PRG's Thoughts

Time to mock social media. I had written one about Facebook, this is about Instagram. I'll be the first to admit, I may have done some of these myself. But I do call myself a tool when I do it. So here’s to laughing at myself and the Instagram world. The following article is not based on anyone living or dead. Any resemblance to any of my friends or people I follow is a coincidence. It is not written to hurt or make fun of anyone in particular. If you still get offended, then you’re probably guilty. The Posts I Don't Understand The Workout Video   As one meme said “Unless you are falling off the treadmill, we don’t need to see your work out video.” I hope you know that we see you in real life. We know exactly how fit or fat you really are. So when you post a workout video and then eat a burger and fries with 4 whiskies at dinner you’re not fooling me. And by the way, if your trainer is taking your video then he/she is not looking at your form so you’re p...

It's been a 'Golden Era' of men's tennis. Three men with different styles, personalities and skill sets have dominated the sport like no men before them. But are we still in it? Is the era behind us and are we now in a different phase? Look at the results and you'll think I am crazy. Look a little closer and you'll see a whole new picture. Since 2004 Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic have won 53 of the 63 Grand Slam tournaments played. As things stand today one of them is likely to win number 54 next week. That is almost 85 percent of slams played. Dominance of this kind did create the 'Golden Era' but it is now creating a hangover that is hurting the game of tennis. The Memory Effect Every sport has legends that dominate the era in which they play. These legends develop a fan base that is die-hard and unshakeable. Eventually age and fresh legs start to take over. New players emerge and the old ones move on. It is a natural progres...

The Final Forget the overthrow that hit the bat and went for four. Forget Boult's brain freeze at the boundary when he crossed the line and gave up a six (in today's game every boundary fielder should know exactly where they are). England won the World Cup yesterday based on what might be the most ridiculous rule in the history of sports. No one is saying it is a tainted victory, because rules are rules. But the ICC and their rules committee should be embarrassed by the way the outcome of the final of a World Cup was decided. For all those people that wrote the cheesy "Cricket was the true winner" on their twitter accounts, you missed the whole point. Cricket embarrassed itself last night. Luckily we had two teams that displayed tremendous fight and spirit.  Why is it the number of fours that a team has hit? Why not number of sixes or extras or singles or dot balls? Each one of those metrics is as illogical as the number of boundaries. Why not wick...

My seven year old nephew, Aman, a cricket fanatic said, "this is the worst World Cup ever!". While this may be the first World Cup he has watched, I couldn't agree more. The tournament has been about as exciting as a root canal. We are eighteen matches in and the story so far is a cure for insomnia.  Twenty-two percent of the matches have been washed out. Out of the fourteen that had results, only two matches were worth watching till the end. The rest were more or less one sided. You know the tournament is in trouble when Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs and a headline reads- It was Closer than You Think. Really? 41 runs was closer than I think? I want to meet the salesperson who can sell that story.  Zzzzzz.... There hasn't been a match that fans are going to remember in the near future. The only memorable moment has been the Indian Captain Virat Kohli asking fans to clap for Steve Smith. Sure, that is heartwarming and good sportsmanship,...

It was all fun and games in 2008. The IPL launched with the glitz and glamour combining India’s finest- cricket stars, Bollywood’s biggest and the business worlds titans. Whether it was Shah Rukh Khan or Mukesh Ambani, it frankly could not get bigger. But what has clearly emerged in the past 12 seasons is a hierarchy within the league. The Chennai Super Kings, Kolkatta Knight Riders and Mumbai Indian’s have separated themselves from the rest of the pack and while a lot of belief has been put in to the players a tremendous amount of credit must go to the management. KKR was a struggling franchise for the first three years of the IPL where they did not qualify for the playoffs even once. Then things turned around in 2011. They made the playoffs and eventually won the title in 2012. They are now two time champions and in most seasons a team that either makes the playoffs or just misses out. What happened? The management took some tough decisions. To release Soura...