be left with a bitter taste.



2. Michael Phelps becomes the most celebrated Olympian
I so desperately wanted to use ‘greatest’ instead of ‘most accomplished’ but sticked to my belief that athletes in different sports and eras should not be compared. Undoubtedly Phelps’s achievements are second to none across all the sports, across all the eras.



3. Champions of Europe - Chelsea FC
If there’s any truth in “deserving winners” in sports, over the past 10 years no team deserved to win Champions League more than Chelsea. They’ve been as consistent as Barcelona, as relentless as Bayern, as spirited as Man United, and finally as lucky as the Liverpool of 2005. Every Chelsea fan, thousands in London and millions around the world found never forget the magical night of 19th May, 2012 when they proudly said - “Their city, their stadium, our cup”.



4. Usain Bolt highlight reel
“Lightning never strikes the same place twice”, who quoted this? What Bolt did in the most awaited showdown of London Olympics can’t be put into words. Only question that remains is can the lightning strike thrice?



5. Miracle at Medinah
What Europe did to US on the final day of the 39th Ryder Cup would go down in the history of golf as the greatest comeback ever Period. For sports fans who don’t understand golf, imagine the magical night in Istanbul when Liverpool came back from 0-3, tied the game and then won it in penalties. What Europe did was instead of winning in penalties, they won it 4-3.



6. Coronation of King James
Its been long since LeBron self-proclaimed as the King and heir to his airness. But after 8 unsavory years in NBA (and the forgettable decision), he claimed what belonged to him. He led from the front all season long and totally justified the trust, millions of basketball fans have put in him to be their savior.



7. Celebración tiki-taka style
If you had asked any Spanish in 2008 would they mind becoming a bum of jokes for their economic crises in exchange for utter dominance in the sport they love the most, I am sure they wouldn’t have said no. The country has been in their worst economic crisis ever, increasing unemployment generating all kinds of insecurities. And then comes to rescue, arguably the greatest European football team. 2 European cups and a World cup has served as the symbol of hope and given so much joy to this great sporting nation. They didn’t just defended their crown, they did that in a style never seen before. A team with no striker in the starting 11 were victorious with a record margin of goals against the helpless Italians. Nos vemos en brasil.



8. Rise of the fallen  
From Team GB’s “greatest ever” performance at the Olympics, to Andy Murray becoming the first British man to win a Grand Slam in 76 years it was the year when a long suffering nation finally had its glory. Bradley Wiggins became the first British winner of Tour De France since it started in 1903 plus an Olympic gold, England cricket team won their first test series in India in almost 30 years, Chelsea FC became the first London club to win the Champions League and with numerous other accomplishments by proud Brits, this was finally the greatest British summer.



9. Sebastian Vettel and the greatest Formula 1 season ever    
What can better first seven races of a season with seven different winners? The answer is Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2012. If world would've ended as per the Mayan apocalypse, motorsport fans won’t had any regrets. The chaotic end to this legendary F1 season which had 6 world champions behind the hot wheels was much more than what F1 fans can ever demand. Fernando Alonso gave the fight of his life but there’s only one bull in the jungle who had his destiny written in the stars.
 


10. Hall of Fame/Pain
Sports is cruel sometimes. There was no symbol of hope bigger than Lance Armstrong in the last 15 years. His recovery from life threatening cancer to rule arguable the the most demanding form of sports is nothing less than a fairy tale that inspired millions around the world making “Livestrong” a symbol of optimism. Millions of hearts were broken when the truth came out. As much as we want to believe in Mr. Armstong’s sacredness, it will be tough for sports fans to accept rise of another hero without skepticism. Cricket lovers were left grieving when their GOD Sachin Tendulkar finally called it a day from the ODI format of cricket. This left a gaping hole in the lives of the billions of the most diverse nation who found a sense of unity and took pride watching their most iconic son of soil since Gandhi on a TV set.



For 2013, it will be a tough act to follow 2012. Wish you all a happy new year. Stick around!
     

Could it get any worse?

Its Spring Break- Party time! Not for me this time

This miserable week started with the arrival of my roommate Andy, back from Boston. Though I love Andy, I have no words to describe how happy I was to use the couch for an entire week and who can forget with those quiet white nights when I didn’t have to wake up at 3 in the morning coz of some Rammstein crooning. Though, it made me feel better when Andy cooked fried potatoes….until I saw the fry-pan which was burnt to such an extent that even an otherwise optimistic Mane agreed that no life is left in once Invincible steel art.

Here comes Tuesday and I was assigned to work on a defect that involves HTML styling. Though I never count work-related issues as misfortune but Come On!!!! its HTML I m talking about here. Now, it’s Thursday and I m still unable to figure out this stupid style-sheet. I hope that idiot, ****SOB who designed this CSS gets his monkey-ass kicked by the boss making him work on a Netscape 4 compatible stylesheet.

Did I mention my leg-injury yet? Alright, I woke up Wednesday morning unable to move my left leg. I stood-up and fell immediately (thanks God its carpeted floor here) and I know it’s not due to gravity this time. I haven’t been able to make it to the office two days in a row and trust me it’s no good coz I have to work 10hrs from home whereas in office I work only ….hrs!! Still unable to figure out when exactly did I hurt my leg? On the top of that, Mane brought this stupid can-opener that opens up everything except cans; this time a big cut in my right thumb. These can-openers should be sold with a warning: There will be Blood!

I called my friend Jimmy who’s in India to wish him luck with his UPSC exams. For the first time in my life, I forgot to dial through India Calling Card. Here on my screen I have the monthly statement that says- 1 call for 70 min = $260. WTF!! Ultimately, all these jhatkas (no rokda + no energy) have taken their toll on me, forcing me cancel the weekend trip to Lake Havasu and White Mountains.

All this have been compounded by the ever-stretching goal drought of Torres and Drogba. Come on guys it’s high time you start firing again.

So far, this week has brought me Physical Pain! Monetary Loss! Emotional Sufferings!--- nothing but pain!

PS: Listening to Crazy Train by Ozzy.

English Premier League Weekend Preview

Defending Champions Chelsea are most likely to continue their dream start to the campaign when they host Tony Pulis's Stoke City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The way Carlo Ancelloti's Pensioners fired 6 goals past Wigan last week, the Blues seems to be an unstoppable force this season. Most of the experts would agree that they have the most in-depth squad in Europe at the moment. Not only do they have 3 sizzling forwards in Drogba, Anelka and Malouda but even bench-warmers like Kalou and Benayoun are capable of damaging the opposition in their roles as super-subs. This week EPL fans could also see the debut of new Chelsea midfield maestro Ramires-dubbed as the BLUE KENYAN in his native Brazil. He showed glimpses of his talent and relentless energy during the World Cup which makes him an ideal replacement for Michael Ballack who often got over-shadowed by Frankie Lampard during his Chelsea career. Ramires in Chelsea midfield is a bad news for rest of the premier league as it would give more freedom to the likes of Lampard and Essien to drive forward and join Drogba n Co. in terrorizing the opposition defenses. On the other hand, Stoke are yet to register a point after back to back defeats in their first 2 games. But on their day, Stoke are a tough team to beat and could sprung a few surprises with their direct approach and deadly set-pieces.
Roy Hodgson's honeymoon seems to be over after the 3-0 thrashing Liverpool got from Man City who are probably their direct competitors for that 4th Champions League spot. They are expected to win at Anfield against newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion but, Mascherano's transfer saga seems to affect Merseysider's preparations as they have run out of cover in the midfield after the season-long loan move for Aquilani to Juventus. Joe Cole would be serving second of his three game suspension and Fernando Torres is expected to start his second successive league game unless, he suffers from an eyebrow injury that could rule him out for a couple of months ;-)
Arsene Wenger's Gunners face a tricky away tie to Blackburn on the back of their 6-0 hammering of Blackpool last weekend. Ewood Park is one of those venues that Gunners have hated to travel for the past few years arguing that their kids don't get enough protection from the referee and ultimately succumb to the kick-boxing tactics of Big Sam.
Man United host the team everyone would love to face at the moment-West Ham United. The Hammers have been lacking quality all over the pitch and it seems they would end up fighting at the wrong-end of the table once again. Wayne Ronney would be eager to end his goal-drought against the most booed man in England at the moment, yes I am talking about Robert Green. But with Paul Scholes in the form of his life, goals are expected to come from all over the pitch.
Elsewhere new champions league entrants Tottenham would host Wigan at White Hart lane looking forward to repeat the 9-1 drubbing they gave to Roberto Martinez men last year who have reached a nadir after two successive home defeats and the sale of star-player Charles N'Zogbia. A few other 6-pointers are scheduled this week that would decide the second-half of the table at the end of the season.
Let us keep our fingers crossed for another high-scoring week in the most-competitive league in the world !!!

The Time for Africa to Shine has Arrived

Today, Ghana football team--the Black Stars marked the first win by an African nation in Fifa world cup 2010. They dominated their European counterparts Serbia ranked 15th in the world through their flowing, sexy-- truly African style of football which reaffirms football's status as the "beautiful game". This win hopefully would end the nervousness being felt by the African nations to achieve something spectacular on their home soil. Two days back Bafana Bafana or "The Boys" almost secured a win against Mexico which ended up being 1-1 draw. But, still lifted the pressure on the South African team as they ended up their 11 match loosing streak. Hopefully, the host nation's spirits would be lifted by this decent result against an opposition ranked 17th in the world and would emerge out of their group into the knock-out phase.

Vuvuzelas-the plastic air trumpets are creating an electrifying atmosphere inside the stadiums. Though, my French counterparts would disagree as their team complained about the inability of players to communicate due to the noise created by the Vuvuzelas. In my opinion this French team has been instructed not to communicate on or off the pitch, evident from their consistently forgettable performances over the past 4 years, under the guidance of their great clown-cum-coach Mr. Domenech -looked down by both their media and the fans. The reality is that this is the worst team sent by a great footballing nation over the past 30 years who doesn't deserves to be in the world-cup (You know who instead deserves to be competing here). Thierry Henry's hand-ball against Ireland was as disgraceful as Maradona's so called hand-of-god which has deteriorated the image of one of the most iconic soccer players.

Ivory Coast-The Elephants which is described as the best African team after Roger Milla led Cameroon of 1990 is under great pressure to become the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the world cup. In Didier Drogba they possess arguably the best striker in the world who destroyed the opposition defenses throughout the season and amassed a goal-tally of 37 in 2009-10 for his club Chelsea F.C. In Toure brothers-Kolo and Yaya along with Eboue, Kone, Kalou, Dindane and Zokora they have a solid European based flavor in their team which is highly experienced and possess the ability to beat any European or Latin footballing powerhouse on their day. But, the pressure created by the media, sacking of their coach 6 months prior to the start of the soccer fest and an unlucky draw of being in the "group of death" has increased the doubts over achieving greatness at their home continent. Another fatal blow was the elbow injury suffered by their captain charisma Didier Dorgba 2 weeks prior to their opening match against Cristiano "Superman" Ronaldo's Portugal. Drogba back on the pitch could be a timely boost to the spirit of The Elephants and the whole African sub-continent.

Not much is being expected out of Nigeria and Algeria, both of them have already lost their opening matches. But still "Africa is indeed happy" to welcome the biggest tournament in the world of sports entertainment and hopefully one of the African teams would be able to give joy and make the people of this football-savvy continent proud by being one of the teams to compete for the most coveted trophy on July 10th inside the "Soccer City" which resembles a calabash, an African gourd used as a cooking pot, truly resembling the roots of oldest civilization of mankind.